**𝐋𝐈𝐌𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒** Though divinity-kissed, Sidonie is not omnipotent; her magic, in spite of its intricacies and fantastic feats, has its limitations and can take a great deal out of her, should she not be mindful with the way she wields the earth. The bigger the amount of earth she’s manipulating, the more taxing it is (though, her experiences and natural aptitude for magic make her into a seasoned mage who rarely exhausts herself to those extents). Since the chaos of magic that seemingly spewed from her hands after leveling her town as a child, Sidonie has only exhausted herself physically with her magic during her trips to the Obsidienne, some as exhibitions for Empress Calandre to prove the prowess of her arcane advisor. So far, her life in Le Palais D'été has not required Sidonie to rely on massive outbursts of magic--thank Odeline.
𝐈. 𝐏𝐇𝐘𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐀𝐏𝐀𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐄𝐒.
THE ABILITY TO REND THE EARTH. As an earth-rending mage, Sidonie Dupont was born with the ability to manipulate the earth in whatever way she saw fit. This ability, noticed first at the tender age of four, began first as pebbles tossed by a tiny balled fist accompanied by a gleeful giggle; it blossomed into something terribly beautiful--unworldly powers culled only by Odeline’s mercies and Her bestowal of such abilities to one determined Sidonie Colette Dupont. Now, more than two decades later, Sidonie’s repertoire of skills used to manipulate the earth vary widely, and include but are not necessarily limited to:
ROCK CUFFS. The ability to fashion handcuffs out of rocks or any other sturdy earth material.
EARTH SINKING / QUICKSAND. The ability to immobilize others by altering the ground underfoot, effectively turning it into a difficult hole to climb from or quicksand.
ROCK SLIDES. The ability to cause multiple rocks of different sizes to rain down on opponents. Can also be used to scale mountainsides, though she’s never done it.
PROJECTILES. The ability to create and loose earth-based projectiles. These can be cute and harmless (like the handful of rocks she sends flying during one of her tricks at Court), or they can be terribly deadly (like the shrapnel-like bullets loosed on the undead in the Obsidienne).
EARTH LEVITATION. The ability to cause earth-based materials to levitate, as such.
SEISMIC SENSE. The ability to sense vibrations of the ground, creating a 360 degree “image” of anything in contact with the ground from which she’s working. It is most effective when Sidonie is focused and she’s in direct connection with the earth--no shoes, no gloves. It can be used to identify people by their footsteps.
TECTONIC PLATE SHIFTING. The ability to cause earthquakes and create fissures. This is what she did when she leveled her town as a child.
DUST CLOUDS. The ability to cause the ground underfoot to quickly vibrate, stirring up dust. This is used for concealment, but also protection; it’s a favorite technique of Sidonie’s for the Obsidienne, where she uses the dust and dirt particles in the air to create a shield around herself so she’s not injured by whatever may come her way.
SCULPTING. The ability to take any earth-based substance and sculpting it to whatever she sees fit. This is a staple of all her shows at Court, as she always uses it to create a figure of Celestinean griffon, flower, etc. figurine to gift her favorite viewer at the end of her performances.
THE ABILITY TO REND (PROCESSED) METALS AND OTHER COMPOUNDS. This is a subset of her earth-rending ability, and is how she’s able to manipulate the gardens to Her Majesty’s liking. Sidonie first recognized her prowess towards the end of her tenure as a student at the best mage school Val Faim had to offer, but it wasn’t until she became Calandre’s Advisor that she practiced relentlessly until it was perfected. The need for the ability was borne from her additional position as Court Mage; her grandiose outdoor performances were always a bit less enjoyable when the biting winds of Nadia and Diodore ruffled the clothes of her attendees. As such, Calandre--albeit, unhappily--moved Sidonie’s shows from outside to inside, drastically limiting what the mage could do. In a bid to please Calandre, she learned to manipulate metals*, too, by locating the minuscule trace amounts of earth in them and ferrokinetically altering them. It’s taken a handful of years to perfect it, but she now always keeps enough metal on her person to create three small throwing knives or one combat knife for the sole reason of having it to utilize, should the matter arise. (* Sidonie is unable to manipulate highly processed metals with little to no traces of the earth left in them. The more processed the metal is, the more difficult it is and the more exhausted she becomes attempting to alter it.)
𝐈𝐈. 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐒 & 𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒.
SEISMIC SURVEILLANCE. An enchantment used to detect the footsteps of anyone approaching within the area dictated by Sidonie. It is something she came up with when she began heavily involving herself with the betrothed VIOLAINE GEROUX ( @vviolaine ), as she couldn’t afford for their trysts at La Cour de La Reine to be ruined by prying eyes and wandering feet. The longer it is used, the less accurate it is, and Sidonie often has to re-enchant the area of interest if she wants to keep surveillance as correct as possible.
BOTANIST’S TOUCH(ES). An array of enchantments for different types of plants and crops to encourage the most bountiful yields and longest blooming periods. These enchantments are used for the altering of Jardins Empressian when Calandre requests, but also for CYRIL BEAUCHAMP ( @cyrilbeauchamp ), who uses the plants provided for her fashion creations.
[REDACTED]. An enchantment learned from HELENE FARROW ( @ircnclad ) in a bid to get information out of Amelie--or break her in the process. It is meant to induce truth-telling if successful; if unsuccessful, it fractures the psyche of the target. This is not a spell Sidonie is proud to know, per se, and she doesn’t know it well enough to add it to her personal repertoire of enchantments; however, for Calandre and her safety, Sidonie’ll do nearly anything.