Blizz

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Jack Hawthorne

"I have been away for far too long..."

_______________________________________________ Jack Hawthorne He/Him | 29 | White | 5'9" | 178lbs _______________________________________________ Wise _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "Interdimensional traveler, master of magic, and friend in dark places, at your service." ___________________________________ [+] Loremaster ⫻ Jack has been to many places, met many people, and seen many things. Through his travels, he has encountered virtually every form the Paranormal can take, including the abominable things that aren't normally seen in Shimmer. Give him a minute to think, and he'll likely have many answers to a mystery. Jack's personal favorite subject is the way magic is used by people, and he always dozens of spells for all manners of Abstraction wrote down somewhere, that he can hook others up with if they're looking for something to add to their playbook. Like a mad scientist, most people can simply ask Jack for pointers and he'll throw them dozens. Pokerface ⫻ Jack plays a mean hand. You'll never be too certain if he's cheating or if he's just outmatching you with raw skill once the cards are broken out. This certainly helps when money is at stake, but Jack is also pretty difficult to get an accurate read on, as he doesn't give away any cues when lying. No quiet words, no lack of eye contact, he lies through his teeth like a politician. Musician ⫻ Maybe it's the magic fingers, but Jack can play a guitar well enough to impress a crowd on a stage. Most of what he plays is gloomy, gothic music that flips between mellow and heavy with little in between. Sneaky ⫻ It turns out that being a shadow wizard lends well to staying hidden. Jack has a talent for concealing his presence, and remaining undetected by most people with or without magic. He can get the drop on people better than most, and throw off anybody from crazed witch hunters to the PRA with little trouble. Resourceful ⫻ Sometimes you need to patch stab wounds, and sometimes you don't have a first-aid kit. Sometimes your car broke down but you don't have anything to fix the radiator. Jack's good at finding ways to get around most material needs, and is crafty enough that he can survive where most would perish. When winter comes and all you have is an old kerosene space heater to stay warm, Jack will cook a great breakfast using a pot, a circular pan, and a roll of aluminum foil (or a water bottle instead) as if the stove worked just fine.

Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "The Void is cold, around this time of year." Jack stands at 5’9” and always seems to be dressed for winter. Trench coats, wool pants, combat boots, the works. He wears multiple layers to keep himself warm in the cold, but also for the purposes of magic. Jack could easily pass himself off as someone’s eccentric college professor just by his fashion choices. He hasn’t cut his hair in ages, and always has it like a black, shoulder length, frazzled mess that has a mind of its own. Under all of his layers, one would find dozens of scars from cuts, burns, and other forms of damage. One that sticks out most is the destroyed remains of his left shoulder, which still aches from time to time. In place of it, Jack has a hand and arm that are made entirely from magical darkness.

_{Psychology
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"I'm not like other Adepts."

MAIN GOAL ⫻ Jack doesn't have a damn clue what he's doing with himself these days. He doesn't have a goal that directs where he goes, and as such, he goes wherever he wishes. But having heard about the recent murders of his home, he has taken it upon himself to do what he can to help, even if he could put infinite distance between himself and St. Portwell.

PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Nothing will last forever. Not the good times, not the bad ones, and everything has its season. Jack believes that just because some things are not meant to be now doesn't mean they won't have a place in the world later. So he chooses to enjoy the world as a whole while he occupies it, knowing that he won't do so forever. Jack goes where life takes him, never in a hurry to live too fast. There is a time and a place when it is appropriate to push against the direction that fate is pulling you in, and there is a time to flow with the current, and Jack believes it is best to help those who are drowning as they do either.

SECRETS ⫻ While it isn't the most immediately dire secret, Jack prefers to keep the details of his world-hopping magic close to the chest. It's old news among the coven that he found a way to make this travel nigh effortless, but Jack isn't particularly eager to teach someone else how it works. If the wrong entity learned that spell, it could cause some problems.

SEXUALITY ⫻ Homosexual, as far as he's aware, anyway.

FEARS ⫻ You would think someone who wanders a realm of eldritch horrors like its a sidewalk would fear absolutely nothing. But honestly? Jack is scared of drowning.

REPUTATION IN OLD COVEN ⫻ Jack was always seen as a bit of a nerd. He was more fascinated by magic and the way it worked than most people. He'd always be found pouring over books and making up new spells for the sake of curiosity. Most of these spells turned out to be hits and misses, but Jack was always the one other Adepts went to when they needed a bit of advice on how to go about using magic.

ROLE IN THE BATTLE AGAINST THE STYGIAN SNAKE ⫻ Sometimes you've got to fight fire with fire. It was almost uncanny, the way the Stygian Snake seemed to mimic his own magic. Hiding in shadows, snuffing out the sun with a thought, warping the fabric of reality and more. Jack theorized at one point that the Stygian Snake was some manner of human twisted into an Aberration, as the things it could do were unsettlingly similar to the things he could do. Jack helped find the Apparition Killer, and joined the coven members who went to retrieve it, leveraging his purple Lux to ensure their safe passage back to Shimmer. During the fight against the Stygian Snake, Jack followed it into the shadows beyond the normal world, ensuring it had no peace and that his comrades were kept up to date after time was warped. He was injured during one of these jumps, costing him an arm and most of his left shoulder.

FLAWS ⫻ Above all else, Jack is proud of his magical capabilities. He has just a bit of an ego when it comes to his accomplishments and what he’s discovered, and he’s not afraid to back that up. But beyond that, he had trouble with staying convicted in things. He’ll pack up and leave if he can’t see things working out, before a conclusion is in sight.

Jack is also, for lack of a better term, out of time. In the Void, time does not flow. He has inadvertently displaced himself to an extent, not being as caught up on events as others. The Void has also eroded parts of him, he can’t remember most of his life before the coven, and he hasn’t had a proper night’s sleep in a decade.

_{Backstory
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"We broke a demigod. What more needs to be said?"

When he was young, Jack had a kindling event that felt like a dream. It's hard to remember that far back, due to the Void's effects on his mind, but he remembers seeing visions of a horse one minute, and of a bull the next. His homelife was questionable at best, so once he started grasping magic, Jack just ran and ran. He never looked back, since it just felt right to him. The important events begin shortly after he discovered a certain snake terrorizing the mortal world. Ashley Stone and the Sycamore Coven ran into him, and from here he connected with the paranormal world. He met likeminded people and dove deep into studying all that he could, hoping to understand magic on a deeper level and use his shadowy magic against that of the Stygian Snake's days were spent pouring over books and scouting out the city at night, to the concern of a few coven members. No one was entirely sure where he came from or when he’d stop learning so much, but it worked out in the long run, as the Stygian Snake was one day banished into the coven’s namesake. Everything was fine, until it wasn’t.

The coven began falling apart in the following weeks. Leadership lost faith, people couldn’t agree on what they should do with the coven, and some just wanted to move on. Jack personally believed the coven should’ve dedicated itself to protecting St. Portwell from other supernatural threats, not just the ones that reversed time and his in shadows. B t it was never meant to last, so having learned to compensate for the lack of a left hand, Jack made plans to find greener pastures. He packed his things and assured his friends in the coven that he’d keep in touch. On the day he set out, Jack finally broke out the spell that, to this day, is considered his magnum opus: A portal into the Void. Some of the coven members were skeptical, but it worked. He said his goodbyes, opened the portal, and he was gone.

The Void is many things to many people. A land of nightmares, a place that does not exist, or even a purgatory. But to Jack, it was nothing short of magnificent. The horrors of the Void were not so horrific to him, and as the portal snapped shut, Jack hoped he’d stay a while. He wandered with fascination, embracing the eldritch nature of this world and learned so much. Jack stared incomprehensible entities in the eyes, dredged up remnants of distant universes and slept peacefully every night. Any other person would succumb to madness, but not him. He rebelled in this. The god of the Void, an entity known simply as the Child one day crossed paths with Jack. The Child found Jack’s amicability towards incomprehensible nightmares baffling, and decided to send him home after a conversation. When Jack returned to Shimmer, he discovered that time passed differently- He thought he was only gone for two days, but he was actually gone for a month.

He found this fascinating, but decided to spend a some time in Shimmer. But Jack could never simply let things be. Eventually, he trespassed again. The Child eventually got fed up with him, and left Jack to fend for himself. This was the cycle of Jack’s life for the next decade: Enter the Void, explore and bask in the horrific majesty of it, and return home for a while. During his time in Shimmer, he travelled just as extensively, seeing the world and all it had to offer. But in the Void, time got further and further away from him. They say time flies, but ten years passed in what should’ve only been two, or even three. It shouldn’t have surprised him, then, when Auri managed to find him and was very surprised that he never checked in. Ten years, and no one heard a word out of him back home. She called him for help, explaining that the old coven members were slowly being picked off from all over the world. Concerned, and happy to reconnect with old friends, Jack got a location and planned a trip back home.

_{Abstraction
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"Do not fear the darkness. Fear what lurks inside it."

TYPE ⫻ Adept

ABSTRACTION ⫻ Red-Purple Lux. Jack's channeler is a curious book.

ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ Jack blurs the lines between red and purple Lux into a form unique to him, allowing him to weave supernatural darkness into a variety of spells that allow him to manipulate his surroundings, protect people, and trespass into the Void. Jack is always lurking around every corner, in every shadow, only to be vanish like a ghost in the night.

