The Blood Hound
- Intent: To create a new culture of witches.
- Image Credit:
- Canon: n/a
- Permissions: n/a
- Links:
- Ironteeth Witches - the source of idea and inspiration for this submission and lore.
- Organization Name: The Metal Borne
- Classification: Witch Culture / Cult / Religion
- Affiliation: The Metal Borne Witches are loyal to no one but themselves.
- Organization Symbol:
The Witch Knot is the symbol of the Metal Borne Witches. It represents the Four Courts that run Niri – Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer. The Metal Borne Witches view their existence as above all, which is why they have placed themselves in the middle, apart of all the courts for they are nomads and belong to none of them, yet in the middle of them as well for no court is safe from their wrath should they choose to unleash it. The center, which represents the Meal Borne Witches, is slightly skewered off, and will remain as such until the Metal Bornes can return to their kingdom of Mechashefot. - Description
The Metal Borne are witches who live on the planet Niri (Planetary sub to be created in the future). Dark, ruthless, and absolutely terrifying, parents tell tales of these women to scare their wee children into obedience.
Every Metal Borne subgroup bears a different form of metal. Whether it is iron, copper, phrik, steel, or even beskar, this metal comes in the form of retractable teeth and claws, which every witch has. However, the witches are cunning creatures, and can choose to hide their teeth and claws, passing as nothing but regular women. It takes great skill to uncover a Metal Borne that does not wish to be uncovered, and many have been slaughtered in their attempt to do so.
At night, howls can be heard all across Niri, and it is said that the witches sing together with the winds and rains, using them to empower themselves as they fly atop of various winged creatures.
- Headquarters: Niri (Planetary sub to be created)
- Domain: Banished until the end of time from Mechashefot, the Kingdom of Witches, the Metal Borne hold no domain outside of their home planet at present. Upon their home planet, they are mostly nomads and wanderers. Whereas once they ruled with a metal fist from their throne in Mechashefot, that home had long ago been stripped of them, and their entrance to their own lands entirely barred. No clan has a place it can call its home. Most of the time, witches will try to blend in with local populations, living temporarily among villages and cities. But always will they heed the call of their covern's leader or their matron, and know when the time arrives to drop everything in order to convene.
- Notable Assets: n/a
- Hierarchy
- The Representations of the Three Faces of the Goddess
Three Matriarchs together are the supreme leaders of all the Metal Borne Witches. Always, there are three, who represent the Mother, the Crone, and the Maid, currently represented by the Matriarchs of the Ironborne, Phrikborne, and Steelborne, respectively. The Matriarchs that hold this position have proven themselves beyond a shadow of doubt in ruthlessness, cunning, and evil. Upon the death of a Face of the Goddess, her Clan as well as any other Clan that has no Three Faces of the Goddess representation will fight for the seat. It is a game of blood, politics, and persuasion. - The Matriarchs
After the Representations of the Three Faces of the Goddess come the remaining Matriarchs. These are the women who run their Clan. All those who are part of their clan are expected to be blindly obedient to them. Going against their will will give the Matriarch reason to execute them. - The Heirs
Every Matriarch selects an Heir, who is the Witch she deems worthy of taking her place after her death. The Heirs are hand-picked by the Matriarch. Most Clans have one Heir, but some choose to have several at a time. Should a Matriarch die and the number of her Heirs be greater than one, her Clan faces the possibility of a civil war amongst their numbers. - The Coven Leaders
Every Clan has multiple Covens. A coven is a group of 3, 7, or 13 Witches, and every Coven has its Coven Leader, the Witch who runs them. While she does not have the power to execute any of her coven, regardless of cause, she commands them as their general. This becomes especially important as the Metal Borne Witches are nomads, moving constantly from place to place, and it is the Coven Leader who commands the order, discipline, and proper Metal Borne behavior at all times. - The Coven Members
Every Witch has her place in the Coven, and no two Witches are equal. Some Covens choose to name each position, but for most it is pretty straight forward. The Coven Leader would be considered 'the First', her right hand and left hand are her 'Second' and 'Third' and so on, until all of the Witches are accounted for. The number a Witch hold presents her place in the hierarchy. Upon the death of the Coven Leader, her Second is the one who takes her place. However, Coven Leaders may swap the positions of the Witches within their Coven and are not required to provide any reason for it at all. Many battles and wars of intrigue have been played out in the name of getting head in the hierarchy, or returning to one's original placing after being moved. If a Witch dies, her Coven Leader will decide whether the ones who came after her go up in number, or whether she chooses to plug her place with a fresh Witchling. - The Witchlings
The Witchlings are not part of the hierarchy, they are outside of it. Witchlings are those who the Metal Borne Witches have either given birth to or snatched from other place, and are being trained to become full fledged Witches in the future. To kill a Witchling is to commit blasphemy, for Witchlings are sacred, and not even during times of war may they be harmed. More information regarding the Witchlings can be read about in the "Membership" section.
