Cornifer is the wandering cartographer who surveys Hallownest one area at a time. Whichever area he is currently sitting in, he sells you the map for that area at a discount, and once you buy it he packs up and moves on. Finding him is the cheapest way to get every map in the game.
How to find Cornifer
Three signals give him away.
The first is paper. Cornifer drops sheets of his survey as he walks, and they collect on the ground in the rooms leading to him. If you walk into a room and see white pages scattered on the floor, you are on the right corridor. Follow the density.
The second is sound. He hums constantly, and the hum gets louder as you approach. It comes through walls, so if you can hear him but cannot see a door, look for a breakable wall or a drop. The one exception is Deepnest, where he is too scared to hum at all.
The third is the map screen itself. Before you buy a map, opening the map in an unmapped area shows nothing. After you buy it, the parts Cornifer already surveyed are filled in immediately, which is usually enough to work out where you have and have not been.
Every Cornifer location
| Area | Where he is |
|---|---|
| Forgotten Crossroads | Western Crossroads, lower level. Go left from the well room and drop through the openings. |
| Greenpath | West Greenpath. Head left, drop the long vertical shaft, take the right-hand opening at the bottom. |
| Fungal Wastes | North west. Drop to the bottom of the shaft from the Crossroads entrance, go left twice, drop through the gap. |
| City of Tears | Near the main gate. Head right, up through the small opening, then right across the platforms to the bench. |
| Crystal Peak | Upper Peak. Enter from the eastern top entrance, go right past the conveyor belts, climb, look top left. |
| Royal Waterways | West. From the City of Tears go left and drop, continue left past the bench through the platforming rooms. |
| Howling Cliffs | East, near the Greenpath boundary. Climb the platforms from the northern Greenpath opening and take the right-hand opening. |
| Fog Canyon | West. From Queen’s Station go up and left, climb to the top of the room, then left again. |
| Queen’s Gardens | Centre. Take the secret passage from mid Fog Canyon, go left, drop to the bottom of the next room, go right. |
| Kingdom’s Edge | Near the entrance. From King’s Station go bottom right into Kingdom’s Edge, drop down slightly, head left. |
| Deepnest | Lower Deepnest, reached from the Mantis Village side. Left, then up and left. He is silent here. |
| Ancient Basin | A small cavern in the upper Basin. Drop from the Royal Waterways route and move into the cavern on the right. |
He is not in the Resting Grounds, the Hive, the Abyss, the White Palace, Godhome, the Colosseum of Fools, Dirtmouth or King’s Pass.
Map prices: Cornifer versus Iselda
Cornifer always charges 75 percent of what his wife charges. Iselda runs the map shop in Dirtmouth and sells the same maps after Cornifer has returned home.
| Map | Cornifer | Iselda | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forgotten Crossroads | 30 | 40 | 10 |
| Deepnest | 38 | 50 | 12 |
| Resting Grounds | not sold | 75 | n/a |
| Greenpath | 60 | 80 | 20 |
| Fungal Wastes | 75 | 100 | 25 |
| Howling Cliffs | 75 | 100 | 25 |
| Royal Waterways | 75 | 100 | 25 |
| City of Tears | 90 | 120 | 30 |
| Ancient Basin | 112 | 150 | 38 |
| Crystal Peak | 112 | 150 | 38 |
| Kingdom’s Edge | 112 | 150 | 38 |
| Fog Canyon | 150 | 200 | 50 |
| Queen’s Gardens | 150 | 200 | 50 |
Buying all twelve from Cornifer costs 1079 Geo. Buying all twelve from Iselda costs 1440 Geo. Add the Resting Grounds map at 75 Geo either way.
Two prices are worth explaining. The Forgotten Crossroads map at 30 Geo is the cheapest because it is the first one and the game wants you to buy it. The Deepnest map at 38 Geo is cheap for a different reason: Cornifer never finished surveying Deepnest, so the map is full of blank patches and question marks. He is charging you less because he knows it is bad.
At the other end, Fog Canyon and the Queen’s Gardens cost 150 Geo from Cornifer. Fog Canyon is small and arguably skippable, but the Queen’s Gardens loop back on themselves badly enough that the map is worth it.
What happens if you miss him
Cornifer leaves an area in two situations: when you buy his map, and when you defeat that area’s main boss. If you rush past him and kill the boss first, he packs up and heads home.
This is not a missable item. Everything Cornifer collected ends up on Iselda’s shelves in Dirtmouth, and she will sell you any map you skipped for the higher price. You lose Geo, not content, and at most you lose 361 Geo across the whole run.