Voidwalk ⫻ The spell that Jack considers his greatest work. As a kid, Jack developed a way to open up a doorway directly into the Void, and back into Shimmer. Doing this displaces him chronologically, meaning he could spend what feels like a day on the other side, but actually return several days later. The exact details of how he achieved this are a mystery. To open a portal, Jack requires several minutes to focus in a dimly lit area. During this time, he uses his shadowy red Lux to pull away at the "net" between worlds. The portal can only stay open for a few seconds at a time, after which the proverbial net will snap back like a rubber band. This spell is based on the concept of the Gloomy Step, and as a result of this, he can pick and choose certain regions of the Void to enter. One such region is a place he calls the Shadowzone, an area that is relatively untouched by the horrors of the Void, where Jack lives during his extended trips. If Jack does not actively decide where he wants to go in the Void, then his portal will place him somewhere at random.

Blackout Shift ⫻ A new spell that Jack has been inspired to create, thanks to a certain Blue-Orange Adept's magic. Jack marks a specific object with his magic, and can instantaneously teleport that object into his hands from anywhere in the All-Verse. The object must be inanimate, and must be something that a person can reasonably hold with one or two hands. Shadow marks may also be used to set up two-way transportation of objects, and marks can be used to indefinitely move the objects they are attached to. Jack can have up to four active marks at a time, and creating a fifth one destroys the oldest existing mark.

Umbramancy ⫻ The oldest form of Jack's Abstraction is the ability to transform otherwise normal darkness into something tangible through red Lux, within roughly 100 feet. He can pull a shadow off the wall, and shape it into strictly solid objects, use it to blind others or play tricks on someone. This expression of his Lux partly explains the amount of layers he tends to wear, as the shadows under his clothes make for a quick and dirty source of power. Jack can also create darkness, dimming down a normally well-lit room to the point that it becomes difficult to see. The light that would be rendered nonexistent by this magic does not go away permanently, Jack doesn't destroy light sources. Rather, he simply replaces it with magical darkness, meaning lights will return to normal when he wants them to, almost like something out of a horror movie. When Jack makes something solid out of shadows, it has about as much durability as hardwood. You could swing a hammer at them and you might not punch a hole through them but a gun would shoot right through.

Jack has a few specific Umbramancy tricks, to round out the broad nature of the spell.

Shroud ⫻ Jack throws a small orb of darkness that clings to the first person it hits, enveloping them in black smoke. This acts as a form of sensory deprivation, blinding the target and cutting them off from the sounds of the outside world. All they can hear is the sound of something grinding and churning against their ears, and all they can see is pitch black. This doesn't restrict movements, and lasts for only a few seconds in bright light. The Shroud lasts notably longer in dark places, but can be physically ripped away by someone under its effect, by tearing it off in chunks.

Reaper's Blade ⫻ One of the spells Jack regularly used to fight back against the Stygian Snake and its army. It is a scythe made of solidified shadows, sharp enough to cut through concrete and capable of doing significant damage to some apparitions, if they are vulnerable to Adept magic. The scythe is functionally weightless, and Jack can control the use of it with telekinetic precision when in a close range fight. This was the spell that branded him the resident edgelord of the coven.

Grasp of Nothing ⫻ Jack turns the shadows around him into a mass of arms that attack from every angle, clawing and scratching at whatever they can to wear targets down. When possible, these arms will try to lock someone down, but the spell gets weaker as the distance between the target and Jack grows.

Night Terror ⫻ Jack surrounds himself in a veil of shadows, letting him blend in with the darkness almost like a chameleon. In the right conditions, someone who managed to spot Jack would simply see a black, smoky silhouette of a person. This serves as both a method of concealment, and as a way to scare the living shit out of someone. Night Terror is not armor, and doesn’t provide any physical protection. But since it’s an Umbramancy technique, Jack can telekinetically make himself faster in the darkness.

In bright light, the Night Terror spell is effectively useless. Its main appeal is for situations that require stealth and evasion, and neither of those things come into play when Jack is out in the open.

Gloomy Step ⫻ If Jack can find a particularly dark area, he can walk into it to vanish on a whim, and appear at an exit point of his choosing. He has to picture this place in his mind, meaning he needs to have been there before, or have a picture of it that he can commit to memory. This means that Jack can suddenly appear on the other side of St. Portwell, but he can’t appear in Dollhouse’s basement. The only factor that Jack has to really consider with Gloomy Step is the light. He just be in a dark area to teleport, and it doesn’t stop him from teleporting to a bright area, but doing so would be a one-way trip.

Shadow Hand ⫻ Less a spell, and more a permanent replacement for the arm he lost during the battle with the Stygian Snake. Jack's left arm is made of magic darkness, and feels like solid rock when touched. He could use it to punch through windows and not feel a thing, crush tin cans with it, and carry things that would be too awkward to lift for others. The advantages stop there, since having a fake hand isn't the same as being supernaturally strong. It also makes blending in slightly challenging, since people tend to notice when your hand is solid black. The Blind, however, perceive his arm as flesh and blood at a glance. A closer inspection would reveal that the hand appears fake, as if made of plastic, implying something strange at hand. (Get it?)

Moonfoot Assassins ⫻ The elite assassins of the Toad Emperor's ranks. The Moonfoot clan are mysterious toads that can only be summoned with a joint cast between Jack Hawthorne and Kenshiro Murakin. These shadowy killers move through the darkness unseen, and can strike in the blink of an eye. The shadows bend to their will in a way similar to Jack's Umbramancy. They are tall, wispy toads with skin black as a starless sky. This spell summons five Moonfoot Assassins, equipped with various killing weapons.

FASTER THAN A SHADOW ⫻ Jack take's Aryin's hand into his own, and supercharges her with both colors of his Lux. This grants Aryin a layer of shadowy armor that makes her close to weightless, and able to shrug off some magical attacks. This is essentially the Night Terror spell given a boost with Ayrin's green Lux to compensate for Aryin's lack of mobility, and allows her to move absurdly fast. Certain attacks, such as sharp blades or acid will bounce right off of the shadow armor.

DARKNESS, FALL UPON THEM ⫻ A spell designed to get rid a things that can't be punched or sliced into submission. Jack channels purple Lux into Aaron's Spirit Bomb, turning it into a wormhole of tangled space. When this bomb is thrown, anyone and anything caught in the blast is cast out into a random place far from the point of contact. It could be a hundred feet away, or it could be a mile away. This displacement can be extremely disorienting for those who get caught, since it feels like getting flashbanged.

LIMITS ⫻ Jack's Abstraction comes with the territory of staying concealed and staying mobile. Intense light effectively starves him of his ability to use most of his magic. Put him on a beach at midday and the best he can do is start looking for shade. In worse cases, the poor bastard can't even open a water bottle, having lost a hand to the sun.

WEAKNESSES ⫻ The Void is easily the most dangerous element that is known, home to unimaginable horrors and God-like Eldritch abominations. Opening a door there can end badly if he uses it willy-nilly, and something can come through - or quickly kill him if they will it. Umbramancy is countered by light-based magic or magic that generates light, which means Photomancy hard-counters his Umbramancy, and the constructs are far easier to destroy with magic. The Gloomy Step does not indicate what is on the other side and can leave him in a sticky situation if he does it willy-nilly. Light-based magic can, again, render him unable to teleport altogether, if he's being exposed to it.

Also, people will make fun of him for how edgy he is.

WEAKNESSES ⫻
Voidwalk ⫻ The Void is easily the most dangerous location that is known in the setting, home to unimaginable horrors and God-like Eldritch abominations. Opening a door there can end badly if he uses it willy-nilly, and something can come through - or kill him. Jack is vulnerable while casting it and has to remain immobile, making him an easy target. The portal can only remain open briefly because the act saps away at his strength the longer it stays open. Jack will pass out afterward if the portal is large or remains open for over three minutes. Jack requires the Black Star to navigate the Void properly, and if it's damaged/broken, then his mind will be at risk.

Blackout Shift ⫻ A mark can be destroyed by an intense light, such as from an abstraction or mundane means. The mark retains its momentum and can tear its hand off if the object is in motion.

Umbramancy ⫻ Extremely bright locations make it impossible to use this discipline of magic. Umbramancy is countered by light-based magic, or magic that generates light, which means Photomancy hard-counters his Umbramancy. The constructs are far easier to destroy with magic. Using his Umbramancy gradually darkens his vision, and after an intense fight, Jack is effectively blind.

Gloomy Step ⫻ Overusing the Gloomy-Step makes Jack incredibly disoriented and dizzy and can eventually cause some intense nausea. The Gloomy Step does not indicate what is on the other side and can leave him in a sticky situation if he does it willy-nilly. Light-based magic can, again, render him unable to teleport altogether if he's being exposed to it.

^{Other
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"I should have come home sooner."

Anyyyything else?

The Black Star

"Reality calcified, time and space crystalized. Entropy made manifest. Don't lose it out there." .................................................................................

