Post by Josh Dupré on Mar 29, 2016 19:16:13 GMT
SPECIES
These are the guidelines for the species currently on the site. We know that mythology differs from site to site but this is the one we are sticking to for now. If you would like a species added or think another power or weakness could be incorporated please contact Josh Dupré and Katie Dupré .
WITCHES
Mythology: Witches have been around for as long as nature has. They are people who are born with the power to affect change by magical means (Witchcraft). While many witches are the self-proclaimed "Keepers of the Balance," other witches have been known to work against the Balance and use their power for personal gain.
In Cloistere there have been one main witch family, one of the founding families, The Dupré family. Other witch families and covens moved to the area after.
Magic is a practice of witchcraft that encompasses many different types of activities including astrology, divination, spell casting, and spirit communication. It includes the practices of many cultures, nations and religions as well as many books and writings from ancient times. Depending upon the individual, some witches practice their power by certain belief systems, such as Shamanism, Voodoo, Wicca, or any number of other magical practices from countries and cultures all around the world. Although the majority of traditional witches are commonly portrayed as being kind and selfless humans who use their powers to maintain balance within the world, it has been proven that some witches are independent thinkers who may go against the Balance of Nature by practising their powers for dark and evil deeds.
Overall the origin of witchcraft remains unknown, however, it is known that witches have existed for many centuries passing down their knowledge and skills through generations of family lines. Most witches make it their duty to maintain balance within the world, within Cloistere not only do they want to maintain the natural balance, but they want to keep the balance of peace in their small town.
Basic Powers and Abilities (common to all witches):
- Potion Brewing: The power to brew and concoct potions, remedies and elixirs that have supernatural properties.
- Spell Casting: The power to change and control events through the use of incantations and more.
- Channeling: The power to invoke small amounts of extra forms of energy by focusing on external forces.
Other Powers ad Abilities (please note that not all witches have these):
- Divination: The power to divine future, past, and present events based off extrasensory perception.
- Clairvoyance: The power to divine future, past or present events through instinctive knowledge.
- Intuition: The power to divine future, past or present events through the use of instinctive knowledge.
- Premonitions: The power to divine future, past or present events through the observation and study of dreams.
- Psychometry: The power to divine future, past or present events through contact with or proximity to a certain object or person.
- Elemental Control: The power to control and manipulate the elements of air, earth, fire, and water.
- Pain Infliction: The power to create excruciating migraines through supernatural means.
- Telekinesis: The power to move objects and persons through mental influence.
Weaknesses:
- Disbelief: The act of denying or disbelieving in one's potential could cause a witch to inadvertently suppress their magical power.
- Distraction: Denying a witch from concentrating or giving full attention to their spells, may render them ineffective.
- Fear: The condition or feeling of being afraid may prevent a witch from properly accessing their powers.
- Herbs: Ingestion of certain herbs can cause a witch to lose consciousness and prevent them from using magic for a undetermined amount of time. The Lobelia flower prevents concentration and the practice of magic and can be used to weaken a witch.
- Magic: Witches are still susceptible to the powers of witchcraft.
- Mortality: Despite their mystical attributes, witches are still human and share many of the same weaknesses as non-supernatural beings (e.g. age, decapitation, disease, heart-failure, suffocation, snapped neck, etc.)
- Overexertion: The excessive use of magic could lead to disorientation, nose bleeds, unconsciousness, and if taken to the extreme, death.
WEREWOLVES
Mythology: Like the witches, werewolves have been around for as long as humanity. Stories of them can be found as far back as history has been written and tales of men with the ability to turn into wolves were probably spoken around the fires that kept early man safe in the dark. How the first werewolf came to be is lost in the myriad of different versions of the history told but the Frasers seem sure they their origins are from the wulvers of Shetland, werewolves without the ability to turn into a fully human form. One mating with a human male was all it took to launch a line that led all the way from Scotland to the bayous of Louisiana. Originally the Frasers were the only werewolf family in Cloistere but just as the town became a refuge for witch families other than the Duprés, so has it attracted other wolf families.
The pack in town has always had a clear hierarchy, led by an alpha wolf. Typically this wolf has been a Fraser but not always, as the current alpha demonstrates. More important to the role than a name are things like strength, personality, leadership skills, loyalty to the town and the pack and, just as importantly, a desire to do the job. Being alpha means more than just strutting around like top dog. Alphas and the elders in the pack are blessed with slightly more control over themselves during a full moon but at heart they are still a werewolf and have the same strengths and weaknesses as the rest of the pack. As a family the Frasers tend to handle the change better than other lineages, helped out by charms given to each of them by the Duprés. The whole pack turns for three days around the full moon – the night before, the night of, and the night after the full moon.
Strengths (all wolves possess these, although for the alpha some are enhanced):
- Strength: Wolves are stronger than regular humans and can physically overpower witches if a witch’s powers do not come into play. If powers are used then often the two will be fairly equal strength wise.
