Name: Duncan Black
Nickname: None
Race: Witch
Sex: Male
Age: 36
Lives: Wailing Rock, WA
From: Rochester, NY
Education: Master’s Degree in History, Master’s Degree in Mythology, Undergraduate Degree in Teaching
Occupation: Professor of History and Mythology
APPEARANCE:
Height: 6’5”
Build: Athletic
Hair: Black
Eyes: Blue
PERSONALITY:
Duncan is witty and headstrong. He apparently left his Coven of his own free will, giving up on being a Witch due to events in his life. Duncan has a desire to leave New York and the supernatural conflicts in it. Seemingly tired of the whole thing. He seems to be empathic a trait that serves him well as a teacher.
Duncan has also shown to be a compassionate man, feeling remorse for the actions he had taken to find justice in his past. He may be still convinced to help other witches when threats come up or others need aide.
STRENGTHS:
Spell-casting: Witches possess the ability to cast spells, drawing upon the magic of their craft.
Channeling: The power to invoke extra forms of energy by focusing on external forces. (requires verbal casting as well as physical movement)
Potion Brewing: The power to brew and concoct potions, remedies and elixirs that have supernatural properties.
Telekinesis: The power to move objects and persons through mental influence. (requires hand gestures)
Pain Infliction: The power to create excruciating migraines through supernatural means. (requires hand movements and line of sight)
Elemental Control: The power to control and manipulate the elements of air, earth, fire, and water. (Requires verbal component)
Identification: A witch can recognize another witch via physical contact. A handshake or brushing the arm of another witch will alert the witch to the other's connection to magic. The older and more experienced the witch, the more likely she can identify the other's strengths.
Perceive: They tend to be able to recognize other supernatural beings. All witches also recognize, see, or feel the magic in a place or around things. They use that perception to make magic work for them.
Familiars: Some styles of magic use familiars more than others, but witches are all naturally capable of attaching to an animal or spirit. Once a connection is made, familiars tend to live as long as the witch does unless murdered. The connection has to be something that happens mutually, reciprocally between the witch and the familiar. A witch can't just want it, and a witch must accept it. For that reason, witches cannot make a Lycan into their familiar.
Shape Shifting: Witches are allowed to shape shift into natural, non-exotic animals - Cats, Dogs, Birds, Rodents, Wolves (Not Lycans), etc; any species that would be native to the United States, as it only makes sense. In order to shape shift, it requires a hefty price. You must take body of the thing you wish to shape shift into, and sacrifice it to the higher powers, (ie; ancestors, gods, whatever you follow during your rituals). The shape shifting spell will only last up to 3 days, as that is when the body begins to rot. When you take on that form, you cannot access other magic, as you are now a non-magical 'being'. While you are in the other form, the aura will remain as the spell is active. Once the spell has lifted, the body you are inhabiting will literally fall off, and your true form is revealed. Witches are only able to shape shift twice per month, as it is a hefty spell, and a huge cost in your magic. Please be aware that when a witch is shifted, their shadow will betray them; it will be cast as their human form.
WEAKNESSES:
Vocalization and Gestures: Witches must cast their spells vocally, even if the words are a muttered whisper. A gagged and tied up witch is powerless.
Visual and Tactile: Additionally, many spells require line of sight or touch (such as healing spells); therefore, being in the dark, or unable to reach the target prevents the witch from casting a spell and using her magic.
Power Cap: Witches are born with all of the power that they will ever possess. They cannot gain or create more power. Some witches are quite weak and limited in their spellcasting abilities, while others are frighteningly strong. A weak witch may learn as many spells as she would like, but it will not increase her raw magical power. Additionally, witches are not able to alter time - they cannot slow it, or travel through it; they may have abilities as a Seer but they are limited to sight alone.
Backfires: Spells backfired can cause physical or mental harm. Witches tend to have some fear when it comes to working especially complicated magic because of this.
Auras: Witches who use a lot of magic have a certain aura about them that makes them stand out to other supernatural beings, and it can make normal humans edgy around them, too. Auras also affect wild animals, making their behavior less predictable.
