Role

Chapter 2

Eekas existence was mostly a combination of indifference and disregard.
Once it became evident that she would not be furthering the Windgust legacy,
her standing in the family was one of a tiresome obligation. The child had to
be fed, clothed, and given shelter and that was certainly what she got, but
no more. Her parents and her siblings often spoke to her to her out of
obligations, they were kinder and warmer to the hired help. Regardless, Eeka
still grew up relatively comfortable, she was a Windgust after all. She
would spend countless hours watching her siblings and other scholars practice
at wielding magic. Their obsession seemed to come at the cost of everything
else. Meanwhile, Eeka had chores. And chores she did, from sun up to sun
down she would toil endlessly, at first as a punishment for being a
disappointment but later on because she took to her chores so well. Whether
it was the need to please others or the desire to feel useful, Eeka executed
her chores with the diligence of a military commandant. Every little thing
that had to be done was done to perfection. While Eeka may have failed at
having magic pulsing through her veins, Eeka did not lack in effort or the
ability to apply it.

She had a hard life by Windgust standards and she
She had a hard life by Windgust standards and she
enjoyed the hardness, she reveled in it. Overtime she started seeing the
chinks in the armored legacy that was the Windgust name. For one with every
year their influence had become less and less, as she studied the legends and
the books of yore, she was the line diminishing over the ages. Even with
addition of new adopted Windgusts, their numbers continued to dwindle as did
their influence. During its peak a Windgust sat in every high tower, mage
guild, mage conclave, either at the head of the table or in a position of
strong influence. Now most of them toiled in the home compound along the
Voralian river, going on excursions for the sake of magic or hired tasks.
She also noticed that the pursuit of magic came at the expense of everything
else. They were physically pitiful, even a young child she was stronger than
most of her brothers and sisters, even the ones that didnt share gnomish
heritage. The chores had made her strong, while the study of magic had
enfeebled those around her.