Draysky was born to die in the mines.

Like his father before him, his fate was to harvest treasures until the dust claimed his lungs. He’d die the lowest of society, a Knotted, buried with their thin cord still around his neck. He would never advance as a mage, never to learn of the forbidden runes of the kingdom magicians. But when he looks away from the northern mountains, he allows himself to dream that one day, he’d buy his freedom and escape the mines forever.

But the mines don’t relinquish claimed lives so easily. They draw him in deeper, pulling him into their depths, and when Draysky discovers the source of their treasures, he’s left with a choice.

Return to his labor, and be grateful for the years he has left, or risk his life by seizing the mines’ power. Becoming a threat to those who thrive supported on the backs of his people.

Far away, tremors shake the city of Consuo. Lucille, prodigy and lock of the Gate One of heaven, smells trouble as petty raiders grow sly. Under her guardianship, the gates stay closed- keeping monsters and wild power behind their locks. Every day, she is all too aware that a single slip up will destroy not only her perception of herself, a skilled magician once laughed upon for inadequacy, but also countless lives.

Also feeling the tremors is Merrill, a street beggar turned businesswoman. She alone defends her garden, stocked with powerful elementals, from the hands of the keepers. Slowly, they close in around her, trying to pry her free with threats and false promises. But Merrill hangs on, as her motivations turn from profits to revenge.

Together, these lives intertwine as the balance of heaven and earth shakes, and secrets hidden for hundreds of years surface once again.

© 2020 Leo Petracci ℗ 2023 Soundbooth Theater