Junebug Mason

Juniper 'Junebug' Mason was born in La Vieille 23 years ago. Her mother is one of the children adopted by Mason (the man who turned the gears), which makes Mason her grandfather. She is Painter and an anarchist.

Junebug's mother, Moriane Mason, has always done well for herself: she owns a fabric dyeing shop in the city, and the fabric industry is thriving. Because of this, she made just enough to be able to afford a comfortable life for Junebug. But being a single mother and always very busy, Moriane had little time for her daughter. So, Junebug spent most of her days on the streets, running around with the other children from the Darks, playing harmless pranks on Curates, and generally getting into trouble. Spending so much time on the streets, Junebug learned some hard lessons about power, society and class, as she was witness to multiple injustices made to her people by the nobility. This has left her with a disgust for the nobility and, given the chance, she will do anything to protect and help the oppressed.

Junebug knows little more than nothing about her father as her mother is reticent to talk about him. She knows that her mother met him abroad and that she came back to La Vieille when she found out she was pregnant. June also knows that her father must have known about her as she once found a letter addressed to her in Moriane's things. June keeps the letter on herself always and can sometimes be caught reciting bits of it to herself, under her breath, to calm herself when she is stressed or afraid. (I added the letter at the end of the bio).

Junebug has been talented in the arts of painting and drawing as long as she can remember. At age 5, she accidentally invokes a sprite through one of her drawings. As magic is a rarity and even more so in the city of La Vieille, Junebug had never seen or heard of feats of magic and did not think anything about it.

One summer, it was announced that one of the Great Bard Masters was coming to town to show one of his new exhibits to the aristocracy. Junebug was able to slip into the gallery and what she saw made her heart ache with awe. The bard in question was a Master Painter who specialized in the process of tying the arcane to the physical canvas, which transformed the paintings into works of illusion, made them look alive and almost tangible. From there, Junebug knew that she needed to learn the bard's art and she threw herself into the study of the Great Master's at the La Vieille's Cardamom Library. She became better and better, mastering all the elements of painting: line, colour, shape, form, space, tone, texture. What she did not know, is that her painting eventually surpassed the illusions she had once seen in the gallery. Indeed, her paintings became so lively that they could actually shape reality.

In recent years, June has meet a particular group of people with which she has gotten into more trouble than she can handle. She has had multiple encounters with Restorationists, members of the Bright Ashes and Orarchs (which is more than one need in a life time). Their adventures lead her to become a member of the Bright Ashes herself and to become an object of interest to multiple, mostly unfriendly, parties in the city. More recently, she has started living a double life as Juniper and Sigùrn. Her alter ego was created for the purpose of Lord Alix's ball. There, Sigùrn befriended Lady Idouly, who believes Sigùrn is actually called Cygnet and is a princess from a far away land (which Junebug is just going with, cause it's hilarious). Lady Idouly introduced her to a few nobles, but most importantly Lord Walendy. She came to an agreement with Lord Walendy: they will help one another stop the Restoration as long as it is profitable for both of them. After the event thought, Sigùrn was still invited to events such as salons and tea at Lady Idouly's. Juniper took this opportunity to learn more about the nobles of her city and to get useful information for the Bright Ashes.

After their to Silence House and having accepted to help the Fourth with the recovery of The Siren, Grim, Em, and JB travel to to the Other Place. Upon their return, JB accidentally also brings back an entity who calls herself Voldranai. The entity, very excited to be in a new place, starts going around transforming people into animals and establishes her dominion in the Steps. The Steps quickly become a problem that the FailSquad has to solve. JB cages Voldranai and bargains with her so that she'll leave their realm. In exchange, JB follows Voldranai to the other place for a month. She comes back with the ability to shapeshift. One of her yellow eyes has turned a ghostly blue.

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A letter from Juniper's father to Juniper (the left side is torn as if it was ripped out of a book):

"You and me, we are not like water, always finding our way, carving out a path for ourselves. We are not like earth, steady and sure, on which all grows. Nor are we like fire that burns quickly and hot, leaving ashes in our wake.

We are like the wind. We gnaw at stone and make seas churn and flames leap higher. But the wind has no where to go, no home to return to. The wind simply is. At times gentle on a cheek, at others raging across the land, and fades if it stays still. But do not mourn, daughter of mine, for no rope can tie the wind down. The storm answers to no one."