i put a spell on you

[knockyoursocksoff]

The Witch's Curse


A fantasy AU meme where witches are real, and they are vengeful. Specify your character's role: the witch (or sorcerer), the subject of the curse, or the curse breaker. Tag around and pick or RNG a curse.

1: Change of Form: human turned animal, mythical beast turned human, human turned inanimate object, human made older/younger, the possibilities are endless

2: Obeisance: you are now cursed to follow the witch's every command and it's useless to resist, or perhaps you simply have to obey every command given you no matter who gives it

3: Curse of Sleep: like princesses before you, you are cursed to sleep for all eternity, or at least until your one true love finds you

4: Possession: be it a demon or any other kind of spirit, your body is no longer your own

5: Isolation: some witches use towers, others use forests of thorns, but either way the message is clear-- you are never seeing the outside world again

6: Resurrection: even death is not an escape from the witch's power, for some can raise the dead

7: Bad Luck: some curses are more minor, only causing you to stub your toe or drop your books, but they're still annoying

8: Defects: you weren't turned to an inhuman shape, but were somehow made hideous, clumsy, or repellent in some way-- maybe you smell terrible, or maybe people who get near you just feel uneasy and want to leave

9: Wounds: you have a wound that simply won't heal-- maybe it's slowly killing you, maybe it's just annoying, but it's not going away

10: Monster Magnet: wherever you go you're always being attacked by creatures, demons or monsters or ghosts, etc, that want to kill you

11: Never to Meet: you become an animal during the day while your true love is human, then you switch forms at night, so you can never both be human at the same time again

12: Death: your death is approaching and you need to find a way to avert it or remove the curse entirely

13: Objectification: you didn't avoid the death curse, and now your soul is bound to an inanimate object, perhaps to provide more power for the witch, to bind a spell to the object and give it power, or maybe just so you can't move on to your next life

14: Cursed Object: maybe it wasn't the witch themselves, but something that used to belong to a witch that put the curse on you, and now you must find a witch who can remove the curse

15: Cursed Ground: your house is built somewhere it really should not have been, and now you have to deal with ghosts or demons or the undead, which will really ruin your property value

16: Wildcard: choose your own adventure!

[adapted from original found here]

Comments

[creeptic]

"Yes, that's what I just said," he remarks dully. What a strange man--usually Aleksei has to deal with desperate and arrogant grave robbers, foolhardy adventures, and just generally people who have no idea what they're doing. Strange clearly has some sort of awareness and focus, but how deeply does that go?

"So what are you?" He taps his foot against Strange's ritual circle. "Besides clearly out of your element."

Of course, he didn't have to ask in the most insulting way he could think of. But he did.

[kingsroads]

He can't help but huff, glaring at Aleksei for a moment before trying to regain his composure. Out of his element. Hmmph! He was anything but. That comment annoyed him more than he wanted to admit, though it's obvious it annoyed him in the first place.

"I'm casting a ritual to communicate with a ghost. What do you think I am?" He's a witch, dummy. "A better question is what are you? A grave robber?"

Because Aleksei really isn't helping his case otherwise.

[creeptic]

It's not wrong, but that's not the part Aleksei is going to just admit here. He spreads his hands wide.

"I'm a Necromancer." He doesn't look remotely bothered saying that--really, it wasn't an uncommon practice where he's from. He didn't pull any especially shady magic. He just mucks around with the dead a lot, generally creepy.

Plus, it hopefully gives Strange less questions what else he's doing here. Why wouldn't a Necromancer hang out where dead things are?

"And from here you look like an amateur."

[kingsroads]

Well then. He can't help but look all the more interested. Because where Strange is from? Such magic, while not exactly extinct, is slowly getting phased out, replaced by more magic deemed safe and respectable. It's a pity this man's absolutely annoying. He wants to ask Aleksei so many questions.

"My focus is on manipulation of nature as well as various forms of reflection magic. Forgive me for attempting something a little outside my normal state of things."

Said with a frown and a bit of a snippy attitude.

[creeptic]

Reflection magic is... human magic. That he's familiar with. But it's rare, archaic when it has such limited applications. Most Mesmers didn't even bother with mirrors when they could make illusions and portals out of pure magic.

"Elementalist, then," he muses, just to put Strange's potential abilities into perspective. What's more interesting is that he isn't sticking to it. Rarely do people dabble so broadly in magic at the cost of mastering it.

"It needs work. If you want to talk to spirits, you'll need to get a lot closer than that."

[kingsroads]

This is annoying. Because Strange desperately wants to learn how to talk to spirits. All he has to help him are scraps of old magic, things cobbled together from rumors and the bits of information he has.

But this man is so obnoxious.

After a brief moment of mulling things over, Strange decides that he can swallow his pride a little bit (though it really hurts him to do so). "In that case, show me how you do it."

And then he'll do what he always does when working out his magic: copy it and add his own touches.

[creeptic]

There's a pause as Aleksei genuinely weighs that thought. Really, what's the harm? Aleksei's way of doing it takes years of standing at the edge of death to develop that kind of spiritual sensitivity, and he doesn't have a lot of faith that Strange will be able to pick up on it anyway.

"All right," He says, lifting a finger to pause him (his gloves have claws on them, as if he needed to look any more the part of a creep). "On the condition that you don't get in the way of what I'm here to do. I only have until daylight and it's more important than tea time with ghosts."

[kingsroads]

Strange can't help but look at the clawed gloves with a bit of a frown. Really? Well, some people preferred fashion over form to begin with. Still, he nods, accepting the terms. Haunted houses were in short supply but not short enough that he couldn't find another if needed.

"Make certain to tell me how not to get in the way if needed and I'll happily stay clear. After all, I've no idea what you're going to do in the first place."

Can't get out of the way if you don't know what the way is.

[creeptic]

"Right now staying behind me is a good start. I'm Aleksei Valder, by the way." He says his last name in particular with pride.

Aleksei strides past Strange to face the hallway again, pulling his sleeve back a bit as he holds his hand out. He takes a breath, glancing around the area--to the stairway up top, to the next hall over with lines of door.

"Can you sense anything?" It's upstairs, he's sure, the focus on her spell. Likely her room, and the closer they get to it... the more willing she will be to just reveal herself. But before he moves, he's just curious if Strange can get a feeling for that energy at all.

[kingsroads]

"Jonathan Strange," he responds, with a little nod of his own. And if Strange is supposed to recognize the name 'Valder'...well, he straight up doesn't. He's still rather new to the world of magic, these sorts of things are to be expected.

So, he follows along, staying a few steps behind Aleksei as they enter the hallway. At Aleksei's question though, he frowns. Strange is magically sensitive but also oblivious as hell. He can feel something, though he wouldn't have connected it to magic had the man not pointed it out.

"I believe so. Whatever it is, it's not that strong. Perhaps if we go to a different room?"