A Study in Turmoil

Heeey it's that time again. Had an idea for a fun cast of characters and just had to draw them.

It's just what I do for fun.

Crystal Mirage is a young enchantress, a few years after graduation. She's very good at what she does, has a good business going, plenty of clients, gets to spend a lot of time alone in her study (which she enjoys). However, sometimes she gets too absorbed by one thing and misses the bigger picture. So she has accidents. The thing with her hair happened in her first year of university. She kind of likes the look, now. Her latest accident, though, has had much more interesting consequences.

While brewing a complicated spell, she accidentally turned some of the items in her study into people. They're all very friendly and well-disposed toward her, having full memories of their previous lives as inanimate (except in one case) objects, and they can all... still perform the function they previously were used for. So Crystal can't exactly... magic them into NOT being people anymore... So for now she's stuck sharing her usually solitary life with all these weirdos.

Whatever accidental potion seeped into these objects gave them the power to awaken still more objects! After this happened a few times, Crystal asked them to please PLEASE not do it anymore... and they promised, but you know... sometimes accidents happen.

Micaul used to be the cauldron for mixing spell components. They're a very friendly sort, a bon vivant who loves to eat and bring people (and things) together. Always chatting, always bouncing around, touching (and tasting) whatever.

Wandolyn, formerly a magic wand, is a perfectionist who likes things to be done in precisely the right way. She has the grace of a dancer, the voice of an angel, and the temper of a bastard sword. Crystal sometimes appreciates her keeping the others in line, but is a little scared of her.

Grimory was an old spellbook, passed down from wizard to wizard for decades. He's been all over the world and seen everything. He speaks a dozen languages and has a lot of useful knowledge on many topics, including -of course- magic. He's also a grumpy old man who complains constantly.

Bombelle was Crystal's familiar, a giant magical bumblebee (as in a foot long or so). She would buzz around, carry things, and be a big fuzzy thing to pet. Now she's a bubbly, enthusiastic, but ultimately very shy girl who really wants to help but doesn't know her own strength.

Cartholomew awoke from a deck of divination cards, and as such is a bit of a smartass. He sees a lot, but doesn't say it all - in part because he doesn't speak. He communicates only through pantomime and cryptic signs. He's a debonair trickster who likes to mess with people, but ultimately cares enough to hoodwink people into doing what's best for them.

Other ideas for potential characters that could be fun:

Quill and inkpot

A stuffed mythical animal or skeleton

Flasks and tubes and alembics and other alchemical equipment

Various ingredients

-or other humans!

Old professor who checks in on their former pupil from time to time

Rival enchanter

Crystal's best recurring client that has a crush on her and her a crush on them

Crystal Mirage was a very old character of mine from waaay back, that I haven't done anything with in literal decades. From before most of the Flaky Pastry characters were created. The fate of old characters is often to show up in Flaky Pastry, but such has not been her fate so far! When I got the idea of a wizard whose wizard-stuff came to life after an accident, she seemed like a good candidate to fill that role. The floaty purple hair and being a wizard were her main traits. She wasn't quite so short, but I was trying to push the cartoony-ness here.