Ooo, fun! Kipin's never done a role-play before! Somebody mentioned an Archmage, mind if I borrow him, or is he off-limits? If he is, ignore my post.

In the highest part of the Tower of the Mages' Guild, the Archmage paced back and forth in front of his desk. The circular room was lined all the way around with bookshelves, stuffed with arcane texts; a collection that rivaled the library downstairs in size. A sturdily built wooden desk sat by the only window. There was no fireplace. The Archmage could telepathically control the temperature in the room and keep it as warm or cool as he wished.

With a sigh, he halted his pacing before one of the many bookshelves and ran a restless, bony finger along the tomes' spines, brushing away a mote or two of dust. He recited the titles in his head: The Compleat Collection of Fyre Magycs, Ninety-Seven Healing Incantations, Rare Magical Species of the World, The Book of Fae-Craft, Intermediate Earth Spells...

These books had taught the Archmage nearly everything he knew about magic. Of the many secrets he kept from the world, the biggest was that of his past. Nearly a hundred years ago, he had come to the Mage's Guild with almost no magical talent but a great desire to learn. He found work as a kitchen boy, washing dishes for the cook and carrying meals to the Mages. In his minimal free time, he stole away to the vast Library and secretly read the magical texts, learning every lesson they taught him. By the time he was seventeen, his knowledge was greater than every Mage in the Guild, save for the Archmaga of the time. One night, she came down from the high Tower and found him reading by moonlight in the Library. At first, the boy was terrified. He thought she would smite him dead on the spot, or at least turn him into some sort of little slimy animal. But to his great surprise, relief and joy, she offered to become his mentor instead, seeing his boundless potential for magic. After a few years under her tutelage, most of which were spent polishing the skills he had learned on his own, he replaced her as the Archmage of the Mage's Guild. He was the youngest ever to become the Archmage, earning the title when he was only twenty-two years old.

Lost in his memories of the past, the Archmage barely noticed the tentative knock at the Tower door. Only when the knock came again, a bit louder the second time, did he turn towards the sound.

"Must be my hearing, giving out on me," he muttered to himself, running his fingers through his long beard as he sat at his desk. "Come in!"

uh oh please don't hurt me if i mess up. i've never done this before.

Miles from the Mages Guild, a darker scene was unfolding. In the mountain caves, near the Great River, a boy sat facing the wind. He was an outcast, he had traveled many miles beyond the woods known to him. His eyes, the spark of anger evident, swirled with molten gold and streaks of red as bright as the fires that burned when new wood was thrown in. 

The bright shining moonlight spilled over the rim of the cave, and the boy started. He scurried out to the mouth, spreading his arms wide, his ripped and torn tunic pressed flat by the raging winds that spread across the land. With an unhuman cry of wild freedom, he transformed. His arms turned to wide wings brushed with gold feathers. His mouth elongated, turning into the beak of an eagle. With the wind pressing against him, he leapt from the cave, soaring into the dark night. And he was gone, swallowed by the magic of the night.

((OH! Roleplay! Yay! Haven't done this in a while, so sorry if I'm a bit rusty. Let's see...))

Anara moved to catch the light on the book she was reading. She didn't even think about it, although a moment after she had done it, she glanced down to the floor. She stayed more or less still for another half hour, until the sun had moved again, and then she stepped forward again. When she glanced down again, she noticed that she was on top of her last marker, and with a reluctant sigh closed the book and slid it back into place on the bookshelf. Soon, the mages would be up and about, and today someone might decide to come to this remote library. Not that anyone ever had, but she couldn't risk it. Climbing up the bookshelves, she came to the second from the top. Putting her hand and her head through the largish gap between the books and the shelf, she crawled into the darkness behind them. There was a small room back there, why, she knew not. It was quite convenient though. No one knew that she was an unseen guest in this guild. No one knew she was slowly but surely learning magic. She had a precise schedule, which allowed her all the darkness hours, and one hour of light. Of course, reading at night was a problem when it wasn't full moon, but the first spell she had learned was one to call up a bit of light to read by. It was a dangerous life, but she lived it gladly. Any amount of danger was worth learning this magic. Magic which might, eventually, repay those who needed repaying.