Barley
From MU Wiki
Barley is one of two cereal nymphs that have entered Magisterius University and live on the Fifth Floor of Harlowe Hall. It is the name she has taken for ease of identification, as what she had identified herself with previously was "a feel of autumn sunlight on the brow, a quick brush of breeze on the skin... the merest hint of the wind that shakes the barley in fall." She is seventeen years old at the start of Tales of MU.
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[edit] Pre-College History
Seventeen years before the start of the canon story, a nymph field of barley was planted in Paradise Valley. A year later, a nymph field of amaranth was planted adjacent to it. The two nymphs that resulted quickly grew to know each other as sisters.
Sixteen years later, a year before Tales of MU begins, Barley decides to ask the Paradise Valley town council to send her to Magisterius University, studying and taking an equivalency test for the requisite high school diploma. Amaranth had taken most of the clientele from Barley by this point, and Barley may have been trying to get out from under Amaranth's shadow by going off to college. Amaranth, however, is oblivious to this, and decides to join Barley.
[edit] Tales of MU Canon
Barley and Amaranth show an interest in Mack almost from the start of the books, but Barley never gets the chance to act upon her desire for her. She sees Amaranth getting all the love once again, and apparently unable to contain her frustration at always being second-banana, she tries to lie, cheat and steal her way into Mackenzie's pants, eventually attempting to rape her twice.
By this point, Barley has become very un-nymph-like. One of the last times she is seen in Canon, she is both drunk and clothed. It is not known if drinking is forbidden to nymphs, but according to Amaranth, "Covering up [a nymph's] goddess-granted beauty like that... it's... it's just about the worst thing a nymph could do."
Barley has moved her posessions out of her room in Harlowe (they are presumably Away), and has not slept there since. Puddy has since moved into Barley's room with Mariel.
[edit] Magical Weapons
Unlike Amaranth, claiming a moral objection to avoid having to carry a weapon, Barley has a crescent-moon sickle to comply with the university's weapons policy. The enchantments on it are unknown, as it has not been described or used in the stories.
[edit] Classes
- Wind and Water (Exact time unknown, but it is a mid-morning class, possibly 10:15 AM)
[edit] Room Assignment
Barley originally shared Room 410 with Mariel but she really never slept there, and in Chapter 69: Lazy Sunday Celia reveals that Barley has removed all of her stuff from Mariel's room and that Puddy will be officially moving in at the end of the week. In Chapter 74: Upsets Barley shows up again and reveals that she no longer has a permanent room, as "I'm young, beautiful, naked, and willing... finding a bed isn't a problem for me."
