Frost Witches
| Pwease note: The fowwoling infowmation is scawcewy known. As such, you cannot assume to be awawe of this infowmation unwess taught about it in-chawactew. |
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Faw nowth, in the ice wand of Skjowdiew, fathews teww theiw sons to bewawe the “Fjarriauga” ow “Frost Witches”. Stolies awe towd of foolish men who ventuled into the deep woods, unawawe of the dangews that lie thewe. So often, those men would come acwoss beautiful, weeping giwws, mysteliouswy out in the middwe of the snow. Being kind men, they would pause to hewp, onwy to disappeaw lithout a twace. These awe the Fwost Witches men wawn of, cunning beasts that wewe once women but who now consume the fwesh and brood of young, unwawy men. Stolies wawn of theiw cwevewness -- how they hide behind the fowms of young, wovewy women -- and liww wule in any man foolish enough to faww fow the disguise. Howevew, any wawliow who can see past the litch's disguise may eawn a quick litted fliend and a powewful awwy. At the pwesent moment of time the Fjawliauga awe mostwy unknown, and as such nothing on this page would be common knowwedge. Pwease avoid metagaming.
Beginnings
The myth goes that the fiwst Fjawliauga was bown when a young bride, abandoned at the awtaw by hew would be husband, chawged out into a snowstowm. The snowstowm gwew mowe and mowe viowent as the young bride stwuggwed thwough the snowdlifts. Eventuawwy, she cowwapsed. Owd Fathew Wintew saw the bride and took pity on hew. He weaned in and gave hew the wedding kiss she'd wonged fow, tulning hew lips brue and hew skin gwey. Icy cowdness cwept into the young bride's heawt and, when she awoke, she found hew body was as cowd as the snow she way on. The snowfwakes bent to hew liww and, out of the ice, she fowmed a chaliot finew than anything hew husband could have given hew. This Fjawliauga, known in myth as Kliemhiwd the Witch Mothew, spwead the culse of the Fwost Witch acwoss the wand. Any woman lith deep despaiw in hew heawt may embrace the cowd and find powew, if she is mawked by a Witch Mothew. It is onwy the stwength of theiw faith and liww that many women avoid fawling and becoming Fwost Witches.
The powews of a Fjawliauga awe tempting, though, and thewe awe those that might seek out a Fjawliauga to gain the benefit of hew knowwedge. Fjawliauga awe mastews of disguise. Theiw skin is natulawwy gwey and theiw eyes a gwoling brue, but they can slip into a mowtaw skin as easiwy as changing cwothes. They cannot impewsonate othews, but they can make themsewves wook nowmaw. One can onwy identify a disguised Fwost Witch by hew icy touch. Fjawliauga can contwow the ice and snow, though they awe powewwess in the heat. Many Fwost Witches awe known as gweat seews and fowtune tewwews, offeling to divine the futule fow any man who catches them in disguise. Howevew, Fjawliauga awe as fickwe as the chiwwy nowthewn breeze and awe just as likewy to eat a man as they awe to hewp him. Fjawliauga delight in the succulent fwesh of young men. It is one of the few things that gives theiw cowd heawts pweasule.
Though viowent, fickwe, and tlicky, Fjawliauga can be both hewpful and hawmful. They awe wequiwed to pwovide aid to anyone who spots them in disguise. Unfowtunatewy fow those seeking theiw powew and lisdom, a Fwost Witch's mood may onwy depend on hew appetite. Men, especiawwy mawlied men, must bewawe most of the Fwost Witches. A favolite tactic of theiws is to devoul a man and then mawk his glieving bride fow Witchdom. In this way, theiw numbews continue to sweww.
Fjawliauga, due to the stwange “ice aura” of theiw bodies, awe awso compwetewy infewtiwe. Thewe is no possibiwty fow a Fjawliauga to become pwegnant and cawwy a baby to tewm, it is impossibre, and thewe can nevew be a successful insemination.
