Many years before the Sundering and the quest to find the Black Rose was presented to Calistarius, there existed a time when the innocence of the mortal heart was still in existence. It was in this time when youth and love were the greatest virtue of them all. He was a young boy then, carefree and alone. Calistarius' parents had perished years earlier due to a tragic accident that left them both trapped in the scorching flames that engulfed the building he once knew as home. It was then that he realized what being truly alone meant. Calistarius, being nothing but a simple youth, was alone in the world. He was left to fend and teach himself what life is about. It was in these times when he learned the art of thievery. With the time that passed the boy became a young man, a man with exceptional skill at taking what ever he set his fancy to, with the exception of one thing. A woman's heart.

They had met in his youth, while he was still honing the new skills he was attaining everyday. Calistarius' curiosity for life led him out of his hometown, at the time known as Gve'Amir, to a grandiose castle in the outskirts of town. It was there, in the courtyards of the golden palace that graced the landscape like a sweet harmony, that Calistarius set his eyes and heart upon the vision that sat within the roses. Clara, later he came to know, was daughter of the lord of the mansion and the object of his emotions.

Time passed, Calistarius and Clara grew to be friends, but as they grew older the intentions of other young men came to the attention of Clara. Many a time in parties held in the mansion, she danced and flirted with the young men that fought for her attention, but never did she once give notice to the feelings held for her by Calistarius. Time and again, he brought her any precious item that he was able to swindle, all in the name of love, but Clara took each item and tossed it aside.

There came a time that Calistarius was approached by the servants of the archwizard Rimbol and although he felt that his side was by Clara, he left to seek audience with the wizard to uncover the nature of his employment. Upon his return, Calistarius told Clara of his adventure. Having met the archwizard and the quest that was set unto him.

"I am to retrieve an artifact, they are paying me unbelievable amount of riches.." Calistarius looked unto Clara's face and continued. "When I return, if I return, will you come away with me?" Clara's face paled at his request and she stumbled backwards onto the floor. When she regained her composure she looked unto his face and spoke gently, "What is it that this wizard has asked of you to retrieve?" Searching for an answer in her face Calistarius answered, "A Black Rose. The wizard Rimbol told me that I could find it in the Underdark, in the Isle of Agony." Knowing that this was an almost impossible task and that any man that was capable of returning from such a horrid place would be an incredible man or at least a man with a plentitude of luck, Clara turned towards Calistarius smiling softly and kissed him gently on the lips. "Bring me the petal of such a rose. A rare rose indeed to be kept in such a strange and perilous place. When I have such a petal, I will know your heart is true and I shall be yours."

Calistarius left immediately in search for the Black Rose. The journey took countless days and nights but all the land felt his return. Calistarius did as he promised. Before giving the rose to the archwizard Rimbol, he took the smallest petal from it to offer as a gift to his love. The spell was cast upon the imperfect rose that caused the world to fall into chaos. The land shook wildly and the skies turned black as pitch. From the castle, Clara watched as in the sky a bright ball of fire in the distance exploded in the night. Below her the earth started to shake violently and began to bring the mansion to pieces. The ground opened up in a fiery explosion and engulfed the mansion above and everything within...

That was the last Clara remembered before she awoke in a fright from a terrible dream full of fire and death. Her eyes tried to focus on the surroundings and all she saw was the darkness of a deep cavern and a shadowy figure that stood in the corner.

"Ah, you finally awaken Lady Clara, I am pleased to see you are well." The voice spoke softly but never left the shadows that hid the man's appearance. Clara searched the shadows and mustering up her strength she spoke softly, "Who are you? Why am I here? What happened?" A loud cackle escaped from the man's throat as he stepped out from the shadows to reveal himself. "Well young woman, I guess you are fortunate because I seem to be the one to answer those questions. To answer the first question, my name is Rimbol and you are here because I found your limp, almost dead, body on the ground away from the remains of what once used to be your home. As for the last, I can only assume that the idiot Calistarius brought me an incomplete rose and that caused the spell to go awry. Do not ask me why you were spared or why anyone else was spared from the devastation that surrounds us. For that, I do not know. I will say this, our bodies, our souls, are no longer of the mortal world for we should have died, but did not." With those last words Rimbol stepped back into the shadows of the cavern and disappeared.

Clara searched her surroundings finding only endless caves leading down to the depths of the land. In one of those she reached a lake of fire, its ember glow lighting up the cave full of reddish hues. In desperation, Clara flung herself in to the flames believing she would perish from such an act. The flame enveloped her and raised her body up from the surface of the lake of fire. It was there that she realized she had been reborn. She commanded the flames to raise her up to the surface of the land and it was there, when she saw the night sky and the flames that rose from the ground, that Clara did die and Firewitch was born.