M
Marionette
Guest
Original poster
Welcome to Glitter and Grimoires, an otherworld fantasy RP. What if spooky, arcane witches and sparkly, dynamic magical girls are suddenly thrown together? What will happen when these transforming magic-users from modern Earth are trapped in the witches' world? We are open and accepting characters.
Index
1. Setting
2. Rules
3. Character Types
4. Application
5. Reference (under construction)
Setting
This game takes place in the witch world – a world inhabited solely by witches, their familiars, and magical beasts. The witches are unsettled by the sudden appearance of "shifters" from an unknown realm. These shifters have the power to transform and unlock highly potent magic, magic it would take a witch years to master. Some witches believe that shifters have an important destiny in the witch world. Others believe that shifters' heads are destined for platters. And the rest? The rest just believe that things are about to get interesting.
The witch world is equally unknown to the shifters. These once-mundane modern humans gained the power to transform into magical warriors and battle monsters on Earth. Now they're stranded in the witch world, navigating a complex web of opinions about their nature and their purpose. Can't they ever catch a break?
The witch world has a primitive technology level compared to Earth, though many basic conveniences (running water, climate control, food preservation, etc.) are available through magic. Shifters may still struggle with a society built around basic magic they do not possess, however. All Earth-like climates exist in the witch world, though the area the shifters have appeared in is mostly forest, swamp, and meadow.
Rules
- No post minimum. I focus on quality, creativity, and game advancement over length. In Iwaku terms, this game is probably Intermediate to Advanced. I do like proper grammar and spelling, but errors here and there don't faze me.
- This game may have a relaxed pace. Constant posts are not expected. At least once a week is nice (more is lovely!), but I do understand when things come up. Just warn us and move your character off to the side if you know you're going to be gone for a while. If you disappear for a long time, I reserve the right to gently do this for you.
- No sex or extreme violence. Reasonable levels of violence and mild suggestive themes are okay within Iwaku rules for the main RP forums, but we do need to keep it PG-13.
- Practice standard RP etiquette. No godmoding, no controlling someone else's character without permission, etc. Try to keep extended OOC chats in the OOC thread.
- Make sure you read the entire section for the role you want to apply for (witch, shifter, familiar, mascot) and adhere to it.
- Post your application in the singup thread or PM it (either is fine). Please wait to be accepted before you start roleplaying.
- Multiple characters are allowed. I won't put a hard limit on it unless it becomes a problem, but be sure you can juggle the ones you create. Some level of NPCing is also fine, but keep it brief and constructive to game movement.
- Be excellent to each other. :3 IC jerks are fine, but no one likes that OOC. You can talk to me about any problems you're having or anything you're not happy with in the game.
Character Types
-
A witch's life might not be easy, but at least it's never boring. Power sleeps in your blood, in your very bones… but you're not alone. Far from it.
Solitary or social, benign or destructive… there are many paths a witch may walk, and yours stretches before you like a ribbon. Some witches are kind souls, working to improve the world for their peers. Others feed on the weak with a smile. Most are completely unpredictable. It's wise to tread lightly in the world of the witches.
But there's someone even more unpredictable. Another type of magic-user has appeared in the world. They come from a world completely unknown to the witches. No one knows why or how they came – not even the shifters themselves – and no one is sure whether to trust them. Can you? Should you?
Creation and Play:
Even the most inexperienced witch can work simple spells such as levitating items, sparking fires, creating small amounts of food and water, healing mild injuries, and summoning spheres of light. Such things are completely mundane in the witch world. They can also fly, either by themselves or on broomsticks, though they often require practice to fly quickly and accurately. It's not uncommon for young witches to summon small creatures and weak spirits, and some witches are naturally more in tune with certain elements, not unlike the themes of magical girls.
Powerful magic, however, requires study and dedication. The scope of a witch's powers is nearly unlimited – except by the amount of work they can and will put into learning the craft. Some spells may also require complex rituals or rare ingredients. It all depends on the witch's methodology and skill. Many specialize in specific areas in order to excel in them. There are a variety of ways to learn magic, including studying existing spellbooks, personal experimentation, learning from more experienced witches, and attending academies. Not all witches live in settlements large enough to have academies, and these establishments rarely accept just anyone. Still, a determined witch can usually find a spot somewhere.
