The Sciath
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Story Title: The Sciath (pronounced SHKEE - ah)
Elevator Pitch:
On the isolated island of Inishark sits the Sullivan School for Gifted Teens. Kids who excel in various academic, artistic, and athletic activities come here to hone their talents. But they arrive unaware of their hidden abilities to manipulate elemental magic - which is the school's secret curriculum. When an ancient enemy resurfaces to target four specific teens, they'll learn far more about themselves and their past selves than they ever expected.
History:
In the Tudor period, rumors of the King's desire to overtake Ireland begin to circulate. A clan of pagan elementals, nervous for their way of life, appoints six children as the Sciath - guardians and protectors of Old Ireland. Should anyone try to disrupt the old ways, these kids would lead the fight to defend it.
Each child discovers their element at age fifteen - but one is banished for bearing the dreaded Shadow magic. Another kid is trained in her place. Years later, the shadow child sells out her former clansmen to the king. He orders his army to destroy the pagan settlement so as not to encounter any opposition in his efforts to take the island country.
On the day of the purge, four of the Sciath are killed. One of the remaining guardians escapes to perform a ritual to allow their immortal souls to transmigrate. When the time is right and they're needed, they'll reappear in new human bodies.
After the attack, the surviving Sciath realize the descendants of those who survived don't have a safe place to go. More than once, an outbreak of magic turned into a debacle that lead to large losses of life. So they create a school on an isolated island and expand it when the government officially abandons Inishark. At this school, kids with the ability to manipulate elemental magic learn to manage and control it alongside a normal curriculum.
Fast forward to today. The four Sciath have been reborn and gathered at the school. None of them know it yet, but they will have to learn to harness their magic to defend themselves against the return of the darkness that wiped out many of their ancestors centuries earlier.
Setting:
Set mainly on a group of isolated and sparsely populated islands off the coast of counties Galway and Mayo in Ireland. Other events may happen on the mainland and possibly the UK or Europe.
Main Protagonists:
(players can play various storylines for the following characters, all reincarnated Sciath)Willow Beckett:
Age 15 from Walthamstow, London, England. In her life before SSGT, she was a teen with an eye for art and a talent for growing a garden. While she's a good artist, she doesn't see her work as special enough to warrant an invitation to the school. She has the ability to manipulate plants and plant-based magic. Introverted but friendly, book smart, not especially physically adept, a little clumsy.Merielle Barrouse:
Age 15 from Toulouse, France. Her invitation to the school stems from her strengths in competitive swimming and water sports. She has the ability to control water-based magic. A bit snobbish at first, very outgoing, a bit rash and impulsive, but loyal once you gain her trust.Fujin Sato:
Age 16 from Shizuoka, Japan. He specializes in music and is a talented violinist; is in his second school year. In a wheel chair, has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (original Sciath was lame in the legs at the time of his death). He has the ability to manipulate air-based magic. Quiet, observant, assertive, take-charge type personality.Ever Dawson:
Age 17 from Dublin, Ireland. He has the best grip of his abilities at the start of the story (psionic); is in his third school year. Excels academically and has a pet cat that is never very far away from him. Wears glasses and has poor eyesight (original Sciath was blind and he eventually ends up blind, too). Takes it upon himself to be a mentor and older brother of sorts to the other three.Other Characters:
Ethne (ETH-nee):
One of the two surviving original Sciath. Main magic instructor and co-founder of the school. She's the one who performed the ritual to reincarnate her fallen friends and is several hundred years old thanks to an "immortality" spell. Wields fire magic and has the personality to match. She has an antagonistic way of dealing with things and pushing people to work past their comfort zones, and sometimes it backfires. Her most notable feature is her way of speaking - a mix of old Irish and new English, with Gaelic phrases and words slipping through here and there.Sullivan Delaney:
One of the two surviving Sciath. He's the one who stepped in after the original shadow child was banished. Ethne calls him "Sully" to irritate him (only uses his full name when things get serious). Headmaster and co-founder of the school, he controls electricity-based magic (though he prefers not to use it because it can be so taxing). Patient, overprotective, voice of reason. Father-like figure to many of his students.Kali Griffin:
Age 32 from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Main antagonist. She's the reincarnation of the banished shadow child. Grew up average in every way but has always had a bit of a temper. One day while messing with tarot cards, she and some friends did a reading for a past life, and that triggered the memories from her transmigrated soul. The desire to get even with the Sciath who wronged her is not truly her own - more like a muscle memory that she doesn't have full control over. Shadow magic takes much longer to learn, and she had to do it on her own, so she's older than her teenage counterparts.
Magic System:
Mostly orderly, but there are some hints of chaotic elements in there. For example, shadow magic is rare and no one knows why any specific person may get it. Some elements have a bit of overlap (plants and earth, water and ice, etc) once the practitioner has some years of experience under their belt and actively choose to train with the other element. The main element is always the strongest of the two, and the second doesn't come naturally and requires strict discipline.
Elements known to exist:
- Air
- Fire
- Earth
- Water
- Psionic
- Shadow
- Plant
- Ice
- Light
- Electricity
- Metal
The school has also taken in and trained teens with less common abilities that aren't elemental in the traditional sense, including:
- Zoolingualism
- Sound
- Illusion
- Astral projection
- Magnetism
- Healing
- Poison
- Transmutation
- Time
- Gravity
- Solar
- Lunar
Using elemental magic has a price. More intense manipulation requires more energy, and taking it too far can cause the user to black out mid-spell or even die. Certain elements negate each other based on the physics of the natural world (fire melts ice, water extinguishes fire, etc), and likewise, users may have some resistance against elemental magic that is weak against theirs.
The element must be physically present to be used; it cannot be conjured from nothing. The distance required depends on the person. The stronger and more practiced the student, the farther away the element can be. New practitioners must be in very close proximity or in direct contact with their element to manipulate it.
The main goal of the school is to teach teens to control themselves and their magic to avoid catastrophic events that result from their magic (think witch hunts and apparent "natural" disasters of the past). Impulsivity, uncontrolled emotions, and unconscious behavior can all influence elemental manipulation in negative ways.
Familiars:
Most of the elements have something physical to latch onto and manipulate. Psionic does not, and so these people require a companion to give them that last boost to control their abilities. We most commonly see cait sidhe (pronounced "CAHT-shee") filling this role. They're a type of spirit creature that takes on the form of a cat, and they provide the physical tie-down required to manipulate psionic magic. They can communicate telepathically with anyone they chose and can prove a formidable opponent in their own right.
Plot Points:
Various storylines will be playable via the four main protagonists (Willow, Merielle, Fujin, and Ever) depending on the specific event playing out.
- Each learns to navigate through controlling their elements and becoming a reluctant group of allies, later become friends.
- Each learns on their own time of their transmigrated Sciath soul and their memories return.
- Various attacks and manipulation attempts from the shadow child (Kali) create conflict and distrust among the group.
- With Ethne and Sullivan's guidance, they learn to work together to keep the shadow threat at bay until they're strong enough to overpower it.
