Black Alice — Roleplayer Guild

The Legendary Witch...
Name: Margaret Beatrice Goldsmith
Titles: Granny Smith / The Wickedest Witch / Queen of Stars
Age: 21 (*cackles*)
Class: Terran (In-between)
Race: Witch

Appearance - Full Sized

Personality
"Here, child. Let me show you how it's done..."

Margaret is... old. The witches that are her wards see her as an ancient, immovable figure, and even they likely have no conception of how old she really is on the inside. 

She is a scholar, distant and curious, enveloped completely in her work. And yet she is kindly, and warm, like a Grandmother to entire generations of witches who have grown up and lived their entire lives around her. At times, she can be stern, at others fierce, and protective. And at other times still, she seems to change completely, filled with an unknowable madness that drives her into uncontrollable fits.

Her children do not see this side of her often. But when they do, it sticks with them for the rest of their lives.

She is a sly and smug woman, but she has earned this much. The same incredible feats in her past that have broken her and planted the seeds of insanity in her heart, are also the source of vast experience and wit. She shares this with all those she meets, enriching their lives with her breadth of knowledge and superiority.

She can be annoying, for sure. But nobody ever leaves a conversation with her without learning one thing or another. That's the kind of person she is. Always teaching, always learning. A true Witch at heart.

Biography
"The secret to my youth? I'm glad you asked..."

The path of a Witch is a short one for most. A twisting road punctuated with highs and lows, rights and wrongs, and eventually a blinding supernova before the inevitable fall into nothingness.

For most of the known history of her kind, this has been reality. That is a fact of life that Margaret, like the countless Queens of Stars before her, sought to change. It was a long quest, filled with equal measures of despair, peril and hope. Thanks to her efforts decades past, Witches in the Modern Era have a place to call home.

Her fight was over.

But her battle was not without its costs. Left wizened and carrying but the merest remaining spark of magic in her breast, Margaret used most of the rest of her power to restore her body. This was not out of vanity, or a desire to go back - rather, she did this for one, sole purpose. Her children, saved as they were, were still directionless. They needed guidance, a figure to walk among them and lead them on the path to the future.

For this reason, she couldn't die yet. She extended her own life through her sorcery, sacrificing much in the process so that she could be there for the people she had rescued from a destiny of suffering.

Notable Skills: Margaret is among the highest authorities on Earth when it comes to Magic and the Supernatural. But her specialty is not in the most arcane arts, which she views as little more than a sideshow - rather, she is a specialist in the field of the true occult. Summoning fiendish powers, leashing magical familiars and enchanted arsenals to her will, and weaving curses that act on strange principles. Those are the primary foundations that form her Magic.

Her mastery of the sorcerous arts are virtually without equal. Had she any more magical power than what is necessary to brew a cup of lukewarm tea, she would likely be a menace more than capable of trading blows with the strongest heralds of the demonic armies.

She doesn't, though. Despite her weakness, she remains an forceful deterrent against the enemies of Witches as a raw testament to her skill in manipulating the battlefield. She is a cunning opponent - employing a wide variety of tactics and magical pitfalls meant to confuse and scatter her opponents. The sight of their enemies being driven before her inspires her multitude of magical followers to give chase, crushing any resistance underneath sheer numbers and intricately woven hexcraft.

(TL;DR: She's a battle nut gone housewife. Learned in the magical arts she is, but she only really uses a few basic spells and curses. Would make a great Magical Lawyer.)
A Witch's skillset consists of two core paradigms: Practical Magic, and Everything Else. As a rule, the simpler the sorcery, the more useful it is in actual combat. This methodology is what embodies Margaret's teaching style, and her own personal skills.Foundational Sorcery: Simply put, an understanding of what Magic "is" and the application of minor manipulations of Magical concepts. Sometimes colloquially known as Low Magic, in contrast to the much vied after pedestal called High Magic. Simple and Low. To the uneducated masses, these are appropriate words for this area of expertise. For an experienced Witch, they are anything but. Foundational is a better word - sure, the Low Arts may be a stepping stone to greater acts of Magic, but they are far from without value. Remove them, and all Magic essentially collapses. They are to Magic, what Math is to Physics.

That all said, what does Foundational Sorcery actually apply to? It's very much the technical side of Magic. Identifying and reverse-engineering spells, tracking magical energy, employing minor Magic that isn't bound by distinct spells, understanding complicated magical concepts as well as the metaphysics surrounding magical beings and their supernatural abilities. These are all things covered by Low Magic. Margaret possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of Low Magic techniques - being one of the foremost scholars in the field. Her lectures on the topic are world-class.

