Merlin

The Merlin is the leader of the Senior Council. When a senior council member is not present the Merlin is endowed with their voting power.


Gatekeeper

The Gatekeeper is a position on the Senior Council. The Gatekeeper's job is to scan warriors returning through the Outer Gates for infection with Nemesis or other influences.


Other Senior Council Members

There are seven laws that govern the magical world. All must be obeyed lest one face the wrath of the White Council of Wizards. The penalty for breaking any law is death.



Killing with magic is forbidden.



Transmutation of another's body is forbidden.



Peering into the mind of another, against their will, is forbidden.



Forcing one's will onto another is forbidden.



Death is final. Attempting to reverse it is forbidden.



Time is fixed and altering it is forbidden.



Our deadliest threats dwell beyond the gates. Any attempt to unhinder their passage is forbidden.

The term Magic has two related meanings. First, it refers to a supernatural force or energy described as "the essence of life and creation." Second it refers to the practice of harnessing this force to produce changes in reality. An act of magic is called a spell, and the act of performing such an an act is called casting. Most supernatural beings are capable of performing magic, as are some mortals, who are referred to as practitioners.



Magic is life's essence. It is generated by living things, and may be thought of as akin to the concepts of Odic force and prana. However, the human heart and soul is also powerful source of magical energy. There's more magic in a baby's first giggle than any fire that a wizard can call up. Emotions are a channel for magic, a path to carry energy to a practitioner. Practitioners can draw on their own emotions for power. Black magic comes from negative emotions like lust, fear and anger, which are easy to harness and to make grow. White magic is harder to harness because it comes from a deeper truer and purer source—harder to tap, harder to keep but more elegant and more powerful.



Casting a spell is a three-step process. The first step is to gather energy. The second is to shape that energy with one's thoughts and feelings for achieving one's goal. The final step is to release the energy in the intended direction. It can be very difficult for a single individual to handle all these tasks when performing a large spell, so multiple practitioners will work in concert to divide the effort.



Most magical practitioners use various props (physical objects) in the casting of their spells. It isn't actually necessary to do so. Any spell can be cast as an entirely mental construct, but the more complex a spell is, the more the practitioner has to divide his or her concentration. Using props reduces the amount of mental effort needed to cast a spell by providing a visible object which encapsulates the meaning that the practitioner assigns to it. In other words, a prop is a symbolic placeholder for a part of the spell in the practitioner's mind.



Circle: The circle is one of the basic tools of magic. An empowered circle creates a barrier that magical forces and beings of the Nevernever cannot cross. A practitioner will place a circle around an area where a spell is being performed in order to prevent magical "background noise" from interfering with the spell. Because supernatural beings cannot cross them, empowered circles can be used to contain such beings, as well as to keep them out of an area.

Name: A being's Name can be used to create a thaumaturgical link to that being. When using a Name in a spell, a practitioner must pronounce it in exactly the same way in which the Name's owner does. In order for a Name to be magically useful, the correct pronunciation must ultimately have been learned from the Name's owner.

Physical Samples: When a piece of an object is removed from the main mass of that object, the piece retains a thaumaturgic link to it. A bit of hair, nail clippings, or fresh blood can be used to aim a thaumaturgic spell at the person it was taken from. The principle works with inanimate objects as well, such as bits of clay taken from the same large mass.

Mirrors: Many things can use mirrors as windows and doors.

Pentagram: A magical symbol, a five pointed star drawn as a single line, forming a pentagon in the center. Can be used as a focus.

Pentacle: A pentacle is another magical symbol, essentially a pentagram enclosed within a circle. It represents the five elemental forces of Air, Earth, Water, Fire, and Spirit bound and contained by human will.

Focus: A focus is a magically prepared object used to aid a practitioner in performing a spell.

Homunculus: A homonculus is an object used as a temporary vessel for a spirit incapable of manifesting a physical form of its own. Some practitioners use fresh corpses, but this isn't required.

Cats: are Magic-friendly, they can move back and forth across magic boundaries, like circles, without disturbing them. Cats can also see ghosts and spirits.



Blood has a kind of power; a magic user can use blood to track the person who spilled it. Once blood dries, it's harder to use. Using blood is tricky, the user has to keep it from drying out and keep it undiluted. The amount of blood needed depends on: the efficiency and skill level of the magic user—and—how much energy is required: the more energy being sent, the more blood is needed. If for a simple tracking spell, not much is needed, if for making a targets heart explode, a lot is needed.

This Court is the most human-like group of vampires. They are similar to succubi and incubi, feeding off the emotions and life force of their prey. They are born to their vampiric state, rather than being created (as is the case with Black and Red Court). They are for all intents and purposes human until their vampirism manifests sometime around the age of their maturity. As with the Red Court, their first feeding (with its subsequent and almost inevitable kill) usually marks their full transformation. However, under specific circumstances, individuals descended from White Court vampires may curtail their transformation into vampires.