- Speed: Wolves are faster than regular humans, especially they’re in their wolf form.
- Healing: Cell regeneration is faster for wolves, meaning that most injuries for them heal rapidly. Things that would be devastating to a human are often survivable for a wolf.
- Heightened senses: Smell, hearing and sight are heightened for the whole pack, especially when in wolf form.
Weaknesses:
- The moon: All wolves are at the beck and call of the moon. None can escape turning when it’s at its fullest.
- Silver: While just touching a werewolf with silver won’t cause much harm, injuring one with a silver weapon will. Just a normal silver weapon can cause wounds that are human slow to heal. Harming one with the special silver blade that’s been held by the heads of the Fraser and Dupré families in secret for centuries will kill as soon as the skin is punctured.
- Herbs: Just like with witches, there are herbs that weaken and harm a werewolf. The most popular talisman against them is wolfsbane, as clichéd as that might sound (it supposedly grew from the saliva of Cerberus, the three-headed guardian of the Greek underworld, when Hercules brought him up to the surface world). Rye, mistletoe, mountain ash/rowan can also be effective repellents against werewolves.
The pack in town has always had a clear hierarchy, led by an alpha wolf. Typically this wolf has been a Fraser but not always, as the current alpha demonstrates. More important to the role than a name are things like strength, personality, leadership skills, loyalty to the town and the pack and, just as importantly, a desire to do the job. Being alpha means more than just strutting around like top dog. Alphas and the elders in the pack are blessed with slightly more control over themselves during a full moon but at heart they are still a werewolf and have the same strengths and weaknesses as the rest of the pack. As a family the Frasers tend to handle the change better than other lineages, helped out by charms given to each of them by the Duprés. The whole pack turns for three days around the full moon – the night before, the night of, and the night after the full moon.
Strengths (all wolves possess these, although for the alpha some are enhanced):
- Strength: Wolves are stronger than regular humans and can physically overpower witches if a witch’s powers do not come into play. If powers are used then often the two will be fairly equal strength wise.
- Speed: Wolves are faster than regular humans, especially they’re in their wolf form.
- Healing: Cell regeneration is faster for wolves, meaning that most injuries for them heal rapidly. Things that would be devastating to a human are often survivable for a wolf.
- Heightened senses: Smell, hearing and sight are heightened for the whole pack, especially when in wolf form.
Weaknesses:
- The moon: All wolves are at the beck and call of the moon. None can escape turning when it’s at its fullest.
- Silver: While just touching a werewolf with silver won’t cause much harm, injuring one with a silver weapon will. Just a normal silver weapon can cause wounds that are human slow to heal. Harming one with the special silver blade that’s been held by the heads of the Fraser and Dupré families in secret for centuries will kill as soon as the skin is punctured.
- Herbs: Just like with witches, there are herbs that weaken and harm a werewolf. The most popular talisman against them is wolfsbane, as clichéd as that might sound (it supposedly grew from the saliva of Cerberus, the three-headed guardian of the Greek underworld, when Hercules brought him up to the surface world). Rye, mistletoe, mountain ash/rowan can also be effective repellents against werewolves.
HUNTERS
Mythology: Just as there have always been wolves and witches, there have also been those that keep them in line. While Cloistere has never been home to anything that has been identified as needing killing, there are those outside of the town who have used their strengths and abilities to take lives. Underneath the surface of normal society, where those things lie, there are hunters. They handle the creatures who have crossed a line, those who will continue to take lives if left unchecked. Some who now live in Cloistere have hunted on occasion but with the town a place of peace they have never needed to work so close to their own homes. Most hunters are just human, those who were dragged into the world by having become the targets of those things that go bump in the night, or those who've families have been affected by these. Others have had the job passed down to them through their familial line, just as magic or the werewolf gene has been passed down.
Strengths:
- Training and experience with weapons: While most hunters aren't supernatural, they do have weapons of their own and usually know very well how to use them.
- Sharp minds: Hunters who don't do their research or have strategic skills don't tend to last very long in the job. They're often great researchers and have a wide knowledge of mythology.
- Physically fit: Just as they exercise their minds, hunters also need to exercise their bodies. Being fat and slow doesn't entirely make up for being able to use a knife or a gun.
Weaknesses:
- Human fragility: Remember, beneath the skilled surface, hunters are just human. They bleed just as easily as normal humans and are just as likely to die from severe wounds.
- Anger issues: Some hunters will have been led into the life by tragic circumstances. Dealing with that and with things most people can't believe exist can really have an effect on people. Hunters really aren't usually the happy happy joy joy sort.
HUMANS
Cloistere may have been founded by witches and wolves but it doesn't mean that they're the only species that live there. The town is also home to plain old humans. Some are aware of just who they share the town with but others are happily blind to who they're sharing the streets with. Humans are of course fragile in comparison to the other species but don't let that fool you into thinking they're weak, after all, they've survived in Cloistere for hundreds of years so far.
