Gisk

Raindale University For Witches [+18]

"All night would be best," he said, cocking his head in some confusion over her antics. "But just make sure you can give me a reasonable expectation of how long. I dont want to be this close," he held up thum and forefinger barely a hair's breadth apart, "And then suddenly lose my edge."

When she proffered a hand, he shook, and pulled a battered leather wallet from his back pocket.

"You mean dollars or pounds? I've got some gold dollars from like eighteen fifty, if that suits your fancy."

Raindale University For Witches [+18]

Dana blinked at her, a strip of bacon halfway to his mouth.

"Alright, I'm getting called out by a spoon. I just like to eat things that are closer to their natural state. Bread takes so many different changes before you eat it. Movin' on. I want a owl's eyes, and a hound dog's nose." This was a simple enough request in general. Baby's First Magic, even. Except there was that pesky Law of Equivalent Exchange. "Trick is this: I can't lose my sense of touch, or my sense of taste. It can make me deaf, take away my balance, but I need to be able to feel and taste."

Senses were simple things, and typically when a practitioner wants to increase one, another has to be decreased in exchange. Like many pieces of magic, one could get the desired effect and then worry about the cost later, but Dana couldn't afford that now.

"Probably I could do it myself, but I can't risk accidentally numbing my hands or tongue."

Raindale University For Witches [+18]

Dana woke at the same time as the bell, but not because of the bell. He woke because this is the time that the school woke. For the first few seconds of his consciousness, he could feel everyone in the building rousing themselves. This only lasted the briefest of moments before he returned to himself.

His eyes fluttered openand he got out of bed, humming along as a Dolly Parton song played from somewhere else in the dorm. When he stepped outside, the rasping croak of Crow came from up on the roof, picking up the song from where it left off when the other student had left the dorm before Dana did.

He walked into the cafeteria, and piled a plate with fruit and bacon(he barely touched grains, personally), and peered around the room. He wasn't one to put much thought into where he sat, or who with, but he saw Imani sitting with Jo, and remembered he'd been meaning to speak to her.

Serendipitously, as he approached she was discussing exactly what he needed from her.

"So... I'm open for business, right? you two hear anyone needing any potion, you tell them to come to me, right? God knows I could use the cash."

"Well, gods know I have the cash to burn," he said as he sat nearby. "Think you can whip something up for me?"

Mainly he knew her through Imani, but her business made her easy enough to approach.

Of Blood and Magic

Cassandra of course was reasonably familiar with the treaty. In fact, she had a copy of it(or, most of it) back at her dorm. It was a subject that concerned her a great deal, though, and so she watched Count Varis with rapt attention.

As the lecture went on her eyes began to widen, as she was fighting her lack of seep to pay attention. She soon had a wild look in her face, and her pen was standing still.

When Varis brought up Solaris Pius, and its final exclusion from the treaty, Cassandra suddenly sat forward, brow furrowed. She had never heard of this practice itself, let alone the fact that it was considered as a part of the law.

The Starage Commandment was a point of particular interest. The Count was right, in that its existence had enormous symbolic significance. That was the part of the Treaty that ensured, in theory, that humans and mages(for they were separate in the Treaty) carried the same protections basically everywhere. Count Varis treated it more as a curiousity, dismissing it as a legal entity.

When the Count opened the floor for questions, Cassandra's mistress was actually asking the very question Cassandra herself was about to pose. She smiled at the coincidence. Though she didn't know what was going on in the vampire's head, it was nice to know that they landed on the same point without even discussing it. Of course, this was anecdotal, and could easily be a fluke.

Neither mage nor vampire got an answer, as the doors blew open with force, making Cassandra jump, nearly leaving her seat.

Cassandra raised her hand, but spoke without waiting for permission.

"Count Varis, were we all supposed to enter the room and anounce ourseleves? I think my tutors missed that particular piece of etiquette."

