Verdance

Thorn of the Rose

The eternal bloom of Candlehold prepared Verdance for a life untouched by decay.

She grew up under summer’s dependable gaze with an affinity for the flora and fauna of the glade, and developed her skills as a wizard in accordance with the natural laws set by the Rosetta.

For Verdance, Candlehold is as beautiful and free as the wildflowers that adorn her gown.

Which is why she despises the Harbinger. Someone so devoted to the ephemeral that he would celebrate death as heartily as life?

Now Verdance spends her days not only as a nurturer warning Candlehold’s creatures of Florian’s trickery, but as a healer, warding off the rot he spreads with every spoiled step.

But Candlehold isn’t the haven it once was. The Rosetta languish. They do not tend to their gardens, nor do they write or sing or dance. For them, the perpetual summer offers no promise beyond more of what they have always known, and so they linger, awaiting a day they cannot envision.

And now their beloved matriarch is dead.
And in her passing, she left a seed that promises renewal, should the Rosetta welcome it.

Will they plant the seed in Candlehold and continue their isolation from greater Aria forever more? Or will they plant it beyond the thistle and bramble and allow the full cycle of the seasons to shape them anew?

The fate of all Candlehold lies in Verdance’s hands.