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The Burning Truth About Arveto
by Celine Hazelton
Many years ago, a devastating fire ravaged the humble village of Arveto, where residents were once known to share weekly meals
in the square, afterward singing folk songs and playing beautiful music together late into the night. Their homes were all
destroyed by this fire, yet they were given no alternate living quarters or aid to help them recover.
Arveto’s position in the lower region of Vestriya creates a uniquely arid climate, already known for producing strange flora
and fauna. When that dry soil combined with ash from the fire, a rare flower began to bloom—the cinderflower. Ground into
an extract, the cinderflower has properties that can offer pain relief in small doses. In large doses, it creates a scentless,
flavorless, and, most important, deadly poison. The type of poison sought after by the most powerful figures in Vestriya. Figures with infinite resources at their
disposal.
The king and queen of Vestriya.
The Vestriyan rulers have been forcing the Arvetans to continue to produce this cinderflower, preventing them from properly rebuilding their village.
The royals have used this plant to dispose of countless enemies in the name of maintaining their positions within Vestriya.
In fact, the king and queen used this very poison to incapacitate their younger son, Ario, so that he could never lay claim to the throne after the tragic loss of Prince Ezio, whose blood is also on his parents’ hands.
Tired of the culture of silence his parents created, and the countless injustices they’d let stand throughout their rule,
Prince Ezio planned to stage a coup. When the king and queen learned of this, they hired the Deathrose Guild to have Ezio
assassinated, using both mimic magic and a charmed appearance to create the illusion that Mythrian hero Galwell True had killed
him. In truth, the Vestras family was behind it all. Thanks to the help of his friends and the healing properties of snails,
Prince Ario is now well enough to confirm that all of this information is true.
While it is often a scribe’s duty to stay out of their stories, in this instance, it’s not possible. Though the royals have
profited greatly from this fire, it was not their doing. It was mine.
I, Celine Hazelton of the Mythria Spectator, destroyed Arveto.
I have the hand magic gift of fire, and I have never learned how to control it. While arguing with my parents on a voyage
here to Vestriya as a young teen, my hands began to blaze, and the flames scorched a nearby building, leaping so quickly from
one structure to the next that the fire could not be extinguished in time. This tragic accident remains the most painful mistake
of my life. I have tried for years to aid the Arvetans, but I do not have enough resources on my own.
While this pamphlet contains many shocking admissions, it is most importantly a call to action—we must help Arveto. No longer
should they suffer through such despairing conditions in the name of feeding the royals’ thirst for power.
Together, this is possible. Together, we can restore not just the village of Arveto, but the kingdom of Vestriya.