Piper Penn
Nideon's Greatest Illusionist
Without Piper, we never would have survived.
Early Years
To be honest, I don't think Neebi liked us any more than we liked her.
Piper Penn was born in 1905 to Roshone and Pilippe Penn, of southern Nefrale. Pilippe owned The Corageous Crab, a local inn, and Piper and Jaden learned a great deal from its patrons, including Nefrale's three dominant languages: Shugbo, Elvish, and Mermish. When they were six, Roshone decided she no longer wanted to live at the inn, and their parents divorced. Four years later, Pillippe married Maggie Lupu. Neither sibling took well to their stepmother, or their new stepsister, Neebi Lupu, two years their senior.
Magical Prodigy
Don't call Piper a prodigy unless you want to get hit. She will tell you she wasn't born with any special gifts. She worked every day of her life to earn her abilities.
At age eight, Jaden began to show signs of a gift in Shapeshifting. Though their father's then girlfriend, Maggie, suggested he be sent to a school to better develop his magical strengths, the twins convinced their father not to separate them. Shortly thereafter, Piper herself began to display a gift for illusion magic, an ability learned through careful study of Imagination Magic. Piper continued to grow this gift until she became one of the very few with the gift of creation--able to produce real objects from thin air. As if not to be outdone by his sister, Jaden studied and practiced at his own gift, until he could change not only into animals, but shift his appearance into that of other people, an ability nearly as rare as his sister's.
By the age of 13, the siblings were two of Nideon's most powerful wizards, but when people referred to Piper as particularly gifted, she scoffed at the idea. She was quick to remind anyone and everyone that her gifts were never in-born, only learned. With her brother as the major exception, Piper tended to look down on wizards with natural born gfts, insisting her abilities were superior because they had not been "handed to her by some god." Though Piper and Jaden usually avoided flaunting their gifts in public, Piper did use hers to color her hair bright orange. She later said this was both a reminder that she had worked for her magic and a way to infuriate her stepmother.
The Rift of 1920
I don't care what anyone says. I was in no way the most powerful person on that journey.
In 1920, a rift in Nideon's magical atmosphere caused people to lose magical abilities, and in some cases, their humanity, transforming them into the mythical Kip Pem. Though this began in Saas, it soon spread further south. Piper was the first person in her town to be affected, immediately apparent when her hair turned back to its natural brown. Though she soon found other ways to dye it, she became sullen and detached, frustrated at her inability to use her magic. When Corey Light arrived at the Corageous Crab, claiming he had been sent on a mission by the Calistian gods to fix the rift, Piper jumped at the chance to help him, even if it meant being apart from her brother. Shortly thereafter, they were joined by Melissa Hyatte and Simon Farrow.
The four have remained tight-lipped about the nature of their journey. Farrow and Hyatte have routinely evaded any and all questions about the rift, agreeing to interviews only about their professional work. Light, now a famous sight wizard, has given few details on the matter, only to say that the rift was closed through combined magics and that he could not have closed it alone. This has been a puzzling statement, as neither Farrow nor Hyatte are known wizards and Penn was without her magic at the time. Piper herself insists that while she contributed, there was a greater power than her own that ultimately helped them. This has led to rumors that the four were able to summon Calistian gods, or perhaps a being even more powerful.
Later Years
Piper knows exactly how powerful she is, and she's not the type to abuse her ability. I would trust her with my life. I have trusted her with my life.
Though she remains the least famous of the four travelers, Piper is still well known, particularly in her country. With her magic abilities restored, she and her brother created The Imagination Game, based on Sarah Xyn's popular novel Zoey Coral and the Carnival Game, in which the title character spends the story trapped in a dreamscape in which she struggles to differentiate magic from reality.
Piper and Jaden's version of the game was originally built into The Corageous Crab when they inherited it from their father. The building is outfitted with a myriad of magical workings that, when activated, allow the structure of the house to disappear into any one of a number of dreamscapes. Though the shifting landscape can be controlled by the twins, the magic also taps into the thoughts of the players, allowing them to live their dreams... and their nightmares. The attraction was so popular that the Penns teamed up with Simon Farrow to create a mobile version of the game out of a bus, which they have toured throughout Nefrale.
