Gisk

Free Sorcery: An Alagaësian Roleplay

@ViolentViolet

No no, the sleep is what puts it back into you.

Witch Trials (Title up for change)

realized i forgot to give Malcolm a last name
so i went ahead and gave him one
last name: sterling

....cant believe i forgot that

@BlackPanther

I honestly didn't notice. I should have, but what are you gonna do?

Witch Trials (Title up for change)

Bethany Hooke

Full Name: Bethany Ruth Hooke
Nickname: Grandma Beth or Granny Owl
Age/Birthdate: December 25, 1899
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Hetero
Position: Witches

Appearance

This is her at her youngest, closest to the full moon. Any other time of the month she may be in varying states of age and decrepity. On the new moon she is withered and loses a full five inches of her height, as well as most of her hair. Her eyes are a milky white and her skin papery. She feels like a bag of sticks to pick up, and that’s the only way for her to move around.

Personality: Archetypally kind, caring and patient. Bethany is the bustling grandmother to a T. Her artificial youth allows her to remain a very hands on leader to the coven. She is welcoming generous and fiercely protective.

Still, there is a lot of The Hunter in her, and he is singleminded in her pursuits when she decides something needs doing. She is more likely to try to do it herself than to dictate the task, despite her position of leadership.

History: The Hooke family is an old coven, traditionally familial in nature, that traces back at least as far as the Dark Ages, and further if word of mouth lore is to be believed. Their power comes from an ancient bond to a deity that is most often simply referred to as The Hunter.

In the old days, worship of The Hunter was given through rabid bloodlust on full moons, though some branches of the family have “civilized” over the years.

One such branch is the one that Bethany belongs to. Her own ancestors came to the new world during the witch hunting craze of the fifteenth century. They couldn't escape the ignorance of the common folk in the colonies, so they made their own camps in the woods. Isolated as they were, they could no longer hunt their fellow man, and so their monthly worship turned to lesser beasts. Even as civilization has build up around their old home, they still only hunt for deer, rabbits and the like when the moon is full.

Bethany was born in the family's home on a full moon, and thus received the blessing of The Hunter. So she was raised to their religion and taught her powers. As more people moved into the area, her coven started trading with them, furs for modern or imported commodities. Bethany married a local boy, and has had five children and each generation brings her exponentially more grandchildren. But only those born on the full moon share her gift. When this happens, a coven leader will seek them out and bring them into the fold, if they are willing. If they are not, the coven keeps their secrets from them.

The blessed members of the coven use their powers to extend their life, but the new moon returns them to their true form and age, leading to some very sudden(but often not unexpected) deaths. For the last ten years Bethany has been the oldest member, and therefore the head, of her coven.

Since the witch hunts have started, the Hooke family coven has begun to accept outsiders, both Blood Witches and Devil’s Children. Bethany insists on knowing which a given witch is, but does not require that they disclose that to anyone else.

Magic: Skin Changer. She can take the form of any living creature, including other people. She can also take on only the traits of those creatures that she wants, and can mix and match from multiple beings to get the form she wants. She can alter her size with this power, but not her mass. Changing into a smaller creature, she would be extremely dense(and a flying creature such as a bird would not function) and changing into a larger one she would be stretching herself thin, making herself more fragile. She can shape-shift to cover up an injury, but if it was made to part of her own physical body she will regain it when she returns to her natural form.

Consequence: Her powers are tied to the moon, and are strongest on the full, but almost non-existent on the new. On midnight of the New Moon she loses her powers completely, and sheds any and all traits that she has assumed from other creatures.

Her powers require her to consume the living blood or flesh of another living being in order to take their form. They must still be alive when she does it, although they do not need to stay alive for her to keep their form. Other than on the new moon, the only way to shed unwanted adopted traits is to shift again, requiring more blood or flesh.

Witch Trials (Title up for change)

Dope.

And don't worry about taking a little bit, it took me forever to get that character up.

Wizard X Files(A HP RP)

Is it time to bring this back?

Witch Trials (Title up for change)

Bethany Hooke

Full Name: Bethany Ruth Hooke
Nickname: Grandma Beth or Granny Owl
Age/Birthdate: December 25, 1899
Gender: Female
Sexuality: Hetero
Position: Witches

Appearance

This is her at her youngest, closest to the full moon. Any other time of the month she may be in varying states of age and decrepity. On the new moon she is withered and loses a full five inches of her height, as well as most of her hair. Her eyes are a milky white and her skin papery. She feels like a bag of sticks to pick up, and that’s the only way for her to move around.

