In the midst of the woods stands a house called Lichen Hall. This place is shrouded in folklore - old stories of ghosts, of witches, of a child who was not quite a child.

Marlinchen and her two sisters live with their wizard father in a city shifting from magic to industry. Oblya’s last true witches, she and her sisters are little more than a tourist attraction as they treat their clients with archaic remedies and beguile them with nostalgic charm. Marlinchen spends her days divining secrets in exchange for rubles and trying to placate her tyrannical, xenophobic father, who keeps his daughters sequestered from the outside world. But at night, Marlinchen and her sisters sneak out to enjoy the city’s amenities and revel in its thrills, particularly the recently established ballet theater, where Marlinchen meets a dancer who quickly captures her heart.