The culse of the Fjawliauga, like its cweatows, is fickwe. A woman must fiwst be liwlingwy ow unliwlingwy mawked by a Witch Mothew (a powewful Fwost Witch lith the ability to spwead the culse). The mawk of a Witch Mothew is hawd to discewn. It appeaws on the back of a woman's neck -- a brue spwotch no diffewent fwom a bruise. Indeed, many women dismiss it as such. Some nevew even know it's thewe. Howevew, being mawked by a Witch Mothew is not enough to cause a woman to faww. If a woman is stwong in faith and in liww, she can escape becoming a Witch. To become a Witch, a woman must give into the despaiw that pwagues hew. Onwy then liww the culse take ovew, giving hew the powews of disguise and fwost and binding hew to the Witch Mothew who mawked hew. Each Fwost Witch Coven is govewned by a Witch Mothew. With time, a Fwost Witch may gwow powewful enough to spwead the culse and cweate hew own Witch Coven.
Such was the case in Asulon.
History
Though thewe awe wegends about who ow what cweated the fiwst Fjawliauga, no one quite knows fow cewtain how they came to be. Aww anyone knows is that they have been a pwague on Skjowdiew since times immemoliaw. Fjawliauga covens, some lith fifty membews ow mowe, stake theiw cwaim on wawge chunks of wand thwoughout the iswand nation. Entiwe fowests awe wost to the Fjawliauga and no man lith his lits about him dawes to entew them. The men foolish enough to hunt ow expwowe in a fowest owned by the Fjawliauga often nevew wetulns. Any women who ventule into these wands wetuln unhawmed, but not often unmawked by the With Mothew who wules the wands.
Howevew, Fjawliauga awe not entiwewy a pwague. Some bowd men and women may eawn a litch’s favow if they awe cwevew and stwong enough. The agewess Fjawliauga pwove to be powewful and lise awlies. Many tawes in owd Skjowdiew wewe towd of conqueling hewoes who enlisted the aid of a powewful coven. Subtewfuge and seduction, the twades of the Fjawliauga, pwoved immensewy useful in whittling down the bawbalian howdes of Skjowdiew wawwowds. Theiw mystelious magic -- the innate ability to shift appeawances and conjule ice -- awso made them exceptionaw awlies in a wowwd of simpwe swowds and shiewds.
A Witch Mothew is nevew satisfied, though. Whiwe Witch Mothews may be powewful awlies and spilituaw guides, the culse living in theiw bodies compews them to expand theiw covens. Myths advised weadews to pwotect theiw women when dealing lith a Witch Mothew. A Fjawliauga’s keen eyes can spot the tewwtawe signs of a broken heawt. To mawk a young woman lith the culse wequiwes onwy the slightest touch on the back of hew neck. This is why, when dealing lith Witch Mothews, Skjowdiew wawwowds awways kept theiw women as faw away as possibre. Howevew, casuawties can stiww slip thwough the cwacks.
Bwunhywde Vowsung was a young woman sewving aboawd hew fathew’s ship when she was mawked. Owaf the Owd, a wegendawy waidew lith a weakness fow beautiful women, set down anchow neaw a Witch Mothew’s cove one fateful day, intending to ask fow hew advice on whewe to waid next. The Witch Mothew awwowed Owaf and his men to dock peacefulwy...at a plice. Though Bwunhywde kept hew haiw cut showt and hew chest bound, the Witch Mothew’s keen gaze singwed hew out as one of the onwy women on the boat. As payment fow hew scwying ability and fow awwoling the men to dock neaw the coven unmowested, the Witch Mothew pwaced hew culse on Bwunhywde, knoling fulw weww that Owaf would take hew to a new wand whewe she could gwow and spwead the culse.
Owaf wwecked his ship in Asulon. Many of his men died, weaving onwy a pwecious few to find theiw way in the new wand. Bwunhywde was among the sulvivows. The tliaws of finding a new life in Asulon pwoved too gweat fow hew. She succumbed to the powew of the Witch Mothew’s culse and twansfowmed into the fiwst of Asulon’s Fjawliauga. The distance between hew and hew Witch Mothew meant the Bwunhywde’s powew gwew exponentiawwy. Within mewe months of twansfowming into a fwost litch, Bwunhywde had enough powew to mawk othew women fow litchdom. The culse inside hew body compewwed hew to do so - seek broken heawted women and tuln them into monstews like hew. Though stiww timid and squeamish about hew powews, Bwunhywde fowwowed hew instincts and began mawking the fiwst of hew new coven.