. . When Jack Hawthorne first entered the Void, he was vulnerable to its influence like anyone else. The horrors of unreality fascinated him, but a fascination didn’t stop his mind from fraying at the seams. He was lucky to have only caught a glimpse of them, but Jack knew deep down that he would not be satisfied without deeper answers for long. He drifted through the Void’s shallows, learning what he could before he could no longer safely study anything new. It frustrated him, not being able to venture further. So he returned to Shimmer, and sought answers back in familiar territory. Scouring through books, secluded libraries and the paranormal scenes of the country, Jack’s pursuit eventually led him to the doorstep of a man who called himself Mortimer Zapata. In exchange for a written copy of all the knowledge Jack had acquired in his life, as well as Jack’s discretion, Mortimer worked his magic to create a special object to accommodate Jack’s incursions into the Void.

The Black Star is a non-Abstraction granting artifact created by Orange Lux. It is a small amulet made of polished black jade, rose gold, and African blackwood. Whoever wears it is rendered entirely immune to the harmful effects of the Void, allowing the mind to heal the worst of its damage. The Black Star’s protection even diminishes the effects of what Jack calls “Void Exposure,” or the mental erosion caused by the denizens of the Void. The artifact wards them off, acting as a deterrent so long as the user does not actively aggress or agitate the horrors. Anyone can benefit from the Black Star regardless of their Abstraction, but the artifact requires a brief period to “calibrate” itself to the unique emotional field of every person that wears it for the first time. This means that a person can wear the Black Star and still be ruined by exposure to the Void if they are not aware of its nuances.

The Eleventh Path

ELEVENTH.PATH
............................................................ "A sanctuary between the stars."	In the absence of a safe place in which they could work and hide from the dangers of St. Portwell, Jack Hawthorne, Kenshiro Murakin, and Emperor Tennogama put their capabilities together to create a pocket dimension. Nestled between the boundaries of the All-Verse's realms, the Eleventh Path is a manifestation of their work, and a mix of two very different aesthetics. The exterior is a simple japanese estate, with a long staircase of stone leaning down to an open field. The surroundings are dense, lush foliage of moss and trees, resting atop a sheer cliff of vibrant stone. The sky above the Eleventh Path is the All-Verse itself, flowing around the space like water around heavy rocks. One can stare into the open air and see all of the cosmos swirling within their view, held at bay by the work that went into the sanctuary. The interior of the building consists of two floors, each containing of rooms tethered to the “anchor” or the foundation, that can be reshaped and rearranged however Jack or Kenshiro choose, using their purple Lux. The first floor contains a library, private areas for Jack and Ken, and a meeting room for others to gather and plan their actions.

To a guest, or a potential intruder, this area might seem like little more than fancy decoration. But this is a trick to mislead. The Eleventh Path is a place created by purple Lux, meaning it can be folded in on itself like origami to conceal other areas. One of the several windows in this area unfurls to reveal a circular storage area, intended to house artifacts and other objects of interest. The only way in or out of this space is to distort the reality with purple Lux, something only Jack and Ken are normally capable of. On the first floor, there is a large staircase of stone leading downwards and out to a secluded walkway. Beyond a massive torii gate adorned with toad carvings lies a humid, damp field of moss and scattered pools. These stone springs are the resting place of the Toad Emperor, who spends his days in peace alongside his royal subjects who tend to, and defend the Eleventh Path as needed.

In order to enter the Eleventh Path, one must be granted access by either Jack or Kenshiro. This will put them on a whitelist, guaranteeing them safe passage so long as either of the two consent to their presence. In accordance with the contract that was made to build the space, no one is permitted to be there unless Jack or Kenshiro are present with them.

Jack’s Memories of What Once Was

Britney.Williams
"I owe it all to you." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	You were the first one who showed me that magic holds infinite potential. It was your wisdom and knowledge that led me down the path to who I am. I shouldn’t have left so soon. You were hated by everyone, and I could have stood by your side. I know that you're a better person now, than you were back then. I want to believe that you and Luca can settle your differences, one day. I believe you will. Reza would be proud of you.
Drake.Blackmore
“What would she say if she saw you hurting one of us?" _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	I know that you are grieving. Jade was kind, and we were all made better by her presence, but we are your friends. It is not our fault, and you need to understand that some things can’t be avoided. You are not to blame for her death, and I hope you can come to terms with that. You are still my friend, Drake.
Alizée.Altieri
"I couldn’t save you, even now. Please, forgive me." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	You understood. You knew what the Void could hold better than even I did back then. You were in pain, you needed help. You needed someone to tear the Void Heart away, and yet everyone treated you like a monster. I know you were better than that. If I had stayed, I could've helped you. I could've found a way to free you from his grasp. Ten years, and I wasted it all. You can let go now, my friend.
"Lyss".Burns
"We're much safer with you on our side. Thank you for coming back." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	Your army held back the tide of apparitions long enough for us to take back the city, and we were never outnumbered thanks to you. I don't blame you for leaving once we were finished. I feel safer, knowing we have someone with us who can raise the dead once again.
Linqian.Han
"I owed both of you my life. You weren't as hated back then as you think." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	Without you, the Stygian Snake wouldn't have been sealed away. That was your achievement. Not Jinhai's, yours. You were crucial to our success, and you were never in his shadow. I respect you for what you've done. And if I find Father Wolf before you, I will drag him to your doorstep, kicking and screaming. You'll be the first to know.
Luca.Oliviera
”I will find a way to rip that thing away from you, if it kills me." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	You never asked for this. How much suffering did you endure through all these years? You were always a kind friend to us all, and no one can rightfully blame you for the hate you felt. I didn't cause this, but you are my friend. I will find a way to sever the Rot from you so that you can live your life in peace. There is always a way. I can tear open holes in reality without a passing thought, I can get rid of an apparition.
Tayla.Choi
"This doesn’t have to be your fight. It isn’t fair to you." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	You severed your Lux and left because you wanted nothing to do with us. Your life was more important to you, as it should be. I don't think I can say anything to you that would make you feel comfortable around us after everything you've experienced, but you were one of us once. That is enough justification to come to your aid, should you need it.
"Edict".Devola
”Every snake has its fangs." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	I still have a few of those books you "acquired" from the old days. You did what you had to do for all of us. You might be fickle, but we owe you for your contributions. I have very little that you could steal, so it costs me nothing to associate with you. Just refrain from using that magic of yours, because I will know if you try.
Clancy.Patrick
"What did Ashley Stone tell him of us?" _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	I don't know you, but you knew Ashley. Perhaps fate brought us together to avenge her as one. I wonder where you'll go once we've seen this through. You're clever to have made it this far, and very dangerous. I hope you truly are on our side.
"Sully".McPherson
"Perhaps I should have joined more of your gatherings, back then. If we survive this, I’ll drink you under the table." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	I don't know how long we would have all stayed together, if it weren't for you. You're the sun to an endless night, Sully. The Chalice saved our lives so many times, I've lost count. I was often too busy studying and plotting escape routes to join you, and I regret not bonding with you more. I hope that bridge hasn't been burned.
Leon.Richoux
"You eased her pain, by being there when I abandoned you all. Thank you." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	I want to hate you. I want to cave your skull inwards, and hang you from the highest point of your Temple by your intestines. And yet, I cannot bring myself to. Your cult worships the Void Heart, the very thing that plagued Alizee for so long, but you were here for her. I left her to fend for herself, left all of you to settle things without me. I believe she was happier, knowing at least one of us was by her side. You did more for her in my absence than I could have done for anybody in the decade that I spent away from Shimmer. And for that, I can forgive you.
Anya.Baksh
"You are still welcome in my dreams, if you can mind the horrors." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	How many times did you laugh silently as I almost fell into the Pit, trying to open a door to the Void? I'm glad you are still alive, my friend. I have discovered countless spells that you'll be thrilled to learn. My channeler, the spellbook I kept close? I have still never reached the last page. I wonder what you'll think of the spell I'm trying to develop now...
Adora.Phoenix-Prescott
"You are more than the power in those rings. The Trinity did not make you a beacon of hope in our darkest days, and yet we looked to you for strength." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	Let me tell you something about the paranormal, Adora. It can move mountains, raise legions of corpses from the cold sleep of death, and take us to places no human being was meant to witness. And yet, it did not make you who you are. Your magic bludgeoned a demigod, but you set an example for the rest of us. I know that Lisa died proud of your actions, you deserve to forgive yourself. There is more to your story, and you need only to turn the page.
Layla.Hyacinthus
"You will understand, some day." _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	If they lay so much as a finger on you with the feintest trace of ill intent, I will scatter their ashes across the All-Verse and make all the Lux Ancestors tremble in fear. I will not let you suffer the same fate as Alizee, and no one in this godforsaken reality will stop me. Not even you.
Sloane.Faris
“Would you believe me if I told you just how often I dwell on what could have been?" _______________________________________________ ...................................................................	I always wanted to protect St. Portwell, I always wanted to push the coven in the direction of a lasting entity that kept people safe from the nightmares we fought. I tried to make the coven work, and so did you. But one day, I came to the bitter, dejected conclusion that the coven no longer existed. We were different after we no longer had a world to save. You remember it as well as I do, don't you? You were all my family, I had a purpose because of the coven, and yet it didn't last. I have the utmost respect for what you've done in the last decade, because you did what I could not. One day, we will have vengeance for our slain friends. When that day comes, you won't be the only one who protects people from the paranormal. Hold me to that.

