Yes and no. It is possible to have Darkness powers naturally, without just being afflicted with the Curse of Fendel. However, since it's not documented or understood, there are no Darkness Incantations, since there isn't any sort of common knowledge to draw on to create spells.
For this reason, most people who end up being born with a Darkness affinity can't actually do anything with it, beyond maybe some weird shit happening passively around them when their emotions are running high. The average person doesn't have the sheer discipline/reserves of inner strength needed to manifest an Aura, and, without Incantations to guide the power instead, there's no real option for consciously controlling it.
Hypothetically, of course, there's also the option you mentioned of inheriting both the affinity of Darkness and the power of Aura, but, uh... that would probably mean you're the Successor of Fendel, and thus a reincarnation of the guy who nearly conquered/destroyed the world.
And that's not to say it's not a fun concept, don't get me wrong -- it's just that I kind of already have plans for the Successor, Fendel, and his role in the plot. >_< So I think I'm gonna have to veto Darkness Aura as a playable power, unfortunately.
I don't even wanna be that dude's successor anyways, he was a butt.
Oh, one more thing I was wondering: How does one know one's affinity? Do you understand it innately, or is it a trial and error thing? Is there a test for it?
I don't even wanna be that dude's successor anyways, he was a butt.
Oh, one more thing I was wondering: How does one know one's affinity? Do you understand it innately, or is it a trial and error thing? Is there a test for it?
This was asked a little while ago too, so I'll just copy/paste my answer from before.
Probably something of the sort that's revealed through a ritual or an oracle of some sort around the time they're like 10 or so. Likely, children below at least that age can't use magic very well, and their affinities may be shifting and unstable. Plus, y'know, using magic is taxing so it could damage their health if they pushed it too early.
Basically, think of it like one of those handwaves in crummy isekai where you go touch a magic ball and it tells you what your level is/what cheat power you have/whatever. Gives a list of elemental affinities that you're compatible with, and then it's up to you to cultivate those through practice, or you lose them.
Usually, you'd expect just about everybody to get their magic tested as kids -- even commoners -- since it's something just about everybody has and even if you're not gonna become a super mage, it still determines what sorts of things you can do for your own daily convenience.
Ah, yes, that thing I would have read if I were slightly more diligent. Thank you.
That's quite a convenient process. Perhaps I'll try writing a water-coward. Cowards of all sorts make great knights, you know.
No worries. Five pages of OOC on top of all my lore bullshit in the opening post is a tall order. :P
Also yeah, very plot-convenient. Almost like I made something up for my magic system and then realized I needed an explanation for how an aspect of it I hadn't thought about worked when somebody asked me about it. XD
don't mind me just dropping the bastard off at school in another country.
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P E R S O N A L D E T A I L S
Full Name – Dorothy “Dot” Auferrum Age - 14 Gender - Female Heritage – Born to an Alexandrian family that can trace its long and winding roots back to penitent Maria, and utterly soiled by the presence of Grayle blood in her parentage. Magical Affinity - Light
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P E R S O N A L I T Y
Sheltered Having done most of her growing up in a solitary block of her home, Dot does not boast a particular broad understanding of the world. Sure, she had tutors for writing and mathematics, but she never learned the fine details of international relations, and the dance of courtroom politics was one for which she simply didn’t have the rhythm. She knows things are tense in the world, and that Alexandria is, allegedly, so much better than Grayle, but in all honestly she doesn’t very much care for either of them. Why should she? They never cared for her.
Curious Of course, a disinterest in world politics doesn’t preclude an interest in the world itself. You can’t spend years in one place and not want to see what’s outside. Nor can you spend as much time interacting with very few people and not want to make friends. Dot sees friendship as a beautiful flower waiting to be plucked on the other side of a river—she just can’t swim yet. Solitude might have stamped her adventurous spirit into the dirt, but plenty of things can grow from dirt with a little time and a nurturing hand.
