Ability Applications

Link to your encyclopedia thread: Here!
Name of Ability that you Are Applying for: The Muggle Condition
Describe why this fits your character (not why you the player want it): WC: 408
Reducio
Lorelei was raised in the Muggle world, in the town of Bath. Although she knows her wizard father quite well, he was away on work for such a large portion of the time that she was essentially raised entirely by her Muggle mother. Because of this, Lorelei is used to solving problems without the use of magic, as she has had 11 years of practice doing just that. She has learned from her mum, primary school teachers, and even her younger sisters all of the creative ways to get yourself out of a tough situation without resorting to magic.

This skill has made itself apparent during her time at Hogwarts as well. Over the course of her first year at the school, Lorelei noticed the occasions in which wizard technology is less effective than Muggle technology. She began to pull from each of the two worlds, taking the best of each approach. For example, although she uses the required quill and parchment for homework, Lorelei switched to using a faster and less messy Muggle pen for quick notes.

Sometimes, the Muggle solution to an issue isn’t just faster, it’s also more effective. When the student sitting next to Lorelei in History of Magic tipped over his inkwell on accident, Lorelei knew that the best way to solve the issue would be blotting it quickly to avoid it spreading. The other student, accustomed to solving problems like this with magic, immediately reached for his wand instead. The problem became much larger than it would have been if the Muggle method had been used instead.

Growing up without magic has also helped Lorelei to understand the importance of relying on oneself. When she has lots of assignments to organize or a large test to study for, she doesn’t assume that there’s a magical solution to fall back on. She uses flashcards, planners, and physical checklists instead. Beyond simply preparing her for class, these Muggle systems have allowed for increased confidence in her own abilities, and has ensured that she doesn’t become too reliant on magic.

What Lorelei has noticed is that there are a surprisingly large number of circumstances where members of the magical community become so engrossed in finding a magic solution to a problem that they forget to try the simpler, analog method first. By pulling back from specific issues and first considering which approach will be more efficient, Lorelei has exemplified the benefits of bridging two cultures.
STATUS: Approved, Lesmana, 9 September

Ability Applications
Link to your encyclopedia thread: Link
Ability: Wandmaker
Wood: Elder
Reducio
Cas hasn't figured out what his future carries for him, but with a unique mix of unyielding spirit and unbreakable sense of justice, it is likely to be something remarkable. He has a Slytherin's mind and a Hufflepuff's heart, which may lead him down an unusual path that will cause misfortune if his mother doesn't manage to temper the disposition towards negative interpretation he inherited from his father. (65 words)

Core: Phoenix Feather
Reducio
The older he gets, the more Cas's mental endurance is revealed. As the only son of two purebloods - and one who carries two large legacies - his shoulders are broad and he accepts the expectations on him without complaint. To him, pressure and maintaining composure at all times is simply a way of life, and there is no other option besides forging ahead. (62 words)

Length: 8 inches
Reducio
Growing up in a rich household surrounded by refined tutors and people of high class has led to Cas having his own sense of refinement. Despite being 11 years old, he acts mature and typically feels disgusted by things he would consider low brow or low class. While his personality has depth, few would describe him as a lively person, opting more to call him serious or focused. (68 words)

Flexibility: Unyielding
Reducio
Cas is a boy very set in his ways, with an unwavering sense of loyalty and a stubborn streak a mile wide. Not only is he unyielding in his beliefs, but since his mother is delicate he intends to forge himself into a man of steel to protect her from anything the world throws at her. (56 words)

Describe why this fits your character (not why you the player want it):
Reducio
Although he never received the love he deserved from his father, Cas did receive something he treasures more than any other item he owns. Upon his travels searching for magical artefacts, Ellery Beaumont came across another elder wand like the one in the stories and spent nearly a year experimenting with it to see if it was the same one that was supposedly broken during the Wizarding War.

