Lore & Origins
✦
✦ The Curse Transfer — Lysia's Death
Vespia Nightrose was not always a master of the dead. Her current existence was forged in the freezing shadows of Northi — a land deeply scarred by the dark remnants of cursed magic and astra corruption. Following the tragic death of her sister Lysia, a malicious curse was transferred directly into Vespia's bloodline.
Lysia carried within her blood an ancient curse — a fragment of Heira's astra that had passed through their bloodline for three generations, dormant and unnamed. As she exhaled her final breath, the curse did not die with her. It twisted, blackened, and bored straight into Vespia's soul — strand by strand through her pure black hair, turning it the colour of Lysia's own. The Rosegrave Curse had found its new host.
Lysia carried within her blood an ancient curse — a fragment of Heira's astra that had passed through their bloodline for three generations, dormant and unnamed. As she exhaled her final breath, the curse did not die with her. It twisted, blackened, and bored straight into Vespia's soul — strand by strand through her pure black hair, turning it the colour of Lysia's own. The Rosegrave Curse had found its new host.
✦ The Oath — Swearing Vengeance
Swearing an absolute oath of revenge over her sister's body, Vespia sought the absolute fringe of the known world to hone her forbidden arts — the edge of the Astra Line. She sealed herself inside the Castle of Thorns on the southwestern Westrian coast and disappeared from the world for ten years.
The oath has not been spoken aloud since the night she made it. It is the single most potent grief-anchor in her soul-core. It is also, according to those who study the Rosegrave Curse, the condition that locks her from ascending to the next tier of power. She knows this. She has not done it.
The oath has not been spoken aloud since the night she made it. It is the single most potent grief-anchor in her soul-core. It is also, according to those who study the Rosegrave Curse, the condition that locks her from ascending to the next tier of power. She knows this. She has not done it.
✦ The Astra Line — Hunting Dreameaters
In the forbidden permafrost wastes at the edge of the Astra Line, Vespia hunts Dreameaters — inscrutable, anomalous Fiends that slip past the boundaries of reality to ravage the minds and souls of mortals. These are not ordinary demons. They are fragments of something older: the shattered remnants of Heira herself, dispersed into the chaotic magic of the north.
The Astra Line is where Vespia's original unit fell — fighting a Titan-class Fiend that should not have existed so far south. She was the only one who came back. She has never explained how.
The Astra Line is where Vespia's original unit fell — fighting a Titan-class Fiend that should not have existed so far south. She was the only one who came back. She has never explained how.
The Rosegrave Curse makes her soul-core visible to Dreameaters — her thorn-vein network radiates a constant necromantic signature that Dreameaters mistake for a dying host saturated in grief. They come to her. She uses this. The Dreameaters that approach the Rosegrave tend to leave substantially worse than they arrived.
Utilizing a living, symbiotic thorned staff to channel her corrupted life force, Vespia commands black explosive flora grown from the bones of the fallen — transforming every battlefield into a literal Rosegrave.
Utilizing a living, symbiotic thorned staff to channel her corrupted life force, Vespia commands black explosive flora grown from the bones of the fallen — transforming every battlefield into a literal Rosegrave.
✦ The Rosegrave Curse — How It Works
The curse embedded in Vespia's bloodline is not dark magic — it is corrupted life force. Heira's astra fragment, now rooted in her, expresses itself as living thorn-vines beneath her skin: dark branching lines that pulse with magenta light in rhythm with her heartbeat. The vines cannot be severed externally. They are inside her.
Vespia does not use the curse. The curse uses the shape she gives it. Every rose that blooms in her wake, every black flower planted at a grave, every soul harvested from the battlefield — this is the curse fulfilling the directive Lysia gave her with that final breath.
Vespia does not use the curse. The curse uses the shape she gives it. Every rose that blooms in her wake, every black flower planted at a grave, every soul harvested from the battlefield — this is the curse fulfilling the directive Lysia gave her with that final breath.
✦ Lysia Nightrose — The Sister
Lysia Nightrose carried the curse quietly for years — never letting Vespia see the weight of it. Her vivid rose-pink hair, her calm manner, the way she always seemed to be standing slightly between her younger sister and whatever was coming. She was containing something that could not be contained forever.
