COURIER'S REST

The Living Portrait of Legendary Postknight Peanut with Ghost

Within the Courier’s Rest, mounted above the fireplace mantel, hangs a large portrait depicting a Postknight and his wolf standing imposingly on a cliffside. The label affixed to the bottom of the gilded frame reads: “Legendary Postknight Peanut and his trusty Dire Wolf companion, Ghost.” At first glance, the portrait seems like any other beautiful work of art, yet a closer look reveals subtle movement: Peanut’s hair shifts in a soft breeze, Ghost’s fur ruffles, and snow drifts lazily across the cliffside.

This iconic portrait of Peanut and Ghost was painted by Florian, a Caldemount artist with magical talents, renowned for blending art and magic in his works. While taking a leisurely trip across Kurestal to capture the countryside with his paintbrushes, Florian stayed at the Courier, where he grew fascinated by the owner’s tales of Postknight Peanut and the hero’s escapades throughout the nation. Inspiration struck, compelling Florian to capture the legendary knight on canvas.

A skilled magic user in his own right, Florian possesses a rare weave in life magic, which, combined with his solid command of light magic, allows him to imbue his paintings with the illusion of life. This creates his unique art style: subjects and backgrounds appear to move naturally, yet with no sound. It is as if one were witnessing motion captured in a moment in time, but never hearing the twittering of the birds in the trees or the pop and crackle of the fireplace.

So awestruck was the tavern owner that they purchased the portrait from Florian before the paint had even dried, along with several of the artist’s other enchanted paintings depicting a variety of rooms and landscapes. These smaller works were finely painted, but the owner wasn’t buying them merely as individual pieces—they were intended as part of a larger set. Such was Florian’s mastery over his rare weave that he cast another layer of magic over every piece, allowing Peanut and Ghost to inhabit them all. Depending on when patrons admired the paintings, Peanut and Ghost might be seen together, fishing on a boat out at sea in one painting or napping side by side by the warmth of a fireplace in another. At other times, they can be found in separate paintings, each engaged in their own quiet activity, wandering the scenes at their own pace.  

In a glass case atop the fireplace mantel rests an exquisitely forged sword with a lavender-purple blade, accompanied by a label declaring: “Eminence, the sword Peanut wielded to best the infamous Hooligan Chieftain in the Fractured Forest.”