Hawthorne

Wands

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Hawthorne education revolves around a refined and specialized form of magic called General Arcana, or referred to as Wands. It's partly based on underlying magic potential within all witches, and partly based on external Relic crafting, revolving around the use of- you guessed it- wands. Hawthorne issues out specialty wands to their students, but the practice of General Arcana applies with Rods accessible to nearly any witch. Its usage revolves around finding intrinsic combinations of command phrases and wand movements that resonate with the magic inside the witch, drawn out and amplified through the wand. Wearing pointy hats help with resonance, but it's somewhat a placebo.

For some reason there is a finite number of uses per spell rank. You have 1 spell per 1 hour of sleep or equivalent rest of your highest rank, and *2 / per rank less. ie; Wands 5 gives 1 5th rank spell, 2 4th, 4 3rd, 8 2nd, and 16 1st rank spells available. Otherwise, General Arcana spells cost no stamina or material components to cast.

All aspects of a spell can be doubled per spell rank used above it's original. You can combine spell effects into a single spell of combined rank, with the combined effects (Scaled to the new combined rank level, ie; 1+2=3).

Rank 1

Rank 1 accesses the beginner spells of; Illuminate (Create light like a torch), Simple Mirage (Static visual illusion within a 5ft cube), Burst (Generate a beachball sized pulse of force equivalent to a slap; Useful for disarming.), Push/Pull (Generate directional force equivalent to physically pushing or pulling on something, can be sustained). Spike (Deliver a jut of piercing force from the tip of your wand or rod with a range of 1ft; Equivalent to a dagger thrust, can cut if sustained). Marker (Generate a resizable node at the tip of wand that produces chalk or colored film on contact. Used for writing or ritual circles). Jump (An enchanted creature's next jump height is doubled). Counterspell. (Deflect or suppress a spell of equivalent rank if you can intercept it in flight or during its cast, if interrupted; stun caster for 3 seconds. If deflected, re-aim it.).

Rank 2

Rank 2 accesses the novice spells of; Flash (Create an intense pulse of light), Clap (Deafening bang), Suffocate (Remove all oxygen from a 10ft radius sphere), Saturate (Flood a 10ft sphere with high oxygen levels), Matchlight (Create a flame the size of a torch at the tip of your wand. Flicks toss the flame in a line following its path for 60ft). Microbolt (A singular thin crack of electricity that is equivalent to 1 second of a taser, within 20ft). Gardenspout (Stream of water equivalent to a garden hose). Gumdrop (Sling a dodgeball sized gelatinous glob that's either highly adhesive, or highly slick. It's also edible in any flavor but with no nutritional value. It rapidly hardens into a stiff gum). Sting (Deliver a bead like spark the size and speed of a BB pellet that leaves a neon glow in its wake. Causes intense pain like a bullet ant sting, no lasting harm.)

Rank 3

Rank 3 accesses the journywitch spells of; Levitation (Reduce the weight of an object fitting within a 10ft square by 150* Wands rank lbs. If 0 or less; Move at 5ft/sec), Silence (Create a 30ft radius sphere where all sound is prevented. Prevents magic that requires vocal commands or chants). Slash (Concentrated blade of force follows the wand tip; Equivalent to a strike from a sword, within 30ft, and 3ft long.) Stop (Prevents all conscious movement in 1 target within 10ft for 15 seconds). Move Earth (Move a 10ft cube of loose earth and stone that fits within it, to an adjacent space.) Daylight (Create a beachball sized orb of white light that illuminates a 300ft sphere with bright light, dim light in another 300ft. Includes UV radiation.) Lullaby (target creature within 30ft falls asleep, into deep sleep). Mage Hand (Create an invisible flying second pair of hands, that you can control within line of sight, it has all normal senses.)

Rank 4

Rank 4 accesses the expert spells of; Slam (Directional explosive force that could launch a car across a football field), Shatter (Thunderous pulse contained in a 20ft radious sphere dealing roughly the damage of a sledgehammer to every exposed surface within, per second sustained) Major Mirage (Dynamic visual and auditory illusion within a 60ft radius sphere). Antigravity (Eliminate the influence of gravity within up to a 120ft radius sphere). Lifeline (Mirror harm on one to the other within 15ft for 5 minutes). Gravity (A surface gains its own relative gravity once something makes contact; Walk on a wall or ceiling).

Rank 5

Rank 5 accesses the master spells of; Permanency (Cement another spell or magic effect to be a persistent sustained effect indefinitely. If the magic effect had material costs, you must provide 6x the cost to make it permanent). Contingency (Add a condition by which a different spell you cast will trigger, or when a permanent spell is active or turns off.) Eviscerate (A storm of micro Slash effects 1 inch long equivalent to a knife slash; On every exposed surface in a 30ft radius sphere or less, per second, in a cross hatch pattern with each square being 1cm ). Torrent (120ft long 5ft wide beam of Water, Fire, Electricity, or raw concussive force. Electricity or fire is 6,000° F, water or force has roughly the force of a 60mph car crash per second). Genesis Fold (Double the internal area of an enclosed space that fits in a 300ft radius sphere, can stack).