There are different Houses within the White Court, each comprising a close-knit family. There is much in-fighting between the Houses, but House Raith is considered to be the most powerful. The Houses are mainly distinguished by their choice of emotion to feed upon, but this has been represented as a strong preference rather than a restriction.

HOUSE RAITH

Those of House Raith are sexual predators, using their supernatural good looks and psychic aura to attract both men and women. During intercourse, or any direct physical contact where emotions like lust are heightened, they feed off of their prey. Victims of the feedings of House Raith grow to enjoy the experience and become bonded to their predator like a drug addiction.

HOUSE MALVORA

House Malvora's members feed off of fear. Most prefer very strong fear such as that of being in a potentially deadly situation, but some satisfy themselves with smaller scares like those created by horror and slasher movies.

HOUSE SKAVIS

The vampires of House Skavis feed off of despair, preferring to drive a victim into the depths of depression and in many cases driving them to suicide.

Physical Capabilities

The White Court is not endowed with as much physical strength as the Red or Black courts under normal circumstances; usually, their physical performance levels (standing jump heights, endurance and so on) are slightly better than those an ordinary human of equivalent size and health, but they can channel unused emotional energy as fuel for performance boosts of limited duration. On the other hand, they make up for it by having far fewer vulnerabilities. Sunlight and symbols of faith do not harm them at all. Their power derives from an internal demonic essence they call the "Hunger" which acts like a battery. If they refrain from feeding for too long, the "Hunger" drives them into a frenzy where they must feed (almost always killing their victims), and can drive them permanently insane. When needed, they tap this store of energy to augment their strength, speed, resilience, and healing ability far beyond normal; while doing this, they radiate waves of cold (possibly an illusory reaction of normal humans to their energy sink), their skin whitens, and their eyes turn an unnatural silver. White Court vampire blood is pinkish instead of red and has a euphoric effect if ingested.

Their largest weakness is true love: people who are, or have recently been, in real, affectionate and sacrificial love are highly resistant to White Court control, and can even physically burn and blister vampire skin. Also, White Court vampires are born, not turned like Red and Black Court vampires; if the offspring of a White Court falls in love with someone that feels the same way before feeding for the first time, the love can destroy the demonic side before it can manifest allowing the person to live a normal, mortal life.

Unlike the other courts, the White Court prefers to avoid direct confrontation. They are a court of schemers and prefer to stab each other in the back in exquisitely detailed plots to impress the others in the Court, to the extent that direct confrontation is looked down upon as socially damaging.

The leader of the White Court is Lord Raith.

The Red Court is highly organized in a feudalistic system with a King at the top, followed by Dukes and other ranks. The Red Court of Vampires are less human-like than the White Court. Instead they are slimy bat-like creatures hidden behind incredibly sensuous human costumes (made of an outer skin). The oldest and most powerful red court vampires are capable of wearing any flesh mask (that is, turn into any human), and their flesh masks can fully protect them from the sun, so that they can walk about in broad daylight. They use these costumes to trick their prey into being more comfortable and to hide in plain sight. They are incredibly strong and fast, and can shake off most injuries quickly. The Red Court is vulnerable to sunlight and to having their bellies cut open, which can spill the blood they have drunk and eventually kill them. Their saliva contains a potent magical narcotic which gives the prey a euphoric feeling and is highly addictive, allowing the Red Court to control their victims rather easily. The narcotic lowers the victim's inhibitions while dulling the pain of the vampire's bite. Addicted humans have been shown to go to great lengths to protect their vampiric masters, and willingly provide information from the mortal community as needed.

The Red Court is also capable of transforming ordinary humans into vampires in a two-step process: the human is first infected with the vampiric thirst for blood (gaining supernatural speed, strength and endurance in the process) and then completes the change into the demonic form upon killing a human victim in their first feeding. Infected humans with sufficient strength of will have been known to refrain from feeding for an indefinite length of time (magical bonds, regular exposure to sunlight, and avoiding physical intimacy all help), but no cure has yet been found for the "half-vampire" infected state. The Faerie Queen Mothers, or a being of similar power, could cure, or rather completely destroy, the vampiric infection with a magic known as an Unraveling. Their hunger for blood makes controlling their emotions very difficult, and when in a situation where emotions run high (such as during a fight or when engaged in physical intimacy), it is much easier for them to lose control.

The leader of the Red Court is the "Great Lord Kukulkan".

The Black Court comprises the most well-known kind of vampire, the reanimated bloodthirsty corpses popularized by Bram Stoker's Dracula. In fact the publication of that book at the behest of the White Council is believed to be the primary cause of the Court's downfall, as Stoker supposedly published the book as a "how-to" manual to hunt the Black Court.

Black Court vampires still inhabit the human bodies that they lived in before they were turned into vampires, with the only difference being their bodies rotting like zombies in the time that they have been undead. Black Court vampires possess all the classic strengths and weaknesses of Stoker's Dracula: they can lift and throw cars with one hand and crash through concrete walls without harm; but must sleep in their native soil and fear garlic and objects of faith.