- The Representations of the Three Faces of the Goddess
- Membership:
- The estimated number of Metal Borne Witches is around two thousand (2,000). While no official records are held anywhere, it is regarded as the smallest number these witches have held within the last centuries and perhaps, millennia.
Metal Borne Witches are, simply put, born. Pregnancy is sacred among the witches due to generally low fertility rates, and once one of them is found to be as such, she becomes sacred and protected until after she has given birth. If the newborn is a male, he will be slaughtered before his first sunset. If the newborn is a female, she is titled Witchling. All Witchlings are Force Sensitive.
The Witchlings grow up with the Witches, among the coven of their mothers. They are afforded every luxury and pampering that they can be given, taught that others ought to worship the very ground they walk on. Weaknesses are very early quenched out of their personalities, and behaviors such as compassion, kindness, and gentleness, are often discouraged, as the girls are brought up to be cold, cunning, and ruthless.
However bad war between covens can get, to kill a Witchling is considered among the worst of sins, and a Witchlingkiller dooms herself to death by suffering.
After the Witchlings reach their first blood, they undergo the ceremony. They are given a drink which turns their human blood to a deep witchy violet, and as they sleep, surgery is performed on them, giving them the retractable metal teeth and claws. The first years after the ceremony are when the Witchlings learn to control them.
When new covens rise or place is made in existing covens because of Witch-deaths, the numbers are filled from the Witchlings who have undergone the ceremony. Once officially ordained into a coven, any protection they enjoyed as Witchlings is stripped of them and they become simply – witches.
If a Witchling has not been placed in a coven by her twenty first birthday, she is executed.
Outsiders above the age of 21 cannot become Metal Borne Witches, but many times have Metal Borne Witches kidnapped younger teenagers and girls who proved to have an instinctive basic control over magic.
- The estimated number of Metal Borne Witches is around two thousand (2,000). While no official records are held anywhere, it is regarded as the smallest number these witches have held within the last centuries and perhaps, millennia.
- Climate:
- The Metal Borne Witches are a mixture of various extremes. On one hand, murdering each other is forbidden and can get a witch titled as a kinslayer, but on the other hand, the witches are extremely competitive with each other and are not above encouraging situations that would result in the death of their competitors.
The Witches do not take their lives for granted. They know that being a Metal Borne Witch means death is constantly around the corner, and that it can come from friend or foe. The only ones among the Witches who can claim to feel any semblance of security are the Witchlings, and even that is limited until their twenty first birthday.
A Witch must always be Strong, or she forfeits the right to call herself a Witch and draw breath.
- The Metal Borne Witches are a mixture of various extremes. On one hand, murdering each other is forbidden and can get a witch titled as a kinslayer, but on the other hand, the witches are extremely competitive with each other and are not above encouraging situations that would result in the death of their competitors.
- Reputation:
- On Niri
The Metal Borne Witches are feared on Niri, and with good reason. They are known to be girl snatchers, boy murderers, and massacre lovers. Despite the potion they drink after their first blood, the Witches maintain their human appearances, and the only two ways to know if one is a Metal Borne Witch is to cut her or see her retractable metal claws and teeth come out.
The Metal Borne Witches are the reason that single women are treated with suspicion and distrust outside of the cities of Niri, and spinsters are often watched closely by every available pair of eyes and the more distant villages. Although the Cariad Witches once existed (more on that in the History section), the people of Niri know that they have been eradicated, and that there is no such thing as a good witch.
When people uncover a Metal Borne Witch, they will either flee, or try to kill her. Coming close is considered as the dangerous and stupid thing to do, so they will often try to lock them up in buildings and then set the buildings on fire. - Off Niri
The Metal Borne Witches are just now beginning to get off-planet and travel the Galaxy. It will be some time before they are known and a reputation outside of their home planets comes to be.
- On Niri
- Curios:
- Sagolath
The Sagolath is the sacred potion of the Metal Borne Witches, taken by every Witchling after her first blood. The secret of how it is made kept safe and secure by every Matriarch of her coven. Covens who have lost the knowledge of how to make it have died out. Many attempts at recreating the potion without the recipe have all ended in failure, and there is no success that is known of.