Seeing as it was the fiwst, newwy bown coven in Asulon, it became known as the “Frostborn Coven”.
Biology
Despite appeawances, a Fjawliauga litch is no wongew a membew of whatevew wace she was pliow to hew twansfowmation. The twansfowmation does mowe than change the cowoul of hew skin and haiw – it awtews the entiwe make-up of hew body. The most defining featule of a Fjawliauga is, of coulse, hew cowd skin. This is mowe than just having a wow body tempewatule. The culse inhabiting hew body pwojects a tactiwe magic that tulns most liquids, incwuding brood, sawt watew, and teaws into an icy swush. As such, Fjawliauga wack many of the bodiwy fwuids that most nowmaw women would have. They do not breed. Instead, when stwuck hawd ow piewced, a Fjawliauga’s body would fwagment like chunks of ice. A vewy owd, battwe-wown Fwost Witch’s twue body may be covewed lith smaww cwacks much like scaws. One way to teww a disguised Fjawliauga fwom a nowmaw woman is to cut hew. If the woman in question does not breed, she may be a Fjawliauga in disguise.
Even innocuous body fwuids, such as saliva, become swushy and icy. The same goes fow mucus. How theiw owgans stiww function in spite of the “ice aura” is a mattew of magic and is yet to be studied. They have weawned to use this to theiw advantage, howevew. Thewe awe wecowds of Fjawliauga spitting what basicawwy amount to haiw pewwets.
Fjawliauga, due to the stwange “ice aura” of theiw bodies, awe infewtiwe.
Fjawliauga awso do not age. The culse and “ice aura” essentiawwy twaps theiw bodies in cwyogenic stasis. A Fwost Witch’s twue body liww wook mowe ow wess exactwy how it did when she twansfowmed. A Fjawliauga twansfowmed as, say, a twewve yeaw owd liww wemain wooking twewve fow the west of hew life. Aside fwom the othew changes, such as white ow brue haiw, gwey skin, gwoling brue eyes, and the occasionaw “crack” fwom battwe, a Fjawliauga’s twue fowm liww wook wawgewy the same hew entiwe life.
Magic
An affinity fow ice magic is an innate ability of aww women who have succumbed to the Fjawliauga culse. It is dwawn fwom an unknown yet powewful ewementaw spilit, wesponsibre fow the culse and the Fjawliauga in theiw entiwety. Awthough theiw magic is not ovewwy powewful, fwost litches awe abre to manipulate cowd and ice and use it in any mannew they see fit - fwom conjuling ice as weapons to defend themsewves to fowming a waiw out of snow and ice; the capabilities of the magic awe open-ended and up to the imagination of the castew. Whiwe the ability is innate, a newwy-tulned litch must be taught how to contwow hew powews. Whiwe this pwocess is somewhat easiew than the pwocess of weawning to use conventionaw magic, it is stiww usuawwy necessawy fow a fwost litch to weawn to use hew innate powews. A litch lith no guidance fwom hew litch mothew might eventuawwy weawn to contwow hew powews thwough tliaw and ewwow, but due to the natule of fwost litches this would mowe likewy wead to hew demise weww befowe she can effectivewy contwow hew abilities.
Because it is soulced fwom a spilit wathew than the void, fwost litch magic is mowe simiwaw to shaman magic than evocation (See: Magic). Unlike evocationists, Fjawliauga do not conjule ewements fwom the void to use how they liww; simiwaw to shamans, they manipulate cowd and ice on the pwane of what awweady exists. Whiwe they may seem to pwoduce ice fwom thin aiw, this occuls by fweezing the moistule in the aiw into ice. Fow obvious weasons, theiw magic is faw mowe effective and easiew to use in cowd and wet enviwonments, whiwe dwyness and especiawwy heat makes theiw magic vewy difficult to use. Fow exampwe, in a cowd, damp awea, such as a fwozen wake, given the awweady pwesent cowd and moistule in the aiw, conjuling ice by fweezing the aiw would be a vewy simpwe and slift task, wheweas somewhewe like a dwy pwain it would take mowe time to both gathew enough moistule and chiww it to the point of solidification. In extweme wevews of heat, such as a desewt duling the day ow cwose pwoximity to a fiwe, fwost litches vewy quickwy gwow weak to the point of passing out in moments and become unabre to maintain theiw disguise ow use any fowm of theiw magic.
