To Tom

Grab yourself a seat, start a fire and poke one of our resident vigilantes, average Joes or supervillains as much as you'd like.

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IamLEAM1983
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To Tom

Post by IamLEAM1983 »

Ever heard of that one Russian story concerning a Warlock and a soldier returning from war?
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IamLEAM1983
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Post by IamLEAM1983 »

"Which one? There's more than a few, and most of them usually serve as object lessons to young Infernalists or more boastful practitioners. From the perspective of mere folklore, I've always liked Koschei the Deathless as a watered-down, occasionally heroic distant cousin of Bluebeard. If you look at things historically, however, Koschei might very well have been a Hyperborean Warlock with a few ties to Eurasia's Polovtsian Khanate - at least if you go by a few potential historical inspirations. Koschei, or Konchak, likely began as an exceptionally long-lived tribal ruler especially known for his sorties along the Sula river, but ahistorical sources derived from other immortals' accounts suggest a much longer lifespan than even the then-unheard-of century of existence he supposedly benefited from.

To be fair, though, Russian Warlocks tend to blur the line with liches, for the most part. Most of them cheated their way to a hacked-up Ascension ritual by dying and re-inhabiting their own mortal shells. That usually triggered mutations along the lines of those Quint foisted on the body I'm currently using, or of those Otto Geier suffered through in Walpurgis' defense. Human Warlocks usually end up taking a few pages from the Nosferatu standard, while us anthros typically undergo pigment changes caused by other underlying disorders, or other unsightly external changes. It explains their need to maintain a grave - whereas I don't - and their relative immunity to forms of excess. Foist that cocktail of relative solitude and invulnerability on anyone and, well, their ego's more than likely to start bloating..."

He shrugs.

"In any case, things usually end like you'd expect. A crafty soldier spends weeks befriending the Warlock in question, with the poor fool usually being overstuffed or kept in near-constant inebriation, to the point where effusive gratitude makes the would-be wielder of the powers of darkness confess to whatever escape clause they'd have crafted for themselves. Some go Horcrux and stuff pieces of their soul in various familiars and objects, while others design multi-tiered challenges for anyone foolhardy enough to try and claim their phylactery for themselves. The intervening soldier briefs the locals on what to look for, the puzzle's pieces are assembled, and the unlucky witcher is dispatched overnight."
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IamLEAM1983
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Post by IamLEAM1983 »

Why'd you use the word witcher? Isn't that specific to Sapkovski's lore?
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IamLEAM1983
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Post by IamLEAM1983 »

"Nope! In traditional Slavic folklore, warlocks are oftentimes referred to as witchers. Sapkovski merely chose to capitalize on my distant cousins' occasional streaks of heroism, and to depict us as being more than a little skilled with a blade. Call it artistic license, if you will. I guess this makes me a witcher, technically, but..."

He grunts lightly as he squeezes his love handles, looking down on himself with a pout.

"Let's just say Aislinn needed a while to see me as bathtub material, and I'll never come even remotely close to Henry Cavill's affected ruggedness."

A confident and perhaps slightly vain smile then flips things around.

"Not that it matters, honestly. Give me a nice suit, a few cigars, some Jazz music and a few tasteful art pieces, and I could ooze personality out of the ugliest of all Warlock shells you could show me."
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