Beinost and the College Arcana

[Oliver]

You have been enlightened sir.

[Caden Law]

In the system I've written and/or got floating around in my head: Female Wizards are still Wizards. Or Wizardesses, if you want to be anal retentive about it, but that particular term just isn't as common these days.

Witches differ, but not by that much. They have a shitload in common with both Shamans and Warlocks, and Druids too. They're basically more focused on longterm spellcasting (curses), alchemy (especially potions and poisons), enchantment (bolstering alchemy, among other things), certain aspects of necromancy (chatting with the dead and using spirits as servants; not necessarily raising corpses, eating souls to gain power, bodyjumping or any of that), and taming familiars (demonic or animal or hybrids; doesn't matter and more than a few have tinkered with chimaeras and werepeople). Some Witches get the hang of shapeshifting, but they aren't really battle-driven about it. Witches are more or less agnostic compared to the other 'natural' traditions of spellcasting. Any gods they run into are just sources of power, worth little consideration beyond what it takes to keep them either out of the way or use them as necessary.

You don't want to mess with a Witch because she's a helluva lot more subtle and pragmatic about getting payback than most other breeds of spellcaster. They shy away from direct confrontation and they're probably deadlier in some ways because of it.

And male Witches are a relative minority, but they're still Witches.

[Elrundir]

Podë is a witch, too! Not just that lame Denebriel. But, uh... come to think of it that was probably just a title people gave her more than anything else. So yeah.

[Caden Law]

Podë was a Forgotten One. At best, any given title is going to be a very rough, very general guideline for them. Their powers were so far off the scale that their original distinctions didn't mean much. Incidentally, here's what I know/have written of the Forgotten Ones. Most of this can be found in The Red Requiem in Cresting Summer, Mortal Intervention or Dawnbringers. Kudos to Sighter and Rayse for background bits on Xem'zund and Denebriel.

Xem'zund: Originally a glorified choir boy who unwittingly snagged one bodyjumping spell that triggered every time someone killed him. Refined it to the point of immortality, becoming a lich several times over. Eventually bodyjumped a low-end Star God and helped cripple the worship of the Raiaeran Pantheon in the old days. Mastered imitation necromancy with the sponsorship of Khal'jaren; it was all designed from the ground up to look and feel and replicate the effects of the real deal right down to a unique form of corruption, but it wasn't actual necromancy. One observer likened it to replicating all the chemical processes of a fire right down to its appearance, all without actually having fire. Perma-dead.

Saint Denebriel: Originally a Wizardess who gained power over time. Daughter and unwilling consort of Aesphestos. Ended up repeatedly murdering her own father at least four or five times, most of them before she was even born. Survived the ensuing paradoxes by sheer force of will. Played merry hell with time magic to the extent that her death was like plucking an iceberg out of the ocean -- the ripples are what produced Liquid Time as an observable effect in-game. And that's not saying anything anything about the Ethereal Sway, which were artificial spirits of enormous power constructed from the souls of followers, or her talents for mind control. She used the latter abilities to rule Salvar for centuries.

Podë: The ur-drow. All other dark elves are literally pale imitations of this one. Personal details are an inconsistent mix -- Xem'zund claimed Podë was a man, recent threads say otherwise, canon is vague. Responsible for the longest-lasting curse in the known world, which warps reality, behavior, and the physical appearance of plants and animals in the Red Forest. Stronger than Xem'zund, actual 'power ranking' unknown among the Forgotten Ones. Presumably had/has? powers close enough to the Witch model to have taken a title from it.

Aesphestos the Starkiller: The first known Wizard. First known Sorcerer. First known lots-of-things. All around badass who killed four Star-Gods during the Wars of the Tap, with the implication that he did so 'barehanded' -- without whatever powers eventually lead to him taking over most of the known world. Favored of Hromagh for a time. Father and (forced) lover of Denebriel. The other Forgotten Ones started out as mere nobles having civil wars for his entertainment. Survived repeated murders all over his personal timeline and resisted ensuing paradoxes by force of will, among other things. So powerful that the other Forgotten Ones and a large army of Thayne-sponsored Elven champions killed him several times over, tore him apart down to his core elements, killed him again, then spread his ashes all over the world to diffuse whatever was left of him. And then they killed him again and wiped away every last memory of his existence they could get their hands on over the course of several generations. They were thorough about this one. He was just plain scary enough to justify everything they did.

[Elrundir]

I was actually just being facetious. ;p I know she was a Forgotten One; I'm the one who made her.

[Oliver]

Whilst we're dolling out freebies, anyone is welcome to use Albion and the Coven in their writing if they wish. A description can be found in the threads The Flowers They Wither and the thread in my signature.

[Rayse Valentino]

Denebriel was also the most powerful blood mage.

I don't see any reason to distinguish warlocks and witches. Female warlocks and male witches just sounds weird. Usually, they're not gender-specific in works where only one is used. I've seen very few, if any, where both witches and warlocks are present and gender-neutral. I'm all for breaking conventions, but I don't think breaking this one is worth it.

Also, a little detail from DnD: The 3.5th edition of popular role playing game Dungeons and Dragons introduced a Warlock character class as well in the Complete Arcane, which gains its magic through a pact with a powerful and otherworldly being such as a devil, demon, or faerie, instead of the game's more traditional methods of faith, study, or innate power.

You've alluded to that in the Warlock write-up, but there's the simplification.

Also, this thread is being used for general re-write purposes (and some spam), what about Haidia?

I propose to have Haidia be akin to the Abyss in DnD Lore: One description of the Abyss presents it as a region of intense, extreme, and unforgiving climates, with layers consisting of overwhelmingly fierce desert sandstorms; explosively unstable volcanic activity, boiling lava, and molten rock; blinding, sub-zero Arctic glaciers; bottomless oceans filled with enormous leviathans; nauseatingly putrid environments saturated with disease-causing fungi; and the endless, existential void of infinite space.

We don't have to copy the 'layers' portion, but it could be a separate plane of existence connected to Althanas through various portals, with regions as described above. Sort of like the Gourmet World of Toriko, if anyone's ever read that.