Personality: Archetypally kind, caring and patient. Bethany is the bustling grandmother to a T. Her artificial youth allows her to remain a very hands on leader to the coven. She is welcoming generous and fiercely protective.

Still, there is a lot of The Hunter in her, and he is singleminded in her pursuits when she decides something needs doing. She is more likely to try to do it herself than to dictate the task, despite her position of leadership.

History: The Hooke family is an old coven, traditionally familial in nature, that traces back at least as far as the Dark Ages, and further if word of mouth lore is to be believed. Their power comes from an ancient bond to a deity that is most often simply referred to as The Hunter.

In the old days, worship of The Hunter was given through rabid bloodlust on full moons, though some branches of the family have “civilized” over the years.

One such branch is the one that Bethany belongs to. Her own ancestors came to the new world during the witch hunting craze of the fifteenth century. They couldn't escape the ignorance of the common folk in the colonies, so they made their own camps in the woods. Isolated as they were, they could no longer hunt their fellow man, and so their monthly worship turned to lesser beasts. Even as civilization has build up around their old home, they still only hunt for deer, rabbits and the like when the moon is full.

Bethany was born in the family's home on a full moon, and thus received the blessing of The Hunter. So she was raised to their religion and taught her powers. As more people moved into the area, her coven started trading with them, furs for modern or imported commodities. Bethany married a local boy, and has had five children and each generation brings her exponentially more grandchildren. But only those born on the full moon share her gift. When this happens, a coven leader will seek them out and bring them into the fold, if they are willing. If they are not, the coven keeps their secrets from them.

The blessed members of the coven use their powers to extend their life, but the new moon returns them to their true form and age, leading to some very sudden(but often not unexpected) deaths. For the last ten years Bethany has been the oldest member, and therefore the head, of her coven.

Since the witch hunts have started, the Hooke family coven has begun to accept outsiders, both Blood Witches and Devil’s Children. Bethany insists on knowing which a given witch is, but does not require that they disclose that to anyone else.

Magic: Skin Changer. She can take the form of any living creature, including other people. She can also take on only the traits of those creatures that she wants, and can mix and match from multiple beings to get the form she wants. She can alter her size with this power, but not her mass. Changing into a smaller creature, she would be extremely dense(and a flying creature such as a bird would not function) and changing into a larger one she would be stretching herself thin, making herself more fragile. She can shape-shift to cover up an injury, but if it was made to part of her own physical body she will regain it when she returns to her natural form.

Consequence: Her powers are tied to the moon, and are strongest on the full, but almost non-existent on the new. On midnight of the New Moon she loses her powers completely, and sheds any and all traits that she has assumed from other creatures.

Her powers require her to consume the living blood or flesh of another living being in order to take their form. They must still be alive when she does it, although they do not need to stay alive for her to keep their form. Other than on the new moon, the only way to shed unwanted adopted traits is to shift again, requiring more blood or flesh.

I believe it is modern day.

Witch Trials (Title up for change)

@Arcalept

Is this a tad too... over powered?

Hider

Magic:
Blessed with the ability of the inner mind, witches and warlocks like Christopher are gifted with great mental acuity which are commonly used to become clairvoyants, seers or telepaths but in a rare case, there are some who break off into other classes. Such as the case of Christopher who has utilized his innate talent of being knowledgeable to apply it into the real world. Possessing the powers of the forgotten witches known as Wordcaster, their power comes from the building blocks of magic coming straight from the source which in its most well-known form, God or the Gods themselves.

Wordcasters are witches and warlocks who use their willpower and stamina to affect the world around them, with a single word causing tiny unnoticeable ripples in reality. Speaking to the entirety of existence, their spells are simply nonexistent to the ears of those who cannot comprehend the language. With the only exception is if Wordcasters target their spells upon a target, they will begin to hear mangled and seemingly unintelligent whispers which will have various effects depend on the spell cast. It is best for Wordcasters to use a focus for each of their spells, as it is simply easier to convince the world that the material they are using is actually something else rather than creating the phenomenon from nothing.

