When she was a young girl Cira would would constantly bemuse her townsfolk. Always organized and meticulous her idea of playing was to carry around a small journal in which she constantly made notes tracking the town's supply of iron ingots. She would count every ingot that came into town and inventory the blacksmith twice a week, tracking the final destination of every ingot.
Then She started counting logs, lamp oil, and rope. Eventually she began conduct experiments. She obtained a length of rope and cut it into section, recording how long segments would take to rot if
when left out in different places, she would test how flammable the rope was, it's strength under different conditions. Then she move on other mundane materials.
It was exasperating at times, but tolerated. Her strange preoccupations were noticed by the eccentric local wizard Holgast, who decided he could put them to good use. When she was a tween Holgast offered to employ her as an assistant. Her parents were glad to take him up on it no matter how strange the wizard might be. They had long realized that their daughter was too intelligent and strange to fit in to any of the normal occupations in the town. At least the wizard promised to give her an education she could not get anywhere else.
So she began to help him organize his spell components, judging and recording the quality of each sample. Pretty soon she was helping him to brew potions. Holgast rewarded her with access to his books on alchemy and mechanics, a number of which he himself hadn't read.
Even though she is inarguably strange Cira is appreciated in town. The presence of a talented alchemist could be a great boon and she has already proved helpful in improving the towns supply of helpful alchemical substances. Her parents and friends are happy to see the strange young woman finding her niche in life. She's been selected for the ceremony in part to bind her closer to the town, and help feel the odd girl accepted.
Cira for her part isn't so sure. Nobody really was interested in her before she started making useful things, and it seems a little like an attempt at manipulation to her. Still, she understands the importance of what she's doing and doesn't want to feel like an outsider forever, she'd just rather be accepted for who she is rather than what she can do.
