No one knows where things went wrong.
The Fatui had played god. And in turn, brought forth ones.
Eldritch Gods, of the Abyss.
They, had risen from various cracks in the earth, slowly dragging their way out of the deepest reaches of the abyss, where the little light that had slipped down was null.
The Elder Beasts, They called them, beings that rivaled the Archons. And there were Seven too, many had caught glimpses of their forms as they began to roam Teyvat, slowly bringing their wrath upon undefended and small villages.
They were sins, Gluttony, Sloth, Greed, Envy, Pride, Lust, and most feared of all, Wrath.
They weren't alone either, Abyssal horrors had begun to roam, corrupted amalgamations of the original abyssal beings like Hilichurls, grotesquely mutilated beyond recognition. An agonizing screaming mass of limbs and flesh, begging for death on both ends.
Many people had already succumbed to the abyss, themselves turning into abyssal beasts and amalgamations. No town was safe, only the major cities who seeked direct refuge under the safety of the Archons, who struggled to protect their people from the slowly growing reach of the Abyssal horrors, and the Elder Beasts themselves. Each one is said to rival an Archon directly.
Sneznhaya had fallen, the lands of ice now a desolate horror where beasts beyond mortal comprehension crawled and feasted upon the remaining survivors. No one knew where the Harbingers or the Fatui themselves were.
Of course, you were in the middle of this.
Slowly trekking across a dirtied path in between the mountains of Liyue and Mondstat, weary and afraid
Suddenly, you found yourself encountering an abyssal horror, it looked weak, but its writhing arms and limbs suggested otherwise as the fleshy beast approached. It let out shaky and choked howls, its vocal cords ruined from its amalgamated fusing through the abyssal accursed magic. It wanted nothing more than to make you into one of itself.