Post by andycd on Sept 9, 2019 16:41:11 GMT
==Town Hall==
The doors of the mayoral office were a fine Neverwinter Oak, thick and coated in a dark glossy varnish. Willum had ordered them specifically for his office when the Town Hall was being designed. He'd said that a door of Neverwinter Oak was a door that inspired respect. So naturally, he'd bought two. Placing her hand against the panels of them now, Aurelia had to admit she got it. They gave a real impression of strength, wealth and power, and she relied on them. People who came to see her in this office had already been Cowed By the Doors.
Now, however, she stood outside the office, and she felt the oppressive blocks of wood glaring back at her with her own reflection in the varnish. It was ten bells, her least favourite time of day - the daily Council Meeting. Though it was typically attended by whichever councilors felt like attending that day, as the nominal chair she was expected to attend every day. The room beyond, which used to be Mayor Daffles' office, was now the council meeting space though most people thought of it as Aurelia's office. Which was ridiculous, she'd never wanted an office, and yet she couldn't deny that it was hers, cluttered papers and all.
The tenth bell rang out - no more time for self-pitying reflections. Aurelia straightened, and put her face on - the one that knew this office was hers and knew that everyone else had already been through the cowing doors believing this office to be her domain. It was the face that drew upon her heritage to emote calm, wisdom and grace - not the face of a mortal, but an angel above petty concerns. She pushed the doors open, and entered the room to the sound of Kensington and Cordelia arguing - again. As she stepped forward to resolve whatever squabble they had managed to land on now, the doors slammed shut behind her with a heavy thud, sealing her in.
==Later==
The council was dismissed, but it had at least turned out to be more interesting than usual. The first full report from Girelle Veluss had come back from Zot Goran, with a number of curious discoveries. K'ul Goran was among the strangest land they had yet encountered - the fact that it did not unquestioningly claim the top spot was an indication of how weird things got in Kantas. For a nation predominantly of Abyssal-blooded creatures, they had a variety of art and cultural pieces of all things for trade, as well as some other foodstuffs and assorted industries Aurelia was not especially interested in, though Kensington and Tabetha had practically been salivating. Their adventurers were almost exclusively military or other forms of public servants, which was fascinating, but only in an amusing contrast to Daring's own much less disciplined assortment.
The connection to the Plane of Air was fascinating. Aurelia had known the continent was unstable, but a sustained thinning of the line between two specific planes for such a long time? Unheard of, not even postulated. Aurelia made a note to gather more scholars to Daring Heights - the sheer volume of treatises waiting to be written was staggering.
And the giants. Girelle had highlighted news of the joint Errant Guard/Daring Adventurer encounter with the hill giants with some enthusiasm. It was, in his words, "an incredible opportunity to provide a form of assistance we are uniquely suited to provide - 'Advanced Tactical Battlespace Solutions', or whatever impressive words you'd like to fit around the idea of renting our adventurers out. They have shaped wars before, and with luck, the K'ul Goranians may be facing one they are nervous about fighting." Not ideas to her tastes, but if K'ul Goran needed aid in the future, Daring would be well placed and well motivated to assist.
However he phrased things, Girelle had been worth the money. She'd met him years ago when she was still travelling with Willum, and when a negotiator had been needed she knew exactly who to go to - his skill was legendary.
A cough and a knock from the side door made Aurelia look up from her papers. "Yes, Phillip, what is it?"
The young scribe shuffled nervously into the room. "You wanted a report on new local businesses, my lady," he said, placing a scroll on her desk sealed with the official stamp of Daring Heights.
"It's still just Aurelia, Phillip," she replied for the hundredth time, "but thank you, that will be a great help."
He bowed, both awkwardly and wholly unnecessarily, and then shuffled back out of the room. Only when she was sure the door was shut did she let out a sigh, then unsealed the scroll and began reading. Time to see who the new fish were in the pond.
==Portal Plaza==
The afternoons by the portal, essentially serving as a magical traffic warden and customs official, were more enjoyable. Though it could be monotonous, and some of the wagon drivers and merchants would occasionally get riled about some delay or perceived infraction, she was doing what she loved most - bending the Weave to her will to redefine the laws of Space. Let them whine about a cracked egg or portal fees - whatever her status in town, it was the one time of day she felt powerful and in control.
