" There were things that began to roam about in the dark. They were called Nulthereals, the Whisperers. They seemed to be helping the curse. Many of the survivors called to them,” Sidaire said, “pleading with them to restore the plants. Several had simply given up hope they were so crippled by sadness and depression that no one was doing anything practical to try to solve the problem. Everyone stopped caring. The world began to fade into the desert you see now. Then sometime after that, villagers began to mysteriously go missing, one by one. "

― J. Kevin Cox , Bewilderness