LoreKeeper

» The Starwood Sisters« Forests of Starwood | Chaotic Neutral | Spells & Potions Members of the Circle The coven was not as tight knit as one might have expected at their founding. The Starwood Sisters Coven was built out of necessity. The fondness came later. This is their story. Here is the Starwood Forest, where our coven meets.

All coven members use she/her pronouns unless otherwise stated.

Khalida: Electic Witch, uses bones for mending potions... mostly. Uses a lot of herbs in her work, gathers them locally in her forest when she can to avoid outsiders. Khalida is a solitary witch that makes potions and poisons for a price, not usually monetary. She collects pieces of other creatures to make even more powerful spells, etc. She begrudgingly takes on the mantle of 'leader' in the coven as their numbers grow.

Fletchette: Poison Witch - want to guess what area she specializes in? Hates dealing with "frou frou" types. Very no-nonsense

Frostine: Ice and Snow based mage. Limited function, beautiful form. Works with Prose, who also has limited function and acts like her mentor in this way. Patient but lethal.

Pynn: She/Her or They/Them. Illusionist. Loves to mess with people just enough to make them question if they really saw that or if it was Pynn...

Cora: Happy-go-lucky. Childish until threatened, then you're going to be drowned. Sea Witch. Cora is the one that met Bria and brought her into the fold.

Tranquil: Any pronouns that you feel comfortable using for them. That includes he/him or neopronouns. This confuses some people but xe can see into multiple universes where they were born with different genitals and different societies... it really doesn't matter to zir. Specializes in Divination, a bit spacey because she's seeing multiple possibilities.

Lavinia: Swamp witch, hearth/kitchen spell worker. Gets along well with Autumn - they swap recipes. Lavinia insists her bread is better (it is) and so are her pies (they aren't). Usually finds the more innocent of spell requests - the others wonder if it's because of the gentle aura she has about her.

Prose: Historian that captures "Living history". Uses ink and the written word to cast her spells. Works under Frostine to help figure out her powers as they're so specialized. Hot tempered and easily offended... She's working on it (so she says). Prose hasn't had a chance to prove herself to clients as of yet - her mentor Frostine thinks she doesn't have the control yet.

Autumn: All the dark mulch and dying things like fall leaves are her specialty. Gets along well with Lavinia - they swap recipes. Autumn insists her bread is better than Lavinia's (it isn't) and so are her pies (they are). Autumn is known by all as more of a cryptid than a witch. She's been known to go out at all hours to collect various mushrooms and herbs for her use - and those that see her are usually freaked out when she casts her eye their way... something unsettling about her tapetum lucidum reflects red instead of the usual yellow.

Bria: Runic witch. Likes making sigils and talismans, normally for protection or glamour magic. Usually the one with the softest heart out of the lot - but gets walked over because of this. Protection from her Coven friends is welcomed (though she thinks it's a bit extreme at times). A trans woman that was originally brought into the fold by Cora, who found her by the beach one day crying. It isn't known what happened to her old 'friends' once Cora talked to them... But Bria hasn't seen them since.

Thea: Candle witch. Works with fire and smoke, tends to be the go-between with Tranquil and the rest of the Coven. Enjoys theatrics with Pynn. Almost mute, has a birth defect that makes talking difficult - prefers to use her minor telepathy, writing things down, or sign language. The Starwood Sisters are learning sign language because they want to communicate with her one on one instead of the telepathic 'talking' that anyone nearby can hear in their heads.

Elara: Space witch. Works with stars, planets, and asteroids to help focus her powers. She's the one the other's look to for more concrete answers when Tranquil is a bit too spacey or her predictions seemingly nonsensical. Does most of her magic at night, when the light of the moon shines upon her. Loves working with couples and families to bend broken bridges. The moon is her favourite satellite. She gets on with Esme, as the two can understand each other's branch of magic.

Esme: Crystal witch. Works with all sorts of rocks and crystals to augment her power. Usually seen as the 'weird aunt' type - she gets a lot of business for the Coven as most non-magical folk like having a physical object to 'see' the magic at work. Acts sort of like the 'call center' or receptionist for the coven. She gets on with Elara, as the two can understand each other's branch of magic.

How did the coven start?
Khalida is a solitary witch that makes potions and poisons for a price, not usually monetary. She collects pieces of other creatures to make even more powerful spells, etc. She lives in the heart of the Arcanist's domain, deep in the Starwood Strand, away from everyone.
Until one day a Guardian dragon, Fletchette, comes knocking - looking for help in getting rid of a particularly troublesome beast. As it's another witch, Khalida decides to help if only to gain info on the newcomer. They start working together once in awhile as associates, and then another dragon witch finds them for help... And another... They are later known as the Starwood Sisters - a band of specialist witches that you know to go to... If you're desperate.

They aren't necessarily evil, but take justice into their own hands. Poisoning an abusive spouse? Sure. Poisoning an infant? Nope. The newest members tend toward more helping because they can and like helping... The original few don't go out of their way to help unless it benefits them in some way. It's interesting to see how they tolerate each other HAHA!

Is there a coven leadership system? How is it decided who gets to join? Has anyone ever been asked to leave or been refused admittance? Had anyone ever been asked to join who declined? Is there a joining ceremony?
The coven, before it's "official", all decisions were done by vote. So a democracy of sorts. If there is a tie, most look to Khalida because she is the most well-rounded in her knowledge of the Craft - whereas others specialise. Flechette, for example, is the Poison witch. Poisons, antidotes, venomous creatures and herbs. Also works with acids and such, kind of like the group's alchemist.

Democracy, with Khalida being the defacto tie-breaker unless it falls under someone else's speciality. It's not an 'official' coven, and it's just the people around them that sort of gave them the title. There isn't a joining/leaving because they didn't really make it a 'thing' but I think they might eventually make it official... and if that were the case it would be a current coven member vouching for someone else. In which case there would be a trial run to see how they do things before full admittance. The original 13 would be able to vote to remove members or add them.

How do the Starwood Sisters make sure their help/poisons,etc. aren't being used for bad ends? Are there ever any mistakes? What do they/would they do about it, if so?
The Starwood Sisters, if they think their work may be used for ill (a poison versus a protection charm or example) then they have a version of the Harry Potter 'Unbreakable Vow' in the form of a magical contract the client and the witch signs. If the client uses the baneful magic for other reasons - it will turn onto the client instead. If the baneful magic doesn't work then the client can return for a full refund and another copy of the spell/potion/etc for no charge.

So in the poison example, if they were to try to poison an physically abusive husband, but he wasn't physically abusive - the moment the poison touched his lips the contract would kick in and the poison would be magically transferred to the client's throat.

If, let's say, the poisons were stolen - there would be no way to insure it's 'proper' use.
Which is why baneful items are usually made on demand, and beneficial ones (protection, healing, etc) are made more readily - because unless someone knew how to twist the magic (and at that point, you could make your own baneful magics) it wouldn't be much of an issue to have them stolen.