Tag: familiar

#Lore24 – Entry #204 – Supers Month II #23 – Souls Fit for a Queen

Musings of Demon Lord Kurae

Queen’s ego may be larger than even herself, and that’s saying something for a demon who has a fifty-plus foot body composed of nothing but tentacles, but when she puts her mind to something, she gets results!  Look at how many playthings she’s brought to me, and how curious they are!  Why, this one has practically changed fully into something that resembles a werewolf, and yet, its soul is distinctly still human, but infused with a most unique flavor of magical energies.  And this one, I’d call her a half-cow; you know, with her breasts being that large, I daresay she’ll make a fine addition to the milking stable, once properly trained.  This one would make a passable kitsune, I think; perhaps I can work with it and turn it into a mate for my Kitsune?  We’ll see…

What say you, pet?  What has occurred here?  You are the foremost expert on such things in your world, are you not?

Oh…yes, of course.  I forget that your magi are stunted in this realm and must have a bond with a familiar regardless of the powers they wield.  So, you’re saying that these humans have bonded with their familiars?  Oh, oh!  You’re telling me that they’re not aware of their bonds with them?  Oh, your kind is even dumber than I could have imagined!  Give me a moment while I enjoy a most earnest laugh at humanity’s expense!

And what do you make of those whom Queen has taken for herself, then?  The slutty teenager, the ponyboy, and the insane woman overflowing with raw magical essence?  What of their familiars?  Only the ponyboy comes close, but his animal features are all leather and latex, so that doesn’t count.  Oh?  A total merging of spiritual essences?  They and their familiars are truly one, are they?  Hence why there’s little in the way of limits upon their potential?  Ohhhh, how curious…so now you’re telling me that the familiars that were bonded with the others were essentially newly created by the explosion, and these are familiar spirits that have existed for a long time, and have grown much stronger since the flow of magic was dammed up?    

Hmmm…this is a potentially dangerous complication, my pet.  Just how many of these old-spirit familiars could there be?  And just how are they picking their targets, and choosing what powers they grant?  I daresay that ponyboy is as strong as Queenie in her natural form, and the raw destructive power of the girl she pulled out of the nuthouse is incredible; fortunately, Queenie has just the thing to keep her on the straight and narrow, something to keep her properly focused.  The slut, though…I still haven’t quite grasped her powers even though I can sense she’s strong, but she’s also an idiot…I suppose Queen saw something special, or just wanted another plaything.  She’s on the upper scale of attractiveness for a human, but I’m not even certain that she’s aware she even made a deal with a demon, let alone traversed to another plane of existence with all her complaints about not having ‘signal’.  Whatever. 

Now it’s your turn, pet.  We’re going to do some experiments while my minions are looking for those relics, and you’re going to learn exactly how to recreate this phenomenon for me.  And you’re going to do it because you are my loyal, loving slave.  Still, if you feel the need to disobey, I will never deny you my most loving punishments.

#Lore24 – Entry #183 – Supers Month II #2 – The Way of Magic

From the journal of Abigail “Sassy” Dawson, Mage of the Order of Hecate

I’d learn a few things when I finally woke up and took account of where I was.  I could smell the age of the old cabin mixed with the scent of herbs and fresh-baked bread, saw that my wounds had been tended and bandaged.  It only took a few moments before I realized I was right hungry, so I eased out of bed, unsteady as I was at the time, and stepped through the open doorway into the main room of the cabin.  That was when I’d meet Granny Opal for the first time, a witch older than the hills themselves so it was said.  I’d heard the name growin’ up but didn’t ever figure the tales of a witch up in the distant hills to be fact till I saw her and she introduced herself.  She weren’t nothing like what I figured from what I’d heard about her; she looked more like the ‘granny’ of her namesake than the old crone you’d think of when you hear the word “witch”, gray hair up in a bun, plump and wrinkled with age, a little pair of glasses threatening to slip off her nose, that kind of look. 

