"...in 1330 something very strange indeed occurred. Calli Brenton became part of the Academy entourage in the Cities.
"At first few people noticed and fewer still cared. 1330 was also the year Chela Tatel was first elected Chancellor. The Chancellor is the supreme head of the Confederacy of Christoté and they're only elected once a decade; it is fair to say that the event attracts a certain amount of interest. By contrast, no-one put much significance on Calli Brenton's arrival. The fact that she (like Chela Tatel) was a woman astonished nobody. For all its faults the Academy trains male and female Gifted alike. Women wizards had been sent to the Cities before, usually in the sort of junior role which Calli Brenton seemed to be taking. That she was a Christotan returning home raised no expectations that she'd be anything of an improvement. Wizards have to endure a minimum of nine years training at the Academy's campus in northern Erenland. Whatever their nationality, their tuition usually manages to bleed all traces of culture out of them. That Calli Brenton wasn't in fact replacing any of the five wizards already in the Cities, that she was taking up an entirely new post... well, this should have attracted some attention but didn't. Who knew what the Academy thought it was doing at the best of times, when did it ever obey logic? Many people doubted that the silly old sods could even count as far as six, so the swelling of their staff was overlooked.
"But the Cities was quickly alerted to the fact that Calli Brenton's posting did mean something. A week after her arrival she stood on a rostrum in Rand Park, the public gardens lying between Jalkin and Yaleth. She gave a long speech which mentioned fresh starts and the need to forge close relationships and ending the long years of mistrust. Wizards rarely give speeches at all and when they do it is to chastise Christoté for rolling dice on humanity's future; a puzzled audience wondered if they were listening to the right orator. Calli then threw herself into an unbelievable array of speeches, meetings, consultations and question-and-answer sessions. She walked the streets freely, she talked to people and she even seemed to be listening to them. The Cities couldn't quite believe what it was seeing. A wizard who was open, friendly, sympathetic, witty even - it seemed like a very welcome blasphemy. Before long Calli Brenton's warmth and accessibility was being compared favourably with the public appearances of local politicians, never mind the rest of the crew at the Academy. Even the newsheet Huwdone Times, which usually reserves its energy for withering lampoons, was moved to comment that Calli "throws a shining light of hope and candour onto the unwholesome shadows of the Christotan-Academy relationship".
"Elsewhere Huwdone Times mused "Calli Brenton's appointment may smack of tokenism but we can at least hope that it is something else. Brenton just might have been sent because someone in the Academy noted the atrocious standing they have in Christoté. They realised that the only real victim of this is the Academy itself. They understood that not only were the characters of their representatives deeply flawed but also the remits they were issued with. They judged that neither could be altered without a major struggle and the opening piece of that struggle is someone who can actually act like a spokesman and answer our questions. They spotted a young wizard at the Academy with the character and ability to fulfil this new role. Fellow citizens, there's just a chance that Calli Brenton is in the Cities because somebody in the Academy had a very good idea.""
"a hearty, cheerful woman in her mid-thirties... The first thing noticeable about her was her smile, a wide mouth curled to display a dazzling collection of even white teeth. Behind the smile were shining blue eyes, a round face and naturally brown skin which had been tanned and ruddied further by the elements. Over a tight collection of brown curls she wore a clownish polka-dotted hat, the floppy brim hanging over her brow. Slightly plump with a large bosom, she was clad in a baggy emerald dress with sleeves fastened in place by bangles. A colourful woollen stole was slung across her shoulders. The woman was by no means beautiful, but cast a figure which was so pleasant and open that it was immediately attractive. An expert judge of Cities fauna would have guessed she was a farmer visiting town on a day's holiday. She looked as dissimilar to a wizard as was possible whilst still being a member of the human race."
(from A Shining Light)