RP:Lightning in a Bottle

This is a Mage's Guild RP.

Summary: Quintessa returns to the Mage Tower to get her office prepared for the new year and quickly becomes overwhelmed by the amount of backlogged paperwork she has to deal with. Trying to escape the mundane, she invites a young prospect named Enelys to the tower to take an entrance exam.

Mage Tower

This room is huge, and the entire place is covered in blue and white marble, with many torches and eight pillars reaching up to the ceiling to reinforce the room above, and keep the tower standing. The columns are covered in mystical runes, probably magic to keep the pillars strong, making them able to withstand pressure that normally wouldn't be possible. In the center of the room, there is a spiraling staircase made of glass, and also inscribed with the same type of runes as the pillars, leading to the higher levels of this magical tower. Next to the stairs there is a small desk here with a sign on it. At the top the sign reads... directions for all new mages. There is a door to the south, and you now notice that it too, is covered in the strength giving runes, that leads outside and a door to the west leading to the dormitory, a place for young mages to rest after their studies here.

Quintessa Dragana hadn't been in Xalious long before she had been spotted and waved down by members of the Mage's Guild. From atop her mount, Bloodbeak, wearing her famous invisibility cloak and equipped with a katana she was recognizable right away. "She's so cool," the younger mage girls whispered to each other, not much younger than Quintessa. "Can you believe it? Graduated at 17..." The changeling could hear the murmurs as she dismounted her bird but she didn't pay them any mind. "Underclassmen." She scoffs to herself before heading inside of the Mage's Tower. Quintessa didn't bother tying up Bloodbeak any more. He wouldn't wander far and would seriously harm anyone who tried to steal him. When the stewardess finally reached the room she would call her office she was surprised to see the backlog of paperwork waiting for her. "Elazul's Bite," she curses, but tries to get things sorted best she could. After a few hours of this she noticed some papers written up on re-recruitment. Apparently there was some sort of clerical error when it came to the membership roster that Quintessa was meant to clear up. "Enelys?" The dossier was completely blank- No wonder she hadn't been admitted officially. "Well, I better handle this first," the young spellcaster says to herself as she brings a clove cigarette up to her face and lights it. "I'll send word for them to meet me right away." At the base of the Tower the changeling would await this new mage, flicking her ashes everyone once in a while as her mismatched eyes scan the horizon.

Enelys had been enraged by the new paperwork, having already filed some over a year ago~ and now this?! She screamed at someone and shook them till she was blue in the face, threatening with the highest power to take this up the ladder as far as it could possibly go~ and then the minuscule mage had gotten her wish, magically you might say, when it was pushed through post haste. At first she had been worried she were expelled over the uh... activities she had become involved in as of late, and she cast a scouring gaze at other students thinking of who could have reported her. Without a considerable amount of her usual flair Enelys would turn up at the bottom of the tower almost late (fashionably so, she told herself) and flipped her waterfall of sterling platinum locks, the curly tresses glittering in the light. Her indigo eyes alighted haughtily on someone she *assumed* was the help ~ after all, what kind of mage carries a sword~ and she snorted. Her heeled boots plodded over and she pointed an incredibly, nearly impossibly prim and dainty finger at The Girl with the weird eyes, and spoke with clearly, well bred enunciation. “You there! Have you seen a, uh... Quip tessler?” She abhorred the hand written notes churlish hand writing. “Quiz Bessemer, a uh, Kit Tester...” she held it the note out as if it were a dirty rag and upturned her nose at it.

Quintessa took one last drag of her cigarette before she let it drop to the floor where a spike-tipped heel crushes it. The changeling grimaced at the half-elves snooty attitude, already annoyed. "I -know- I wasn't this back when I was first recruited..." the girl with the weird eyes mutters before placing her hands firmly upon her hips. "It's 'Quintessa' and I do not write my A's like R's either- how rude."The hex blade was already having doubts about being ready for this whole Mage administration stuff. Wasn't the Spell Blade Corp. there to blow things up? "I take it you are Enelys? According to our records you showed interest in joining us ages ago. Apparently whomever was in charge then didn't talk to whoever is in charge now and your name got swept under the pile of paperwork like a lot of other hopeful mages. I am -required- to offer my condolences." Quintessa doesn't look the least bit sincere about it. "Now that that's out of the way, would you mind following me to me office. I have a few questions to ask for our records." The hex blade leads the mage back into her nearly empty office. Quintessa hadn't unpacked or decorated or anything. The only thing she had saw fit to add to her desk was a simple glass ashtray that already had accumulated a few butts. "Please sit," the Arcane Stewardess says, motioning to the chair across from her desk as she pulls out a quill and a long strip of parchment. "Now, before we begin I want you to know that there aren't really any wrong answers. This is just a formality used to better place you with a teacher... If you even want a teacher. 'Apprenticeship' is a loose term these days... Anyway... Let's start with your name. You are Miss Enelys? You look like a 'miss'. Correct me if I'm wrong."