Raindale University For Witches [+18]

Dana

Name
Dana Allbright



Nickname
I’ll leave that up to his classmates
Age
22
Gender
Male
Sexual Orientation
Bi
Racial Orientation
Virginia, USA. British/Irish ancestry, but not important in his family.

_______

History
The Allbrights are an old family of witches, and known to the ordinary people of nearby Fredericksburg as a family of rich eccentrics. They are locally famous(or infamous, depending on where you stand) for remaining neutral during the American Civil War. The local legend goes that soldiers from both sides tried to visit them at various times during the war, but despite being a large home and property, no one ever found the Blue House where the Allbright family lived. It wasn’t seen again until years after the war ended, when a mail carrier who was new in town was being hazed by his new coworkers. When he asked about a large backlog of packages for the Allbright estate, they let him go try to deliver it to the missing house, for a laugh. Nobody believed him when he returned, bemusedly successful, until he was pressed and described the house and the patriarch of the family with eerie accuracy.

Habitually reclusive, and territorial to a fault, the Allbright family never got involved with witch affairs either. They traditionally taught their children at home, and Dana is the first member of the family to attend Raindale. His natural wanderlust was magnified by his rite of passage, and the forging of his familiar contract. Had he been born a few years ago, he might never have gone, but as luck would have it, the family’s previous patriarch died recently, and was succeeded by an uncle who was particularly fond of Dana. He indulged the young man, and sent him off to school.

Personality
Calm
Patient
Kind
Strong willed

Stubborn
Wandering
Aloof
Addictive personality



_______

Likes
Outdoors
Old Buildings
Cold Weather
Wildlife and anthropology documentaries

Dislikes
Overly sunny days
Laziness
Prudishness

Hobbies
Hiking
Gardening
Wood carving, and some simple carpentry

Fears
Scarecrows
Deep water
Wild fire(camp fires or fireplaces are nice, though)
Driving

Dreams
Dana wants to travel the world, climb mountains, walk in the ruins of ancient civilizations.

_______

Year
Second
Classes
Herbology
Elemental Magic
Soul Restoration
Necromancy

Specialization
The magic practiced by the Allbrights draws power from the land, through their connection with it. This does not mean necessarily the natural landscape only, but refers to what humans have built as well.
Their most powerful place is an abandoned church, and its adjacent graveyard where many Allbrights have been buried in the past. Dana has a branch from an ancient oak tree that grows among the tombstones.
He is a nature witch, who counts humanity as a part of nature.

Strengths
Can connect with and intuit his environment very well.
Is Sensitive to spirits, both dead and inhuman.

Weaknesses
Can be easily overwhelmed

_______

Familiar
Crow, the crow.
Like many witch families, the Allbrights have a particular rite of passage, though theirs isn’t the most responsible. Dana was given a special blend of plants with particular magic properties to smoke, and then sent walking from the back yard of the Blue House. Nobody knows what actually happened after that, least of all Dana. But his experience of it was as follows.

He came upon a country road, approaching out of the woods. It continued on forever, Dana walking unsteadily. He spoke with animals, but encountered no people, despite occasionally walking through cities, both modern and ancient. Much of this was experienced in a haze, but one event he remembers very clearly. He was walking past a corn field, but it was rotten most of the way through. There was but a single stalk still standing, and it was guarded by a scarecrow. Though he couldn’t describe it now, at the time it terrified him, “it was trying to kill me with its eyes,” he described shortly after returning. He doesn’t remember what he meant.

Dana was starving by this point, and though he originally ran as far and fast as he could, he returned, as it was the only food he’d seen on his whole trip. Summoning all of his courage, Dana charged across the field, and shoved the scarecrow over. It went down without any resistance, and Dana seized the last ear of corn. When he turned around, the field was covered with flocks of crows who had apparently come down from the sky after the scarecrow was deposed. They were picking at the rotting corn, apparently trying to find a morsel that was still edible. Dana sat on the edge of the road, but only ate a few bites of the raw corn before tossing it to a small family of the birds. After watching them eat, one of the younger crows hopped over to him, and dropped an old tarnished silver ring by his hand. Dana put the ring on, and for some reason felt like he ought to be getting home. When he returned, the crow followed him.