Stormy

"Now which one of you damn fools thought you could get away with killing my brothers and sisters?"

_______________________________________________ Stormy Jasper Carson He/Him | 25 | White | 6’1" | 203lbs _______________________________________________ Unfaltering _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "Need a hand?" ___________________________________ [+] Academic ⫻ Stormy has a PhD in world history, and teaches at a University a few days away from St. Portwell. It might not help much in a fight, but being a Paranormal, he also knows about of lot of historic events that aren't academically recognized. Mean Left Hook ⫻ One of Stormy's oldest hobbies is boxing, the man throws hands like nobody's business. If he didn't go the college professor route, he could've gone on to be a pro boxer. Built like a Fucking Tank ⫻ Stormy is, also, pretty damn sturdy. You can't just swing a baseball bat over his ribs and call it a day, this man will grab you like a sack of grain and throw you through the wall if you're not careful about how close you are. Upstanding Member of Society ⫻ You would think that this would be a given, but most people in the magic world are less than capable of passing scrutiny from people like the PRA. Stormy has not been convicted of heinous crimes or anything similar. He's technically untouchable.

Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "And that's how I got this scar." Stormy's a pretty big dude, built like a nuclear bunker and has the presence to back it up. You would never expect a man who wears Carhartt, has ink up to his elbows, and the most glorious facial hair you've ever seen to be the academic type. Having grown up tough, he also has a lot of muscle that often goes unseen by most, with a build like most professional boxers. Add in the boots, and Stormy seems more like a lumberjack than a wizard or a professor, with plenty of pockets and thick layers to keep warm. He gives off a sort of "gentle giant" atmosphere, like a rhino that could kill you without effort, who looks at you without flinching, but doesn't feel the need to aggress. Stormy is also covered in old, mostly faded scars from his time with the coven. Fighting the Stygian Snake left its mark, but he usually tells people who ask that he got them in street fights as a kid, rather than fights with a demigod.

_{Psychology
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"Things have gotten better before. They'll get better again, you'll see."

MAIN GOAL ⫻ To protect his old friends, and make sure that life will go on for everyone involved.

PHILOSOPHY ⫻ One thousand failures, one thousand and one victories. Stormy doesn't let life get him down. He stands up and faces everything with conviction to spare, and always looks out for the ones who can't.

SECRETS ⫻ He's an open book.

SEXUALITY ⫻ Bisexual

FEARS ⫻ Failure, defeat, not being good enough... Pretty much everything that comes down to him specifically.

REPUTATION IN OLD COVEN ⫻ Stormy was a beacon for people who needed it. He stood up for others and made sure no one was left out in the cold, literally or figuratively. He was like a big protective bear, always looking after everyone and shielding them from harm. Stormy never did anything wrong to anyone, and went to their aid to keep the peace whenever possible.

ROLE IN THE BATTLE AGAINST THE STYGIAN SNAKE ⫻ Stormy was the reason the Stygian Snake did not wipe out the coven. Rows of shields lining the battlefield when it was all out war, unshakeable barriers protecting the wounded from the worst of it all while they were healed, apparitions burning away under the influence of his magic, and more. He kept people alive by making the Snake's actions so much harder to pull off, punishing it for every inch of ground it took and hammering it with magic that weakened down to the point that the Apparition Killer was worth a damn.

FLAWS ⫻ Stormy is about as bull-headed and stubborn as they come. He moves on slowly with some things, and doesn’t budge for years on others. He will push for what is best even when it’s detrimental, because Stormy can’t bear to see people fall without getting back up.

_{Backstory
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"Good times..."

Stormy was born and raised in St. Portwell, by a single father who had... Issues. He had an affinity for alcohol that most people would call unreasonable, but Stormy called it what it was, an addiction. He didn't have it particularly easy growing up, and he has his kindling event during this time. He saw visions of magic, of ancestors in a bloodline, and of strange entities that he couldn't comprehend. He kept his magic a secret, since he didn't understand it enough or trust his deadbeat dad. So he looked for answers. That was how he found out about the Stygian Snake. No longer being a Blind, seeing it streak across the sky was absolute terror to him, and he was curious. This was how he met the Sycamore Tree Coven. He was totally new to the world of magic, and they were his first introduction into it. He quickly made himself commonplace there, finally having a safe environment where he could come into his own sense of self. His magic took the form of a shield, which blocked off red Lux from other paranormals. He expanded on this and made a different shield for the rest, and then developed a spell to protect against Apparitions after he decided to help fight the Stygian Snake.

And against all odds, they won. These people became family to him, and he fought tooth and nail on the battlefield to keep them from harm. If he wasn't setting up mass beachheads for others to stage their plans from, he was in the thick of things, punching the living shit out of the Snake's minions with glowing fists. It was exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. They won, even if everyone wasn't left standing in the end. When the secrets came out about what Britney had done, Stormy was among the first to condemn her. After that, everything went to shit. Perhaps it was the fact that Stormy benefited so much from the coven, but he felt the loss of their cohesiveness more than most. Stormy stayed until there was no one left. He was the last member of the Sycamore Tree Coven to carry that title. And after everyone left, he stayed. He stayed to figure out what to do with himself, how to move on, and how to find his own way in the world. Of course, life always goes on, so he figured it all out. He worked himself to the bone, saving up money to go to college. He decided to figure life out the hard way, to put his mind at ease, and it all worked out for him.

About six years later, Stormy got a PhD, and landed a position at a university in one of the nicest, "fanciest" parts of the state. Life was normal ever since. He never did much in the world of magic, never made a name for himself as some sort of legendary Adept, but he did hang around some magical individuals in his private time. Everything was good, until Auri called him. Ashley had been murdered, along with many other members. Naturally, hearing about this after so much time was difficult to grapple with, but she asked for his help. Auri needed people to come home and figure out who was murdering people. So, after a few days of making arrangements, Stormy changed all of his classes to an online format, and hit the road.

_{Abstraction
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"NOT. ONE. STEP. FURTHER!!!"

TYPE ⫻ Adept

ABSTRACTION ⫻ Yellow Lux. Stormy's channeler is an old wristwatch.

ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ Stormy's magic focuses on a variety of defenses for every occasion. He is a magic tank who turns the area into a hazard for enemies, and a sanctuary for his friends.

Defender’s Armory ⫻ Stormy has created a collection of shield spells that protect people from various sources of danger. Each spell produces a physical object, which is specialized for a different approach to combat.

Guardian Barrier ⫻ Stormy can create lightweight, circular shields of magic energy that block incoming assaults. These shields can take a decent amount of damage before breaking, including everything from bullets or a sudden sledgehammer, to certain forms of Lux. These shields are designed to be produced multiple times over in quick succession at the cost of individual toughness, making them good for spreading out cover over a wider area. Stormy can also use these shields like a projectile, throwing them at a target for a quick, ranged gut punch.

Stoic Shell ⫻ Stormy produces a heavy tower shield that reflects some magic like a mirror. Rather than simply block the spells, the Stoic Shell can potentially hit someone with their own attacks when applicable. If Stormy manages to aim properly, he can use this to make attacking him or anyone next to him more trouble than it’s worth. The Stoic Shell can be placed on the ground, to act as cover from ranged magic, but will disappear when Stormy moves more than 10 feet away.

Iron Fortress ⫻ Using all of his concentration, Stormy can surround himself in an immensely durable dome of magic energy. Anyone trying to get past it is stuck; No one goes in and no one goes out. The Iron Fortress is drastically stronger than the Guardian Barriers, trading mobility and nullification for enough toughness to brush off a runaway train. Trying to break through it to hurt anyone benefiting from the protection is like trying to break through a brick wall with a plastic spoon. You're just wasting your time, and should just find a way to bait him out somehow.

Abjuration Arts ⫻ The Abjuration Arts are a set of spells that provide a protective effect to Stormy, or anyone that agrees to receive one. These spells keep an individual safe from a specific form of harm that may not necessarily be blocked by a physical barrier, by affecting a radius around the target.

Phantombane ⫻ Stormy projects a magic aura that repels Apparitions. Like iron to a fairy, or sunlight to a vampire, the affected entities grow sick and frail around the aura, feeling worse until they get the hell away. Whoever has a Phantombane aura is completely defended from any influence of an Apparition, even if they are somehow under its influence. This can temporarily block off the Adjoined from the Apparitions that they've bonded to, without causing any harm to the Adjoined or the bond itself.

Phantombane is identified by trails of green smoke rolling off of the target.

Consecration ⫻ The exact opposite of Phantombane. Stormy projects an aura that repels Abberations. What type of Aberration they are is irrelevant, as the spell does not discriminate. When exposed to the magic, Aberrant targets will feel a burning sensation of pain and weakness overtake them as their connection to magic and the Paranormal diminishes. Adepts and Apparitions adjoined to the affected targets will feel absolutely nothing, and may not even realize the spell is active. Stormy's favorite way to execute this spell is to punch something with it.

Consecration is identified by a consistent green glow emitting from the target.

Dragonhide ⫻ Dragonhide provides enhanced physical durability, allowing someone to shrug off shots from a handgun, or a knife to the stomach. A punch to the face would barely be felt at all. When applied to objects, Dragonhide makes them incredibly sturdy, allowing someone to smash through something with a piece of cardboard as if it were a sledgehammer.

