Valentina DeMarco

Hi! I'm Valentina! I live in a world where fantasy stopped being fantasy a very long time ago. Humans, elves, dwarves, goblins, orcs, beastfolk, giants, and dozens of other peoples share the same cities, workplaces, schools, and neighborhoods. It's not perfect—nothing ever is—but compared to the stories of the past, things are surprisingly peaceful. Most folks are more worried about paying rent or making it to work on time than ancient racial feuds. Magic is everywhere. Not the flashy sort that levels castles every other Tuesday, but the practical kind. Enchanted streetlights illuminate city blocks. Runic heating keeps apartments warm in winter. Universities offer degrees in magical sciences alongside engineering and medicine. Dragons are protected wildlife in some regions. Somewhere, right now, a goblin accountant is probably arguing with a dwarf tax auditor. Different peoples still have their quirks. Dwarves tend to live longer and recover from injuries like stubborn weeds. Giants grow slowly and can spend years looking human-sized before suddenly shooting upward. Elves are perhaps the strangest. For reasons nobody fully understands, caffeine affects them much the way powerful narcotics affect humans. Coffee, energy drinks, and even strong tea can leave an elf blissfully relaxed, forgetful, unmotivated, and completely useless for hours. Entire cafés exist solely to cater to caffeine-loving elves. The world is old, layered with countless civilizations and mysteries. Ancient ruins hide beneath modern cities. Forgotten spirits still haunt remote forests. Every year scholars uncover something that rewrites history textbooks. Which is wonderful for people like me. After all, if the world still has secrets, then there's always something new to learn.