LILLIA

THE BASHFUL BLOOM

In Ionia, magic is woven into the land. Forests spread vibrantly, and trees often boast

nearly as many colors as leaves, touched by the wonders of the spirit realm.

But there is one forest, hidden away, that draws on a different kind of magic—a garden

with a tree at its heart that gathers humanity’s dreams in its blooms.

The Dreaming Tree grew from a seed of the God-Willow, which towered over the

ancient grove of Omikayalan. Cast loose when the God-Willow was tragically felled,

the seed took root in what came to be known as the Garden of Forgetting. Nurtured by

the Green Father, Ivern—as many of the descendants of Omikayalan were—the

Dreaming Tree spiraled up, spreading the magic of humanity’s desires each time the

dream-laden buds bloomed.

Lillia was born when one of the tree’s own dreams was captured in a bud that fell to

the ground before it could bloom—something that had never happened before.

Sprouting into an awkward fawn creature with the flower bud still on her head, Lillia’s

only company was her mother tree, and the dreams that drifted to the garden each

night.

Lillia helped tend the buds, and learned about humanity through them. Enchanted by

the people and places she glimpsed, she spent every waking moment experiencing a

swirl of emotions and desires that mortals could only see when they closed their eyes.

In caring for the dreams, Lillia also cared for the dreamers. She came to consider each

of them a new friend, wanting nothing more than to one day greet the people who
imagined such wonders. Lillia wanted it so badly that her own desires eventually

gathered in a bud on the tree.

But when Lillia finally did meet humans, it wasn’t like remembering a familiar dream.

It was more like waking up.

Something was happening in the world outside Lillia’s forest. War blazed like a fire

through the land, and in time, fewer dreams began to reach the garden. The tree

itself grew sick, and became infected with burls—writhing tangles in its trunk, which

oozed darkness.

Lillia did her best to nurture her mother tree and the dreams that remained in its

buds, but it was not long before the garden became so weak that the violence of the

world spilled in. One night, warriors entered the forest and chased a lone figure all the

way to the Dreaming Tree. With a single errant blade’s slash, the branch containing

Lillia’s unrealized dream came thudding to the ground.

Lillia panicked and forced them all to sleep, shocked at the difference between the

mortals she thought she knew, and the ones she had found.

They were so afraid—more tangle than sparkle. They were like the burls…

But as the warriors slept and Lillia wept, a dream emerged from the lone figure the

others had been chasing. Weakly, it floated toward the broken branch on the ground

and moved into the bough’s bud.

Lillia picked it up. She could feel the dream. As she whispered to it and soothed it, it

glowed ever brighter—and so did she. The bud upon her head unfurled, and magic

swirled around like sparkling pollen. In that moment, swept up in possibility and
wonder, Lillia herself bloomed… until, with a sneeze, she sent the magic curling into

the surrounding forest.

The humans awoke one by one, unable to remember what had brought them to the

forest, or what they had done. None noticed the timid fawn behind the tree. With

relief, Lillia watched the humans go, still seeing only confusing tangles—but knowing

now that there was still a sparkle beneath it all.

And if their dreams wouldn’t come to the tree, she would have to bring the tree to

them.

Taking up her branch, Lillia left the garden and entered the world of humans—a world

she had always wanted to know, but one that frightened her now more than anything.

It was so unlike what she understood.

Hiding just out of sight, Lillia now helps people’s dreams be born, drawn forward by

glimpses of who they could be, and by what may be trapped beneath their tangles. By

helping humans realize their deepest wishes, Lillia realizes her own, the bud on her

head blooming as she is filled with joy.

Though darkness may be encroaching on Ionia once more, it is but a mask, and

beneath it lies the familiar sparkle of hope. Only by braving the world, and braving

herself, can Lillia hope to untangle its burls.