Citrina
1670 - 22-year-old Citrina is taken as apprentice to the sorceress caretaking the magic of Gemworld.
1871 - 223-year-old Citrina comes to serve in House Amethyst.
32 years ago - Citrina delivers the Princess Amethyst of House Amethyst. When the sorcerer Dark Opal stages a coup against House Amethyst, she brings the princess to Earth and places her with adoptive patents, who name her Amy Winston.
17 years ago - Citrina detects the return of Amy Winston to Gemworld, and sends Granch to save her. When Wrynn captures Amy and attempts to steal her back to Dark Opal, she grants Taffy, who followed Amy to Gemworld, a luck charm, allowing her to track Wrynn and stop him with her command of a pack of Deathhounds. She teaches Amy to use her magic, helping her as she quests across Gemworld to unite the noble houses.
16 years ago - Citrina burns away most of her magical control holding a magical spell that allows Amy Winston and her allies to attack the castle of Dark Opal.
14 years ago - Citrina performs the ceremony marrying Amy Winston & Topaz. She steps down as regent as Amy becomes the Lady of House Amethyst.
8 years ago - Citrina's waining control leaves Gemworld vulnerable to a coup staged by Lord Mordru. She passes on her role as the caretaker of Gemworld's magic to Amy Winston before she dies.
There are a lot of classic heroic elements to Amethysts adventure in Gemworld that make it a vintage fantasy tale, but one area where it really excells is in the way it uses mentor figures for Amy. We meet Granch, the monsterous warrior who protects her early on and Lord Garnett who teaches her to fight and helps her understand the inter-house intrigue of Gemworld. Unquestionably, however, Amy's greatest mentor is the sorceress Citrina.
Citrina's Comic HistoryWhen Amy is first pulled into Gemworld in the first issue of the original Amethst series she is saved from Lord Sardonyx by Granch, who brings her immediately to House Amethst where she meets the sweet elderly matron Citrina who immediately takes her under her wing. It's only when the castle is attacked by the forces of Dark Opal that we discover that CItrina is actually a sorceress of almost unimaginable power.
As the series goes on, we discover that Citrina is actually as old as Gemworld itself. She was actually the one responsible for FINDING Gemworld and bringing all the magical denizens of Earth to settle there. She's integral in the final vattle against Dark Opal, casting the spells that allow the magic of all the houses to combine in one attack, although ultimately it's Amy herself that has to complete her spell. In the following ongoing series, Citrina's long life appears to be coming to an end, and we learn that the lifespan of Gemworld is bound to hers, with the Ancient Ones poised to reclaim it when she dies. They overcome this threat by having Amy take over her role as the caretaker of Gemworld, allowing Citrina to pass peacefully. |
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Our Citrina StoryWe do have to make a few small changes to the greater history of Gemworld. It's origins in our timeline are tied to the first Shadowpact and the history of spellcasting. While we COULD make Citrina old enough to actually be responsible for the original founding of Gemworld, that would make her over 11,000 years old, and that doesn't really feel correct. Honestly, the idea of Citrina actually being both Amethyst's mentor AND the founder of Gemworld made the whole world feel smaller. We're instead just going to make her an incredibly long-lived sorceress responsible for caretaking Gemworld's magic.
Other than that, we just want her to be the character as she was originally concieved; the sweet, elderly woman that makes Amy feel safe for the first time in Gemworld, giving her a way to feel at home there, to teach her to use the magic that is her birthright, and eventually, when the time is right, to pass on the role of caretaker. |