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The lighthouse stood as their closest and most refined refuge, nestled in the northernmost reaches of the continent. A hideout accessible only with great difficulty, both in the tangible realm and in the elusive mirror plane.
Yves had crossed paths with his fair share of rivals and mercenaries in the past, all seeking the potent magical artefacts he had acquired during his tenure as an artefact hunter. Some of these artefacts possessed undeniable power and value, while others remained shrouded in enigmatic secrets. With many, Yves had not deciphered the true potential they entailed. Most of them were simply trash. To safeguard these treasures, he had devised three discreet hiding places, of which the lighthouse was the most warded against detection.
Before his induction into the Emery Thurm Academy, Yves had grappled with his Lightshifter abilities. Much like many young wizards, he had once harboured aspirations of being a Worldbender instead. The art of manipulating light and glass didn’t come instinctively to fledgling wizards; it demanded months and years of guided instruction to unlock its potential. At eight or nine years old, the prospect of creating shards or shifting light simply seems far less alluring than the grandiosity of shapeshifting or elemental control. It can be a frustrating revelation to be stuck with your innate spectrum, especially within the halls of a wizarding school brimming with novices who wielded the very Worldbender spectrum you actually yearned for. Over time, most novices come to terms with their once-thwarted childish desires, instead realising their own potential and limitations. With age came a deeper understanding of your own spectrum’s value — genuine or feigned.
As a novice, Yves honed his skills in manipulating glass and light, crafting intricate illusions that wove false realities. He quickly discovered the vast realm of magical artefacts — potent items infused with arcane power capable of rewriting history itself. Together with his pathera familiar Midnight, Yves travelled the world as an artefact hunter, visiting ancient ruins and studying the magic and history of different cultures. Along the way, he engaged with fellow wizards, scholars and guides, sharing insights and gaining knowledge from their varied experiences.
Over the years, Yves had encountered and amassed an assortment of beguiling and mystical objects. Among these treasures was a staff crafted from the heartwood of a sacred tree that held the power to coax objects within a limited radius into levitation and motion by touch. This versatile ability allowed Yves to manipulate his surroundings far beyond the confines of Lightshifter wizardry. For example, Yves could employ his staff to raise and move heavy objects, be it boulders or fallen trees that obstruct his path. He could also use the levitation ability to create makeshift bridges or platforms to access to otherwise elusive terrain. While this power was not as flashy as some of Yves’ other abilities and did not possess the inherent grandeur of true elemental magic, it proved a beacon of practicality throughout his myriad escapades. The staff became his compass through treacherous landscapes, an invaluable tool to uncover concealed treasures, and a means to outmaneuver his assailants. Yves, of course, recognised that the staff’s potency was proportionate to his proficiency. He pursued relentless study and ceaseless practice to unearth its magical nuances. For now, the levitation ability was a valuable asset in his arsenal, and one that he relied on often, steering his path with precision and navigating challenges that would have otherwise been insurmountable.
Setting aside extravagant narrations and grandiose embellishments of daring escapades, the staff had made Yves downright lazy in everyday life. He had stumbled upon a shortcut to effortlessness – a philosopher’s stone for magical slacking, a scepter of sloth that lifted and carried everything from laundry to groceries. That was the true reason why he was particularly adept at handling the thing.
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His most valued possession was the witch mother crystal half ball that was rumoured to grant wizards from the Transcender spectrum the rare ability to peer into other dimensions and glimpse at the shadowy forms and otherworldly beings that traversed these realms. It was this very crystal half ball, infused with the power of the arcane and rendered even more potent by the intricate arrangement of shards that constructed Yves’ ethereal mirrors, that had served as his conduit into the realm of mirrors. Without the crystal half ball, his two mirrors allowed him to travel between them, from one mirror’s location to the other’s. With the artefact inserted, the mirrors transformed into gateways between his reality and the world of shards. The crystal half ball’s role was pivotal, a tether between the tangible and the ethereal, an instrument that bridged the chasm between planes with a mere insertion.
It was the witch mother herself who had first imparted to him the knowledge of ethereal mirrors. They were artefacts that eluded him — a lattice of portals weaving an intricate network of reflective surfaces that crisscrossed the world of magic. With these mirrors, a wizard could unravel the veils concealing the unseen and travel between dimensions. Yet, they held more than mere curiosity for Yves, they were a demand placed upon him by the witch mother, a mandate that set his course.
At Emery Thurm, the academy where he had studied and developed his Lightshifter dispositions, Yves had embarked upon a covert odyssey to obtain access to the banned Tome of the Ethereal Plaine, a repository of cryptic truths sought by the witch mother. It had been a challenging feat, as much orchestrated coincidence as it had been accidented fate. The academy’s fortifications were formidable, safeguarding its hidden knowledge within labyrinthine chambers ensconced deep below its venerable grounds. These chambers were sealed with ancient runes, shrouded in illusions, and ensnared with cunning traps, individual sections often only accessible to wizards of specific dispositions. Despite that, Yves and two other students had found and unlocked one of myriad concealed and seemingly forsaken chambers during his second year. Within the enigmatic confines of this chamber, they had encountered a runed portal pulsating with latent power. It had read:
A sorcerer for seven seasons shall steer the shattered seas,
seek stolen shadows submerged in silver spheres of sun,
send song to soaring skies and speak what he not sees.
For over three years, they had toiled relentlessly, deciphering and adhering to the cryptic demands woven into the runes, before the portal had led them ever deeper into a web of hidden passageways intricately threaded through the expansive castle walls. Advancing month by month and year by year, Yves, Prayan and the Prince Regent had encountered diverse and dangerous challenges until they had eventually gained access to the forbidden underground chambers.
And then Yves was forced to leave Emery Thurm. A culmination of events had led to his expulsion, but on the day he walked out of the academy grounds, he had taken with him the arcane knowledge to forge ethereal mirrors.
After leaving Emery Thurm, Yves and Midnight embarked on a sweeping odyssey that traversed the vast expanse of the Midlands and the rugged heart of the Western Mountain Ranges. The journey wove through serene valleys and perilous summits, as Yves sought out wizards, oracles and time-worn ruins in the relentless pursuit to identify and collect the elusive components necessary to craft the ethereal mirrors.
The Midlands echoed with the clash of magic against steel against fang, as Yves and Midnight were not only pitted against the wild forces of nature and primal tribes but also against challengers who sought the same artefacts that ignited their pursuit. Amid these grueling battles, Yves found solace in the pages of tomes and scrolls, diligently deciphering and translating the instructions that held the key to his ambitions. And as the seasons turned, the crescendo of his efforts surged. He studied and battled, he suffered he bled, he failed and he persevered. His endeavour to amass the myriad components required for crafting the intricate mirrors was one of symbiosis. It was a fusion of honed skills, garnered wisdom, and battles that etched scars upon his flesh and spirit, whereby his mastery of light and glass magic culminated in the creation of these enigmatic portals.
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