Arcanist Derangement:

This is the act of having magic outside of the norm expected of mages. This type of magic is often attributed to hedge mages and Witches of the Wilds, but can affect anyone and everyone. People with Arcanist Derangement might not know they have magic, or may attribute "magical acts" such as healing to faith. This Derangement may have cons or life-long affects to the subjects life, that they may just consider 'part of life'. Once magic or mana has formed what is considered an Arcanist Derangement, it cannot be undone but it can be managed.

In Novella Tilani, Arcanist Derangement is seen in the fact nobody knew she had magic growing up. She was trained entirely as a rogue, and her magic was non-conspicuous. She is extremely limited in magic, and it has only come to light that she has magic when the Barrier Around Tevinter was removed and she was removed from her adoptive father's presence.

The downside to magic that does not outwardly express itself, for this particular person, is that it slowly ruins her mind when left to itself. She lasted so long without explicit signs of ruin, due to her adoptive father's magic quietly righting hers, offering bits of control in the same way a parent might control a child who's pitching a tantrum.

In the absence of a mind mage, who knows to correct the spread of mana, Novella's magic attacks her own mind, fracturing and shattering it. This is further worsened by the demon that possesses her, and feeds on this behavior. In theory, should her mana be left to its own devices, it would eventually attack the physical aspect of its host, similar to an autoimmune disorder that can attack both the brain and the flesh.

History

Isadora Calidus (née Razom) knew she was not marrying for love. She was the strongest of her lineage; a mage with a steady control over old magics. When the Calidus family was at the height of their power, the Razom family offered an olive branch. Razom-Calidus blood would surely strengthen both families, promising a child of magic.

She was not a stupid woman and knew that her sister had hoped she might be chosen to marry into the Calidus' bloodline. But their patriarch's decision was not in her favor; the stronger sister was chosen to marry. A love scorned but not hopeless, Isadora's younger sister snarled a curse upon the pair at their wedding.

Which is how the Calidus patriarch and matriarch came to avoid pregnancy for thirteen years. In the thirteenth year, Isadora found herself to be with child—and despite various attempts from her husband and his family to terminate the pregnancy with teas—she carried to term.

It was a hard pregnancy, and as it ended, Isadora made her husband promise that he'd love the child. The birth was even harder; Isadora's child was born early, via cesarean, and no matter how many healers were brought, nothing could fix the damage a horned fetus had wrought.

And though the patriarch pleaded with the healers, hiring even the most outrageous of people for the child, they could not rend the wings from her back, or the horns from her head. Eventually, they learned they could file the horns down.

But the wings, no amount of careful cutting could remove them. A child became nothing more than a guinea pig; a project for fame. Any who could rend her wingless, would win a reward. By the time she was turning seven, her wings only caused her pain. The lightest touch of the wind sent pain whispering across her nerves, her back ruined with raised scarring reminiscent of an art piece.

When the child turned eight, her father petitioned to have his paternal claim for her tested by professionals, at his newest wife's behest—remember Isadora's sister?—and though paternity was confirmed, he cast her from the family line.

No magic.

Winged. Horned. Scarred.

She was nothing that the magister wanted. And he would not acknowledge her existence; and thankfully, as she had never been entered into society, no-one else would either. And she never entered society. Instead, at the age of ten, she was enrolled in a military academy. Typically, they had to break the children that were sent to them this late in life… But not with Novella.

Novella Rommenela Ciladus, twenty-three years of age when the barrier went up. Her training eventually shifted from diplomacy and etiquette to more secretive things. The Ciladus family needed to stay on top, clawing and scrabbling and…

…they'd use the girl to their advantage; she was worthless otherwise. But perhaps she might learn secrets to topple her family's rivals—the Tilani's'. It took them a few years to set up the engagement, but eventually the Tilani family took an interest in the sweet face offered to them.

Her selling points?

• She was easily controlled. Her father confirmed this to her buyer.
• She was untouched, something else easily confirmed with a truth-spell.

She's twenty-eight now, and has been shuffled from one home to the next. And her outlook on life has not changed; it's still a chore to be alive. But perhaps she'll do well in her role as spy and wife…

Maybe someone will praise her.