Widdershins' School of Magic (2021)

[PookaWitch]

Welcome to Widdershins' School of Magic. If you are here that means you have been sent an acceptance letter and are either a wielder of magic, or a sphinx with a strong potential for the magical arts.

Beginning this year we are proud to finally open our doors to students from outside of Albion.


Founding

Widdershins was founded over a century ago by sphinxes who came into this world from another plane. All of them had attended a school of magic and wished to bring it's teachings and skills to Albion. Discovering a set of standing stones of great power they built the schools around this source to better harness the magic.

The schools are located in the country of Albion in a secluded section of a mountain top heavily warded against intruders.




We have two campuses, one for those attending the younger prep school that starts at age 11 and a University campus for more advanced classes.


The Prep School

The Preparation School has 7 years of learning and is only able to be entered by those of age 11.



The University

For those the age of 18 or older who have at least passed their 3rd year O.W.L. exams (Ordinary Wizarding Level) but have not yet met the requirements for the N.E.W.T. (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test) have the option to take the 5th to 7th year as classes at the University.

For those who already have magical skill and believe that they could attend university level but need preparation for their exams there are a series of core classes up to 3rd year after regular hours for adults. These are for those who wish to study for their O.W.L. so they may attend the University classes.

[PookaWitch]

The Four Houses


There are four Houses at the school for students to be sorted into; Silverarm, Whisperglyph, Verden and Catpaw. There are separate dormitory and common rooms at each campus (one set in the prep school and one set in the University). We do our best to sort students into the houses that will best suit them and ask that while attending the school you view your fellow house members as comrades and family.

There is friendly competition between the houses to bring forth more comradery and for students to strive to excel. Points are awarded for excellent work and going above and beyound expectations. Points are removed for those who perform poorly or break the rules.

We have a method of using the True Reflection Mirror so the student can see their true selves (or potential for their true selves) which we use to decide on which house they shall be sorted into.

Silverarm Honor, bravery and defense is the hallmark of those in house Silverarm. They are known for being fearless with an intolerance towards evil and dark arts. Martial training is secondary to magic with this house with many a member being proficient in both wand and weapon. A Silverarm member tends to make good and trusted friends, but rarely associate with those who would smear their reputations in the first place.  The members of this house tend to have a flair for spells of protection and defense and has also produced many a fine magical smith. Founded by Sutcliff Silverarm the house's colours are silver and white and it's animal is the falcon

Whisperglyph Artists and Scholars make up the bulk of house Whisperglyph. The house members tend to include everything from the creative writer, the eccentric artist, the imaginative game player and the romantic poet to the focused scholars and students. Whether on the intellectual or creative side (or both) the main quality that house Whisperglyph members have in common is the desire for improvement in their skills. Whether outgoing or introverted Whisperglyph tend to make good friends. Their top classes are transfigurations and charms, especially those that shape and create a work of art. Founded by Wynonna Whisperglyph the house's colours are true blue and charcoal black and it's animal is the owl.

Verden The members of house Verden tend to be 'one with nature'. Whether tending the greenhouses or caring for magical beasts they seem to be in their element. Most house Verden members take up the option to have a familiar to enjoy the company of an animal. They are known for being wise and sometimes reclusive preferring the company of animals and plants. With their 'green thumbs' they are naturals in herbology, potions and the care of magical creatures. A large percentage of rare animal shapeshifting wizards came from house Verden. Founded by Vernon Verden the house's colours are forest green and pea green and it's animal is the stag.

Catpaw Rapscallions and rogues this house has a reputation for producing some of the schools more 'troublesome' students. who seem to have a flair for cunning, skill and chicanery. If there is a student breaking curfew, finding old hidden passageways or causing mischief it's a good bet that they'll be a Catpaw. This is not to say that they are nessicarily 'bad kids' but more of a curious rascal. They excel at illusionary and trickery spells. Founded by Carilyn Catpaw the house's colours are crimson red and charcoal black and it's animal is the cat.