When she died, she gave Vespia two things: her colour, and her purpose. The rose-pink in Vespia's two-tone hair is not a dye. It is Lysia's life force, transferred in a single exhaled breath. Every time someone sees the Rosegrave coming, they are seeing a dead woman's love made into a weapon.
When she died, she gave Vespia two things: her colour, and her purpose. The rose-pink in Vespia's two-tone hair is not a dye. It is Lysia's life force, transferred in a single exhaled breath. Every time someone sees the Rosegrave coming, they are seeing a dead woman's love made into a weapon.
📖
Lyrian Chronicles Rulebook — Class Alignment
Vespia operates under the Necromaster class framework — Tier III of V. Her soul-core classification is S-tier due to the density of astra energy contained within the Rosegrave Curse. The curse bypassed Tier I (Gravecaller) and Tier II (Thornweaver) entirely on transfer — she entered the class at its full inherited depth, not learned incrementally. The Tier IV prestige unlock (Rosegrave) requires the oath spoken aloud in the presence of another person. The Tier V capstone (Deathlord) is currently theoretical. Her Dreameater hunting aligns with the Fiend classification system: Hound · Titan · Dragon — she has encountered Hound and Titan class. The Dragon-class currently moving south from the Astra Line is being called.
Abilities — Gravebloom Techniques
✦
A spinning staff arc generates a spiral of rose-particle energy. Strikes all enemies within 4m. In the minigame, this swing deals moderate single-target damage and refunds 5% of Vespia's Max SP on hit.
High mobility · Crowd clear · SP Refund on Hit
Staff driven into the earth triggers a radial eruption of necromantic root-veins across all cracked or soil surfaces within 10m. Each root column seeks and skewers one target. Contact points remain primed — roses bloom at every strike point, dealing persistent thorn damage for 6 seconds.
Area denial · Terrain control · Scales with surface type
A full thorn-vine maelstrom spins as a glowing dome barrier, sealing all enemies within its circumference. Rose blooms manifest along every thorn ring as they tighten. Enemies in the outer ring are pinned and pulled inward toward the vortex centre. Shown from directly above in the Taisho-era hall — the full radial geometry of the seal.
Interior seal · Enemy bind · Overhead geometry
Vespia plants her staff and releases the full ground vein network, binding targets to the earth. In the minigame, this deals damage and applies a regenerating HoT/MoT aura for 3 turns, restoring HP (10% of damage) and SP (5% of damage) at the end of each turn.
Crowd control · HoT / MoT Aura · Shelter usable
Every enemy defeated by the Rosegrave Curse becomes a black rose at the point of dissolution — a permanent soul marker claiming that death as witnessed. Deaths marked by a black rose cannot be raised by Cult of Heira necromancers. The soul is converted, not consumed. The black rose in Northi was planted by hand through frozen ground. It survived the arctic winter. It still grows.
Anti-resurrection lock · Soul conversion · Permanent field marker
After combat, the battlefield becomes a Gravebloom Field — fire-amber roses rising from the ground at every point where an enemy fell, each pulsing with the soul resonance of the defeated. Vespia kneels and absorbs the soul energy directly through the thorn-vein network in her hands. Each harvested soul strengthens her Gravebloom techniques and generates magical reagents.
Soul absorption · Reagent generation · Post-combat passive
Staff raised, Vespia detonates a full sky-burst — dozens of glowing pink and black roses erupting upward in a towering column of light, hanging suspended at their peak before raining down as petal shards. The most visually overwhelming technique in her arsenal. Thorn-demon silhouettes at the frame edges show the full devastation radius across the burning town square.
Full field clear · Sky burst variant · Cannot be interrupted once initiated
Vespia and Leaflit side by side as a massive thorn-tree demon erupts above the village square. The entire ground is carpeted in red roses — Rosegrave Walk fully saturated. Magenta beam columns fire upward into the creature simultaneously. The Covenant's defining moment: two people between an entire village and something that should have killed them both.
