Exactly. It is beautiful, but it is also a lie, much like the masks most Orlesians prefer. We do not bother with them in the Circle for we are stripped of our titles and our positions in our families as mages. It is irreverent. An enterprising mage may still make a name for themselves in court much like Vivienne, a few of my peers chose that life for their own- it held little interest for me. I could not be a courtier, why should I bother?
[ But she could be a mage. A healer. A researcher- and thus she swore to be the best she could possibly manage. ]
But that- that is my 'before' memory. Simple, perhaps but- it brings me joy. During, now...
[ She takes another moment of consideration, gliding past the suggestion she seek out the cottage. When would she have the time? She would not and thus, it is irrelevant. No matter how much she might wish it otherwise.
For something of the Spire- her research, her students, her mentors- all of it is tinged with that bitter uncertainty- anything of Robert aches just as well. Something else entirely, then. ]
I suppose anything connected to work or research or academics in general is a bit dry and dull- but my preferred element is ice, yes? You have seen this. Normally when a mage manifests their power they do so with an element and that is where their skill lies in the beginning of their training. It is not impossible for a mage to master all elements in the Primal School of magic, but focusing on the one and becoming as best as I possibly can in it is...more or less how I tend to operate when I am learning or working. Something I do to focus or to help relax myself is craft small figures in ice, it does not take mana, it does not take space, and it is an excellent way of clearing my mind when I am stressed. Someone asked me once if I could not work in glass and make permanent sculptures.
I did not think it possible for the longest time, it requires heat and an affinity for such, my skills have never truly been there- but I toyed with the idea all the same. It was only after a galzier visited to replace a window one of the other apprentices shattered on accident that I had an opportunity to work with glass that was already molten- when I did not need to heat it myself. In it's fluid state? I could work it much as I could work the water in my figurines of ice. I nearly burned myself terribly stopping half way through the sculpture, I was so shocked- and so proud of myself for learning this thing. My mentors had told me it wouldn't be possible to use the principles for one method of magic on something so deeply tied to another- the molten glass and yet- [ She huffs a soft laugh. ] Ah, I proved them wrong. Thus began my lifelong habit of attempting to find alternative applications for magics aside from that which we were taught. It is not so terribly narrowminded, the circle- but it can be stifling, no? To learn the one way and never deviate.
But learning that not only I could- but that if I managed what it was I put my mind to make so- I would be praised for it? That was a fine moment.
no subject
[ But she could be a mage. A healer. A researcher- and thus she swore to be the best she could possibly manage. ]
But that- that is my 'before' memory. Simple, perhaps but- it brings me joy. During, now...
[ She takes another moment of consideration, gliding past the suggestion she seek out the cottage. When would she have the time? She would not and thus, it is irrelevant. No matter how much she might wish it otherwise.
For something of the Spire- her research, her students, her mentors- all of it is tinged with that bitter uncertainty- anything of Robert aches just as well. Something else entirely, then. ]
I suppose anything connected to work or research or academics in general is a bit dry and dull- but my preferred element is ice, yes? You have seen this. Normally when a mage manifests their power they do so with an element and that is where their skill lies in the beginning of their training. It is not impossible for a mage to master all elements in the Primal School of magic, but focusing on the one and becoming as best as I possibly can in it is...more or less how I tend to operate when I am learning or working. Something I do to focus or to help relax myself is craft small figures in ice, it does not take mana, it does not take space, and it is an excellent way of clearing my mind when I am stressed. Someone asked me once if I could not work in glass and make permanent sculptures.
I did not think it possible for the longest time, it requires heat and an affinity for such, my skills have never truly been there- but I toyed with the idea all the same. It was only after a galzier visited to replace a window one of the other apprentices shattered on accident that I had an opportunity to work with glass that was already molten- when I did not need to heat it myself. In it's fluid state? I could work it much as I could work the water in my figurines of ice. I nearly burned myself terribly stopping half way through the sculpture, I was so shocked- and so proud of myself for learning this thing. My mentors had told me it wouldn't be possible to use the principles for one method of magic on something so deeply tied to another- the molten glass and yet- [ She huffs a soft laugh. ] Ah, I proved them wrong. Thus began my lifelong habit of attempting to find alternative applications for magics aside from that which we were taught. It is not so terribly narrowminded, the circle- but it can be stifling, no? To learn the one way and never deviate.
But learning that not only I could- but that if I managed what it was I put my mind to make so- I would be praised for it? That was a fine moment.