Frost Witches
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Far north, in the ice land of Skjoldier, fathers tell their sons to beware the “Fjarriauga” or “Frost Witches”. Stories are told of foolish men who ventured into the deep woods, unaware of the dangers that lie there. So often, those men would come across beautiful, weeping girls, mysteriously out in the middle of the snow. Being kind men, they would pause to help, only to disappear without a trace. These are the Frost Witches men warn of, cunning beasts that were once women but who now consume the flesh and blood of young, unwary men. Stories warn of their cleverness—how they hide behind the forms of young, lovely women—and will lure in any man foolish enough to fall for the disguise. However, any warrior who can see past the witch's disguise may earn a quick witted friend and a powerful ally. At the present moment of time the Fjarriauga are mostly unknown, and as such nothing on this page would be common knowledge. Please avoid metagaming.
Beginnings
The myth goes that the first Fjarriauga was born when a young bride, abandoned at the altar by her would be husband, charged out into a snowstorm. The snowstorm grew more and more violent as the young bride struggled through the snowdrifts. Eventually, she collapsed. Old Father Winter saw the bride and took pity on her. He leaned in and gave her the wedding kiss she'd longed for, turning her lips blue and her skin grey. Icy coldness crept into the young bride's heart and, when she awoke, she found her body was as cold as the snow she lay on. The snowflakes bent to her will and, out of the ice, she formed a chariot finer than anything her husband could have given her. This Fjarriauga, known in myth as Kriemhild the Witch Mother, spread the curse of the Frost Witch across the land. Any woman with deep despair in her heart may embrace the cold and find power, if she is marked by a Witch Mother. It is only the strength of their faith and will that many women avoid falling and becoming Frost Witches.
The powers of a Fjarriauga are tempting, though, and there are those that might seek out a Fjarriauga to gain the benefit of her knowledge. Fjarriauga are masters of disguise. Their skin is naturally grey and their eyes a glowing blue, but they can slip into a mortal skin as easily as changing clothes. They cannot impersonate others, but they can make themselves look normal. One can only identify a disguised Frost Witch by her icy touch. Fjarriauga can control the ice and snow, though they are powerless in the heat. Many Frost Witches are known as great seers and fortune tellers, offering to divine the future for any man who catches them in disguise. However, Fjarriauga are as fickle as the chilly northern breeze and are just as likely to eat a man as they are to help him. Fjarriauga delight in the succulent flesh of young men. It is one of the few things that gives their cold hearts pleasure.
Though violent, fickle, and tricky, Fjarriauga can be both helpful and harmful. They are required to provide aid to anyone who spots them in disguise. Unfortunately for those seeking their power and wisdom, a Frost Witch's mood may only depend on her appetite. Men, especially married men, must beware most of the Frost Witches. A favorite tactic of theirs is to devour a man and then mark his grieving bride for Witchdom. In this way, their numbers continue to swell.
Fjarriauga, due to the strange “ice aura” of their bodies, are also completely infertile. There is no possibilty for a Fjarriauga to become pregnant and carry a baby to term, it is impossible, and there can never be a successful insemination.
The curse of the Fjarriauga, like its creators, is fickle. A woman must first be willingly or unwillingly marked by a Witch Mother (a powerful Frost Witch with the ability to spread the curse). The mark of a Witch Mother is hard to discern. It appears on the back of a woman's neck—a blue splotch no different from a bruise. Indeed, many women dismiss it as such. Some never even know it's there. However, being marked by a Witch Mother is not enough to cause a woman to fall. If a woman is strong in faith and in will, she can escape becoming a Witch. To become a Witch, a woman must give into the despair that plagues her. Only then will the curse take over, giving her the powers of disguise and frost and binding her to the Witch Mother who marked her. Each Frost Witch Coven is governed by a Witch Mother. With time, a Frost Witch may grow powerful enough to spread the curse and create her own Witch Coven.
Such was the case in Asulon.
