COVENANT

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Excession

Excession

Infohazard
Original poster
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
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Posting Speed
  1. 1-3 posts per day
Writing Levels
  1. Advanced
  2. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
Genres
Horror, fantasy, sci-fi.
Through bushes and through briars,
I lately made my way,
So the Green Grave would see me
For I can't love that man...

Life is cruel. You and your family toiled in the fields for the right to live on land claimed by a lord, on behalf of the king. A portion of all harvest given to him, to feed his warriors. Brothers and cousins given to wars in lands beyond the horizon. You and other girls wary of his eye and those of his underlings.

Life is cruel. The priest tells you this is punishment, for the sins of the fathers. He offers dire warnings about the evils of your flesh and weakness of your will. He dismisses your pains and accusations.

Life is cruel. The most powerful woman in the village told you so, and she knows - she is older than anyone else, even the local lord. Her face is lined by laughter and suffering, her back straight and gaze piercing. She knows how to treat ailments the priest ignores. The men at arms fear her. To the village, she is the midwife - she delivered you, and your mother, and perhaps even your mother's mother.

But she has told you stories; the Green Man of the Woods, the Queen Under Hill, the Lurker on the Threshold. Now you hear the call, o human child, from gods & monsters of the wild.

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This game of horror, transformation, and rebellion will feature four to six Witches as the player characters. Each Witch has sworn herself to a wild god in exchange for power - what she does with that power is her business, though some patrons expect more service than others.

There are two ways to approach this.
1. A group of Witches sworn to different gods, working together across a large-ish region.
2. A group of Witches where one player is the Hag in charge, each embodying a different aspect of one god.

Characters should be female-identified, though I may allow one exception if someone convinces me with a concept.
Prior experience with dice is appreciated but not mandatory. New players will receive direct assistance from me and will largely learn by doing.

You are required to read at least enough for the system and setting doc to make a Kelene character.

RULEBOOK: CDA Special Edit - revised
Character Index: CHARACTER INDEX - COVENANT - Characters

Questions and comments welcome.

CC @Alexandra @Hair @FuzzMonster @Ragoza @Custodiet Teh @Silvertongued
 
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PSA; the Old Gods of Imeria are found on pages 108 - 111 of the rulebook linked in the original post ~
 
Both the Tyrant and the Walker have my attention, I'll come up with some literary concept to explore with them and see what's more popular
 
Hmmmm. How about the following concept? A village girl who got caught out in the wrong place, too far from the village at nightfall, and who was hunted all night, staying alive through sheer desperation, terror, and the very skin of her teeth, and then collapsed at dawn, panting, dying, expecting death...only to be patted on the head as the sun rose.

'You'll do,' growls the Huntsman, stinking of male sweat, wet dogs, and blood. "Yes, lass. You'll do."


Concepts:

Not actually a hardened hunter to begin with, must now learn the bow and the spear.
Blessing and curse of hunter and prey: The Huntsman was amused by how she came to him, and has given her a double edged sword. During the night, her blessings work to their full extent, but during the day, she is the Prey, and her blessings can only be used to misdirect, evade, and escape.
 
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That is legit as fuck, Fuzz. What did the Huntsman take in exchange?
 
I might actually consider going for Love. It's not on your list here, but it's in the Core PDF, if that's OK?
 
PixelWitch said:
I might actually consider going for Love. It's not on your list here, but it's in the Core PDF, if that's OK?
Click to expand...

I feel like that might be an outdated version, but I trust you so go wild.
 
Oh, if it's outdated, then I don't mind picking something else.. Fear was my next pick anyway, if that's easier to work with. in fact I might actually chose it, over Love given what I have in mind...
 
Actually, nah, I'll stick with Love. It's more interesting in what I have in mind. Is that everyone now?
 
Excession said:
That is legit as fuck, Fuzz. What did the Huntsman take in exchange?
Click to expand...

He took her ability to be safe among humans.

More specifically, he marked her as both prey and predator, and left her to survive on her wits. Under her tunic and dress, most of her torso is covered in a light layer of very soft, downy hair, dappled in exactly the same colours and pattern as that of a fawn. Her scent, though, is that of a dog. A big one. A wet one.
 