Jenna had been there when she'd arrived, ready to hand over. They'd chatted for a half hour about their days before her teenage apprentice had run off to Samed's Smithy - they were working on a particularly trick magical commission and Jenna had offered to help out. Naturally, the sorceress loved being around fire. As she ran off, Aurelia called after her. "Don't forget to be ready for dawn tomorrow!"
"I won't," she called back, running between two large wagons.
The rest of the afternoon passed easily enough, the warm sun mixed with cool wind making for a pleasant atmosphere. Several wagons of food and one of iron ore came through from Neverwinter, a merchant from Calimport came through with a few sacks of spices to sell on a mule, a member of the Guild of the Emerald Tradition was heading back to the Sword Coast on business, a caravan of a merchant and two families arrived with all their possessions - new residents to grow the town who Aurelia greeted particularly warmly and gave them directions and advice for getting started in town, two different families also were heading back to visit family for a holiday, one family was moving back permanently - business was good but it didn't always work out for everyone, and a group of fresh-faced adventurers wanted to shave a few days off the journey towards their goal. She sent them all on their way with a smile, a brief exchange of coin, and a crackling of arcane energy. The runes around the stone circle flared and dimmed repeatedly throughout the day as she worked her magics.
As dusk approached, she stretched - most of her magic spent for the day. The guards would change shift soon, for a slightly more fortified night watch - it was difficult to lock a teleportation circle, and some people might need to arrive in an emergency, but you couldn't be too careful. Aurelia wished them all a good night and retired back to her home, the modest house on the edge of the plaza, less than a hundred feet away.
==Aurelia's Home==
The Driftglobe hanging over her desk was set to a low glow. The remnants of her dinner - a chicken's leg bone and some scraps of carrots and potatoes - rested precariously on the corner, while books and scrolls covered the rest of the surface.
The council's instability, the stagnation of the quarry, the desolation of Stoneleaf, the still light defence of the city, the burgeoning crime levels, Jenna and all she represented, the dangers of Oriloki's Yuan-Ti god-cult gem collection, the myriad of dangers from the portal itself, the adventurers - their volatile personalities and the targets they placed on their own backs and by extension the town (I mean the Necrodancer of all things, by the gods), the Crimson Fist (like that wasn't an ominous name), K'ul Goran and the looming spectre of a distant war, increasing chatter about the Drow, the fact that there were at least 2 groups operating in Daring Heights who Aurelia knew nothing about but assumed at least one of them would turn out to be the Zhents or some such, the reason the portal existed and what in all the planes Kantas *was*, all of these fears and more were represented here amongst her notes and research. Every evening she read and she read, searching for solutions to the many problems that beset this little town that thought itself so big.
It wasn't too long after the orcs had swept in and turned everything upside down, when Daffles had vanished and she'd somehow been thrust into the center chair on that benighted council, when she had heard a recounting of adventurers going into the Angelbark and found Will, the seraph, broken and afraid - demons literally manifesting the angel's fears and using it to corrupt the divine being back into the madness they had been rescued from not long before. That story had stuck with her, and she felt she understood Will more every day. Her mind seldom stopped popping up with a fresh concern - an angel had broken under this strain; she was but half-angel, how was she meant to survive this?
And as every day she understood Will more, she understood Daffles less. He'd made deals with a hag she'd specifically warned him against behind her back and it had nearly cost him his life. Now he'd abandoned her here, given up his whole grand project and cashed in early. Her friend for so many years had clapped her on the shoulder, trying to hide the haunted look in his eyes from his time in a gem atop Granny's staff, and had just said, "I'm sure you'll be fine," before stepping into the teleportation circle and vanishing from her life.
As the papers moved on the desk the plate finally toppled over and smashed, sending shards scattering across the floor and shattering the silence of the room as well. Aurelia flinched violently at the sound and balling up her fists tersely summoned a wispy spirit of air to clean the mess up as she sat and breathed slowly. Lathander's holy light, she would love to leave all these problem papers behind and fly away like Daffles had done.
But... you don't walk away from a problem. You don't abandon people just because it's hard. You put the work in. You do your best. That's what her parents had taught her - well, mostly her father. An angelic mother can sometimes lose track of the concept of time.
