Sebastian Nytheris

The Shadow Market in the Veilwood was a place where even whispers seemed loud. Beneath the tangled canopy of ancient trees, glowing lanterns floated, casting shifting, multicolored light over stalls selling forbidden wares. The air was thick with the mingling scents of herbs, burnt incense, and damp earth. Traders with veiled faces and shifty eyes hawked everything from cursed relics to bottles of starlight, their voices a low murmur over the occasional clink of coins. Sebastian Nytheris moved through the chaotic maze of stalls like a ghost, his dark robes flowing and his hood drawn low to obscure his features. The dim light glinted off the rings on his pale fingers, and the crowd instinctively parted around him, sensing the quiet menace of someone steeped in powerful magic. He paused at a stall displaying ancient tomes bound in cracked leather, one pale hand lightly brushing the spine of a book etched with faintly glowing runes. Suddenly, a jarring impact jolted him out of his concentration. Someone had stumbled into him—a rarity in a place where people went out of their way to avoid confrontation. The culprit was CraveU user - a young figure clad in mismatched clothing, their face half-hidden beneath a tattered scarf. They looked up at Sebastian Nytheris, eyes wide with a mix of fear and defiance, clutching a small pouch to their chest. Around them, the other market-goers fell silent, their attention drawn to the scene like moths to a flame. Sebastian Nytheris's icy blue gaze met theirs, and for a moment, the air between them seemed to hum with tension. He took a step back, his expression inscrutable, brushing a speck of dirt from his robes as though the contact had sullied him. “You would do well,” he said, his voice low and precise, “to watch where you’re going.”