Sacred Valley

Spoiler warning!
Beyond this point are spoilers! Read at your own risk.

One of the starting area Zones inShattered Realms: Mortal Tale , it is a mysterious section of the Ancient Hills with many ancient ruins, forests, lakes, and plains. The full region has never been fully explored, and rumors are aplenty of a secret temple hidden within its depths... one where a sleeping goddess may dwell...

Story

Introduction

The Player is first introduced to the storyline of the Sacred Valley when a strange cloaked figure bides the Player to follow them after the Player is blocked by a forcefield at the Pito Caves. After following them for a ways, they end up in the snowy wastes to the south of Saliden Village, where the Player must then traverse their way north to the village.

Threat of Ice

The Player discovers the town is full of Thralls, with the only concious member being the Elder of the village. He realizes the Player is not corrupt and bides them to come inside. Once he does, he tells how a divine goddess slumbered beneath the land, and the land was full of miracles and wonder, until the day of snow arrive, plunging the land into a deadly snow storm. He reveals that even he is being lost, and to beware those further ahead, as they have become monsters. Before the Player leaves, the Elder asks that the Player save his daughter.

Caldera's Keep

The Player heads further north, traversing the Highmountain until they reach the mouth of Caldera's Keep. There, they are greeted by a vision of Caldera, a mysterious being behind the snowstorms and the corruptions of the villagers into Thralls and Ice Demons. From there, they can either proceed left or right to begin their adventure through the Keep.

Left Wing - Prisons and Altar of Sacrifice

The Player must climb a wing of stairs littered with Ice Wolves, and from there, they reach the Prisons. They have the ability to disable the locks in the prison and free the captured villagers and disable the forcefield barring the way to the Altar of Sacrifice. If the Player ignores or fails to find all of the imprisoned villagers, this will affect the ending they get fighting Caldera.

Opening the Altar of Sacrifice begins a mini boss battle with Bismuth, which will be the first encounter with the Cult of Chaos. After being defeated, Bismuth informs the Player of the situation and gives them a Runestone Beta, half of what is required to bypass the dungeon's central gate to Caldera's lair. He then disappears, ending this segment of the dungeon.

Right Wing - The Lair of Indervious the Infallible

Entering this wing takes the Player through a shorter staircase, in which a mysterious girl appears, and helps them through this portion of the dungeon. The first challenge they face is a series of pillars created by a spacial distortion. To get past these, patience and timing is everything. Running straight in or attempting to blitz through the pillars will send the player soaring back to where they started.

Bypassing this challenge results in the maiden taking them to the next puzzle, as the puzzle is dislodged from normal space into an alternate deminsion. The puzzle is a series of teleporters that operate by taking the Player in the direction it faces on the respective pillar. Getting one wrong may cause damage and send you the wrong way or back to the beginning of the puzzle. The Player must get from the west side to the east to continue.

The third challenge requires the Player to defeat a series of Ice Demons to continue through a sealed part of the wall. Beyond this is the mini boss behind the puzzles, Indervious the Infallible. Getting any of his quiz questions wrong results in a series of battles that will either culminate in a peace offering or a decisive battle with the devil, either route rewards the Player with the second Runestone Beta.

The Final Battle

The final battle with Caldera begins, and it is revealed that she intends to turn Oxorin into a frozen hell, using Awakener Belladona's Awakener powers to interface with the Frozen Primal. She will halt the first phase at 50% health. She has multiple paths of dialogue before this, and exclusively offers the Player a chance to serve her willingly if they save all of the villagers, a total of 9-10. Chosing to side with her reveals an alternate ending, but still counts as a game over.

If the Player failed to save all of the villagers, Caldera completes Belladona's corruption and turns her into a Devil, resulting in a battle requiring the two to be slain without exception. The battle is much harder as Belladona has high damaging spells and Caldera fights at full strength.

If the Player has saved all of the Villagers, an alternate senario plays in which the Player is granted a boon by the Slumbering Goddess and must stop Caldera from completing the ritual to transform Belladona, with a set time limit. Caldera in this senario and in the previous senario will spawn an Ice Demon in an attempt to stave off the Player's assault when she reaches low health. Failing to beat the timer results in a similar senario to the first, and bars the optimal ending to the encounter.

Aftermath

If the Player succeeded in saving the villagers and Belladona, the village they return to is bright and happy, with the villagers thanking the Player for their valliance, and the Elder himself gives the Player a reward. Belladona seems distraught however, as she is disfigured, a half Devil and can no longer serve the Goddess.

There is no reward for not saving all of the villagers or Belladona herself, as the Elder is grief striken and does not wish to see the Player for the loss of his daughter.

Regardless of outcome aside from the game over variant, the Valley is restored.

Side Missions

The Player will later be able to redeem Belladona, explore ancient ruins and uncover their secrets, battle in an arena event at the Isle of Valor, discover a tower full of puzzles, and eventually after beating the Isle of Valor, reach the secret location of the Slumbering Goddess. Entry will require the gathering of the Three Heavenly Lights.