If you look up my history, this is the entry you'll get:

Being the youngest daughter of a not-so-wealthy baker isn't all that fun, let me tell you. First of all, you are the one that gets all the boring apprentice jobs that the olders dump on you. It's one thing if you know you're just paying your dues and you'll move on in a year or so, but that never happens in a small family run shop. If only mother hadn't gone and died with what would've been my littler sister, I could have had someone to pass my chores along to, but that's not the way of things. And then there's the fact that you never get anything fancy or new to call your own when all the coppers go to your brothers first and the fine satin ribbons and such get snapped up by your sisters. And we're not even going to mention how education is hardly a priority for the youngest daughter. I'm lucky I know how to read, and it certainly wasn't for anyone taking any extra effort on my behalf. Then came the day that I had finally come of age and womanly body. That's when father decided that I would be more use to him married off to our town weaver's loathesome son. He was a toad, let me tell you! Ugly as an ogre, and he couldn't see five feet in front of him, either. Some may call me disloyal for not just caving in and doing as father wished. I don't think of myself as a bad sort, I just couldn't consign myself to a life of drudgery chained to a boy who cared more for the dye he could get out of an onionskin than he cared about me. Anyway, I chose to take off. Father had plenty enough children in my older two brothers and three sisters he really didn't need me around anyway. But I won't bring any more noteriety on his name, so I've dropped it. I just go by Ficta these days. And let me tell you, I'm going to make enough of a name and fortune for myself that when I go back I'll SHOW them all how much they overlooked about me.

One of my greatest wishes has always been to learn more... more about how the world works, and how to tap into and control the power around me. I'll be putting more things here in the future, promise.

I did, however, just have to include this essay by one of our apprentices, Zao, who had been assigned the task to write about one of the "younger" mages. This is his work:

Ficta's Magical Journey Ficta, the daughter of a local baker, grew up as one of those inquisitive young ladies that just always had to know anything about everything. Everything from why the sun came up in the morning to why it set in the evening... Why this done that, and that done this. For instance, she always asked her father why he put yeast in the dough when making the daily breads and all he'd say was that it just made the bread work. Well that just wasn't a good enough reason in her eyes; Ficta wanted to know the HOW and WHY of it all. Ficta always wanted to make something incredible of her life and learn and study all that she could take in to fill her brain with knowledge. And she never wanted to be just married off to the next tailor's son that came through the town. She took it upon herself to find a place in which she could study hard about the ways of the world and the hidden powers it held, in this and learning of the Mage guild in Gahlen she decided that the path she wants to take. She became one and as far as I can tell this is the best decision she has ever made to aid in fulfilling her inquisitive mind. During Ficta's time as a mage it wasn't everything that she thought it was going to be, wishing that she could have learnt and known everything that she does all at once - To give her more time to mess and experiment with all the things she has learnt and try to discover more new and exciting tricks, and to give her more time to write songs and meet and get to know many more people of the town. Some of the things she has liked as a Mage is the fact that they are more lax opposed to such guilds as the fighters, having no such regimen and having to go over every little simple rule and fighting method until your reciting them in your sleep, and having to salute every single person in the guild whether they have been there since the day the guild was founded or just walked in the door that very day. She also likes that, after having so much patience and putting in some much diligent studies, she was able to get her hands on real, personal powers. With the amount of hard work and study she put in determined the powers available for her to put to use and being able to use such gifts knowing only her and other mages know the trade secrets behind the constructions of these spells. Some of the things Ficta has enjoyed with the rewards of learning and a lot of study efforts is how to give herself a light source of her own in those times of darkness when the aided help of a torch is unavailable. Being able to provide herself with her own protection with things like mystical cloaks, the charming and enchantment of articles of clothing by casting magic into them through to throwing fireballs, bolts of lightning at her foes and being able to provide herself with a very useful and magic staff without to much effort on her behalf. During Ficta's times of learning she has found way to make magic fun as well as being quite handy like making loud bangs to scare the life out of people, Tapping into their subconscious and making them dance like crazy along with other fun things I'm sure. All this wouldn't have been possible without the support given to Ficta from members of the guild both young and old, from the answering of her questions and eccentricities in questing for knowledge, As well as making sure she quickly got back on her feet anytime that she has managed to fall. The only bothers that I see Ficta having with being a mage is when folks are squabbling about issues that have not a thing to do with magic's and the guild itself, or things that seemed to be perceived as favouritism or such by others. After all Ficta's hard earned work and the using of the powers learnt to help gain a living she found the costs of training to be the only hindrance thinking the thieves since having no place to call home may have became gainfully self employed as guild trainers. But she and I know that this money would be actually used for the betterment of the guild as a whole. All in all Ficta's decision and acceptance into the guild of the mages was and always will remain to be a wise and fulfilling choice for her, That she will never look back on it as a bad move as long she continues to gather that knowledge and the answers she has always searched for from the day she saw her first ball of gooey dough turn into a wholesome meal. An essay by Zao