History
Though there are legends about who or what created the first Fjarriauga, no one quite knows for certain how they came to be. All anyone knows is that they have been a plague on Skjoldier since times immemorial. Fjarriauga covens, some with fifty members or more, stake their claim on large chunks of land throughout the island nation. Entire forests are lost to the Fjarriauga and no man with his wits about him dares to enter them. The men foolish enough to hunt or explore in a forest owned by the Fjarriauga often never returns. Any women who venture into these lands return unharmed, but not often unmarked by the With Mother who rules the lands.
However, Fjarriauga are not entirely a plague. Some bold men and women may earn a witch’s favor if they are clever and strong enough. The ageless Fjarriauga prove to be powerful and wise allies. Many tales in old Skjoldier were told of conquering heroes who enlisted the aid of a powerful coven. Subterfuge and seduction, the trades of the Fjarriauga, proved immensely useful in whittling down the barbarian hordes of Skjoldier warlords. Their mysterious magic—the innate ability to shift appearances and conjure ice—also made them exceptional allies in a world of simple swords and shields.
A Witch Mother is never satisfied, though. While Witch Mothers may be powerful allies and spiritual guides, the curse living in their bodies compels them to expand their covens. Myths advised leaders to protect their women when dealing with a Witch Mother. A Fjarriauga’s keen eyes can spot the telltale signs of a broken heart. To mark a young woman with the curse requires only the slightest touch on the back of her neck. This is why, when dealing with Witch Mothers, Skjoldier warlords always kept their women as far away as possible. However, casualties can still slip through the cracks.
Brunhylde Volsung was a young woman serving aboard her father’s ship when she was marked. Olaf the Old, a legendary raider with a weakness for beautiful women, set down anchor near a Witch Mother’s cove one fateful day, intending to ask for her advice on where to raid next. The Witch Mother allowed Olaf and his men to dock peacefully...at a price. Though Brunhylde kept her hair cut short and her chest bound, the Witch Mother’s keen gaze singled her out as one of the only women on the boat. As payment for her scrying ability and for allowing the men to dock near the coven unmolested, the Witch Mother placed her curse on Brunhylde, knowing full well that Olaf would take her to a new land where she could grow and spread the curse.
Olaf wrecked his ship in Asulon. Many of his men died, leaving only a precious few to find their way in the new land. Brunhylde was among the survivors. The trials of finding a new life in Asulon proved too great for her. She succumbed to the power of the Witch Mother’s curse and transformed into the first of Asulon’s Fjarriauga. The distance between her and her Witch Mother meant the Brunhylde’s power grew exponentially. Within mere months of transforming into a frost witch, Brunhylde had enough power to mark other women for witchdom. The curse inside her body compelled her to do so - seek broken hearted women and turn them into monsters like her. Though still timid and squeamish about her powers, Brunhylde followed her instincts and began marking the first of her new coven.
Seeing as it was the first, newly born coven in Asulon, it became known as the “Frostborn Coven”.
Biology
Despite appearances, a Fjarriauga witch is no longer a member of whatever race she was prior to her transformation. The transformation does more than change the colour of her skin and hair – it alters the entire make-up of her body. The most defining feature of a Fjarriauga is, of course, her cold skin. This is more than just having a low body temperature. The curse inhabiting her body projects a tactile magic that turns most liquids, including blood, salt water, and tears into an icy slush. As such, Fjarriauga lack many of the bodily fluids that most normal women would have. They do not bleed. Instead, when struck hard or pierced, a Fjarriauga’s body would fragment like chunks of ice. A very old, battle-worn Frost Witch’s true body may be covered with small cracks much like scars. One way to tell a disguised Fjarriauga from a normal woman is to cut her. If the woman in question does not bleed, she may be a Fjarriauga in disguise.
Even innocuous body fluids, such as saliva, become slushy and icy. The same goes for mucus. How their organs still function in spite of the “ice aura” is a matter of magic and is yet to be studied. They have learned to use this to their advantage, however. There are records of Fjarriauga spitting what basically amount to hail pellets.
Fjarriauga, due to the strange “ice aura” of their bodies, are infertile.
