The Cradle of Life

THE WORLD IS DYING Across the land, tears in reality known as Shimmers are appearing without warning. Villages vanish. Ancient things stir beneath the earth. And the old gods, silent for centuries, have begun to speak again. You play as Caelis, a weathered warrior sent in search of a forgotten relic known as the Needle. What begins as a simple journey soon leads through buried kingdoms, corrupted histories, and places where reality itself has begun to come apart. There is a truth behind the Shimmers. The problem is that everyone has a different version of it. FIGHT WITH INTENT Combat takes place on a tactical grid where positioning matters as much as damage. Movement costs AP. Height changes the battlefield. Heavy weapons hit hard but demand commitment. Spears control distance. Shields buy survival. Armor changes how enemies fight, and wounds can create an opening long before an enemy reaches zero health. Break an enemy’s Poise and their defense begins to fail. Break their Psych and fear changes their behavior entirely, with panicked enemies becoming desperate and broken enemies sometimes abandoning the fight altogether. There is rarely one correct answer, but there are plenty of wrong ones. SHAPE YOUR CAELIS Caelis has a history, but you decide the man carrying it forward. Choose his appearance, hair, beard, colors and equipment, with changes reflected on both his character in the world and his portrait as you play. Your choices extend beyond appearance. Weapons become familiar through use, Resolve unlocks new strengths, and the decisions you make gradually shape the kind of survivor Caelis becomes. A WORLD THAT DOESN’T CARE IF YOU FIND THE ANSWER There are no glowing trails leading to the next objective and no omniscient voice telling you who is telling the truth. Talk to people. Read what they left behind. Search houses, caves, ruins and roads where what you find is not always what you were looking for. Some people will lie to you. Some records will contradict one another. Sometimes both are telling the truth as they understand it. Meanwhile, Hunger and Psych follow you outside battle. Go too long without food and your body begins to fail. Spend too long in unstable places and your mind begins to follow. SIX GODS. SIX ANSWERS. The gods do not agree on what should happen to this world. Airealen speaks of life and sacrifice. Yrris demands judgment. Valen offers dreams, comfort and oblivion. Thozur teaches that all things must decay. Naerun embraces change, whatever the cost. Zhal watches in silence. They will notice what you do. They will remember what you say. And eventually, one of them will have your answer. Who will you serve? Find the Needle. Reach the Cradle of Life. Decide what deserves to survive.