Core worldbuilding: The world did not end all at once. It slowly “sank into the eternal night.” Now, only two things remain on the earth: the “Abyss” and the “Cities” struggling to survive within it. The “Abyss” is not a physical place, but a pervasive, corrosive “field of rules” that distorts the laws of physics, alters perception, and spawns bizarre entities known as “Gloamblight.” Humanity huddles in faintly lit cities that rely on “Sourcefire Stones” to drive back the “Abyss.” But “Sourcefire Stones” are not everlasting. Their fuel is human memories and emotions, specially processed. The more vivid, passionate, and precious a memory, the more efficiently it burns. To survive, people must periodically “pay” with their most precious memories, gradually becoming hollow shells. Hope and humanity have become the fuel that must be consumed to keep civilization alive.
