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Snowflake: A Quest For True Sorcery

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Snowflake:
A Quest For True Sorcery

Magic.

The word evokes so many different things to...
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Snowflake: Intro
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    • Omicron

    Omicron

    "I already have dragons, I do not want men."
    Councillor
    Location
    Brittany, France
    Pronouns
    He/Him
    Snowflake:
    A     Quest For True Sorcery    ​

    Magic.

    The word evokes so many different things to different people. Wonder. Disbelief. Fantasy. Fear. Envy. Laughter. Ambition.

    You were born to it, as few others are, and yet even to you magic remains so vast in scope that your mind fills with awe at its contemplation. Once, this immense power, as great and complex as life itself, could be mastered by a few - true sorcerers of an age now gone.

    But the magic you knew - a thing of elite and mystery, spoken of in hushed whispers in the shadows of human history - is coming to an end. These are the Twilight Days of the supernatural: soon the world of mundane modernity, this 21st century of technology and surveillance, will catch up to you. Every supernatural being knows it: you are on the brink of a new era, and when the Veil of secrecy is torn, when mortals discover the truth… There is no telling how traumatic the transition will be.

    So understanding this, you made a decision. In these final days, before it all comes to a crash, you would accomplish what the others had forgotten they could. You would harness the secrets of magic lost to the Withering. When the world imploded with the discovery of what had always lurked in its shadows - you would enter this era as the first sorcerer of the new age.

    This will not be your only focus. Your life up to this point has left you with debts, enemies, side goals. You will face turmoil and may, for a time, lose sight of the greater prize. But never for long. You know what you are. You know what you desire.


    ***​

    You drift in the chaotic, blurred scenery of your dreams. Soon you will open your eyes on the dawn of your nineteenth birthday, and the quest you have been preparing for for so long will begin. But for now, you swim in memories and hopes.

    Your name is Lily Chambord, and you've been called Snowflake by many - sometimes teasingly, sometimes admiringly, sometimes mockingly, sometimes scornfully. You took it all in stride. Something about you is different - you were touched by the supernatural in a way other mages are not. It tainted you. It gave you an edge.

    A mage. That is what you are. But it is not all. Magic is a holistic thing, encompassing the flows of energy of the world and all things therein, but there is not enough of any human life to learn how to master all its aspects. So people came up with titles, and they grouped around all these titles, and magic was broken, fractured into disciplines, into schools.

    You are a mage, but that is not all you are.

    [ ] You are a wizard. You are learning to master the magic inherent to the self. Your power comes from within, and you pour it out into the world at the speed of thought. It strains your body, it strains your mind, but it is always right there, at the tip of your tongue and fingers. Waiting to be unleashed. Your magic is the most immediate and versatile of all and requires no external implements, but you are limited in power and duration - you can only force so much power through your body at once, and once you've exhausted yourself only hours of rest can bring it back. To compensate for this, you store power within certain items, such as your staff.
    Material benefits: You have a staff, engraved with complex formulas. It serves both to store and channel your power and makes a narrow subset of your spells more powerful and efficient.
    Intrinsic benefits: You are physically very fit, training constantly to ensure that your body can keep up with your magic. You're strong, fast, and skilled in self-defense even without magic.

    [ ] You are a witch. You seek out and collect items which have inherent power, from magical relics to trophies taken from the bodies of supernatural creatures, and you tap them for power - sometimes destroying them in the process. Your most powerful magic requires ritual preparation, but this is usually the matter of a few seconds or minutes, and you always have something with immediate power at hand for emergencies. Your magic is constrained, having to work within the symbolic associations of your magical components, but your raw power is matched by no other as long as you're willing to expend your resources - and to replenish them later on.
    Material benefits: You have a botanical garden and a laboratory full of all the components you have managed to accumulate so far, some of which are renewable and some of which are rare and powerful.
    Intrinsic benefits: You have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of supernatural beings, their strengths and their weaknesses… and their use as trophies and components. Your magical history is pretty good too - it's how you locate precious relics.

    [ ] You are a thaumaturge. You draw power from your surroundings, from the elements and the earth itself - what is often called geomancy. This power is slow, passive, but immense: coaxing it out takes time, from hours to years depending on what you want to do with it. Your magic is performed through slow rituals, channeling power throughout the world to enact effects across great distance or for long durations, but almost none of it can be accessed in the heat of the moment - except in a few nexus of power, where magic bubbles to the surface and can be directed at will. These are fought over harshly.
    Material benefits: Your basement is a ritual chamber in which intricate seals were constructed a century ago, at the center of a geomantic nexus; it is your place of power, where you can enact your most powerful spells.
    Intrinsic benefits: You have a comprehensive knowledge of the geography of your region, the anatomy of your entire home city - and the supernal politics which divide it.