Witch's Curses: The stuff of fairy tales, passed down solely through oral tradition and thought lost to the modern era of Witches. Margaret is one of the last surviving practitioners of this ancient art, and while a master she may be, her lack of raw power makes it rather unimpressive when used in the heat of battle. Only through careful planning and quite frankly abuse, can these archaic forms of Magic be used effectively. 

Much of what it covers is cursed poisons, but there are also weakening jinxes, sympathetic hexes and a variety of witchy self-enhancements. Its worth noting that these curses are only minutely effective against unwilling targets, but the definition of "willing" is quite loose, allowing room for deception to close the gap in power. Even when spectacularly weakened, the harm of curses applied many times over can build up surprisingly quickly, causing a sort of domino effect. Common application mediums include a menacing gaze, a wax idol with the victim's hair, or even small, seemingly mundane objects soaked overnight in a tincture of malice and magic.

Supposedly, these techniques are the secret behind Margaret's magically youthful form.

Contract Writing (Magical): The difficulty of writing all-encompassing, binding magical vows is infamously difficult. Even mortals know this much, whether its from stories of vengeful djinn misinterpreting wishes or even just mundane stories of lawyers circumventing expectations in order to exploit and trick ordinary, well-meaning people. 

As a Witch whose made a hobby of binding Demons, this is a skill that Margaret has had to hone carefully over many years before even putting it into practice. Her contracts are immaculate, and virtually impossible to break out of without fulfilling the conditions of the vow. To this date, not a single Demon has escaped her Geas, and she suspects that until the day she dies this will remain the case.

Arcane Fabrication: A blanket term for the collective fields of creating objects or beings with magic, as well as altering them for magical purposes. While it covers the creation of magical familiars or enchanted objects, it is most crucial for the creation of magical Grimoires that are capable of containing entire libraries worth of magic in a single book. This is Margaret's specialization, supplemented strongly by the rest of her arsenal of skills.

Also covers the in-depth knowledge of enchanted objects required for identifying and appraising magical artifacts of all sorts. Useful for those who collect magic items. 

Mundane Listings (Anything that doesn't necessitate an explanation)
Homekeeping skills, especially cooking.
Expert at teaching and lecture-giving, as well as raising children effectively. Makes a great Grandmother.
Ability to ride most beasts, wild or tame, as well as even the most specialized flying brooms. Can drive most modern vehicles successfully.
In-Depth knowledge of strategy and logistics, familiar with the ways of the battlefield from her time as a soldier.
Familiar with the lore of many different nations, and intimately aware of the intricacies of the mythos behind Angels and Demons as well as the supernatural world as a whole.
Natural fighter with many decades of combat experience with both supernatural and mundane opposition. Easily able to get a "feel" for combat, and predict and control what moves her opponents are going to use.

Equipment: Margaret's Magic arsenal is the primary focus of her strength, and makes up most of the methods she uses both for combat and for day-to-day existence. Seeing as she has very little magical power to work with, she has to make up for her deficiencies by utilizing a great number of powerful magical items and familiars. Worth mentioning first are the greatest of her magical accomplishments, her Witch's Cauldron and Witch's Hut - both of which could be considered world-class magical artifacts in their own right.

Witch's Cauldron: The size and shape of this seemingly simple cast-iron pot vary depending on the owner's needs, changing seamlessly from a pot that can be carried by hand to one large enough to fit multiple grown adults inside. The only constants are the colour (black), and the general image of being a cauldron. Even the trained eye would fail to find anything extraordinary about this piece of kitchenware... when observing it from the outside.

And if they were to look at it from the inside, it would already be too late.

Compartmentalized space, taken to its natural conclusion. The space inside of the cauldron goes beyond simply being larger than the outside suggests - it is its own place, existing in extra-dimensional space and abiding by only its own twisted and purposefully crafted rules of reality. It is essentially Margaret's own, personal little slice of reality, and it was crafted with certain cruel, devious intentions in mind.

The cauldron has a few primary functions. It can retrieve anything stored within its pocket space and immediately transfer it to the "mouth", or the simple physical space the real-world cauldron contains within. This is useful for cooking, as Margaret can simply store the ingredients she needs in the cauldron's dimensional space and then summon them into her food as she wills it. Naturally, she can control what is "swallowed" by the cauldron, and what is allowed to sit in the "mouth" to be cooked.

