[BONUS]
A few seconds passed.
When nothing happened, Ren was about to try a different offering—
Then the monument changed.
An unnatural sadness descended upon the clearing, followed by a suffocating silence and a darkness so heavy it felt almost physical. The shadows deepened, and the world around him began to lose its color, everything fading into shades of gray. Only the rivulets of glowing crimson crawling up the elven statues remained vivid, pulsing like veins filled with blood.
Ren hadn't moved.
Only a few seconds had passed.
And yet, he could tell immediately that he was no longer fully in the Verdant Woods.
Or at least, not entirely.
Beyond the monument, the landscape dissolved into rolling curtains of dark mist after only a short distance. Overhead, the sky had gone starless and oppressive, pressing down on him with the weight of a cavern ceiling rather than an open night.
He had crossed over.
The Shadowmire.