It didn't appear to be strong enough to cheat death or do the impossible magics the original Elder Wand could do, however it was a nice little oddity. Ellery let a number of his colleagues try it out for fun, and to everyone's frustration it was finnicky and refused to bond with them to the point where it was nigh unusable. The only lore it added into the world was that elder was an unlucky wood and should never be used for a wand.

Once the investigation and research was finished, Ellery brought it home and set it in one of his glass holding cabinets with the intention of never using it again. From the moment he saw it, Cas was fascinated. He'd seen wands, of course, but something about this one called to him in a way he wasn't accustomed to. It looked more elegant with its short length, and he'd seen the way his father fawned over rare things, which to him meant he should do the same.

He spent many hours in his father's study reading beside the wand, and as the years went on the intangible something he felt when he was near it only grew.

Finally, the year he got his letter to Hogwarts, he asked his father if he could try the elder wand before they went to Olivander's. Ellery usually didn't let his son touch any of his artefacts, but since Cas would soon be gone from the house and Ellery was leaving before he could see his son off, he figured it would be a good consolation prize for being an absent father.

To everyone's surprise, the moment Cas touched the wand it lit up and accepted him as its owner. Ellery was shocked and shared a grin with his son for the first time in Casimir's life. The next few days his father spent longer with him than he ever had before, trying further experiments and muttering to himself questions about what this meant for Cas's future.

Unfortunately, another new discovery was found that took Ellery's attention away from his son, and he left without returning before Cas left for Hogwarts.

Still, those couple days were exhilarating, and Cas treasures the memory as the single one he has of bonding with his father. He knows he now has to live up to the expectations of being an elder wand owner and aims to become someone remarkable.
STATUS: Pending, Lesmana, 9 September
Reason for Pending:
  • We need a clarification about the darkness Casimir inherited from his father. What does this mean? Is it the fear and hatred of Muggles? You can state this somewhere inside or outside the form. We just want to make sure we don't miss anything from Casimir's backstory.
STATUS: Approved, Lesmana, 9 September
Last edited by Casimir Beaumont on 9 Sep 2026, 16:55, edited 1 time in total.

