Portfolio: Witchcraft, black magic, wild magic, forbidden knowledge, misfortune, rebels

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Alignment: Unaligned (Neutral)

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Titles: Magic’s Willful Daughter, Lady Darkspell, the Queen of the Black Arts, the Mother of

Misfortune, The Queen of the Cauldron, Sister of the Dark, She Who Twists the Path

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Domain: Darkendaine

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Holy Text: The Scrolls of Midnight

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Symbols: A black cloak, lined in silver thread

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Chosen Weapon: Bladed cloak (dagger)

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Dogma: “All magic is truth and all truth is magic. Cast no idea or thought away because its season has not yet come, for few can see the truth in the darkness. All scorn the dark until they feel the burning heat of the sun. The beauty of magic lies in both the day and the night, the darkness and the light. Shun not the magic of darkness as do the fools, but find your path to magic within it. The oldest magic is neither good, nor evil and came from a time of twilight. Both the light and the dark must be, and the strongest workers of magic will tap both wells of power.

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“The sun sets on every living creature’s life and good fortune. Curse not the misfortunes which befall you, but use them to sharpen your wit and skill. Those who look upon their bad luck as a blessing will sooner find their luck has turned. To turn misfortune to your advantage is a holy act, and to find the good in adversity is to achieve true wisdom.”

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“Seek out that which is forbidden and learn that which is hidden, for to forget any magic is a sin upon the world. Wisdom is knowing when to unleash dread magic upon the land and when to hold it in wait until it is needed. In due course, all struggle to bring order will come to naught, and then chaos be your sharpest blade.”

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Worshippers: Witches, warlocks, sorcerers, necromancers, Vistani, seers, rebels, anarchists, prisoners, the accursed, the persecuted

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History:  In a time when mortals first began to crawl upon the earth, the God King of Magic, desiring to see the art of magic grow and evolve, sired two daughters. The first one, Vhara, was given to please only her father, being little more than an extension of his will. The other, Vauna, sought her own path, believing that she could fulfill the divine purpose of her creation better by forging her own destiny. While her sister explored the magic of light and its ability to refract and be captured in enchanted objects, Vauna explored the ancient, forbidden magic of creation, believing that magic could only grow as an art if it could be understood from its primordial foundation.

 

The day came when the sister goddesses were to present their offerings before their father to show how they had helped the mystic arts to grow. The first sister presented a vain creation, a mere reflection of the magic brought into existence by the God King himself, and her father showered the sister goddess his favor, for she flattered him. Lady Blackcloak then presented to her father her offering, an admixture of twilight creation that blended the elemental forces of darkness and light, as they had been before the settling of the planes. Vauna released her brew into the ether, where it would have given birth to a whole new source and tradition of magic, but in her fear and arrogance, the sister goddess released a bolt of radiance that unbalanced the magic of twilight as it grew. At the presence of an unequal amount of the opposite element, the darkness within surged forth to compensate and the enchantment began to grow exponentially beyond its design. The God King was forced to intervene as the magic the sister goddess had unbalanced threatened the mortal realms.

 

Though the magic of her offering went awry, there was deep eldritch power in it, such that frightened the sister goddess and the God King of Magic, who scorned Lady Darkspell’s offering and praised that of her sister goddess. Vauna reminded her father that, despite the nature of her spellcraft, his commandment to create new magic had been kept. Then she left his house forever, thinking it ironic that she was now more committed to her father’s purpose than ever, and that he was too blinded by her sister’s fawning light to see it. Therefore, when the world of Aeinia cried out to the heavens for succor, Vauna readily answered the call, eager to heal and study the broken magic of the world and to teach its inhabitants the lesson her father and sister goddess were too foolish to learn.

 

As a goddess of the oldest magicks, Vauna is the patroness of witchcraft, the oldest of arcane magical traditions. She gathers to her shadowy embrace witches and all other persecuted workers of magic, for she understands them in a way that few immortals ever will. As Vauna was spurned by her divine family for her devotion to the darker mystic arts, so, too, does she comfort and protect those who face retribution for delving into the forbidden. Vauna is also the Goddess of Misfortune, and she takes amusement in the ill luck she bestows on mortals, but there is often a greater purpose in her maledictions, a lesson meant to be learned or a greater misfortune meant to be avoided. She expects mortals to be strengthened by their misfortunes as the goddess herself has been, and she has little mercy to those who complain against her. Vauna saves her greatest favor and blessings for those who stand bravely or even recklessly against their opposition like raising a hand to hold back the tide.

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The Clergy of the Coven of Twilight: The Coven of Twilight is simultaneously blessed and cursed the world over for their works, and to the witch priestesses who make up the congregation, this is exactly how they believe Vauna would have it. The coven spends much of its time ensuring the preservation of all kinds of magic, especially dangerous or forbidden magic, and this often means protecting and spiriting away the practitioners of this dangerous magic. The mission of the Coven of Twilight is one that requires great finesse as it often places them in direct conflict with local authorities and crusading forces of good in all corners of the world. In cases where the coven intervenes in order to save the life of someone practicing dark magic, the witch priestesses attempt to do so with the utmost secrecy or to make some kind of peace offering to the authorities that is so enticing that they forestall wrath. For instance, they might rescue a necromancer from his own hanging and then turn up in force to put down the undead monstrosities that his wizardry has summoned, saving many lives in the process. Because of this odd duality, most common folk assume the coven is crazy, and the subtlety of their morality is wasted on them.

 

The day to day operations of the coven also include teaching magic to those they come across who have the aptitude and creating and storing enchanted items. Vaunite priestesses take particular joy in teaching magic to those who have been victimized by society and empowering them to change the course of their lives. Temples to the Coven of Twlight often include great stone monoliths in natural locations that have been hollowed out to hold items of power or reagents for potions and other magical creations. The witch priestess prize and carefully preserve written accounts of arcanists of all traditions, but they treasure the works of those magic-users who have been banned or forbidden above all others. In times of great desperation, it is often the Coven of Twilight that is able to provide the occult knowledge needed in order to prevent disaster or place adventurers on the right path.

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Coven Hierarchy

Accepted (1st)

Dark Sister (3rd)

Caster (5th)

High Caster (8th)

Elder Sister (11th)

Dark Mother (21st)