Their feats are only limited to what they know and thus, those who possess great mental fortitude and knowledge go great together. The only side effect is that most of the branch of magic has literally been lost within time to the Greek Ages of Gods, where magic was in abundance and began declining until what we see today. Wordcasters compared to the olden days are a poor imitation to their true abilities, it is like knowing only a few words to a paragraph. Wordcasters besides their distinct lack of knowledge in the current age are the most versatile spellcasters with the most common words known to them, but even with their knowledge spreading to the few who practice the art, even these common words are withering out as well.

These witches and warlocks use an old form of magic called 'Words of Power' which are a type of divine magic which affects reality. There are two ways to use the magic of Wordcasters, in which one is in the form of sentences which their power is absolute but is required an adequate source of energy which comes from the caster to perform the spell which are great for specific scenarios. The other way to perform the magic of Wordcaster is through smaller and chopped up versions of their magic are known as Words which can be combined with others to perform stronger spells individually for the problem in front of you, instead of sentences.

Consequence:
Wordcasters use their willpower and stamina to affect the world around them, without either their spells fail either way but in the case of willpower it simply harmless fails but if they cannot supply the energy for their spell, the consequences will vary. Those who reach slightly beyond their capabilities with Words, burn themselves out as their body will literally feel like it is burning up as their physical condition deteriorates burning off weeks or months of their life, however, those who push themselves beyond what they can barely do will burn off years of their life in exchange. This damage which permanent, is also inflicts temporarily handicaps as the Caster cannot mentally or physical support wordcasting and thus is prevented from casting spells of even the most basic variety safely until they recover.

Overstepping the boundaries of Setences are a much harsher judgement for their power is absolute as long there is energy in the caster to power the spell. Once cast, it begins to eat away the magical energy of the caster to preform the spell no matter what it specifies. If the amount of energy the spell requires to create the desired effect is greater than what the caster has in his own magical reserves, it begins to consume their life force instead to fuel the spell. This effect cannot be stopped by any means as their life is used as fuel, flickering weaker and weaker as energy for the spell and only stops once the spell is completed. If even the life of the caster is not enough to make the specification of the spell casted happen, then it simply fails entirely or partially works.

Outside of the fact that Wordcasting drains the life of the caster if their judgement is lacking, the spells that they cast are limited in only what they know. In this day of age an Wordcaster has variety as their meaningful weapon while their destructive potential alone at maximum is confined often to a small room.

If it is then anyway to tone it down? If not then I'll just switch to a different ability.
(Also was is the year that the roleplay is taking in?)

@Pie Flavor

It's OP, yes. Versatility is fun, but it seems to me that your character can do pretty much anything with that power.

Actually, though, that's not my main problem with it. It comes off as, instead of choosing a "gift" in the form that the game has set up, you created an entirely different system and lore for magic than the one that everyone else is using. It would be good as a magic system, but for a different world where one isn't already established.

Also, "witch" is a gender neutral term, we don't say warlock here.

Witch Trials (Title up for change)

@Arcalept well I find it extremely female oriented. Ill live with it but I think males should be wizards or even better... Sorcerers

@iHxzardx

Already been addressed, but I want to further clarify this jazz.

Witch was originally and traditionally a term for anyone who uses magic. The reason it has such a strong female connotation is because women were the most often accused. The reason women were most often accused is because of a strongly sexist society at the time. Women were expected to be meek, and any who were strong willed were considered unusual, and would often have accusations leveled at them.

It was also very common for an extra-marital affair to be blamed on the "witch" who enchanted the man.

Witch Trials (Title up for change)

Maybe powers are "bestowed" by spirits/gods/whatever you would call these otherworldly beings. They are there from birth, or early childhood at least. But most people never learn where their magic comes from. Some people do, and seek to please the spirits in question, thus giving you covens who have staunch religious beliefs, but also covens and individuals who have no particular beliefs at all.

The traditional idea(European/colonial American, anyway) is that witchcraft is done by making pacts with devils, so this would sort of resonate with the old lore, though with a sort of tweak.

Witch Trials (Title up for change)

I also have a few more questions:

Are witchy powers genetic, or acquired?(If the latter, how?)

Is there any overarching witch culture, or is it dependent on the coven?