STA 6 | EVA 8 | STR 1 | WIS 10 | ARC 5 | ACC 5
Abilities | Potions | Spells

Ability Applications
Link to your encyclopedia thread: Tah-Duh!
Name of Ability that you Are Applying for:
Advanced Casting
Prerequisite: None
Effect: A reflection of inherent skill or simply hard work in studies. Spells have an increased chance of being a critical hit. +1 to the critical chance, so if a critical would be on a 20, now it would be on a 19 or a 20.
Describe why this fits your character (not why you the player want it):(WC-850)
Reducio
Xio comes from a large family of witches and wizards, which means magic has been a part of her life since the moment she was born. Raised in a world where charmed music boxes woke her up in the mornings, stuffed animals did little dances when she played with them, all meals of the day floated towards her dinner mat, her siblings bickered and argued over various magical subjects and morals as they started to attend Hogwarts themselves, and even her parents had her watch the family shop, The Bumbling Trinket, when they had to run out on errands on the rare occasion.
Although she couldn't practice magic herself, her family provided plenty of opportunities to give her front-row seats to its glory.
She would annoy her brother Kael over the newest "bad guy" he caught at the Ministry, and he would sternly remind her that he's not allowed to discuss his work in the first place, but still tell her the importance of knowing spells like Stupefy, or Expelliarmus. She would practice the wand movements with a stick from the yard after pestering him over and over again to "show her", although reluctant, he surrendered. He showed her a few wand movements and then gave her the task to practice them at least for an hour a day and then he would grade her when he would visit. Whenever Kael was visiting on the weekends, or between long breaks for work, they spent their afternoons after dinner practicing and perfecting her "proper" wand movements, which for a long time Xio got wrong, sometimes on purpose just because she was agitated with him. But just as equally stubborn, Kael refused to let Xio just "half-try", that was not the "Arcana Way". Once, he didn't let her stop practicing the wand movements for Leviosa for four hours straight, it was originally two hours promised but because she kept "being unfocused" he kept added more time to her practice. Xio started having nightmares of the "proper wand movements", which satisfied Kael enough to know that at this point if her brain failed her, which unfortunately happened more often than embarrassingly any Arcana is willing to admit, at least her muscle memory might save her.
Lyra was the first one in the family to notice Xio's dyslexia, considering reading magical tomes and grimoires she collected as a hobby was a way for them to relate and spend "quality time" together. It did not take long to acknowledge that it took Xio extra time to read a passage, and that occasionally she would get stuck on a word or two (even though sometimes they were in Latin or a forgotten language so it wasn't 100% her fault). Lyra, being the 2nd oldest of the bundle, took it as her personal mission to address this "potential vulnerability" to the Arcana family. But unlike Kael, she did have a compassionate bone in her body. She understood that Xio had a wild but creative artistic side, she could use this to her advantage. Whenever Xio struggled on a passage about Potion preparation, or Spell pronunciation she would have Xio draw her notes on the subject. Instead of having Xio just try to memorize the entire recipe for a Herbicide potion word for word, she instead had her draw each of the ingredients in her own artistic style so she could differentiate and understand the importance between each one. Although Lyra was always busy with studies or extracurriculars, she always made time for Xio to admire her "Ingredient Town" which was a collage of drawn and colored-in various potion ingredients like Mistletoe Berries, Horned Slugs, and Lionfish. Additionally, she would often challenge Xio to a "spellcasting spelling bee" whenever she could catch her off guard.
"Did you remember to clear the bins?" "Yes." "Are you sure? I could've swo--How do you spell Tarantallegra?" "T-a-r-a-n-t-a...um...l-e-g-r-a?" "Bzzt, you missed a letter. T-a-r-a-n-t-a-l-l-e-g-r-a, Tarantallegra, penalty time, spell it 5 times fast now."
Xio didn't realize the gift her siblings were bestowing upon her until she started to attend Hogwarts. She found that purposefully putting time aside every day to practice her "proper wand movements" like Kael used to send her Owls about, actually helped her understand the material better. Unfortunately, Xio tends to get in trouble during classes when she practices what Lyra had taught her, which was draw whatever she didn't understand, which was a good chunk of the material at first. She had to learn to make a slight adjustment and get better at making "quick doodles" just to get the concept across and then she could always go back and go more in-depth with her notes. What felt tedious and almost frustrating at first, Xio eventually learned that it was actually quite meditative. Sometimes, classmates would peek over and notice her artistically drawn "notes" and ask if they could get copies just for reference, which Xio was more than happy to do so. Having people enjoy her art like she enjoyed making it only further incentivized her to "learn more".
STATUS: Pending, Lesmana, 10 September
Reason for Pending:
  • We accept all kinds of mental and physical disabilities on our Site. We only ask that you make sure to do your research when roleplaying a student who has, in your character, dyslexia and colour agnosia, so as not to offend anyone. Especially with colour agnosia, this condition is extremely rare. In character, she would face more difficulty than her peers in Potions, particularly during brewing processes where instructions require the brewer to recognise a specific colour or a change in colour. We will give you 30 days to have more time to decide if you really want to give these conditions to Xio.

    Once you have made a decision and still want to keep them, please fill out the Index Reapplication to explain how the parents found the conditions, the reason she has the condition, and how she will manage school life with them. This process is important since these conditions are major information that hasn't been recorded in Index Registration yet.
  • We would also need to know more about how Xio practises her spellcasting beside practising the pronunciation over and over, since this ability heavily influences her spellcasting. There are several aspects to spellcasting, such as pronunciation, wand movement, and imagination.

