Tes Ranek

**Tes Ranek** is a tinkerer with the rare ability to manipulate the threads of magic. She is daughter of Forten Ranek and his wife, and the younger sister of Serival, Mirin, and Rosana.

After Tes ran away from home three years ago, she settled in Red London and began to live and work in Haskin's shop. However, when she is commissioned to repair the *persalis*, her shop is destroyed, and Tes is sent to live on the *Ferase Stras* with Maris Patrol.

## Physical description

Tes has unruly nut-brown hair and brown eyes with flecks of green and gold. She usually wears her hair pinned-up and often sticks objects, e.g. pencils, into it.

She does not look her age, appearing to be both 13 and 23.

## Biography

### History

Tes was born as the youngest daughter of Forten Ranek and his wife in Hanas, a sea city. Because her father owns the On Ir Ales and harbors a great interest in rarities, Tes grew up surrounded by antiques and peculiar items. However, Forten's love for the rare and valuable does not solely encompass objects but extends to his daughters as well. He would "appraise" each of his four daughters and "make use" of their value when he found it.

By the time Tes was six, all her older sisters had already left the house. When Tes' magic manifested, and she told her mother that she could see the threads of magic, her mother instructed her to never let anyone know about her power.

Two years later, Forten, impatient and furious that his youngest child apparently possessed no magic, tested Tes with a mirror that reveals one's true potential. When Tes touched the mirror, she saw Red London, a box, a bird, and a blade in her hand as well as a crumbling city, an animate dead man, a river of light, and a doorway. Threads were tangled around everything she witnessed; they were colorful at first but turned black and "swallowed" her. The vision terrified and confused Tes, and she gave a white lie to her father that she saw herself in his shop with him.

When Tes was twelve, all her sisters—Serival, Mirin, and Rosana—returned home for the first time in years to celebrate their father's 50th birthday. Tes purchased a broken summer glass as a gift from a sailor as well as the skeleton of an owl. She fixed and enhanced the summer glass and presented it to Forten, saying she learned how to repair it from watching him. The gift did not only gain Forten's approval, it also raised suspicion in Serival.

After Serival's present—a vial of five years of lifetime—prematurely ended the celebration, Tes retreated to her room to work on the owl. There was a slightly animate stuffed bird in her father's shop that had always fascinated her. She re-created its magic and applied it to the owl. While she worked, Serival came into her room and snatched the bird when she noticed it could move. She accused Tes of having stolen it, and Tes blurted out that she made it during their quarrel. Before Serival could inquire further, Forten called her away. She returned the owl and left.

Immediately, Tes grabbed the owl and informed her mother about what had transpired. Her mother gave her money and told her to leave, emphasizing that her power is no one's but hers. Tes obeyed and escaped to the docks where she found the sailor again who sold her the summer glass and the owl. The sailor, Elrick, brought her to Red London; in exchange, Tes would mend his broken objects. Elrick never asked about her ability, and when they arrived a few days later, they parted ways.

Shortly afterward, Tes encountered Lila Bard. Fascinated by the silver threads of her magic, she reached out to touch them. Lila, however, thought she tried to pick her pocket. Lila told her never to steal something if she was not sure she could get away with it; with those words, Lila let her go and left. Tes eventually set up Haskin's shop in the *shal*.

## Skills and abilities

* **Magic:** Uniquely, Tes is not only able to see the threads of power, but she can manipulate them too.

## Possessions

* **Vares:** Tes' dead pet owl. She often talks to him. She bought him from Elrick when she was twelve and constructed the spellwork animating Vares herself.

## Trivia

* Tes loves tea, particularly dark, bitter tea.
* Her ability is the main "ingredient" of the trilogy.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 *The Fragile Threads of Power*, I: Clocks, Locks, and Clearly Stolen Things, I
2. ↑ Character card: Tes — V. E. Schwab on Instagram
3. ↑ *The Fragile Threads of Power*, VIII: The Girl, the Bird, and the Good Luck Ship, III
4. ↑ *The Fragile Threads of Power*, VIII: The Girl, the Bird, and the Good Luck Ship, I
5. ↑ *The Fragile Threads of Power*, VIII: The Girl, the Bird, and the Good Luck Ship, I-V
6. ↑ *The Fragile Threads of Power*, X: Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire, III
7. ↑ *The Fragile Threads of Power*, VIII: The Girl, the Bird, and the Good Luck Ship, III-IV
8. ↑ "Secrets, Secrets, are no fun" — V. E. Schwab on Instagram