Timeline: TC1853.01.28 (Evening)
Location: Mist Valley
The valley shouldn't have been beautiful.
But it was.
Golden mist filled the basin like liquid sunlight poured into cupped hands, shimmering with luminescence that made the air itself seem to glow. It moved with patterns that defied natural wind—swirling in spirals that suggested consciousness, flowing around invisible obstacles with grace that spoke of purpose rather than random atmospheric behavior.
And it was killing everything it touched.
Raven stood at the valley's edge, enhanced senses cataloging details that painted a picture of slow, beautiful death. Trees at the mist's boundary stood skeletal—stripped of leaves and bark, wood bleached white like bones left in desert sun. Grass had withered to ash. Even stones showed signs of erosion that shouldn't occur in mere days, surfaces pitted and crumbling like centuries of weathering compressed into heartbeats.
