Motto	“Shine Bright Until the Last Star's Light”
Home System	System Mabino
Capital	The Wyrdwood Moon
Official Language	Wyr
Species	Wyr
Government	Tribalism, led by the Wyr Ring
Strengths	Individuals possess powerful weaponry, resilience, and maneuverability
Weaknesses	No fleet, dwindling population

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“We enter the circle to push back the dark and are consumed by fire.”

Practitioners of the Wyrd¹⁾, the Wyrwycky²⁾ are the remnants of an advanced technological empire that once spanned multiple star systems.

Now solely focused on defending their last bastion against the alien monsters called the Droma, their front lines are comprised of female warriors known as war witches. They wield the Wyrd through arcane-fueled devices, known as Cauldrons, that give individual witches impressive firepower and utility. A Cauldron might take the shape of a broom, a wand, or other implement that best suits the Cauldron's wielder.

Wyrwycky plays on the theme of “Science Fantasy”, where technology is so advanced that it's synonymous with magic. Witches, magical girls, sorcerers, and so on all draw their power from technology, but do so with whimsy and charm. War Witch combat draws upon Touhou, Madoka, and other bombastic magic battlers.

• Wyrwycky Mood Board
• Wyrwycky Places Moodboard

Many ages past, there was a Wyr exile who wore a large hat to hide her face. To the Wyrwood she came, seeking the secret of longevity, so that she might gain favor with her peoples once more. Her elders told her only that she was not to partake of the fruits, berries, or flesh found within the Wyrwood, lest she be cursed for desecrating their holy land.

After years of searching, she sat beneath a great tree and watched the small creatures consume the tree's fallen fruit. One such creature approached her, fruit in hand, and deposited its prize upon her lap. She took the fruit, turning it this way and that and feeling the hunger in her belly. She remembered the words of her elders, however, and politely set the fruit down.

“I cannae eat the fruits, berries, or flesh of the wood,” she told the creature. “Thank ye for your kindness.”

In response, the creature bit her on her thumb. She yelped and brought it to her mouth as the creature scampered away. She tasted blood - and the sweet juice of the fruit.

Cursed, she was, and searing pain beset her. Her vision swam and faded.

When she next opened her eyes, the creature stood before her, bathed in blue and green light.

“For years, you respected our rules and showed us kindness,” it said. “And for that we reward you with the gift of the Wyrwood, the Wyrd, the power of the unseen. But you did partake of the fruit, and so too must be cursed. For all that you gain from the Wyrd, you will pay with the days of your life.”

The creature scampered away.

The woman found that she could perform great magicks with nary a thought. So became the First Witch, also known as the Morrigan, and all those of her blood carry her gift - and her curse.

Where other empires wielded massive fleets with devastating weaponry, the Wyr relied on war witches, women who could wield the Wyrd through arcane-powered implements called Cauldrons. Despite their lack of massive vessels of war, the Wyr nonetheless held their own.

Their future seemed bright as witches continued to return victorious from battle after battle. Legends were born and their territories expanded to claim nearby stars as their own.

All of this changed when the Wyr stumbled upon the Droma. Their victories soon turned to defeats as the alien creatures pursued them across the stars. Ultimately, even their homeworld was taken by the alien menace.

Only the Wyrdwood Moon, orbiting their lost homeworld and final bastion of the Wyr, has remained in their possession. Keeping their new home costs them dozens of lives each month, lives that are difficult to replace, but the Wyr's indomitable spirit will keep them fighting until the last witch falls.

The Wyr are a dwindling race, with numbers in the mid-high thousands. Whatever divisions they once had have been erased in the face of the Droma, a threat that will eventually extinguish their race and culture altogether.

Nearly all women of age become War Witches. All do so with the knowledge that the decision will lead to their deaths; they know that not fighting only guarantees that they will all die that much sooner.