    [ ] You are an acolyte. Your power is derived from other, older entities. Once you would have been priest of one of the living gods, but these are no more. No you must entreat low spirits and debased deities - but this is partly to your advantage, as these weakened beings need you as much as you need them. How much power you have access to depends on your standing in the eyes of your patron or patrons, but you are always free to leave one for another - if you have one flaw, it's the need for politics and rapport, to avoid making enemies of those you draw power from. If you have another, it is that you must work within the symbolic portfolio of your patrons, and cannot use magic to go directly against their interests.
    Material benefits: You have a shrine to your patron, a being that was once a god and is now something else altogether. There, you can address the spirit in person, entreating them for answers or that edge of power you need in a crisis.
    Intrinsic benefits: You have many contacts among people like you, acolytes and worshippers, and you share an amicable sense of being the last bastion of an old tradition despite your differing allegiances. Some even owe you favors.


    ***​

    This Quest is set in a urban fantasy setting of mine. In this world, many of the most powerful forms of supernatural beings have dwindled away over the ages. Now, with modern technology making secrecy ever harder to maintain, it's only a matter of time before humans (re-)discover the supernatural. Before that happens, you intend to claim "true sorcery," a level of magic not mastered since centuries. That will require a lot of effort, research, and punching monsters in the face.

    I will provide more details on how magic works and what your world looks like as we get further into the character creation process and define who Lily is and what her life so far has been - among other things, we will narrow down her magic from one of the four categories above to more specific domains ("can I throw fireballs at people? Can I turn them into frogs?") and we will define how she was 'touched' by the supernatural in some additional way, because Lily is a snowflake. This is the Quest where your wizard is also half-ghost or whatever you end up picking.

    Tentatively, we won't use dice rolls. You will have things you're good and bad at, and the things you're good at will be more likely to succeed, but sometimes they will be a terrible idea that you shouldn't do anyway. You tell me what you do, I tell you what happens. I may change that if I feel there is a pressing need for an actual resolution system later on.

    All right, let's try this.
     
  • Threadmarks
    • Snowflake: Character Sheet
  • Threadmarks
    • Snowflake​


    Your name is Lily Chambord, called Snowflake. You are a wizard, a mage who draws upon her innate power to shape magic intuitively and immediately. You are the last descendent of the Chambord line, a family of mages for two hundred years, but your father has left your training to the hands of Dinah Salvatore, a long-time friend of his. But all those you know left. Your parents are touring the world, caught in their perpetual romance, and your mentor left one day without a word, leaving no idea where she was going. Though your days in the family house, a remote mansion on the outskirts of Longton Port, are often lonely, you've found friendship in unlikely places: Aneke is a werewolf girl, only slightly older than yourself, with a boisterous temperament; Trevor is a detective who understands that what is hidden is not necessarily evil.

    Your training was divided between two magical traditions. From your mentor, you learned the art of imbuing, and you mastered the Path of Light. Any object that produces light is enhanced in your hands, turning a simple lightbulb into a lighthouse and a laser pointer into a deadly weapon. Other wizards have staffs: you have a lightsaber, or the best approximation you've managed to make. From your father, you learned manifestation, the art of channeling raw energy - but something in you prevented you from mastering his knack. Where your father would redirect or move energy, you would smother it. On the day when you first awoke to that frightening power, a demon spoke up in your mind. He has been your constant companion ever since, goading you on the road to power.

    Who can tell what led you to your great obsession? Perhaps it's a desire to reconcile the natural schism in magic within you. Perhaps you wish to finally master a power you're not sure how to control. Perhaps it is your demon's seductive words. Whatever the reason, you have decided that you, Lily, nineteen year old wizard barely out of apprenticeship, her mentor gone, her parents far away, her friends not wise to the mysteries of magic - you, Lily, would become the first sorcerer of this age.


    Magic
    -Expert in the Path of Light, the art of controlling light produced by technology, from lightbulb to glowsticks to laser pointers.
    -Adept in the Winter of the Void, the art of smothering energy, creating an aura of cold and darkness.


    Skills
    -Athletic, adept in self-defense.
    -Well-versed in wizard lore, passable in other magical subjects.
    -Competent with computers.
    -Can maintain household technology with ease and perform repairs easily.


    Tools
    -A high-end laser pointer turned into a hilt capable of producing a blade of light, serving as your staff.


    Assets
    -A house in the far outskirts of Longton Port.


    Friends
    -Aneke, a young werewolf.
    -Trevor, a veteran detective.

    Acquaintances
    -Adam Highsmith, thaumaturge and historian of magic.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • I can barely tell whether the actual quest will be entertaining from this opening, but I guess you've set up character generation as well as could be expected while having no idea what kind of character you're going to be writing.

