A E T E R N A M
-
The Gift is a title given to the mark that keeps Nikodemus immortal. It's bestowed by him onto chosen bearers and is considered (wrongfully) a gift of magic. It has a simple oval shape and is fully black - bearers appear to have been burnt.
BESTOWAL The only thing required for Nikodemus to give the Gift is direct physical contact - his hands have to be on the receiving person (fingers exude magic the best as energy is gathered at their tips). He burns the mark into their skin - his magic enters their bodies and the point of contact is frayed. He usually leaves behind an imprint of one of his fingers, sometimes his entire hand.
FUNCTIONALITY It is a mark that binds the bearer's spiritual energy (their soul) to Nikodemus' with the Giver being appointed 'master' of the bond. Nikodemus is fed energy and power through this bond; the more bonds he creates, the stronger he gets. When, in any situation, he dies or is killed, he absorbs the power of one of his gifted through the bond and ressurects in his prime, while the Gifted dies an unexplainable death (usually on the spot). The power of the bond keeps him from aging as well. When he dies, the most recently gifted being's energy is absorbed into him, as the bond between them is the strongest and most powerful. After a few dozen years, a bond between him and a gifted may thin out to the point of being able to be broken. A hundred years renders the bond non-existent, but there are very few cases of this, mostly with long-living gifted like werewolves with longevity and other witches.
EFFECTS The creation of the bond requires great dark magic to be sealed inside the Gifted, some of which the receiver is capable of using. The power they have access to is measly, but to a simple human it can seem like a blessing. Many humans, unknowing to the true function of the gift, seek the witch out and request the gift; they desire magic and power, but soon realize what they've signed up for. The Gifted age quicker than the average human. Their bodies contain dark magic, which interferes with regular bodily functions - they're prone to organ failures and illnesses early on. They also suffer from progressive loss of their moralities. A Gifted is very easily corruptible.
RESTRICTIONS Nikodemus cannot gift immortal creatures - vampires, ghosts, ghouls, zombies, demigods and the like - as they are creatures either of death (and thus cannot be harmed by dark magic because they were created with such) or of eternal life. Creatures that have longer life spans than the average human can be gifted, however.
-
HEALING Not on himself. Of course it's not pro-bono. He spilt blood that wasn't his own to perfect the practice, after all, and even then he finds himself lacking. Magic isn't going to reward him for a sacrifice with a miracle touch. Like all things him, his 'stitchwork' is eerie. His fingers have learned to cauterize more than heal, speed up coagulation and plug wounds with dead cells that make for awful scars and even more awful infections. His right hand is his own work of art. Yikes.
NECROMANCY/REANIMATION Raising the dead in the days of old was something of a drama. There had to be both a lamb for slaughter and a shepherd to guide the risen sheep (usually both one and the same) and these days with his 'predicament', it's him. He uses fresh blood to entice the dead to wake - theirs is old, he has to lend them some to coax bodies out of rigor mortis. And as long as the 'donor' walks, they do, too. A mindless horde following a dying man's whims. Whatever did you expect? It's reanimation, not bringing someone back to life.. I'll mention that one later.
RESSURECTION Ahh, here we are. Now this is the doozy. You remember that whole soul-absorption business with the Gift. I hope you did, it's rather important. See, the souls don't disappear when he takes them onto himself to use for some extra added years. Not to say they live within him forever, he can wring anything dry if you let him so a fair share have wasted away to nothing in his hands. But most, most still inhabit him. And can be... borrowed. Our mage has discovered that pairing that nifty little detail with necromancy might just end with a whole person, back from the dead. Not just body. Not just soul. But two mismatched pieces coming together. Rumour has it he's let a few of his Gifted come back from their mistakes.
CHARMS He remembers when magic used to be more wild and unbound. When it used to take a few good men down before someone could pull its reigns in. He misses it.
wipMagic detection
User can sense the presence of magic/magical energies and possibly gain detailed understanding about the magic/magical energies they are sensing, including the amount/size of matter/energy they are sensing and whether it is hidden.
Potion creation
User can create potions: substances with magical properties such as enhancing physical and mental abilities, healing, granting powers, chancing shape, or bewitching someone depending on the kind of potion that is made.
Summoning
The user can transport person, creature, or object of choice by means of Teleportation, Dimensional Travel, Portal Creation or some other way. This may also result from a previous summoning contract, which creates a connection between the summon and summoner.
Telekinesis
User can influence/manipulate/move objects/matter with their mind. Telekinesis is one of the basis of many superpowers that are based on "controlling/manipulating", and may evolve to the point that a Telekinetic can control anything at a subatomic level. -
✚
He named himself Nik Johannson to pass the bar of social conformity and slithered soundlessly into the modern day life of the simple human with a serpentine smile and fingers pulsing with dark magic.
✚
