Role

Chapter 2

It had always seemed to Gwythienne that her mother was a type of prisoner.
This beautiful, ethereal elven woman was admired by all here in the lumber
camps, and certainly loved madly by her father. But under the outward grace of
her mother's appearance, Gwythienne always sensed a longing for a freedom that
had escaped her. Over the years, Gwythienne came to understand that her mother
had chosen the best of two non-ideal situations for herself, and that the
knowledge of having chosen correctly could never undo the longing for what she
had lost in the choosing. It was a sacrifice she had made willingly, first for
love and then for her little family. It was something Gwythienne admired
greatly, that willingness to sacrifice. But it fostered within her a great
desire to always be free. Freedom, it seemed to her, was one of the most
important things a person could have in life.

This desire for freedom and her kinship with the changing nature of water
eventually led her to the magical art of shapeshifting. Once she began
dabbling, the idea of the magic took hold of her in a way that nothing before
ever had. Gwythienne's mind reeled with the possibilities of changing shape.
Imagining herself as she had, as a trickle of water shaping the land, she now
considered the idea of her body taking upon it that very fluidity. The freedom
to choose a form to fit the situation, to flow from one shape to the next. She
dreamed of becoming a creature that could delve beneath the depths of her
beloved river, but did not wish to limit herself. She wanted to experience the
world in many ways, to truly connect. And thus she focused her mind upon
becoming beasts of many types, what many called "utility" for lack of a better
term.

When she came of age to enter the adventurer's academy, she did so with the
full support of her parents. Seraphia in particular was thrilled to see her
daughter pursue her magical dreams, thinking of her own dream to become an
invoker what seemed like a very short time ago to the long-lived elf. And so
Gwythienne said a heartfelt goodbye to her loving family, dreaming of what she
would become, how like the river she would shape the world around her.