I'll get the template up in the index in a little bit, so I'd like to see more character concepts in the meanwhile.
 
The Celestial Tyrant is a Lord not to be taken lightly. His gaze is intense and few last long enough in his presence to be granted an audience. Withered corpses continue basking in his territory long after their souls have both departed and diminished.

To become a Wife of the Tyrant is to assume a mantle of responsibility, total loyalty and submission. In return comes vast power and protection to those deemed worthy.

Her husband dead and herself exiled unjustly by both court and family, where else was she to go? To escape the Tyranny of man, she flees to the Tyrant of All...

Concept:

Sort of a look into the psyche of a battered woman, taking the Abuse of the Sun in order to wield a fraction of his power on her own scale.

Granted power at great cost, the physical and emotional toll of her witchdom spiraling her soul further and further into the Tyrants clutches.

Maybe a great price paid? Her entire internal structure taken and only her skin left behind? Cuts and punctures allowing the sun to spill out.
 
Well, I'mma put this forward, let me get a yay or nay on it for going forward... beware of incoming wall of text.

I am Fera, and I am Unloved.
I know not my Mother's loving embrace, for death took her as penance for my birth.
I know not of my two Brother's love, for one was dragged away, kicking and screaming by a fiend in the night, and the other served a tyrant who used him as a pawn in a petty war.
I know not the love of my Husband, when the Winter snatched the breath from his lungs.
I know not the love of my daughter, when with child a fever struck me down, and they were born still and quiet.
I know not the love of my Father, who though still with me in body, does not remember my face nor my name, spits at my presence and bites the hands I feed him with when his own hands fail him.
I am Fera, and I am Unloved.

On one of my many visits to my many graves, with my many names, I cursed Love, and their abandonment of me.
And lo, should they appear, wearing the face of my child. Ten years old to a day, she has my husbands long dark hair and a face like my Mother's. But her eyes are like cherries ripe to rot and her smile is sharp and sly and she smells of strawberries and warm linen.
She is the warmth of a summer's sun when she embraces me.

I cry like a lost child and beg her not leave me, and when she withdraws, she takes something with her.
My hands are not my own.
Fingers that wish to hold a Mother's Hand in her final hours, and feed my Father when his own are too frail. Knuckles to playfully punch the shoulder of my brother's for their trifling cheek. Palms that caress the skin of my Husband with a lovers touch. Arms that cradle my infant with a velvet cage of iron.

They are hers now, and in their place a likeness made of the blush of parted lips, the crimson of blood, the flutters of a beating heart, the petals of roses and the butterfly wings of knotted stomach. They look like they could reach into nothingness and grab things untouched. Things immaterial.
She smiles at me, a deal I did not agree to, signed.

I am Fera, and I am Beloved.
 
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I don't have anything so flowery, so I'll just note the rough details of my concept. A woman who grew up in the wilds, raiding caravans and the like under the cover of darkness. Eventually, she became such a pain in the ass to merchants that they hired a posse to hunt her down. Frightened out of her wits, she offered a prayer to the Moon-Queen, who appeared in person and granted her power, in exchange for her completing tasks when requested.
 
Good call, Fuzz.

I should specify, folks, how becoming a Witch happens.
The entity in question will ask for something from you - hands, heart, eyes, your name, your ability to love, a memory...
They replace it with power.

So @daird, I definitely like the rough there, but if you can think of something to exchange I'd appreciate it. Do you think your character was blessed in the Moon-Queens capacity as The Lover, The Assassin, or The Monster? It sounds like your character would fit the latter two, but these begins love irony...
 
I was thinking of playing a trans daughter of a lord, who was disowned upon coming out and became a witch shortly afterwards. I'll need to leave off the specifics after I've read up on the lore and mechanics.
 
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I'm torn between The Silken Prince taking her compassion and The Walker taking her legacy. The former would create an absolute psychopath, so if no one objects to that I'll probably go that route.
 
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