Fjarriauga also do not age. The curse and “ice aura” essentially traps their bodies in cryogenic stasis. A Frost Witch’s true body will look more or less exactly how it did when she transformed. A Fjarriauga transformed as, say, a twelve year old will remain looking twelve for the rest of her life. Aside from the other changes, such as white or blue hair, grey skin, glowing blue eyes, and the occasional “crack” from battle, a Fjarriauga’s true form will look largely the same her entire life.
Magic
An affinity for ice magic is an innate ability of all women who have succumbed to the Fjarriauga curse. It is drawn from an unknown yet powerful elemental spirit, responsible for the curse and the Fjarriauga in their entirety. Although their magic is not overly powerful, frost witches are able to manipulate cold and ice and use it in any manner they see fit - from conjuring ice as weapons to defend themselves to forming a lair out of snow and ice; the capabilities of the magic are open-ended and up to the imagination of the caster. While the ability is innate, a newly-turned witch must be taught how to control her powers. While this process is somewhat easier than the process of learning to use conventional magic, it is still usually necessary for a frost witch to learn to use her innate powers. A witch with no guidance from her witch mother might eventually learn to control her powers through trial and error, but due to the nature of frost witches this would more likely lead to her demise well before she can effectively control her abilities.
Because it is sourced from a spirit rather than the void, frost witch magic is more similar to shaman magic than evocation (See: Magic). Unlike evocationists, Fjarriauga do not conjure elements from the void to use how they will; similar to shamans, they manipulate cold and ice on the plane of what already exists. While they may seem to produce ice from thin air, this occurs by freezing the moisture in the air into ice. For obvious reasons, their magic is far more effective and easier to use in cold and wet environments, while dryness and especially heat makes their magic very difficult to use. For example, in a cold, damp area, such as a frozen lake, given the already present cold and moisture in the air, conjuring ice by freezing the air would be a very simple and swift task, whereas somewhere like a dry plain it would take more time to both gather enough moisture and chill it to the point of solidification. In extreme levels of heat, such as a desert during the day or close proximity to a fire, frost witches very quickly grow weak to the point of passing out in moments and become unable to maintain their disguise or use any form of their magic.
However, this does have several other effects on the magic. Perhaps the most significant one is that conjuring ice by freezing the moisture in the air is not instantaneous - a skilled frost witch could likely conjure a wall of ice in front of someone depending on the circumstances (and moisture in the air), but it takes precious time to freeze water into ice in great enough quantities to be of use. The other main limitation of frost witch magic is that it is heavily touch-based. While manipulation at a distance is possible, albeit substantially weaker, if a frost witch is in direct physical contact with what she’s manipulating, the effect of their magic is significantly more powerful and takes place much more swiftly. As an example it would be far easier for a frost witch to freeze someone in place if they were holding their hand than if they were sitting across a table from them.
The witch mother, as the head of the coven, has a noticeably stronger affinity for their ice magic than her daughters. The most obvious demonstration of this is their ability to mark other women with the Fjarriauga curse, but aspects of it can be seen in all forms of their magic. While the difference in power is not overly large, a witch mother’s frost magic is notably more powerful again than a regular frost witch.
Because their ice is not conjured from the void but produced from what already exists, ice that is conjured by frost witches does not require constant mental effort to keep in this world. Rather, they are using already existing water and ice, and once it is frozen it is exactly like normal ice in the world - if the frost witch pays it no further attention, it will gradually melt back into water just like normal ice. Since it does not take mental strain to maintain the ice, there is no fixed limit on how much ice a frost witch can control. As an example, the Frostborn coven constructed a large tower of ice in Asulon over the period of several days, which was erected in a cold, snowy area and required only infrequent maintenance to keep it standing. If a frost witch continuously applies her magic, she can keep ice from melting in conditions it normally would, and even strong enough to be used as an effective weapon of near-iron durability. During a fight, a frost witch might conjure a blade of ice and use her abilities to reinforce the blade or keep it from melting - for example if it were plunged into someone’s body, the natural body heat would quickly melt a typical ice shard. However, a frost witch could keep her blade from melting by using her magic to strengthen the blade. Once she is finished the battle, she might discard the blade on the ground, where it would eventually melt away into water now that she is no longer maintaining it.