While its contents can be summoned freely, Margaret's cauldron is a greedy, gluttonous thing that has no desire to let anything it eats free. To accomplish this, the space itself has taken on certain qualities that entrap and ensnare those caught within. Victims find themselves in a fairy tale-like fantasy world, made almost entirely of candy and edible plantlife. The foodstuffs are, in actuality, the crystallized sins of the observing entities - taken, and re-purposed using foul, witchy magic. They are virtually irresistible, and taking just a single bite is enough to lead one into an endless cycle of gluttony and indulgence. This makes it extremely effective against Humans and Demons especially, but not nearly so effective against beings of inhuman or divine origins.

Once a being has partaken of the cauldron's forbidden fruits, they begin to experience an almost magnetic attraction to the strange, twisted cauldron-world. Upon dying, their spirit will be naturally drawn to the fairy tale utopia they once walked. If they are unable to resist the call of the sweets, and they allow their souls to drift into the cauldron, there they will remain - trapped, deep in the belly of the witch's pot.

Forevermore.

Witch's Hut: Perhaps, once upon a time Margaret's hut was just an ordinary, hand-built house. Whatever it once was, it shares no qualities whatsoever besides its appearance with its original form. It is an enchanted object that has reached the level of a Magical Beast, attaining both the power of thought and the ability to move under its own power. It is, essentially, a living thing.

Appearing as a quaint little wooden home, it sprouts massive legs like tree trunks whenever it needs to move. These legs allow the hut to move with incredible speed and endurance, towering over anyone walking on the ground. So great is its strength that it can support the entirety of its weight with just one leg, and use the other one to attack or manipulate objects freely. Its chimney produces a constant, slow trickle of smoke, growing more fierce when the hut is excited or under great stress.

The interior is definitely larger than it might appear from the outside. It is homey, and comfortable enough even while the hut is in motion. The fireplace is ever ablaze with a steady flame, and if you watch very closely, you can even see the fire of the hearth subtly pulsing in rhythm with what can only be described as the house's heartbeat.

It is a hut of many secrets, and some of its magical qualities remain a mystery even to Margaret herself. It is intensely loyal to her, and will defend her ferociously when it senses she is threatened.

(Beyond her two greatest artifacts, Margaret possesses her own personal Grimoire, her broom, and an arsenal of minor artifacts to supplement her skills. They are as follows.)
(It's worth noting that Margaret carries a large collection of generic, not especially powerful magical items in her hut, as well as mundane amenities of all varieties.)Faera Luna: Margaret's magic broom, which she found drifting in the river one day and has carried with her ever since. There is a fairy inside, sealed there by a priest of the Holy Church after it pulled a series of devilish pranks on a local farmer. Carried away and left for dead, Margaret was the one who fixed her up and helped her come to terms with her fate. Something of an adopted daughter to the elderly Witch.

As a broom, Faera Luna is very high ranked. She's swift to the extreme, able to act on her own, and her bristles can release a fine, sparkling powder that renders objects weightless. She is vulnerable to damage, however, and likely could never be repaired if hurt severely. Additionally, her magic reserves - while larger than Margaret's, are still too low to sustain high speed flight for longer than a few minutes. For long-distance or general sustained flight, she takes on a much more efficient, low-speed mode. She can hover even at the lowest magic reserves, preventing her from falling to her demise.

Because Faera Luna reacts instinctively to Margaret's movements, the Witch is never at risk of falling off. Her balance and handling are faultless to a margin nearly indistinguishable from zero.

Magique Cookbook: An oversized, and frustratingly heavy Grimoire that would seem to have to be carried with two hands, and yet somehow manages to be carried as if weightless by its true owner. Contains all of Margaret's witchy recipes, which can be retrieved and recalled flawlessly at a single touch of magical energy. The number of recipes and magical foundations contained in the Grimoire are as to be expected, somewhere in the tens of thousands, covering all of the traditional dishes of Margaret's homeland as well as those traditionally associated with Witches and the witchy arts.

Many of the foods produced using these techniques are magical in nature, possessing qualities beyond what Margaret could manually endow on food using her current magical abilities. The Grimoire essentially cuts out the need for months of complex spellcasting, hastening the process of some of her greatest rituals so that they can be preformed pretty much overnight under most circumstances.