BACKSTORY:
Duncan Black was born to the Silver Thread Witches coven in upstate New York. He was raised by the coven and maintained as normal a life as possible going to school and getting his degree in teaching and having a job. He was never really into the politics of the coven liking more to just keep to himself and his personal studies of magic privately. He picked up magic and spells from others and amassed his own knowledge, but never liked showing it preferring a private life. Until he met Daviana.
A witch who people considered a bad influence on others, but they found one another and were happy. She got him out of his shell, and she found a rock in someone who did not judge her. Their relationship was a good one till her past caught up with her. She slid back into her old ways and he tried to reach out to her. But lost her to an overdose of drugs in a night of partying.
This drove him to dip into the darker side of his knowledge and using blacker arts, making the man who had made her slip go mad with waking nightmares he could not escape with drugs or alcohol till he drank himself to death.
He was driven to a deep depression which he escaped thanks to his family, He went back to work and decided he could no longer stay in the city. He found a job in the local college here teaching History and mythology hoping to start a new life.
The history of Duncan Black
Duncan Black was raised in the Silver thread Coven. It was a coven that originally making its home in the Black Forest of Germany. They were closed off and paranoid. They were also feared as one of the many reasons not to venture in it at night. Their magic back then involved sacrifice and darkness. Then in the 1940’s they were chased out from the Black forest by a splinter cell of the Nazi Reich that were seeking to have more power and killed Supernaturals to bleed then for power and any artifacts they could get their hands on. Those who survived ran to the Americas. Once there they were immigrants and treated as such. It led to becoming more closed off and secretive. Within the underground of the Supernaturals in the new land they became witches that specialized in influence. Illusions, potions, enchantment and mental magic. They amassed power and now live in their new stronghold within Rochester New York.
Duncan’s childhood experience was one of boarding schools for private education and his home. The way the Black’s view the proper raising of children is to push them to pure excellence. Those that show no skill or ability beyond the mundane to be special are ignored and treated as less than by the family. Duncan was raised in this environment and took it as a challenge. He always studied in his free time and worked to practice as much as he could. He would become the best among his kin. Different to them he developed a form of empathy in that environment becoming an aide to those among his family that were thrown to the wayside. Mentoring much older family and teaching at a young age. He did not feel those of less ability deserved to be left behind and aided them where he could. He studied magic of all forms adding to his magical understanding of manipulation of it. While he may not be able to perform the particular type, he added its information to improve his skill set. He made no real friends seeing his family as adversaries and those needing help. In private school he studied magic in secret making him quite paranoid and reserved. Only ever being open to those of supernatural origin.
The family took notice and his parents saw him as an asset to the family and pushed him further to be the best at all opportunities. Berating his failures and frivolities and giving some space in his helping the lesser of his kin to make his own ability excel. Once the members of the family were of age they were accepted as members.
Once he left school, he decided to study History and Mythology attaining master’s degrees in both. He became a college professor which afforded him the ability for travel and to study abroad seeking knowledge and more information on different ways people performed magic.
Skills
A variety of languages and a specialty in Enchantment and illusion. As well as an understanding of magic and its workings. Spell wise he stays very close to enchantment as it can let him perform magic without draining himself using charged items.
Magic style
He is a strict traditionalist when it comes to his own magic. Items are carefully created with specific and proper materials. His own rituals are all done in with tradition and practicality in mind. His spells all have specific goals in mind. Illusion is all about guile and secrecy as well as enchantment. But those spells used for offensive power are meant for brutality and the goal of ending the adversary, nothing less will be accepted by his mentality on combat.
As far as physical combat he does not have any skill in it. He uses magic as his weapon. Martial ability is limited to knowing how to throw a punch and getting out of the way.
His physique is for the ability to sustain damage as well as to handle drain. Part of his magic is so physically draining and damaging to himself he builds his body to sustain it.
Masque
He is secretive and only exposes his being a witch to other witches. When he feels another supernatural, he will rarely react to it unless it exposes itself to him first. This is to maintain his own safety and to be ready for attacks were they to come. He does not touch people unless they initiate contact first to again not be located even by those of his kind.