Dragonhide is identified by a glowing scale-like pattern spreading across the surface of a target.

Witchveil ⫻ Witchveil supercharges the target’s Emotional Field to grant them extra resistance to Abstractions. Incoming magic has a harder time getting through the Emotional Field, and this can act as a substitute for people who do not have one, such as Blinds and One-Eye-Opens. In the case of someone who does have their own Emotional Field, they will experience a backlash effect once this wears off, where they are more vulnerable to magic than normally. Blinds, One-Eye-Opens and similar entities will not experience this once Witchveil wears off.

Witchveil is identified by a green, crackling energy that forks outwards like lightning.

Plagueward ⫻ The Plagueward aura was originally a running joke among Stormy’s friends back in the old days. But as a Yellow Adept, it made perfect sense. It is magic protection for the totally innocent sexy times that totally never happen, which applies to everyone inside the radius. It can be applied to objects, but this mainly just disinfects the surface.

Plagueward is identified by waves of green energy gently rolling across someone’s skin.

SHOCK AND AWE ⫻ A spell involving three people: Stormy, Aaron and Ayrin. First, Stormy and Aaron join their hands to blend green and yellow Lux into one, causing Aaron's internal energy to align with Stormy's. This charges a Spirit Bomb, but only counts for half of the spell. Next, Aaron switches to Aryin who, in the blink of an eye, is changed from the form of a human being to a glowing, diamond-shaped shield. Stormy then throws this new shield with all his might, and once it hits someone, it explodes with the force of a regular Spirit Bomb. Once the explosion is finished, Ayrin drops back into her human form completely unharmed and ready to beat the absolute shit out of anyone who survived the initial blast.

Limit: Aaron and Ayrin might be unharmed by the effect of their Spirit Bomb, but Stormy is not. If the bomb goes off too close, it can and will blow him away with whatever it was supposed to hit.

HALLOW BLAST ⫻ Stormy mixes his Phantombane aura with Aaron's spirit bomb, to create a huge green orb of energy. The Hallow Blast is an upscaled version of the two spells in one, and has the potential to do devastating damage to apparitions and people alike. Once the Hallow Blast lands, it leaves behind a debilitating Phantombane aura that spreads much further than its base variant, acting as a sort of nuclear fallout to deter Apparitions.

LIMITS ⫻ All of Stormy’s magic operates with low range, and demands some level of attention. Phantombane and Consecration have a maximum range of 20 feet, and all of the Abjuration Arts last for exactly 15 minutes. Granting an aura to an entity with an Emotional Field requires their consent. Even if the entity doesn’t not truly know what he is about to do, Stormy still requires them to invite him into their Emotional Field. Abjuration Art auras cannot be canceled early. An active aura can be renewed with physical contact, but it must run its course if Stormy wants to apply a different aura to himself or someone else.

This can lock Stormy out of half of his spells entirely if he miscalculates a fight. Each aura is visually distinct, meaning someone can study his magic and identify each one to plan accordingly.

While the Abjuration Arts are passive when used, Defender’s Arsenal spells are active. They have “weight” to them, and each one is a burden on Stormy’s magic. This is directly related to the amount of a damage a specific smell can withstand before breaking. More shields means more weight, more weight limits how much he can cast magic. The Stoic Shell, for example, is enough of a strain that Stormy can only make one copy of it at a time. This also applies to the Iron Fortress, which completely overtakes all other shield spells, snuffing them out to make room. Guardian Barriers are the “lightest” shield, which makes them easy to cast in large quantities.

WEAKNESSES ⫻

Defender’s Armory ⫻ By casting any of Stormy's barriers, his movement speed is supernaturally reduced, slowing him down enough to make him a vulnerable target. The Guardian Barrier is not affixed to an object, which means that the shield can be moved by sufficient force (magical or otherwise). The Stoic Shell is similar but weak/useless against area-of-effect magic. The Iron Fortress comes at the cost of mobility and flexibility. Stormy and his allies are trapped within the dome, unable to move or respond to anything outside it. He is also unable to see outside of the Iron Fortress.

Abjuration Arts ⫻ Phantombane is less effective in areas of powerful supernatural energy, i.e., areas of intense magical activity such as a fight or place of ancient power. Consecration draws upon Stormy's life force to power its protective aura, which can lead to exhaustion if used recklessly or excessively. Over time, this depletion of lifeforce can leave Stormy feeling drained, weakened, and spiritually vulnerable. While Dragonhide enhances physical durability, it does not protect against magical attacks or effects. The backlash effect experienced by Witchveil wears off and may leave the user temporarily vulnerable to magical assaults.

SHOCK AND AWE ⫻ The fusion of Lux from Stormy and Aaron, followed by Aryin's transformation, puts immense strain on all three participants, resulting in a prolonged recovery time if used repeatedly. The explosion radius of the Spirit Bomb is difficult to control precisely, increasing the risk of friendly fire and collateral damage,

HALLOW BLAST ⫻The fusion of Phantombane aura and Spirit Bomb drains a significant amount of Stormy's and Aaron's energy reserves, severely limiting their ability to cast other spells afterward. The Phantombane Aura left behind affects allies and enemies, and the casting process requires precise timing and coordination. Any interruption or misalignment between Stormy and Aaron can cause the spell to backfire, potentially injuring them or their allies.

^{Other
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"I can grade three dozen final exam papers and solve a murder mystery at the same time. Don't think I can? Watch me."

Stormy drives a Cadillac from the early 2000s.

Anyyyything else?

Amara King

"We lived, bitch."

_______________________________________________ Amara Talia King She/Her | 26 | Black | 5'7" | 180lbs _______________________________________________ ass _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "When you’ve got an army in your head, you pick up a few tricks." ___________________________________ [+] PRA Background ⫻ Back when Amara was a senior agent going by the callsign Legion, she often occupied multiple roles on and off the battlefield. Amara developed a diverse range of operative skills including recon, CQC, small and long arm combat, and field leadership. Strategy ⫻ Amara could outsmart damn near anybody in a chess game, and also come up with some clever tricks in a more practical situation. She can look at evidence of past actions taken by someone, and use those to predict how they’ll act in the future. Slippery ⫻ Go ahead, just try and keep her contained. Even without her phantoms, Amara has a knack for getting out of places she’s not meant to get out of. If you tie her wrists with a bunch of rope, she’ll just dislocate her wrists to slip them free. Multilingual ⫻ Amara can speak French, Spanish, Korean, and a bit of Russian. She’s working on that last one. Handy ⫻ Amara happens to know how to fix a lot of things, which comes naturally since she owns her own place. Busted light switch? Easy. Busted floorboards? Sure. Busted sink pipes? Bitch, please.

Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "Ladies." Amara typically dresses for comfort, wearing wool cardigans and sweatpants 24/7 and keeping her hair permanently buzzed down short. All of her clothes are usually old, as she doesn’t like to throw anything out unless it doesn’t fit her anymore. Amara has a slim and athletic build, thanks to her years as an active agent of the PRA. She only shows off when she has something to gain, but she has plenty of visible muscle under those clothes, enough to imply that she occasionally hits the gym. She also usually wears a pair of gold earrings when not “on the job,” which doesn’t mean much these days.

_{Psychology
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"Get over here, so I can kick your ass."

MAIN GOAL ⫻ Amara doesn’t have a goal, currently. She’s at a point in her life where she’s not sure what she should be doing, let alone what she wants to be doing. What she wants out of life itself, however, is to have a purpose that fulfills her. So far, she hasn’t found it.

PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Take it a day at a time, get through it and look out for one another. Amara believes in toughing things out and that nothing worth doing is ever easy. Amara wholeheartedly believes in punching up when it counts, on behalf of the ones who can’t. As far as she’s aware, every other Amara shares her outlook on life to some extent.

SECRETS ⫻ There are some things Amara takes pride in, and others she does not. Most of the things she isn’t proud of were done during her PRA days. She did good as an agent, but some things keep her up at night. Amara doesn’t like to talk about just how high up the chain she found herself before quitting. Of course, anyone with the badge and a bit of clearance could easily dig it all up.

SEXUALITY ⫻ Lesbian

FEARS ⫻ Amara is afraid of dying in obscurity. Dying itself doesn’t scare her, but she wants to die in peace, when people would miss her.

REPUTATION IN OLD COVEN ⫻ Amara was fun to be around. She knew when to get serious, and knew when to be easygoing and enjoy life. From time to time, she may have been a bit too tough for others to tolerate, but she always made it up to them in the end. Her chill demeanor certainly helped others keep their spirits reasonably high, especially when the death toll got worse.

ROLE IN THE BATTLE AGAINST THE STYGIAN SNAKE ⫻ Back in the day, Amara was a mix of the commander and the general. She’d spend two or three days plotting out battle plans like a chess grandmaster with the other intellectual members. And then she’d spend the next week executing them and being a powerhouse on the battlefield. Her phantoms protected the injured and got them to safety, shot up apparitions like it was open season and took blows for others that would kill the living.

FLAWS ⫻ Everyone has their reasons for fighting. Some take up arms for an idea, others fight and die for the people they love. But Amara is the exception. She doesn't have anything grounding her, nothing to feel conviction for. She doesn't know what the hell she's doing anymore, and it's not easy to change that.

