Filthy clouds blanketed the scorched, rotting earth. Shadows of the defeated and terrifying, twisted monstrosities wandered through valleys, plains, hills, and basins that had been steeped in intense magical radiation for seven centuries. Frenzied, disorderly winds passed through gaps between jagged, menacing stone pillars and loose rock walls, stirring mournful low rumbles across the land. Mixed into those sounds was an acrid smell—the scent produced as magic decomposed the air.
In the heartland of the Ancient Gandor Empire, in a valley over a hundred kilometers from the Azure Well Explosion Pit, a "base" formed from huge boulders and tangled, twisted giant trees lay quietly hidden among the mountains.
Intertwined dark-brown vines wound through the mountain walls on either side, weaving into a massive spider web-like structure above the valley. Thorn-covered branches extended from the vines, cutting the already dim and horrifying sky into even smaller, more chaotic fragments. The valley beneath this thorny net was strewn with enormous rocks. Vines and thorns linked the stone pillars as well, forming countless structures like massive walls. Numerous "pipes" made of wooden structure extended from the nearby mountain rock, carrying precious underground water into a water-supply network that looked crude and chaotic but had in fact been meticulously designed.
This was a grim and terrifying domain to creatures from beyond the wasteland, but to the twisted beings living deep within it, it was the most comfortable refuge and the most suitable habitat.
Countless bizarre giant trees with human faces, along with controlled Aberrants, moved about this "habitat." Using this place as their foundation, they built their own "territory" while slowly expanding their influence beyond the valley.
At the center of the valley lay an exceptionally open area. The thorny dome overhead had left a large opening through which dim daylight could shine into