Aurelia stood up, walked around the corner to the mirror that stood over a small wash basin she had installed. Staring at the pale, unsteady reflection, she sighed a deep, deep breath, releasing all the weight on her shoulders - sagging as she exhaled.
One thing at a time.
Sitting back down at the desk, she picked up the next scroll and began to read, the only sound in the room the unseen servant quietly tidying the wrecked plate away. Dawn at least, would bring a brighter day.
==Portal Plaza==
It was an hour before dawn, the faint traces of light creeping over the horizon where Port Ffirst lay. Aurelia sat dozing in her chair by the portal steps, lightly enough that she woke with a small start when the sound of Jenna's shoes tapped across the flagstones in the deserted square.
Jenna had clearly already been up for a while as well. Her red hair, usually left free and slightly unkempt around her head and hanging down over her shoulders, had been pulled back into a narrow ponytail. Her breeches and shirt looked freshly washed and pressed. Aurelia's mouth twitched towards a smile - no doubt magic had been employed here. She let the smile spread over her face as her prodigious protege and nominal ward came up to her. "Very nice," she said approvingly. Jenna gave a small, half-mocking pirouette. "Well it seemed appropriate," she replied, stepping up into the teleportation circle.
Aurelia stepped up beside her, a little wearily - sleep had not come easily last night, and nodded to Jenna, who raised her hands and drew out a few sigis in the air. The circle hummed, the glyphs glowed, and the pair vanished from Daring Heights.
==Mountain Peak, Sunset Spine==
The air was very cold and the wind was biting here, but Jenna casually threw up a barrier of warmer air around the two, and the climate quickly became more habitable, though fog cascaded off of the barrier and began to tumble down the sides of the precipice they had arrived at. Maintaining the heat barrier easily, she stepped out to the edge, eyes wide in amazement. They were on a flat patch of grass at the edge of an escarpment looking east, towards the slowly rising sun, miles away over the edge of the Sea of Tears. They were miles high - Aurelia had spent a little time locating this spot. She knelt and began laying out a blanket and food she had brought with her - bread, fruit, milk, cheese - relatively simple fare. She would have liked to have brought Jenna's favourite pie from Nerry's, but that wasn't possible at the moment.
Aurelia and Jenna sat and looked out over the Dawnlands below, hills, valleys and rivers bathed in shadow still, the distant light not yet reaching them. Daring Heights was just visible but the two great forests to the north and south dominated the view to the sides, stretching out in both directions much further than they could see even from their vantage point. The glistening sea was visible, though Port Ffirst was lost amongst the trees and shubbery of the swamp surrounding it. It was, in a word, breathtaking.
As they sat and watched the world below, Aurelia was the first to break the silence. "You've come so far, Jenna," she said softly. "It has been a joy to work with you and teach you these last few years but I wouldn't wish what you've been through to get here on anyone."
Jenna straightened her posture and turned her head towards her teacher and guardian, a humourless smile on her face. "It's funny. I remember being older - living up in the Ettin and all that, but it feels like... someone else's memories now - they're... distant. 'Course, it changed me - and not just the magic and stuff. I was - I jumped from 14 to 34 and then from 36-ish to 16 again. You know? Or like, no one knows. Plenty of people don't even remember. They think I'm 'precocious.' I'm not - I'm... fucking sick of their looking down on me. Sorry."
Aurelia waved away the apology with a few flicked fingers, letting the not-young girl continue. "It's being young though, isn't it? The other kids - like Idari - they all wish they could be taken more seriously. It's just that I HAVE been - I had that respect. I'm SO grateful for getting this time back, for Rholor changing me back. I don't want to miss out on my life - but gods I wish I could get back some of that respect." She let out a heavy breath that disturbed the heated barrier surrounding them.
"Finished?" Aurelia asked, not unkindly. Jenna snorted and nodded slightly. "The view is incredible, by the way Aurelia. This is absolutely stunning, I've never seen everything all laid out like this. It's... early, but a lovely start to my name day."
The aasimar smiled and stood up. "We're not here to celebrate your name day, Jenna, though joyous tidings to you." She reached down a hand.
