Hey people! Just wanted to say that I've read all your posts, CSs and PMs and will begin replying and discussing soon. My little baby boy's got a bad fever out here in the real world and I need to take care of him before I can get back to business here. Keep going, though, I like what I've seen so far!
@TheMushroomLord I think your character looks very interesting! I like the addition of "low" or "common" magic to the lore (even if I want to stress that it isn't common as such - magic isn't an everyday thing in the Westerlands). If you have any idead about the place where your character has business, please send me a PM and we'll discuss it!
@CERO76 You're correct in your assumption that the short story about Lewen-Lar was just a thematic text to get the message across. But! That doesn't mean you can't use it. You're more than welcome to write a character with a mission based, or partially based, on finding the Stargem.
@Red Wizard I'll go with my second idea then. I should be able to put out a CS at some point today or tomorrow once I've gathered my thoughts to write a draft based on it.
I haven't had time due to work and other IRL matters keeping me from being able to, but I should be able to put something together in due time. Though I did wonder, how present is magic in the livehoods of people in your worldbuilding? Are there any set ground rules to it?
I'd say simple magic is uncommon and advanced magic is rare. There are no big magic schools like Hogwarts with hundreds of mages running about, but every town or city has a few mages. I guess adventurers would get to see a fair bit of magic, but to the common pigfarmer it'd be quite a novelty. Does that make sense?
Name Siri Nypan Race Human with a bit of elvish blood. Gender Female Age 23 Appearance:
This young woman puts you in mind of a mysterious raven. She has narrow, dark, disapproving eyes that are like an upright executioner's axe just before it falls. Her thick, straight, black hair is worn in a basic bun. She is below average height and has a wiry build. Her skin is like alabaster - she’s hoping to grow a mole or a wart on her nose. She has hollow cheeks.
Personality
A serious girl, seldom smiles, very reserved. Enjoys alcohol and sweets.
Background A pair of adventurers, Sirius and Elinoa Hazestone, having made a very large score, decided to retire in Little Nerton by starting a vineyard and raising a lot of kids. Which they did - Sire (m), Sirena (f), Sirish (m), Sirhaan(m), Sirvan(m), Sirish(m), Siri (f), and the twins Siraj(m) and Sirak (m). When asked about it, Sirius explained that among his people it was common-place to name a child after their father. Collectively, the village called the children "the Sirs." Sirius was more than a little lavish with their money. It was not just the expense of buying up a farm and the seedlings, or setting up the winery, but Sirius liked to throw a lot of parties. Elinoa didn't mind at first, but grew concerned. She began setting aside some money for the children for when they became of age. Sire and Sirena both received their strongboxes when they got married. The twins seem to take a lot out of Elinoa when they were born, the half-elf took a long time to recover. Sirius was understanding, at first, but began to press his wife. Eventually, she became pregnant again, with many misgivings by the new midwife, Mother Tenebris. Elinoa took Siri aside, telling her if anything happened, she was to take the twins and their strongboxes over to Sire's place, then see Mother Tenebris.
When Elinoa went into labor, Sirius didn't send for Mother Tenebris, saying she wasn't needed, Elinoa had already had so many children, what did they need a midwife for? But as the labor when into the evening hours, Sirius’ confidence slipped and he sent Sirish to fetch her. By the time he returned with the midwife, Elinoa and the baby had died. In his grief, Sirius turned to drinking hard cider leaving his sons and daughters to tend to everything. one night killed his neighbor’s prized pig when he let it drink some bad cider. In a panic, Sirius decided to turn highwayman and got killed a few days later by a dandy on the road to Middlesborough.
Siri wasted no time seeking out Old Mother Nina Tenebris, only to find Nina busy shrinking her belongings and slipping them into a bag. When Siri asked, the witch replied that some idiot farmer’s pig had died, and was blaming her. And within the hour, he’d be leading the townsfolk to her house to burn her.