    Perhaps she spends additional time at school perfecting her wand movements for the spells she learns? Or perhaps she spends more time than her peers learning spells from her textbooks and/or during class? We would like to know more about what she does to compensate for having this ability..
STATUS: Approved, Lesmana, 11 September
Last edited by Xio Arcana on 10 Sep 2026, 12:08, edited 5 times in total.

Ability Applications
Link to your encyclopedia thread: Here!
Name of Ability that you Are Applying for: Fearless
Describe why this fits your character (not why you the player want it):
Reducio
Aislin was not archetypically fearless. She was no daredevil, no knight in shining armor. To be truly fearless was to be kind of stupid, and Sylvia Darragh was not raising her kid to be stupid. She raised her to ask questions, to stop and look before she leaped. As a potioneer, Sylvia knew the dangers of a disregard for one’s safety and had spent the better part of a decade encouraging an eager Aislin to slow down a bit.

What Aislin was, really, was curious. Many fears were slowed, if not shed, by an open mind. Her instinctive willingness to give everything strange or scary a chance often carried her to seeing some unique value, some hidden softness, and then she wouldn’t be frightened anymore. This approach was most obvious in the love she held in her heart for bugs. These so-called “creepy crawlies” fascinated her with their colors and patterns, their movement, their behavior. There existed something like 400,000 different species of beetles, and scientists guess there may be as many as 2 million when they’re all discovered, did you know that? While others shrieked and stomped, or just carefully avoided, Aislin would take any opportunity to snatch an up-close look. She still minded that line of stupidity (you were asking for it if you closed your hand around a creature that bit or stung), but the worst that could happen really wasn’t so bad in most cases. Bugs, like most things, weren’t out to get her. They were just small and scared!

So Aislin collected bug facts. She raised her hand in class and talked (too) frankly to strangers and was pretty much always up for some exploration. If ever asked about her behavior, she would describe herself as a scientist-in-training, committed to knowledge above her personal biases. This was too valiant of a statement for the reality (that she was a sometimes selfish, inattentive twelve-year-old), but she did try.

With this at her core, her outlook in the aftermath of an acromantula trampling (and some very broken ribs) wasn’t so surprising. Before that day, Aislin had possessed a healthy fear of acromantulas. After that day, she possessed a healthy fear of acromantulas. It was a little sharper, yes, but it did not bleed further into terror or a newfound arachnophobia. Normal spiders couldn’t break her ribs, anyway. It shook her mam far more than it did her, and in the right company (or what she thought was the right company; she couldn’t always read a room), Aislin was happy to share it as a one-of-a-kind anecdote: “I've been closer to an acromantula than any of you. One nearly killed me, one time, and I could see its pincers!” She could unintentionally sound quite morbid, at times.

Word Count | 459/400
Trunk Code:
Reducio

Code: Select all

[quote][center][img]/images/upload/ah41o31i7dsb.webp[/img][/center][/quote]
[quote][center][b]••• STATS •••[/b]
STA: 9 • EVA: 6 • STR: 4 • WIS: 8 • ARC: 5 • ACC: 9[/center]
[right]+1 stat point from win | [[url=https://hogwarts.io/viewtopic.php?p=1555376#p1555376]x[/url]][/right][/quote]
[quote][center][b]••• ABILITIES •••[/b][/center][reducio][u]1st year:[/u] Charmer [[url=https://hogwarts.io/viewtopic.php?p=1334482#p1334482]x[/url]]
[i]- Effect: -1 accuracy to all of your opponents (as defined at the start of the instance regardless of later betrayal).[/i]
[u]2nd year:[/u] Fearless [[url=https://hogwarts.io/viewtopic.php?p=1792793#p1792793]x[/url]]
[i]- Effect: Fear effects such as a dhampir's aura, the ability terrible presence, a lycanthrope's intimidation or certain charms, potions and jinxes that would normally cause a fear effect do not work on you as you are immune to them.[/i][/reducio][/quote]