Witches may also possess familiars. Familiars vary wildly in shape and strength. Sometimes strong familiars will contract with inexperienced witches because they know that a witch has the potential to outclass them eventually. Others refuse to contract with a witch weaker than themselves. Some witches even create their own, though it takes a powerful witch to create a powerful familiar.
The reasons a familiar may have to enter a contract are varied, but for witches, it's a simple matter: familiars provide extra protection in a dangerous world. There may be other reasons, but this is the most common. Witches age very slowly, and they aren't easy to kill in mundane terms, but threats in the witch world can far exceed their natural limits. Where do these threats come from? Wild creatures, backfiring magic, and other witches, of course. Whatever Earth's fairy tales may say, they aren't all evil, but some powerful witches enjoy preying on the weak. Young witches must watch their backs, lest they become part of the "food chain."
Witches do not know of Earth, though some great witches have traveled to the realms normally connected to the witch world.
-
You were normal once, and then it happened. It was sudden, inexplicable… but undeniable. You became a superhero overnight.
Soon you realized there were others like you, and that was fortunate, because monsters began to appear. They wreaked havoc, but they were seldom a match for a handful of shifters. All you had to do was transform, shout a few attacks, and poof. No more monster.
Okay, it was a little harder than that. There were other challenges, too. You had to balance your personal life and public safety, all while maintaining your secret identity. If you had a mascot, you had to keep it hidden, too. Some shifters didn't get along with others, and in-fighting, while rare, could be far more destructive than battling monsters.
Even so, you adjusted. You almost felt like you were in control of your life again. Almost.
Because things just got weirder. The last thing you remember before waking up here is blinding light and rushing wind sweeping you off your feet. Now you're in the witch world, and not everyone is friendly.
Creation and Play:
Shifters must transform to gain access to their full powers. This requires an incantation and/or concentration. The shifter may experience a "transformation sequence" inwardly, but to onlookers, the shifter's body is swathed in light for only a second.
They have several basic powers. When transformed, they may jump extra-high and/or fly, they're stronger than they look, and their bodies are capable of withstanding more damage than a typical human could. They can still be injured or killed with enough force, but they can be thrown through a wall without sustaining any lasting damage. A mundane human brandishing a knife is simply no threat to a shifter. Even untransformed, their healing factor is increased.
Beyond that, a shifter's powers revolve around one or two themes. They may have basic, unnamed abilities relating to the theme(s). For example, plant powers might be able to create and shoot vines, and water powers might fire bubbles or small blasts of water. They might also have some limited ability to manipulate their theme in the environment – the plant powers might cause tangled vines to move aside, while the water user might create a bubble of air around themselves to breathe underwater. Shifters can sometimes use these powers while untransformed and may even manipulate the environment accidentally.
However, their strongest powers are named powers. These are specific, defined abilities – if a named power creates a large wave, that is all it can do. In order to use a named power, the shifter must call out its name. There is no limit on using named powers, but using many in a short time period may exhaust the shifter, eventually causing them to de-transform. Sheer force of will may allow the shifter to remain transformed and use named powers beyond their normal limit, but this will take a greater toll on their bodies once detransformed.
Shifters don't know how they ended up in the witch world or how to return home. So far as they know, they're stranded for the foreseeable future.
-
Being a familiar isn't so bad. You'd like to believe that, but it isn't always true. Witches run the gamut. You still have your free will, at least, but you're bound by the terms of your contract. You just have to make a good bargain.
After all, no one would do it if it didn't have its perks. Witches are powerful – very powerful – and their world, while sometimes dangerous, is full of promise. Whether you were born there or come from another realm, you have the chance to create a new life as a familiar. Of course, some are created for the job – but they rarely have much free will.
Creation and Play:
Familiars are a very diverse group of creatures, from lowly talking bats to beastly dragons. Some are creatures native to the witch world, while others come from a handful of differing realms connected to it. Magic works the same in these realms, but the types of creatures that live there are vastly different. Witches may also create familiars or uplift them from weaker creatures; this type of familiar often reflects the power of the witch at the time of their creation.
