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Revolution of the Heretical

[ROTH]Magical Directory

a part of “Revolution of the Heretical”, a fictional universe by That One Guy.

A high fantasy, literate rp set in the world of Baekoth

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This conversation is an Out Of Character (OOC) part of the roleplay, “Revolution of the Heretical”.
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[ROTH]Magical Directory

Tips: 0.00 INK Postby That One Guy on Mon Mar 24, 2014 3:41 pm

Magic
Image


Magic is a vital part of the world of Baekoth, leaking in from those realms beyond. It flows through each and everything, from the humblest of pebbles to the mightiest of dragons. In some it skims through lightly, a whisper so faint that none may hear it. But in others it settles, and pools deep within. Should the pools grow deep enough, those with the sentience to guide it may pour it forth, and use it to shape the world around them. This is the power of Magic; to shape, create, and destroy with ones will. It is important to realise, however, that magic is a force of realms beyond man. Those with too much often seem alien, almost indifferent to lesser mortals. Magic brings change, and none can wield or develop their own power without it changing them in some way.


Magic Users


In terms of power, there are four main types of magic users born.

Noram, the Mundane: Firstly, and most commonly, are those born without enough magic to manifest into anything. They will largely go through life having nothing to do with magic. The Mundane make up around 60% of people.

Kell, the Seeing: Next are the average magic users. They are born with a certain pool of magic within them. This will determine their power, their ability to command other sources of magic, and their potential to develop their power and grow in strength. Though some may use magic borne purely of will, most have to use other methods to amplify their talents. The Seeing comprise roughly 30% of people, but many are not aware of it.

Dur’hest, the Zealous:Thirdly are those whose magic is open to growth. With hardwork and dedication they can expand their magic, growing to fearsome power. Many spend entire lifetimes working at it. However, the desire for power often leads them down dark, dangerous paths, and they may become consumed by their zeal. The Zealous are nearly 10% of people, and most rise to positions of power or authority, so long as their work does not consume them.

Azanthiel, the Gifted: Lastly, and rarest, are those born with terrifying power deep within them. Whether due to their lineage, or purely by chance, these beings are born with more power than many could hope to ever achieve. How, when, and how much of it they discover varies, but it should be used with caution. Indulgence in this power quickly changes its bearer, turning them into something fey and foreign. Though their mind is still their own, their heart turns to greater purposes, often indifferent to the suffering of those they do not personally care for. The Gifted are few and far between. Though, there have been points in time where several of them appear together…

Sources of power:
Magic may spring up in certain places or people seemingly randomly, or it may be brought about by certain actions. It may also run in blood lines, particularly families with some trace of supernatural heritage.

For simple spells, or for those with exceptional power, sheer will is enough to rouse their magic and enact change. However, there are ways to amplify ones power, for more complex tasks. Most common is through the incantation of spells, in ancient, arcane languages of power. Runes work similarly for those with the education to read and write, and may be prepared ahead of time. Such words of power focus and collect magical energy, and their effectiveness depends on the source fueling them.

For those who find their power insufficient, there are ways to control greater magics.

  • Cooperation is a common method, as in mage guilds or witches covens.
  • Certain rare, ancient artifacts can bestow great powers on their wielders, or may be used as catalysts.
  • Places, such as the site of a terrible battle, may become charged with energy, and serve as an amplification for any rituals conducted there.
  • Certain times of day or of the year amplify some magics, such as Sabbaths for Witches.
  • Sacrifices
  • Familiars
  • Numbers. For example, the seventh son of a seventh son receives powerful immunities to magic, and witch covens must usually consist of 3, 7, 13 or 21 members.
  • Spirits or deities of the beyond. It is highly dangerous to invoke these beings, however, the lesser ones may prove useful minions while the greater ones can be valuable patrons.



Spirits of the beyond


Spirits and beings from these planes tend to be fairly indifferent to the plight of mankind, interested mainly in what they can gain from any transactions. They can be bound or forced to carry out certain tasks, though with the more powerful beings it Imageis wiser to try and make a trade instead. They may take offense even at being summoned, let alone bound, and will do whatever they can to defy their bindings and punish their captor. Lower beings may be summoned fairly easily, but the more powerful ones often require arcane, difficult, specific rituals. Power can be traded directly through magic, either artifacts or rituals, but is often traded in life or blood. As such, many spirits (particularly low level ones) are malevolent, interested only in taking blood and power however they can. Because of this, many consider these spirits to be evil, naming them demons. Magic is often associated with such demonism, and the average person is suspicious if not downright hostile towards it. The term demon is close to 'Daemon', this is no coincidence, Daemons were given the hateful name on purpose.