Hang It All Disillusionment was sewn into Dot very early, and its roots grew deep. What was once a starry-eyed thirst for glory and adventure has devolved into a bitter cynicism befitting someone much older and world-weary. Dot hasn’t seen the world, but as far as she’s concerned, people are the same pretty much everywhere—they look out for themselves, and will bury anyone for the sake of their own ambitions.
She harbors a burning resentment for the aristocracy, with a particular disdain for royalty. In her dreams their castles lay in ruins and their thrones sit empty. And yet, she cannot shake her fascination with knighthood, for which she blames Adean’s own fixation with honor and battle. Knights, she thinks—prays, even—are the exception. They live by codes, they don’t just fight for who’s in charge, they fight for good. They help the innocent. They right wrongs. They bring justice to the unjust.
Dot wouldn’t mind meting out that justice herself.
S K I L L S E T
Isolated Training Dot could write her name with both hands at the same time, backwards. Whether this skill was learned or came naturally is uncertain, but being cooped up at nearly all hours of the day left her with plenty of time to develop it. Coupled with a keen sense of hand-eye coordination, this made for phenomenal groundwork when her brother began training her in swordplay. Adean’s teachers were many, and skilled, and Dot accepted the funnel of their collective knowledge voraciously. She learned quickly, fixating on every lesson, working the hobby into a passion over years of practice. Unfortunately, she never got the chance to put her training to use at home, but Adean was proud of her progress, and that was enough for her.
Presently, Dot favors a rapier in each hand, and tends to prefer offense to defense.
Dancer Dot’s room was very close to where the court entertainers would practice, and so she frequently found opportunities to observe, listen, and occasionally dance along to the music. Over time this frivolous hobby grew into practicality; in addition to building lean muscle, Dot displays a phenomenal sense of balance and agility, able to move unencumbered in frilled dresses and patched-up rags alike.
Naturally, she incorporated this into her training with Adean, despite his protests. According to him, dancing was elegant but too pretty, and fighting was supposed to be ugly and brutal. Of course, Dot was more stubborn than sensible, and while she ceased trying to pirouette in their sparring bouts, she never gave up the grace. Amateurish and unorthodox as she may be, there is an undeniably effectiveness in the bedrock of her style, it just needs some time and proper training to unearth.
Disgraced by Light While some of her hobbies were indulged, the one thing Dot was always forbidden from meddling with was her affinity for Light magic. Her father wouldn’t stand to see it, and her mother, not wanting to upset him further, stood with him. This, of course, did not dissuade Dot, who couldn’t envision a world in which she was somehow more of a disappointment. So with tremendous effort and more than a few harsh punishments, she managed to eke out a meager study in what few light incantations she could get her hands on, but even then her results were mixed at best. Magic was hard, go figure, and it was far beyond Dot’s capabilities to teach herself its complexities by candlelight in the wee hours between dusk and dawn. With the right tutelage, she’s sure that will change.
Physical Description
Of average height, slight but leanly muscled, toss a little dirt on her cheeks and Dot looks the part of a rugged youth, despite having grown up in a literal castle. Her dark hair is chopped short, and she possesses a stony yet serene countenance, cracked only under pressure, or when given something sweet. Like her siblings, she carries almost none of her father’s hard features, and knows that before long she will look very much like her mother—a thought that thrilled her once, but no longer.
Her clothes are not quite rags, but are still simple and offer ease of movement. She wears cloaks often, having always favored the flowing nature they granted to her dancing, and now preferring how they obscure her movements. Hoods, gloves, and boots are also not uncommon, mainly because she owns little else, and she’s been instructed that more coverage is better.
It would be hard to see nobility in Dot at a glance, but in motion she displays a sort of grace unbefitting of street urchins. She doesn’t move like a knight, nor entirely like a dancer either, but rather in some awkward amalgamation of the two. Time and training may yet refine it into something effective and beautiful.
Character Conceptualization
Lord Heron Auferrum was a proud man, with a proud lineage and a proud legacy. He wore his family’s colors with pride, he ruled his subjects with pride, he combed his moustache with pride. The people of the Ferrous Shore were proud to call him lord, his sons were proud to call him father. At night he would stand in front of a mirror and tell himself just how proud he was to be Lord Heron Auferrum, and then he would climb into bed and dream that penitent Maria herself would descend to pat him on the head and say that she was proud of him too.
