The young Layna
The older(?) Layna"Magic is believing in yourself. If you can do that, you can do anything." - Layna Sanna/Nyx Caeli
Name
Layna Sanna
Age
Currently Eleven
Appearance
A rather messy looking girl, at best; her hair is always ruffled, her smile is crooked, her posture is slumped, and her clothing is usually crinkled and full of folds, as if she doesn't quite know how to properly fold them. She usually dons her rather iconic red cap (Thank you final fantasy for the inspiration on that front), which is almost an endearing prospect of the girl after a while- this red cap that always is there, no matter what.
Her personality gives her posture more of an energetic feel rather than the lazy slump it actually is, as she is always quick to smile and laugh. She is very hard to get down, and to see her frowning is to see her standing outside in a rainy day without any sort of cover-- that is to say, when the world is going against her. Very much so one to try and blaze her own path rather than take the one well traveled.
Skills
Prestidigitation! - Sleight of hand and slip of tongue, illusion and trickery, smoke and mirrors-- this girl can do it all! Simple card games to complex tricks, and everything inbetween; give her enough time and she's sure to devise a trick to wow even the most stalwart of logicians... This also encompasses basic aspects of the more...disrespected of the dexterous arts.
Empathy - Empathy is a skill that all people possess, although in varying degrees. Layna is one of those who feels what others feel very easily, and is likely to get swept up in intense emotions very easily.
Negotiation/Persuasion - It's not easy being a magician, especially when those around you are so convinced that you're just a cheat and claim to be able to solve your mysteries! All good magicians can speak with a silver tongue, and bear a natural charisma.
Focus - Magicians have to carry an intense focus, especially when working more dangerous illusions and works of fancy. Slipping up could result in death or harm- or even worse, ousting themselves as magicians!
Luck - Not so much a skill, more a trait; Layna's luck is very two sided, much like a coin. Everything goes perfectly, or everything goes horribly. There's rarely a middle ground with her.
Herbs/Agriculture - This is...one of her more mundane skillsets. She grew up in a farming town, and spent her youngest years learning the trade of her family. She's certainly not the best of herbologists, but she does have a basic knowledge of plants and weather.
Magical specialty - Gathering, of course! A naturally energetic gal coupled with a youth of being in the spotlight? Of course gathering energy is her specialty...!...Not that these are valid reasons for that, of course-
Element
Preferred - water!
Something as simple as a magic trick can change your life.
A flash, the swirl of a cloak, the awe of the croud. It's exhilirating. Empowering. Gratifying. Having all the eyes on you, in the center of a stage, every person holding their breath and waiting impatiently for the next act of grandeur...
That's what Layna always wanted.
Layna Sanna, a small town girl with little to her name save a red hat and a crooked smile. You could say she was a very -bored- girl, and you could also say she was a very imaginative one- as these two traits go hand-in-hand. Boredom breeds imagination, imagination breeds adventure!- or, at least, that's what Layna believes. Emeris is a land of magic, but nothing can surpass the imagination of a lonely girl out in the country.
The magician was beautiful- no, handsome. His swirling cape, the fire in his eyes, the passion in his voice...it was all so inspiring. The way he held their gazes, every movement dragging their gazes willingly to focus on the object of his magic. Some claimed the man was simply a hoax, a base trickster. Layna disagreed, this was a magic in its own right.
A quiet town, not much happened. A simple agricultural haven amongst the Empire's expanses- well, old expanses. Much of the territory had been lost, and Layna's village was left in the purgatory. No longer consolidated into the strength of an empire, and not yet fully integrated into a new community, the town was simply self sustaining for a time. The people took care of themselves now that they held no obligations to any sort of kingdom or empire.
Lunar Stellaris, the man had called himself. The moon and stars. It held a certain poetic tone, the girl thought. Lunar Stellaris, a man of wonder and magic. It was by pure chance she found herself in his path, by pure chance the man swept her up in his wake. It was by pure chance she found a cloak of stars bound about her chest, and by pure chance she found herself on the stage before the crowds she used to be a part of.
Luck is a strange thing. It works its wonders in ways that seem more impossible than magic. Magic was fascinating to the young Layna, and it is no mystery why she became enamored with the wondrous shows put on by the wandering troubadoors and magicians. Music, mysticism, illusion- it all served to pique the girl's interest, and with her naturally active imagination...well...it can only be considered pure luck that she found herself apprenticed to one 'Lunar Stellaris', otherwise known as Ezra Stern to closer associates.
It really was pure luck. Literally bumping into the man on the side of the street- it's as if fate had rolled the die! Everything was coming up Layna...