There are many different religions across the landscape, some genuinely based on benevolent spirits, but mostly they are empty of magical power. Prayers and witch-hunts are often ineffectual, with arbitrary tests that leave innocent burnt or drowned while the real witches escape capture to begin with. Those with genuine power are either secretive to its root, or are themselves unaware.



Types/sects of magic users


Although magic is all intertwined and widely applicable, there are certain trends and styles that become particularly common.


Witches


For the usual witch, there are four types of power that they choose from:
  • Blood: The most common. These are witches that increase their power by feeding on blood, or using it in their rituals. The blood of humans or magical beings is especially valuable. Although it is a myth that the blood of a virgin is powerful, there are certain types that hold extra power. The blood of the seventh son of a seventh son for example. Or royal blood.
  • Bone: Thumbones are most common, and many witches boil them to strip the flesh from them before making a necklace. Best taken fresh. Skulls are also popular, though less convenient. The bones of children or powerful magical beings are best.
  • Familiar: Draw power from the use of familiars. More powerful familiars give a great boost, but are also more dangerous. Many use them to snoop around and gain information, particularly for gossip.
  • Animism: A foreign breed of witch, they have the power to drain the life-force from their victims to power their spells. They also have the unique power to project their souls beyond their bodies.

Spells/Abilities/Restrictions:

  • Glamour/Dread: These are both illusion spells, intended to change a witches appearance in the minds of those observing her, without physically altering her face. Glamor can make a witch appear far more beautiful or regal, and is used to create an air of authority, or enchant men (or some women) to fall in love with them. Dread, on the other hand, gives them a terrifying visage. Some witches hardly need the help though.Image
  • Long-sniffing: Witches have the ability to sniff out approaching danger. The power of this skill changes widely from witch to witch. For some it is most innefective, whilst the more skilled will use it to see what lies in a room before them, and sense approaching danger from miles away.
  • Scrying: A form of communication, but also of prediction. Witches can use mirrors to communicate over great distances. They carry no sound however, so most witches have become skilled lip-readers. Beginners will fog up the mirror with their breath then write their message with their fingers. There are some with the ability to scry the future, to varying degrees. Predictions are often somewhat vague. There are always variables that may change, but there are certain vital constants.
  • Witches can cast a variety of spells, they also concoct a variety of potions, and their speed and strength is boosted by their magic. More powerful ones have the speed and strength of two fully grown men.
  • Cannot cross running water, weak to Rowan Wood, Silver, Salt and Iron. Silver chains are a common method of binding.
  • Soul projection. This has various names, such as shadow-walking.

Covens: Most people believe witches to be solitary, this is actually a rarity. Witches are usually part of a coven made up from anywhere between three to twenty-one, always in multiples of three. It is more usual for witches to be in a coven of three than not however, not counting their guardians and apprentices. They live apart, sometimes very far apart, but gather on special moons in special meeting grounds.

Example of a ritual: Far to the north, a group of twenty-two powerful, foreign witches takes residence within a small town. The towns people are in their thrall, too terrified to interfere or seek help. In exchange for their own safety the people do not venture out past nightfall, and regularly deliver blood and offal just beyond the forest in which the witches reside. Unbeknownst to them, the witches have discovered a place of terrible power, one such point where the barrier between our world and others is thinnest. This point lies deep within a fissure, and the witches spend weeks dumping the blood and offal into here, preparing their ritual and casting dark spells around it. The fissure never fills, and as the dark powers within mount it gradually warms up.

Finally, on the night of the Yule Sabbat, the Winter Solstice, they begin the ritual. The remainder of the blood and offal is given to the pit, and three of the witches slit the throats of 7 healthy goats such that they bleed out into the pit. Meanwhile, 14 of the witches chant and shriek as they dance around the fissure, loosing themselves in their dark magic. The fissure is now glowing unnaturally, spewing heat forth uncomfortably. The three who sacrificed the goats are joined by four of their remaining sisters, who bring forth a virginal sacrifice. An unfortunately homely girl, but with just enough royal blood in her to suffice. Each of her thumb bones are stricken off and boiled clean, then cast into the fissure with a cry. The poor girl, still living thus far, has her beating heart cut from her chest. The last of the 22 witches, having thus far had no part in the ritual, must eat it whole. The seven involved in the sacrifice now join their sisters in their dance around the fissure, shrieking and whooping. The final one stands alone, balancing on the lip of the fissure, a hungry abyss staring up at her. Her timing must be perfect. Though she can see nothing, the presence of their bloody God, Siscoi, sits heavily in the air, smothering her. Her breath catches, and the dancers around her seem to slow and warp and blend, time slowing and stretching in this moment of power. She steps forward, and darkness rushes up to meet her. Her timing is right.