Co-op ultimate · Requires Leaflit · Thorn tree eruption
Class Progression — Necromaster Path
✦ Tier I Gravecaller
Tier II Thornweaver
Tier III ◆ Current Necromaster
Tier IV — Locked Rosegrave
Tier V — Locked Deathlord
✦ Why Tier III — Bypassed
Vespia entered the class at Tier III. The Rosegrave Curse bypassed the lower tiers entirely — the power was transferred at its full inherited depth, not learned incrementally. She did not grow into this. It was placed inside her in a single breath.
⚠ Tier IV Unlock Condition — Locked
The Rosegrave prestige class is locked behind a single condition: acknowledging the oath she made over Lysia's body aloud, in the presence of another living person.
Vespia is aware of this requirement. She has not done it. The oath has not been spoken in ten years.
Vespia is aware of this requirement. She has not done it. The oath has not been spoken in ten years.
✦ Tier III Abilities Unlocked
At Tier III — Necromaster — Vespia has access to all eight abilities in her current kit, including both Gravebloom Final Form and the passive Rosegrave Walk anti-astra field. Her soul-core classification is S-tier — the highest measurable level — due to the density of astra energy contained within the Rosegrave Curse. This makes her both exceptionally powerful and an exceptionally visible target to any entity that feeds on soul resonance.
Location & History
✦
✦ The Castle of Thorns
A gothic fortress built into the coastal cliffs southwest of Westria — halfway between the Euphoric Front's stronghold city of Telania and the Westrian interior. From the Telanian coast it is visible at night as a dark mass with pink light bleeding from every crack and window. Locals call it the Bleeding Keep and give it considerable distance.
The castle is consumed entirely by living thorn-vines that pulse with magenta necromantic light. They are not decoration. They are an extension of Vespia's body — the Rosegrave Curse flows through the vines the way blood flows through veins. The castle breathes with her.
Facilities: War room with circular stone map table · Inner private chamber holding Lysia's effects · Cliff-base dock via thorn-staircase · The Rose Galleon moored at the cliff-top.
The castle is consumed entirely by living thorn-vines that pulse with magenta necromantic light. They are not decoration. They are an extension of Vespia's body — the Rosegrave Curse flows through the vines the way blood flows through veins. The castle breathes with her.
Facilities: War room with circular stone map table · Inner private chamber holding Lysia's effects · Cliff-base dock via thorn-staircase · The Rose Galleon moored at the cliff-top.
◆ Castle of Thorns
Telania
Lyr — The Continent of Legends
✦ Origin — Westria, City of Choire
Vespia was born in Choire — the Birthplace of Light, seat of the Church of Kari in western Westria. A city of faith and stark contrast: the resplendent towers of the Church against the neglected outer districts where families like the Nightrose sisters lived. Vespia grew up in the shadow of Kari's doctrine, watching her older sister Lysia quietly contain something inside her that the Church had no name for.
When Lysia died, Vespia left Choire entirely. The city that preaches light had no comfort for the thing she was becoming. She rode southwest along the Silvercoast, found the abandoned cliff-fortress above the Telanian sea-approach, and sealed the gates behind her. She did not leave for ten years.
When Lysia died, Vespia left Choire entirely. The city that preaches light had no comfort for the thing she was becoming. She rode southwest along the Silvercoast, found the abandoned cliff-fortress above the Telanian sea-approach, and sealed the gates behind her. She did not leave for ten years.
⚠ The Euphoric Front operates from Telania, directly northeast of the Castle of Thorns. They believe the castle is abandoned. The Cult of Heira has detected the necromantic signature from the thorn-vines but has not yet identified it as the Rosegrave. Both windows are closing.
Dreameater Encounters
✦ Vespia's curse makes her soul-core visible to Dreameaters — her thorn-vein network radiates a constant low-level necromantic signature that Dreameaters mistake for a dying host experiencing prolonged grief-saturation. They are drawn to her across considerable distances. She is aware of this. She has not tried to mask the signal. The Dreameaters that approach her tend to leave substantially worse than they arrived.
STAGE 1: Nascent Ash Phantom Threat · Low — Latent Resonance
Behavior: Re-plays the single point of loss as a silent observer. Builds its minimal presence by consuming the faint echo.
Counter: Basic psychic barrier or memory-stabilization prevents attachment.
