Liet Eventide

> The turtle’s fins moved under the ocean water, creating waves with each slight gesture. Its head rose above the surface as we sailed toward it, the giant eyes larger than the skiff we rode.
>
>
> “Whose eldrin is this?” I whispered.
>
>
> Illia giggled. “You sound like you’re in shock.”
>
>
> “Do you see this? It’s… gargantuan.”
>
>
> “It’s the guildmaster’s eldrin—Liet Eventide’s.”
>
>
>
> Although I had seen Liet Eventide’s name in several books, I couldn’t remember much about her. She was an ancient arcanist, one of the few I remember reading in the front of every history book.
>
>

Liet Eventide is the guildmaster of the Frith Guild. She has has excessive gray hair not normally seen in arcanists, but keeps herself in fighting condition. Her actual age is unknown, but her appearance is speculated to be due to long periods away from her sea-based eldrin while on guild business. Her glowing arcanist mark is due to her true form eldrin.

Liet stands back a lot in the earlier books. No backstory is given outside of her running the Frith Guild. She is not the guild's founder, however, and only took over later. Gentel — Liet's island-sized true form atlas turtle — acts as the headquarters of the Frith Guild and has the manor house on her shell.

Guild Master Eventide is largely an active background character. She is in every book and makes plot changing choices, however there are no chapters based on her or her backstory directly.

> The woman’s coat, long enough to reach her knee-high boots, had scales and feathers stitched into the fabric. Dragon scales? Pegasus feathers? They worked as patchwork, mending what would otherwise be tears or holes. Her hat rustled with the wind, two phoenix tail feathers hanging off the side, their peacock-like extravagance easy to identify.
>
>
> “Welcome,” she said. “You must be our second and third new apprentices. Volke and Illia, I assume? I’m so happy to finally meet William’s children.”
>
>
> Guildmaster Liet Eventide. It had to be. And the silver pendant around her neck glittered in the daylight, the design of a sword and shield plain on the face.
>
>
> Her arcanist mark—it was an atlas turtle—glowed with a gentle inner light. I had never seen a mark do such a thing. I had never read about it either. I stared, transfixed, wondering what caused such a phenomenon.
>
>
> Up close she appeared advanced in age, perhaps in her early sixties, though I knew she had to be centuries older. Her silver hair was tied back in a tight braid, some strands glistening in the morning light, shining with the brilliance of polished metal. Her eccentric coat fluttered in the wind, adding to the sight.
>
>
> “Thank you for meeting us out here,” Illia said. “It’s an honor, Guildmaster Liet Eventide.”
>
>
> Illia elbowed me, and I snapped out of my awe.
>
>
> “Yes,” I muttered. “It’s an honor to meet you, Guildmaster Eventide.”
>
>
> The guildmaster smiled. “Please, call me Grandmaster Arcanist Guildmaster of the Frith Arcanist Guild, Liet Helvinair Eventide the Second.”
>
>
> The guildmaster smiled wider and laughed—a full-body laugh that highlighted the lines on her face. She must have laughed often, with more lively energy than people half her age.
>
>
> “It never fails,” she said. “Young arcanists are always so serious! Don’t worry. You may call me Liet or Eventide. If you must be formal, for some reason, Guildmaster is also acceptable.”
>
>
> “O-okay,” I said, half-laughing myself.
>
>
>
> Illia joined in the chuckling. She gave me an *I like this lady* kind of look.
>
>