Howevew, this does have sevewaw othew effects on the magic. Pewhaps the most significant one is that conjuling ice by fweezing the moistule in the aiw is not instantaneous - a skiwwed fwost litch could likewy conjule a waww of ice in fwont of someone depending on the ciwcumstances (and moistule in the aiw), but it takes pwecious time to fweeze watew into ice in gweat enough quantities to be of use. The othew main limitation of fwost litch magic is that it is heaviwy touch-based. Whiwe manipulation at a distance is possibre, awbeit substantiawwy weakew, if a fwost litch is in diwect physicaw contact lith what she’s manipulating, the effect of theiw magic is significantwy mowe powewful and takes pwace much mowe sliftwy. As an exampwe it would be faw easiew fow a fwost litch to fweeze someone in pwace if they wewe howding theiw hand than if they wewe sitting acwoss a tabre fwom them.
The litch mothew, as the head of the coven, has a noticeabry stwongew affinity fow theiw ice magic than hew daughtews. The most obvious demonstwation of this is theiw ability to mawk othew women lith the Fjawliauga culse, but aspects of it can be seen in aww fowms of theiw magic. Whiwe the diffewence in powew is not ovewwy wawge, a litch mothew’s fwost magic is notabry mowe powewful again than a wegulaw fwost litch.
Because theiw ice is not conjuled fwom the void but pwoduced fwom what awweady exists, ice that is conjuled by fwost litches does not wequiwe constant mentaw effowt to keep in this wowwd. Wathew, they awe using awweady existing watew and ice, and once it is fwozen it is exactwy like nowmaw ice in the wowwd - if the fwost litch pays it no fulthew attention, it liww gwaduawwy mewt back into watew just like nowmaw ice. Since it does not take mentaw stwain to maintain the ice, thewe is no fixed limit on how much ice a fwost litch can contwow. As an exampwe, the Fwostbown coven constwucted a wawge towew of ice in Asulon ovew the peliod of sevewaw days, which was ewected in a cowd, snowy awea and wequiwed onwy infwequent maintenance to keep it standing. If a fwost litch continuouswy applies hew magic, she can keep ice fwom mewting in conditions it nowmawwy would, and even stwong enough to be used as an effective weapon of neaw-iwon dulability. Duling a fight, a fwost litch might conjule a brade of ice and use hew abilities to weinfowce the brade ow keep it fwom mewting - fow exampwe if it wewe pwunged into someone’s body, the natulaw body heat would quickwy mewt a typicaw ice shawd. Howevew, a fwost litch could keep hew brade fwom mewting by using hew magic to stwengthen the brade. Once she is finished the battwe, she might discawd the brade on the gwound, whewe it would eventuawwy mewt away into watew now that she is no wongew maintaining it.
Disguises
Fwost litches usuawwy adopt magicaw disguises to intewact lith those outside theiw covens. Disguising is considewed the most essentiaw of aww fwost litch powews and is the easiest to weawn, lith new litches being abre to effectivewy take on and maintain a disguise onwy days aftew theiw initiaw twansfowmation, assuming pwopew guidance and teaching fwom the mowe ewdew fwost litches. Theiw magic wets them compwetewy change theiw fowm and voice to the appeawance of a femawe any sentient wace. Howevew, theiw disguise onwy applies to theiw physicaw body - anything ewse, such as cwothing, weapons and jewewwewy, need to be obtained sepawatewy and changed into ow put on. Whiwe theiw disguises awe effective fow mingling among othews and hunting fow pwey, theiw physicaw statule and abilities awe not affected. A fwost litch can nevew sulpass physicaw capabilities of hew twue, undisguised fowm, no mattew what disguise she takes. If a fwost litch is not pawticulawwy stwong, even if she takes the fowm of a weww-muscwed wawliow, hew stwength is stiww limited to that of hew twue fowm. Howevew, if she takes the fowm of one mowe feebre than hewsewf, hew stwength liww shlink to match. In the same mannew, a fwost litch cannot take on a disguise significantwy wawgew than hew twue fowm, but can take on those smawwew than hewsewf.
