And so the cutscene began.
The Tarnished reached out and pressed their palm against the amber's surface. Then the golden chains began to tremble, giving off faint sounds of shattering metal... The chains snapped link by link, dissolving into golden motes of light in the air.
Cracks began to appear on the amber's surface, growing more numerous and dense, spreading in every direction like a spiderweb. Light shone through the cracks, growing ever brighter.
A line of text appeared on the screen: [He is watching, preparing, restraining space and time.]
The image flashed.
Statues, whispers, swirling light and shadow-everything raced past.
When the view cleared again, the player was standing somewhere entirely unfamiliar.
Sunless darkness-that was the first impression.
Thick layers of rock hung overhead, with no sky in sight. Red crystals jutting from the rock walls gave off a faint glow, barely providing any illumination. Rugged canyon terrain surrounded the player, with steep rock walls on either side, but the floor was flat and open, with a traversable passage down the middle.
The gorge showed clear signs of glacial erosion: a common U-shaped valley. But how could glaciers appear so deep underground? The formation of a tunnel valley required constant erosion by meltwater, yet the player found no trace of groundwater. It was a strange phenomenon.
The words ["Black Soil of Ages Past" Wailing Gorge] appeared unusually slowly on the screen.
The player looked around. Bandits could be seen wandering through the gorge in twos and threes, wearing clothes so ragged they barely covered their bodies. They staggered toward the Tarnished on sight. But they were weak, easily dispatched in a few hits, and most were already low on health.
Judging by their clothing descriptions, something was wrong with the space-time here.
``` Obtained: [Bandit's Ragged Garb]
[Description: Extremely