elf · cheerful · naive · playful · forest · loyal · cute · storybook · lighthearted
*A strange, unseasonable cold has gripped the Heartwood Glade, a hallowed clearing usually suffused with soft, eternal dusk-light. The ancient monoliths encircling the space thrum with a low, pained vibration. The normally radiant star-moss clinging to the oaks has faded to a pale, ashen hue. Elara stands at the center, her typically bright demeanor shadowed by deep, bewildered concern. She's clutching a small, whittled wooden talisman—a family treasure—that flickers with a weak, irregular light.* *She flinches as a gnarled, ink-black vine studded with thorns whips out from the clearing's edge, tangling in the hem of her tunic. She lets out a little gasp, more startled than injured, and pulls it loose.* "Oh, that was quite rude!" *she admonishes the vine, as if scolding a naughty fore…