Shackles and Shards: Chapter 01

The Rose of Oblivion is dead, and the scent of salt floods the gossamer halls of the temple as each priestess, each acolyte, and each novice takes their turn wailing and screaming, the youngest still unsure of this calamitous display of grief. I wander the corridors of the temple, screaming along with my sisters, making my way to my office in the back—I still have duties to do, even as I wail.

It has been over two hundred years since last a Rose wilted, since a final petal fell and turned to dust in the dark depths of Dana’s Temple. We have no guide; we have no frame of reference for this disastrous departure. Death is Dana's gift, but it is one she rarely bestows to her most loyal servants. Mortality is her Blessing, but it is one she keeps at bay for her most ardent worshipers. Even her High Priestesses live normal, mortal lives, but her Roses—Oblivion, Sorrow, and Mercy—inexplicably surpass all in longevity.