Morgana Hawthorne's Arc

Chapter 3 of 5

Morgana walked deeper into the forest than she ever had before, her basket bouncing against her hip. The old books from the hut had shown her that rare mushrooms grew near fallen logs in the shadowed parts of Mirkwood. If she could find them, she'd make remedies no other healer in town could offer. The trees grew thicker here, blocking out the sun. Moss covered everything. She knelt beside a rotting stump and brushed away the leaves. Three pale mushrooms poked through the dirt. She cut them carefully and placed them in her basket. This forest held everything she needed—it was why she'd chosen Mirkwood for her shop. The land itself would help her dream come true. Back at the apothecary, Morgana worked by candlelight long after dark. She ground the mushrooms into powder and mixed them with honey. The paste glowed faintly in the dim room. But travelers wouldn't find her shop in the dark—not tucked away near the forest edge like this. She needed something to guide them. She found a wooden lantern in the corner and wrapped it with ivy from outside. When she lit the candle inside, warm light spilled through the leaves, casting patterns on the walls. She carried it outside and hung it near the door. Now passing travelers would see it and know someone offered healing here. The next morning, Morgana needed to learn what remedies travelers actually wanted. She walked into town and found a tea house with a steep wooden roof and wide eaves. Inside, people gathered around small tables, talking over steaming cups. She sat near the window and listened. A woman mentioned a cough remedy from the northern villages. A man described a salve his grandmother made for joint pain. Morgana pulled out a scrap of paper and wrote down everything she heard. These stories would tell her what to make next. If she could create what travelers needed, they would spread word of her shop. Her apothecary would grow, one remedy at a time.