At least that’s how Dot imagined it from her hole in the castle.
Often times the lastborn child of nobility is doted upon, shirking all responsibility, but still managing to bask in the glory of their name and reap all its benefits. In a way that was true, Dot’s third brother was lazy and witless and did next to nothing and yet he would be recorded in the Auferrum records with beautiful marks.
Unlike him, though, Dot was a bastard.
Not Lord Heron’s bastard, no. His wife, the venerable Lady Lesca, had been exchanging love letters with an anonymous member of the Grayle family, and on a certain diplomatic visit to their neighbors, sealed them with a kiss.
At first this was not a problem. Despite Heron’s strong bloodline, all of his children most strongly resembled their mother, and Dot was no exception. It wasn’t until the discovery of her magical affinity that things took a turn for the worse. Her father was crestfallen, her mother was mortified, and two of her brothers were quick to write her out of the family. Adean, the middle brother, felt sorry for her and still called her sister, but as second in line his say was ignored.
Blessedly, no one outside of the immediate family knew, and Heron was desperate to keep it that way. He had his daughter confined. At the age of five, Dot’s world shrank to the size of her room, expanding only occasionally to other cramped areas of the castle. Her only visitors were the guards that brought her food, the tutors who disappeared if she told them her secret, her mother—though that became less and less frequent over the years—and daily visits from Adean. With few feasible hobbies, Dot spent a lot of time daydreaming about being free, seeing the world, living out the adventures in the books she hoarded. But eventually those dreams soured. Childlike wonder withered early for her, and she became moody and resentful of everyone, even Adean—though she always felt guilty when she snapped at him, and he always came back the next day anyway. Adean tried to ease the gloom. He taught her swordplay, and brought her to dance while the musicians practiced, when he could sneak her out, but for every bright moment he gave her, there were always hours of silence to follow.
Eventually he decided enough was enough. Dot wasn’t sure how exactly it happened, but her brother managed to leak her secret to the court, and from there it spread like wildfire. Lord Heron Auferrum, proud descendent of the penitent witch, renowned knight of Alexandria, had been cuckolded by the fucking Grayles. Mockery and contempt rained down upon their house, and in a matter of weeks their standing had begun to crumble. Heron raged, demanding duels from all those who darted impugn his honor, and though he managed to lay a few hecklers low on the field, the rest simply ignored him.
It was too much. Heron had his wife exiled, and in a fever of newfound hatred for his countrymen, sent Dot “back where she belonged.” Adean and the rest of her brothers were now the ones confined to the castle, until he could manage to find them suitable prospects for marriage so that he might, slowly, begin to rebuild the Auferrum name.
Armed with a humble pouch of coin, Dot was sent to Grayle as a “Grudge-Born-Gift,” which seemed in all practicality to be synonymous with “soon-to-be-prisoner” or, perhaps like her mother, “exile.” Alexandria despised her, and Grayle, she was sure, would carry no love for a bastard whose mere existence called the royal family’s honor into question. The only thing saving her from the gutters, or worse, living in another small room as a political hostage no one wanted, was her affinity for Light magic. Regardless of her dubious birth, turning away a rare gift, even one given out of spite, was surely unwise.
Dot found little resistance in her decision to try for knighthood. It seemed girls joining was something of an open secret, discouraged but not rigorously policed. “Cut your hair, wear baggy clothes,” they said, “and don’t piss around anyone.” It didn’t sound so tough, and for a brief moment Dot felt the world open up just a bit more.
But the feeling didn’t last. Dread was more familiar. She was used to closed doors, and it was only a matter of time before this one shut, too.
Other Information
Questions of Dot's parentage travel briefly up the chain of command before being stonewalled. Though her roots in the Grayle bloodline are undeniable, it would seem someone is protecting the identity of her father—or perhaps, protecting themselves.
Oh daaaaaamn, the interest blew up alright, an overabundance of players, aaah... both a blessing and a curse.
