Lady of Mirrors
Lady Verenestra (a.k.a. The Lady of Mirrors)
The Lady of Mirrors is a powerful Archfey.
She resides within the mirrored halls and ballrooms of the Quartz Palace: a sumptuous structure of silver and crystalline glass. Outside its polished walls, lie the Crystal Gardens, which are home to beds of metal roses, their petals sharp as razors, poisonous mercurial butterflies and small glass birds. Lady Mirror’s strange fey magics extend through all reflective surfaces, allowing her great range of site and vision. Rumours has it that her influence links connections to mirrors beyond the Feywild and into the mortal realm, particularly Paragan, where there are many tales of vulnerable mortals who have fallen under her influence. The Thanes of Order have encountered at least one of these, Cassandra dan Vacht.
The household is staffed largely by minor fey of the Unseelie Court, most of whom spend their days doggedly polishing and repairing the mirrors; a perpetually unending task as the Lady’s dark influence causes the silver to tarnish. Mortals who stumble into her realm or displease her often suffer a similar fate, doomed to forever stare at their own reflections until the unending solitude inevitably causes them to lose their minds. The highest position in her household is that of the Mirror Knight, who patrols the many mirrored halls and acts as her fearsome protector.
As a member of the courtly fey, Lady Mirror is somewhat apart from the Green or Wild Fey that plague Belegond and the north. As such, she has no part in the Fey War, but is aware of its progression and the events following the cleansing of the northern Air temple.
Meeting the Thanes of Order
The Thanes of Order gained entrance to Lady Mirror’s polished marble ballroom by solving her riddle door. As they first set eyes upon her, she appeared lithe and towering as a twelve-foot-tall woman in mourning. She wore a veil of fine-spun mist, and a long silken dress made of dark sorrow. Each of them viewed her as a reflection of their personal interpretation of pure beauty. As she walked, a black train trails behind her like the woes and regrets of a lifetime. The party produced a necklace set with three immaculate star sapphires as their gift, which the Lady of Mirrors accepted graciously before magically removing the gems from their silver setting and weaving them into the fabric of her gown. They began to converse and revealed that they were in search of their friend Arpeggio. Lady Mirror countered that there was no-one of that name here present, but after a physical description conceded that they may be referring to someone called ‘Lustreus’ who is her godson. She explains that she is in mourning for her god-daughter Specula, who the party interpret to be the deceased Arietta. She also thanks Petryan for the courtesy of burying Arietta, which she glimpsed through the reflective chest piece of an iron golem he defeated in Sinan Thune’s abandoned workshop. This comes as a shock to Gamble who had hoped Arietta to be still alive. Gamble glimpsed beneath her veil, that the Lady of Mirror’s face was silvery and fine, but tarnished and cracked in places like the mirrors that line her palace halls. Whilst Gamble is close, Lady Mirror comments that she reeks of salt and the squalling sea and discerns that she is indentured to ‘the half-breed’ Umberlee who is also her half-sister. She reveals that she was able to rescue Lustreus as he fell from the cliff, using the moment his form reflected off the water’s surface as a portal to her realm, before he could fall beneath the waves and into the clutches of her hated sister. Lady Mirror guides the party through to a dark reflective demi-plane within her realm where they find a partially repaired mirror, missing a crucial piece. Gamble remembers this place from the vision she shared with Shinsuke where Arpeggio was attempting to repair the mirror. The Archfey reveals that she possesses the final piece, but that it is the wrong shape and will not fit. The party test this, trying Mending and other magics, but to no avail. Through conversation and reasoning the party determine that the mirror is a representation of Gio’s shattered psyche and the misshapen piece is his last memory of his sister Arietta before she died. She then extends the visible portion of this realm to reveal an unconscious Arpeggio dressed in a gown of purest white silk and laying on a stone slab. He has grown older and yet fairer during his time in the Feywild and his face is framed by a cascade of platinum blond hair, bereft of its former characteristic wave. Lady Mirror reveals that after his successive failed attempts to restore the mirror, she has begun to alter Lustreus’ memories, so that he is no longer troubled by them. She also comments that she has removed the ‘imperfection’ of an old scar on his eyebrow. Lady Mirror is eager to restore her godchildren and is willing to loan Lustreus to them for a year and a day, but in order to do so they must either win him from her in chivalric combat or complete a task of her choosing. The Archfey declares that she requires a looking glass that is unused. After some thought and experimentation, Petryan and Rhathgar combine forces to split a gemstone via sheer cleavage and reveal its reflective surface in her presence. Lady Mirror finds this offering acceptable, but warns the group that Lustreus’ mind is still fragile. If he remembers Specula (Arietta) his mind will break anew. Under no circumstances can they refer to Specula or her death and Arpeggio must be kept away from anyone who might accidentally mention either. Her magic will protect him no more than thrice, after which she will send Vitreus to reclaim him. To further aid them in their quest to revive Specula, Lady Mirror reveals that she knows where the party might obtain a wish, but that she will not give them a route to such awesome power whilst Gamble is bound to her half-sister. Lady Mirror offers to sever the connected between Gamble and Umberlee permanently and believing that their goals are aligned, offers to either act as a replacement patron or bear witness to a chivalric oath that would grant her divine power. Gamble politely declines and the party do not receive the information, but Lady Mirror does inform Lavanel Daenorin of a powerful magical artefact lost within the silken tunnels of Feywild spiders. Lady Mirror offered them her hospitality and refreshments (which Karnak almost partakes in) and transforms the stone table bearing Arpeggio into a floating crystal sarcophagus to aid his transport. Following a long rest spent in the comfort of the Palace, the party leave without any further encounter with Lady Mirror.Mental characteristics
Personal history
The Lady of Mirrors, Daughter of Metasuina, also known as Verenestra (fey goddess of female fairies, charm and beauty), she was given a prominent position within the Seelie Court. Unnaturally exquisite in appearance, all who looked upon her remarked that her beauty was second only to her mother herself. At first, she took these compliments with good grace, but the more the comparison was repeated, the more she came to resent her mother’s surpassing beauty. She left and joined the Unseelie Court.
Lady Mirror disapproved of her mother’s dalliance with the sea god Mercannan, but was shocked at her eventual punishment by the goddess Degdia. Knowing that is it unwise to take umbridge with the gods, Lady Mirror has instead directed her animosity towards her half-sister Umberlee, the product of her mother’s mistake, who she refers to only as ‘the half-breed’. She delights in her sister’s misfortune, particularly her capture and imprisonment in the aquatic bastion between Belegond and Kalvak.
Taboos
Prone to jealously and envy, Lady Mirror unabashedly covets beautiful things, but will suffer no rivals to her own beauty within her presence. Masquerades are commonly held at the Palace, with guests preferring to hide their faces lest they inadvertently challenge the Lady’s beauty. Like the lady herself, these events are often lavish, but also empty and superficial. Any slight imperfection in a gift will vex her greatly and to offer her something bland or ordinary is taken as a great insult.
Personality Characteristics
Likes & Dislikes
Like many fey, she places great stock in courtesy and etiquette. Those who speak with her must tread carefully, for she is vain and capricious.
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