Still, she weren’t one to mince words and dillydally about, so she told me how it was and how it was going to be for a fair sight.  As she told it, I’d sought her out on my own after a fashion now that my powers had woke up, and she was gonna teach me how not to get myself and others killed with what I could do, at least, not by accident.  I guess maybe she took a bit of pity on me then when my stomach spoke up, cause she said she’d wait till after breakfast before startin’ my lessons.  I never once questioned her ‘bout all this; just seemed right to me now that I didn’t really have noweheres else to go; I had family up north ‘round Lexington somewhere, so I’d been told, but I never met them, so they might as well not have ever existed.  I took a seat at the old table and noted all the strange things she had hangin’ ‘round her place, animal bones and sticks and beads and feathers and the like, all kinds of different arrangements, and all kinds of bottles and jugs filled with things I’d learn about later on, not all of them pleasant.  Granny Opal was a good cook, I’d say, fixed some fine bread and stew, though the taste was a little funny till you got used to it.

Once my stomach weren’t interruptin’ us from jawin’, she started teachin’ me about what had happened.  I started gettin’ images in my head of what all had happened that day as my memories came rushin’ back.  I got real close to sickin’ up right then when I remembered what I’d done, but managed to hold all that food I’d just eaten in somehow.  As she went over the basics and started learnin’ me some techniques to focus my mind and spirit and my head cleared up, I first became aware of my familiar, Asher, lingerin’ over by the fence, chewin’ on some grass.  Turns out he’d been my familiar since I’d handled breakin’ him in a couple years back, I just never realized what it was I’d done.  Now that I’d started learnin’ the ways of magic, it weren’t long before I was talkin’ to him in my head and hearin’ his voice just as plain as day.  That’s how I eventually learned he’d picked me up out in the woods, havin’ slipped outta the stables on his own once the shootin’ started, and he’d sensed Granny Opal all on his own and took me to her.

I’d be sittin’ out the rest of the War with Granny Opal, becoming an apprentice witch, I suppose.  She’d introduce me to her familiar soon enough, a big ol’ bobcat named Smoky, and though he weren’t no normal bobcat, he still put Asher’s nerves on edge whenever he was about.  I’d learn that our familiars acted as something of a buffer and a conduit for tappin’ into the magic that was all around us, though I reckon magic had started to fade away from the world a while back for whatever reason, which was why there weren’t too many of us witches about anymore.  They were also magical beings, our familiars, bonded to us for the rest of our days, though they could certainly still be killed through other means, and were that to happen, we’d lose our connection to the majority of our magic till we bonded a new one. 

I’d learn some basic control techniques, how to call upon the elements and formulate magical essence into our “spells”, and a fair bit of her herbalism and alchemy, and how to use the mystic sight, too.  ‘Course, I had to learn all them pesky rules and such about what I should and shouldn’t be doin’ with my magic, but I’ll save all that lecturin’ for somewheres else. 

We didn’t see a lot of visitors out there at Granny Opal’s cabin; not many would venture out that way unless they was in need of some of her special healin’ poultices and the like.  Everyone was downright afraid of her, really, but I figure that was more just somethin’ she spread around to keep most people away.  She enjoyed her privacy, and just tolerated me for a short spell, I reckon.  Still, she weren’t unpleasant or mean, was a good teacher, and was mostly patient with me.  I’d ride Asher down through the hills a good ways to town ever so often to pick up a few supplies that weren’t traded to Granny by her occasional visitors, and I’d pick myself up a rifle for huntin’ and such after a fair bit of tradin’. 

Granny thought I was a might touched in the head when I came back with that gun, since everything we could ever need we could work through magic in some way or another, but I just didn’t feel right not havin’ one.  Sure, I could fling rocks or manage a spurt of fire, or somethin’ else like that by then, but I don’t reckon that’d go over well outside her little holler.  Folk just weren’t gonna accept that sort of thing in the modern world.  Might actually be why magic started to fade, I guess; people just stopped believen’ in it.  I didn’t plan on stickin’ around forever, and she didn’t expect me to either.  So, I’d start playin’ around on my own, and as I’d learn, I could do some right fancy tricks when I combined my magic with my shootin’. 

