The d'Avennes Sculptured Gardens and Arboretum

[Lira]

The d'Avennes Sculptured Gardens and Arboretum

d’Avennes began years ago as simply the Palace’s gardens. Generations of gardeners, plant lovers, landscape artists and others have slowly created a place known throughout the Western Kingdom as one of the most beautiful spots in the entire world. It sprawls its way over many blocks of the city, making the air in Roque’s center taste of foreign fruits and smell of sweet flowers. Pathways wave and wander through the green depths, leading to dozens of small, secluded spots where lovers can meet in privacy, and others can conduct their business away from walls and ears that listen through them.

At the very center of d’Avennes there lies a vast hedge maze, its living, thorn-tipped walls higher than a man’s head, climbing trellises of ivy and roses turning its long twisting corridors to a hazy gray even on the brightest of days. The oldest rumors of Roque claim that at the center – where no one has yet found it – there lies a fountain of pure white marble whose waters grant instant health to any who drink them, no matter what ailment cripples their bodies. But like most of the magic in Roque, it has never been proven to be anything other than a pretty rumor.

The entrance to d’avennes is bright with wildflowers and scented with orange trees. Paths lead in every direction, each bearing different plant life along its way. The soft murmur of running water drifts from the fountains sprinkled throughout the vast garden. It is quiet and peaceful here; those who enter rarely linger for long in the entryway.