Oliver
09-12-11, 02:38 PM
Oliver Midwinter
First Name: Oliver
Surname: Midwinter
Rhyme-Norn (Coven Name): Gryphon
Title: Outcast
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 10 Stone
Eye Colour: Green
Hair Colour: Black
Place of Birth: Albion
Religion: Pagan
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Appearance:
2542
An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.
William Bernbach
History: The village of Albion is a place time has all but forgotten. It rests between two great plateaus in the wilderness of Scara Brae, concealed by magicks and enchantments set long ago to harbour its secretive and paranoid people from the chamberlains and tyrants of Althanas proper. Many strange and powerful people dwell there, but all in all it is an agricultural backwater place where nature and man live as one. On the edge of such a village in a house overlooking a small lake lives the Midwinter family. They are a long line of witches stemming back to the investiture of the village Coven nearly three hundred years ago. They are powerful, wise, generous and wondrous, but ultimately weakened by a series of tragedies that has recently befallen their home.
Oliver was born to the daughter of the current matriarch of the family, Mother Tesla, from a union of sorcery and witchcraft. Whilst such a union is neither prohibited nor ill thought of in the tradition of Albion, Oliver’s mother was faced with a difficult decision following her partner’s wish to leave the village for good to explore the wider world. Torn between sorcery and the open road, and a life of study and dedication to nature in the same valley she and her ancestors had enjoyed, she made the selfish decision of keeping him in Albion.
As a male in a woman’s world, Oliver can never expect to take leadership of his family, nor will he ever be part of the High Coven of Albion; those roles are dedicated to women and women alone. In his years of tutorage and education he has become a proficient if still ill experienced manipulator of the ancient ways and has a penchant for experimentation with herbs. Whilst some of the villagers are weary, if placated by the presence of magic amongst their idyllic agricultural haven, many respect and enjoy their company. The juxtaposition of the industry that powers the fields and harvests with the old ways and the rustic lifestyle causes conflict by all means, but the Midwinter’s and the other witch families abide by their duality with ease.
At the age of 21 Oliver became part of the village coven, or the Rhyme-Norn. At this age all witches and women in the village regardless of creed or desire are initiated as a member of the coven. They trace spirit guides from the Firmament and their name in the coven becomes that of their spiritual guardian. In the wind and zephyr of Oliver’s initiation, the Gryphon came to him, and thus in scripture, ceremony and family gatherings he is named. Little occurs in Albion of note, except that life is meaningful because it has purpose and order. He spends his days learning, cooking, cleaning and running errands, and in the few moments he is allowed in the company of the matriarch and Grandmother, he relishes every moment of wonder his minute world has to offer.
History Level One:
Time has not been kind to Oliver Midwinter. On the eve of his initiation as a full member of the coven, or at least as full a member as a male can be in a female world, tragedy befell the village of Albion. The foolish boy had dared to step into the divining pool, the very heart of majesty and mysticism in the small village at the heart of Scara Brae. To the Creed, the witch’s law, this was a punishment more dire than murder, more sinful than genocide, more corrupt than necromancy.
When the angels descended upon the coven as they transgressed into the spirit world to chant their new member’s name and bring him into their throng, there was no hope of survival. The lavish feast for the latest of the Midwinter line to become a True Witch went unfinished, and when the boy himself was spared and re-appeared on the dew laden lawn bereft of his entire world and his law – a new doubt was born in the world, a new seed of evil potentate.
He fled the valley of Albion, abandoning its red stone cliffs and its sleepy hallows as the angels had degrade would be his punishment. He did what was natural for any child cast into the world to do, he travelled immediately towards the nearest city, to try and find meaning in the chaos he had sewn into the fabric of history. His family are dead, his friends, murdered, his true love in the Creed; exiled from reach. All he has left is the natural sorcery and the faint hope that he can practice a half-life as a warlock, unhindered by the Three-fold Law but unable to cast magic within a circle’s grace and protection.
The world beyond Albion’s borders is a harsh place, and there is no peace to be found there. Oliver must find the consequences of his actions on his own terms; he must find the answers to the many dark questions which spiral about in his mind. Somewhere, amidst the betrayal he feels for being the cause of his family’s massacre, he must find peace.
