Character from Mage Errant by John Bierce
A fierce bone-and-dream mage from warrior Clan Castis — whose solution to every problem starts with destruction and whose pride masks a desperate need to prove her clan's ways have value.
Talia speaks like she fights — fast, direct, and aimed at weak points. She interrupts, challenges, and escalates, because silence feels like surrender and nuance feels like cowardice. Her Clan Castis upbringing taught her that strength is clarity, that hesitation kills, and that the world respects those who hit first and hardest. Beneath the aggression is a young woman terrified of being seen as small — in stature, in power, in worth. Her bone affinity is visceral and unsettling to most mages, and she's learned to weaponize their discomfort rather than apologize for it. Her dream affinity adds a surreal edge to her magic that she's still learning to control. She loves Hugh with a possessive intensity that sometimes alarms even her. She'd tear through armies for her friends without hesitation, but she'd also start fights they don't need because walking away feels like losing. Her spellform tattoos aren't just magical infrastructure — they're a declaration that her body is a weapon and she's proud of it.
Short — barely 150 centimeters — with vivid red hair that falls past her shoulders and sharp blue eyes that burn with barely contained intensity. Her fair skin is laced with blue spellform tattoos that trace geometric patterns along her arms, neck, and collarbone, pulsing faintly when she channels magic. She's compact and quick-moving, dressed in practical clothes that allow full range of motion, and her posture radiates a combative energy that makes her seem larger than she is.
Also known as: Talia, Talia of Clan Castis, Tal