by SilhouetteStation » Sun Apr 19, 2020 9:57 am
username: SilhouetteStation
name: Benzel
gender: male
prompt: (696/1000)
Perhaps it was odd for an ice mage to live in a place like Ashvyen.
Ashvyen, the Blooming City; the idyllic town made of pale stone and woven through with grass and wildflowers. The town that became as colorful as fireworks in the spring, and soaked up the sun in summer. Autumn turned the surrounding forests into red and gold, but oddly, this place never seemed to experience full winter. Small and hardy flower buds still bloomed, and the lily ponds never froze over - though, as expected, the frogs were a little chilly. A light sprinkling of snow meant that a sweater and scarf and a good pair of boots could keep you nice and toasty.
He brought a new kind of fun to this place. His powers meant he could whip up snow flurries, so the children could chase snowflakes. Often they'd trek to the top of the surrounding hillsides, and he'd conjure up thick snow for them to sled down. They spent hours doing this, and came home pink-faced with laughter. He could make sparkling icicles, and ice cover the lake for skating.
Ashvyen wasn't his home town. Originally he'd been born in a small fishing town, and it had been a surprise to the townsfolk that one of their own had been born with magical abilities. At first, they were just excited to have someone to make ice to keep the fish fresh in the markets. When he got older and his powers became a little more unstable, they realized he needed someone who could teach him properly. His family scraped enough money together to send him to the proper education facility, and there he began his training as a mage.
The college was nice, and coming from such a small town, he was understandably excited to meet others like him. Those with magical properties around fire, air, shadow and light manipulation; so many different types, and then those like him, the ice mages. Alongside his classmates he learnt how to control his powers, and in their final year of studies the ice mages were sent to train in a small town at the base of a mountain.
As expected, it was bitterly cold. Summer seemed to only last for a few weeks, and even then, the temperature only rose a few degrees. Howling winds pierced right through your coat in winter, and even though ice mages were better adept at dealing with cold, it still made their teeth chatter. Everything was black or white; snow, rock, pale dawn skies, dark starry nights. It was as bleak as it was beautiful, and the townsfolk certainly saw more beauty in their town than any outsider. He could see the appeal, but he could also feel how cold his fingers were at the end of training, and it made him pine for warmth. Fireplaces were very popular amongst the mages.
The cold, wintry environment had become so ingrained in them that when they'd finished their training and made their way back to the mage college, they could hardly remember what grass felt like. As ice mages they could handle the cold, but it didn't mean they particularly liked feeling it all the time. He was thankful, as were the others, to be in possession of magic and to have been trained so well. But after spending so long in what seemed like permanent winter, he decided he wanted to spend some time in the sun.
He went back home for a while to visit family and friends, but then his wandering feet urged him to travel. Through towns and citadels; meeting people, seeing places he'd never seen before. Every place was unique in its own way, but then he came across Ashvyen, and fell in love. With the flowers, the ponds, the wildlife, the people; and the sun, glorious and warm. He only meant to stay for a moon or so, but many seasons later, he's happily made himself at home in the city.
So yes, maybe to some it does seem odd that an ice mage would make their home in Ashvyen.
But then again, perhaps this place wasn't an odd choice at all.
optional art:
Last edited by
SilhouetteStation on Sat Apr 25, 2020 6:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.
