#umbraverse

The Society and Temple of the Veil [both located in Vigil, NY]

The Temple has existed for 4000 years. It follows a matrilineal line, so the role of Velata is based on from mother to daughter.

The current Velata is Juliette Ward [Achillea Ptolemee]. Her mother was the Velata before her [Seraphine Ward, nee Biro/Daedala Ptolemee].

Each Velata has her own specific type of magic. For Juliette, hers manifested as pain manipulation [can increase or lower pain]. Her mother, Seraphine's, was human puppetry [can manipulate people like puppets using magic].

Once a Velata hits puberty [age varies], they have to undergo a scarification ritual to tie them [and their developing magic] to The Veil, which is what gives Velatas their powers. Most Velatas will sleep for anywhere from 24 to 72 hours after the ritual, which is normal since it's pretty taxing.

If a Velata does not go through the ritual, she will go insane and end up dying as a result of her insanity [self-inflicted]. This is a guarantee.

Velata's are anonymous to their members. Their names are not known and they wear a veil [similar to a mantilla, except it covers their face] while at the Temple [hence the title of Velata, which means 'veiled one'].

For someone to join the Temple, they have to die.

The ritual follows this structure:

The member kneels before the Velata

The Velata draws a knife and cuts the members throat, killing them.

The member is able to interact briefly with The Veil, which allows them to access latent magic abilities.

The Velata resurrects them.

The member is now a member. Yay good job :D

Members often report feeling calm after the ritual. To date, no one has experienced any form of horror or fear.

The Society is an offshoot, or branch, of the Temple. It's a newer edition, about 2000 years old.

The Society is more lax in how it operates. It's not as ritual heavy and is more for members who don't have as much time during the day to come and practice.

Leader's are chosen by the previous Leader. It's not based on lineage or relation.

Since Sambuco died during the ritual involving Sasha, she was automatically selected as the next Leader since there was literally no one else.

The initiation for a Society member is less 'extreme' than the Temple.

It follows this structure:

The member is presented to Leader.

The member explains why they want to join [reasons vary].

If Leader finds the reason to be acceptable, they are brought up to the fountain.

Leader slices the members hand with an opal blade.

The members hand is placed under the water, where it heals and they are imbued with enough magic for safe practice.

That's it :D Welcome to the Society.

The House of Blue Light [last known location, somewhere near Kingston upon Hull, UK]

The House of Blue Light [HoBL] was a religious cult that was separate from the Society and Temple.

Judith [the former Sancta Domina] literally lied and cheated her way into the House because she was a power hungry 19 year old and couldn't see how anything could possibly go wrong :)

Yeah, she was wrong.

HoBL is very focused on a non-established religion that portrays the Sancta Domina as a messiah. They are, without a doubt, the most 'cultish' of the cults. They follow standard tactics for cults as well.

HoBL's main punishment was removing a members eye if they were to question the Sancta.

Ritual follows this:

Member is brought before the Sancta.

Member is forced to choose between their left eye [unholy] or right eye [holy].

Upon choosing, the Sancta Domina removes their eye with a knife.

That's it.

During Judith's ruling as Sancta, she had one member die as a result of the above ritual. As such, she has a fear of gore/blood.

The House is located in a cathedral. If a Sancta Domina leaves or is killed by her members upon them realizing she's a fraud [this has happened in the past], the cathedral will begin to deteriorate.

As of currently, the House's cathedral is in absolute ruins since Judith is no longer the Sancta Domina.

Umbra Umbra is the primordial realm of darkness. She's benevolent and very curious about humans. Her solution to this?

Create an Umbrian. Which ended up being Float.

Basically, Float acts as a reporter on humanity but over time, he also became very interested in humans and ended up sticking around for 6000+ years.

Umbra is basically Float's 'mom' and he addresses her as such. She's a good mom and always likes to check up on Float to see what's going on with humans [or himself].

