Three of Hearts - You're a Witch, Mary
You were whisked off to a secret magical academy, Castle Boarfall which is hidden in Scotland, where it sits on a mountain side in a valley which rises from a fjord with a hidden port, Hog's Cape. About two miles up the Boarfall River is Loch Boarfall, which is full of magical fish and is the actual home of Nessie, who only has a summer home in Loch Ness. The far side of the river is covered with the Forbidden Forest, full of magical creatures and students who like to break the rules, which is most of them. Once you give someone a wand, it's hard to say no to them.
Castle Boarfall is next to a huge waterfall; once a year, due to some magical disaster of the founders, boars fall down the cliff into the pool at the base and die, leading to the Annual Pork Festival every July 8th. A stream with no name flows down into the Boarfall River from the falls. The near side of the river is dotted with farms which grow various rare magical plants. Hog's Cape is the largest town of wizards and witches in the United Kingdom and one of the biggest in Europe, which is to say it's home to a few hundred people, but has shops catering to the needs of wizards and sometimes bloats much larger during festivals; there are magical inns which are bigger on the inside than the outside, a witch trick so common that many witches are surprised by any container which is *not* bigger on the inside. Halfway between Hog's Cape and Castle Boarfall, you will find the Boarfall Sporting Arena, used both for school Athletics and for the fine sport of Air Hockey, the favored sport of Witches everywhere, despite the high injury rate, or probably because of it, to be honest.
Witching Society does its best to prevent non-Witches from finding out magic is real. They do this because of the current truce with the Mundanity Cabal, in which the Cabal leaves Witches alone who don't rock the boat of normal society and the Witches do not go down in a blaze of glory, wrecking everything the Mundanity Cabal wants. The leaders of Witching Society try to play it off, but if push came to shove, the Mundanity Cabal could beat them. However, they have forseen it is eventually going to go down in flames, so for now, they restrain the young, many of whom want to end what is sometimes called Kayfabe or the Mundanity Ruse. This is getting harder because of the increasing number of Muggletonian-born witches. (Witches refer to all non-Witches as Muggletonians ever since the Muggletonians drove them into hiding in the 17th century.)
Castle Boarfall is a 7 year school whose students board at the school during six Sextons, each six weeks long. Three Sextons form a Semester and there is a month long break between the Fall and Spring Semesters; there is a three month break during the Summer. Each student takes six classes per Semester; as they grow older, they have more freedom to pick and choose their classes, especially in their last two years. Thanks to the No Witch Left Behind Initiative, standardized tests administered by golems mark the end of each semester. Witches who fail a test spend the Summer or Christmas break taking special courses to make it up, then take the test again. On a second failure, time travel magic is used to keep sending them back to take the class until they can pass it. (Special Geases ensure they don't go around changing history, and this *never* goes wrong, ever.)
At the end of your fifth year, you take the Special Pattern Establishing Witch exams, or SPEW. These establish what careers you are best suited for, to help you design your curriculum for your last two years. This may include special studies with individual teachers or very small classes.
Many Muggletonian-Born students are frustrated by the lack of classes on modern subjects, but the staff reminds them this is a school of Magic. You can study science on your own time if you want. Well, you can try; anything which relies on electricity doesn't work here and chemistry is... wonky... and magical animals have things like moebius strip DNA.
Students attend six hour long classes with ten minutes between each of them and an hour long lunch period after the third class and before the fourth. Classes start at 8:30 AM and end at 4:20. Dinner is served from five to six. First through third years are expected in bed by 11, fourth through eighth years can stay up to midnight if they wish.
A typical first year student takes Runes I, Basics of Spellcraft I, Magical Fauna and Flora I, Introduction to Alchemy I, Basics of Magical Combat I, and Magical Athletics I in the first semester, then the matching II in the second semester. A student planning to become a Witch-Warrior might take Dragon-Punching, Advanced Counter-Spelling III, Advanced Abjuration I, Broom-Chasing I, Alchemy XI, and Report Composition I in her first semester of her sixth year.
Peculiarity
- Member of Witching Society: You gain Fortune Dice when you put your new identity first. You gain Adversity Dice when you act as if you were still a Muggletonian.
Choose Your Witching Fellowship
Every student is inducted into a Witching Fellowship upon their first arrival at Boarfell, where they gaze into the Membership Mirror and see themselves clad in the formal colors of the Fellowship into which they are now inducted. Membership is for life; post-graduation, members stay in touch, forming a web of old girls' networks in Witching Society. Whether chosing something like this for life at age 11 is a good idea is something that remains debated but persists.
All Witches get a zero-level Wand as one of their items of Stuff.
- Boarfang: The Militant Fellowship. You are a future Witch-Warrior in training. "Percival, you stumble into George and draw his attention. Roberta, you need to freak out over that singer you like so everyone looks. Ian and I will charge down the middle and grab the last four muffins before anyone else can take them, so we don't end up muffin-less again this morning."