_{Backstory
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"They don’t call me Legion anymore, let’s keep it that way"

The earliest memories Amara has are not bonding with her mother and father, learning to walk for the first time, or even learning to speak her first words. Though she has those memories just like anyone else, Amara first remembers seeing herself. All of the countless trillion versions of herself, stretching across a boundless field overlooked by a castle. Its presence was like the bedrock of everything in the scope of existence to her young mind, and she saw it every single night, long before she had the words to even understand it. By the time she was 12, she began to really grasp this. Her parents never understood it to be anything more than just a child's active imagination whenever she'd bring it up, but the paranormal opened itself up to her at a time before most Adepts were taught about what magic itself even is. At an age where the children of paranormal families were learning how Lux and individuals spells behaved, Amara was learning about the Army of One and the All-Verse's strange nature. At an age where paranormal teenagers were learning the fine nuances of magic, Amara was being trained, in secret, by her long-dead counterparts to fight. In her dreams, she saw the counterparts of herself that had lived longer and would tell her of the things they all faced. Amara was essentially raised by an Apparition to be a soldier, behind the backs of the Blind, and fight for the causes that she considered worth her efforts.

And then, the Snake happened.

Amara met a girl at school named Bianca, who happened to rope her into the antics of the Sycamore Tree Coven, along with a few other antics between her and her girlfriend. (Sometimes literally between them.) Everyone has their own story to tell about how the battle went down, and their own personal traumas. But Amara? She endured it all, never allowing herself to feel the pain because it wasn't what she was trained to do. On the battlefield, her phantoms stepped through reality by the dozens, enough to match to tide of apparitions summoned by the world-ending threat. She took up the responsibility to make battle plans when others wouldn't, and personally oversaw the rescue of many friends. It wasn't all perfect, even if she got to relax sometimes like the others, but they all pulled through.

To many of the Coven's members, it was all just temporary. They came together to fight, but not to last. Everyone fell apart, and Amara's role in that was more to keep the peace and help everyone fall apart gently. It wasn't long until everyone packed up and left. Amara made sure to keep contact with the friends she made, and told them to call her if something crazy happened again. She left to get her life in order, and to decide what she wanted out of it. She didn’t go to college or find a girl to settle down with, but the next few years of her life were still the most eventful ever. Amara never swore off her magic, she would use it occasionally when it was convenient. A phantom would hold a wrench while she fixed her car on the side of the road, or help her carry things indoors when no one was looking. Or at least, no one she noticed.

She found herself crossing paths with the PRA, an agency dedicated to keeping the peace and protecting the Blind from magic. This resonated with Amara, and so she sought them out more intensely, eventually getting a chance to have a proper conversation with them. She explained how she had a desire to protect others from the dangers of magic and had her own experience in doing that very thing. So she trained, and trained, and trained some more, until she became a full agent. Thanks to Amara’s particular brand of magic, she was put on dozens of missions in multiple roles. She would run overwatch during stakeouts while her phantoms did ground patrol, direct gunfight in eliminations, and evacuations when no one else was available. It was rough, but Amara found it fulfilling, so she kept climbing.

Eight years in the PRA turned her into a senior agent. But after climbing the ladder so long, after getting involved in so much of the broader operations, Amara’s appreciation for her line of work had faded. At a higher level, the PRA were just like mundane cops, more concerned for stamping everything out and disregarding others to make ends meet. All too often she’d argue with her superiors about the right course of action, about whether or not a cursed Blind should be killed for everyone’s sake or whether or not an adept who was just defending themselves should be put away for life. Little things added up, and the PRA’s absolute lack of accountability meant she could only take things up with internal affairs, who never gave a shit.

Amara found herself at a fork in the road. The PRA weren’t the good guys to her anymore, just a bunch of heartless pricks. So one day, after her missions became shittier and shittier, she tossed her badge in her boss’s face. Amara walked out and quit, but she doesn’t know what she’s doing anymore. Just like years ago, she was winless again. Amara settled down somewhere, bought a house and decided to take a break from things while she got her life together. Months later, she got a call from Auri, telling her about the murders. Amara was hesitant at first, and only told Auri she would consider coming back. But after a week or two to think about it and get her things into a suitcase, she’s coming home.

_{Abstraction
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"We never fight alone."

TYPE ⫻ Aberration, Adjoined

ABSTRACTION ⫻ Army of One

ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ The All-Verse is a theoretically infinite place, with counterparts of every single person spanning across them. In one of these universes, a counterpart of Amara died, and became the progenitor of the Army of One. Amara bonds with other version of herself from across realities, allowing all of them to work together. The Army of One consists of every single dead counterpart of Amara in all of existence, and has the ability to bond with the living, who will then join the collective in death themselves. Every Amara across the All-Verse shares a few universal constants: They protect others, show no fear in the face of disaster, and die for what they believe in.

Living and dead Amaras are separated into two categories for convenience, soldiers and phantoms respectively. This distinction is important to make, since there are quite literally billions of each. As one of the soldiers, the Amara King who occupies Shimmer is connected to the Army of One, and can call on the phantoms to assist her however she may need it. This includes summoning them in a fight, having extra hands for moving things, or managing information. Phantoms can appear at her location the moment they think she needs assistance, and will defer to the living soldiers for direction if they aren't sure what to do. Amara has a numbers advantage up her sleeve at every opportunity, and can always outsource her problem to someone else if she can't solve it herself.

Phantoms are essentially magical foot soldiers. They are fully sentient and sapient, and follow Amara’s orders to the best of their ability. Their strengths lie in using numbers and strategy to solve problems. Where some can throw giant fireballs at their enemies or teleport across the country in seconds, Amara and her phantoms work to execute strategies and methodically come out ahead like a game of chess. Her phantoms are capable of using guns, and fighting with all the other skills that Amara herself has, since they are quite literally her.

Limits ⫻ The Army of One is numerous beyond comprehension, but so is the All-Verse itself. So, to avoid leaving any one universe without backup, every living soldier is only able to call on up to five phantoms at a time. This isn’t a matter of the abstraction’s strength, but is a deliberate decision made by the collective. Therefore, power-boosting abstractions can’t make more phantoms appear. It would take a particularly extreme crisis for an exception to be made, such as the Stygian Snake waking up again.

Also, the phantoms being technically undead doesn’t do anything for their toughness. A solid shot from a gun would be enough to phase a phantom out of reality for a while. This doesn’t kill them, but it does take them out of consideration. Phantoms always emerge from a short distance around Amara, which is important because if one is sent deep into enemy territory, another can’t simply take its place right on the spot after someone shoots them.

WEAKNESSES ⫻ Through the connection that she innately has with all of her counterparts comes with some identity issues. By summoning her Phantoms, she loses some of her memories, which are replaced with the memories of the dead versions of her, which could be something like an event that occurred minutes ago or a treasured memory of hers. She cannot get them back without external help and will eventually lose herself to the Army of One. Through this shared connection, the Army of One shares injuries, and any injuries her phantasms receive will also appear in Amara.

^{Other
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"I’ve seen some crazy shit, but I’ve never seen shit like this before. A serial killer? I got this.."

Anyyyything else?

---

Avengers Academy 💥

Leah Jordan

---

Location: Training Room B
Gear: A hot ass dress
Skills: The insurmountable will to not lose her cool under any circumstances
Oh god oh fuck

---

---

"That sounds like something that has a lot of story behind it," Leah joked, clearly amused by it. She watched everyone continue to take pictures, on and on...and on. Dear lord, how many pictures could someone possibly take? Holy shit. Danni's creativity with the number of ways people just stood still was baffling, as were many things about him. But finally- finally, they got their pictures dealt with, and got moving along. Wow. The dance started half an hour ago, and the results for who would be going off to face the Baby Avengers would be announced once they got there. Hopefully they were saving that for the end when everyone didn't have a dance to take their minds off of it, otherwise the whole night would be ruined for some people. They got through the doors and... Yep. That was a lot of people. There were people dancing, and Leah didn't dance. Besides, that would be awkward with three people probably. And there was a table for drinks, but Leah wasn't going to even entertain that idea. She fully expected some jackass to sneak past everyone and spike it with something, someone could go invisible or just cast a Fuck You Here's Spiked Dance Drinks spell from somewhere else.

Looking around, there wasn't a whole lot that made this whole... Thing feel like Leah's scene. She saw Vicky off in the distance dressed up like Frankenstein's monster, which she found fucking hilarious but wasn't going to say why for obvious reasons.

And then she looked back at her group. "Okay, we're here. So... now what?"

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

You told me the shaping shadows stuff was a whole different Lux from purple so I was going with that assumption lmao

the shadow construction stuff tho, I'd say that's about as strong as something like the floorboards in someone's house. You could swing a hammer at them and you might not punch a hole through them but a gun would shoot right through.

@Blizz Could you give me an idea of how strong these shadow constructs are?

He does kinda seem like a single color-Lux user tho since he can easily open portals to one of the hardest places to reach, teleport easily, and shape shadows within a hundred feet of him. lol

@Punished GN

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Jack Hawthorne

"I have been away for far too long..."

