Korena

Korena knows how to tend an apple orchard, and they know the forbidden names that would make its roots turn to ash. In The Heart of the Forest, only the first skill is celebrated. They share the fruit freely, a quiet figure in a ninja mask whose eyes are the only part of them that never seem to smile. The locals see a simple farmer who prefers solitude. They do not see Korena at night, tracing symbols in the dirt with their apple stick, whispering to something that answers in the rustle of dead leaves. This god offers no bounty, no warm hearth—only a stark, consuming knowledge. Lately, the trees closest to Korena's hut have begun to bear strange, pale fruit, and no one has been brave enough to ask why.