The Fifth House
There is a rumour that in the early days of Widdershins' founding there used to be a fifth house. It's not truly known exactly what horrendous crimes their founder (and possibly members) committed in the far past to not only be banished from the school but to have all trace of them wiped from the records and obliviated from many minds. Whatever it was there doesn't seem to be any hint of information about this disgraced house beyond whispers and conspiracy theories.







The House Sorting Quiz!!

[PookaWitch]

The Classes

Core Classes
Astronomy
Charms
Defense Against the Dark Arts
Herbology
History of Magic
Potions
Transfiguration
World Magic


Electives
(Third years and up)
Atlantean Crystal Magic (new)
Care of Magical Creatures
Divination
Khemetic Hekau (new)
Study of Nordic Runes


(O.W.L certificate)
Advanced Khemetic Hekau (new)
Alchemy
Chronology (new)
Grecian Rites (new)


Extra-curricular subjects
Apparition
Art
Flying
Magical Theory
Music

[PookaWitch]

Faculty of Note at Widdershins


Odhran Realy - Headmaster

Livilda Lace - Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor
Sabina Slora - Divination Professor
Caolán Flynn - Herbology Professor
Huntly Hazel - History Professor
Noora Nylund - Runology Professor
Magdalyn Shadowstone - Transfiguration Professor (and Wandmaker)

[PookaWitch]

Supplies

For those who arrive on time before the term begins we supply them with the uniform and tools nessicary for the school.
Those who arrive late will need to purchase their supplies at the school shop.
If the student damages or misplaces their required items through the year they shall be required to purchase a replacement from their own funds.

((OOC: Everybody may have one sphinx gain a set of robes and a wand. The rest of the items are either for RP purposes, or to be won/gifted throughout the event.))


A Set of Plain work robes (Black).

One Pair of Protective Gloves (dragon hide or similar).
One Winter Cloak (Black, silver fastenings).

1 Wand  (Wand Information)
1 Cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set of glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set of brass scales

All course books shall be provided by the professors in their classes.


The students are permitted, if they so desire, to have a small pet. Owls, cats, rats and toads are the preferred but others may be permitted if they are relatively harmless. These are not supplied by the school.

[PookaWitch]

School Rules


~ Traditional robes must be worn.
~ Students shall maintain decorum and good behaviour at all times.
~ Swearing, shouting in the halls, vandalism and fighting are strictly forbidden.

~ Tardiness is not tolerated.
~ Students must attend all classes, meals, and assemblies that they are scheduled for.
~ No cheating by any means (including magical) during exams.

~ Magic should only be used by students in relation to school work, or approved extracurricular activities.
~ Students may cast spells appropriate to their studies in classrooms and other study areas. Study areas include common rooms.
~ Magic that is not related to studies may only be cast with the permission and supervision of a faculty member, Prefect, or Head Boy/Girl.
~ No love potions.
~ Dueling may only be performed under the direct supervision of a faculty member or Prefect.
~ Students always have the right to use magic to defend themselves, or to respond to an emergency.

~ Visitors to Widdershins must obtain permission from the Headmaster.
~ The Restricted Sections are restricted.
~ The Sacred Standing Stones are restricted.
~ The restricted section of the library is forbidden to students, unless they present a signed note from a professor.
~ Students are forbidden from faculty areas. This includes the kitchen, faculty lounge, and offices, unless with the escort or written permission of a faculty member. This also includes classrooms when a class is not in session.
~ Students are prohibited from entering any other House's common room.
~ The Wand Wood is expressly forbidden to students without a faculty escort.




(For the Prep School)
~ Students may not leave the grounds.
~ On the first and third weekends of each month, Third through Seventh Years may visit Lander (the capital of Albion) with a permission slip from the student's
parent or guardian.
~ Boys may not enter the girls' dormitories.
~ Students must be in their dormitories and in bed by a 10:00 p.m. curfew.
~ Students may not leave their house common rooms until 6:00 a.m.




