Nationality: Tenskien
Language: Kinuar, Magic
Moon Phase:
Elena — Harmony / Life / Fire
Ericka — Harmony Gibbous (Eclispe) / Life / Fire
Date of Birth:
Elena — Day 380 Lihub 32 / Nyahie 5 / Giselly 44
ERicka — Day 381 Lihub 33 / Nyahie 6 / Giselly 44
Age: 18
Appearance: 18
Height: Medium
Build: Slim, inverted triangle
Face Shape: Oval
Eye Color: Deep blue
Glasses / Contacts: No
Skin Tone: Fair
Distinguishing Marks:
Symbol of three staffs in a circle, with the initial “M” at the center
Predominant Features: Athletic-slim build, Strong shoulders, narrow waist
Hair Color: Blonde
Hair Type: Straight
Hair Length: Long, mid-back
Hairstyles:
Elena: Parted on the right, braid wrapped around the crown
Ericka: Parted on the right, worn loose
Voice: Soft
Physical Abnormalities: None
Usual Dress: Comfortable, bright colors
Favorite Outfit:
Elena: Purple smock with a long green dress
Ericka: Red bustier with black leather pants
Jewelry / Accessories: Each wears a ring engraved with a strange, unidentified symbol
Appears In: All books
(Birth to 2695, prior to joining Mashaun)
Birth Without Mercy (2682)
Elena and Ericka are born twins to Einarir and Josefinnie.
Elena is born first, under a rare triple full moon, when Harmony, Life, and Fire all stand at their peak. For a brief moment, the night is bright enough to read by, and the midwives whisper prayers they pretend are not fear. Ericka is born the following night, during an eclipse, as the light drains from the sky. As the shadows deepen, Josefinnie strength failing even as her daughter draws breath. She dies shortly after, before dawn breaks.
The midwife cradles Ericka, her hands unsteady. A tear slips down her cheek as she whispers,
“The gods have marked you two. Opposite sides of the same kuj.”
From that night onward, Einarir never forgives them.
He never speaks Josefinnie’s name. When he looks at the girls—especially as they grow older and begin to resemble her—his resentment sharpens. He mutters, often and bitterly, that Josefinnie should have lived instead. Einarir serves as a city guard in Tenskie, working long patrol shifts. Each evening, he expects the house clean and ohnmoj—the evening meal—ready when he returns.
If either task is unfinished, punishment is swift:
– a slap across the backside,
– then the cellar door locked.
Sometimes they are left there for days with only scraps of food and water. The twins learn early: silence, obedience, preparation.
The Year the Army Came (Jarve 218)
An army of Duaneg, Nioby, and Suga pours down from the mountains like a living tide, crossing the Lawvm scrublands and slaughtering everything in their path. Einarir marches out with thousands of others, and for the first time the girls are alone. They do not know if he will return and, quietly, they hope he does not. Still, every day they clean the house, and every evening they prepare ohnmoj—just in case. Weeks later, Einarir returns on a wagon with hundreds of wounded men, his left leg gone but his life spared. The house grows colder.
A Crippled Authority (2691–2694)
The Tenskie military assigns Einarir an administrative post, but he is slow at the work, misfiles paperwork, and hides stout in desk drawers as gambling replaces duty. Most nights, he comes home reeking of alcohol and tobacco, and on some nights, the twins must fight him off before locking themselves in another room. To survive, they fall into a brutal routine: mornings spent doing odd jobs for food and coin, afternoons cleaning and cooking, and nights waiting, listening, and bracing for his return. On several occasions, Elina is caught stealing by employers, and each time Ericka intervenes—using quiet words, threats, and leverage to prevent the city guard from being called. This is when Ericka learns the true value of information and control.
Debts and a Better Offer (2695)
Einarir’s gambling debts climb into the thousands of jades, and the gambling house demands the twins for the brothel in exchange for wiping the debt clean. Before the deal is finalized, another offer arrives: Magdalenia, the Wizard of Shen Sherin, wants the girls. The terms are better—for Einarir. The twins are sold into five years of indenture, and Magdalenia places a glowing magical mark on their shoulders, a public declaration that they are her property.
Life Under Magdalenia
Compared to their father’s house, Magdalenia’s estate is gentler. The twins receive clean clothing, regular meals, and safe sleeping quarters, but the work never stops. They clean more, listen more, and watch more. When Magdalenia hosts guests, the twins serve food and drink, dressed in off-the-shoulder veiled tops and ankle-length silk skirts sliced into strips, and when Magdalenia leaves the room, the girls remain behind, keeping glasses full, smiles polite, and silence absolute. Afterward, Magdalenia questions them carefully about every word spoken.
Learning the Invisible Currents
Elina discovers that house slaves are ignored, and she learns to move freely and unnoticed, gathering fragments of information and trading them quietly for favors. One evening, she overhears a guest mutter the word “nkaumic” repeatedly, and later, alone, she whispers it into a mirror and vanishes. So long as she remains still, she is almost impossible to detect.
The Red Staff (The Same Year)
Around the same time, Ericka overhears Magdalenia speaking the words “liab ljew nataj,” her hands shaped as if gripping a quarterstaff, and later, in their room, Ericka repeats the phrase. After several attempts, a red-bladed staff appears in her hands, and startled, she swings and strikes Elina, instantly breaking the spell. Elina reappears as the staff clatters to the floor and vanishes, and the two sisters stare at one another, understanding without speaking that this must remain their secret. When a passing guard pokes his head in to ask if everything is all right, the girls giggle and tell him it is.
Punishment (Late 2695)
Using their magic, the twins learn more than ever and begin to believe they might one day buy their freedom, but Magdalenia notices. Leather restraints are fastened around their wrists and ankles, a leather choker sealing the set, and their magic goes dead. They are sent back to Tenskie for a permanent slave mark, downgrading their status, and they sit in a cage on the wagon bound for Shen Sherin, tears silent and eyes hollow.
The Road Away
The wagon leaves the main road, and after a week, it stops beneath a cliff. In the middle of the night, guards throw three strangers into the cage with them, and at dawn, shouting erupts as arrows fly toward the mountains. The twins bury their faces in their arms and wait for the chaos to end. They do not yet know the name of the man who will change everything, but this is the road that leads them to Mashaun.