STAGE 2: Mature Ash Phantom (Feeding Phase) Threat · High — Personal Resonance
Feeds on grief-memories — targeting individuals who carry a curse. Ash Phantoms attempt to enter her dream-state replay loop, feeding on the emotional resonance.
Counter: Thorn-vein network fires reactively during sleep, shredding phantoms that attempt a second entry. She does not wake during activating it.
STAGE 3: Apex Manifestation (Reality-Warped Hollow Crown) Threat · Critical — Hollow Crown
Final form. The phantom has consumed the anchor memory and rewritten Vespia\'s entire reality into the \'Rose-grave Walk\', where she is the keeper and it is the absolute entity.
Counter: Thorn-vein network fires reactively during sleep, shredding phantoms... THREAD STATUS: Zero-Threat (Entity is Reality)
A Dragon-class Fiend currently moving south from the Astra Line may be drawn to Vespia's soul-core signature. Dragon-class entities operate beyond standard Dreameater classification. The Rosegrave Curse's anti-astra properties have not been tested against a Dragon-class encounter. This is a known unknown.
Party — The Rosegrave Covenant
✦L
Leaflit
Skybound · Recruiter
Arrived uninvited. Sat down uninvited. Said seven words. Has not stopped talking since. Covers exits, runs toward things everyone else runs from. The reason Vespia left the castle.
The Catalyst S
Selle Wi Vaniin
Demonfolk · Venomancer
Near-silent movement. Three acid-green venom vials at her hip. Watches walls, not floors. Covers blind spots Vespia does not acknowledge she has. Long black hair, demon horns, red eyes.
Flank Cover E
Exa
Demonfolk · Martial Artist
Crimson-haired, always coiled, always ready to sprint. Her gold bells are the only warning enemies get before contact. Forward pressure and close-range chaos to complement Vespia's field control.
Forward Pressure A
Aislyn
Elven Mage · Arcanist
Golden-haired elf with a glowing blue arcane orb staff. She reads what the others walk past — including the First Era carvings that changed the entire arc of the Lyrian Chronicles.
Lore Reader ✦ Covenant Formation — Jav, Demon District
The Rosegrave Covenant was not formed with ceremony. It formed in a narrow street in the demon city of Jav when Vespia raised a thorn wall between Cult of Heira soldiers and trapped demon civilians — and simultaneously sent a second vine network to build a shelter around a family pressed against a collapsed wall. Two directions from one staff point. A demon elder looked at her and said: "The Rosegrave. We thought you were dead."
She was. Then Leaflit showed up, and the roses on the path started coming back red.
She was. Then Leaflit showed up, and the roses on the path started coming back red.
Character Sheet — Official Reference
✦✦ Full Character Reference Sheet
✦ Colour Palette
Magenta Hair
Two-Tone Hair Braid
Red Eyes
Skin
Dress Main Fabric
Dress Accent Fabric
Gravebloom Magic
✦ Costume Notes
Full-length black gothic gown with deep crimson rose-vine embroidery across the full fabric surface. Wide flared sleeves. Torn jagged hem above laced black boots.
Chains: Decorative silver chains draped across the skirt — gothic aristocratic detail, not restraint.
Staff: Tall thorn-wrapped shaft. Dark rose crown at the top — magenta gravebloom magic permanently active.
Chains: Decorative silver chains draped across the skirt — gothic aristocratic detail, not restraint.
Staff: Tall thorn-wrapped shaft. Dark rose crown at the top — magenta gravebloom magic permanently active.
✦ Expression Notes
Default: Cold authority. No warmth. Scanning.
Combat: Precise focus. Eyes white-core bloom at technique peak.
Rare smile: Half-lidded, predatory — only seen in the tavern scene with Leaflit.
Grief: Jaw set, eyes open. Past crying. The specific expression of someone watching something inevitable.
Combat: Precise focus. Eyes white-core bloom at technique peak.
Rare smile: Half-lidded, predatory — only seen in the tavern scene with Leaflit.
Grief: Jaw set, eyes open. Past crying. The specific expression of someone watching something inevitable.