Bridget Collins (1st gen) • Alejandros Espinosa (iNPC) • Phyllis Stanwood (1st gen iNPC)

Ability Applications
Link to your encyclopedia thread: link
Name of Ability that you Are Applying for: Prodigal Astronomy Learner
Describe why this fits your character (not why you the player want it):
Reducio
I incidentally introduced a supplemental backstory for Rosamund under my Reverie Storyline thread a few days ago, which heavily indicated that she:
  1. Has an Astronomy hyperfixation
  2. Stays up all night watching stars or wakes up at odd hours to watch the dawn
  3. Has an American penpal that she shares this hyperfixation with; smuggles her odd astronomy books.

Official Backstory (WC = 411):

Rosamund was 6 years old when she saw her first meteor shower outside her bedroom window. The Geminids peaked in the night of December 14 that year (2020) with a record peak rate of about 150 meteors per hour. With the skies dark enough because the moon was on the literal other side of earth, it was the best meteor shower that she had ever seen in her life.

Since that night, she scoured her family library and pestered her governess for anything and everything she could find about meteors, stars and other celestial bodies. She'd stay up all night tracing constellations on the parapets. She'd wake up before dawn because that's generally the best time to watch meteor showers (something about the earth's rotation at that time of the night putting us in the leading edge of the planet's orbit).

Things however took a very interesting turn when Rosamund met Perry (nickname) at one of her mother's afternoon tea parties when she was 8 years old.

Perry's family first had contacts with her family thru the family antique auction business that Rosamund's father runs. The very first time that both of their families sat to hammer out the details, her mother hosted an afternoon tea for his family at their estate.

As in elite pureblood social circles like this, especially when precluded by business, children were expected to be in their best behavior, mingle and form connections with each other, and largely stay out of the adults' way.

Rosamund and Perry instantly hit it off. Both of their proclivity to follow the metaphorical rabbit hole down to the bottom of the abyss called to each other like kin. It wasn't very long before they discovered their shared love of Astronomy, and things just accelerated from there.

Perry's older cousin Orion happens to be working as a specialist in charms and enchantments tied to Celestial timing, i.e. magical timekeeping, brewing potions that need precise astronomical timing, etc., which logically meant that Perry has an accessible fountain of knowledge in a form of his cousin and his cousin's numerous books and almanacs about Astronomy.

After Perry and his family went back to America, he and Rosamund would start writing to each other, sharing information and comparing notes at first, with Perry's cousin Orion as their unwitting fact checker and theory soundboard, which then escalated fast when Perry started lending her Astronomy books and almanacs that he playfully called "smuggling" over owl post.

STA 3 | EVA 7 | STR 3 | WIS 9 | POW 6 | ACC 7
INTJ 5w4 | ENCYCLOPEDIA

Ability Applications
Link to your encyclopedia thread: Here
Name of Ability that you Are Applying for: The Muggle Condition
Describe why this fits your character: 486/400

Reducio
Aster is a half-blood witch, with muggle ancestry on both sides of her family. The strongest muggle influence in her family comes from her paternal grandfather, who was muggle-born and was present in her life for much of her childhood. Because of this, Aster has a foot in both the muggle and wizarding worlds, in more ways than one.

The Gillespie farm, where Aster grew up, has been in his muggle family for as long as anyone can remember, and has only in more recent years been converted to a magical dwelling. Because of this, much of the equipment and techniques that were passed down from previous owners of the farm come from muggle farming tradition. Although the farm has adapted to magical farming techniques over time, family traditions are hard to break, and the Gillespie farm demonstrates a unique blend of muggle and wizarding farming knowledge. Aster knows how to use a tractor, is confident using muggle tools to do things such as hoe and dig, and can grow basil just as easily as flitterbloom.