    [x] You are a witch.

    Because it looks the closest to alchemy, and I love the idea that yesterday's opponents are today's ingredients~
     
    [X] You are a thaumaturge. You draw power from your surroundings, from the elements and the earth itself - what is often called geomancy. This power is slow, passive, but immense: coaxing it out takes time, from hours to years depending on what you want to do with it. Your magic is performed through slow rituals, channeling power throughout the world to enact effects across great distance or for long durations, but almost none of it can be accessed in the heat of the moment - except in a few nexus of power, where magic bubbles to the surface and can be directed at will. These are fought over harshly.
     
    [X] You are a wizard. You are learning to master the magic inherent to the self. Your power comes from within, and you pour it out into the world at the speed of thought. It strains your body, it strains your mind, but it is always right there, at the tip of your tongue and fingers. Waiting to be unleashed. Your magic is the most immediate and versatile of all and requires no external implements, but you are limited in power and duration - you can only force so much power through your body at once, and once you've exhausted yourself only hours of rest can bring it back. To compensate for this, you store power within certain items, such as your staff.
     
    [X] You are a witch. You seek out and collect items which have inherent power, from magical relics to trophies taken from the bodies of supernatural creatures, and you tap them for power - sometimes destroying them in the process. Your most powerful magic requires ritual preparation, but this is usually the matter of a few seconds or minutes, and you always have something with immediate power at hand for emergencies. Your magic is constrained, having to work within the symbolic associations of your magical components, but your raw power is matched by no other as long as you're willing to expend your resources - and to replenish them later on.

    Though wizard is definitely a close second choice.
     
    [X] You are a thaumaturge. You draw power from your surroundings, from the elements and the earth itself - what is often called geomancy. This power is slow, passive, but immense: coaxing it out takes time, from hours to years depending on what you want to do with it. Your magic is performed through slow rituals, channeling power throughout the world to enact effects across great distance or for long durations, but almost none of it can be accessed in the heat of the moment - except in a few nexus of power, where magic bubbles to the surface and can be directed at will. These are fought over harshly.
     
    [X] You are a wizard. You are learning to master the magic inherent to the self. Your power comes from within, and you pour it out into the world at the speed of thought. It strains your body, it strains your mind, but it is always right there, at the tip of your tongue and fingers. Waiting to be unleashed. Your magic is the most immediate and versatile of all and requires no external implements, but you are limited in power and duration - you can only force so much power through your body at once, and once you've exhausted yourself only hours of rest can bring it back. To compensate for this, you store power within certain items, such as your staff.
     
    [X] You are a wizard. You are learning to master the magic inherent to the self. Your power comes from within, and you pour it out into the world at the speed of thought. It strains your body, it strains your mind, but it is always right there, at the tip of your tongue and fingers. Waiting to be unleashed. Your magic is the most immediate and versatile of all and requires no external implements, but you are limited in power and duration - you can only force so much power through your body at once, and once you've exhausted yourself only hours of rest can bring it back. To compensate for this, you store power within certain items, such as your staff.
     
    [X] You are a witch. You seek out and collect items which have inherent power, from magical relics to trophies taken from the bodies of supernatural creatures, and you tap them for power - sometimes destroying them in the process. Your most powerful magic requires ritual preparation, but this is usually the matter of a few seconds or minutes, and you always have something with immediate power at hand for emergencies. Your magic is constrained, having to work within the symbolic associations of your magical components, but your raw power is matched by no other as long as you're willing to expend your resources - and to replenish them later on.
     
    [X] You are a thaumaturge.

    This seems like a unique kind of power you really don't see often in quests. Slow and preparatory without being grinding.
     
    I take it no one likes owing their power to an external entity who can restrict your access to it, uh? Should have expected that.
     
    [X] You are a thaumaturge. You draw power from your surroundings, from the elements and the earth itself - what is often called geomancy. This power is slow, passive, but immense: coaxing it out takes time, from hours to years depending on what you want to do with it. Your magic is performed through slow rituals, channeling power throughout the world to enact effects across great distance or for long durations, but almost none of it can be accessed in the heat of the moment - except in a few nexus of power, where magic bubbles to the surface and can be directed at will. These are fought over harshly.
     
    [X] You are a witch. You seek out and collect items which have inherent power, from magical relics to trophies taken from the bodies of supernatural creatures, and you tap them for power - sometimes destroying them in the process. Your most powerful magic requires ritual preparation, but this is usually the matter of a few seconds or minutes, and you always have something with immediate power at hand for emergencies. Your magic is constrained, having to work within the symbolic associations of your magical components, but your raw power is matched by no other as long as you're willing to expend your resources - and to replenish them later on.
     
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