 The player is a foreigner who arrives in the Dyrwood . Their caravan is hit by a mysterious storm that kills everyone but them . Taking refuge in a cave , the player character witnesses some cultists perform a ritual on a machine that can strip souls from their bodies . Exposed to these energies , the player character becomes a Watcher , a person able to read souls . The player character also becomes Awakened , able to access memories of their past lives . This curses the Watcher with waking visions and an inability to sleep . In time , the Watcher will go mad from this , so they set out to track down the cultists and reverse the curse . 
