Spring is the season of new life. Such is the firm belief of a Restan artist who goes by the name of Deidre Dario, the owner of Beldor's most popular store, Spring Confections. Despite the name, Spring Confections is open year round, and offers some of the tastiest treats Resta has to offer. As one might expect from a sweet shop, this place has a whimsical atmosphere suited to the children and families who frequent the store. But underneath the colorful wallpaper and bevy of eye-catching candies and cakes lies a hidden tragedy that motivates and plagues Ms. Dario to this day.
Deidre grew up in Beldor, unmotivated and suffering from a lifelong malaise. She didn't particularly want to do anything with her life but dance, but a childhood accident had left her orphaned and confined to a wheelchair. Lacking any direction, she was saved from poverty by the pity of a baker, who raised her with boundless kindness on his prized pastries. Deidre owed him a lot, which is why she took over the bakery with pride when her guardian fell ill. While her technique with her pastries and willingness to experiment with candy had attracted countless new customers at first, her work lacked any inspiration, a fact that the former owner of her shop bemoaned as he passed away.
The grief of losing a second father was eased when she met a spellwarrior from the nearby Hem Academy with whom she fell in love. The two were married a year later, and this happy occasion was soon followed with news of Deidre's pregnancy. She soon gave birth to two twin daughters in the month of Amora who she named Lilah and Eve. It was in these children that Deidre finally found her inspiration as a confectioner. From the day she became a mother, the wares in her bakery went from eye-catching to artistic, with each new piece representing the joy she found in the love that helped her to survive the roughest times in her life.
Unfortunately, the Archknight Rebellion had tragic consequences for Deidre and her family. First, her husband was killed in a skirmish between Geosians and the Holy Key Knights. This left Deidre despondent and her life began to wither away as a result. Her daughters began to resent her for her neglect and her shop's business began to fade as her compulsion to close for no reason came more and more frequently. She would hit rock bottom when her daughters moved away to Galeon and left her alone.
She was on the verge of closing the doors of her shop for good until a neighbor convinced her to accompany her to the Festival of Serenity. While rolling through the courtyard of the Gilded Keep, Deidre was delighted to see the new stands in which various confections were offered for sale. While stopping for a slice of strawberry cake, she was recognized by the owner of the stall, who told her a very emotional story. The baker once lived in Beldor, where he had been struggling to provide for his family. He told Deidre of how he visited her store years previously and found inspiration in her creations. From that day on, he learned to bake and began to make a comfortable living for the rest of his life.
Deidre's motives as a confectioner had never been for financial gain or to make a living, but seeing the joy she brought to this stranger's life gave her new drive. After the festival, she returned to the store and renovated it before furnishing it with its current name. She then launched her grand re-opening with a new creation: a 5x8 foot cake that was decorated as a diorama of the Gilded Keep in the midst of the Spring Festival. The painstaking detail with which the festival grounds were recreated earned her widespread recognition and launched Spring Confections into its status as the world's most popular sweet shop. To this day, she continues to craft artfully arranged confections purely for the joy that others feel when they see it.
No comments:
Post a Comment