Raindale University For Witches [+18]

CS

Name
Dana Allbright



Nickname
I’ll leave that up to his classmates
Age
22
Gender
Male
Sexual Orientation
Bi
Racial Orientation
Virginia, USA. British/Irish ancestry, but not important in his family.

_______

History
The Allbrights are an old family of witches, and known to the ordinary people of nearby Fredericksburg as a family of rich eccentrics. They are locally famous(or infamous, depending on where you stand) for remaining neutral during the American Civil War. The local legend goes that soldiers from both sides tried to visit them at various times during the war, but despite being a large home and property, no one ever found the Blue House where the Allbright family lived. It wasn’t seen again until years after the war ended, when a mail carrier who was new in town was being hazed by his new coworkers. When he asked about a large backlog of packages for the Allbright estate, they let him go try to deliver it to the missing house, for a laugh. Nobody believed him when he returned, bemusedly successful, until he was pressed and described the house and the patriarch of the family with eerie accuracy.

Habitually reclusive, and territorial to a fault, the Allbright family never got involved with witch affairs either. They traditionally taught their children at home, and Dana is the first member of the family to attend Raindale. His natural wanderlust was magnified by his rite of passage, and the forging of his familiar contract. Had he been born a few years ago, he might never have gone, but as luck would have it, the family’s previous patriarch died recently, and was succeeded by an uncle who was particularly fond of Dana. He indulged the young man, and sent him off to school.

Personality
Calm
Patient
Kind
Strong willed

Stubborn
Wandering
Aloof
Addictive personality



_______

Likes
Outdoors
Old Buildings
Cold Weather
Wildlife and anthropology documentaries

Dislikes
Overly sunny days
Laziness
Prudishness

Hobbies
Hiking
Gardening
Wood carving, and some simple carpentry

Fears
Scarecrows
Deep water
Wild fire(camp fires or fireplaces are nice, though)
Driving

Dreams
Dana wants to travel the world, climb mountains, walk in the ruins of ancient civilizations.

_______

Year
Second
Classes
Herbology
Elemental Magic
Soul Restoration
Necromancy

Specialization
The magic practiced by the Allbrights draws power from the land, through their connection with it. This does not mean necessarily the natural landscape only, but refers to what humans have built as well.
Their most powerful place is an abandoned church, and its adjacent graveyard where many Allbrights have been buried in the past. Dana has a branch from an ancient oak tree that grows among the tombstones.
He is a nature witch, who counts humanity as a part of nature.

Strengths
Can connect with and intuit his environment very well.
Is Sensitive to spirits, both dead and inhuman.

Weaknesses
Can be easily overwhelmed

_______

Familiar
Crow, the crow.
Like many witch families, the Allbrights have a particular rite of passage, though theirs isn’t the most responsible. Dana was given a special blend of plants with particular magic properties to smoke, and then sent walking from the back yard of the Blue House. Nobody knows what actually happened after that, least of all Dana. But his experience of it was as follows.

He came upon a country road, approaching out of the woods. It continued on forever, Dana walking unsteadily. He spoke with animals, but encountered no people, despite occasionally walking through cities, both modern and ancient. Much of this was experienced in a haze, but one event he remembers very clearly. He was walking past a corn field, but it was rotten most of the way through. There was but a single stalk still standing, and it was guarded by a scarecrow. Though he couldn’t describe it now, at the time it terrified him, “it was trying to kill me with its eyes,” he described shortly after returning. He doesn’t remember what he meant.

Dana was starving by this point, and though he originally ran as far and fast as he could, he returned, as it was the only food he’d seen on his whole trip. Summoning all of his courage, Dana charged across the field, and shoved the scarecrow over. It went down without any resistance, and Dana seized the last ear of corn. When he turned around, the field was covered with flocks of crows who had apparently come down from the sky after the scarecrow was deposed. They were picking at the rotting corn, apparently trying to find a morsel that was still edible. Dana sat on the edge of the road, but only ate a few bites of the raw corn before tossing it to a small family of the birds. After watching them eat, one of the younger crows hopped over to him, and dropped an old tarnished silver ring by his hand. Dana put the ring on, and for some reason felt like he ought to be getting home. When he returned, the crow followed him.

