Time can be severed, but life endures

[keepthefaith1984]

For humanity to truly go extinct, there is only one way: the relentless execution of newborns, year after year, for over eighty years. Only when life is severed at its source will the flame of humanity finally die out.
But if death comes randomly—whether at twenty or seventy—it may fracture our age structure, but it cannot erase the future. As long as there are hands to cradle new life, as long as love and reproduction endure, humanity will survive.
A system that takes one age each year is not extinction—it is a curse. Not annihilation, but a perpetual scar. It twists society, makes people fear the passage of time, but it is not the end. Not yet.

[JimmyJoeBlow]

What is this declaration?

This is a fantasy setting in a game not reality. I don't recall reading LotR and thinking, "There is no way 1 being could control everybody with a ring."

As for the setting making sense. If there were no more child-bearing people in existence because an entity continues to count down then there would be no more children. Therefor the expeditions would be needed to stop said entity. This is the story as we know so far.

[groudonvert]

If nobody is old enough to give birth, the humanity will die and it's not without taking into consideration that the younger and younger they get, the least likely they'll destroy the paintress before going extinct.

[Naridar]

You seem to misunderstand. The paintress' curse leaves no one above the number on the monolith, alive. With the number 33, there will be nobody alive aged 33 or above. At the latest when the number reaches 0, humanity is irrevocably extinct. Realistically, even earlier - when there are no people above, say, 7-8 years old, those who would survive the curse would die to starvation (children are too young to hunt, forage or work the land for food), disease (no one old enough to know how medicine works), or the inability to protect themselves from the regular forces of nature.

This doesn't account for the old guy who decimates the expedition in the demo, but the full game will probably provide an answer.

[TundraTroll907]

Originally posted by Naridar:

You seem to misunderstand. The paintress' curse leaves no one above the number on the monolith, alive. With the number 33, there will be nobody alive aged 33 or above. At the latest when the number reaches 0, humanity is irrevocably extinct. Realistically, even earlier - when there are no people above, say, 7-8 years old, those who would survive the curse would die to starvation (children are too young to hunt, forage or work the land for food), disease (no one old enough to know how medicine works), or the inability to protect themselves from the regular forces of nature.

This doesn't account for the old guy who decimates the expedition in the demo, but the full game will probably provide an answer.

at that point kids are growing up faster and learning how to survive at age 5

[Meow]

Originally posted by keepthefaith1984:

For humanity to truly go extinct, there is only one way: the relentless execution of newborns, year after year, for over eighty years. Only when life is severed at its source will the flame of humanity finally die out.
But if death comes randomly—whether at twenty or seventy—it may fracture our age structure, but it cannot erase the future. As long as there are hands to cradle new life, as long as love and reproduction endure, humanity will survive.
A system that takes one age each year is not extinction—it is a curse. Not annihilation, but a perpetual scar. It twists society, makes people fear the passage of time, but it is not the end. Not yet.

This is exactly why you don't engage regressive ideology, the celebration of newborns and family is a sign of life. The painter is a villain that seeks to take away life.

[groudonvert]

Originally posted by TheThrillofDefeat:

Originally posted by Naridar:

You seem to misunderstand. The paintress' curse leaves no one above the number on the monolith, alive. With the number 33, there will be nobody alive aged 33 or above. At the latest when the number reaches 0, humanity is irrevocably extinct. Realistically, even earlier - when there are no people above, say, 7-8 years old, those who would survive the curse would die to starvation (children are too young to hunt, forage or work the land for food), disease (no one old enough to know how medicine works), or the inability to protect themselves from the regular forces of nature.

This doesn't account for the old guy who decimates the expedition in the demo, but the full game will probably provide an answer.

at that point kids are growing up faster and learning how to survive at age 5

They learn to procreate at age 5 too ?