Jenna took it and also stood, looking confused. Aurelia pulled out a small orb carved of a translucent yellow/orange crystal. "We're here to celebrate the end of your apprenticeship. I can't pretend your merely a pupil anymore when you-" her words were cut off by a thunderous "YES!" from Jenna as she punched the air, a huge jet of flames roaring into the air above them from her outstretched fist. Aurelia stood and waited patiently for Jenna to finish leaping around the mountaintop before continuing.
"I can no longer continue as your teacher, Jenna - you are far too proficient for that. You manage a teleportation circle for hours a day, far beyond anything even many professional mages could manage. And you are right, you deserve the respect appropriate to your competence. I would much rather call you a colleague, so I hereby declare your apprenticeship over, and present to you this gift." She placed the sphere in Jenna's hands. "This is a Dawn Orb, infused with the power of the rising sun, but it is not yet complete." She flipped over the blanket revealing a runic circle inscribed on the other side. As Jenna gasped, with tears in her eyes, Aurelia knelt beside it and asked, "Would you like to help me finish it?"
The two women knelt, and as the dawnlight surged across the lands, over Daring Heights, through the valleys and up the side of the mountain they wove the final set of incantations, Jenna repeating after Aurelia, and the dawn light refracted through the orb laying on the blanket bathing them all in warm, glorious light.
==Town Hall==
Jenna was settled in for the morning shift on the portal, fascinated by the properties of her orb and with a new lease of confidence as she directed the carts and opened the portals, now a fully-fledged mage. Aurelia had gone back to her home and gathered a few papers but had been unable to fully focus. The dawn ritual had sparked something more than a magical orb - she felt a thought taking shape, a plan. Jenna had grown and developed, while the Council felt stagnant and onerous. Things needed to change.
She stood now in front of those doors again, ten bells just beginning to be rung in. The doors were still oppressive and imposing, but she had a purpose now, and they would not hold her back today. She did not put on her serene face, instead she let her jaw set, half-celestial will written on her features. She pushed the doors open and strode in, walking up to the desk a few of the Council had already gathered around and slapping her hand down on it.
"All right, everyone, we've let this Council muddle along for long enough. We've done a fair job, but it's time. We've danced around the idea before, but you've pushed it off, but we won't do that any longer. We're holding an election. Let's make sure this Council has the authority it deserves."
The doors of the mayoral office were a fine Neverwinter Oak, thick and coated in a dark glossy varnish. Willum had ordered them specifically for his office when the Town Hall was being designed. He'd said that a door of Neverwinter Oak was a door that inspired respect. So naturally, he'd bought two. Placing her hand against the panels of them now, Aurelia had to admit she got it. They gave a real impression of strength, wealth and power, and she relied on them. People who came to see her in this office had already been Cowed By the Doors.
Now, however, she stood outside the office, and she felt the oppressive blocks of wood glaring back at her with her own reflection in the varnish. It was ten bells, her least favourite time of day - the daily Council Meeting. Though it was typically attended by whichever councilors felt like attending that day, as the nominal chair she was expected to attend every day. The room beyond, which used to be Mayor Daffles' office, was now the council meeting space though most people thought of it as Aurelia's office. Which was ridiculous, she'd never wanted an office, and yet she couldn't deny that it was hers, cluttered papers and all.
The tenth bell rang out - no more time for self-pitying reflections. Aurelia straightened, and put her face on - the one that knew this office was hers and knew that everyone else had already been through the cowing doors believing this office to be her domain. It was the face that drew upon her heritage to emote calm, wisdom and grace - not the face of a mortal, but an angel above petty concerns. She pushed the doors open, and entered the room to the sound of Kensington and Cordelia arguing - again. As she stepped forward to resolve whatever squabble they had managed to land on now, the doors slammed shut behind her with a heavy thud, sealing her in.
==Later==
The council was dismissed, but it had at least turned out to be more interesting than usual. The first full report from Girelle Veluss had come back from Zot Goran, with a number of curious discoveries. K'ul Goran was among the strangest land they had yet encountered - the fact that it did not unquestioningly claim the top spot was an indication of how weird things got in Kantas. For a nation predominantly of Abyssal-blooded creatures, they had a variety of art and cultural pieces of all things for trade, as well as some other foodstuffs and assorted industries Aurelia was not especially interested in, though Kensington and Tabetha had practically been salivating. Their adventurers were almost exclusively military or other forms of public servants, which was fascinating, but only in an amusing contrast to Daring's own much less disciplined assortment.