#Lore24 – Entry #129 – Muckenmyre Month #8 – Ashleyra the Witch of the Swamp

From the journal of Takara, Slave Inquisitor of the Stellae Illustris.

In my mess of thoughts concerning my future that night, as dawn approached, I became aware of a subtle shift in the air outside.  From my window, in the faint light of the lanterns hanging along the Span, I could see that not a soul moved at this hour, and that a fog was coming in, spreading rapidly from the north, from the depths of the Muckenmyre itself.  I knew immediately that this was not natural, could feel the magic in the air as the gray enveloped the town.  Immediately on alert, I eased silently from my bed to peer more closely at the gathering fog.  To my surprise, I heard movement in the house; the mayor was already awake, and in moments, he stepped lightly through the front room and out the door, dressed for the day, it seemed, and headed toward the Span. 

Curious by virtue of my inquisitor’s nature, immediately suspicious of a plot of some kind, I waited until the mayor had neared the Span and slipped out of my window, my bare feet silent upon the slightly muddy stones.  Keeping low and using the fog to my advantage, I hurried to follow the mayor, easily tracking his path.  Spotting the watch towers as I cleared the row of houses, I could see the night watch still in place, none of them seemingly aware that the fog wasn’t natural, none more alert of a possible attack. 

As I came upon the Span, I saw movement upon the river, a single flatboat coming down the side closer to the far end of the Span.  The fog had obscured it to some extent, but I could make out a single figure upon it, wearing an earthy-colored cloak that obscured their features.  As they neared a small dock, I saw something else move over the bundles and bags that filled the boat, a reddish-colored muskrat, running excitedly back and forth.  I likewise spotted the mayor and three others coming down the steps, lanterns in hand, two assistants from the general store, and the woman I recognized as the town’s herbalist, though I had yet to introduce myself to her. 

I continued silently and quickly through the fog-shrouded street along the Span, picking up snippets of conversation, thought he fog had a muffling effect, and I could make out nothing of what was said.  As I rounded the far end of the Span and came up behind some crates that were stacked near the platform at the top of the stairs leading from the dock, I could finally hear the mayor and the herbalist speaking softly, an unfamiliar, female voice answering.  It seemed they were discussing trade of some kind. I peered around the crates, watching as the assistants unloaded the flatboat, though my eyes were drawn to the newcomer.  Curiously I could not see her face, even in the lantern light, though I saw the faint, reddish glow coming from her eyes, the tips of curling horns poking from her hood, and the gentle swaying of a pointed tail around her legs.  A mazoku, the first I had seen since my arrival in Grimbridge.

As the last of the cargo was removed from the boat, I noticed the muskrat again, having climbed atop some of the bags that had been brought onto the docks, its eyes suddenly focusing upon me, its head cocking curiously to one side.  A heartbeat later the conversation had stopped, and I felt the mazoku’s eyes fall upon me, and then she called out to me. 

“Fear not, newcomer; I was aware of your arrival from the moment you first came to these shores.  If you come with no ill-intent, then please, join us, for I would quite like to meet one who has survived such an ordeal, one from the far Empire.”

My fur bristled at having been spotted; I knew then that the muskrat was not natural, and would momentarily discover it was a familiar, and the stranger was known as Ashleyr, the Witch of the Muckenmyre.  I did not hesitate once I had been spotted, for I sensed no danger, and made my way down the steps.  I bowed in deferential greeting, and silent apology, to those gathered here, aware that the assistants had began loading other bags and crates upon the boat.  The mayor made introductions, to the herbalist, an older half-elven woman named Cardiane, and even to the muskrat, Thornton, who was now nibbling on some sweet treat he’d gotten from somewhere.