Sunlight, while deadly to younger members of the Black Court, is merely an inconvenience to older members, weakening them significantly, as in Stoker's novel. Mavra, an ancient Black Court vampire, has demonstrated the ability to use magic in the same way wizards do. The Black Court is the smallest and (politically) weakest of the Courts, although those few who survived the purges caused by Stoker's book are among the strongest and most cunning monsters in the world by virtue of sheer Darwinian necessity. They also have the ability to enthrall humans to be passive and submissive, and cultivate "Renfields" (another Stoker reference and similarity to Stoker's Dracula). Where thralls may have their minds restored with minimal lasting effects, Renfields are thralls that have been altered to the point of psychosis, and their minds are too far gone to be returned to normal. A Renfield has had his strength and agility augmented and will kill in a berserker frenzy until put down. Until let loose by their controlling vampire, a Renfield will appear as a normal thrall in a trance-like state; however, their true nature can be seen with a wizard's Sight.

The leader of the Black Court is Mavra.

Very little is known about the Jade Court.

"Jade Court... Southeast Asia, China, Japan. Very secretive. But they respect the Accords."
- Shiro
Wielder of Fidelacchius, The Sword of Hope

The Shee Courts (Summer and Winter) are the two ruling bodies of the Shee and their lands make up most of the Nevernever. Their combined power can affect the real world through the barrier of the Nevernever, and maintaining the balance of power is greatly important to most members of the supernatural community. It supposedly is responsible for the continued cycle of the seasons, and is rumored that great ecological disasters such as Ice Ages and Global Warming were caused by imbalances between the two Shee courts.

Each court is ruled by three Queens—Queen Mother (neither of whom have been given a name outside of their title of Mother Summer and Mother Winter), Queen, and Lady. Bob refers to the three as "The Queen Who Was," "The Queen Who Is," and "The Queen Who Is To Come" respectively. They are forbidden from taking hostile action against mortals without their consent—such as making a deal with one of the Shee. However, each court has a Knight, a mortal champion appointed by a Queen, who may involve him or herself in mortal affairs. Furthermore, the author has stated that Winter and Summer each have a Fae lord that might be considered a King, who is temperamentally opposite to the Queen.

Shee cannot tell a direct lie, but instead are masters of twisting words in order to convey falsehoods without actually lying. They are strictly concerned with the wording rather than the intent of agreements and will specifically place loopholes in agreements which they can exploit. In almost every case, a mortal making a deal with a Shee will end up causing the mortal to get the short end of the stick with any attempts to withdraw from the deal causing the mortal to become further entangled with the Shee. Shee are also vulnerable to cold iron. This weakness also extends to any form or alloy of iron, such as steel blades or iron nails. The Knight of each court does appear to share, to an extent, the vulnerability to cold iron, human though he may have begun. The Knight's power also appears to depend (sometimes) on his allegiance to his court.

The two sides are engaged in a perpetual Cold War, in which both sides are mobilized for battle but never engage in anything more than skirmishes. Large battles between the two courts have great effects in nature including weather patterns, and are usually avoided unless there is no other choice such as in the events of the novel Summer Knight. Each side is stronger during their namesake season, with the balance of power shifting during the Summer and Winter Solstices. Despite their ongoing conflict, both Queen Mothers live together seemingly peacefully in a cottage.

The Shee exchange control of an artifact called the Stone Table twice a year at Midsummer and Midwinter. Whichever Court is in control of the Table steadily gains in power, and in order to preserve the balance, the Summer Court hand it over at Midsummer, the height of their strength, and the Winter Court hand it over at Midwinter, the height of their strength. The power of any being killed upon the Stone Table goes instantly and permanently to the court which is currently in possession of it.

The Summer Court is the more warm and caring side, but is just as scheming as its Winter counterpart. Summer faeries typically are more nurturing of mortals, but this is not always true. They are associated with the element of fire. Their lands in the Nevernever are bright, sunny, warm, and lush with vegetation. Most of the lesser creatures of Summer are typically not malicious, but can seem so when they involve themselves in mortal affairs. It is important to note that the Summer Court is not inherently "good", and that victory over Winter is not a desirable outcome. Such a triumph would result in an era of rampant growth, including the explosive growth and spread of disease organisms.

Titania rules as the Summer Queen. The Erlking, the Wyldfae leader of the Goblins and the Wild Hunt, while generally apart from the court could be considered a sort of Summer King. The Summer Lady is Aurora.

The Winter Court is colder and much more merciless than its Summer counterpart. The lands of Winter resemble a tundra or frozen wasteland, with the center being Arctis Tor, a massive fortress made of black ice. Some of the lesser creatures of Winter include trolls, goblins and fetches, spirits which feed on the fear of others.

The Winter Queen and Winter Lady are Mab and Maeve respectively. Lloyd Slate, the Winter Knight. The Leananshee ("Lea" for short), is also a very powerful member of the Winter Court. Winter's effective King is Kringle.

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