Lake Andromeda

Lore

Spoiler warning! This section contains plot details about the game.

Though it is very beautiful, there's clearly something unusual about this lake. The frozen surface glistens as though it were a precious gem...

With several great chains protruding from the sandy soil that surrounds it, and reaching into the depths.

What could be responsible for such a curious scene...?

There was once a village, home to a woman of quite magnificent beauty. Unbeknownst to the villagers, however, her beauty was false.

When she was a young girl, a black-clad man had visited the village. A place largely closed off to the outside world, the village was mistrustful of strangers. But the girl had the natural curiosity of one her age, and approached the man without fear. The man, for his part, took an instant liking to the open-minded girl.

When it came time for the man to leave, he gave her a certain potion.

A potion to make her beautiful.

The girl took regualr doses of the potion as she grew, thus becoming a breathtakingly beautiful woman.

Countless men fell at her feet, her life a carnival of courtship.

That is not to say, however, that it was perfect... As time went on, the woman aged just like everyone else.

As soon as she noticed her beauty beginning to fade, the woman turned to the potion once more. She took a healthy dose, and almost immediatly the flawless beauty of her youth returned. By repeating this process, the woman could maintain her position as the most beautiful in the land.

Every time she quaffed the rejuvenating potion, however, the warning from the black-clad man rang in her ears. "You can only use the potion twelve times. A thirteenth, and a great misfortune shall befall you."

In her greed, alas, she failed to heed the man's warning. Loath as she was to relinquish her wonderful life... She used the potion a thirteenth time.

Though her age should have exceeded 100, she looked not a day over twenty, but she had underestimated the cost incurred by sorcery.

The villagers were increasingly suspicious about her youth, and treated her as a kind of monster. And worse still, a deadly plague was taking hold.

Rumors circulated that it was the monstrous woman who had brought plague to the village. Acting on this suspicion, the villagers decided to punish her for the suffering she had caused.

Getting rid of her would perhaps eradicate the plague.

Just wishful thinking, of course, but nobody was willing to listen to her pleas of innocence.

She was taken to a remote piece of wasteland, and tied to the ground with chains. The villagers knew that poisonous snakes and insects lived in the area. A bite from one would ensure a long and painful death for her...

That was the cruelest punishment the villagers could imagine.

Rendered immobile by the thick chains, the woman could do nothing but stare at the sky.

"Death does not concern me. But to be old and ugly..." she thought.

No sooner had the thought entered her mind than a voice made itself heard, and a white chalice appeared before her eyes. The voice promised that her wish would be fulfiled, if she paid the price.

Unhesitating, the woman indicated her assent, and was filled with hope. Perhaps her beauty would finally last...

Immediatly, her body froze into a block of ice, which melted and expanded, forming a breath-taking lake. The lake would later become known as Andromeda, and gain renown for its captivating beauty.

The woman had wanted beauty, and her wish was realized, but at a heavy cost.

Humans are finite beings, and if eternal beauty is obtained, death and also humanity must be renounced. The chains that once held the woman now lead down into the depths of the lake. Exactly what they connect to...no one dares speculate.

Quests taking place

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