He has massive trust issues and does not freely seek connection to others. Those who do impress him with ability he seeks to study their magic. He offers praise to those showing excellence and says nothing to those who are not deserving of praise.
If asked for aide, he will provide it to those seeking advice but sees them as separate to him.
Mentality and philosophy
As far as his philosophy in life. As much as he has tried to view the world more open minded than his own family, he is still a silver thread witch. While he does not view those of lesser ability as just waste like his kin and helps them to improve, he still very much maintains a good chunk of his indoctrination. Those who do not work to improve deserve nothing. Those who seek frivolity are useless and a waste of his time.
He is direct and cold to many, and only truly warm and caring to a select few that ever deserve his time. Civility is offered to those who impress him in some way.
Those he calls friends are people he either has felt empathy toward or have earned the title in his view by showing excellence. He can be caring, doting and fatherly, but those he is that way to are few and far between.
As for how he deals with problems he will do what is necessary, self-harm is never off the table for him as magic in his mind always require sacrifice to truly become excellent. Adaptability is shown in how he uses his magic not the working of it. He views the non-properly trained and those who seek improvisation in their working as just mundane and is not impressed by them.
He is a die-hard sectarian when it comes to his mentality on other Supernaturals.
As far as his view on other races:
Vampires: Are all parasites. And deserve none of his time as they are base creatures who deserve nothing but to be stripped from the earth. They are beings that are nothing more than as a waste in the world and treats them accordingly. His views are very simple, the only way to help one is with a stake and fire. He is openly hostile to their kind.
Demons: Are not people to him. They are only phenomena and their existence is viewed as a virus. To explain, viruses are not considered to be alive since they are not able to reproduce and harm the host they inhabit. In the world Demons are things that need to corrupt in order to even continue existing and feed on others. He views the majority as things that are not worth his time unless they cause him some sort of problem, at that point they are to be dealt with as one would an infestation. Some have earned his civility and even has taken one as a ward. This after she has shown being immensely different from their kind. He is not openly hostile to them, nor is he nice unless they impress him in some manner or cause him to think of them as he does of vampires. Once this happens, he then is openly hostile to them.
Lycans: Cursed. He feels empathy for their plight and is not openly hostile to them. Some he has come to view as friends and holds no prejudice to them.
Humans: he has no specific feelings to them and judges each as harshly as his upbringing has led him to be. They are simply mundane, and he is not hostile to them.
Witches: Some are worth his time. Others not.
Nature spirits: Unlike demons he views them as forces of nature as well. Useful as allies, and material components. He has no thoughts on them past them being like a part of the ecosystem.
Water borne: No information as he has not encountered any only myths and believes them to be mostly stories.
Elder gods: He fears them and sees them as truly horrific.
His views on each of the races comes from his hard-liner indoctrination in his upbringing and is hard to sway in any way. As has been played with characters. A vampire who has been the sweetest being on SIM is utterly disdained by him and treated like filth in all RP for example. Those he has helped in his life he tends to view as taking in strays. He has formed deep bonds with few outsides of what could be considered a deep bond outside of his family. And those he has he protects and fights for with a zeal that has ended up harming himself. Loyal to a fault and follows a strict code. Deviating from it rarely. He is stubborn and tends to be inflexible, as well as little tolerance for wasting of time. If there is no goal to something he will tend to simply walk away from most interactions.
He holds others to his own code as strictly as he holds himself. His own failings he carries as black marks on himself and shameful. In effect he is a ball of insecurities and self-loathing.
As for outwardly appearance he is a teacher. Willing to help, but once crossed he is cold and hostile. He leans heavily toward depression and constant brooding as his way of thinking leads to misery and loneliness, he does nothing about as his poor coping skills from a lifetime of indoctrination have made him the man he is.
Hobbies
He is skilled in the Hurdy Gurdy and enjoys playing it in his spare time. He reads voraciously. And his favorite music is folk music in all forms, from traditional to folk metal. He is an accomplished baker and enjoys it to relax and likes feeding others. When in the kitchen he does tend to become nurturing and has been heard on occasion to care for others not having been fed.