If fate has not deemed Oliver Midwinter worthy of being a Witch, then he must take destiny into his own hands.
Peace on Althanas is a true rarity, seldom found by even the most deserving of souls.
Of Angels & Angles (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?21056-Of-Angels-And-Angles-(Solo)/page2)
+ 1,500 experience points and 143 gold pieces.
Of Consequence & Calamity (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?22291-Of-Consequence-And-Calamity-(Solo)&highlight=of+angels+and+angles)
+ Experience & Gold pending judgement.
Personality: Inquisitive is a word that sums up Oliver and he is bright, bushy-tailed and ever eager to investigate. He is a little shy and meek and easily intimidated, but this comes more from living in a house full of women and being the youngest more so than bewilderment or fear. As a youth his personality can be tempestuous and violent if angered and he lacks some of the emotional control a youth of his age might from Althanas proper, merely because of the lack of opportunities to develop social skills beyond the adult-child realm he inhabits. There are a few young people in the coven itself and he gets on pleasantly enough with those of his age, even if he remains a little distant and ambivalent as to wherever or not he is liked or cared for. He is loyal, dedicated and utterly subservient to the pagan-inspired traditions of Albion and ultimately, to the upkeep of honour of his family and its name. Even though he is now an outcast, he is still the child he has always been.
Skills:
• Knowledge (Herbalism): Above Average
• Knowledge (Magic): Average
• Knowledge (Witchcraft): Above Average
• Knowledge (Supernatural): Adept
• Read Magic
• Literate: Above Average
• Knowledge (Scara Brae Flora & Fauna): Adept
• Cooking: Average
• Woodwork: Average
• Tailoring: Above Average
Abilities:
The Heavenly Touch: When Oliver was young, he displayed an aptitude with the element of wind and the force of motion and it is in this direction he has primarily moved. He can perform at will minor feats of telekinesis. He can stir a spoon in a cup or bowl, rustle paper, write with a pencil without touching it and similar small motor movements that affect an object weighing no more than 3 lb. All such manipulations must abide by the laws of physics. He has become proficient at spiralling petals and small flecks of glass or dust in a beautiful display to augment his spell casting rituals, but they do not move with enough force to cause harm. He can manipulate most of his spell components and create movement and disturbances in objects that can slightly manipulate their construction – he can snap twigs, rip paper, warm water and cool flame – none of which can harm but certainly, he can play psychological games with it.
The Heart Spark: Freely, Oliver can conjure small balls of flame which form in a spiralling and spiked pattern, spinning slowly in his palm until released. It requires two hands cupped together to summon, and causes moderate burns and a small sphere of bright light on impact equal to a blunt impact from a well-lit torch. He can re-light small sources of flame, primarily candles simple by blowing on the wick gently. With a clap, and a raucous expenditure of energy he can extinguish all natural sources of fire within 10 feet twice per thread.
Stir the Winds: Oliver can always tell which way is North by raising his finger to a good wind or at least a reliable breeze. He can also ‘catch’ a breeze or wind and manipulate it around his body, as if he had caught a fireball from another wizard and were returning it in an erratic and vibrant dance. He can only catch breezes or winds that can rustle rye and perhaps knock leaves from trees in a weak storm at best. It has no offensive potential as of yet as it can only catch and reflect and control natural winds and redirect them at the same speed and rate they were caught in. It is useful for housekeeping, especially for dusting and drying linen.
The Angel’s Warlock: Oliver is bound by a powerful curse which prohibits him from performing any spells that require a circle to work with. He is effectively freed from the three-fold law, but this comes at the price of permanently feeling rejected and exiled from his own sorcery. It is like a constant weight on the shoulder, which will literally crush him if he succumbs to the temptation of wielding witchcraft again. He is effectively considered to be one level higher when considering all opposing abilities and his sorcery is instinctual, so cannot be dispelled by anyone not at least three levels higher. He has no resistance against spells of this nature. He will and literally is torn from the world by the screaming glaive of the Seraphs of the Spirit World if he uses it himself.
Equipment:
• 9 inch oak wand, with an amethyst tip.
• Quartz divining rod.
• Clay Ring.
• Apocathery jars and herbalist pouch bandoleer.
• Book of Shadows
• Travel pack.
• Candles.
• Woollen blanket.