✦ Gravebloom Magic — Visual Reference
Gravebloom magic manifests as deep magenta-to-crimson spiralling energy — rose-particle trails that stream from the staff crown and persist as glowing afterimages. Thorn-vines erupt from the earth as dark organic lines, each one igniting with magenta light from within. The power signature is always rooted — it grows from a point of contact rather than projecting outward. Everything she does is connected to the ground she stands on.
Gravebloom Game — Dungeon Minigame
✦
180%
20
✦ Combat Console ✦
💀
Active Relics:
None
Active Sets:
None
✦ Cast Spell ✦
+ SINGLE-TARGET & DOT SPELLS
+ AREA OF EFFECT (AOE) SPELLS
+ UTILITY & SUSTAINED HEALING
SPELL TYPE:Game Guide & Loot Codex
✦✦ Game Objectives
Ascend through the dark dungeons of the Castle of Thorns and survive the astra corruption.
🎯 Dungeon Structure: The game consists of 10 Levels in total. Each level consists of 10 rooms (100 rooms total). Room 10 of each level holds a deadly Boss. Defeating a Boss triggers an ascension choice where Vespia can choose a unique passive Covenant Relic.
🏆 Annals Score: Your performance is permanently logged in the Gravebloom Annals. The score formula is:
🎯 Dungeon Structure: The game consists of 10 Levels in total. Each level consists of 10 rooms (100 rooms total). Room 10 of each level holds a deadly Boss. Defeating a Boss triggers an ascension choice where Vespia can choose a unique passive Covenant Relic.
🏆 Annals Score: Your performance is permanently logged in the Gravebloom Annals. The score formula is:
Score = Dungeons Survived + Souls Kept
✦ D20 Combat Multipliers
Select a spell card, target an enemy, and roll the d20. Your damage is determined by your roll range:
| D20 Roll | Dmg Multiplier | Bonus Damage | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 – 2 | 1.50x / 0.75x | +50% (Halved on Fumble) | Fumble Misfire |
| 3 – 5 | 1.65x / 0.825x | +65% (Halved on Fumble) | Fumble Misfire |
| 6 – 8 | 1.80x | +80% | Normal Hit |
| 9 – 11 | 2.025x | +102.5% | Strong Hit |
| 12 – 14 | 2.25x | +125% | Strong Hit |
| 15 – 17 | 2.475x | +147.5% | Critical Hit |
| 18 – 19 | 2.70x | +170% | Critical Hit |
| 20 | 3.00x | +200% | ✦ Critical Ultimate & Stun ✦ |
✦ Fumbles & Critical Hits
⚠️ Fumbles (Roll 1 – 5): The spell misfires. The final damage multiplier is cut in half. However:
- If you own the Gravebloom Catalyst relic, Vespia ignores the fumble and casts a free random spell from her kit at 100% damage.
- If you own Lysia's Mirror, the fumble is negated, allowing you to deal full damage.
✦ Path Selection & Risk
In each room (except room 10 boss), you choose one of three routes. Higher risk tiers offer greater challenges but yield better loot rates and soul multipliers:
- 🟢 Low Risk: 20% chest spawn chance. Standard souls (+1). Single basic enemies.
- 🟡 Medium Risk: 40% chest spawn chance. Standard souls (+1). Low chance of multiple enemies or large epic variants (+2% Epic loot bonus).
- 🔴 High Risk: 55% chest spawn chance. Double souls (+2). Very high chance of multiple enemies and large epic variants (+12% Epic loot bonus).
- 🟣 Mythic Risk: 100% chest/loot spawn chance. Triple souls (+3). High chance of elite Mini-Bosses (+22% Epic loot bonus). Only appears starting from Level 2.
✦ Soul Harvest & Consumption
Defeating monsters rewards Vespia with Souls. These are vital resources:
🌱 Health/Mana Attunement: In Explore, Encounter, or Victory phases, you can consume 1 Soul via the quick buttons to restore stats immediately:
🌱 Health/Mana Attunement: In Explore, Encounter, or Victory phases, you can consume 1 Soul via the quick buttons to restore stats immediately:
- Consume Soul (HP): Restores 30 HP immediately.
- Consume Soul (Mana): Restores 20 SP immediately.
