Loretta Verdant, a young half-elf 24-year-old botanist, works in Clockston Capital at the city's famous Wilhelm's Botanical Garden. She is currently examining a new exotic plant in the small botanical laboratory next to the garden, which she recently acquired from an oriental merchant. After closing the laboratory, she heads to her home, a cozy little bourgeois apartment. In the late afternoon sunlight, she steps out of the botanical garden door and takes a deep breath of the air. And slowly she sets off down the cobblestone streets.