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Witches of Midnight Manuscript

Wyld Witches and their covens taking on entrenched power structures in a dark modern day setting. · By Balsamic Moon Games Collective

Children of Midnight - In-Character Glossary

A topic by Balsamic Moon Games Collective created May 14, 2021 Views: 186 Replies: 1
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Developer (2 edits)

I wanted to post this here to help with any question people might have about some of the terms used in the core book that might need a bit more explanation (feel free to reach out here if you have any other questions or terms you want to see in the next version of the glossary):

Glossary

Arcadia: The world from which Fae originate. Apparently a verdant and calm land.

Astral: A realm somehow attached to the minds of sentient creatures. Spirits residing in the Astral are embodiments of concepts and emotions. The most powerful of these seem to be the ones that have sway over the thoughts of vast numbers of minds. Astral spaces beyond include the darkness of space and the vast stars, plants, moons and exo-planets of the universe.

Bound Witch: A slang term for a registered witch used by wyld witches to hint that perhaps a little more of their power was bound than most registered witches would like to admit.

Coven (or Wyld Coven): A group of wyld witches who share a covenant and regularly assemble.

Congregation: An organized group of registered witches.

Earth (or Terra, Gaia): The natural world, where humans are born, grow old and die.

Essence: A difficult to harvest source of magical power found in small amounts anywhere on Earth, larger amounts in places of power. Witches call upon Essence stored within to use their powers.

Fae: A creature which has come from Arcadia, one born to Fae parents, or anything seemingly ‘alive’ which was constructed using Fae magic.

Fledge: A human who is expected to become a witch, but has not yet shown any magical ability.

Frank: A term for non-magical humans making specific note of their dangerous mastery of technology (origin Frankenstein).

Heritage: Immortal ancestors which sometimes manifest in noticeable morphological changes.

Human: A member of the genus Homo; usually referring to only Homo Sapiens and Homo Striga.

Mortal: Heritage lacking particularly strong immortal blood or noticeable morphological changes.

Registered Witch: A witch previously submitted to The Order to have their magical abilities bound; at minimum, their Wyld Magic (not all willingly).

Sapien (or Sape, also Mundane or Mundie): Homo Sapiens; a non-witch. A non-gendered term for person without magical abilities. Derogatory when used to describe a fledge.

Shadow: A dark mirror of the physical world. Spirits that reside in the Shadow are nature spirits and mythical creatures in hiding. The most powerful Shadow spirits tend to be primordial beings.

Underworld: A realm containing the spirits of sapient creatures after their physical body has abandoned them. The most powerful Underworld spirits are ancestors. The deepest parts of the Underworld contain all of the classical heavens and hells of various afterlives.

Witch: Homo Striga; a non-gendered term for a person who has (or at one time had) access to magical abilities.

Wyld Witch: A witch of the proper age to be registered that has managed to avoid registration. Young Witch: A fledge or a witch who has not yet reached the age at which they must be submitted to The Order. Their powers are not yet bound, but also not yet mature enough to channel powerful Wyld Magic.

Developer

Heritage is another fundamental aspect of the setting, so it is included here as well.

The 'default' is mortal heritage, but immortal bloodlines that were once hidden have begun to appear more frequently since witches made their existence known.

Additional Heritage options include:

  • Asterian - Horns and tufts of fur, especially around the neck.
  • Gorgon - Thick strands of hair, sometimes with a mind of its own, a withering gaze, forked tongue, other snake-like traits.
  • Squatch - Very tall and often extremely furry
  • Nereid - Often androgynous, blue tinted skin, gills.
  • Hydra - Reptilian or even bird-like traits, quite varied.
  • Satyr - Shorter than average, hooves and furry legs, sometimes horns or antlers.
  •  Mandrake - Any number of plant or fungi-like traits, the most varied heritage.