Ashleyr extended her hand, and once I had taken it, she held to it with remarkable strength, for she was shorter and lighter of build than me, turning it so that she could see my slave brand.  Without need of being told, I showed her the one on my other forearm; she took a few moments to examine them, running her fingers over them, seemingly tracing their lines, then nodded and thanked me; I had steeled myself, though, my training preparing me to resist any magic that may be placed upon me, though none came. 

I still could not make out the details of her face but for her faintly glowing eyes, even this close.

She told me that she came to town at least once every couple of months, trading mostly herbs, potions, and other rare materials from the depths of the swamp in return for things she needed, though preferred early-morning visits, when fewer eyes would be upon her, for not everyone took well to her kind, especially not a witch such as she.  I inquired as to whether she was associated with the Witches of the Ways, for I had encountered them in my homeland.  I could hear her smile as she spoke, confirming that she was, though she was far more aloof than her sisters, for her home was the heart of the swamp itself, and the place of power that stood there.  I did not inquire further about this, for it did not seem to be my place to do so.

Our conversation was short, ending once her boat had been filled.  She expressed a desire to speak with me at some length in the future but did not wish to linger longer than necessary.  She announced that I was welcome in the swamp, but that I should not take that to mean I should not be wary of its many dangers.  She then bid farewell to the mayor, the herbalist, and myself and made her way back upon the flatboat, her familiar hurrying to follow.  As she departed back up the slow-moving river, the fog followed her, disappearing as suddenly as it had come.

Offering another apology to the mayor for my actions, though I caught myself before I suggested he punish me, for I knew by now that he would tolerate no such talk, I instead offered my help in carrying the goods Ashleyr had brought as my way of making amends.  This he seemed to accept without complaint, and so I made myself useful.  I am no stranger to hard labor, so carrying these bundles and boxes was no trouble, and I daresay that I was better at it than even his store workers.  If nothing else, it was a gauge of how well I had recovered, and thankfully, it seemed, I was very nearly fully healed.

As we returned to his home for another hour or two of sleep before the day’s work began, I expressed my interest in finding some kind of work within the town, as a way to repay the hospitality they had shown me, and to start earning my way properly, given that I was no longer anyone’s property.  Saying such a thing still felt entirely wrong, and internally I was feeling as though I had willfully committed some great act of betrayal to my Emperor, but what choice did I have?  Surely his kindness had its limits, and I would not be wise to overstay my welcome so far from home. 

LORE24 ENTRY #36 – Supers Month #5 – Black Cat

 

Hero Name

Black Cat

 

Real Name

Elizabeth “Liz” Powell

 

Description

Having lived outside of the normal world for decades, Liz remains somewhat stuck in time, as do many of her order, and doesn’t necessarily make much of a distinction between her true identity and her heroic one; pretty much nobody knows her outside of the order anyway.  

Though she is well into her 50s, Liz still has the appearance of a teenager, with long black hair reaching down to her butt, worn loose, with very obvious cat ears and a tail covered in black fur.  Her eyes are amber and can appear feline when she is using her arcane sight.  She is of average height and build, and still wears the kinds of clothes she wore when she was still living in the real world, namely heavy metal band shirts and jeans or jean shorts, usually accented with leather collars, cuffs, and maybe even a light chain instead of a belt, and a good pair of stout boots.

As she’s interacting with the people of Sentinel City more and more, and working with the heroes of the city, as Black Cat, she has taken up a costume of her own, going with another classic style, namely the sexy witch.  Her heroic costume consists of a wide-brimmed, floppy witch’s hat with holes for her ears to poke through, beset with various magical charms, a leather mini-dress with a cleavage-revealing bustier top and loose-fitting corset, opera-length gloves, over-the-knee high-heeled boots, and fishnet stockings.  Later, following a bit of a magical mishap involving the mysterious Kitsune, her costume would be composed of magically-infused latex instead of leather.