@Allycat

Raindale University For Witches [+18]

Hey, I'm still around and interested, just still working on my CS.

I think this will be my color.(code is 7ea7d8)

Character name is Dana Allbright, face claim is Lucky Blue Smith. You can look him up, but I'll obviously have pictures when my CS arrives.

Raindale University For Witches [+18]

@Allycat Nobody said the life had to be innocent ;P

Yeah, reciprocity is a weird one. Always good to edit that kind of thing to fit the world.

Also, for simplicity I think balance and equivalent exchange can be combined. They're kind of the same, in spirit.

Raindale University For Witches [+18]

@Allycat

Here's some that I found. Obviously you have your own ideas for how things work, so all of these might not jive, but it's the kind of thing I mean.

Laws of Magic

The Law of Contagion: Once together, always together; or The part of the thing is the whole of the thing: A part of something - like one of someone's possessions or a part of their body - can be used to work magic on it over a distance as though it were physically present. The more intimate the connection the better the link works so a discarded cigarette packet is little use, whilst a favourite shirt or piece of jewelry is better and part of someone is ideal1.

The Law of Sympathy: Like attracts like or The image is the thing: Where a contagion isn't possible an image of the target may be used instead. The better the image, the better the link - and even better if the target has personally endorsed the image. Signed photos are really good for this.

The Law of Consent: No injury is done to the willing or this works a lot easier with your co-operation: Depending on who you ask, this is either about the idea that magic is said to have difficulty effecting those who do not believe in it and/or about the idea that it is possible to consciously resist magic and it is far easier to operate a working upon someone who consents to be targeted than someone who doesn't.

Equivalent Exchange: Everything has a price: Magic conserves a given level of value (although one or both "parties" may have different ideas of how something is valued) and a given effect must be paid for with something of at least equal worth. Part of the fun of magic where this applies is making absolutely sure you understand what you are paying before you seal the deal. This also tends to lead to magic that takes the path of least resistance, moving stuff about rather than creating it and what have you.

Reciprocity (aka. "The Law of Triples"): Whatever you do by magic, for good or ill will be repaid to you threefold.

Reversal: Whatever magic does, magic can undo: The idea that anything created by magic can be dispelled or otherwise undone by magic without needing to be physically destroyed. Conversely, this also allows there to be space for anything killed by magic to be brought back under the right conditions...

Distortion: Magic changes nothing … permanently: The idea that magic works by bending the universe out of shape but does not actually change it - sooner or later the world will snap back into its original shape.

The Law of Balance: In the end, everything balances out: Very much related to the laws of equivalent exchange and reciprocity, this idea suggests that magic cannot create or destroy anything, but must move it from place to place (or time to time) - so good fortune now must be repaid by bad fortune later, restoring life to someone means taking it from someone else … that sort of thing.

Backlash: If you don't know where it's pointed, it's pointed at you: Once a magical working is started - especially a working of the harmful variety - it needs to go somewhere. There are likely to be ways and means of safely "earthing" an aborted working (if you can get them right and have the chance to do so), but more worrying still are those workings which miss their target and/or snap back because they are resisted or reflected. Death spells are especially notorious for rebounding on the caster if they fail to kill the target. Such traditions may well develop ways of passing the damage onto someone else - especially the clients of those casters performing this kind of sending for hire or reward. This is the sort of context in which you need to be absolutely sure of your targeting data before you start your attack.

Found here, and edited somewhat.

Raindale University For Witches [+18]

@Allycat I dont mean like things that aren't allowed, I mean things that cannot be done.

Also, to revisit the picture question: does a face claim have to be a literal photograph, or is a realistically styled drawing okay?