There is one soft consequence. Iselda’s dialogue and Cornifer’s retirement scene vary depending on how many maps you bought directly from him. If you want the version where he comes home happy, buy from him in person.
Should you buy the map before or after exploring?
Buy it first, every time, with one exception.
A map you buy on arrival shows you the shape of the area immediately, including rooms Cornifer surveyed that you have not reached. That turns exploration into a checklist rather than a guess, and it means you stop walking into dead ends you have already walked into.
The exception is Fog Canyon. At 150 Geo it is the joint most expensive map and the area is four or five rooms wide plus the Teacher’s Archives. If you are short on Geo early and you only need to pass through, skip it and buy it from Iselda later when money is not tight.
The Quill
The map is only half the system. The Quill, sold by Iselda for 120 Geo, is what lets your map update as you explore. Without it, every map you buy stays frozen at whatever Cornifer had surveyed.
With the Quill, sitting on a bench redraws the map to include every room you have walked through since the last rest. This is the single most common source of confusion in the game, and it is covered in full in the map and Quill guide.
Buy the Quill before your second map. Thirty Geo for the Crossroads map plus 120 for the Quill is 150 Geo total, and Gruz Mother in the Forgotten Crossroads drops enough on her own to almost cover it.
Practical route for buying every map
If you are chasing all thirteen maps at the lowest cost, this order matches a normal playthrough and never requires a return trip:
- Forgotten Crossroads, 30 Geo, then the Quill at 120.
- Greenpath, 60 Geo, on the way to Hornet.
- Fungal Wastes, 75 Geo, before you fight the Mantis Lords.
- Howling Cliffs, 75 Geo, when you come back for Nailmaster Mato.
- City of Tears, 90 Geo, immediately on entering.
- Crystal Peak, 112 Geo, before the Crystal Guardian.
- Resting Grounds, 75 Geo, from Iselda whenever you are passing.
- Royal Waterways, 75 Geo, before Dung Defender.
- Fog Canyon, 150 Geo, before Uumuu.
- Queen’s Gardens, 150 Geo, before Traitor Lord.
- Deepnest, 38 Geo, with the Lumafly Lantern in hand.
- Kingdom’s Edge, 112 Geo, before Hornet Sentinel.
- Ancient Basin, 112 Geo, before Broken Vessel.
Total cost at Cornifer prices, including the Resting Grounds map and the Quill: 1274 Geo. That is less than the value of six Hallownest Seals sold to Lemm.
Use the interactive map with the Cornifer filter on to see exactly where he sits in each area, and the area pages for what else is worth grabbing while you are there.
Frequently asked questions
How many areas does Cornifer appear in?
Twelve: Forgotten Crossroads, Greenpath, Fungal Wastes, City of Tears, Crystal Peak, Royal Waterways, Howling Cliffs, Fog Canyon, Queen's Gardens, Kingdom's Edge, Deepnest and the Ancient Basin. He never visits the Resting Grounds, so Iselda is the only source of that map.
What happens if I miss Cornifer in an area?
Nothing is lost permanently. Cornifer leaves an area once you buy his map or once you beat the area's main boss, and he then returns to Iselda's shop in Dirtmouth. Iselda sells every map he collected, at roughly a third more Geo than he charged.
How much cheaper is Cornifer than Iselda?
Cornifer charges exactly 75 percent of Iselda's price. The Forgotten Crossroads map is 30 Geo from him and 40 from her, and the Queen's Gardens map is 150 from him and 200 from her. Buying from Cornifer every time saves 361 Geo over the whole game.
Why can't I hear Cornifer in Deepnest?
He is frightened, so he stops humming in Deepnest. You have to find him by following the scattered papers instead of by sound. That is also why the Deepnest map is the second cheapest in the game at 38 Geo: he never finished surveying it.
Do I need the Quill as well as the map?
Yes. A map shows only the parts Cornifer already surveyed until you own the Quill, which Iselda sells for 120 Geo. With the Quill, sitting on a bench fills in everywhere you have walked. Without it, the map never changes.
Is there a map for every area?
No. The White Palace, Godhome, the Colosseum of Fools, the Hive and the Abyss have no map at all. Every other area has one, and the Resting Grounds map is sold by Iselda only.
Where does Cornifer go at the end?
Once you have bought enough of his maps he retires to Iselda's shop in Dirtmouth and stays there for the rest of the game. You can still talk to him, and Iselda's dialogue changes depending on how many maps you bought from him directly.