Enelys followed ‘Quintessa’ up to her... ‘office’, upon which she wrinkled her nose and waved a hand in front of her face. Wasn’t smoking for old crack pots dwelling on mountains? The small (child, some people would say~ how wrong they were in her opinion) woman laid out a kerchief on the offered seat~ it was impolite to refuse after all~ and sat on the barest edge of it. “I a, Enelys Ruza, the Lightning Rose, Greatest Mage of Willington Village!” She said this with immense pride, knees together, hand on her equally minuscule chest, before her expression dropped. No doubt some inattentive excuse for an instructor had saw her potential and cheated themselves to retain their position! Not that she would say so, it wouldn’t do well to speak against the lauded mages of Xalious tower after all. “I am a Miss, a young lady in waiting,” she finished, looking none too miffed about being single. She didn’t need anyone slowing her down.

Quintessa does her best to scribble everything down as quickly as the tiny woman said it, muttering the words as she put them to paper. "Okay, Lightning Rose, Greatest Mage of... Whereverton Village. Got it. Nice title, you come up with that by yourself?" The stewardess was perhaps being a slight bit condescending. "Seriously, does it allude to your natural talents? With a name like "Lightning Rose" I expect you to be able to harness more than just a lightning bolt." Her pale blue and golden hazel eyes flickers up to gaze at the elf as she speaks, "Any more talents? Magical preferences? Any previous teachers, even town adapts or witches? All of this helps us focus our resources the best we can for you." She taps the tip on her quill idly at the corner of her page, leaving behind a small black spot of ink in her wake.

Enelys looked a little flustered. “Er, sort of. Well, my mother had an inclination. No, just general studies, for now...” she had lied. A lot. She was the best because Willington didn’t *have* any other mages, her mother was nothing more than a poor hedge witch, and Enelys, well her title was just a more literal translation of her name (her father had been something of a romantic) besides that she *could* produce some fancy looking spells, but the more practical side was mostly lifting metal. “I’ve studied histories and the arcana, I’m fluent in multiple languages, and I’m capable of using my talents to craft and animate small objects.” That about covered it really. She knew a variety of things, but it was tough to say she really did have a talent.

Quintessa nods her head and writes everything down. "Oh? A linguist? Very interesting. We can always use more linguists..." It wasn't important what languages Enelys spoke, that would be clarified soon enough. It wasn't clear, however, that the elven lass was lying right to her face, so she keeps writing all this information down. After all, it wouldn't be Quin that had to prove it during the practical examination. "Oh yes, there will also be a practical examination," Quintessa has just remembered. "And from what information you've given me, I'll likely be testing your evocation prowess and your ability to animate objects. Before that, however, I have one last question for you." Quintessa pauses for a moment, letting the silence carry before she parts her lips to ask the question. "What motivates you to study magic?"

Enelys tried not to look worried at the prospect~ she had passed one the first time around, this was all a formality, of course, she was just nervous because it’s a test, of course~ she nodded along like a dying trout before closing her lips shut for a moment. This she had always been honest about. “I will be the very best. I will be the greatest mage of them all. The most powerful, the wealthiest, glory and fame shall be all of mine for the rest of time and its end to come. I study magic for no other purpose.” There was a fire sparkling in her indigo eyes, a powerful drive that could never be quenched, a thirst for ultimate power. She held the innocence of one who did not yet know self sacrifice, yet the determination of that same innocent youth that would never break nor bend under the worst of pressures.

Quintessa gives Enelys a wide smile, one that threatens to show the row of pointed teeth that hide just behind her lips. "Ah, an ambitious youngling. Good, very good. The elders might not like to hear you speak like that but I will always foster that kind of thinking. The young are destined to eat the old, as they say. That's why they fear us. No matter." Quintessa places the quill down and stands from her seat. "Now that the boring part is done, let's head upstairs to the training room." The Arcane Stewardess leads Enelys to the stares taking her up a level until they had reached the training room. A few of the apprentices are here, but the clear out when they see Quintessa arrive. "Oh look, unoccupied. How lucky." The changeling chuckles before waving her hand, causing a pair of test dummies to pop up magically from the floor. "Alright, I want a demonstration of your prowess. Destroy one of these targets using magic of any kind. Bonus points for creativity."

