"Where the flower blooms, something ancient remembers."

Among all relics gathered by the Veiled Reliquary, none are regarded with greater caution than the preserved remains of the Gloambloom.

The flower grows only within the drowned reaches of the Gloamwood, emerging from places steeped in grief, death, and forgotten memory. The marshfolk believe the blooms are not natural flora at all, but manifestations of lingering spirit-memory woven into living form by the ancient consciousness said to sleep beneath the blackwater roots.

No root system has ever been uncovered. No seed has ever been found.

The blooms simply appear wherever grief has seeped deeply enough into the wilds.

Some emerge beside forgotten graves swallowed by moss. Others bloom from drowned shrines beneath stagnant waters. A rare few have even been found growing from the hollow ribcages of long-dead beasts deep within the swamp.

For centuries, the Veiled Reliquary refused to disturb the flowers.

Too many who ventured near the blooms returned changed:

Haunted by visions.

Speaking with voices not their own.

Carrying memories belonging to the dead.

Yet the order's archivists became obsessed with the blossoms. They believed the flowers preserved echoes of lost knowledge within their luminous cores—fragments of ancient rites, forgotten names, and perhaps even memories belonging to the Elderwilds itself.

Against the warnings of the marsh shamans, the Reliquary began crafting sacred vessels designed to safely contain harvested blooms.

The first reliquaries were constructed from antler, bone, crystal, moss, and ritual iron—an attempt to prevent the flower's influence from spreading unchecked.

Only a handful were ever successfully created.

Most attempts failed.

Some blooms withered instantly when removed from the swamp. Others brought strange afflictions upon those tasked with tending them:

Shared dreams.

Voices echoing through empty halls.

Visions of drowned shrines hidden deep within the marsh.

One reliquary keeper famously claimed a bloom spoke to him during the longest night of winter.

Three days later, he vanished into the Gloamwood carrying the artifact with him.

The reliquary was recovered months afterward, untouched and hanging from the branches of a dead cedar miles from where it disappeared.

The keeper was never found.

Even now, the Veiled Reliquary keeps the remaining Gloambloom artifacts sealed within its smoke-darkened sanctuaries. Candles are kept burning beside them at all hours, for the old caretakers believe that darkness allows the blooms to dream.