Possible Punishments

~ Loss of House Points.
~ Detention.
~ Removal of privileges.
~ Suspension.
~ Expulsion.




(OOC: Many of these rules were taken from the 'Witchcraft and Wizardry' site since I couldn't find a full list.)

[PookaWitch]

((OOC))

Interesting Features of Widdershins (more may be added)

~ The center courtyard of the school stands a henge of stones. These have strange, undecipherable markings upon them and those who are sensitive to magic can feel a power saturated in them.
~ The pictures move, some talk.
~ When looking in reflective surfaces (mirrors, ext.) sometimes you may see faerie creatures in the background. They never truly interact with the viewer but are only seen in the mirrors.
~ The Wand Wood is a woodlands nearby that has been magically altered to sustain trees of varying types, including those that typically wouldn't grow in that environment. Nearly all of the trees are one type or another or wood used for crafting wands.
~ The Wand Wood is filled with magical and dangerous creatures including centaurs, satyrs, dryads, faeries, owlbears, griffons, etc.
~ In the Verden dorms the wood is alive and grows. It's frequent punishment for house students to prune/trim the furniture.
~ There is a magical doorway that leads to Lander (the capital of Albion) that the staff has access to and with permission students may use it. It leads to a magic shop in the city. (No muggles in this world! I mean, every sphinx already knows that there's magic.)




Rumors and Gossip (Things heard in passing, not knowledge brought forth by the faculty.)
(These may or may not be true.)

~ years ago a Catpaw student created a magical page that has the answers to any test. They hid it somewhere under a flagstone in the school and nobody knows where. (some students have pulled up stones looking for it, especially in Catpaw rooms.)
~ There is a haunted room with terrible ghosts that scare away students and are said to drain the life from you.
~ A part of the school only opens when there is no moon in the sky to a special library.
~ Around Halloween pumpkins and decor are taken seriously since it wards away actual evil creatures.
~ There was a 5th house founder and a former school house that was expelled from Widdershins with memories of the house obliviated from minds, save for the Headmaster.
~ The 5th house had a dorm that was destroyed and is rumoured to still exist. Possibly through space folding in another dimension.
~ the Silverarm house has a horseshoe that's supposed to have belonged to Merlin's horse. It's considered to be a good luck charm and defends against many sorts of dark magic. At times Catpaw students have tried to steal it.
~ There is a treasure trove of confiscated or school forbidden magic items hidden in the Catspaw dorms which they have pilfered or snuck into school over the years.
~ There is a secret Catpaw class taught after hours to potential great thieves. It's said to be an obstacle course that nobody has ever completely finished. It's rumoured that if you get to the end you find an item of incredible power.
~ There is some sort of dungeon beneath the sports field, possibly even the remnants of the missing 5th house!
~~ The unicorn tree. A large, white tree of unknown type which is said to have a spiraling trunk. It heals those who touch it of any ailment, even magical, including mind control. It's located deep in the wand wood and guarded by fey creatures. Only the good hearted may pass.

[PookaWitch]

Wands

Professor Magdalyn Shadowstone: "It's said that you don't choose your wand, your wand chooses you. This is due to certain qualities of wands, such as wood type, core, length and pliability mixing to give the wand a quasi-intelligence with a personality. It's best to pair a specific wand with someone whose nature matches. Take mine for example...' she draws forth her wand and lifts it so those can better see 'it's made of maple, with a phoenix feather core, 11 and a half inches long and rather swishy. Maple wood is known for bonding with adventurous explorers, phoenix feathers are powerful and very picky of their owners (I'm fortunate that way). The length is a reflection of height or of personality and it's rather flexible showing a more adaptable nature."

Professor Shadowstone produces from her rucksack a well used notebook with many ribbon bookmarks hanging from it. She places it on the table. "There are so many types of wands it would take too long to explain them all thoroughly today. But instead I have a list here of different woods and cores and what they do."