Midnight on the longest night of the year she strikes the bottom headfirst. Her neck snaps, killing her instantly. With a great roar and a deafening CRACK, the barriers between worlds are forced asunder for a mere moment. The witches all pause in their dance, feverish intensity melting away into anxious curiosity. There is no sound, and nothing visible. The heat from within the fissure has dropped away entirely, the entire forest now a deathly, icy chill. Dark power such as they have never known bellows up from the fissure, rippling through and past them. There is no mistaking it. They have succeeded. Ciscoi, the Vampire God, the Blood Lord, slumbers below them.

Blood, offal and their sacrificed sister pool together to lend him physical form. It will take until morning for him to gain strength, and they would protect him with their lives till then. But the moment first light touches upon this dark fissure, their Lord shall emerge, in all his terrible glory. His thirst will be great. The towns people beyond will be but an appetizer. The mad queen and her 'God' Aule will be as ants before Ciscoi's fell terror, and all the world shall bend their knee. As his truest servants, they will live as queens beneath him.


How to Kill a Witch: To truly kill a witch is quite difficult. The only guaranteed ways are to burn their bodies or to destroy the heart, preferably by ingesting it. Simply cutting it will not do. A witch who has been ‘killed’, but not truly destroyed becomes a ‘dead’ witch. A dead witch takes a few days to regain control of her body, and animate the corpse. Though initially similar to living witches, over time their memories of life fade away as their body rots, replaced only by an intense thirst for blood. Most are weak, and can only drag themselves around if they can move at all. Especially powerful witches remain strong and fast long after death. Regardless, they are all still dangerous, able to regain their strength if they ingest blood. Even the weakest of dead witches have a vice-like grip, and getting grabbed usually results in death. Those who cannot bring themselves to burn a witch or eat her heart may instead bury her in a silver cage head down. This way, even if they do escape their cage somehow they can only burrow deeper.

Wizards

Wizards are different from witches in that they do not practice dark magic that requires sacrifice and blood. They take magic with a more scientific approach and carefully attempt to harness its abilities in it's purest forms. In Dorelith all Wizards are controlled by the crown or denounced as heretics. In place of a priest it is a head Wizard that puts the crown atop the head of a newly crown royal. Different types of magic a Wizard uses include but are not limited to:
  • Enchantments
  • Necromancy: Animating a dead corpse to do your will, the corpse is soulless, a puppet.
  • Pyromancy and manipulation of other elements: Fire is an especially holy element to the disciples of Aule.
  • Healing
  • Transfiguration

Shamans/Monks:

Deal in animus magic, using either their own spiritual energy or that of the world around them. Their magic covers a range of applications, from healing, instilling oneself with vigour, seer-like abilities, to direct powerful elemental magic, often guided through martial discipline of the body. Elves compromise most of the shamans while humans and daemons make up the monk population.

Superstitions/Rituals/Misc.:
  • Seventh son of a seventh son
  • Salt and iron (shavings)
  • Rowan Wood
  • Holly
  • Silver
  • Royal Blood


Supernatural Creatures



Dragons: Creatures of myth, or perhaps they grew bored of the dealings of Baekoth and all left? Who knows. What is known of them is that they were highly intelligent and old beings, wise and magical and able to pull feats that could only be called miracles.

Drakes: Cousin the the dragon in the way that a monkey is to a human and much smaller, though much bigger than any of the races that roam Baekoth. They can not breathe fire but their breath is very hot. They are proud predators that keep to the mountains.

Hydra: A multi-headed drake, usually found in damp caves, they enjoy moisture, if you cut off one of their heads another grows in its place.

Naga: A giant snake, and much smarter than a regular one too.

Worme: The 'e' is used so as to distinguish them from the common worm. They are water dwellers, varying in size between the size of a small dog to the size of a house. They can have legs, and most have tails. They have eel-like bodies and slippery scales which are hard to penetrate with blades. Their mouth is full of wicked fangs, and they are known to tear a man’s leg clean off. Steam erupts from their mouth so they may hide when threatened, after which they often spit out a deadly poison that will penetrate most light materials. Salt and iron doesn't work against them but they are vulnerable to a silver blade.

