Not every record of the Veil has survived, and not every account has been preserved in full.
What remains has been gathered here for safekeeping: letters, observations, and fragments from the Society's archives. Some offer answers. Others have raised questions that remain unresolved.
The records are arranged by chapter, in the order they were received.
The Archivist
Keeper of the Veil
Chapter I - The Invitation
Letter from the Archivist
You may believe this is the beginning of your connection to the Moonveil Society, but you have belonged to the Veil far longer than you know. The Garden does not open for those who have not already stood before it.
Perhaps you have seen the gate in a dream and paused before it, waiting to be let in. Perhaps you have heard the rustling of leaves where there was no wind, or the gentle lapping of a lake where there was no water. These are the first whisperings of the Veil, long before she allows herself to be known.
The Society does not choose the moon-touched. It recognizes those who already belong to the Veil. You have been entrusted with the Thorned Key. This key does not merely unlock the Garden, it will reveal what has been awaiting you there.
The Unveiling begins when the gate opens. Few understand what must eventually be surrendered beneath the Veil. This is only the beginning.
The Society does not extend invitations twice. Do not mistake this for chance. Enter wisely.
The Archivist
Keeper of the Veil
Archive Card
Archive I
The Thorned Key
Some doors reveal themselves only beneath moonlight.
The Thorned Key was forged in the earliest days of the Garden, before the Moonveil Society even had a name. Once it unlocks the gate, it begins something that cannot easily be undone.
The sting of its thorns will fade, though traces of its silver markings may still shimmer beneath the moonlight long after the gate has been opened.
Those who have carried the Key describe the same sensation - a warmth, as though the metal already knew the hand that held it. The Veil does not entrust the Key to those it has not already recognized.
Chapter II - The Veiled Garden
Letter from the Archivist
The Veiled Garden may seem familiar to you, as though you have wandered her paths before, deep into the night. Most initiates have stood beside the Garden several times without knowing it. Beyond the Gate, the path is overgrown and ancient, with twisting silver-thorned vines, black water still as stone, and moonflowers that open only in the darkness.
The Garden is older than anyone can remember, existing beyond the oldest of records. Its paths have been waiting long before you knew to look for them. What you find beyond the Gate is rarely what you believed you were seeking. Walk slowly and let her become familiar again. She already knows you are here.
You may find a stone woman standing among the thorns, her weathered form nearly overtaken by silver vines. Or you may find a path rising toward a stone sanctuary hidden deeper within the Garden. There are paths that do not appear until they are needed. The Garden has never required its visitors to understand her paths before they walk them.
The Archivist
Keeper of the Veil
Archive Card
Archive II
The Moonflower
The Moonflowers of the Veiled Garden bloom only beneath moonlight, giving off a soft, luminescent glow. By dawn, many have already closed their star-like petals. The Society has tended to them for centuries. The flowers do not survive beyond the Veil, belonging to the Garden and to nothing else.
Moonflowers respond to things they should not be able to perceive. They bloom brightest during certain rituals, as though they too are participants. On rare nights, every moonflower opens at once, awakening the Garden. No one has discovered what calls them to bloom.
Chapter III - The Starlit Court
Letter from the Archivist
The women of the Starlit Court are often misunderstood. They are not the rulers of the Garden or the Society. They were here long before the Society began keeping its records. Little is known of what they were before that.
Every initiate who completes the Unveiling stands before the Court. The priestesses watch in silence, each attending to something different. One is said to recognize the first signs of a gift, while others keep records of what has appeared before. There are accounts of one who has spoken of things that had not yet come to pass.
I have spent years recording the Court’s ceremonies, but there are things I have never been allowed to include in my accounts. I sometimes wonder what they see when they stand before an initiate, and whether what they witness is always a gift.
When your time comes, do not be troubled by their silence. They have their reasons for keeping it.
The Archivist
Keeper of the Veil
Archive Card
Archive III
The Starbearer
Among the priestesses of the Starlit Court, the Starbearer is said to recognize the gifts awakened by the Veil.
Accounts of the Unveiling describe lights appearing between her hands as she stands before an initiate. Some are faint as distant stars. Others are said to have filled the entire chamber.
The Starbearer records what she witnesses, though the true nature of a gift may not become clear for many years. Some reveal their purpose slowly, while others prove capable of far more than their bearers ever imagined.
Her records speak of gifts that grew beyond their keepers, and of those who followed their light too far.
Not every light is meant to be followed.