Disguises
Frost witches usually adopt magical disguises to interact with those outside their covens. Disguising is considered the most essential of all frost witch powers and is the easiest to learn, with new witches being able to effectively take on and maintain a disguise only days after their initial transformation, assuming proper guidance and teaching from the more elder frost witches. Their magic lets them completely change their form and voice to the appearance of a female any sentient race. However, their disguise only applies to their physical body - anything else, such as clothing, weapons and jewellery, need to be obtained separately and changed into or put on. While their disguises are effective for mingling among others and hunting for prey, their physical stature and abilities are not affected. A frost witch can never surpass physical capabilities of her true, undisguised form, no matter what disguise she takes. If a frost witch is not particularly strong, even if she takes the form of a well-muscled warrior, her strength is still limited to that of her true form. However, if she takes the form of one more feeble than herself, her strength will shrink to match. In the same manner, a frost witch cannot take on a disguise significantly larger than her true form, but can take on those smaller than herself.
While frost witch disguises are generally very effective at hiding their presence, there are several downfalls to using them. The most important trait to note is that a frost witch will always bear the ice-cold touch of their skin, no matter what disguise they take. Their skin is always icy cold, which leads to many frost witches donning thick clothes, or at least gloves to enable them to physically interact with others without arousing suspicion. Frost witches also cannot disguise their sharp, serrated teeth, which is so that they may consume men even while disguised, instead of reverting to their true forms to devour a kill. Frost witches may take any number of approaches to avoiding suspicion where their teeth are concerned, the most common being avoiding it being noticed at all - for example, using their lips to hide their teeth as much as possible, keeping their mouths closed whenever they’re not speaking and avoiding speaking when being directly looked at.
The other major drawback of frost witch disguises is that it suppresses their magic while they are donning one. Aside from their ice-cold skin, they cannot use or manipulate ice or cold in any manner until they revert back to the true form. While their disguises are near instantaneous to change from, they wish to keep their coven secretive, so reverting to their true form to use their magic where there is any chance of word getting out is a last resort at best.
When a disguised frost witch is identified as a Fjarriauga, through her disguise, the curse requires her to offer a favour to her identifier, as a way of escaping danger. Favours are not restricted to being identified, and can be offered at any time, but being identified requires them to offer a favour - they have no choice in the matter. Once a witch has offered a favour, she is bound to fulfill it - the nature of the curse prevents her from breaking her word. The only exception is if the favour asked would cause direct harm to the witch herself, or her coven. The harm does not necessarily have to be physical - being asked to identify her sisters in disguise would also be considered harmful, and therefore a witch is not bound to fulfil it.
Favours can only be used at the point of time they were offered - one cannot “bank” favours for use on a later date. Sexual favours of any kind will not be accepted. Circular favours also cannot be fulfilled (ie. favours asking for more favours), and if a favour is made which cannot be fulfilled, the witch is released from her obligation and no longer owes a favour - so choose wisely. A frost witch is also under no obligation to explain these terms to their discoverer (unless, of course, the requested favour is to explain the terms of the favour…).
Red Lines
- You can not play a frost witch or use frost witch magic without being cursed and taught by a Witch Mother in Roleplay.
- No frost witch magic can be used while in a disguise other than changing between disguises. Non-frost witch magic is not affected.
- Frost witch ice magic, unlike evocation, cannot be summoned at will. A skilled witch can conjure enough for formidable use in combat, but a witch must devote her magic to freezing ice around her before actually using it. (Minimum of 1-2 emotes to conjure ice before using it in battle, depending on circumstances)
- Evocation is not Fjarriauga magic, and evoked water cannot be utilized by frost witch magic. In the same manner, an evocationist cannot take control of ice under the command of a frost witch. One may learn both subtypes, but they cannot be properly used together.
- Disguises may not be used to impersonate another character - it’s simply impossible to replicate enough detail in a disguise to fool anyone.
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