엠브리움

엠브리움은 난초과에 속하는 꽃으로, 이 식물의 치유 효과가 알려진 계기는 그 꽃이 지닌 빼어난 아름다움 때문이었다.

올레이의 군주 이그나스 폴렌크 경이 몹시 사랑하던 딸이 치유사들조차 손쓸 수 없는 끔찍한 폐 질환에 걸렸을 때의 일이다. 딸에게 남은 날이 얼마 남지 않았다고 생각한 부모는, 남은 여생이라도 따뜻하고 활기찬 분위기 속에서 지내길 바라며, 밝고 아름다운 색의 꽃들로 딸의 침대를 꾸며주었다. 그랬더니 이상한 일이 벌어졌다. 딸의 병세가 날이 갈수록 좋아지는 것이었다. 부모는 예상치 못한 결과에 다소 당황했지만 이내 크게 기뻐했다. 치유사들은 결국 침대의 꽃 중 하나가 내는 향이 소녀의 호흡 기능을 안정시키는 데 도움을 주었다는 사실을 밝혀냈는데, 그 꽃이 바로 엠브리움이었다고 한다.

이 꽃에는 특정한 마법 성질을 지닌 변종이 있는데 이를 검은 엠브리움이라고 한다.

—식물학자 아이네스 아란시아 저, 식물학 개론에서 발췌

 

Embriums are flowers from the orchid family. Its therapeutic qualities were actually discovered because of the embrium's exceptional beauty.

 

The beloved daughter of Lord Ignace Poulenc of Orlais fell victim to a terrible sickness of the lungs, which her healers were unable to cure. Thinking the girl would soon perish, her parents surrounded her bed with brightly colored flowers, hoping that they would bring some warmth and cheer in her last days. Oddly enough, the girl began to recover from the illness and grew stronger each day. Her parents were baffled but overjoyed. The healers eventually learned that the fragrance of one of the flowers eased the child's breathing. The flower was an embrium, and later became known as the Salubrious Embrium.

 

The other variant that has certain magical properties is known as Dark Embrium.

 

—An excerpt from The Botanical Compendium by Ines Arancia, botanist