While the Wyr's government and fighting force are composed of female war witches, males - commonly called Warders - also exist. Where female Wyr tend to be of short stature and thin proportions, male Wyr are towering and muscular. Males lack access to the Wyrd, the arcane force that powers Wyr technology and the Cauldron weapons that defend their home, and so instead they focus on construction, crafting, or ground-based defense.

All Wyr speak Wyr after an effort was made to standardize their species' language nearly a thousand years ago. It is a pleasant, sometimes musical, language.

Feel free to use Gaelic influences/accents when writing with them, but don't feel compelled to go overboard. Some Wyr have thicker accents than others, but keep it readable!

Wyr are not religious, though they revere the Wyrd. An ephemeral power that only female members of their species can access, the Wyrd, and the devices that use it, have been the only thing preventing the outright annihilation of their species for hundreds of years.

Education within the Wyr is mostly family based until their youths reach a certain age. At that point, they apprentice until adulthood. Securing a powerful or storied Master is a major goal for young Wyr, who do what they can to prove themselves.

The much-diminished Wyr are led by a council known as the Wyr Ring. It is comprised of Wyr War Witches who have survived long enough to become veterans of their long war. These rulers have immense power in their dwindling years, but usually have missing limbs, lasting injuries, or the sort of melancholy that comes with the approach of death. They are no less capable or dedicated to their task for their wounds.

While the Ring spends some time on the operation of Wyr society, it is primarily a war council entrusted with the future of all Wyr.

Wyr operate within a heavily socialized capitalism. Their society reached a post-scarcity state over a thousand years ago, but reduced access to resources because of lost territories has put a strain on how freely they can provide for their citizens.

No Wyr goes without, but all Wyr are expected to show restraint in their needs. This has further pushed their artisans to focus on quality over quantity. A War Witch may only possess a few outfits, but all of them are expertly-crafted and well cared for.

Food and shelter are provided for anyone who needs it. Wyr have discretionary income from their work that may choose as they please - some spend it on leisure, others on improved accommodations. With the ever-present war, all seek out joy in the fashions that suit them best.

Wyr culture draws much from the fantasy and magical girl genres, with an emphasis on a normal (but magically-influenced) day-to-day life, with harsh, life-threatening battles lurking just beneath the surface.

The Wyrdwood Moon, their primary home, is covered in a moon-spanning forest full of massive trees, interspersed with lakes and mountains. Wyr live in harmony with nature, building their homes and cities around and on the trees of the moon. They have most of our modern comforts and many that we don't. Their homes are made of wood and exposed wood is common for their furniture and decorations.

In contrast, the technology in their homes are similar to what would be found in our modern day- flat screen TVs, smart phones, and so on. This is another nod to the inspiration genres for the Wyrwycky, with an aim to let players RP a modern day slice-of-life that blends into fighting giant monsters in/from space.

Witches travel using brooms, just like witches in popular media, though they are clearly creations of technology. Only Warders, male Wyr, do not travel by broom, instead relying on hovering platforms that fill a role similar to cars and trucks.

Wyr War Witches draw forth the power of the Wyrd through implements known as Cauldrons. A Cauldron can come in any number of forms, but all of them are designed to shape the Wyrd in potent ways. War Witches do not cast spells in a traditional sense, but their Cauldrons are keyed to respond to a selection of incantations in a pre-designed way.

Owing to their out-of-character influences, these incantations tend to be things like “Burst!” or “Hyper Beam Cannon!”. Once called upon, the Wyrd responds to the will of the one wielding it - a trained witch knows how to focus on a target while incanting, or subconsciously guide the Wyrd that moves their broom while they fly.

Wyrd Wielding consumes a portion of the Witch's life force with each use. This life force can be replenished through rest, though all witches have noticeably shorter life spans than those who do not call upon the Wyrd. More powerful incantations require more life force. Lesser incantations might require so little as to not be noticed at all.

A witch who pushes herself too hard can burn out, losing access to the Wyrd, or consume their life completely. This is a common fate for witches, as many of them face impossible odds in battle.