Siri begged to come along as her apprentice, telling Nina that she needed to get out of town too before someone decided to sell her into serfdom to pay off her father’s debts. Nina agreed, changing Siri’s appearance while stripping away the old woman disguise she’d worn. As they went down the Middleborough road, the suddenly younger Nina gave Siri her first lesson in being a witch - always choose a place on the far edge of town and disguise yourself should it be necessary to leave suddenly.
Siri then spent her teenage years in training, and forming a pact with Nina’s patron, a fallen old god who she called Mister Wolf, who mostly spoke through a crystal ball Nina kept covered.
Talents
Languages - has a working knowledge of most common languages. Witch - Pact with the Old Wolf (A fallen god)
Orphic, as it is practiced today, is a form of magic that uses Mana to power its spells and imbue items. Due to persecutions now passed, there's a tradition that this style is taught in semi-secrecy, from masters to just a single apprentice at a time. There was once another form of Orphic magic- that appeared not to rely on Mana- but that "High Path" is now lost to history.
Orphic was the style of magic practiced by the Oscana kingdom, and was split into two disciplines - the High Path, and the Low Path.
The High Path is now lost to us, all that remains is the Low Path.
Orphic teaches that there are little known currents of energy flowing in and around this world - in the sky, in the land, in fire, and the sea - and are known as ley lines, that only those with the mage sight can see. Depending on their size and nearness, they can provide a slow trickle or an immense flow of power. In Oscana, many important buildings would be constructed either on a ley line, or where two or more ley lines cross to take advantage of these flows.
A side-effect of this flow of power is that books of magic would often need to be chained to the shelves - to prevent their escape.
For those on the Low Path, in order to access this power, they needed to convert it into a more stable, usable form, known as Mana. To aid them in this, they would borrow power from a mana reservoir to imbue their staves, then use their staves to draw power from the ley lines to refill the reservoir.
It is very important for the one who takes power from the reservoir to return it, lest it leeches off of them to restore its balance. They, in turn, may try to leech off of others, but this only temporarily quenches their thirst.
Those on the Low Path could then use the mana they collected to power their spells, or imbue items with abilities beyond their simple appearance that almost anyone could use.
The Roulon Empire viewed magic to be reserved for their aristocrat class, and resented this "commoner magic." This, more than anything, lead to their invasion of Oscana. Books were burned, reservoirs broken. Practitioners of Orphic were declared witches or warlocks, not unlike their own bastard children who showed any sign of magic, and were burned at the stake. In an act of cruelty, the nobles would prolong their victims' agonies by providing them with air so they wouldn't die from breathing the smoke before their flesh began to burn.
Orphic practitioners of the Low Path hid themselves, shaving their staves into wands that could be hidden up sleeves. One woman, it is said, hid her stave as the shaft of her parasol, all the while working as a nanny to hide from the empire's witchfinders.
The spells were shuffled into smaller, more specialized books, so that if you knew what line they belonged to, you knew the spells they could cast. Instead of teaching in groups, there would be one master and one apprentice, working in secret. The apprentice's first task would be to copy the contents of their master's book. They would then study them in secret after their master had left to learn how to cast those spells. Later, they would take an apprentice and train them before moving on themselves.
Orphic line mages soon acquired apprentices in other lands, some in which their apprentices could work openly, like some of the Elvish kingdoms. However, most of the Orphic continue this practice of training one apprentice at a time before moving on, even though the Roulon empire has collapsed.
Flaws
- Sense of duty - Blunt
Equipment
A satchel she wears over her shoulder. Pockets in the lining of the bag hold various miniaturized boxes that she can expand at will. A library box full of books and papers A field desk that holds her potion brewing equipment An apothecary chest A bag holding painting supplies A field kitchen box A trunk that holds her clothes. She also has a tarot deck, a fist-sized crystal ball in a cloth bag (to prevent spying), and a locked lexicon on a small chain (to prevent escapes), and a pocket mirror.
A black bag that holds her medical supplies. A wand hidden in a sheath strapped to her right leg, hidden by her skirt A walking staff she can beat people with A small knife in a belt sheath