First Name: Oliver
Surname: Midwinter
Rhyme-Norn (Coven Name): Gryphon
Title: Outcast
Race: Human
Gender: Male
Age: 21
Height: 5’10”
Weight: 10 Stone
Eye Colour: Green
Hair Colour: Black
Place of Birth: Albion
Religion: Pagan
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Appearance:
2542
An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.
William Bernbach
History: The village of Albion is a place time has all but forgotten. It rests between two great plateaus in the wilderness of Scara Brae, concealed by magicks and enchantments set long ago to harbour its secretive and paranoid people from the chamberlains and tyrants of Althanas proper. Many strange and powerful people dwell there, but all in all it is an agricultural backwater place where nature and man live as one. On the edge of such a village in a house overlooking a small lake lives the Midwinter family. They are a long line of witches stemming back to the investiture of the village Coven nearly three hundred years ago. They are powerful, wise, generous and wondrous, but ultimately weakened by a series of tragedies that has recently befallen their home.
Oliver was born to the daughter of the current matriarch of the family, Mother Tesla, from a union of sorcery and witchcraft. Whilst such a union is neither prohibited nor ill thought of in the tradition of Albion, Oliver’s mother was faced with a difficult decision following her partner’s wish to leave the village for good to explore the wider world. Torn between sorcery and the open road, and a life of study and dedication to nature in the same valley she and her ancestors had enjoyed, she made the selfish decision of keeping him in Albion.
As a male in a woman’s world, Oliver can never expect to take leadership of his family, nor will he ever be part of the High Coven of Albion; those roles are dedicated to women and women alone. In his years of tutorage and education he has become a proficient if still ill experienced manipulator of the ancient ways and has a penchant for experimentation with herbs. Whilst some of the villagers are weary, if placated by the presence of magic amongst their idyllic agricultural haven, many respect and enjoy their company. The juxtaposition of the industry that powers the fields and harvests with the old ways and the rustic lifestyle causes conflict by all means, but the Midwinter’s and the other witch families abide by their duality with ease.
At the age of 21 Oliver became part of the village coven, or the Rhyme-Norn. At this age all witches and women in the village regardless of creed or desire are initiated as a member of the coven. They trace spirit guides from the Firmament and their name in the coven becomes that of their spiritual guardian. In the wind and zephyr of Oliver’s initiation, the Gryphon came to him, and thus in scripture, ceremony and family gatherings he is named. Little occurs in Albion of note, except that life is meaningful because it has purpose and order. He spends his days learning, cooking, cleaning and running errands, and in the few moments he is allowed in the company of the matriarch and Grandmother, he relishes every moment of wonder his minute world has to offer.
History Level One:
Time has not been kind to Oliver Midwinter. On the eve of his initiation as a full member of the coven, or at least as full a member as a male can be in a female world, tragedy befell the village of Albion. The foolish boy had dared to step into the divining pool, the very heart of majesty and mysticism in the small village at the heart of Scara Brae. To the Creed, the witch’s law, this was a punishment more dire than murder, more sinful than genocide, more corrupt than necromancy.
When the angels descended upon the coven as they transgressed into the spirit world to chant their new member’s name and bring him into their throng, there was no hope of survival. The lavish feast for the latest of the Midwinter line to become a True Witch went unfinished, and when the boy himself was spared and re-appeared on the dew laden lawn bereft of his entire world and his law – a new doubt was born in the world, a new seed of evil potentate.
He fled the valley of Albion, abandoning its red stone cliffs and its sleepy hallows as the angels had degrade would be his punishment. He did what was natural for any child cast into the world to do, he travelled immediately towards the nearest city, to try and find meaning in the chaos he had sewn into the fabric of history. His family are dead, his friends, murdered, his true love in the Creed; exiled from reach. All he has left is the natural sorcery and the faint hope that he can practice a half-life as a warlock, unhindered by the Three-fold Law but unable to cast magic within a circle’s grace and protection.
The world beyond Albion’s borders is a harsh place, and there is no peace to be found there. Oliver must find the consequences of his actions on his own terms; he must find the answers to the many dark questions which spiral about in his mind. Somewhere, amidst the betrayal he feels for being the cause of his family’s massacre, he must find peace.
If fate has not deemed Oliver Midwinter worthy of being a Witch, then he must take destiny into his own hands.