"Now... who wants to find out which wand chooses them?"



((OOC))

Guide to Wand Woods
Guide to Wand Cores
Guide to Wands in General
If you need help choosing, here is a good Wand Ceremony Quiz.
(I believe the ceremony quiz is a replicate of the official one that was on Pottermore.)


Most of her wand cores are unicorn hair, some are dragon heartstring, and she does have a few phoenix feathers. It should be mentioned when finding your sphinx's wand that due to Magdalyn's travels in other worlds she has access to a few interesting cores such as: angel feather (great for spells of a goodly or defensive nature), dryad hair (spells of nature), valkyrie feather (brave and great with spells of combat) and couatl feather (divinations and wisdom). She most likely had more ingredients to create wands with but avoids any cores with a potential for dark magic.

She can have access to many types of wood and has created quite a varied amount of wands.

Here are the current styles of wands...




When winning a wand PM Mr. Pooka this form to have a wand choose your sphinx.


Sphinx Receiving the Wand: (ID#)
Wand Design: (from the above list)
Wand Wood:


Core, length and flexibility are all up to what you wish for RP. ^_-

(A note: typically an individual sphinx may only have one wand. A rare few may break this, such as a wandmaker.)

[PookaWitch]

GAMES

Classes were starting at Widdershins, save for one important class that was mysteriously put on hold. Potions.

When the Professors were first spied at the table during the opening banquet, the canny may have noticed that there didn't seem to be enough to teach all of the classes.

In Lander, Ahket, Phix, Lamoria, Katterheim, and even in the distant Teien owls delivered messages to alchemists, apothecaries and chemists of all sorts. The owls were not able to fly into Atlantis per-se, but did bring messages to those who had moved into Ahket. The purpose of the letters were clear, the school of Widdershins was seeking a new Potion Master (or Mistress).

Potions Teacher needed for Widdershins School of Magic in Albion.

Required Skills: Extensive knowledge of creating magical potions, elixirs, philters and concoctions of varying sorts.
Salary: Decent

The school is searching for an educator to teach potions to students of all ages from 11 years to university level.
Beyond skill in potion making the duties also include: being able to communicate well with the students, grading tests, quizzes and assignments, protecting the school and students against dark magic, fending off monster attacks, and developing educational lesson plans. The school provides all required ingredients and resources and would prefer a professor who can ward away students from acquiring such ingredients without permission.

Room and board are provided with salary decent for an educator of required skills.

If interested please send a resume by owl to Widdershins School.

((OOC))

'Applying for Potion Master'


Widdershins is missing it's Potion Master (or Mistress)! Who knows what kept them from arriving at the school this year, but this vitally important core class needs a teacher!

The winner of this contest will receive a job upgrade along with a make-over from PookaWitch or Mr. Pooka to suit their new position.

To enter...

PM Mr. Pooka with a message titled 'Applying for Potion Master' along with the picture and ID# of the sphinx who is applying (regular posed Egyptian adults only), their resume, and a photograph (with your username and date) of some sort of chemistry you have created. This could be anything you mix that has a chemical reaction. This includes such things as: baking a cake, mixing cocktail, pouring vinegar on baking soda... whatever works.

If you wish for a house cert please include it after the resume. The default will be a change to the typical shield cert background.


A winner will be chosen by a resume that interests us, and creativity with the chemical reaction.
The rest of the applications will be put into a draw for additional prizes picked from the new templates.


You have until the end of Sunday October 24th 2021 (EST) to enter. They need their professor by next week!

[PookaWitch]

2

[Mr. Pooka]

Lumos!

[PookaWitch]

Feel free to post now.

[Siopilos]

OMG. *runs around excitedly* Wow! The new owls and wands! And robes!

[NinjaWoo]

EEEEE this is soo fun! hehe man i hope to work won't get in the way XD then again what are phones for mwhahaha only im traiing a new girl tonight lords..XD

[Phoenix Stardancer]

Kando started reviewing the rules they were provided