“Before I knew it, I ended up in that horrible place. I didn’t notice at first, thought that the transfer made me dizzy, so that’s why it was dark. I just walked ahead and didn’t mind anything much. I found it concerning after my sight didn’t return after half a minute. After two minutes I understood that it was that place that didn’t have any light. I thought to find out what happened and, if possible, return home. So I went ahead, searching for the rest of the group, yelling their names and walking around which, as I later believed, was a very dumb idea.

…

It had been a week or so by the time I found the first settlement. Well, it felt like a week, I couldn’t tell. There was no light. It was very dark. And I was alone and lost, it felt my mind was slowly eroding, so when I first found that settlement, I didn’t dare to believe it but I still ran with what feeble strength my body had left. Good thing our race can be fine without any food and water for very long periods of time, else I would not survive that place, not to mention running towards places, imaginary or not.

My hopes shattered when I reached it. The buildings were very sturdy and well-made, it was obvious that the civilization that made them was at least on par with the second plane’s Remm Empire. It was that good. But there weren’t any people. And the settlement was completely in ruin. Sturdy as they were, the buildings had many holes and there was debris everywhere. And bones. A lot of bones.

I didn’t understand what they were at first, it was very dark after all, but there was a mountain that was six times as tall as me and probably ten times as wide right under my nose. And it was made of bones.

I freaked out of course. I screamed like I was being killed. My already dry throat couldn’t take it and I began coughing blood violently. I was going to run away, but my body didn’t have much strength left. For some time I believed that I would too become a bunch of bones in the pile. Somehow, it was comforting.

…

I couldn’t even stand up anymore and the vague silhouettes I could see before now couldn’t be seen by my tired and dried out eyes.

Suddenly, the entire place changed. I swear I heard a lot of scary noises that bore right under my skull and almost killed me. I didn’t think that there could be such disgusting groaning howling noises.

The space around me also distorted and vanished like a dream, somewhat like when spacial transfer tools work, only more unreal. I was in a huge vacuum. And then the “stars” came out. There were countless little flickering golden lights. There were moving sporadically and disappearing unexpectedly, it was very beautiful. I tried to concentrate on one and it was very dizzying, it was close to impossible to quantify them: one became two, which became nine, which became a sea, all at the same time, in the same place. And the stars almost destroyed whatever there was left of my sanity, I was too stupid to close my eyes, so my mind went blank.

By the time I came too, I was in the clinic. It seems I appeared in the middle of a town out of nowhere, laughing with a very hoarse voice and they took me away to the institution for the mentally ill.

…

Even now, in the middle of the night, I wake up at times and hear the half-howling, half-groaning noises that are out of this world and the lights would begin flickering in front of my eyes.

Whatever I have experienced in that place, it must’ve left a very deep scar on this old soul of mine. That’s why I’m writing this, maybe leaving it on paper will let me forget the experiences of that place…”

-From Wenn Tyqiop’s, a survivor of the Righteous Lands, diary.

******

A realm that no one knows how to enter. A realm that no one wants to enter. A barren, dark, dead place.

Many people despise that place for it has destroyed and ruined many, many worlds. There’re also many worlds that worship that place with vigour and devotion. But no one truly knows what that place is and how it came to be.

The Righteous Lands.

Endless miles of ruined landscape, no light and no water and, naturally, absolutely no life. It stretches on and on, in some places, there’re mountains of bones, in others, there’re crumbled cities, and everywhere there’re signs of battle that destroyed all.

The inhabitants have all died, but the realm is still alive. No, something in this realm is still alive and that something is breathing life into the ghost realm.

And that something has awakened due to the influence of a certain Soul High-Witch…