First Arcanist Thalyssra and Regent-Lord Lor'themar Theron set aside the troubles of their individual worlds to spend one beautiful evening in a contest of verse—and in each other's hearts.[1]
A Moment in Verse was something Madeleine Roux volunteered to do as something light, sweet, and healing for the community[2] during the COVID-19 pandemic. She wanted to write the story because she was disappointed about being unable to expand on Lor'themar and Thalyssra's relationship in the novel Shadows Rising,[3][4] which already included a separate romance subplot.[5] She originally hoped to release the short story earlier during the pandemic when much of the United States were still in quarantine in order to help encourage people to stay inside, but the localization process took longer than she expected.[6]
Roux did not have any specific explanation in mind for the messenger who interrupts Lor'themar and Thalyssra near the end of the story. It was purely a narrative construct intended to serve as a comedic moment that convinces Lor'themar to go through with kissing Thalyssra, and as such does not tie into anything in Shadows Rising.[7]
^Tweet by Madeleine Roux: "Hi Kam, I'm the author of the new novel, and this short story is not connected to that upcoming book. In fact, it was a piece I volunteered to do as something light, sweet, and healing for the community during a super rough time. Have a great weekend."
The following texts were not published as short stories but rather published on the official Blizzard websites as blog posts split into several parts. However, they are included here for completeness' sake.
Lor'themar in Suramar City.
