Post by Head Moderator on Aug 25, 2013 19:56:52 GMT -5
Some say it is one's environment that imprints a child, others say it is deep within already and cannot be changed by environment or circumstance. I believe it is a little of both, for definitely one has a certain 'bent' born into them. But if it is not nurtured, and if the environment is not conducive to developing that bud deep within it can be stunted and take many years to bloom, if ever. Myself, I was lucky to be born into a family that allowed the spreading of my wings in the direction that I knew deep within me was the path I was destined to follow.
Mine is no tragic tale of loss and abuse, nor do I pretend to know what it is like to have a hard life for I was blessed with two entrepeneurially spirited parents who set up shop in Bryony before I even drew my first breath. They were not wealthy by any means, but by the time I was born we had enough to feed us at every meal, and wore fashionable enough clothing even if we did not have very many outfits to choose from. I was happy, content even, perhaps moreso than anyone else in my family. It was not that I did not aspire to greatness, I did, but monetary possessions did not equal greatness to me. I am quite sure that had we eaten hard bread and stale cheese every night and worn the attire of peasants, I would have been just as content and thankful to have what I was given.
S H R I N E
Shrine was a great place to be a child, it is for lack of a better term, the capital of Bryony and the location of our main College of Magic. Why was it so wonderful for a child? Because even if one lived there for ages, you'd never discover everything there was to be found in such a magical place. Every day things changed, maybe just a little bit here or there, but surely they changed. Shrine was built on a leyline of magic and with so many arcane-inclined folks there, chaotic magic fluxes were the norm. Not to mention, the city is basically one massive structure connected by spiralling staircases, bridges, and walkways with the most beautiful of courtyards between them all. Every kind of tree in the land grows here, and every flower you can imagine. Courtyards had themes, many of them at least. One of my favorites was an oasis covered in golden sand with palm trees and a bubbling fountain. There was always a desert-garbed woman selling treats from Thanes there; mostly dried pineapple and juicy figs.
While much was expected of my siblings, I was for the most part left to explore and grow on my own as long as I was home by nightfall. As beautiful as Shrine was during the day, it could be quite nefarious after dark. It was when the necromancers and their undead minions roamed, the vampiric blood mages, and the darker aligned shadowmancers for Shrine offered more than just the traditionally "good" magics, there were all manner of magics you could be taught here if you knew the right person.
I R O N B U R N
Some of my favorite memories though came when we would visit the seaside. Every year we traveled to the ocean from Shrine, stopping at Ironburn each time. Ironburn is an amazing city in it's own right, for it was carved of the rocks and stone of Tor's Ridge. We would always stay at the Broken Monk Inne, and I remember watching the monastery lights as I lay in my bed in the room we'd rent for the night. Sometimes, if something interesting was going on in town, we'd stay two or even three nights. As much as I adored the ocean, I felt a pull towards the monastery - the Bastion of the Arcane. A place where monks trained not only in physical ability but in the arcane as well. It was not until I was around thirteen years old that I decided that the monastery was to be far more than a passing frolic on the way to the sea - it was to be part of the destiny I was writing for myself. For, I believe that one writes their own destiny for the most part, though I will not turn heretical and say that Dannui or any of the Six did not play a part in the writing of the path I am to tread!
I will, soon enough, speak more of what Ironburn and the Bastion of the Arcane offered for me, but for now I will continue with my story of traveling to the seaside! After our stop in Ironburn, it was more travel. I suppose you are saying to yourself now, "They were magical, why did they not teleport where they wished to do?" and I have two reasonings for why we did not. One being, the travel is often just as important and exciting as the destination. Two being, teleportation is a very specific magic and contrary to belief just because one has magical skill does not mean one can instantly teleport. The Port Union was very expensive!
P O R T A F I N A
So yes, our travel each year was a very big part of our vacation. Normally we took the same path each year but sometimes we would meander off the beaten path and take another way. Though we always ended up at our destination, Portafina. Bryony has very little in the way of coastline on the sea, but what they do own is of course extremely gorgeous and quaint in many ways. Portafina was not the destination of most of the land for their vacations, instead it is a small fishing village carved from the cliffs overlooking the wild sea. We always took a small villa right on the coastline, where my mother could step out of the house and down a few stairs and be at the sea. Compared to the lavish vacation homes, innes and villas of Castella it was nothing more than a fisherman's cottage but my family would save up for this trip all year as it was the highlight of the year for my mother - and for the family.
Not to say that it was all play and no work, as we would go to market and my parents would sell items that had been specifically crafted with the sea and sailing in mind. Tokens of Dannui were always popular.