In the final episode of the Summer Tree (Season 1), Ayta and her companions arrive in Ashenti, a city of serene lakes and grand architecture, offering a stark contrast to their perilous journey. Beneath its tranquil surface lies a web of politics and power plays, hinting at the portentous events that await them.

Encounters with Samah and his “abdal” Wallaj reveal a delicate balance of loyalty and duty that defines the city. Meanwhile, mysterious celestial events—a missing star and an ominous comet—loom overhead, suggesting larger, cosmic forces at play. The anticipation builds towards a crucial meeting with the king, as the serene ambiance of Ashenti gives way to an approaching storm and the promise of worse to come.

We will be taking a break before we continue Tales From When I Had A Face, with Season 2: The Fall Tree.

The penultimate episode of the Summer Tree (Season 1) propels Ayta and her companions across a vast desert aboard a windship, floating towards an uncertain destiny. As they traverse the sun-scorched wilderness, the whisper of prophecies and the weight of destiny loom large, setting a tone of both anticipation and dread. Eluane, ever the enigmatic guide, shares his musings about the cosmic and cyclic nature of their world.

Suddenly, they are subjected to a horrific attack, forcing the group to confront immediate physical dangers while still grappling with the symbolic implications of their quest. Then the portents that have been spoken of become all too real...

Gran recounts how Ayta, Elena, and Nyssa navigate New Babylon’s marketplace under Eluane's watchful eye. Worried about attracting attention after Elena’s recent misadventures, he leads them to an ornate tent where Prince Samah awaits, a figure of both youthful poise and heavy responsibility. This encounter has the potential to alter their destinies profoundly.

Within the tent, amidst exotic scents and distant music, a conversation unfolds, revealing the political and mystical intricacies of this world. Eluane discloses critical information about Elena’s actions and their potentially catastrophic consequences, raising the stakes. As Ayta and her new friends engage with Prince Samah, they must carefully navigate diplomacy and danger, questioning whether they can trust the prince to aid their escape or if his allegiance to tradition spells their doom.

Gran’s story continues. Ayta, Elena, and Nyssa navigate the complexities of the outer city of New Babylon under the guidance of Eluane, the Raven-Wanderer. His mysterious past and true intentions gradually become more clear as he leads them through a chaotic urban landscape to a hidden safehouse.

At the Sendiirian safehouse, Eluane’s revelations hint at a former network of espionage and ties to Elena’s father. The trio must decide whether to trust their newfound guide or forge their own path amidst the outer city’s shadowy alleys. Eluane’s statements about their intertwined destinies suggest they are part of a larger, possibly preordained narrative, deepening the intrigue around their roles in the unfolding events of the Second World.

Elena takes an unexpected trip with even more unexpected results...

The Summer Tree begins in earnest with Gran's fantastic story of escaping the terror of Siberia in the early 1900s and passing through a gate to another world. The focus of her tale to come will be on her journey through this realm, the characters she meets, and the trials they face as they are drawn into its politics, poetry, and revolution.

Gran recounts her flight from the horrors of our world to this alien yet oddly familiar place. Her adventure begins in a dimly lit cell, where she meets Elena, a young girl with a mysterious past. Their uneasy alliance grows with the arrival of Nyssa, a girl who seems to be without a history. The confines of their cell “at the heart of the sun” set the stage for future connections and conflicts.

On Ayta’s seventh birthday, there came a knock on the door, and her namesake stood before her. Gran Ayta. Once a thing of myth, descended from legends. Now she seemed just a stooped old woman, but appearances can be deceiving.

Ayta’s lonely childhood was soon transformed by Gran’s fantastic stories of flight from one world to the next. From distant Siberia to the Second World of Alterran, from there to the very Land of the Dead she had come, or so she claimed. And she had returned with secrets taken from that underworld, to teach her granddaughter.

Seven years later, her Gran would be dead. Ayta had to come to terms with the legacy she had passed on to her, bearing these myths in a world which has no need for what it sees as childish things. A childish world that she knew was soon to end.