Ebony is a Nissri drawn to the dimmer places of Thalorien: hollow roots, abandoned nests, bramble tunnels and the cool shadows beneath old trees. She is not feared exactly, but the other Nissri have learned to keep an eye on her. Wherever Ebony goes, small things tend to disappear.

She collects what the forest forgets. Beetle shells, black feathers, tiny bones, lost buttons, cracked acorns, broken charms and scraps of ribbon are all tucked away in hidden nests beneath the roots. No one knows how many nests she has, and Ebony herself never tells. She only smiles, wide-eyed and innocent, with a look that suggests she knows far more than she should.

Travellers who pass through her part of the forest sometimes hear their own whistle answered from the trees, or find that a key, coin or clasp has vanished from their pocket. Ebony is rarely cruel, but she has her own sense of fairness. Those who lose something often discover another object left behind in its place: a feather, a seed, a small bone polished smooth by time. A trade, perhaps. Or a warning.

Despite her strange habits, Ebony has a gentle heart beneath the shadows. She cares for wounded moths, hides frightened beetles from hungry birds, and makes soft little shelters from moss and withered petals. But she belongs to the twilight side of Nissri nature, where kindness and mischief grow from the same root, and where even the sweetest creature may have sharp little secrets.