Breath and Drowning

Breath is lent, never given. The deep water always asks for it back.

In game

How you spend your breath, what happens when it runs out, and how drowning works.

Breath is the bar to the right of your hotbar. Unlike the other vitals, it empties as you spend it, and it moves in moments, not hours.

What spends breath

Running. Breath drains fast while you run. From full, a sprint lasts about seven seconds.
Jumping. Each jump costs a little.
Drawing a bow or winding up a throw. Holding the draw drains breath, and the release costs a little more.
Going under water. With your head under, breath drains steadily: about twenty seconds from full. Swimming hard under water burns it four times as fast.

Stop, and after a moment your breath comes back. From empty to full takes about thirteen seconds.

Spend your breath to nothing and you are winded. You cannot run or jump, and you can only stagger at a crawl, until a fifth of your breath is back.

Injury steals breath. The worse you are hurt, the less you can hold. At your worst, your lungs hold half. See Injury and Wounds.

Under water with no breath left, you drown. The water harms you fast: a healthy Traveler lasts about ten seconds. Get your head above the surface.

Swimming also wears you out forty times faster than walking. See Fatigue and Sleep.