catlady1113Magic academy meets the end of the world.
During the Tudor period, rumors of the king's desire to overtake Ireland and eliminate paganism began to circulate. A clan of elementals, nervous for their way of life, appointed six fledgling magicians as the Sciath, the guardians and protectors of Old Ireland. Once each mage discovered their element, they began to train, but when one of the Sciath was discovered to bear the dreaded Shadow magic, she was banished and replaced. Vengeful and vindictive, the Shadow Sciath betrayed her former clansmen to the king, who mounted an attack against their settlement. In the ensuing battle, four of the Sciath were killed. While the remaining guardians were quickly overrun, one of them performed a ritual that would allow their souls to transmigrate. When the time was right and they were needed, they would reappear in new bodies, ready to fight again.
Today, the four Sciath have been reborn and reunited at the Sullivan School for Gifted Individuals, a safe haven where young magicians can learn to harness their abilities. While none of them know it yet, 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.
In The Sciath, play as Willow, Merielle, Fujin, and Ever. Master their powers, remember their pasts, and overcome the dark forces sent to tear them apart.
In The Sciath, master your favorite primary element, learn an additional element, and control unfathomable powers as they grow more intense.
Play as one of the four reincarnated Sciath, each with their own unique advantages and challenges: Willow, a shy artist and plant mage, Merielle, a competitive athlete and water witch, Fujin, a talented violinist who can manipulate air magic, and Ever, a genius with psionic powers and a beloved cat.
The physical costs of using elemental magic aren’t the only danger you face. As you strengthen your abilities, attacks from the outside—including from the dreaded Shadow Child—will threaten to tear you and your allies apart.
Receive guidance from Ethne and Sullivan, the two remaining Sciath from a time long gone, as you uncover the story of your past life.
On the isolated island of Inishark sits the Sullivan School for Gifted Individuals. Young adults who excel in various academic, artistic, and athletic activities are invited to come here to hone their talents. But they arrive unaware of their hidden abilities to manipulate elemental magic—and developing these powers is the school's secret curriculum. When an ancient enemy resurfaces to target four specific students, they'll learn far more about themselves and their past selves than they ever expected.
In the Tudor period, rumors of the king's desire to overtake Ireland began to circulate. A clan of pagan elementals, nervous for their way of life, appointed six young adults as the Sciath, the guardians and protectors of Old Ireland. Should anyone try to disrupt the old ways, these heroes would lead the fight to defend it.
Each Sciath discovered their element at around age eighteen, but one of the Sciath was banished when it was revealed that she bore the dreaded Shadow magic. After her unceremonious expulsion, another Sciath was appointed and trained in her place. He was fully aware of the story behind his predecessor’s exit from the clan, though he had his doubts about the stories told by the elders. He and the Shadow Child were close friends, and he secretly disapproved of the way she had been treated. But the elders threatened to expel him as well if he spoke out, so he kept silent.
Years later, in an act of revenge, the Shadow Child sold out her former clansmen to the king. He ordered 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 were killed in battle. One of the remaining guardians escaped to perform a ritual to allow their immortal souls to transmigrate. When the time was right and they were needed, they would reappear in new human bodies.
After the attack, the surviving Sciath realized the descendants of their surviving clansmen did not have a safe place to go. More than once, an outbreak of magic turned into a debacle that led to large losses of life. They decided to create a school on an isolated island and expanded it when the government officially abandoned Inishark. At this school, young adults with the ability to manipulate elemental magic would learn to manage and control it alongside a normal university curriculum.
Fast forward to today. The four Sciath have been reborn and gathered at the school. While none of them know it yet, they will have to learn to harness their magic to defend themselves against the return of the darkness that wiped out their ancestors centuries earlier.
The Sciath is 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 in the U.K. and Europe.
Main Characters
Players can play various storylines with the following characters, who are all reincarnated Sciath. Though the originals hailed from Ireland, the old souls transmigrated to the worthiest individuals from around the world.
Willow Beckett:
Willow is 18 and from Walthamstow, London, England. In her life before SSGI, she was a teen with an eye for art and a talent for gardening. 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 harnesses plant-based magic. She is introverted-but-friendly, book smart, not especially physically adept, and a little clumsy.
