The Fracture in "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33" was a cataclysmic event that took place 67 years ago. It marked the first appearance of the Paintress, a mysterious deity-like figure who emerged from the sea with a colossal monolith. The Paintress painted the number 100 on the monolith, and this event caused the city of Lumière to be pulled into the sea, isolating it from the rest of civilization. Since then, every year the Paintress has awakened to etch a new number on the monolith, counting down from 100. Residents of Lumière whose ages correspond to the number painted on the monolith mysteriously perish in an annual event called the Gommage. This has led to a series of expeditions named after these numbers, with Expedition 33 being the current one in the game's storyline. In summary, the Fracture happened 67 years ago and fundamentally changed the fate of Lumière and its inhabitants, setting the grim cycle of the Paintress's curse in motion.
As for "clair obscur," it is the French translation of the Italian word "chiaroscuro," an artistic term referring to the strong contrast between light and dark, commonly used in Renaissance and Baroque art to emphasize volume and drama in compositions.