Griffons: Rare and noble beasts who usually keep to the mountains as the Drakes do. It is said that they only carry those who are noble and worthy on their backs.

Pegasus: A winged horse, mounts reserved for those of higher office in Dorelith.

Unicorn: Elusive and pure creatures who guard the small creatures of the forest. It is said that they will also come to the aid of a maiden in need.

Ghast: Fragments of souls that have moved on, these are the regrets and unfulfilled purposes. They little more than a nuisance alone, ghasts can evolve to be far more deadly. Some become drawn to each other, feeling a sense of fulfilment and nuance develop as multiple fragment coalesce. These ghasts then become hungry for others, seeking to build themselves into a whole rather than being mere fragments. Those that achieve this may elevate themselves to various creatures, such as banshees or boggarts. It is rare for this to happen without the interference of a necromancer, however it does get this far occasionally.

Boggarts:Boggarts are creatures that are generally formless but come in all sizes and house a multitude of personalities. They can choose to reveal themselves in several forms, but generally remain invisible. Many boggarts can be reasoned with, and persuaded to calm down and move to a more isolated location. The alternative is to help them find peace. Like banshees they are formed of condensed Ghasts. Unlike them however, in a Boggarts mind is primarily composed of a single souls Ghast. If the Boggart is consoled, and made to let go of whatever held the original shard to this world, they can move on. Boggarts that cannot be reasoned with or are deemed dangerous to humans are bound in a pit coated in a mixture of salt and iron (salt burn a boggart while iron bleeds away its strength) mixed together with a glue found on bones. The pit is coated on all four walls, floor and ceiling with a custom made stone lid to seal them off (boggarts can escape from a hole the size of a needle head).

There are several classifications of Boggarts:

  • Whistlers: Harmless creatures, they are mostly found in woods or in the nooks and crannies of rural homes. They are the weakest and most docile of boggarts. They have little purpose, and are content to simply wander around, occasionally whistling or letting out other such noises. They may frighten at worst, and even that unintentionally.
  • Hall Knockers: A type of mischievous boggart that has become aware of its ability to terrorise. They are fond of terrorising a family by making rapping noises on walls, opening and slamming doors and breaking plates and windows whenever possible. They can easily evolve into Stone Chuckers.
  • Stone Chuckers: Hall Knockers that have grown bored with a lack of attention, these boggarts terrorise by throwing various sized stones. They can be extremely dangerous, particularly when they grow to chucking boulders. At this point some start becoming malevolent and unreasonable, throwing stones with the intention to kill rather than frighten.
  • Rippers: Cattle Rippers are known to feed on the blood of livestock, and cause hardship to farmers. These will often be bound, but can be reasoned with. Rippers, however, have a taste for human blood, and are far more difficult to talk to. They are also the most powerful form of boggart. This type of boggart is called a Ripper, because of the way it rips its prey to shreds. Extremely dangerous, they must be lured into a trap to be bound, and should not be confronted head on without powerful magic. In battle they become visible as a vicious, whirling blur, spraying blood as they feed on shredded enemies.
  • Hairy Boggarts: These are Stone Chuckers or Rippers that are still reasonable, and are able to take on the form of an animal. Deals can be made with them, such that they serve as a guardian or companion, though care should be taken as they can be fickle creatures if one does not have their respect, and do not take well to perceived insults or sleight. They are, however, bound to any deals made. Deals with Rippers must have some supply of blood for them to feed on, such one’s enemies, or any who enter a certain property without permission.

Wights: Creatures created by witches, most often serving as guardians. Dark magic is used to bind a drowned sailor to their body, causing the body to stop decaying. Instead they become bloated and extremely strong. Many lack eyes, having been eaten by fishes, but have very keen hearing. Killing one is highly unpleasant, as the body will then give out, allowing bloated flesh and liquid to burst its meat-sack. They have similar weaknesses to witches, such as salt, iron, rowan wood and silver.

Trolls: Mostly harmless giants, they are all but extinct in Dorelith but thrive in Acacia. The humans thought them dangerous and hunted them down. As a result the remaining Trolls in Dorelith have grown angry, bitter, and weary to humans, they hide in the Darkwood. They are a sensitive species, highly empathetic and surprisingly gentle when you've befriended one. They eat the leaves from the trees and the berries from the bush. It is said they are the spirits of the forest in form.Image
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