✦ Obtainable Loot & Merging
Monsters and chests drop potions and equipment items. Potions can heal Vespia (+25 HP) or restore mana (+25 SP).
💎 Duplicate Merging: If you collect an equipment item matching the slot and name of an item you currently have equipped, they will merge!
💎 Duplicate Merging: If you collect an equipment item matching the slot and name of an item you currently have equipped, they will merge!
- Merging increases the item's rarity tier: Common → Uncommon → Rare → Epic → Mythic.
- Stats (HP, SP, Spell Power) are boosted by +10%.
- Upgrading to a Mythic tier requires spending 5 Souls, but awards an additional flat stats bonus (+5 HP, +5 SP, +2 Spell Power).
- Cursed items cannot be merged.
- ♻️ Loot Swapping: Equipment loot can be swapped for 25% Max HP & SP restoration, limited to once per level (potions cannot be swapped).
✦ Cursed Items & Toll
Cursed chests or combat drops can contain Cursed Equipment:
💀 Cursed Weapons & Armor: Grants an absolute stat multiplier (~2.5x stats of standard gear).
🩸 Cursed Toll: In exchange for this power, the item inflicts a permanent turn-based drain during combat (HP or SP loss every turn).
⚠️ Cursed item drains stack with other cursed items. They cannot be merged or upgraded.
💀 Cursed Weapons & Armor: Grants an absolute stat multiplier (~2.5x stats of standard gear).
🩸 Cursed Toll: In exchange for this power, the item inflicts a permanent turn-based drain during combat (HP or SP loss every turn).
⚠️ Cursed item drains stack with other cursed items. They cannot be merged or upgraded.
✦ Obtainable Covenant Relics
Passive items selected after defeating Dungeon Level Bosses or found in Cursed Chests:
| Rarity & Relic | Description |
|---|---|
| Epic Lotus Battery | Recover +3 SP on every spell cast. |
| Epic Arcane Spike | Recover +2 SP on hit (every D20 attack roll). |
| Epic Grave Attunement | Permanently increases Max HP by +15 and Max SP by +10. |
| Epic Elixir of Rebirth | Potion: Click to consume and fully restore HP and SP immediately. |
| Legendary Elixir of Death Ward | Potion (Passive): Prevents fatal damage once, restoring 50% HP and SP. Or click to use manually. |
| Legendary Gravebloom Aegis | Max HP +25. Heals Vespia for +5 HP on hit. |
| Legendary Gravebloom Catalyst | Fumbles (1-5) cast a free random spell from Vespia's kit. |
| Legendary Spellweaver Seal | Spells have a 25% chance to cost 0 SP. |
| Mythic Lysia's Mirror | Negates fumbles (Rolls 1-5 deal 100% damage). |
| Mythic Soul Siphon | Harvest double souls (+1 extra soul from all sources). |
| Cursed Cursed Chalice | Grants +15 HP on hit, but drains 5 HP per turn. |
| Cursed Void Crown | Grants +30 Max SP, but drains 5 SP per turn. |
| Cursed Bloodstained Pact | Max HP +100, but drains 8 HP per turn. |
✦ Gear Sets & Set Bonuses
Equipping 4 pieces of a set activates a powerful Set Bonus:
Gravebloom Weaver
Epic Set
4-Piece Bonus: Increases all spell damage by +25%.
Rosegrave Aristocrat
Epic Set
4-Piece Bonus: Increases all spell damage by +30%.
Thorn Lord
Epic Set
4-Piece Bonus: Increases all spell damage by +35%.
Soul Harvester
Epic Set
4-Piece Bonus: Increases all spell damage by +40%.
Void Walker
Epic Set
4-Piece Bonus: Increases all spell damage by +50%.
Wildwood Cyclonist
Common Set
4-Piece Bonus: Boosts the spell Thorn Cyclone by +25% damage.
Root Detonator
Common Set
4-Piece Bonus: Boosts the spell Root Detonation by +25% damage.
Briar Piercer
Uncommon Set
4-Piece Bonus: Boosts the spell Black Rose Spike by +30% damage.
Vampiric Siphoner
Uncommon Set
4-Piece Bonus: Boosts the spell Soul Siphon by +30% damage.
