A Sculptor’s Tale

“It is better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.”

— Maisie Belgrave, on the inspiration behind her magnum opus, The Ephemeral

Some time ago, there lived a sculptor of great renown. She was a master of her craft, capable of bringing life to stone and capturing the essence of her subjects with a single chisel stroke. But as the years went on, the sculptor had begun to lose all passion for her work. She took up drinking to fill the time, partying and gambling away all her wealth until she was left completely destitute and alone. In her time of misfortune, she prayed to her goddess Syrena for inspiration, but heard no reply.

It was in a crowded tavern, filled with laughter and the clinking of glasses, where the sculptor met her muse: a mysterious traveler with a beauty and grace like no other. The two talked for hours on end, until they were the only souls left at the bar. Before the night was over, the sculptor and the traveler had fallen desperately in love, making plans and whispering promises as they lay in each other’s arms. But when the sculptor awoke the next morning, the traveler had disappeared without so much as a word of goodbye, leaving the sculptor heartbroken and feeling more alone than ever.

In the following weeks and months, the sculptor poured her pain into her art, creating some of the most breathtaking statues the world had ever seen. Her work was celebrated and sought after by rulers and noblemen alike, eventually earning back every copper she had lost and more. But despite all her success, she could never shake the memory of the beautiful traveler that broke her heart. It was only near the end of her life, as she lay on her deathbed, that the truth was finally revealed to her: the woman she had fallen in love all those years ago with was none other than the Pale Maiden herself, who had answered her prayers after all.