Characters

Sasha Quarters- Leader of the Society. At the start, she's 17 years old. Currently, she's been Leader for a decade. A redhead who has an artist as a mother and an accountant as a father, she's very strong-willed and persistent. She used to be a debate team regional champion in high school. She was also a fencer. As Leader, she was initially hesitant about the role [cause she DIED] but she grew into it quickly. Known for protecting members, they ended up giving her the nickname 'Mother Hen of the Society'. She's hot-headed, analytical, and motherly. She will stab a member in the hand or slice their cheek if they disobey her multiple times [she'll also heal them after]. Slightly violent and possibly unhinged. Has had a crush on Juliette since she met her in 8th grade.

Powers include [but are not limited to]: destructive magic [lightning, fire, insanity inducement], minor healing, ability to summon knives

Main weapons: knives [varying kinds, mainly throwing knives], magic

Juliette Ward [Achillea Ptolemee]- The Velata of the Temple. The same age as Sasha [but born before her], she's been her best friend since 8th grade. Her mother, Seraphine, was the Velata before her. Her father, Otto, is a history professor at a nearby university. She's composed, structured and enjoys schadenfreude. She has a sadistic streak that she tries to keep under wraps. In 10th grade, she broke a boys wrist because he kept harassing Sasha. She lured him to a stairwell under the guise of a love confession, snapped his wrist in one clean move, and then told him to lie about the injury. He did [said he fell off a skateboard]. Her ritual name [Achillea Ptolemee] relates to her pain powers, as all Velata's ritual names do. Has had a crush on Sasha since 8th grade. She sometimes gets 'divine interferences' which cause her eyes and/or nose to bleed. Not harmful, but she's perpetually annoyed about it.

Powers include: pain manipulation, resurrection, healing, getting smacked in the face with random Divine Interferences and being annoyed about it

Main weapons: scythe, magic, staff

Judith Thornhill- The former Sancta Domina of the House of Blue Light. A 19 year old girl from Hull, she was originally power hungry enough to join the House. She practiced magic without being properly imbued which resulted in her body beginning to waste away to the point where she could see her bones. Currently healing at the Society and practicing magic safely. She's half-Korean [mom] and half-white Brit [dad]. The second youngest of the squad, she was born in 2000. Also the tallest at 5'9". She seems quiet but her brain never shuts up, she's always thinking about something. Tries to seem proper and composed but she's feral underneath. Still has her Hull accent which Medea finds endearing. Probably has PTSD from the House though she's not about to admit it. Has an ongoing feud with the Society's microwave and toaster.

Powers include: electrokinesis/electropathy [slightly unstable]

Main weapons: magic, staff

Sunniva White- a serial killer who is on the run from the police. Like Judith, she's not from Vigil, NY. She's from Tillamook, Oregon :) Her parents died in a car crash when she was 12 where she suffered a TBI [traumatic brain injury] which resulted in a personality change. She loves horror movies which a lot of people don't suspect about her. She's the youngest, born in 2003. She's also the shortest at 5'1". After her parents died, she was legally adopted by her aunt Lori and her aunts girlfriend, Pauline. Lori and Pauline are both treasures and we love them btw. Sunniva became a serial killer after she came across a leaked page from the Society archives detailing a ritual that would allow someone to resurrect someone else. Sunniva figured she might as well see if it was real and thus she began to collect people's hearts [per the ritual]. Police dubbed her 'The Lonely Hearts Killer' and she even helped them at several points. They never caught or suspected her until after she had bounced and left a note for the officer she worked closely with [Officer Bea] that said:

'See you later!

:) ☉' ☉ was the killers calling card.

Currently the Society's resident cryptid cataloger and hunter [not in the traditional sense. She just watches them].

Medea Ptolemee- left on the Temple steps as a newborn, she was raised alongside Juliette. They're best friends and co-conspirators. Medea eventually chose the role of the Velata's 'jester' since she's really the only person who can poke fun at Juliette or call her out on bullshit ideas [jester's privilege]. She lives in the bedroom in the bell tower and mostly travels around the Temple and Society via ceiling beams or other methods. She didn't have a name when she was abandoned, so the priestesses of the Temple chose 'Medea', since it means 'cunning' and baby Medea looked like she had way too many thoughts for a newborn. She's chaotic, analytial, observant, and enjoys a good practical joke. She's essentially the Temple/Society's 'personal cryptid' since most people don't see her [but they hear her]. She wears a mask that has comedy on one side and tragedy on the other.

