In the 15 th- century Imperial Forest of Nuremberg, a ghostly woman haunted wanderers. She occasionally appeared on forest paths that weren’t marked on maps anymore. Usually, she just observed people passing by on a foggy day from behind the birches. In some cases, however, she led lost souls back to well-trodden trails. Disguised as an owl, she would fly ahead for them to follow without ever receiving gratitude. Despite her benevolence, residents were scared of her. Some tales accused her of...

High bookshelf towers made of marble lined her path through the ancient library of Gardyan. They weren’t so much a single complex, but the realm’s three major archives connected via portal magic in a timeless space created by the first arch mages. Nemesava’s archive formed a majestic building within it, carved into a huge vault branching off the Nether Caverns, deep into the heart of Azwood. Although its wings extended far below the ground, its upper sections appeared like open air labyrinths...

The animalis is not so much a feral shapeshift as it is the manifestation of the most primal instincts and urges within one’s soul. And Gardyan’s species mastered the symbiosis with these impulses like nobody else beyond the veil. That a realm of demigods inherited such animalistic traits from their divine progenitors proves that even deities are not immune to what can easily be deemed the most archaic nature of living beings—and Gardyan's men were the most susceptible. It was the task of...