Fantasy Lore for The "Ghosts" of Okoheller Woods

[gxxberkit]

Hello! Welcome to the lore thread for my roleplay! I'll get started on it soon haha

 

[gxxberkit]

"Did you hear.."
"I was told..."
"I heard a rumor that.."
"There are ghosts in the Okoheller Woods


The people outside the forest, they like to spread rumors.
One of the rumors they've started.. is about us.
They say we're ghosts. Poltergeists. That we haunt these woods.
Sure, we may haunt the forest..
But we sure aren't ghosts.

I know this will read like an interest check- just bear with me ^^''​

This roleplay takes place in 'Okoheller Woods,' a fictional forest that hides the neighborhood coven. People have begun to find out they exist- but, in the wrong way. Those outside of the coven believe they are ghosts. Why, you ask?
Well, it's simple. Those in the coven learn very early on a simple invisibility spell. The older member of it tend to use the spell to roam around the forest- some even daring to head into the nearby neighborhood. Many of these members like to play pranks, like stealing clothes from clotheslines and bags, or making weird sounds in the dark.
Some of them do it with the intent of scaring the outsiders away- however, that's sort of failed.
Now, more people are coming into the forest to find the "ghosts," equipped with all the necessary knock-off ghost hunting supplies. Some of these people have been getting scarily close to the coven's camp, which is starting to lead them to more drastic measures; even worse pranks.
Will the outsiders retaliate? Back off? Find the camp?
Will the coven members get better prank material? Or maybe they'll finally introduce themselves to the outsiders?
Well, we'll see how it goes

Rules;
1. Post minimum req is once a week, but I will LOVE YOU FOREVER (platonically) if you try to post more often!
2. Though I don't personally care how long your replies are, please at least give people something to work off of! Bad Ex: "He stared." Good Ex!: "He blinked, tilting his head to stare at them with a look of confusion."
3. Please don't godmod! Especially if you're in the coven!
4. Please try to keep humans and coven-members even!

I'll put more about the spells, location, and coven information below soon!
I just wanted to do a better overview and also make some rules since the interest check didn't do the absolute best job of it aha..​

 

[gxxberkit]

LOCATION
Lots of "Okoheller Woods" signs are littered around the edge of the forest.. Somepeople couldn't decide where the official entrance was, clearly.
​

The southernmost sign marks one of two entrances that lead to the nearby neighborhood. The rest of the signs are either connected to dead ends or lead to unrelated territory. This sign is the newer one of the two, apparent by how clean it is. On the other side of a hill blocking one from seeing both sides is the other sign, which was rotted.

Connecting the two signs is a path that goes straight around the center of the forest. The closer to the center of the path, though, the mossier it gets, and the more plants take over the path.

Smack dab in the middle of the forest is the coven's camp. It's basically an extremely small village, with houses and a town square, or, more accurately, a covenstead. The houses surround the covenstead, with it having a campfire and many seats, and also being in a clearing.
Along with the houses, there is an alchemy building, a 'hospital,' and a small outdoor school, which were all connected.

The alchemy building is basically your average 1 story office, but instead of desks inside the cubicles, there were cauldrons and shelves filled with ingredients. Various other necessities for witchy alchemy were in a storage room.
The hospital also seems to be built using an old office- though, with a lot more beds and medical herbs.
The school was under thick trees, with make-shift chairs using leaves and sticks.. These were obviously made by the children in the coven.

The houses are all one-story, save for one, the High Priest(ess)'s house.
The inside of the houses were pretty neat, almost having a modern feel, save for some houses having plants growing from the walls. The majority of the houses had house plants and a garden attatched.

The covenstead, as said previously, was in a clearing, being the only place in the town that had sunlight that wasn't mostly obstructed by leaves. Surrounding the chairs and campfire were things used for storage, including fridges, shelves, and wardrobes. Inside of these were things foraged, found, or hunted by the coven.. there's also a surprising amount of junk food in the shelves and fridges.

The coven's camp was hidden by thick brush and trees, only being able to be seen if you knew it was there in the first place.

The rest of the forest was your average forest, except maybe a bit more foggy. Its fauna and flora include but are not limited to: redwood trees; a variety of mushrooms, berries, bushes, and herbs; deer; rabbits; moose; and coniferous trees.


The neighborhood, though small, is a lot bigger than the coven.
It's a simple suburban neighborhood, with houses that look generally identical. Reddish roofs, white outside walls. Basic enough!

At the edge of the neighborhood, closer to the forest, is an abandoned playground. It has a sandbox, four swings, a few slides, and the occasional tree, along with woodchips covering the ground. The playground was elevated slightly, with a cracking wooden frame bordering it. It gives off an empty nostalgia.

 

[gxxberkit]

Coven pt. 1
A lot of the witches enjoy mischief. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them were fae..
Not all of this will be relevant to the PLOT. I just thought it'd be useful to know.​

Members
-Species
Coven members can be from any magic-using species or be descendants of them; the latter is most common.
This means that a lot of the members of the coven are around 70% human, with ancestors that were fae, elves, or even daemons and angels. Those that derive from angels are more likely to be powerful magic users, while those derived from elves are the least. The majority of members are derived from fae, though.
All of them learn mostly the same spells, with little to no variation on which-spell-belongs-to-who. However, those with less powerful magic may not be able to learn powerful spells.

-Ranks
There are only five real ranks, with the other two being age groups.
-Neophyte
These are the minors (0-17) within the coven. The ones 4 and older all go to the school four times a week. The other days are free-time, though usually they're spent learning spells from their family members or crafting things. They're also gifted with the task of making the altars in their family's house.
-Adult
Those older than 17. All adults can do any of the following whenever they want with little to no obstacles or backlash, due to them being general coven responsibilities; however, some may specialize in one or two of them. All of them have to take care of the neophytes.
-Dominie
The teacher role. As said before, any of the adults in the coven, if they choose to do so, can become a dominie. They take the most care of the neophytes, having to teach them 4 days out of the week.
-Shaman
Any adults in the coven can become a shaman, though they will have to do some training beforehand. They practice divination and healing the second most. The majority of members that take part in being a shaman are typically descended from angels or elves.
-Alchemist
Any adults in the coven can choose to be an alchemist. Those that cannot do magic tend to do alchemy or hunter-gathering the most. They collect the majority of herbs and rocks for the coven. They make potions, and some even write new spells.
-Hunter-Gatherer
These are the people that provide for the coven. Of course, any adults in the coven can decide to hunter-gather. They leave the coven's camp the most to hunt and gather, and enjoy playing pranks on the people they find out there. People that descend from fae are the most likely to choose to do this, simply because of more opportunities for mischief.
-High Cleric.
The leader(s) of the coven. There may be up to two of these, but no more. They are people that have mastered the previously mentioned skills, and were given the metaphorical crown by the previous leader(s). They do not have to be powerful witches, just masters. If the coven members dislike the High Cleric, a mutiny vote will begin, and a replacement will be chosen. The High Cleric begins the covensteads to make announcements or begin group rituals.

 

[gxxberkit]

Coven pt. 2
Spellbook pt. 1
A spell book written by previous members of the coven.. Some of them are hard to master ):
^If you have suggestions for things to put in the spellbook, please tell me in OOC!!^​

Novice Spells Spells learned by all magic-users in the coven.
-A
-Alarm ~ User can generate a loud noise.
-Altar Divination ~ User can create working altars once a week that can grant one simple wish, a truthful answer to a question, or just good luck.
-B
-Blazing Rock ~ User can set a small rock on fire.
-Blessing (Simple) ~ User can give a chosen target some good luck.
-Blur ~ User can blur the vision of a chosen target- learned later in age (~16) because small children like to abuse the privilege.
-C
-Charm ~ User can gain temporary companionship by 'charming' a small animal.
-Charming Wink ~ User can slightly influence a peer's opinion on them.
-Comprehension ~ User can understand unfamiliar words. User does not learn or retain what the words mean, only the message.
-Create (Simple) ~ User can create a small amount of water, berries, or leather.
-Curse (Simple) ~ User can give a chosen target bad luck.
-D
-Dash ~ User can temporarily boost their speed, typically in means of escape.
-Detection ~ User can detect magic and disease.
-F
-Feather Fall ~ User can decrease the speed in which something/someone is falling by half for a short period of time.
-Find (Simple) ~ User can locate small objects.
-H
-Heal (Simple) ~ User can heal superficial physical wounds.
-I
-Invisibility ~ User can turn invisible indefinitely.
-J
-Jump ~ User can boost themselves up.
-L
-Light orb ~ User can create a small orb of light for a short period of time.
-P
-Purify ~ User can purify water and berries.
-S
-Sleep (Self) ~ User can charm themselves to sleep- very helpful for insomniacs in the coven.
-Subdue ~ User can calm down any creature less powerful than them.


Dominie Spells Spells typically used by those that particularly enjoy the Teacher role.
-A
-Aid ~ User can boost their peers' rigor.
-Animate ~ User can animate objects that weren't previously animated. (Ex: rocks)
-Antimagic Field ~ User can remove the ability to cast spells in a finite range.
-C
-Clone ~ User can clone themselves up to two times.
-Create (Intermediate) ~ User can create small non-living objects, plus the things mentioned in Create (Simple).
-E
-Enhance Ability ~ User can greatly enhance one ability in either themselves or a peer for a short amount of time.
-F
-Fabricate ~ User can build things quickly using a small amount of the materials needed to make it.
-Foresight (Simple) ~ User can see closely into the future.
-G
-Glibness ~ User can lie, without immediate repercussions. (There could be consequences farther along the line.) Typically used when taking the school out of the camp temporarily and having a run-in with townsfolk.
-Glyph of Warding ~ User can create a glyph that moderately harms other creatures under certain conditions- typically used to protect entrances to the camp.
-Guidance ~ User can modestly enhance an ability in a peer.
-H
-Heroism ~ User can instill confidence and bravery in a peer.
-M
-Mirage ~ User can create realistic temporary illusions over terrain or alter or add structures.
-S
-Silent Field~ User can remove sound in a finite range.