Peace on Althanas is a true rarity, seldom found by even the most deserving of souls.
Of Angels & Angles (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?21056-Of-Angels-And-Angles-(Solo)/page2)
+ 1,500 experience points and 143 gold pieces.
Of Consequence & Calamity (http://www.althanas.com/world/showthread.php?22291-Of-Consequence-And-Calamity-(Solo)&highlight=of+angels+and+angles)
+ Experience & Gold pending judgement.
Personality: Inquisitive is a word that sums up Oliver and he is bright, bushy-tailed and ever eager to investigate. He is a little shy and meek and easily intimidated, but this comes more from living in a house full of women and being the youngest more so than bewilderment or fear. As a youth his personality can be tempestuous and violent if angered and he lacks some of the emotional control a youth of his age might from Althanas proper, merely because of the lack of opportunities to develop social skills beyond the adult-child realm he inhabits. There are a few young people in the coven itself and he gets on pleasantly enough with those of his age, even if he remains a little distant and ambivalent as to wherever or not he is liked or cared for. He is loyal, dedicated and utterly subservient to the pagan-inspired traditions of Albion and ultimately, to the upkeep of honour of his family and its name. Even though he is now an outcast, he is still the child he has always been.
Skills:
• Knowledge (Herbalism): Above Average
• Knowledge (Magic): Average
• Knowledge (Witchcraft): Above Average
• Knowledge (Supernatural): Adept
• Read Magic
• Literate: Above Average
• Knowledge (Scara Brae Flora & Fauna): Adept
• Cooking: Average
• Woodwork: Average
• Tailoring: Above Average
Abilities:
The Heavenly Touch: When Oliver was young, he displayed an aptitude with the element of wind and the force of motion and it is in this direction he has primarily moved. He can perform at will minor feats of telekinesis. He can stir a spoon in a cup or bowl, rustle paper, write with a pencil without touching it and similar small motor movements that affect an object weighing no more than 3 lb. All such manipulations must abide by the laws of physics. He has become proficient at spiralling petals and small flecks of glass or dust in a beautiful display to augment his spell casting rituals, but they do not move with enough force to cause harm. He can manipulate most of his spell components and create movement and disturbances in objects that can slightly manipulate their construction – he can snap twigs, rip paper, warm water and cool flame – none of which can harm but certainly, he can play psychological games with it.
The Heart Spark: Freely, Oliver can conjure small balls of flame which form in a spiralling and spiked pattern, spinning slowly in his palm until released. It requires two hands cupped together to summon, and causes moderate burns and a small sphere of bright light on impact equal to a blunt impact from a well-lit torch. He can re-light small sources of flame, primarily candles simple by blowing on the wick gently. With a clap, and a raucous expenditure of energy he can extinguish all natural sources of fire within 10 feet twice per thread.
Stir the Winds: Oliver can always tell which way is North by raising his finger to a good wind or at least a reliable breeze. He can also ‘catch’ a breeze or wind and manipulate it around his body, as if he had caught a fireball from another wizard and were returning it in an erratic and vibrant dance. He can only catch breezes or winds that can rustle rye and perhaps knock leaves from trees in a weak storm at best. It has no offensive potential as of yet as it can only catch and reflect and control natural winds and redirect them at the same speed and rate they were caught in. It is useful for housekeeping, especially for dusting and drying linen.
The Angel’s Warlock: Oliver is bound by a powerful curse which prohibits him from performing any spells that require a circle to work with. He is effectively freed from the three-fold law, but this comes at the price of permanently feeling rejected and exiled from his own sorcery. It is like a constant weight on the shoulder, which will literally crush him if he succumbs to the temptation of wielding witchcraft again. He is effectively considered to be one level higher when considering all opposing abilities and his sorcery is instinctual, so cannot be dispelled by anyone not at least three levels higher. He has no resistance against spells of this nature. He will and literally is torn from the world by the screaming glaive of the Seraphs of the Spirit World if he uses it himself.
Equipment:
• 9 inch oak wand, with an amethyst tip.
• Quartz divining rod.
• Clay Ring.
• Apocathery jars and herbalist pouch bandoleer.
• Book of Shadows
• Travel pack.
• Candles.
• Woollen blanket.