Jan 17, 2019
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Mourning Illusions
[ Photo by Tyler Dozier on Unsplash ]
At the northern edge of the Moonglade, a small grove overlooked the Veiled Sea. Isolated from the rest of the glade, inaccessible to younger druids, the grove held a rough stone bench from which one could look out over the water, and several carefully tended rune-carved stones.
A stormcrow glided down from the trees, flying in and out of the late evening shadows. Coming low to the ground, the bird manifested into a kaldorei druidess carrying a small bundle of herbs in her right hand. Her eyes were reddened, her shoulders drawn inward, and she approached the stones with almost reluctant steps.
“I brought you some mageroyal, Delyra," Kyuusei said in a soft voice, "Just like we..."
Her voice trailed off as she looked at the stone she'd come to so many times in the past. The grasses immediately surrounding it were scorched ashen, the stone itself blackened and covered in soot as if it had been at the center of a conflagration. All these markings were faded, softened by the passage of two, perhaps three moons. Beyond the stone and the dead grasses that ringed it, the grove was green, verdant, and untouched.
"Del..."
A few more halting steps and Kyuu dropped to her knees in the dead grass. With a slow, careful touch, she brushed old soot from atop the stone, placed the bundle of mageroyal in the center.
Her prayer to Elune was whispered, barely audible, punctuated with unsteady breaths. Afterwards, she knelt, motionless and silent, while the sun dropped below the horizon. And when darkness came, Kyuusei laid down on her side next to the stone and slept.
* * *
Kyuu, don’t be silly. Go home.
She rose with a start, searching for the voice that had awakened her - but Kyuusei was alone in the little grove. Her left side was stiff from sleeping on the ground, the rest of her body damp from morning dew. The dawn’s mist retreated from the rising sun.
The druidess looked around her, but little had changed. There were no tracks in the grasses, no scent other than the verdant green and the faint, distant ocean. The stone remained as it was - scorched and blackened save for the place she'd cleared the night before, the bundle of mageroyal within already damp and wilted.
She rose to her feet, taking a long breath as she ran a hand through unkempt, lengthening hair, With a glance towards the open sea, Kyuusei abruptly took a few rapid steps to throw herself from the cliff side and towards the waters. The stormcrow took wing in the morning sun and turned west, towards Darkshore.
In a gentle crescent where she had slept, the grasses were twined with a delicate ivy decorated with tiny pale leaves and soft white blooms.
Mageroyal
A beautiful rose-like flower that grows in areas of high magical activity.
Colloquial names: Manablossom, Wizard’s Friend, Sweetrose
Physical Description: Mageroyal grows most prevalently in areas of magical activity, most notably along the leylines of Azeroth. It is a beautiful shrub-like herb with waxy, compound oval leaves that seem to glimmer in any source of light, and large dewy pink or red rose-like blooms. Many blooms can be found on each plant year-round, growing in fractaled clusters. The petals, when touched, leave a shimmering pink dust on the fingers. The whole shrub has been described as “glistening” in appearance in Azerothian literature, and this description rings true. It is most prominently found in the Barrens, Westfall, and Silverpine forest.
Described usage: Mageroyal’s blossoms are edible by themselves, having a sweet and dusky taste one would expect of a candied rose petal. It is said to grow most prominently in the Barrens due to feeding off the magical waters of the Wailing Caverns springs via underground aqueducts, and this is by far the best place to find the herb. It is easily distilled; a simple milling of the blooms combined with fresh water will produce a pink-tinged liquid that tastes and smells of sweetened rosewater. Combining this with a paste of Stranglekelp or Silverleaf will restore magical energies, whereas combining it with a tincture of Briarthorn roots produces insight and wisdom for the imbiber. All of the aforementioned seem to be a popular amongst magic users, and in general this herb is one of the more pleasant upon the palate. Mageroyal is also used in a cherished Stormwind cake recipe. A freshly crushed paste of the blooms is combined with Stormwind Tawny, a weak and pleasantly sweet alcohol. This is added to a standard cake batter of flour, eggs, milk, and spices to create a wonderful chocolate cake. The cake is typically adorned with additional Mageroyal blossoms, dipped in a solution of the blooms themselves and coated with sugar. The cake, when ingested, is said to provide great happiness. It is commonly baked to celebrate good times and cure something known as “the blues”, which I’m told is a human colloquialism for a period of sadness.
Inscription note: When milling Mageroyal, remember to separate the petals from the stem and leaves. Both the petals and the greens can be ground separately into different types of pigment. A few moments of mashing the petals will yield a thick paste that can best be described as resembling the sky during the very final moments of the sunset.
Mageroyal
A beautiful rose-like flower that grows in areas of high magical activity.
Colloquial names: Manablossom, Wizard’s Friend, Sweetrose
Physical Description: Mageroyal grows most prevalently in areas of magical activity, most notably along the leylines of Azeroth. It is a beautiful shrub-like herb with waxy, compound oval leaves that seem to glimmer in any source of light, and large dewy pink or red rose-like blooms. Many blooms can be found on each plant year-round, growing in fractaled clusters. The petals, when touched, leave a shimmering pink dust on the fingers. The whole shrub has been described as “glistening” in appearance in Azerothian literature, and this description rings true. It is most prominently found in the Barrens, Westfall, and Silverpine forest.
Described usage: Mageroyal’s blossoms are edible by themselves, having a sweet and dusky taste one would expect of a candied rose petal. It is said to grow most prominently in the Barrens due to feeding off the magical waters of the Wailing Caverns springs via underground aqueducts, and this is by far the best place to find the herb. It is easily distilled; a simple milling of the blooms combined with fresh water will produce a pink-tinged liquid that tastes and smells of sweetened rosewater. Combining this with a paste of Stranglekelp or Silverleaf will restore magical energies, whereas combining it with a tincture of Briarthorn roots produces insight and wisdom for the imbiber. All of the aforementioned seem to be a popular amongst magic users, and in general this herb is one of the more pleasant upon the palate. Mageroyal is also used in a cherished Stormwind cake recipe. A freshly crushed paste of the blooms is combined with Stormwind Tawny, a weak and pleasantly sweet alcohol. This is added to a standard cake batter of flour, eggs, milk, and spices to create a wonderful chocolate cake. The cake is typically adorned with additional Mageroyal blossoms, dipped in a solution of the blooms themselves and coated with sugar. The cake, when ingested, is said to provide great happiness. It is commonly baked to celebrate good times and cure something known as “the blues”, which I’m told is a human colloquialism for a period of sadness.
Inscription note: When milling Mageroyal, remember to separate the petals from the stem and leaves. Both the petals and the greens can be ground separately into different types of pigment. A few moments of mashing the petals will yield a thick paste that can best be described as resembling the sky during the very final moments of the sunset.