Aster's grandfather had several siblings who never developed magic. Because of this, Aster has a significant number of muggle extended family, many of whom live in the city of Inveraray, not too far from the farm. Muggle-repelling charms keep them away from the farmhouse with its many magical plants and enchantments, but that doesn't mean that Aster never sees her muggle relatives. She grew up visiting their homes, having family dinner on Sunday afternoons, and playing football with her cousins on the weekends. During these times, Aster and her family needed to fit in with the muggles, and were quite good at dressing in muggle clothing, using muggle figures of speech and gestures, and using muggle technology. Aster's father even had a cell phone that he used to communicate with his family.

On top of that, Aster's parents felt strongly that it was important for her to understand the muggle world, so they enrolled her in a non-magical primary school for her basic education, prior to her admission to Hogwarts. She attended this school from the age of five until her Hogwarts acceptance at 11, like many muggle-borns. This provided her with a reasonable foundation in muggle academic subjects, like math, history, and muggle literature, as well as a greater familiarity with muggle social norms, at least among children.

Aster's wardrobe is divided into two sections: wizarding and muggle. During their day-to-day life and when they travel to wizarding areas, like Diagon Alley, she wears wizarding styles, but when they go to Inveraray or when she was going to primary school, she pulls out the muggle styles. She finds that each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and will occasionally wear her favorite leggings while studying or relaxing, even at Hogwarts.

Despite all of the muggle influences, Aster grew up with significant magical heritage as well. Her parents and grandparents all attended Hogwarts, and shopping for magical items was generally conducted in Diagon Alley. In this way, Aster is truly bicultural.

Aster's experience with both worlds, especially her work on the farm, has allowed her to develop a strong sense for when a muggle solution to a problem may be more effective than a magical one. She isn't afraid to get her hands dirty and fix a problem the old-fashioned way when necessary.

Ability Applications
Link to your encyclopedia thread: Here!
Name of Ability that you Are Applying for: Savior
Describe why this fits your character (not why you the player want it):
Reducio
As everybody knows, Evangeline has a great passion for plants and herbs, particularly her beloved strawberry plants. She fell in love with her plants, when she was just a little girl, barely walking, Her mother always took her out into the garden, where her mother would take care of many, many plants, herbs, veggies and flowers. Evangeline had always had a particular favour for vegetables and fruits. She obviously found the flowers very beautiful, but never found them as interesting as vegetables or fruits. They would grow actual eatable fruits. Which was just amazing? From a small seed would come a beautiful plant, a unique flower which would grow into an actual eatable fruit or vegetable.

She had some particular favourites, like pumpkins, grapes or, her most favourite of all, Strawberries. Evangeline's favourite plant became a strawberry plant, because it was the very first plant she grew and attended all by herself. When she was 5 years old her mother bought her a small starter, a plant containing just one leaf, and after Evangeline had been taking great care of it for several months, the strawberry plant had turned in one of the most beautiful plants Evangeline's mother had ever seem.

Thats when Evangeline's mother realised that Evangeline was not just good at taking care of plants, but was actually gifted. She would always take her daughter with her, because for some unknown reason, when a plant wasn't doing too well, almost on the verge of drying out, or even dying, Evangeline was always able to revive them, to save them and blow life back in its leafs. Evangeline was therefor known as the Garden Savior in her family. As just every plant she attended was in a perfect state.

Evangeline's strawberry plants became so popular that even neighbours would come and ask to buy the plants once they were fully grown and growing fruits. She would tend the plant, and gift them to the neighbourhood, as for Evangeline the joy didnt come from consuming the fruits, but to taking care of the plant, and making sure it looked as healthy and pretty as can be. Why Evangeline had such great feeling for plants that she could save any? She had no idea, but she felt like this gift must extend somewhere, shouldn't it? Maybe when she is old enough, she could make use of this gift in her second passion, maybe she could be as great of a saviour as a quidditch player as she is as a gardener?

