info.

[ceremonious]

rune witch. timeless. ♂ penchant for physical magic.

rune isn't always the most agreeable. sometimes, he comes off cold and merciless, especially to those who hate his own kind since witches are hunted, tagged, and cataloged by the law. he runs a tea shop with ciro, though it's actually a front to sell and offer their services to anyone who can pay. with a head for business, there's no lack of work—of which rune takes seriously. not one for much fun or downtime, he prefers old tomes to people. occasionally recognized by the charmed piercing that had once been his ID tag. cares deeply for few and is only loyal to them. distrusts authority figures and those in a position of power. rarely speaks of his family or coven, which is why he goes by an alias rather than his real name.

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BACKGROUND

They were called the Cascades – Coven of the Valleys.

It was easier, in that time, to take and then give back to the land, to bless their bounties and offer sacrifices in thanks and prayers. Their numbers were few then too, but the loyalty was bred soul-deep. They migrated between the North and South camps on the solstices, integrated technology as it came into the world until separate sites were erected for their practices (and safety). Sacred places with magic as old as the Cascades themselves—perhaps even older. Ancient and often undiscovered. 

Born under Samhain's sun, Rune's original identifier was Sol. Many uneventful years passed, an only child of both crafts: his father's practical use of spells and his mother's committed divination. At the cusp of older adolescence, his mother gave birth to a terrible truth: that this life would burn away and leave Sol lost in the breadth of the humans. Soon after, she grew gravely ill and clutched constantly at her runestones like a lifeline until the outside world – a human war between other supernaturals – scattered the covens to the four winds. His parents died in the Divide, caught amid the witches who wished to surrender peacefully and those who tried to fight for their right to live freely. At that time, the ADF (Anti-supernatural Defense Force)* was founded to appease those who wished for peace and those who sought justice. Sol escaped with some of the other children, carrying with him a single blank runestone from his mother's spread.

From that day on, he cast his birthname aside and called himself Rune. Both a reminder and a warning to never forget the treachery of man.

Rune's power grows significantly in the years he lives off the grid, memorizing and mastering what's left of his father's spells before moving on in search of more. He serves under a few older witches when their paths cross, never revealing his old coven name. However, because of the increase in anti-witch propaganda and warnings issued by the ADF, a fellow supporter charms it out of him with "stolen" spell. Rune is then sentenced to perma-tagging: a mandate set forth decades ago to anyone who bears the name Cascade (and other dangerous covens) so their movements and magic use are tracked and monitored, as well as dampened to nearly a third of their power. Rune murders several with "illegal" magic and barely flees with his own life, forever marked as a wanted criminal.

During this fiasco, he meets Ciro, another witch, who takes him in and tries to befriend him—a slow and painful process as Rune's distrust is high. Eventually, they go into business together, running a tea shop in the center of a busy city while using it as a front to work their craft for other supernaturals. Every so often, Rune must alter the charm on his tag to keep the humans from pinpointing his very location, but as they say, there is no rest for the wicked.

Notes: setting can be described as current modern earth with the existence of supernatural beings integrated throughout as a more accepted norm in certain parts of the world. Differences include smaller wars pitted against witches, vampires, lycans, and other supernaturals. The largest is known as the Divide that resulted in the separations of covens and clans, scattering numbers of supernaturals and killing just as many. *The introduction of the ADF came about shortly after, though its original manifesto is now corrupt. All ADF dress entirely in black with a white insignia on the shoulder, earning them the nickname "Marks" as it's a perfect target to aim for when trying to kill them.

PERSONALITY

Rune is a complicated person.

At first glance, he seems well put-together and confident. He has no trouble speaking his mind or even criticizing something that he doesn't agree with because there is absolutely little point in lying about it. He accepts the consequences as they come, though usually only because it's how he expects it to be. This might often be misconstrued as arrogance, but Rune is far from it. In fact, the only real egotism he has is for magic and his use of it. In general, Rune is an old soul inside a young-ish body, and it shows in his typically stern demeanor and smooth disposition when it comes to dealing with people.

