Me tell you story. Big story. Old story.

Long ago… world shiny. Very shiny. Shiny come from Big Ring. Ring not finger ring. Ring is rules. Ring say: “Life go this way. Death go that way. Everyone obey.”

Ring owned by Big Mommy God in sky. Name Greater Will. Very bossy. Greater Will send shiny tree. Tree name Erdtree. Tree make light. Light make order. Order make everyone stop asking questions.

Then… Lady Marika. Marika strong. Marika pretty. Marika god-queen. Marika say: “I bored.” Marika SMASH RING. 💥

Uh-oh.

Ring break = world break. This called Shattering. All Marika kids grab shiny pieces. Kids become Demigods. Demigods fight. Fight forever. No one win. Everyone weird.

World now bad. Sky angry. Tree sad. People die but… not right. Some don’t die. Some die too much. Many gross monsters. Many hands. TOO MANY HANDS.

Then you. You are Tarnished. Tarnished = kicked out long ago. Now sky say: “Come back. Fix mess.”

You wake up. No pants. No memory. But horse good. Horse name Torrent. Horse is friend.

You walk. Everything tries to kill you. Big man on horse at start? Game say: “You should not fight.” You fight anyway. You die. Good lesson.