Enelys smiled a bit, a more honest, natural smile, before taking the stairs with Quintessa. Maybe the girl with the strange eyes was all right after all. At the top of the stairs Enelys held her hands together for a moment and looked dissatisfied. Why must all magic come to destruction? The Mage guild is no standing army. She thought for a moment of how best to approach this - destroyed was the word Quintessa had used, not merely defeated or killed. And in a way she found entertaining. Enelys took up a stance and motioned with a hand laden with a large stylish ring, her focus, and evoked a spell. With a snap of her fingers at first a ball of light appeared a few inches from her hand, then it exploded forward in an arcing lance of hot white lightning that threatens to dash across the room. The floor was burnt, sparks flew, and once she was done nothing was left but a charred and melted remnants of the targets head. It was flashy, and it worked. Enelys didn’t look too tired either. She looked towards Quintessa without expecting very high remarks, she didn’t seem like the type for idle praise, Enelys supposed.

Quintessa mismatched eyes gleam as they reflect the light from the lightning magic. She betrayed little emotion in her eyes but her mouth still twisted up slightly at the ends as she witnessed the destruction. Of course this is what magic was for! Since Quintessa joined the only thing the guild had done of note was commit genocide on the Razurath. Perhaps that's why they had such a violent reputation. "Well done," The changeling says as she lifts her left hand away from the hilt of her sword. She wordlessly casts a simple cantrip and a dagger of ice materializes in her hand. "But destruction isn't everything. You said you could animate objects?" Quintessa throws her dagger out towards the base of the post that held it up and as the ice shatters on impact the rod breaks and topples the dummy to the floor. "Have this fallen target approach us by walking across the room. A simple task, no?"

Enelys looked concerned. Small objects, she was sure she had said, small objects. How on earth was she supposed to get this whole thing over here, let alone the idea that animating objects was so simple a task. The gleam in Quintessas mis-matched eyes placed her clearly in the ‘fighter not a thinker’ category of Enelys’ mind as she studied the project at hand. “This will take a moment.” She admitted, kneeling primly a couple of meters from the toppled mannequin. From her pocket she drew a few pieces of chalk and laid a hand on the floor, her indigo eyes focused on nothing in particular as her mind went to work. The chalk pieces went to work, standing on end and moving about, drawing a magical circle where they could wiggle beneath the doll and out back into her pouch. Enelys took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, a small flash of light consolidating the circle of power and allowing her to begin her work. Animation, she knew, was a difficult subject, and truly studious prospectives worked hard even to animate large single-piece objects. An experienced professional could leave a suit of armor standing around, ready to animate at will. Enelys was not yet this progressed. Her concentration began to pay out as the dummy teetered, wavered, and finally rolled, picking up a pace before coming to rest closer to the edge of the work space. This was the hard part. She wheeled it around and around on an invisible axis, speed ever increasing, until it finally rattled into place. It was no mere work of some feeble minded telekinesis, like some pretenders, no, she had actually gotten it to move and imbued her will into it. Enelys smiled faintly, releasing her breath. She wondered if Quintessa fully understood the true breadth of accomplishing this ‘simple’ task...

Quintessa actually has no idea how hard animating an object was. She was assuming it was a lot like animating the dead (it's not), and perhaps didn't understand the gravity of the task she was asking. Coming from a place of privilege, magically speaking, arcane mastery has always come easy to her. Having a fey mother came with many gifts and drawbacks and often blinded her to the difficulted most people faced. Still, she gazes with curiosity as Enelys draws a magical circle and concentrates, making a mental note to re-read the books she had studied on magic circles a few months ago. "I'm impressed," Quintessa utters, her superior demeanor melting away at the sight of the half-elf's knowledge, "You're no beginner." The Arcane Stewardess didn't need to see anything more. "And I think you will fit in well around here."

Enelys has a kind appreciative smile for the barest of moments before flipping her hair and donning her customary pride like an old cape on her shoulders. “Why thank you, I’m quite aware of my skills, and I have no plans to do anything but rise to the top. I take it we’re done here?” She says this with a smirk as if she had just blown away an entire class of upper aged magicians. Enelys brushes herself up after rising from the floor and crosses her arms in a way that does nothing to make her look any less smug.

Quintessa isn't phased by Enelys' arrogance, in fact it kind of reminded her of herself when she was younger. The changeling shakes her head. She's too young to be thinking like that. "Yes, we're done. I can't officially welcome you into the guild until this gets approved by Provost Odranos, but I am certain once he reads my report he'll agree that you belong here. You'll be meeting him soon- Perhaps even as his first apprentice. Well, future Apprentice Ruza, it's been a pleasure meeting you. I hope to see your career flourish here at the Mage Tower. We'll be in touch."

Enelys does a little jump and a fist pump once she’s alone. Heck yeah she could be a Provosts Apprentice! Odranos sounded like a real wizardly name too, there was no way he would be some stuffy old guy who once wanted her to read from the books, not that she wouldn’t, but she felt as if she would really learn something and challenge her skills. Oh yeah, she had a good feeling about this. No way anyone was gonna keep her from getting to the top. After a brief celebration, Enelys composed herself back to regal status and descended the stairs. She was back in the game. No one could stand in her way.