Vanessa is from a town named Witherbark to the east of the caverns. Witherbark is located in the midst of a forest, surrounded by mountainous crests and valleys. Only one road travels to Witherbark, a back road, form an out of the way city. Or at least that was the case.
Witherbark has become a tourist attraction in recent years due to an unusual effect in one of the eastern valleys. Five years ago, a meteor fell from the sky and everything within two hundred feet simply stopped. Light, sound, water, everything around the strike is frozen in place. Perhaps more interestingly is that the place isn't a crater. A thin dome of water surrounds the vale where water has become trapped within the effect. A stream pours into it, but seems to have diverted itself around the dome.
From the west, one can look into the Vale of Eternal Sunset, and despite being blurry from the trapped precipitation, one can still see the sunset, no matter what time of day it happens to be. One can simply walk around this idyllic moment trapped in time.
They say if you look closely, a girl and a stone can be seen at the center. The girl is in the midst of a backwards fall away from the stone.
It all happened five years ago. Ceres and Vanessa, twelve-year-old twins, were spending time in the woods near Witherbark. The two spent the day cloudwatching, having followed a trail to a serene locale, alive with beauty and sounds, flowers of all colors all around. As the sun was setting and they were getting ready to head home a stone fell from the sky. Vanessa attempted to push her sister to safety... and was successful. The skystone took her hand, though. And her sister. And time. But it gave her something in return.
The valley, and her sister hasn't changed to this day. But she has aged twice as quickly ever since.
