Study of Golden Wasteland's Past
Notes:
Darkstone lanterns. Even in times where people are growing mysterious dark stones on their bodies, the kingdom still hasn't given up its little luxuries.
This may indicate a level of not-yet-knowing, at least among the lower class, or a prideful insistence on the King's part not to retire these small technologies because he still refuses to acknowledge the scope of their harm.
The market. We see dye and cloth merchants, tools for measuring and sewing, a new variety of foods, teas, toys, furniture, and tools. The biggest lines of customers are present at the tea shop and the furniture stall. Guards patrol the market alongside shoppers.
The residents. Most folks seem ill. Nearly everyone coughs regularly, aside from guards (as far as I've noticed). There is an ever-moving line at the door of the building with the golden light - it seems like a location to get help.
Residents respond to some emotes, which helps give us clues about them. They're receptive to things like bowing and waving. They give mixed responses to be scared; children tend to find it funny when you scare them and they may even scare you back, while adults give responses ranging from laughter to scolding. Guards appreciate being saluted, acknowledged, shown respect, and surprisingly (if I remember correctly) being shown your Kung Foo moves.
However, there are some disliked emotes. Honking too much will get you facepalms, nasty looks, and shushes. It can also get you arrested if you pester the guards too much. Sneezing is universally disliked, but they don't respond to coughing (probably because everyone does it). And, surprisingly, the cheer emote will get you nasty looks from passersby, even if the street performers were really good.
Gated communities. There are large apartment-style buildings on either side of the main area, both beyond reach without going out of bounds, blocked off by tall metal gates and permanent guards. For ancestors, this likely meant a segregation of the classes.
Those who could afford it got to live in the safety of those tall stone buildings blocked off from the general public, with a guard stationed at each gate to ensure no one could try to make it past. Most of these buildings are relatively far, or are at least separated from, any piping. This suggests a level of knowing that it was not preferable to be near the pipes, and also that there was something to fear from other ancestors. Looting may have been an issue, or could have been a propaganda tool.
There are some additional buildings like the previous ones that are not gated on the opposite side of the gated communities and market. These have several pipes running right through them. Assuming they serve the same function, I imagine the lower class folks who could not afford the luxury of a private gated community likely lived here.
If you could not afford either option, or if the rooms were all full when you arrived as a refugee, you slept in a makeshift tent with what little items you could carry with you. In the desert of Golden Wasteland, this likely meant constant exposure to suffocating heat during the day and freezing temperatures at night. With lanterns not even being powered by flames here, warmth at night was probably hard to come by.
The main gate. The Wasteland Temple was not openly accessible to anyone in this main area. The thick, solid, darkstone-powered gate is bracketed by two guards, along with Scarred Sentry.
The mountain. Pipes and spiky spired buildings line the entirety of Mt. Eden. It's possible that these buildings are luxury housing, but what's important to note about living in a location like this is the fact that unless the tenants were hiking the steep mountainside, they likely required air boats to travel to and from their homes.
There are also layers upon layers of stone walls lining the mountainside, preventing people from making that trek if they even made it far enough to try.
Closing thoughts:
Golden Wasteland, in this era, was rife with illness and classism. Guards were stationed everywhere to keep people in line and imprisoned them when they caused any trouble. Yet, clearly these conditions were preferable to those outside the tall stone walls. With the knowledge that Darkness is closing in (TTE) and that the void manifested itself throughout each realm, absorbing all life in its path (artbook), we can imagine the kinds of horrifying conditions these refugees were fleeing.
There is more to understand about the level of awareness the ancestors had about darkstone and its adverse effects at this time. Additionally, we still need to gather more information about the glowing building and the apartment-style buildings - we don't yet officially know the purpose of either.
Stay tuned for a Part 2 when I have more energy!