The connection to the Plane of Air was fascinating. Aurelia had known the continent was unstable, but a sustained thinning of the line between two specific planes for such a long time? Unheard of, not even postulated. Aurelia made a note to gather more scholars to Daring Heights - the sheer volume of treatises waiting to be written was staggering.
And the giants. Girelle had highlighted news of the joint Errant Guard/Daring Adventurer encounter with the hill giants with some enthusiasm. It was, in his words, "an incredible opportunity to provide a form of assistance we are uniquely suited to provide - 'Advanced Tactical Battlespace Solutions', or whatever impressive words you'd like to fit around the idea of renting our adventurers out. They have shaped wars before, and with luck, the K'ul Goranians may be facing one they are nervous about fighting." Not ideas to her tastes, but if K'ul Goran needed aid in the future, Daring would be well placed and well motivated to assist.
However he phrased things, Girelle had been worth the money. She'd met him years ago when she was still travelling with Willum, and when a negotiator had been needed she knew exactly who to go to - his skill was legendary.
A cough and a knock from the side door made Aurelia look up from her papers. "Yes, Phillip, what is it?"
The young scribe shuffled nervously into the room. "You wanted a report on new local businesses, my lady," he said, placing a scroll on her desk sealed with the official stamp of Daring Heights.
"It's still just Aurelia, Phillip," she replied for the hundredth time, "but thank you, that will be a great help."
He bowed, both awkwardly and wholly unnecessarily, and then shuffled back out of the room. Only when she was sure the door was shut did she let out a sigh, then unsealed the scroll and began reading. Time to see who the new fish were in the pond.
==Portal Plaza==
The afternoons by the portal, essentially serving as a magical traffic warden and customs official, were more enjoyable. Though it could be monotonous, and some of the wagon drivers and merchants would occasionally get riled about some delay or perceived infraction, she was doing what she loved most - bending the Weave to her will to redefine the laws of Space. Let them whine about a cracked egg or portal fees - whatever her status in town, it was the one time of day she felt powerful and in control.
Jenna had been there when she'd arrived, ready to hand over. They'd chatted for a half hour about their days before her teenage apprentice had run off to Samed's Smithy - they were working on a particularly trick magical commission and Jenna had offered to help out. Naturally, the sorceress loved being around fire. As she ran off, Aurelia called after her. "Don't forget to be ready for dawn tomorrow!"
"I won't," she called back, running between two large wagons.
The rest of the afternoon passed easily enough, the warm sun mixed with cool wind making for a pleasant atmosphere. Several wagons of food and one of iron ore came through from Neverwinter, a merchant from Calimport came through with a few sacks of spices to sell on a mule, a member of the Guild of the Emerald Tradition was heading back to the Sword Coast on business, a caravan of a merchant and two families arrived with all their possessions - new residents to grow the town who Aurelia greeted particularly warmly and gave them directions and advice for getting started in town, two different families also were heading back to visit family for a holiday, one family was moving back permanently - business was good but it didn't always work out for everyone, and a group of fresh-faced adventurers wanted to shave a few days off the journey towards their goal. She sent them all on their way with a smile, a brief exchange of coin, and a crackling of arcane energy. The runes around the stone circle flared and dimmed repeatedly throughout the day as she worked her magics.
As dusk approached, she stretched - most of her magic spent for the day. The guards would change shift soon, for a slightly more fortified night watch - it was difficult to lock a teleportation circle, and some people might need to arrive in an emergency, but you couldn't be too careful. Aurelia wished them all a good night and retired back to her home, the modest house on the edge of the plaza, less than a hundred feet away.
==Aurelia's Home==
The Driftglobe hanging over her desk was set to a low glow. The remnants of her dinner - a chicken's leg bone and some scraps of carrots and potatoes - rested precariously on the corner, while books and scrolls covered the rest of the surface.