_______________________________________________ Jack Hawthorne He/Him | 29 | White | 5'9" | 178lbs _______________________________________________ Wise _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "Interdimensional traveler, master of magic, and friend in dark places, at your service." ___________________________________ [+] Loremaster ⫻ Jack has been to many places, met many people, and seen many things. Through his travels, he has encountered virtually every form the Paranormal can take, including the abominable things that aren't normally seen in Shimmer. Give him a minute to think, and he'll likely have many answers to a mystery. Jack's personal favorite subject is the way magic is used by people, and he always dozens of spells for all manners of Abstraction wrote down somewhere, that he can hook others up with if they're looking for something to add to their playbook. Like a mad scientist, most people can simply ask Jack for pointers and he'll throw them dozens. Pokerface ⫻ Jack plays a mean hand. You'll never be too certain if he's cheating or if he's just outmatching you with raw skill once the cards are broken out. This certainly helps when money is at stake, but Jack is also pretty difficult to get an accurate read on, as he doesn't give away any cues when lying. No quiet words, no lack of eye contact, he lies through his teeth like a politician. Musician ⫻ Maybe it's the magic fingers, but Jack can play a guitar well enough to impress a crowd on a stage. Most of what he plays is gloomy, gothic music that flips between mellow and heavy with little in between. Sneaky ⫻ It turns out that being a shadow wizard lends well to staying hidden. Jack has a talent for concealing his presence, and remaining undetected by most people with or without magic. He can get the drop on people better than most, and throw off anybody from crazed witch hunters to the PRA with little trouble. Resourceful ⫻ Sometimes you need to patch stab wounds, and sometimes you don't have a first-aid kit. Sometimes your car broke down but you don't have anything to fix the radiator. Jack's good at finding ways to get around most material needs, and is crafty enough that he can survive where most would perish. When winter comes and all you have is an old kerosene space heater to stay warm, Jack will cook a great breakfast using a pot, a circular pan, and a roll of aluminum foil (or a water bottle instead) as if the stove worked just fine.

Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "The Void is cold, around this time of year." Jack stands at 5’9” and always seems to be dressed for winter. Trench coats, wool pants, combat boots, the works. He wears multiple layers to keep himself warm in the cold, but also for the purposes of magic. Jack could easily pass himself off as someone’s eccentric college professor just by his fashion choices. He hasn’t cut his hair in ages, and always has it like a black, shoulder length, frazzled mess that has a mind of its own. Under all of his layers, one would find dozens of scars from cuts, burns, and other forms of damage. One that sticks out most is the destroyed remains of his left shoulder, which still aches from time to time. In place of it, Jack has a hand and arm that are made entirely from magical darkness.

_{Psychology
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"I'm not like other Adepts."

MAIN GOAL ⫻ Jack doesn't have a damn clue what he's doing with himself these days. He doesn't have a goal that directs where he goes, and as such, he goes wherever he wishes. But having heard about the recent murders of his home, he has taken it upon himself to do what he can to help, even if he could put infinite distance between himself and St. Portwell.

PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Nothing will last forever. Not the good times, not the bad ones, and everything has its season. Jack believes that just because some things are not meant to be now doesn't mean they won't have a place in the world later. So he chooses to enjoy the world as a whole while he occupies it, knowing that he won't do so forever. Jack goes where life takes him, never in a hurry to live too fast. There is a time and a place when it is appropriate to push against the direction that fate is pulling you in, and there is a time to flow with the current, and Jack believes it is best to help those who are drowning as they do either.

SECRETS ⫻ While it isn't the most immediately dire secret, Jack prefers to keep the details of his world-hopping magic close to the chest. It's old news among the coven that he found a way to make this travel nigh effortless, but Jack isn't particularly eager to teach someone else how it works. If the wrong entity learned that spell, it could cause some problems.

SEXUALITY ⫻ Homosexual, as far as he's aware, anyway.

FEARS ⫻ You would think someone who wanders a realm of eldritch horrors like its a sidewalk would fear absolutely nothing. But honestly? Jack is scared of drowning.

REPUTATION IN OLD COVEN ⫻ Jack was always seen as a bit of a nerd. He was more fascinated by magic and the way it worked than most people. He'd always be found pouring over books and making up new spells for the sake of curiosity. Most of these spells turned out to be hits and misses, but Jack was always the one other Adepts went to when they needed a bit of advice on how to go about using magic.

ROLE IN THE BATTLE AGAINST THE STYGIAN SNAKE ⫻ Sometimes you've got to fight fire with fire. It was almost uncanny, the way the Stygian Snake seemed to mimic his own magic. Hiding in shadows, snuffing out the sun with a thought, warping the fabric of reality and more. Jack theorized at one point that the Stygian Snake was some manner of human twisted into an Aberration, as the things it could do were unsettlingly similar to the things he could do. Jack helped find the Apparition Killer, and joined the coven members who went to retrieve it, leveraging his purple Lux to ensure their safe passage back to Shimmer. During the fight against the Stygian Snake, Jack followed it into the shadows beyond the normal world, ensuring it had no peace and that his comrades were kept up to date after time was warped. He was injured during one of these jumps, costing him an arm and most of his left shoulder.

FLAWS ⫻ Above all else, Jack is proud of his magical capabilities. He has just a bit of an ego when it comes to his accomplishments and what he’s discovered, and he’s not afraid to back that up. But beyond that, he had trouble with staying convicted in things. He’ll pack up and leave if he can’t see things working out, before a conclusion is in sight.

Jack is also, for lack of a better term, out of time. In the Void, time does not flow. He has inadvertently displaced himself to an extent, not being as caught up on events as others. The Void has also eroded parts of him, he can’t remember most of his life before the coven, and he hasn’t had a proper night’s sleep in a decade.

_{Backstory
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"We broke a demigod. What more needs to be said?"

When he was young, Jack had a kindling event that felt like a dream. It's hard to remember that far back, due to the Void's effects on his mind, but he remembers seeing visions of a horse one minute, and of a bull the next. His homelife was questionable at best, so once he started grasping magic, Jack just ran and ran. He never looked back, since it just felt right to him. The important events begin shortly after he discovered a certain snake terrorizing the mortal world. Ashley Stone and the Sycamore Coven ran into him, and from here he connected with the paranormal world. He met likeminded people and dove deep into studying all that he could, hoping to understand magic on a deeper level and use his shadowy magic against that of the Stygian Snake's days were spent pouring over books and scouting out the city at night, to the concern of a few coven members. No one was entirely sure where he came from or when he’d stop learning so much, but it worked out in the long run, as the Stygian Snake was one day banished into the coven’s namesake. Everything was fine, until it wasn’t.

The coven began falling apart in the following weeks. Leadership lost faith, people couldn’t agree on what they should do with the coven, and some just wanted to move on. Jack personally believed the coven should’ve dedicated itself to protecting St. Portwell from other supernatural threats, not just the ones that reversed time and his in shadows. B t it was never meant to last, so having learned to compensate for the lack of a left hand, Jack made plans to find greener pastures. He packed his things and assured his friends in the coven that he’d keep in touch. On the day he set out, Jack finally broke out the spell that, to this day, is considered his magnum opus: A portal into the Void. Some of the coven members were skeptical, but it worked. He said his goodbyes, opened the portal, and he was gone.

The Void is many things to many people. A land of nightmares, a place that does not exist, or even a purgatory. But to Jack, it was nothing short of magnificent. The horrors of the Void were not so horrific to him, and as the portal snapped shut, Jack hoped he’d stay a while. He wandered with fascination, embracing the eldritch nature of this world and learned so much. Jack stared incomprehensible entities in the eyes, dredged up remnants of distant universes and slept peacefully every night. Any other person would succumb to madness, but not him. He rebelled in this. The god of the Void, an entity known simply as the Child one day crossed paths with Jack. The Child found Jack’s amicability towards incomprehensible nightmares baffling, and decided to send him home after a conversation. When Jack returned to Shimmer, he discovered that time passed differently- He thought he was only gone for two days, but he was actually gone for a month.

He found this fascinating, but decided to spend a some time in Shimmer. But Jack could never simply let things be. Eventually, he trespassed again. The Child eventually got fed up with him, and left Jack to fend for himself. This was the cycle of Jack’s life for the next decade: Enter the Void, explore and bask in the horrific majesty of it, and return home for a while. During his time in Shimmer, he travelled just as extensively, seeing the world and all it had to offer. But in the Void, time got further and further away from him. They say time flies, but ten years passed in what should’ve only been two, or even three. It shouldn’t have surprised him, then, when Auri managed to find him and was very surprised that he never checked in. Ten years, and no one heard a word out of him back home. She called him for help, explaining that the old coven members were slowly being picked off from all over the world. Concerned, and happy to reconnect with old friends, Jack got a location and planned a trip back home.

_{Abstraction
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"The darkness is not something to toy with, unless you're especially accustomed to it."

TYPE ⫻ Adept

ABSTRACTION ⫻ Red-Purple Lux. Jack's channeler is a curious book.

ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ Jack blurs the lines between red and purple Lux into a form unique to him, allowing him to weave supernatural darkness into a variety of spells that allow him to manipulate his surroundings, protect people, and trespass into the Void.