Powers: liminal magic [varies], voice-acting [non-magical]

Main weapons: scythe, her weird hypermobility that allows her to freak people out, psychological manipulation

Float/Floyd Hieronymus Umbra/Acedia Umbra- the only child of Umbra. Has no designated sex and enjoys swapping gender presentations. Usually uses 'he/him' pronouns. He's been alive for 6000+ years and, to his knowledge, cannot die. He is allergic to tomatoes though. He's also been shot/stabbed/just generally attacked over the years. Has a phobia of dogs, which are the cause of the majority of his scars. First appeared in Ancient Greece and then proceeded to travel around. Ended up joining the Temple to make sure the humans there didn't blow themselves up with magic. Sarcastic, snarky, but lovable. Has an impressive list of one-night stands and hookups. Owns a chicken named Rebekah who he built a climate controlled chicken coop for. An artist by trade, he has probably every art degree available ever. Also the richest person in the world [you accumulate a lot of money over 6000 years]. Does online commissions and severely undercharges because he just wants people to have nice art. Has also worked on background art for various shows and video games. Has never paid taxes and never will.

Powers: umbrakinesis [shadow manipulation]

Weapons: magic but prefers not to fight unless he absolutely has to.

Sasha Quarters- 5'7", pear shaped. Long, curly, naturally red hair. Light blue eyes, pale skin. Wears red lipstick almost 24/7. Also wears heels with basically every outfit [her tallest heels are 6" which makes her 6'1". Bonus, she can run in these. yes they are stilettos. Yes, it is terrifying]. Has a mass of lightning strike scars that cover her back and the tops of her shoulders [think Lichtenberg figures], also has a long scar running from the bottom of her left rib to her top right collarbone [from the ritual]. Nails tend to be long, manicured, and most likely painted red.

Juliette- 5'5", has a body shape similar to a statue of Aphrodite. Long, mostly straight dark brown hair. Green eyes, lightly tanned skin. Her hair tends to fall over one eye despite her constantly pushing it back. She looks regal to most people. On her back, she has the scar from her scarification ritual, which is quite complex [see image below]. She has a very neutral resting face which can swap into pure judgement in .5 seconds.

[above] Juliette's scar from the ritual.

Judith- very tall at 5'9" and very slim. If you want a specific clothing size for her, she wears a 00 pant in US Women's sizes and an XS shirt [also in US Women's sizes]. She's very graceful and moves carefully. Long black hair with straight across bangs. She has heterochromia, with one eye being light hazel and the other being very dark brown. She's pale in the winter but if she's in the sun, she gets tanner. Straight, sharp nose and moderately thin lips. Light freckling across her nose and cheeks. She looks like she would fit right in in a gothic novel.

Sunniva- tiny lil Scandinavian girlie. 5'1" but very strong. She hikes as a hobby [thanks Oregon] and is fairly compact in terms of muscle. She's not ripped, per se, but she does have strong legs. Very pale blonde hair which is chopped haphazardly short [so its very messy]. Light green eyes, which are quite round and childlike. Tanned somewhat. Has a chaotic vibe to her, but the kind where you want to talk to her, not run away.

Medea- About 5'6". Light brown/dirty blonde hair, curly/wavy, usually up in a bun or ponytail. Her hair [when down] reaches just past her shoulders. She's fairly hourglass shaped but slim, with strong arms and legs. Her eyes are grey-green and she's quite pale since she spends a lot of time indoors. Light freckling across her nose which is usually hard to see. Most of the time she has a black full body catsuit [cotton] and a mask on, so most people aren't really aware of what she looks like.

Float- About 5'8" [in male or female form]. looks like he walked out of an anime. Has an odd skin tone [Judith describes it as one point as 'a corpse floating in water for 3 days']. Eyes are light purple, hair is pastel pink. His hair is styled short, and while it's naturally wavy, he usually straightens it. Skinny man with no real muscle tone. In female form, he takes a more 'curvy' appearance but essentially keeps everything else the same [may or may not change his hairstyle though]. Has numerous scars on his face, the most prominent and noticeable of which is a scar that extends from the left corner of his lip to the bottom of his cheekbone on the same side. It's an uneven scar and pulls his lip into what looks like a perpetual smirk. Also, has an abnormally long tongue.