Lincoln POV:
We arrive in exactly the same way we did before: silently, thoughtfully, burdened by no expectation. The land does not respond to our presence, no pressure builds behind my eyes, no tension loads in my chest, the Chrono Forge unmoving against my back, a steady presence that does not intrude.
Based on that statement, I can deduce that something has changed.
The Pale Verge looks. the same.
And that's the first thing we notice.
There is no transformation, no sudden explosion of color, no decay of washed-out earth into even greener, even more recognizable forms. The sky itself continues an undistinguished washed-out blue, light not bright but diffused. The grass continues to grow with muted, undistinguished colors, neither dead nor bright.
It is, unmistakably, still the Pale