(Some excerpts from the most used pages of the Magique Cookbook)
Bad Egg
~Ingredients~
1x Egg (Preferably chicken. The larger the better.)
1x Demon's soul (Any class works. Higher quality souls will result in...abnormalities.)
100mg Powdered Moonstone (Optional.)
~Instructions~
1. Softboil one or more eggs carefully over witchflame, while the moon is in the sky. (Moonstone works, but results in runty Bad Eggs.)
2. Utilize the ritual preparations detailed in chapter nine hundred and seventy five to prepare the eggs for transplant.
3. As the eggs finish cooking, simultaneously plant an equal portion of souls into the center of each used egg. Timing must be perfect. Be sure to inscribe any curses into the shell shortly after imprinting.
4. Place eggs in a dark space, such as a cupboard or underneath a bed overnight. Do not check on, under any circumstances.
5. After sunrise, remove eggs from the dark space. They should have sprouted eyes and consciousness. If not, crush underfoot and try again the next evening with the same souls. Place any remains in the fireplace.
6. If instructions were followed thoroughly, the result should be a disposable familiar with the body of an egg and the malice and intelligence of the source demon.
Note: Monitor closely over a few weeks after creation. Familiar should sprout legs after 1-2 weeks, and will experience constant evolution as the vessel egg decomposes. After about a month, nothing of the original egg should remain, although the appearance will not change. Test by tapping lightly with a hammer.

Gingerbread Beasts
~Ingredients~
(Additionally use the ingredients listed in chapter 12 for "Granny's Home-made Gingerbread")
5mg ground apple seeds
10mg finely chopped mandrake root
~Instructions~
1. Begin preparation as normal, before sunset. Include half of the chopped mandrake with the flour and spices. Do not inhale powdered ingredients after this point.
2. Mix ingredients, adding apple seeds and remaining mandrake while cooing motherly nothings into the mixture. If you can't think of anything, just hum a lullaby.
3. Use minor magic listed with gingerbread recipe to speed up the settling process of the dough. Be sure to whisper encouragement to the dough the entire time, do not stop except to breathe.
4. Once dough has reached the desired consistency, roll the dough and use a silver dagger to cut the cookies into the shapes you require, imagining them clearly with each slice. After each cookie is cut, kiss its forehead and give it a name. Do not forget their names.
5. Place into preheated witchfire oven and sit with them while they cook. It will take much longer than usual,
be sure not to stop whispering comforting words to the cookies while they bake.
6. They will be finished cooking at sunrise the next morning. Remove them from the oven, greet each one by name and allow them to accustom themselves to you at their own pace.
7. The result should be a disposable and highly loyal familiar. Useful for a variety of tasks, due to their intelligence and various shapes. They are prone to jealousy, however. Do not eat them, do not allow them around small children, take care never to forget their names.
Note: In the event of one of your gingerbread familiars dying, do not allow the others to eat their corpse. Throw the remains into the fireplace.

Granny's Signature Jack-o-Lanterns
~Materials~
Fresh pumpkins (Preferably grown in a cemetery. The larger the better.)
Witchfire Twig (Try your birth tree firstmost, unless its Oak. Yew always works well.)
Ashes of the deceased (Optional. Stronger, but less stable.)
~Directions~
1. Take your pumpkins outdoors on a moonlit night. (Preferably a full or blood moon. Works best in October.)
2. Whisper words of rousing into the night air, directed towards whichever patrons you choose. Take out your silver dagger and a spoon, and begin gutting your pumpkins. Save the seeds for later.
3. Once you've cleaned the pumpkin, begin carving them into distinctive facial expressions. Make them as spooky and varied as you would like, but make sure they're still recognizable as faces.
4. Place a blade of grass in the center of the pumpkin, and transfer the Witchfire to it. Also pour in the ashes, if you decided to use them.
5. Speak the words of ritual listed in the attached document, spill your own or another's blood over the foreheads of each lantern.
6. Once they start talking, you've done it right.
7. Happy Halloween! You should have a nice little patch of lanterns that are able to spot intruders and shout in alarm if necessarily, or scare of nosey kids trying to party crash your witchy rituals.
Note: You can use the seeds with Granny's Signature Pumpkin-Patch Spell to produce more pumpkins for further lanterns, or use them as reagents for a few of her other Halloween-themed recipes. Baked, they also make great snacks!
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