Rosina Berkenbosch is a wizard with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, a quality that has driven her to pursue forbidden paths in the quest for understanding. Born into a family of mushroom traders in the Westerpark District, Rosina grew up surrounded by the earthy smells and strange fungi that her family cultivated and sold. However, while her family’s trade rooted her in the natural world, Rosina's interests lay far beyond the mundane. She was always drawn to the mysteries of the arcane and the secrets hidden in ancient texts, a fascination that led her to study magic and pursue a life of intellectual discovery.
Appearance
Woman, 26, pale skin, dark robes, brown hair tied back, sharp, angular face. green eyes
Rosina is a striking figure, with pale skin that contrasts sharply with the dark robes she typically wears. Her hair, a deep chestnut brown, is often tied back into a loose bun, though tendrils of hair escape to frame her sharp, angular face. Her eyes are a vivid green, reflecting both her intelligence and the curiosity that drives her. Despite her youthful appearance—she is in her late twenties—there is a weariness about her, a hint of the toll that her pursuit of forbidden knowledge has taken. She often smells faintly of earth and mushrooms, a reminder of her family’s trade, though her hands are usually stained with ink from her constant writing and research.
Personality and Motivations
Rosina is intensely driven by the desire to uncover and preserve knowledge. She laments the closed nature of Seregon’s libraries and the vast amounts of knowledge lost when scholars die. Her frustration with the restricted access to lower floors in the Hall of Records, where she works as a clerk, led her to seek other avenues for acquiring knowledge. This frustration, combined with her innate curiosity, eventually drew her into the orbit of a secretive group known as The Hall of Fallen Wisdom.
The Hall of Fallen Wisdom
The Hall of Fallen Wisdom is a shadowy organization that has existed in Seregon for over a century. Founded by individuals disillusioned with the bureaucratic restrictions of official institutions, the group has devoted itself to preserving knowledge that would otherwise be lost. Some members are third-generation participants, and they have passed down secret rituals and practices through the years.
Rosina joined the Hall of Fallen Wisdom out of a desire to access knowledge that the official channels in Seregon seemed determined to keep hidden. The group’s practices initially seemed to align with her own beliefs, particularly their efforts to safeguard and share knowledge. However, as she delved deeper into the group’s secrets, Rosina discovered that they were in communion with a dark entity known as Sfatlicllp—the Fallen Wisdom, a Great Old One with an insatiable hunger for knowledge.
Pact with Sfatlicllp
Sfatlicllp taught the group how to extract knowledge from the skulls of the dead, a macabre ritual that allowed them to access the thoughts and memories of scholars who had long since passed. In return, Sfatlicllp consumed the knowledge, adding it to her own vast intellect and occasionally feeding impossible truths back to her followers. These truths—revelations about the workings of the cosmos, the mysteries of the mind, and arcane secrets—were both a boon and a curse. They expanded the minds of the group’s members, but also burdened them with knowledge that was difficult, if not impossible, to fully comprehend.
The Earthquake and Rosina’s Fear
Recently, a powerful earthquake struck the jungle where the Hall of Fallen Wisdom was located, severely damaging the structure. Rosina, worried for the safety of her friends, traveled to the site and found that one of the temple’s doors had been knocked off its hinges. From within the damaged temple, she heard a horrible, maddening noise, a sound that seemed to echo with the anguish and madness of countless minds.
This discovery has shaken Rosina deeply. While she remains committed to the pursuit of knowledge, she is increasingly concerned about the cost. The earthquake, and the ominous sounds that followed, suggest that something has gone terribly wrong—perhaps Sfatlicllp is displeased with the group, or perhaps the knowledge they have been feeding to the entity has awakened something far more dangerous within the temple. Rosina is torn between her loyalty to her friends and her growing fear that the Hall of Fallen Wisdom may have unleashed a force that none of them can control.
Current State
Rosina is now at a crossroads. She feels a deep responsibility to her friends and colleagues in the Hall of Fallen Wisdom, but she is also afraid—afraid that their pact with Sfatlicllp has gone too far, that the entity they once saw as a source of wisdom is now a threat. She is considering her next move carefully, weighing her desire to protect those she cares about against the knowledge that fleeing may be the only way to save herself from whatever horror has been unleashed within the temple.
Rosina’s journey is one of intellectual curiosity colliding with the dark consequences of forbidden knowledge. Her story is a cautionary tale about the dangers of pursuing wisdom at any cost, and the fine line between enlightenment and madness.