Voidwalk ⫻ The spell that Jack considers his greatest work. As a kid, Jack developed a way to open up a doorway directly into the Void, and back into Shimmer. Doing this displaces him chronologically, meaning he could spend what feels like a day on the other side, but actually return several days later. The exact details of how he achieved this are a mystery. To open a portal, Jack requires several minutes to focus in a dimly lit area. During this time, he uses his shadowy red Lux to pull away at the "net" between worlds. The portal can only stay open for a few seconds at a time, after which the proverbial net will snap back like a rubber band. This spell is based on the concept of the Gloomy Step, and as a result of this, he can pick and choose certain regions of the Void to enter. One such region is a place he calls the Shadowzone, an area that is relatively untouched by the horrors of the Void, where Jack lives during his extended trips. If Jack does not actively decide where he wants to go in the Void, then his portal will place him somewhere at random.

Umbramancy ⫻ The oldest form of Jack's Abstraction is the ability to transform otherwise normal darkness into something tangible through red Lux, within roughly 100 feet.. He can pull a shadow off the wall, and shape it into strictly solid objects, use it to blind others or play tricks on someone. This expression of his Lux partly explains the amount of layers he tends to wear, as the shadows under his clothes make for a quick and dirty source of power. Jack can also create darkness, dimming down a normally well-lit room to the point that it becomes difficult to see. The light that would be rendered nonexistent by this magic does not go away permanently- Jack doesn't destroy light sources. Rather, he simply replaces it with magical darkness, meaning lights will return to normal when he wants them to, almost like something out of a horror movie.

When Jack makes something solid out of shadows, it has about as much durability as hardwood. You could swing a hammer at them and you might not punch a hole through them but a gun would shoot right through.

Gloomy Step ⫻ If Jack can find a particularly dark area, he can walk into it to vanish on a whim, and appear at an exit point of his choosing. He has to picture this place in his mind, meaning he needs to have been there before, or have a picture of it that he can commit to memory. This means that Jack can suddenly appear on the other side of St. Portwell, but he can’t appear in Dollhouse’s basement. There are two main factors that Jack must consider when using this spell: Distance and light. The more there is of either, the longer he was to wait before teleporting again. Jumping across a city at midnight twice is one thing, but doing the exact same thing at midday would be drastically slower.

Shadow Hand ⫻ Less a spell, and more a permanent replacement for the arm he lost during the battle with the Stygian Snake. Jack's left arm is made of magic darkness, and feels like solid rock when touched. He could use it to punch through windows and not feel a thing, crush tin cans with it, and carry things that would be too awkward to lift for others. The advantages stop there, since having a fake hand isn't the same as being supernaturally strong. It also makes blending in slightly challenging, since people tend to notice when your hand is solid black. For this reason, he'll often walk be seen with just one arm in public, because he can get rid of his magic one and make it appear again at a moment's notice.

LIMITS ⫻ Jack's Abstraction comes with the territory of staying concealed and staying mobile. Intense light effectively starves him of his ability to use most of his magic. Put him on a beach at midday and the best he can do is start looking for shade. In worse cases, the poor bastard can't even open a water bottle, having lost a hand to the sun.

WEAKNESSES ⫻ WEAKNESSES ⫻ The Void is easily the most dangerous element that is known, home to unimaginable horrors and God-like Eldritch abominations. Opening a door there can end badly if he uses it willy-nilly, and something can come through - or quickly kill him if they will it. Umbramancy is countered by light-based magic or magic that generates light, which means Photomancy hard-counters his Umbramancy, and the constructs are far easier to destroy with magic. The Gloomy Step does not indicate what is on the other side and can leave him in a sticky situation if he does it willy-nilly. Light-based magic can, again, render him unable to teleport altogether, if he's being exposed to it.

Also, people will make fun of him for how edgy he is.

^{Other
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"I should have come home sooner. I will tear the Void open wide as a canyon, and dethrone the Child if it means we stay safe."

Anyyyything else?

Young Justice

Location: A Fucking Swamp
Interactions: The Team

---

"Slow down! This is a boat, not a yet, it doesn't have breaks!"

"That's north, so turn about to here and go left."

"That's not how you steer right- Turn the stick left."

Cora knew how boats worked, and she did not shut the fuck up once while Viktor was the one driving. It felt nice to be at least in the same state as her family again, even if there was about 40 miles between them right now. Kobra was back on their shit, and decided they needed to do it here- That made sense, but they had to know that there was no way they'd be genuinely safe around here. Between the wildlife, and her team, Kobra wasn't walking away from this in one piece. While they went down the waterways, Cora occasionally dipped a few metal vials into the water, to collect some of it for later investigation. According to Daphne and all the trees, Kobra had been dumping chemicals into the water. What chemicals, she wasn't sure. But if they were doing experiments here, they had to have been doing something different- Maybe trying to refine the venom formula and make it stronger, or last longer, or have less side effects- And any information would be good information for tracking the punks down. The last thing they needed was to walk headfirst into a Kobra facility, and being surprised when the venomed-up goons started breathing fire or something. In total, Stormcaller filled six, each one from water about an hour closer to the facility, and she'd fill at least one or two more before they left, for research purposes.

Once they hit a shallow area, the boat had to be ditched. Immediately, Zatara's bored ass started flying and Rain piped up with a plan. "Mirage can probably keep the animals around here off of us. Poking them with a sound stick'll just piss 'em off. We don't want to fight the wildlife on top of Kobra. I've been getting faster at flying, so I can go up front ahead of us all to scout if we want," She lifted up off the boat, over the edge and out to where Zach was. In the downtime between last mission and now, Cora had picked up a bit of speed and more control, feeling more comfortable moving around in the air. "It might be better to save the sound emitter for later. They might be expecting us, so they could be looking for intruders right now."

"This is your mission, Nymph. What's the move?" Cora quietly hoped that Nymph would try to at least hang back and not charge forth herself, given how much she used her powers just trying to get them here. She also wanted to subtly hype Nymph up, since she had a habit of letting others take the wheel. It didn't help, in that regard, that Rain was already laying out a whole battle plan for them.

Worm: Earth Drega

Bumping this

We've still got room for a couple of players if anyone would like to join

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

@Estylwen

Hey, remember me?

Got a character in the works, dude who took to wandering the All-Verse after the coven fell off. He spent some time in the Void and learned some weird magic there (possibly) and your character has a thing with the void. So I'm to conspire since there's potential for a dynamic there if you're interested

Recollections: Under The Sycamore Tree Part. 1

Alright you talked me into it

Worm: Earth Drega

We got space for one more person if anyone's been lurking

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Velhass didn’t want to be like the stories that Shirik told him. The thought mages who took hold of a person’s mind, manipulated them like bricks in a wall, and then died at the hands of an Inquisitor for trying to use his magic.

Velhass did not want to be disrespectful to the person who took him in, taught him what magic was, and kept him safe. Shirik was owed that much, at the very least. But seeing how aggressive Shirik felt when he just mentioned their old friend, whose memories came through like water from a river… It hurt.

It had been days since Shirik exploded in his face, and neither of them brought it up again. It was a boundary, and thus far neither of them explicitly had boundaries. They trusted one another, kept each other company when the nights grew colder, and hunted together every day. Shirik had done so much for Velhass in so little time, and it hurt not being able to do anything good for them in return.

He thought to himself, perhaps if Shirik were to forget whatever heavy memories they had, that made it so difficult for them to feel peace, then maybe they would live life a little easier.

But then Shirik would know. Shirik knew everything.

What was the point of such power, if not to use it for the good of others? Shirik used their magic to cook and give Velhass warmth. Even the Inquisitors used their magic to protect. But if they tried to hurt someone, they’d be hurt too. Would he be hurt if they were hurt badly enough? Maybe not, but Shirik would be.

And Velhass knew that Shirik wouldn’t look at him the same way after that.

But it would be so easy…

---

Shirik noted that Silbermine wasn’t directly answering their question, stating that his people knew the hills very well, but not where they had scouted lately. They took that to mean he was hiding something. Of course he was. All the lords in the land had designs on their realms, and the Glen nobility of yesteryear were no different. ”Yes… I once chased a fallen moon across the fields of Narkant. You would have been hardly a green-horned whelp, it was long ago. The moon fell from the heavens, abandoning her two sisters in the sky, and all the warriors of the kingdom failed to find little more than dust upon the grass.” Many of Shirik’s stories were fantastical, but held a more than a kernel of truth in them. They made their tales capture an audience, without diminishing the events that did happen. They were also, however, spouting absolute bullshit at the moment just to make Silbermine look like a dumbass in front of every person present. Kanth-Aremek never had a third moon.

”They set it fell into the Driddic Sovereignty, and tore open the earth, leaving behind a chasm greater than the deepest oceans, and darker than a moonless night.” There was an old rumor about a “Great Chasm” in the land of the Driisu. But it was just tbat- A rumor.

Shirik didn’t pay much mind to the Glen lord’s bragging of the Running, they were far above such squabblings. The humans, however, might be found some novelty in the idea. So when the Glen all began their knightly chant, Shirik switched languages as well. ”Glen song. Old, annoying. He is hiding something. Your ship remains, maybe.” It wouldn’t do to converse with the humans in such a manner when the Glen weren’t distracted. While they were all singing, Shirik wanted to take the time to confirm their fears to Ixtaro. Silbermine might’ve found something already, but isn’t saying so.