The council's instability, the stagnation of the quarry, the desolation of Stoneleaf, the still light defence of the city, the burgeoning crime levels, Jenna and all she represented, the dangers of Oriloki's Yuan-Ti god-cult gem collection, the myriad of dangers from the portal itself, the adventurers - their volatile personalities and the targets they placed on their own backs and by extension the town (I mean the Necrodancer of all things, by the gods), the Crimson Fist (like that wasn't an ominous name), K'ul Goran and the looming spectre of a distant war, increasing chatter about the Drow, the fact that there were at least 2 groups operating in Daring Heights who Aurelia knew nothing about but assumed at least one of them would turn out to be the Zhents or some such, the reason the portal existed and what in all the planes Kantas *was*, all of these fears and more were represented here amongst her notes and research. Every evening she read and she read, searching for solutions to the many problems that beset this little town that thought itself so big.
It wasn't too long after the orcs had swept in and turned everything upside down, when Daffles had vanished and she'd somehow been thrust into the center chair on that benighted council, when she had heard a recounting of adventurers going into the Angelbark and found Will, the seraph, broken and afraid - demons literally manifesting the angel's fears and using it to corrupt the divine being back into the madness they had been rescued from not long before. That story had stuck with her, and she felt she understood Will more every day. Her mind seldom stopped popping up with a fresh concern - an angel had broken under this strain; she was but half-angel, how was she meant to survive this?
And as every day she understood Will more, she understood Daffles less. He'd made deals with a hag she'd specifically warned him against behind her back and it had nearly cost him his life. Now he'd abandoned her here, given up his whole grand project and cashed in early. Her friend for so many years had clapped her on the shoulder, trying to hide the haunted look in his eyes from his time in a gem atop Granny's staff, and had just said, "I'm sure you'll be fine," before stepping into the teleportation circle and vanishing from her life.
As the papers moved on the desk the plate finally toppled over and smashed, sending shards scattering across the floor and shattering the silence of the room as well. Aurelia flinched violently at the sound and balling up her fists tersely summoned a wispy spirit of air to clean the mess up as she sat and breathed slowly. Lathander's holy light, she would love to leave all these problem papers behind and fly away like Daffles had done.
But... you don't walk away from a problem. You don't abandon people just because it's hard. You put the work in. You do your best. That's what her parents had taught her - well, mostly her father. An angelic mother can sometimes lose track of the concept of time.
Aurelia stood up, walked around the corner to the mirror that stood over a small wash basin she had installed. Staring at the pale, unsteady reflection, she sighed a deep, deep breath, releasing all the weight on her shoulders - sagging as she exhaled.
One thing at a time.
Sitting back down at the desk, she picked up the next scroll and began to read, the only sound in the room the unseen servant quietly tidying the wrecked plate away. Dawn at least, would bring a brighter day.
==Portal Plaza==
It was an hour before dawn, the faint traces of light creeping over the horizon where Port Ffirst lay. Aurelia sat dozing in her chair by the portal steps, lightly enough that she woke with a small start when the sound of Jenna's shoes tapped across the flagstones in the deserted square.
Jenna had clearly already been up for a while as well. Her red hair, usually left free and slightly unkempt around her head and hanging down over her shoulders, had been pulled back into a narrow ponytail. Her breeches and shirt looked freshly washed and pressed. Aurelia's mouth twitched towards a smile - no doubt magic had been employed here. She let the smile spread over her face as her prodigious protege and nominal ward came up to her. "Very nice," she said approvingly. Jenna gave a small, half-mocking pirouette. "Well it seemed appropriate," she replied, stepping up into the teleportation circle.
Aurelia stepped up beside her, a little wearily - sleep had not come easily last night, and nodded to Jenna, who raised her hands and drew out a few sigis in the air. The circle hummed, the glyphs glowed, and the pair vanished from Daring Heights.
==Mountain Peak, Sunset Spine==
The air was very cold and the wind was biting here, but Jenna casually threw up a barrier of warmer air around the two, and the climate quickly became more habitable, though fog cascaded off of the barrier and began to tumble down the sides of the precipice they had arrived at. Maintaining the heat barrier easily, she stepped out to the edge, eyes wide in amazement. They were on a flat patch of grass at the edge of an escarpment looking east, towards the slowly rising sun, miles away over the edge of the Sea of Tears. They were miles high - Aurelia had spent a little time locating this spot. She knelt and began laying out a blanket and food she had brought with her - bread, fruit, milk, cheese - relatively simple fare. She would have liked to have brought Jenna's favourite pie from Nerry's, but that wasn't possible at the moment.