The potion is thick and reeks of death and sweetness. Its color is a deep purple that reflects a black light. While it does not take too long to make, the creation process is a complicated one and getting any detail wrong will result in the death of the Witchling who drinks it.
The potion is considered sacred. After drinking it, the following effects take place:- Blood turns from red to a deep violet. This change is only cosmetic.
- Life expectancy increases to an average of 500 years.
- The Witchling will remain unconscious for anywhere between 12 to 24 standard hours, during which her operation takes place.
- The Ceremony
Drinking the Sagloath is the first part of the Ceremony. The second part of the Ceremony consists of the surgery every Witchlings undergoes. During the surgery, retractable teeth and claws are added to her body. This surgery causes great pains, takes several month to properly heal from, and then several years before the Witchlings learn how to properly master their newly given gifts. Only Metal Borne Witches know that this exists, and it is a very well kept secret. The non-Witch population on Niri believe that the teeth and claws materialize when a child becomes a Witch. - The Mount
Every Witch has a mount. On Niri, that mount is in the form of a Dragon. The Metal Borne witches have dragons which are special and unique to them. Found in the wilds, the Metal Bornes are the only ones who've come up with a way to domesticate those dragons, and they use them as means of transportation, fighting, and trade. While a Witch may own several dragons at the same time, she must always have the one that she is bonded or pseudo-bonded to. While this bond is active, she may not mount other dragons unless it is short-term to save her own life. No other witch may mount a bonded dragon either outside of similar situations. However, this is as far as the dragons' protection goes. Unlike Witches, it is considered legit to try to kill another Witch's dragon, and that is something that is often attempted with the goal of humiliating the Witch that owns them. - What Remains
When a Metal Borne Witch dies or is executed, all that remains of her are her teeth and claws. Everything else is either burned or returned to the ground, but those two things remain after everything else has decomposed and bones turn to ash. Some witch hunters consider these relics important, for it is proof that they have done away with a Witch. However, when the Metal Bornes find these among mortals, their end is imminent. A witch's teeth and claws after her death are near-sacred, and they are kept in special boxes by the Matriarchs. However, not a single Matriarch can claim to hold the remains of all of her clan's Witches, for boxes can be stolen and be lost, sometimes even by other Witches who choose to commit blasphemy. Currently, the largest collection of dead witches' claws and teeth is held by the Silverborne Matriarch, who has a set worth several hundred witches.
- Sagolath
- Rules:
- Thou Shall Worship the Goddess and Her Three Faces
- Thou Shall Honor the Crone, the Mother, and the Maiden
- Thou Shall Not Kill a Witchling
- Thou Shall Not Kill a Witch
- Thou Shall Not Suffer a Cariad to Live
- Thou Shall Not Suffer a Boy of Your Womb to Live
- Thou Shall Never Marry or Bond a Male
- Thou Shall Care for Thy Dragon
- Though Shall Keep Thy Sisters' Nails and Teeth
- Goals:
- Every Clan that does not have a representative of the Three Faced Goddess wants to have a representative of it as soon as one of the current Three Faces dies.
- All Witches yearn for Mechashefot.
- Now that the galaxy at large is within their reach, many of the Clans wish to prove their supremacy by making it bow to their feet.
- The Crone - NPC - The Matriarch who holds the position of the Crone is Mayanda Ironborne. As per traditions, she is among the rare whose face shows sign of age, and the wrinkles upon her face show that she is ancient.
Deirdre Ironborne [NPC] – the Crone's Heir – Deirdre is the Crone's heir though none is completely certain why. Whereas all the Heirs seem to share certain traits at varying levels, such as cunning and ruthlessness, Deirdre is none of those things. She is genuinely sweet and kind, and has been known to conjure ways to avoid violence rather than bathe in it more than once. Deidre's involvement in combat is a very rare thing, yet only once did she emerge victorious, and even that had been because her opponent had recently made the switch from Witchling to Witch. At this point, many of the Witches have sniffed her out for being weak, and it is only the Crone's embrace that has thus kept her safe. However, the mantle of protection will not last forever, and many are waiting for the first glimpse of the veil being taken away so that they can do away with her.
- The Mother - NPC - The Matriarch who holds the position of the Mother is Matcha Phrikborne. A hard woman, her face appears timeless, her body mature yet strong and supple.
