The Serpent's Mirror: A Gothic Alchemy

In the City of Mirrors, beauty is sculpted, not born. Lys-Argen exists in perpetual twilight, its obsidian towers reflecting a distorted reality where flawless surfaces mask hollow souls. Each symmetrical line, each perfect contour, is bought with the currency of memory itself.

Velor Yarrow, a master alchemist haunted by a monstrous creation of his own design, lives in self-imposed exile. His hands, stained with the inks of forgotten lore, once held the power to rewrite flesh. Now, his tools gather dust, a testament to his past hubris.

Danya Crowe shatters Lys-Argen’s oppressive calm like a storm. Scarred by fire, her untamed beauty defies the city’s obsession with perfection. She carries a desperate plea: restore the stolen reflection, the very essence, of her beloved Elara, a vacant shell left behind by the city’s insidious mirror-cults.

Drawn to Danya’s fierce spirit, Velor sees a chance at redemption. Reshaping a broken soul, not a body, offers him an opportunity to atone for the monstrous beauty he unleashed upon the world. Together, they descend into Lys-Argen’s clandestine heart, a labyrinth of hushed streets and hidden doorways.

Their journey leads them to opulent chambers where flesh becomes a canvas and clandestine gatherings where mirror-cults chant hypnotic liturgies. They witness the chilling beauty of Reflection Ceremonies, where individuals sacrifice their memories for the fleeting promise of aesthetic perfection.

Hunting them relentlessly is Rebecca Hahn, a high priestess whose porcelain beauty masks a chilling desperation. Her past intertwined with Velor's, she embodies Lys-Argen’s twisted ideals and will stop at nothing to preserve its unnatural equilibrium.

As Velor delves deeper, he uncovers a disturbing truth: the lost essences are not erased, but harnessed, fueling the city's shimmering facade. They coalesce beneath Lys-Argen, a swirling vortex of forgotten memories, whispering secrets and gaining sentience.

Their defiance ignites a dangerous sensuality, blurring the lines between alchemist and supplicant. At the Obsidian Heart, the city’s central mirror, Danya faces an agonizing choice: reclaim Elara’s reflection, potentially unleashing the nascent entity and destroying Lys-Argen, or leave her lover lost, a hollow testament to the city's insatiable hunger.

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E-kirja: 3. tammikuuta 2025