Ability Applications
Link to your encyclopedia thread : X
Year One
Name of Ability that you Are Applying for : Perfectionist
Describe why this fits your character :
Reducio
For as long as Taliesin can remember, there has only been one expectation of her; utter perfection, in every conceivable aspect of her life. Perfect hair, perfect disposition, perfect manners, perfect grace, perfect grades, perfect everything. She strives for perfection every waking moment of her life. If she could figure out how to make sure even her dreams were perfectly correct while she slept, she would endeavor to make it so. Granted, Taliesin, in many ways, falls woefully short of perfection; especially in the eyes of her parents. Neither have ever been impressed with her, much less had a positive or encouraging word to offer that might make their child believe she’s at least moving the arrow in the right direction.

However, when it comes to her studies, that is where fault is rarely found with her. It may never lead to the praise she wants, but it is still well within her control. Every correct answer, every expertly done practical, every O sent home, while they never lead her closer to the adoration she wants from her family, at least no one can take those accomplishments away from her. Taliesin’s dedication to practice, her displays of intelligence and magic, those can’t be called into question. She won’t allow it to be. This, of anything in her life, is the one thing that is perfectly controlled.

That is, in essence, what perfection is, right? Exact control over the outcome of a task. Long hours spent honing her magic within an inch of her sanity, in hopes that her skill might make up for where she lacks in other areas of her life; all so that at least she can claim in some way that she is achieving that which is expected of her. It's like playing piano; after hours and hours of relentless work, at some point one can’t help but execute with perfect precision after chipping and hammering away all the imperfections.

She needs this kind of control and precision. She desperately needs some tangible proof that she really is trying. Something to show herself, her parents, maybe even Pureblood society at large, that while Taliesin Annwyn may fall short of perfection in most things; her display of control over her magic is at least worthy of the Annwyn name. She can be exactly what she was supposed to be, what her family demands that she be, in this aspect at least. Maybe it will be the first stepping stone, and her efforts to be perfect in every other way, despite all her past failures, will start to fall into place.
Year Two
Name of Ability that you Are Applying for : Sixth Sense
Describe why this fits your character :
Reducio
It had been a long summer for one Miss Taliesin Annwyn. Historically, Taliesin always had a keen eye for noticing small things most people didn’t notice. That came from too much time by oneself, reading or making up stories, and having no companions one’s own age to enjoy time with. It came with having the appraising and disappointed gaze of the adults around you all the time. It came from needing desperately to be able to anticipate exactly how to behave or what to say based on the smallest sigh, facial twitch or shift of weight from a parent.

And never had she needed to have those skills so sharp as she had the summer before her Second Year of school.

Since being formally named by her father as the next Heir to the Ancient House of Annwyn, certain things had changed. The expectations she was already failing to meet had become harder to achieve. Her mother was taking over her training up, and if Taliesin had ever thought that her Governess was a difficult woman to please, she had nothing on the Lady Annwyn.

Her mother was rigid and tight with their routines and conduct, and her temper was short. She was quick to pick out minute mistakes, and it was up to Taliesin to discern every minor detail of her mother’s example in order to attempt a respectable display back. It also became her self appointed job to notice anything and everything about herself, her mother, or the world around them that might trigger the woman’s displeasure, and thus make Taliesin’s world much more difficult.

A stray thread on her clothes, the fact that the lady at the tea shop allowed the tea to steep a full minute too long over her mother’s requested steep time, a misplaced stroke of the quill while penning an RSVP to another member of society; everything, each seemingly pointless detail, demanded notice and correction if it wasn’t exactly as her mother wanted it.

It was exhausting; and now it was habit, watching and mentally taking notes of the habits and behaviors of the people around her, trying to determine what each thing meant. She took notice of things that weren’t in their proper places or in proper condition. Pointless details mattered in some way, even if she hadn’t yet determined why they mattered or if she needed to care. The why and how, the consequence, if any, quietly stored away in the event that she might need to pull it later. One could never be too sure when a molehill might become a mountain.

"The girl who carried her last name like a burden..."