- The Mother's Heirs
- Aoibheann Phrikborne – NPC – The eldest of the Mother's heirs, Aoibheann stands tall and proud, reaching almost 6"3. Despite her intimidating height, her face is sweet, and she knows how to spread an air of calmness and serenity around her. However, when Aoibheann is angry, it can be felt within a wide radius. While sweet looking, Aoibheann is probably the most sadistic of the three heirs, the title having bestowed upon her not because she fought or asked for it, but simply as a token of appreciation by the Mother, who found the witch's streak of sadism impressive even by Witch standards. Aoibheann, unlike her sisters, does not lust for the role of the Mother nor for more power. Her heart's desire is to see the Witches roam free again, without the need to pretend to be anything that they are not, and to see Mechashefot with her own eyes before the life given to her by the Sagloath runs out. Aoibheann's coven is seven witches large.
- Sorcha Phrikborne – NPC – Little is known about Sorcha Phrikborne. Many of the Witches are remembered by older witches, who had seen them as witchlings and had overseen their education and care as they grew up. Yet not a single soul among the Phrikborne or other clans have any memory of Sorcha ever being a Witchling. Legend tells it that two hundred years ago, she simple walked from the Southern Sea, and kneeled in front of the previous witch who was the face of the Mother. Lacking sadism or whatever it is that drives Witches into wanton violence, Sorcha had always been a silent rock, patient and steady, offering stability to those around her and mostly to the Witchlings of the Phrikborne. Of the three Heirs, she is the most motherly type, and despite her relatively peaceful outlook, more than once has she eradicated entire villages simply because a single person among them attempted to harm a Witchling. Sorcha's coven is three witches large.
Luidaeg Phrikborne
- Luidaeg is one of the Mother's Heirs, a positions she worked for several decades to achieve. Despite the years put into getting her position, she is considered among the younger Heirs that are about, being only 80. Luidaeg is also the Coven Leader of a coven sized thirteen Witches, something she is very proud of, as she built the Coven the night before her twenty first birthday to avoid getting executed. Ruthless, cold, cunning, and manipulating, she sees herself as the epitome of what a Metal Borne Witch ought to be, and works tirelessly to bring pride to her Coven and Clan. When Niri was at last introduced to the Galaxy at large, Luidaeg was the first among her clan that had been given the order to leave the planet and go see what could be found outside of it, and how the outside of it could be bent down on its knees to the Phrikbornes.
- The Mother's Heirs
- The Maiden - NPC - The Matriarch who holds the position of the Maiden is Heffonine Songsteelborne. While she appears the youngest among the Matriarchs, she is, in fact, the oldest among them, and has held on to her position through ruthlessness and cunning for longer than any of the others. She is but fifty years away from breaking the longest known Matriarch reign in the Metal Borne history.
- Delilah Steelborne - The Maiden's Heir - NPC - Ruthless, cold, and absolutely despising humans. These are words that would accurately describe Delilah, the Maiden's Heir. Chosen for her combat prowress rather than her people skills, Delilah does not even pretend to appear sweet and innocent as most of her sisters. Some consider the nomination of Delilah as a questionable one, for Delilah is part of a small groups of Witches who do not believe in the motherland, who do not wish to seek the way to return to Mechashefot. Her will be steel, she wishes to take on all the courts of Niri and wipe the slate clean, seating herself atop of them when the time is right. though her goals sound ludricous to many among the Witches, she does have a small following, even outside of the Steelbornes.
Ironborne | Phrikborne | Songsteelborne | Xonoliteborne | Goldborne | Silverborne | Frasiumborne | Bandoriumborne | Berylliusborne | Bonditeborne | Steelborne
Niri is a beautiful planet of temperate weather and large, luscious forests. Up until recently, the planet was run by the four major courts – Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring. For years the four courts bickered and fought, taking the lives of many in the process, until several centuries ago when they learned how to live in relative peace and work together. The status quo has recently been disturbed with the emergence of two new courts – Dusk and Dawn, who hold dangers not yet imagined in the palm of their hands. Outside of the Courts exist several tribes, gathers, and type of groups. The Metal Borne Witches are but one of them.
The people of Niri believe that it was thousands of years ago when angels and demons walked the surface of their planet, wrecking destruction or aiding its people wherever they went. Godly creatures they were, strong and wise, never hiding the fact one group had been created for evil, and the other for good. The war between them was an eternal one, which could not be won unless one side completely eradicated the other. Yet no matter how good or evil one was, one sought companionship, and as the years progressed, both demons and angels found themselves seeking comfort within the arms of humans and specifically, female humans. It was not long before the joining of demons, angels, and humans, brought on the creation of a new species that encompassed the strengths not only both of them (human and godly), but also all three of them, (human, demon, and angel).
