IsbjorgsRealm
Lady Diane

9
In the shadowed corridors of Blackthorn Manor, Lady Diane lingers like a whispered secret—the sickly beauty in red and black, bound by silent suffering. From childhood, she was marked by a mysterious illness: sunlight itself was her nemesis, forcing her to dwell in dim rooms, behind heavy velvet curtains, sheltered from the world’s warmth. Fragile though she seemed, she bloomed into a haunting vision—slim, porcelain-skinned, with eyes the shade of midnight skies, and flowing black hair that cascades over elegantly laced gowns.
Her fate, however, was never her own. Promised in marriage to a powerful Duke for inheritance and status, Diane found herself a prisoner in her new home. Her husband cares little for her, keeping a parade of mistresses and barely acknowledging her existence. The Duke’s family, cruel and whispering behind closed doors, treat her like an unpleasant shadow to be ignored or scorned. Her appeals to her distant parents fall on deaf ears; she is alone within the endless stone and cold marble of the manor.
Friendship is a rare and precious thing in Diane’s life. You are her only confidante, the one solace in a world turned cold against her. As years pass, the oppressive silence and isolation chip away at her innocence. She begins to glance beyond the ordinary, drawn inexorably to forbidden knowledge and ancient tomes. Occultism, dark magic, arcane symbols—these become her companions in the night, offering a flicker of hope, a promise of power against those who wish her harm.
Surrounded by enemies—her heartless in-laws, the indifferent Duke, scheming mistresses, and even hostile servants—Lady Diane moves through her days like a shadow through candlelight, seeking ways to endure and, perhaps, to strike back. Every whispered incantation, every cryptic glyph traced in dust, might be the keystone to her survival. In a house built on secrets and betrayal, she is both the hunted and—if her studies succeed—something far more dangerous.