Watchers

Ministration

Life | Metal | Soul

Ministration is the act of invoking Celestial entities to petition for their favor. Using Ministration is a lot like combining mortal prayer with the practice of Consortation. Celestials like demons, require a price for their favor. The listed service is required within 24 hours prior to summoning the celestial. Premortal celestials are spirit beings invisible to most.

Rank 1

Service: Acts of Kindness. Cook someone a meal, lift someone's spirits, console someone sad, express genuine gratitude for someone.
Celestial: Summon a Mediary. A singular premortal celestial manifesting as a single ring surrounding an eye-like orb, shrouded in sunlight. The ring is the diameter of a baseball. A Mediary can produce sunlight like a torch passively or project it like a flashlight. This light causes lesser demons and spirits to freeze in place. While the summoner or their allies are within either light source, they understand and can speak any spoken language. A Mediary can intercept a projectile attack, then disappear. Max 3.

Rank 2

Service: Acts of Charity. Give a meal to someone in need, donate directly to a person or institution that needs it. Help find a job for the jobless, home for the homeless,ect.
Celestial: Summon a Servitor. A singular premortal celestial manifesting as beachball sized sphere with two intersecting rings and an additional 4 small orbs orbiting it. Servitors emit light like a Mediary. Creatures in this light heal the equivalent of a papercut per second, including cellular and genetic repairs. Max 1 at a time.

Rank 3

Service: Acts of Mercy. Genuinely forgive an action, even harm, against you. The more intense the offense, the more meaningful. Instead of 24hr, uses a 6 month window.
Celestial: Summon a Cheraphim. You can't summon a Cheraphim if you have lingering grudges or resentments; An unforgiving heart. A Cheraphim is a premortal celestial with three interlinked rings, two angled outward at angles with the horizontal center around a golden orb surrounded by 3 white wings. While standing in the light of a Cheraphim, a creature cannot take a hostile action, and creatures can't act on hostile thoughts against an affected creature unless in the presence of a Rank 3(+) demon. Their light is also a cleansing grace that prevents and negates direct magical effects, such as mind control, curses, petrification, ect. Max 1 at a time.

Rank 4

Service: Acts of Justice. Save or Condemn a life with justice. Defined by truth, with no judgement until full context is obtained, without coercion. No time window.
Celestial: Summon a Contemplar. You cannot summon a Contemplar if you have ever accepted a bribe or delivered a judgement you knew was unjust, unless repentant and resolved your mistake. A Contemplar is a postmortal celestial like a living suit of armor with wings of blades and a spiked iron halo ringed with eyes, and a flaming sword. It can manifest a shield of light on demand that can shrug off anti-tank rifle rounds. The sword melts through steel like butter. Produces light like a Mediary. Can't be summoned unless desperate without alternative, to save your life or another's life. On the plus side, its prayer is very quick and only requires a passing thought when in a valid situation. It remains until immediate danger has passed. If 2 minutes pass or it's near defeat, 2 more Contemplars appear to escort innocents & allies to safety with R5 Portal magic. Max 1.

Rank 5

Service: Acts of Grace. Choose an Abrahamic faith, and/or the Watchers themselves; Establish a group (20+) of new souls dedicated practice or adherence to your choice.
Celestial: Summon a Solarch. A postmortal celestial equivalent to an Archdemon, Archangels being even higher up the food chain. Once summoned, it offers a deal. Once a week, you'll hear a prayer from someone of your chosen faith / a Watcher, one that falls in line with all the above principles of Kindness, Charity, Mercy, and Justice as well as the beliefs of that faith. So long as their prayer is benevolent and honest and within the moral framework of that faith, it will be answered in the least supernatural way possible. It falls on you to enact their prayer. You must uphold the masquerade, but you're acting on behalf of the Celestials and within the framework of religion, giving you more leeway. Actions will be received as divine by believers, and nonsense or mischief by unbelievers. While carrying out this task, you can shift between the material and the spirit world, becoming invisible and intangible to mortals (Reminder, witches see the spirit world by default). In exchange for your side of the deal, the Solarch grants you agelessness until you refuse to fulfill a prayer, and if slain or seriously injured (Relative to your abilities), you awake in a bed somewhere safe (your own by default) at the beginning of that same day on repeat, whether or not you slept that previous night. Committing any obviously evil act in this time frame between reset and the time when you previously died is many times more sinful than default, and undoes the reset, returning you to your death. This can happen once to begin with, and you gain a reset chance every 10 prayers granted. After 100 answered prayers, you get to choose A) 1 choice of Golden Relic from the Value of Life cyoa (Imgur: xoKqyeI, or check comments) B) Unlocked potential, increasing your Power Cap by 20 and gain an additional Quest slot of your choice. C) Immediate deathless entrance through the Silver Gates to the lower levels of the celestial realm, or higher via different Abrahamic standards. Nobody knows for sure what's there, but it's literally heaven. You can later leave (if you wanted to), but no memories remain.