get early access to High Witchery content on Patreon!
-drum rolls- and here she is, our next major character, introducing Early Clockwork!
Early Clockwork is the First High Witch of the High Council of Witchery, and is the witch who finds Aisling to inform her of her new appointment. An eccentric timewitch with the ability to pause, slow, and speed the flow of time, she's an enigma to most, but friendly and welcoming to everyone -- even if it appears she has a little more hidden beneath her surface than she's willing to admit.
Her sigil presented here is the symbol she uses to stop time, and it's painted onto the inside of her umbrella -- so whenever she wants to pause for a moment, all she has to do is open her umbrella.
Early is the First High Witch of the High Council of Witchery, which means that she’s the current most senior member of the council. An eccentric sort, she is always smiling, laughing, or otherwise not being at all fazed by anything that happens around her. It is a rare time that anyone sees her truly angry, as she seems to prefer to take life with as much of a smile as possible.
She tends to be the enabler of the council, taking even the most crazy ideas and schemes of the others in stride. Aisling wants to know who made her the leader of this council, because she is tired of things ending with everything being on fire again.
The bird beside her is semi-important, but I’ll go into that more a lil later.
And below the cut is a brief excerpt of her introduction :)
The witch arrived in the city on the ten forty-five train. Like the rest of the passengers, she filed out neatly from the sliding doors when the train came a stop. Like the other passengers, she ducked her head under the billowing steam that rolled off from the front of the train, blended into the crowd, and shuffled along at the same pace as the others.
To anyone who didn't know what a witch looked like, she was just another arrival to the spiraling city of Abarine. Another oddly dressed visitor, probably from one of the Outer Cities or perhaps the Far Ring. Another one of those ones that the locals rolled their eyes at. Probably here to poke her nose into the usual tourist attractions, clutching at pamphlets and asking stupid questions and taking snapshots with those newfangled picture-takers.
To anyone who did know what a witch looked like, she stuck out like a sore thumb. Her long, fashionable white jacket hugged her thin frame lightly, and her platform boots, which reached above her knees, gave her three more inches to her already substantial height. Beneath her buttoned up coat, one could see the thin flash of a bright red, bell shaped skirt and dark leggings, the flap of a black vest and the collar of a white dress shirt. A rose was pinned to her lapel, and another to the tiny top hat perched on her head without any sight of a headband to hold it in place.
You couldn't quite see it, but she was wearing the rose thorns wrapped around her arms just underneath her sleeves.
She tucked a strand of shock silver hair behind one tan ear, freckles scattering her skin under the edge of her dark glasses. She moved herself to the side of the massing crowd, choosing a nice pillar to press her back against and wait. She tucked her umbrella under her arms, so as to have full use of her hands. Quick, black-gloved fingers darted into the pocket of her jacket, removing a thin slab of black glass. She frowned, pulling her dark glasses down from her eyes so that she could look closely at it. The glass reflected her pale yellow eyes back at her. Frowning again, she pushed her glasses back onto her face and wiped off the glass with the edge of her sleeve.
“My, my, you finally decide to join us, my dear Clockwork.”
“The thing is, we don’t get to choose if we are forgiven. That doesn’t just mean accepting when you aren’t; it means accepting it when you are, as well.”