Aurelia and Jenna sat and looked out over the Dawnlands below, hills, valleys and rivers bathed in shadow still, the distant light not yet reaching them. Daring Heights was just visible but the two great forests to the north and south dominated the view to the sides, stretching out in both directions much further than they could see even from their vantage point. The glistening sea was visible, though Port Ffirst was lost amongst the trees and shubbery of the swamp surrounding it. It was, in a word, breathtaking.
As they sat and watched the world below, Aurelia was the first to break the silence. "You've come so far, Jenna," she said softly. "It has been a joy to work with you and teach you these last few years but I wouldn't wish what you've been through to get here on anyone."
Jenna straightened her posture and turned her head towards her teacher and guardian, a humourless smile on her face. "It's funny. I remember being older - living up in the Ettin and all that, but it feels like... someone else's memories now - they're... distant. 'Course, it changed me - and not just the magic and stuff. I was - I jumped from 14 to 34 and then from 36-ish to 16 again. You know? Or like, no one knows. Plenty of people don't even remember. They think I'm 'precocious.' I'm not - I'm... fucking sick of their looking down on me. Sorry."
Aurelia waved away the apology with a few flicked fingers, letting the not-young girl continue. "It's being young though, isn't it? The other kids - like Idari - they all wish they could be taken more seriously. It's just that I HAVE been - I had that respect. I'm SO grateful for getting this time back, for Rholor changing me back. I don't want to miss out on my life - but gods I wish I could get back some of that respect." She let out a heavy breath that disturbed the heated barrier surrounding them.
"Finished?" Aurelia asked, not unkindly. Jenna snorted and nodded slightly. "The view is incredible, by the way Aurelia. This is absolutely stunning, I've never seen everything all laid out like this. It's... early, but a lovely start to my name day."
The aasimar smiled and stood up. "We're not here to celebrate your name day, Jenna, though joyous tidings to you." She reached down a hand.
Jenna took it and also stood, looking confused. Aurelia pulled out a small orb carved of a translucent yellow/orange crystal. "We're here to celebrate the end of your apprenticeship. I can't pretend your merely a pupil anymore when you-" her words were cut off by a thunderous "YES!" from Jenna as she punched the air, a huge jet of flames roaring into the air above them from her outstretched fist. Aurelia stood and waited patiently for Jenna to finish leaping around the mountaintop before continuing.
"I can no longer continue as your teacher, Jenna - you are far too proficient for that. You manage a teleportation circle for hours a day, far beyond anything even many professional mages could manage. And you are right, you deserve the respect appropriate to your competence. I would much rather call you a colleague, so I hereby declare your apprenticeship over, and present to you this gift." She placed the sphere in Jenna's hands. "This is a Dawn Orb, infused with the power of the rising sun, but it is not yet complete." She flipped over the blanket revealing a runic circle inscribed on the other side. As Jenna gasped, with tears in her eyes, Aurelia knelt beside it and asked, "Would you like to help me finish it?"
The two women knelt, and as the dawnlight surged across the lands, over Daring Heights, through the valleys and up the side of the mountain they wove the final set of incantations, Jenna repeating after Aurelia, and the dawn light refracted through the orb laying on the blanket bathing them all in warm, glorious light.
==Town Hall==
Jenna was settled in for the morning shift on the portal, fascinated by the properties of her orb and with a new lease of confidence as she directed the carts and opened the portals, now a fully-fledged mage. Aurelia had gone back to her home and gathered a few papers but had been unable to fully focus. The dawn ritual had sparked something more than a magical orb - she felt a thought taking shape, a plan. Jenna had grown and developed, while the Council felt stagnant and onerous. Things needed to change.
She stood now in front of those doors again, ten bells just beginning to be rung in. The doors were still oppressive and imposing, but she had a purpose now, and they would not hold her back today. She did not put on her serene face, instead she let her jaw set, half-celestial will written on her features. She pushed the doors open and strode in, walking up to the desk a few of the Council had already gathered around and slapping her hand down on it.
"All right, everyone, we've let this Council muddle along for long enough. We've done a fair job, but it's time. We've danced around the idea before, but you've pushed it off, but we won't do that any longer. We're holding an election. Let's make sure this Council has the authority it deserves."