Though the Imagination Game, unlike the game in the book, is truely intended as a carinval attraction, its association with the story has caused controversy. Worried parents have decried it, reminding people that in the original novel, the game was created as a weapon. The Penns themselves have confirmed that there is a risk that players could lose touch with reality, as the Zoey does in the story, and require all players to sign (or have their parents sign) a waiver that states they will follow any directions they Penns give them during play. The Penns, in turn, take every precaution they can to ensure player safety. Players wear magical wristbands that allow the Pens to track them inside the game, as well as the amount of time they have spent inside. They also always have one operator on the inside and one on the outside, either of whom can activate a kill switch if necessary. Farrow, Hyatte, and Light have all spoken in favor of the game, insisting that they trust Piper to take all the necassary precautions to keep her game safe. To date, no one has suffered mentally due to play in the game, and the worst physical injury happened to Jaden Penn when he fell down the stairs.
Don't call Piper a prodigy unless you want to get hit. She will tell you she wasn't born with any special gifts. She worked every day of her life to earn her abilities.
The Rift of 1920
I don't care what anyone says. I was in no way the most powerful person on that journey.
In 1920, a rift in Nideon's magical atmosphere caused people to lose magical abilities, and in some cases, their humanity, transforming them into the mythical Kip Pem. Though this began in Saas, it soon spread further south. Piper was the first person in her town to be affected, immediately apparent when her hair turned back to its natural brown. Though she soon found other ways to dye it, she became sullen and detached, frustrated at her inability to use her magic. When Corey Light arrived at the Corageous Crab, claiming he had been sent on a mission by the Calistian gods to fix the rift, Piper jumped at the chance to help him, even if it meant being apart from her brother. Shortly thereafter, they were joined by Melissa Hyatte and Simon Farrow.
The four have remained tight-lipped about the nature of their journey. Farrow and Hyatte have routinely evaded any and all questions about the rift, agreeing to interviews only about their professional work. Light, now a famous sight wizard, has given few details on the matter, only to say that the rift was closed through combined magics and that he could not have closed it alone. This has been a puzzling statement, as neither Farrow nor Hyatte are known wizards and Penn was without her magic at the time. Piper herself insists that while she contributed, there was a greater power than her own that ultimately helped them. This has led to rumors that the four were able to summon Calistian gods, or perhaps a being even more powerful.
Later Years
Piper knows exactly how powerful she is, and she's not the type to abuse her ability. I would trust her with my life. I have trusted her with my life.
Though she remains the least famous of the four travelers, Piper is still well known, particularly in her country. With her magic abilities restored, she and her brother created The Imagination Game, based on Sarah Xyn's popular novel Zoey Coral and the Carnival Game, in which the title character spends the story trapped in a dreamscape in which she struggles to differentiate magic from reality.
Piper and Jaden's version of the game was originally built into The Corageous Crab when they inherited it from their father. The building is outfitted with a myriad of magical workings that, when activated, allow the structure of the house to disappear into any one of a number of dreamscapes. Though the shifting landscape can be controlled by the twins, the magic also taps into the thoughts of the players, allowing them to live their dreams... and their nightmares. The attraction was so popular that the Penns teamed up with Simon Farrow to create a mobile version of the game out of a bus, which they have toured throughout Nefrale.
Though the Imagination Game, unlike the game in the book, is truely intended as a carinval attraction, its association with the story has caused controversy. Worried parents have decried it, reminding people that in the original novel, the game was created as a weapon. The Penns themselves have confirmed that there is a risk that players could lose touch with reality, as the Zoey does in the story, and require all players to sign (or have their parents sign) a waiver that states they will follow any directions they Penns give them during play. The Penns, in turn, take every precaution they can to ensure player safety. Players wear magical wristbands that allow the Pens to track them inside the game, as well as the amount of time they have spent inside. They also always have one operator on the inside and one on the outside, either of whom can activate a kill switch if necessary. Farrow, Hyatte, and Light have all spoken in favor of the game, insisting that they trust Piper to take all the necassary precautions to keep her game safe. To date, no one has suffered mentally due to play in the game, and the worst physical injury happened to Jaden Penn when he fell down the stairs.
Piper knows exactly how powerful she is, and she's not the type to abuse her ability. I would trust her with my life. I have trusted her with my life.
Amazing. The Imagination Game is fascinating and scary. It's good that Piper Penn takes such strong precautions to keep people from being harmed mentally and physically. I hate to think what strange and awful things my imagination would concoct!
Absolutely! (That's kind of the premise of the novel on which the Imagination Game is based.)