On the business side of things, Rune is the rather aggressive type and doesn't like to be strung along. In much of what he does, especially when it comes to his and Ciro's "backdoor" dealings, he is adamant about adhering to the contract rather than deviating from it. This also means no extra perks or handouts unless he's compensated for it, and even then, it's difficult to convince him to go along with it. He values the honesty of the people he makes deals with – he actually values honesty more than most things, even more than integrity – and that is what he bases much of his interactions with others on. After the death of his parents and the forced admission of his coven name, Rune doesn't take kindly to people who cheat or lie to him, and better to stay on his good side rather than risk his anger since he's the cool type of angry that's much more vindictive because he doesn't let things go easily. Once he's been wronged, earning his trust back will take the effort of moving mountains. (And because of these particular trust issues, he doesn't particularly care for those in a position of power. Most of this comes from the abuse he suffered at the hands of the ADF before they tagged him and essentially cut his power into a third of what it is.)

One of the only people in his life that he tolerates happens to be Ciro. Because he saved him from the ADF and helped him to put some semblance of a life back together, there is very little that Rune wouldn't do for him. His relationship with Ciro is the only important one he's had since the death of his parents, and it's one he would die defending. Ciro's safety is also top priority regardless of what it is Ciro himself is doing, since Rune knows his personal habits of being with others outside their business, and if anything were to happen to him, there would be no hesitation on Rune's part to defend or protect Ciro. 

And though Ciro is someone Rune couldn't see himself without in his life, there will always be another priority higher on that list: his magic. He craves power for several reasons; mostly, he doesn't want to ever be powerless again to stop someone he cares about from dying or from feeling helpless when put in a position that might make him helpless. (Blame the ADF for that one.) He is always on an endless pursuit to learn as much as possible and become stronger despite his current handicap, and that lust for knowledge often overshadows everything else. He takes reckless risks when it comes to casting, but he is so overly-confident in his perfectionism of magic – almost an obsessive compulsion, really – that he never thinks that anything could go wrong when performing spells or rituals. His memory for cataloging spells is also astronomically accurate and intense, and because he is always willing to place his own safety (and sometimes that of others) aside for the sake of gaining more, his personality can come across as callous, uncaring, or even rude. Of course, he's quelled by the tag in his ear and the rules of magic itself, but the potential to become enthralled and overtaken by it is there.

In the end, Rune does try his best to get along with people. Yet, there is an underlying prejudice towards humans or those affiliated with the ADF because of his history with them that causes him to be slightly suspicious and paranoid of those who don't seek him out for official business.

ABILITIES

Rune is a witch from an old and powerful coven that's been disbanded and hunted down for that very reason. His abilities include the knowledge of rituals and spells, though his aptitude lies in casting and using physical magic – he leans towards favoring elemental magic – rather than things such as healing or divination. Because of his ID tag (the piercing in his left ear), he only has access to about a third of his own power in casting, so this limits his usage to simple spells. For anything more strenuous, he requires the help of someone else to use them as a type of magic battery. There are also the laws of magic that limit him from harming others by reflecting such repercussions back on him.

Aside from his knowledge of spells, Rune doesn't excel at much. He has poor customer service skills and can't really brew tea to save his life. Also tends to be more organized with his spellwork than anything else. His living space is chaos personified.

As a note, a witch's biology essentially makes their physical form immortal at a certain age (depending on the witch and the coven they are from), but they are not impervious to being injured or killed the same way humans are.

OTHER INFO

age: ~200 / acts like 1000+ - looks mid to late 20's
height: ~5'10
build: lean
hair: usually black / rarely glamoured
eyes: black / soft shimmer when casting
features: a single piercing in his left ear – his ID tag
attire: almost always business casual
star sign: scorpio