It was raining. One of those days where nothing's going right. She didn't want to go home. Didn't want to think about having to grow up just to marry and raise children. Didn't want to thinka bout years and years of working the earth just to result in a meagre harvest. She just wanted to pretend she was walking through the clouds, controlling where the rain went. A strike of lightning here, a dash of thunder there-- and whump! She sailed straight into the chest of a hurrying man, wearing a strange cloak.
Her apprenticeship was a difficult thing for her to earn. Convincing the magician was easy enough, but convincing her family was another matter entirely. They relied on Layna, as she was their eldest child, and were hoping she'd grow up and marry well. Layna's siblings, all four of them, were her biggest allies on this front- and without them she'd still be back on that farm toiling away at her parent's behest.
He simply swept her up under his cloak and ushered her into the inn. His tools and paraphernalia were dumped in a heap on the table, and the bespectacled man delivered a rather amused gaze to the red-hatted girl.
"You're out in the rain." He said in a bemused manner, his tone a quiet whispery voice, one wouldn't expect from a magician who, on the stage, demanded all eyes on him. "How queer of a small girl such as yourself."
"Sir.." she said, somewhat nervously as her lopsided grin set into place. "The rain's not so bad when you're the clouds."
Her siblings all encouraged her and begged her parents, who in the end finally relented and gave Layna permissions to become a magician's apprentice. Layna, who had spent years watching and becoming enamored by the wandering entertainers, felt as if it were a dream come true. Her luck had reached an all-time high!
Ezra Stern was an oddity amongst magicians. He legitimately had magical capabilities, but rarely used them- prefering, instead, to rely on sleight of hand and natural charisma to get the job done. Magic is a last-resort tool, and he made that -very- clear to Layna at the beginning of her apprenticeship. Neither of them were even aware of Layna's magical capabilities at the time, but it was a simple philosophy that Layna could grip quite easily.
And thus her apprenticeship was official. With a cloak about her shoulders and a newfound purpose in her step, Layna Sanna had become Nyx Caeli, the Night Sky. Her awkward and clumsy persona was refined and adapted, no longer was she a rough farm girl- no! Now she was a dexterous girl, who carried a certain grace with all her movements, young age or no. She may still be a child, but she enjoys the spotlight just as much as her mentor.
The stage, the people, the sleight of hand- it was all the same as ever. She danced through the crowd, and finally made it back up onto the stage. Ezra was there, and their next trick was prepared; a simple act of the disappearing apprentice. They'd done it a hundred times. Layna twirled across the stage, and felt the oh-so wonderful empowerment that came from having all eyes on her. She felt an exhilirating rush of energy- but this was different. It felt...better, so much better. She felt...great. Better than she'd ever felt before. And it showed. She watched as the groud's gazes went from suspense to awe, and felt a smile split her face. A smile that stayed until she looked to her Mentor and saw the surprised look he was giving her.
That's when she realized her skin was glowing.
She was taught all the basics of being a magician, or trickster, or even thief- they all required a certain level of charisma and agility, after all. She isn't fond of these more...disrespected arts, but she does love being the center of attention. Over the years, from when she was about eight to very near the modern day, she was trained and raised by Ezra Stern. She was taught the trade of being a magician, as well as the more mundane aspects of negotiation and persuasion. She took to it naturally, and within the first two years the apprentice was actually helping rather than hindering her mentor.
The crowd was surprised, and her mentor swiftly hid the girl within his cloak, smothering the glow and promptly carrying the girl off the stage. She was confused, and the show had suddenly been stopped-- why was she glowing? She'd seen her mentor do it whenever he did magic, but she herself wasn't able to do it...at least, not until now...As her excitement died down, so did the glow..and with it came the pain...
It was only a matter of time before her magical capabilities emerged- the presence of a particularly skilled wizard, her mentor, as well as all the natural energy she carried would result in her accidentally drawing in magic at some point in her life...and that point happened to be some time during her eleventh year. She was on stage, and began to glow with energy- an action that caused her mentor to halt the show and carry her away. This would be one of the last days she spent with her mentor.
"You just channeled magic, Layna." He said in his uncharacteristically whispery voice. The familiar gesture of his hand patting down on her head was barely felt as the girl shook with excitement..
"Master! That's great! That means I'm just like you!" She declared, nearly in a state of ecstasy.
"It's also dangerous, dear..." He whispered, worry in his voice. "Do you remember the hurt? The pain?...That's what happens when you mess up, or don't know what you're doing...I can teach you some basics, but I can't teach you everything. There's a school, I came from it myself...I'm going to send you there." Layna frowned, her mirth melting away as if a candle desolving from fire.
"But...Master...You can teach me, can't you?"
"Not everything. I can teach you some basics, so you don't kill yourself trying to gather energy, but I'm not exactly...qualified to teach this. I'll always be your magician's mentor, though." He said with a laugh as he placed the girl's hat back on her head. "Come now, smiling's more your rule than mine. I'd hate to see you start breaking it now."