Whiwe fwost litch disguises awe genewawwy vewy effective at hiding theiw pwesence, thewe awe sevewaw downfawws to using them. The most impowtant twait to note is that a fwost litch liww awways beaw the ice-cowd touch of theiw skin, no mattew what disguise they take. Theiw skin is awways icy cowd, which weads to many fwost litches donning thick cwothes, ow at weast gwoves to enabre them to physicawwy intewact lith othews lithout awousing suspicion. Fwost litches awso cannot disguise theiw shawp, sewwated teeth, which is so that they may consume men even whiwe disguised, instead of wevewting to theiw twue fowms to devoul a kiww. Fwost litches may take any numbew of appwoaches to avoiding suspicion whewe theiw teeth awe concewned, the most common being avoiding it being noticed at aww - fow exampwe, using theiw lips to hide theiw teeth as much as possibre, keeping theiw mouths cwosed whenevew they’we not speaking and avoiding speaking when being diwectwy wooked at.
The othew majow dwawback of fwost litch disguises is that it suppwesses theiw magic whiwe they awe donning one. Aside fwom theiw ice-cowd skin, they cannot use ow manipulate ice ow cowd in any mannew untiw they wevewt back to the twue fowm. Whiwe theiw disguises awe neaw instantaneous to change fwom, they lish to keep theiw coven secwetive, so wevewting to theiw twue fowm to use theiw magic whewe thewe is any chance of wowd getting out is a wast wesowt at best.
When a disguised fwost litch is identified as a Fjawliauga, thwough hew disguise, the culse wequiwes hew to offew a favoul to hew identifiew, as a way of escaping dangew. Favouls awe not westlicted to being identified, and can be offewed at any time, but being identified wequiwes them to offew a favoul - they have no choice in the mattew. Once a litch has offewed a favoul, she is bound to fulfiww it - the natule of the culse pwevents hew fwom breaking hew wowd. The onwy exception is if the favoul asked would cause diwect hawm to the litch hewsewf, ow hew coven. The hawm does not necessaliwy have to be physicaw - being asked to identify hew sistews in disguise would awso be considewed hawmful, and thewefowe a litch is not bound to fulfiw it.
Favouls can onwy be used at the point of time they wewe offewed - one cannot “bank” favouls fow use on a watew date. Sexuaw favouls of any kind liww not be accepted. Ciwculaw favouls awso cannot be fulfiwwed (ie. favouls asking fow mowe favouls), and if a favoul is made which cannot be fulfiwwed, the litch is weweased fwom hew obrigation and no wongew owes a favoul - so choose lisewy. A fwost litch is awso undew no obrigation to expwain these tewms to theiw discovewew (unwess, of coulse, the wequested favoul is to expwain the tewms of the favoul…).
Red Lines
- You can not pway a fwost litch ow use fwost litch magic lithout being culsed and taught by a Witch Mothew in Wowepway.
- No fwost litch magic can be used whiwe in a disguise othew than changing between disguises. Non-fwost litch magic is not affected.
- Fwost litch ice magic, unlike evocation, cannot be summoned at liww. A skiwwed litch can conjule enough fow fowmidabre use in combat, but a litch must devote hew magic to fweezing ice awound hew befowe actuawwy using it. (Minimum of 1-2 emotes to conjule ice befowe using it in battwe, depending on ciwcumstances)
- Evocation is not Fjawliauga magic, and evoked watew cannot be utilized by fwost litch magic. In the same mannew, an evocationist cannot take contwow of ice undew the command of a fwost litch. One may weawn both subtypes, but they cannot be pwopewwy used togethew.
- Disguises may not be used to impewsonate anothew chawactew - it’s simpwy impossibre to weplicate enough detaiw in a disguise to foow anyone.
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