Trees are few and vegetation sparse in dry, barren Thanalan.

For as long as anyone can remember, the lumber traders of Ul'dah have hired botanists to bring fine wood back from Mor Dhona. The road from Ul'dah to Mor Dhona winds over Cutter's Pass, named after the woodcutters who cross it as they travel to and fro between the forests and the lumber yards.

A cave called Cutter's Cry stands near the pass, and most woodcutters know to steer well clear of its dark, gaping maw. They whisper of horrors lurking within, the most terrible of all beings─the chimera, a three-headed monster straight from the underworld. Sometimes, when the winds are up and the air bites hard and cold, you can, if you listen hard enough, hear the pitiful cries of those who had fallen victim to the beast. It is a sound that chills the blood more surely than any north wind.

Once, thirty years ago, the merchants decided to hire mercenaries to clear the monsters from the cave and make Cutter's Pass safe for their agents. The Darklight Raiders were the unfortunate band who agreed to take on the job. Many of their number entered that cave, and very, very few emerged. But still, the chimera was dead―or so it was believed.