Merielle Barrouse:
Merielle is 18 and 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. While she is a bit snobbish at first and remains a bit rash and impulsive, she is a loyal and outgoing friend once you gain her trust.
Fujin Sato:
Fujin is 19 and from Shizuoka, Japan. He specializes in music and is a talented violinist. He is in his second school year at SSGI. Fujin has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, as his Sciath ancestor was paralyzed in the legs at the time of his death, and he uses a wheelchair for mobility. He has the ability to manipulate air-based magic. He is quiet and observant, but his assertive, take-charge type personality commands the respect of others.
Ever Dawson:
Ever is 20 and from Dublin, Ireland. He has the best grip on his abilities at the start of the story and is a psionic magic user; he is in his third school year at SSGI. He excels academically and has a mischievous pet black cat named Loki that is never far away from him. His poor eyesight means that he wears a thick pair of glasses; what he doesn't know is that his Sciath ancestor was blind and that he, too, will eventually lose his vision. Ever takes it upon himself to be a mentor and older brother of sorts to the other three characters. He and Willow eventually become a couple, as their original Sciath had been in the past.
Other Characters
Ethne (ETH-nee) Carrigan:
Ethne is one of the two surviving original Sciath. She is the main magic instructor and co-founder of the Sullivan School for Gifted Individuals. She is the Sciath who performed the ritual to reincarnate her fallen friends, and she is several hundred years old thanks to an "immortality" spell. Ethne wields fire magic and has the personality to match. She has an antagonistic way of dealing with things and pushes people to work past their comfort zones, which sometimes backfires on her. 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 is the Sciath who was selected after the Shadow Child was banished. Ethne calls him "Sully" to irritate him, and only uses his full name when things get serious. The headmaster and co-founder of the school, Sullivan controls electricity-based magic, but he prefers not to use it because it can be so taxing. He is patient, overprotective, and a voice of reason. He serves as a father-like figure to many of his students.
Kali Griffin:
Kali is 32 years old and from Colorado Springs, Colorado. She is the main antagonist and the reincarnation of the banished Shadow Child. While she grew up average in every way, she has always had a bit of a temper. One day while messing with tarot cards, she and some friends did a reading to uncover their past lives, which triggered the memories from her transmigrated soul. The desire to get even with the Sciath who wronged her is not truly her own, instead 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 a bit older than her younger counterparts.
The magic of The Sciath is mostly orderly, but there are some hints of chaotic elements in it. For example, shadow magic is rare, and no one knows why any specific person may acquire it. Some elements have a bit of overlap (plant and earth, water and ice, etc.), and once a practitioner has some years of experience under their belt, they may actively choose to train with the element related to their primary element. The main element is always the strongest of the two, and the second doesn't come naturally, often requiring strict discipline to learn.
Elements known to exist:
The school has also taken in and trained people with less common abilities that aren't elemental in the traditional sense, including:
Using elemental magic has a price. More intense manipulation requires more energy, and taking things 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.
An element must be physically present to be used in magic; it cannot be conjured from nothing. The distance an element can be from its practitioner depends on the person. The stronger and more practiced the student, the farther away the element can be from them. New practitioners must be in very close proximity to or in direct contact with their element to manipulate it.
The main goal of the Sullivan School for Gifted Individuals is to teach students to control themselves and their magic to avoid the catastrophic events that can result from their magic, such as witch hunts and "natural" disasters. Impulsivity, uncontrolled emotions, and unconscious behavior can all influence elemental manipulation in negative ways.
Most of the elements have something physical to latch onto and manipulate. Psionic magic, however, does not, and its users require a companion to give them a “last boost” to control their abilities. Cait sidhe (pronounced "CAHT-shee") normally fill this role. They're a type of spirit creature that takes on the form of a cat, and they provide the physical connection required to manipulate psionic magic. They can communicate telepathically with anyone they chose, and can prove a formidable opponent in their own right.
Various storylines will be playable via the four main protagonists (Willow, Merielle, Fujin, and Ever), depending on the specific event that is taking place.
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