As a general rule, the stronger the familiar, the harder it is for the witch to control – notwithstanding the terms of their magically binding contracts, of course. Familiars often choose witches who are as strong as themselves, if not stronger, for the protection of a great witch can be worth more than life itself. However, some prefer to work with an inexperienced witch. This allows the familiar to perhaps earn the witch's loyalty before the witch is strong enough to be a threat to them. Witches generally desire familiars for their strength and vice versa – a symbiotic relationship. Others have more personal reasons for seeking out a contract.
Because familiars can be so varied, it's important that you make your familiar's form and special abilities clear in your profile. It's also important that you get permission from someone in order to play their familiar. If you have no one currently, you may enter the game as a "potential" familiar, and I will try to work you into the story somehow. -
As a mascot, your existence is new and strange. You appeared on Earth alongside shifters – where and how is a mystery even to you.
Yet, you seem to have an intimate understanding of a shifter's powers, and you find yourself drawn to them. You spent your time hiding from normal Earthlings and providing moral support and guidance for the shifters in their battle. When they were drawn into the witch world, you were too. This unfamiliar territory is somehow familiar to you… but you're used to knowing things you shouldn't by now.
Creation and Play:
Mascots are the weakest type of character in the game – please understand this if you decide to play one as a PC. Inverse to familiars, they have little power. They are not meant to fight. Rather, what mascots have is knowledge. They have a strange level of knowledge of shifters' powers, especially a shifter they form a bond with, and can motivate the shifter to do greater things. They can almost always communicate in human speech, and they can frequently fly or float. Some are able to produce small, useful items from time to time. They may even have minor offensive abilities, such as weak energy blasts. However, shifters are far more powerful. Mascots could never have defeated Earth's monsters by themselves.
Most mascots resemble a small animal, often strange-looking and extremely cute. Some, however, look like humanoids or larger beasts, and some can shift between two or three different forms. They have all the basic strengths one would expect of their assumed form. If a mascot can turn into a winged lion, it can fly, and it has a nasty bite. Again, though, shifters are far more powerful. In a one-on-one fight with a shifter, even this winged lion would lose.
They are also, perhaps, the most mysterious type of character. They don't know their origins or their true purpose. They don't know wheir their knowledge of shifters comes from. All they know is that they feel a strange pull toward the shifters, like they are one in the same.
Application
Please completely fill out the skeleton and either post or PM it. Some fields are optional; you may delete these fields if not using them. You may also format your profile however you like, but it's definitely not required. Just keep it readable if you do.
It doesn't need to be long. If you can cover the necessary info in a few sentences, feel free to leave it at that. You can go as in depth as you want, though! Just keep in mind that these double as quick references for your character after you're accepted.
Name: [Civilian name.]
Alias: [A magical name is required for shifters. Optional for all others; use only if you have a nickname or title.]
Age: [What it says on the tin.]
Type: [Witch, shifter, familiar, mascot.]
Physical Description: [The character's appearance. Pictures are acceptable, but please source borrowed art and be sure you're allowed to use it.]
Abilities: [If shifter, choose one to two power themes and describe any special attacks. If witch, note any specialties and strengths and your witch's general experience level. If familiar, note any special abilities. If mascot, you have little power, but you may have some minor abilities.]
Bio: [Optional.]
Other Info: [Anything else you'd like to add. Optional.]
Alias: [A magical name is required for shifters. Optional for all others; use only if you have a nickname or title.]
Age: [What it says on the tin.]
Type: [Witch, shifter, familiar, mascot.]
Physical Description: [The character's appearance. Pictures are acceptable, but please source borrowed art and be sure you're allowed to use it.]
Abilities: [If shifter, choose one to two power themes and describe any special attacks. If witch, note any specialties and strengths and your witch's general experience level. If familiar, note any special abilities. If mascot, you have little power, but you may have some minor abilities.]
Bio: [Optional.]
Other Info: [Anything else you'd like to add. Optional.]
Last edited by a moderator:
