WELCOME|ESTERWELL, NY
The Naturals
The naturals or the natives are essentially defined as the people whose families and heritage are native to this version of the universe/planet/realm. Most of the natives are human but that also leaves quite a bit of room for variation.
Non-magical Humans
Non-magical humans tend to be blissfully unaware of the undercurrents of this town and make up most of the general population. Still though they have share a few important traits that all natives have inherently that can help or hinder the non-native races in the form of creativity and banality.
Creative humans can give a powerful boost to the supernaturals that they interact with, and sometimes they can even see the traits that mark them for what they are, either in glimpses or directly. While non creative humans can cause harm, stripping away their magical essence (glamour) and making them feel sick or uncomfortable. Normally they cannot see anything at all that cannot be mistaken for ordinary, and when witnessing a magical or act or anything strange they will readily explain it away as something normal.
Most humans fall somewhere in between the two, and their level of creativity or banality can change based on their moods or thoughts. Young children however tend to have a much more constant level of creativity and openness as they have not yet been taught not to believe or dream.
Dreamers an artists also tend to be a potent draw for glamour users, particularly when they are actively involved in their art form, or are sleeping. The dreams of the creative are rich sources of glamour to the supernaturals who can access it and can allow them to replenish themselves if they are visited.
While controlling a dream would cost a great deal of power, just visiting can lead to different kinds of inspiration. While the natures of some some may inspire beautiful light things and enhance their rich dream world in a positive way, the presence of others might also inspire nightmarish environments that are so real and so terrifying that the images often linger into waking and can inspire darkly beautiful works of art.
Witches and Warlocks
The origins of witches and warlocks have long been disputed among both sides, but most will agree that they are not at all the same. Warlocks tend to come from a more distinctly paternal line, and for a long time unions between them and other non-magical humans led to the birth of Sons that carried on the magical line. As the bloodlines diluted and intermingled, however this gave rise to more variation in the genetics and eventually it became just as likely that a Warlock would and could have a daughter as often as a son. While Witches are more traditionally Matriarchal for much the same reason. Though in modern times their magical heritage is often hidden due to the extreme prejudices forced onto them throughout history.
Many witches believe that it was the Warlocks that started the Spanish inquisition and various witch hunts throughout the ages. While they were more communal gentle spirits whose covens preferred healing and nature based arts and enjoyed serving their communities on a small scale as hedge witches, healers, and midwives, Warlocks chose to intigrate themselves into places of power and were often high ranking church officials or high level gentry. Their magic was far more self serving and potent some would even say they preferred they dabble in the darker side of things. Whatever is true it is said that during the Spanish inquisition the Warlocks used their power to "purify" the bloodlines by hunting down and burning witches, and often times even non magical humans, at the stake. This led to a great rift forming between the two sides that still exists to this day.
Warlocks on the other hand deny these allegations completely but they do see witches as lesser beings than themselves, and a danger to the secrets they guard greedily. They have developed a kind of mistrustful apathy when it comes to witches and their communities and it has long been forbidden to intermingle or to share the magical knowledge they have hoarded over the centuries with the other side. If asked however most Warlocks don't even know why these divisions exist, save for rumors that if a witch ever did turn, their power could potentially prove to be even greater that that of a natural born warlock.
On rare occasions a Witch and a Warlock will defy their covens and cabals respectively and intermingle with each-other. These sorts of couplings have led to descendants that share a dual heritage and can go either way. Once the children from these unions reach twenty-one and come into their full power they are often forced to choose a side. Though because of their dual heritage they are often greeted with mistrust and only barely tolerated by both, which leaves their place in a Cabal or a working Coven very restricted as the secrets both strictly guarded from the other and in turn the children of mixed lines.
Cabals and Covens
In the modern era Warlocks have congregated toward bigger business interests and have used their wealth and power to invest in few huge companies that they refer to as their Cabal. These companies not only offer employment to Warlocks of various skills but they also act as a governing body in the Magical community. Their purpose is to not only ensure that everyone follows a set of distinct principles that will uphold a sort of masquerade, but they also police each other and balance each other when necessary. Cabals are usually meticulously organized with a clear ranking system that is inherent in their companies. The CEO is the undisputed head of the Cabal and will usually place his or her children in the direct leaderships roles if they prove themselves worthy, while the upper management are below the leading family but still far wealthier and more powerful than middle management... and it goes on down the chain until you reach the warlocks with barely any magical proficiency or those of mixed heritage who usually at the bottom and act as basic clerks or lowly assistants despite whatever potential they may have.
Witches on the other hand do not recognize the authority of the Cabals and meet and work together in more relaxed communal settings. Many are doctors or healers of some nature while many others prefer to work with the land itself, Growing things and creating resources that will protect and maintain the environment. Recently some covens have even been banding together to form their own companies focused in the research and development of green energy and products made with natural reusable resources. They are not as restrictive as the Cabals and do not use their wealth to control or inhibit others of their kind. They see themselves as free spirits who come together to do good work and protect each other when necessary. The governing body of a coven is usually the council, made up of gifted wise women and men. They offer advice to the younger witches and uphold the traditions of their kind, while passing on their wisdom and knowledge to the younger generation. Those of mixed heritage however are again regarded with distrust by most council members and are often limited to only learning basic craft despite their potential.
Witches, Warlocks and Supernaturals
Like regular humans not every witch or Warlock can see the other magical creatures for what they are. This like with non-magical humans depends wholly on ther level of creativity or banality and what they are willing to accept and believe. They are however more aware then regular humans of the movement of their energy, and whether or not something outside themselves is using them to siphon glamour, or whether or not they are siphoning glamour in that moment. How the explain this to themselves however and what they do with it is strictly up to the witch or warlock in question.
Covens with counsel members that can see the differences in the magical beings that visit their world on occasion, usually welcome the ones of a more lighter bent and will work with them when possible. Though there are some covens that distrust all non-native creatures as much as they distrust Warlocks and non magical humans.
Cabals CEOs and High level managers when confronted with an obviously non native creature will often times go after the ones of a more darker bent and use them to fuel their magics sharing the secrets with only their brethren that of the highest echelons of their society. The others rely on myths and stories that are neither confirmed nor denied of Cabalists trafficking with demons or angels, attempting to bind their power or use their knowledge for their own purposes. While some speculate that the ideas of demons and angels actually were once a way to describe any magical creature that was not common to this world, others believe it to be nothing more then fairy tails and prefer to practice the sort of magic they understand best.
Hunters
Not every hunter is a throwback from some forgotten time, when setting torch to anything remotely different than themselves was not only common but supported. For the most part the modern hunter is just a person whose curiosity has gotten the best of them or someone who is accidentally or willfully callous when confronted with something they do not understand. Some hunters may even have the best of intentions like child with a net, and might use their misunderstandings and lack of knowledge to wreak havoc on the magical community.
Sometimes they might be a scientist for instance who has some how discovered stumbled over the fact that they are not alone in the world and through their fascination and desire to understand often commit the worst kinds of atrocities to non human races or even witches and Warlocks. What sacrifice is to great after all to unlock the secrets of eternal life or to be able to heals the sick and suffering or just have really great skin and high metabolism?
Other times they are just people who have somehow found out there there is more to the world then what they realized and have a deep seeded need to understand it which can lead to accidentally harming the very things they are so desperate to know. A little fairy in a cage after all is no different then having an exotic pet, is it? This obsession can also lead them to a desperate need to become something more than they are and destroy others in their attempts to change their nature.
And while still others may be those very throwbacks from older times who have formed themselves into a force to be reckoned with and have grown up training their whole life to wreak vengeance on any unholy demon they find living in a very narrow idea of their world. Sometimes their causes are born of a misplaced need for vengeance and an extreme leaning toward prejudice, or sometimes they have simply spent their lives being brainwashed by their parents.
Whatever sort of hunter there is out there not one of them is less dangerous than the other and they are the reason we all have a masquerade.
Animals
Animals make up an important part of our natural world whether they are played characters or NPC companions they often add life and a sort of comfort to both the natives and supernaturals in Esterwell. For the most part they cannot communicate directly through speech with non-magical humans but occasionally a Witch or a Warlock will have the ability to hold a conversation with their own special little creature, and sometimes they can even help protect them magically and psychically as their familiar.
For supernaturals animals can also play an important role, not only as a guides and protectors that can help them adjust to and understand this new world they find themselves in, but also as a source for Glamour as most animals in their relaxed state are an almost constant source of magical energy. While they will never quite be able to replenish a supernatural as well as a creative human might, an animal companion can offer just enough to keep them balanced or just enough to counteract isolated incidences of banality. That is at least if they are being well taken care of and are in a calm state. When an animal is threatened however or suddenly forced into a fight or flight instinct they will quickly and suddenly turn from a gentle source of magical energy to a host for banality as a natural defense mechanism. Though their banality is not nearly as intense as that from a Native Human it could be just enough to unbalance or push a supernatural over the edge if they have not been able to refresh their glamour in awhile.
Creating a Human Character
Because we don't like to control the stories that you will make and play on this SIM we will never ask for an application or that you follow pre-written idea of how to form your character. Instead here are some tips and pointers or things to consider when making a human, magical or otherwise.
How much can you see?
Humans don't always see everything presented, and just because you as the player can see the little wings and tails that might be present on other avatars, does not mean your character can. Think about what your character will be able to see when you are making them. Ask yourself, will they be totally blind? Will they be able to catch little glimpses? Or are they always going to be deep enough inside a creative head-space that they will see it all?
Or perhaps there will be moments where they see more and moment where they will see less. This is totally up to how you want to perceive the world through your characters eyes, but keep in mind that sometimes it is also fun to be blind and to misunderstand.
Think about Banality/Creativity
Consider their level of creativity versus banality and how you can play into that. Is your character an artist, a musician or a writer that wanders through the world half caught in the depths of their imagination. Or do they prefer to exist in the cold logic of reality? Are they religious and does their religion help them to see the world in new and exciting ways? Or does it limit their understanding completely to what they read or believe as a solid fact. Even witches and warlocks succumb to these thoughts.
Also consider how your character will change if they encounter something they can't quite understand. Will they get excited and try to chase after it? Will they deny it as something impossible and explain it away? Or will they just be confused by it and try not to think about it anymore. It is important for the story and the masquerade to understand that jumping to fantastical conclusions all the time is incredibly unrealistic for a human to do. And even if they have cause to believe something does not mean that they would or should share it with everyone else, otherwise they themselves might come off as insane and find themselves swallowing pills prescribed by very concerned doctors that strip them with whatever creativity they'd possessed.
How Will Outing Another Race Effect Your Character?
If you find something unusual or experience something strange how would talking about it effect your character? Even a hunter born to the task knows better then sharing information with the general public, for fear they the general public would turn against them. And Scientists who would love nothing more then to dissect something that has all of the things humans have been craving for centuries, would not go around telling everyone that they found a minotaur and are now going to hack it to pieces and find out how it works. For one they would be laughed out of any scientific community in existence, and for two they would probably go to jail.
Even children when they see something don't always tell their parents about it, or when they do their parents usually brush it off as a flight of fancy or imagination and leave the exploration of their secrets worlds to themselves.
Just make sure that not matter what kind of human you are playing, magical or non magical, they can offer find themselves taking consequences for how they react to a certain situation.
An accidental Hunter?
Any kind of character can be a hunter, and more specifically so can any kind of human. It is totally inherent to our species to be curious, and that curiosity has often led us to do amazing things and terrible things to the objects of our fascination. Even witches and Warlocks haven't encountered every kind of magic, and they still possess the same kind of curiosity as everyone else. Could their fascination be equally as dangerous or have they learned to leave well enough alone or just study it from a distance?