- Attributes: Bellicosity +2, Perspicacity +1
- Penchant: Magical Tactics (Bellicosity + Perspicacity): You know how to use magic to facilitate and carry out military operations.
- Puissance Fist of Justice: You can make Magical Unarmed Physical/Thunder? attacks. Add your Bellicosity to any Conditions induced by such attacks.
- Possessions: Zero Level: Military School Style Witching Robes, Roll on the [Magical Armor Table]?; Roll on the [Magical Melee Weapon Table]? for a level 1 weapon.
- Bumbleboffin: The Crafting Fellowship. People who create magical versions of mundane things. "I'm not allowed to try to make magical ovens any more after I accidentally contributed to Global Warming with my last effort."
- Attributes: Normalcy +2, Obstinancy +1
- Penchant: Magical Realism (Normalcy + Obstinancy): You can create magical equivalents to technology, suitable for the Witching World.
- Puissance Ride the Lightning: Reflexively reduce any Physical/Lightning? conditions by your Normalcy.
- Possessions: Zero Level: Your Crafting Tools, Witching Robes with Work Apron, Consult with the Conductor to create a levellable magical version of a mundane thing which was your Senior Project.
- The Damnless: The Determined Fellowship. A collection of extremely stubborn people. "Look, you little shits, the seventh-years go first in line for breakfast and if you pull that stunt again, you Witch-Warrior wannabes are going to end up eating hockey pucks for breakfast."
- Attributes: Bellicosity +1, Obstinancy +2
- Penchant: Magical Mental Defense (Bellicosity + Obstinancy): You have studied the arts of protecting your mind from persuasion, possession, mental assault, and so on.
- Puissance I Will Not Be Moved: Spend one Brainmeat to reduce any Social Condition imposed on you by your Obstinancy.
- Possessions: Zero Level: Talking Honey Badger Companion, Customized Wizarding Robes to Your Personal Taste, Roll on the [Magical Tome Table]? (Levellable)
- Euterpeans: The Artistic Fellowship. A collection of magical dancers, artists, poets, writers, actors and other creative types. "You said to create something with no naked people, so I created a picture of a werewolf eating a jogger. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME??? Muffins? WHO CARES ABOUT MUFFINS WHEN MY ART IS BEING CHALLENGED?"
- Attributes: Artistry +2, Synergy +1
- Penchant: Magical Theater (Artistry + Synergy): You are skilled in all the arts of magically running a dramatic performance, from illusions to make it all seem real to manipulating the audience's emotions to creating golems to replace your injured leading man.
- Puissance The Curse of the Scottish Play: You can make Magical Physical/Incapacitating? attacks by invoking the true name of the Scottish Play; you can burn one Brainmeat to raise any Conditions thus imposed by your Artistry.
- Possessions: Zero Level: Appropriate tools to your art specialty, Paint-Splattered Witching Robes, Roll on the [Magical Tome Table]?(Levellable)
- Flufflepuff: The Friendly Fellowship. You are a highly sociable airhead. "So, like, I was totally shocked when I walked in on Mrs. Grimbsy getting it on with Mr. Flake! I won't ever be able to look at ivy again. Oh, you got busted by the seniors? I'm so sorry. Want to have a picnic dinner to make up for it? I know someone who can make some great ribs for us. Yeah, I knew that would cheer you up."
- Attributes: Artistry +1, Synergy +2
- Penchant: Throw Awesome Magical Parties (Artistry + Synergy): You have mastered magics which enable you to throw great parties, from conjuring a party palace on a cloud to summoning huge chests of magical flutterbeer (Until you belch out the bubbles in it, you can fly! If not very fast)
- Puissance Popular: Spend one Reputation to reflexively reduce any Social condition by your Synergy.
- Possessions: Zero Level: Trust Fund From Mommy, Expensive Witching Robes, Roll on the Levellable [Wand Table]?
- Owlriders: The Intellectual Fellowship. The future scholars of the Witching World, a mix of the very smartest Witches and the ones who work like dogs to get good grades for their future. "You know, if you really want muffins for breakfast, you can just check out Basics of Food Conjuration and make your own. Admittedly, you get a very middle-of-the-line muffin unless you use the best components, but it's not like a muffin can be a feast for kings, anyway." *demonstrates spell, makes you watch them eat a muffin*
- Attributes: Normalcy +1, Perspicacity +2
- Penchant: Magical Research (Normalcy + Perspicacity): You have trained in the art of magical research; given a library, internet connection, or similar thing to work with, you can find out just about anything if you have enough time to work on it.
- Puissance Witty Quotes: You can make Social attacks using your Perspicacity; you can burn one Brainmeat to raise any conditions thus imposed by your Perspicacity.
- Possessions: Zero Level: Talking Owl Companion (sadly not big enough to actually ride), normal Witching Robes + Glasses, Roll on the [Magical Tome Table]? (Levellable)
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