Both the demons and the angels realized that the humans who had not been graced by their touch would grow more and more jealous as the years progressed, and decided to leave Niri to them. As a final gift, both demons and angels created potions – one that could be granted to the humans to give them but a sliver of the powers that the hybrids contained. The group that had taken the potion from the demons became known as the Metal Borne Witches, who believed that even with the sliver of power they had been granted, their powers were so great and terrifying that they needed the metals to keep them rooted to the planet. The group that had taken the potion from the angels became known as the Cariad Witches.
And though their powers came from a very similar source, the differences between the Metal Borne and the Cariads could not truly be any greater. The Metal Borne, creatures of the demons, took immediately to follow those that they now considered to be their ancestors, using their powers and abilities to become forces of evil, to be feared, and to wreak havoc upon the planet. Upon taking the potion, the Metal Bornes learned that not only had they been granted powers, but that their blood had turned from red to violet – which made them above human, better than human, better than anything. The Cariad, true to those that they too had decided to take on as ancestors, even if they never claimed this was genetic, assisted the people of Niri, bringing peace and wisdom wherever they went. Their blood in response to the potion had changed as well, and where it once was red, it now flowed a pure shade of white. As the centuries progressed, both groups learned that the potion had also extended their natural lives, and reaching the age of five hundred had become common for those not slain in battle or those who were not murdered beforehand.
All the witches were given a large portion of land, the size of a country that could comfortably hold a population of several million people. All witches referred to it as the Witch Kingdom, though the official name it was granted was Mechashefot. Mechashefot never knew peace. The Metal Borne and the Cariad fought endlessly, the former attempting to eradicate the latter, and the latter trying to survive by fighting back and pushing them outside of their borders. Tensions were further increased when the people of Niri wished for the witches to remain in their own kingdom and not leave its borders – it had, at first, begun as a healthy fear of the Metal Borne, yet even the Cariad found themselves included when the Nirians realized that the only way to know a good witch from a bad witch was to cut them, and cutting a witch was never a healthy thing to do, regardless of whether she was a good witch or a bad witch.
The wars between the Metal Borne and the Cariad lasted for centuries and the cost that was extracted from the land to support this was great. Trees were cut down, soil was salted, and homes burned. What had once been a luscious strip of land had become a smoking hot zone, and still the two kinds of witches could not find a middle ground. At last, the Metal Borne conjured a plan that would rid them of the Cariad for all eternity, making the demons victorious over the angels. The details of the plan have been lost to time, but we do know that not only did it not work, but it sent the Cardiad into a final stance. The Queen of the Cariad, seeing her witches slaughtered before her eyes, overpowered, their witchlings sacrificed to the Three Faced Goddess who was not their Goddess as well, fell to her knees and screamed for the heavens. With her last breath, she sliced her arms and legs open, letting the blood seep into the ground she stood on, and at last slit her own throat, adding more, as she cast her curse.
Forever would Mechashefot be damned. Never shall the soil yield another piece of food. Never will again grow a healthy tree or blooming flower. Never shall any person, be they witch or other, thrive on these lands. Never shall a single drop of water wet the earth. If the Metal Borne wanted to be the sole owners of the land so much, they are welcome to it.
And thus, every day, the sun rose, and every day, the sun set, for over a thousand years.
It was only recently that Niri became aware to the rest of the Galaxy. Its people still believed in stars being distant faeries when the first shuttle landed from the skies, bringing within it strange people that did not belong. The acceptance of the Outside took time to root upon Niri, as the mere idea was initially treated with suspicion, and it was several years before genuine trust was established.
For the next decade or two, the people of Niri slowly learned about space travel, technology, and what could be found outside of their little insignificant planet's atmosphere. Some of the courts adapted well, whereas others did not.
When news reached the Metal Borne Witches, they knew immediately what they must do. If an outside of their world existed, it would only make sense for that outside to belong to them, to be beneath them, and for them to be able to use it to extract their dominance and control over their own world with it. Perhaps, some Witches thought, if they could control the Galaxy, they would be able to find the way to remove the curse from Mechashefot, and at last return to the promised land of milk and honey.
The race for knowledge and conquering among the Clans had officially begun.
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