On a PC note, here is Liese's faceclaim in a dress.
A nice what-if thing coz' ICly, the only way you can get Liese to wear a dress is you'd need to kill them and dress their cold dead body in one. Still, they don't look half bad I'd say, but don't let Liese hear anyone saying that tho.
Well, for all the chatter in the OOC, we're only at 7 or so submitted character sheets, which is still within Fey's tolerance. Though once we surpass that range, I'm sure the cull will begin.
Well, for all the chatter in the OOC, we're only at 7 or so submitted character sheets, which is still within Fey's tolerance. Though once we surpass that range, I'm sure the cull will begin.
I think there are a few people who expressed interest still who haven't posted anything. Might be a small influx once the weekend rolls around and people have a little more time to get a CS wrapped up?
Regardless, it's a good crowd of characters so far.
Definitely working on something, looking to have my lot casted today once I finish my civil right of jury duty. Nice to see you guys still kicking @Feyblue@zeroth
Nice to see you again, Ken! I think that makes like, four more people we're waiting on for bios, then? After that, I'll make final judgments on how big I want this to be and try to decide on our final cast. Everybody's characters all seem really fun, so it's gonna be hard narrowing it down at all, meaning I'll probably be expanding the roster up to like 8 or so. I don't want to go too far beyond that, though, because I'm worried things will get bogged down in everybody trying to react to everybody else. Don't want to stall things out before they even begin.
At any rate, I'm super excited to begin this! I'm really happy to see how many people have been interested in this, and all the cool character concepts you guys have come up with. :3
Mostly over the flu, but caught Bronchitis immediately after. Still dealing with a persistent cough and some lingering headaches and stuff. Don't have a fever anymore, though, and my head's clearing out, so that's nice, at least.
@pkkenDifficult, but not impossible. Aura is, as some of the other bios have mentioned, sort of akin to being a "chosen one" in a lot of respects. Prominent omens and signs tend to appear in the stars at the time the person is born, signifying their favor and destining them for greatness -- that sort of thing. So, if you have the ability to use Aura, you've always had it in you, right from your very birth. You are, in short, quite literally built different.
However, just because one has been blessed with that sort of favor doesn't necessarily mean that using it comes to them naturally. It requires incredible focus, discipline, and commitment in order to manifest the power, which means that it could lay dormant for quite some time if the user has issues with confidence or self-control that serve as a stumbling block and prevent them from reaching the sort of zen state you need in order to pull the Aura out. In that sense, it's possible that their power could go untapped for a long time before they ever actually pull it off successfully, and others might not necessarily know or believe that they can use it.
@FeyblueI see it’s either you got it or you don’t there’s no “working your way” to it.
Another question I have is for Incantations. When it comes to casting this magic is it more so saying the name of the spell or are we chanting a set of words and charging up the spell before casting?
@pkken Probably varies on a case-by-case basis. Since they're all derived from things Aura users did in the past prior to the development of Incantations, it probably depends on how well-known and how complex the "story" you're trying to invoke is.
To compare it to a real-world example, if Incantations were a thing in our world, you could just say "Excalibur!" and voila, you've invoked the sharpness of perhaps the most well-known legendary sword in the world. You don't need to explain what it is or does in order for the spell to work and cleave through whatever you're swinging it at -- though "telling" some of that story anyway could make the spell even more powerful in exchange for a longer cast time. On the other hand, if you were invoking something really obscure, like, say, a rain of spears conjured up by the Valkyrie Kara in a half-lost poetic epic only fragments of which have survived, then there would probably be some explanation necessary -- a few lines of chanting to sort of set the stage for what it is you're trying to do and direct the collective memory to what, specifically, you're trying to call upon.
Obviously, the history and mythology of this world as I've told it is extremely bare-bones, so I'd encourage people using incantations to go a little wild and come up with some heroes and stories of their own to flesh out their repertoires of combat spells. But obviously, there's also always the classics to fall back on. Statistically speaking, somebody somewhere has thrown a fireball around, so that sort of spell doesn't really need a big flowery justification.
