#elfebruary

The Devil - Caged by the material world, seduced by luxury and the pleasures of the physical, she has the power to free herself but chooses to remain bound. The allure of indulgence is her master.

Old elfebruary art.

Lea Surana was pulled from practical magic classes early for evident lack of potent magic. Many children who had magic, but not enough of it to cast, would be sent to study with the Tranquil instead. There they learned practical tasks that, much like raw magic, would be a part of running a Circle. Cleaning. Cooking. Mending. 

This is where a Circle’s librarians came from, and archivists, storage keepers, and the Formari. In time they would all be made Tranquil, but as children they’d be kept as they were in hopes that perhaps magic would still manifest in a more powerful and useful manner.

Lea Surana always maintains that it is dangerous and foolish to view First Enchanters and Senior Enchanters as victims only. One can both be a victim and a schemer and a bully, and suffering does not translate into inherent virtue. Irving had plans, and Irving put less talented children into the Tranquil row, both to appease the Templars, but to also lull them into a false sense of security, and complacency.

Like the Inquisitor, Lea Surana knows intimately just how much you can get away with when people think you’re weak and far beneath them, and Circle politics between mages themselves have always been just as ruthless and uncaring of persons as it is everywhere else. And for the longest time Lea Surana thought he was being cast aside, and thus found ways to make himself indispensable in ways no child should ever have to. But now he thinks that Irving always knew. He studied only under the Tranquil, and yet one day they came with a standard issue apprentice staff, and told: you’re up. And plunged him into the Raw Fade, untethered by the rules of Circle magic, unprepared and unknowing.

Elfebruary 2020 - day 4

“It’s not working!” She stood in front of the mirror, tugging and twisting the skirt in a vain attempt to fix it into position. Niqi sighed and flopped down into the chair. Tapping her pencil on her sketch pad, she chewed in her lower lip. “I cannot fathom what I did wrong!”

Anas chuckled and motioned her over. “Come here, little one. Let me have a look.” He set his work down and turned his legs out from beneath the worktable. As she approached, he tipped his head to the side. “How did you tie this, it’s all lumped to one side.”

“Just like I would anything else,” she sighed. “The channel for the ties is large enough,” she said, pointing to the different spots along it. “The gathers are even. I’ve no idea what I missed.” She tugged at it again, trying to even it out.

Anas placed his long fingers over her tiny hands. “Stop, Niqi. You’ll tear it.” He brought her fingers up and kissed her knuckles before releasing them. “Now let me see what you’ve done here.” He felt around the waist, finding a knot partway round the front. “Ah! There’s the problem.” He lifted to skirt up and felt along the back side of it. “The ties caught on the stitch line just here,” he explained. He pointed to the step that she used for measuring other. “Step up,” he said with a smile.

She walked over, climbing up. Anas rose and followed her over. He had picked up a tool to adjust the mistake. He knelt down and pulled the skirt over his head and swiftly got to work, loosening the bind and bunched fabric and pulling it back to where it belonged. She pulled along with him, getting it all situated as the bell above the door jingled.

Niqi peered over, her face smiling at the person entering. Her smile quickly faded as she tapped on Anas’s head rapidly. Anas ducked out, smiling at first, then looking completely embarrassed. Her tendrils immediately curled up, twisting around her shoulders. The girl’s eyes went round as plates as she looked between the two men. The newcomer crossed his arms in front of him, his lips pursing. “Æl, m-my love,” Niqi started. “This isn’t w-what it seems. Anas was j-just fixing my skirt.”