Evergold

Notable Locations

The Golden Pulse

At the heart of Evergold lies the Golden Pulse, the fountain-lake where Hanali first set her blessing on the world. Its waters shimmer with a warmth that is not only light but living affection, flowing from vein-like channels of gold in the bedrock. To drink or bathe here is to feel youth renewed: lines soften, scars fade, colors brighten, and weariness sloughs away like dust in rain. Visitors often emerge not only younger in appearance but touched with a subtler, radiant beauty, the kind that seems to glow from within.   The transformation is never crude or forced, rather, the fountain draws out the fairest version of the self, as if polishing the soul’s reflection until it gleams. For mortals, the effect might last months or years before time slowly resumes its work. For petitioners and saints of Evergold, it becomes a permanent aspect of their being, proof that the realm itself sustains them.   The blessing does not tolerate vanity without heart. Those who drink selfishly, wishing only to surpass rivals or claim beauty for cruelty’s sake, find the water bitter. Their reflection clouds, and sometimes gray petals drift across their shoulders, a subtle reminder of broken harmony. Helena herself has been known to appear in these moments, not to scold but to remind them: beauty is gift, not conquest.   Legends say that in ages past, Corellon brought Sehanine here after the War of the Seldarine, that her tears mingled with the fountain and set its glow forever. Helena, in her guardianship of Evergold, has chosen not to alter this truth, only to deepen it. Now the fountain responds to both devotion to beauty and sincerity of love, reflecting her dual inheritance of passion and grace.  

Promenade of Thousand Lanterns

Vine-lit colonnades and moon-mirrored walkways that unfurl at dusk; lanterns glow brighter near kindness and dim near cruelty, gently steering feet toward better choices.  

Rose Amphitheatres

Bowl theatres grown from living hedges; stages re-shape between acts for dance, drama, and oath-songs. Applause sounds like rain through leaves.  

The Muse Vaults

Gallery-grottoes where masterworks and humble sketches hang side by side; each vault hums when a viewer truly understands the piece, not merely admires it.  

The Perfumed Tides

Slow canals that carry currents of scent, citrus for courage, rose for forgiveness, cedar for steadfastness, so wanderers can literally follow their hearts.  

Hanali’s Quiet

Preserved glades where only birdsong and fountain-drip are heard; memorial stones bear no names, only motifs of lives well-loved. Helena keeps these places inviolate.  

Helena’s Rose Loggia

A terrace of glass and pale marble opening toward the Feywild; on festival nights a petaled bridge unfurls to the Rose Quarter, then dissolves before dawn.  

Travel

Evergold itself drifts within Arvandor, often appearing near the Symposion, the Crescent Grove, or the harbor-glades; those who follow three lantern-trails without uttering an unkind word may find its shifting borders. On nights of the full Sehaine, a silvered canal opens between Evergold and the Crescent Grove, carrying wedding parties, reconciliations, and farewells across the moonlit water. During the Unveiling Bloom, a rose-hued bridge spans to Helena’s Rose Quarter in the Feywild, admitting only those pilgrims who carry a keepsake freely given. And when Evergold has known three nights without decree or curfew, a festival green aligns with Sylvania in the Outlands, its garlands arching open at dawn to let revelers pass into the gate-town.  

Inhabitants

The petitioners there, now, of Helena are lovers, artisans, and gardeners of light and water who tend lantern-ways, curate galleries, and welcome estranged hearts without judgment. Among them walk bralani and lillend Azatas, who mentor performers, alongside avian and leonine agathions, who uphold guest-right and gently escort the shy or grieving. Good-hearted Fey such as Nymphs, naiads, and faunlike revelers shape blossom-stages and weave currents of perfume, their mischief meant to heal rather than harm. The Wardens of the Ruby Rose, Helena’s knights and choristers, guard shrines, recover marred artworks, and discreetly intervene when jealousy threatens to curdle into strife. Visitors from other realms are common:

Blushwinds sweep through the gardens, carrying courage to speak with kindness while softening words of scorn unless insisted upon with sincerity. When envy rises unchecked, rose-arches subtly twist into Jealous Thorns, snagging sleeves until apology eases their grip; to force passage is to draw blood and shame. Pools known as the Mirrors of True Audience reflect not the face of the gazer but how their work is received: hollow praise returns only as empty echoes, while honest critique reveals guiding constellations. The very ground responds to temperament, those who move with grace and gentleness find paths shortened, while those who stride in anger discover gardens lengthening beneath their feet. And for oath-breakers, unseen boughs release gray petals that cling to the shoulders until atonement is made.   Magic woven through beauty and honesty carries Evergold’s blessing. Spells cast while singing, dancing, painting, or telling a true story steady the mind, and observers perceive non-harmful magic as part of the performance. Oath-bound spells, such as sanctuary, protection, shield other, heroism, tongues, or sending, woven into works of art reach farther and endure longer. During grand festivals, illusions and evocations crafted to delight rather than deceive take on a vivid, almost tangible reality within theatres and fairgrounds. Magic that heals, reconciles, soothes fear, or restores beauty flows easily, while spells of coercion, slavery, or fear falter and strain, often failing quietly. At the heart of all stands the Fountain’s Gift: those who drink with reverence from the Golden Pulse receive a flawless inspiration tied to love or beauty, never cruel and never violent, but always radiant and true.