 

Powers and Abilities

Unlike the vast majority of the current wave of superpowered individuals, Black Cat is a classically trained arcanist (witch, wizard, mage, whatever the term one decides to use), giving her a wide variety of spells and a deep knowledge of the intricacies of the nature of magic that none of her companions have.  In essence, she is capable of learning and using practically any spell assuming she has the mana reserves to do so, whereas the ‘supers’ around her typically have a rather narrow specialty, their powers focusing in only a few well-defined areas.

Having bonded herself to her familiar, Black Cat possesses heightened senses, not only better night vision, hearing, and smell like a cat, but magical sight which allows her to read the flows of magic and understand their composition almost immediately.  Further, this bond allows her to cast certain spells when she would normally not be able to (such as when bound and gagged), as her familiar can take over the physical requirements in its state of existing between the physical world and the ethereal.

Due to the nature of her training and her deep knowledge of magical theory, and her access to the vast archives of the Sanctum, Black Cat can generally come up with a spell for any occasion, often improvising well-known spells to create other effects, or coming up with innovative uses for simple spells that the overspecialized ‘supers’ often can’t contend with.  She also possesses knowledge of at least one of the forbidden spells, known as the Bands of Arrnor, which calls upon the power of a demon to capture foes n a most inescapable and deeply erotic way.  Further, she also possesses enough magical aptitude to study the ways of chronomancy with the head of the Order of Hecate herself.

 

Background Info

A woman out of time, Liz was born in the 1970s and raised in the 1980s, growing up in a suburban, middle-class family and enjoying all the entertainment the time period had to offer.  As magic had mostly been drained from the material world, it came as a complete shock to her when, during her early teenage years, she began manifesting uncontrolled magical abilities.  It was soon after these began that Sassy, a member of the Order of Hecate, would appear and officially adopt Liz into the Order as its newest apprentice, the first one since Sassy herself, who had joined in the late 1800s.  Though she would miss her family, Liz was fascinated by the fact that magic was real and that she could use it, and dove headfirst into her studies.  Inside the order’s Sanctum, time has little meaning, and before she knew it, decades had passed, and her magical abilities had matured, though her body still appeared mostly as it did when she was taken in.  She would chose the path of bonding with her familiar instead of keeping it as a separate entity, gaining its feline features.

Then, an amazing thing happened.  Whatever force had sealed up the source of magic in the real world suddenly vanished, and with the dam broken, magic flooded the Earth.  Old leylines were suddenly bursting with power, and people across the face of the world were gaining magical powers of all kinds, kinds that had not been seen in centuries, if not completely new.  Given the Order’s nature, there was really no decisions made to investigate, only to study until the time was right.  Being the youngest of the mages, only in her early 50s, Liz did what any teenager properly raised in the 80s would have done:  she snuck out of the Sanctum and explored Sentinel City on her own, discovering that the world was almost entirely different from how she remembered it.  For the first time, she could understand why it was that most of the members of the Order avoided venturing into the material realm.

It was during her exploration that she would come upon the crime scene that Mecha Musume and Cyber Seer had recently taken care of, learning more details about the strange use of magic and picking up on the magic that was used by the mysterious Pink Pussy, her instincts telling her that there was much more going on that what was at once obvious.  She would eventually run afoul of the Sentinel City police, specifically Detective Conway, during her investigations, and would have to break out, after which she would join up with Mecha Musume and Cyber Seer to hatch a plan to capture Pink Pussy before she could complete her crime spree.  Though they would successfully capture Pink Pussy and learn of the existence of Dollface, their plans would go awry from there, and she would be defeated by the talented illusionist known only as Kitsune.

Following this incident, Liz continues to learn more of the modern world, now with the blessings of her superiors in the Order, to uncover the nature of the mysterious dark entity seeking the magical relics Pink Pussy and Kitsune had been pilfering, and acting as one of the newest heroes of the city to fight the surge of superpowered criminal activity as Black Cat.

 

Known Enemies and Rivals

Clean Sweep (Enemy)

The Clean Sweep Gang (Enemy)

Dollface (Enemy)

Demon Lord Kurae (Enemy)

Kitsune (Enemy…?)