Among the War Witches varied strengths is a pronounced improvement to their speed and strength while connected to the Wyrd. Witches can run at speeds of up to 40mph on land and leap great distances. They are able to heft massive weapons as though they weigh hardly anything at all.

Witches who focus on close combat have been known to strike military vehicles hard enough to send them flying. Similarly, they can withstand considerable physical punishment before losing consciousness or dying outright.

The manner, and degree, in which these improvements manifest varies from witch to witch. Witches who struggle with long-range attack magic tend to have increased physical enhancements. Witches who excel at long-range magic tend to be weaker physically and are more reliant upon the incantations provided by their cauldrons.

As with all Wyrd Wielding, excessive or strenuous use of these enhancements drain a witch's life force in increasing amounts.

While not touching the Wyrd, witches have normal physical capabilities.

In the dark of space, the Wyrd grows in power exponentially - but so do the threats that the Witches face.

“Come, Ciaran. Duty calls,” said the witch.

Thickly muscled and wrapped in leathers, the man nodded. “One last hurrah, eh Caoimhe?”

They stood on an asteroid, the vast bleakness of space stretching out in all directions. There was little to see near them, save stars and small rocks, but in the distance they could feel the Droma hoard approaching. They wore no spacesuits, but the Wyrd cared little for such things.

Caoimhe nodded. She knew that she was at the end of her life, even with Ciaran's life added to hers. Such was the life of a war witch, to give all in defense of their home. The last, greatest glory of their kind.

She grinned.

“Let's show those Droma bastards what we Wyr are made of!” she yelled.

Ciaran grinned back, flexing an arm and grasping his bicep in a show of bravado.

“It's showtime!” Caoimhe yelled.

Brilliant stars of energy flashed into existence around them in a technicolor array. Streams of light dashed around as the Wyrd beckoned to her call, filling her with power.

Much of the loose power flowed towards Ciaran, wrapping him in light until he was too brilliant to see. It grew and warped until it burst. Where once had stood a man now stood a hulking werelion. It slammed one fist into an open hand as it let out a defiant roar.

Caoimhe gave him a toothy grin. “That's the spirit!”

She leapt forward, feet landing atop her waiting broom. She cast one hand forward.

“Thousand Stars Barrage!”

The waiting stars around them flared like supernovae, then cast out brilliant beams of light dozens of meters wide. As each star faded, another bloomed into life, only to give that very life to the next cascade of energy. The beams raced into the distant dark, then exploded in a massive lightshow of neon bursts.

Sweat ran down Caoimhe's cheek as the last of the barrage concluded, some three minutes after it began.

The Droma were near, the horde withered but undaunted. The battle was only just beginning.

“My turn,” said Ciaran. He crouched, then burst away from the asteroid with enough force to send it screaming away from him in the opposite direction. His fist collided with the first of the alien monstrousities, the impact rippling across its massive body and exploding out the other side. He extended his claws and slashed, the force of it creating arcing shockwaves that sliced through the remnants of the Droma. He used its body to launch to the next, faster and faster, in a desperate attempt to push back the unending tide.

Caoimhe watched with pride as her familiar thinned their enemy's numbers and sowed discord in their ranks. They would die here, one way or the other, but not before stopping this incursion. Their brothers and sisters were counting on them.

While male Wyr cannot inherently access the Wyr, a Witch can form a bond with a male through a familiar pact. Some female Wyr who lack the right talents follow the same path. Regardless of gender, such a person becomes known as a Familiar. A Witch can summon their familiar to their side, so long as the familiar is not in peril, and has a general idea of where their familiar is at all times. Most importantly for the Witch, their familiar shares the life-burden of using the Wyrd; in this way, the Witch will live longer at the expense of a portion of the familiar's life.

The familiar gains the ability to become Wyrd-clad, significantly improving their physical capabilities. While not in their Wyrd-clad form, familiars gain minor animal features, typically feline, when not Wyrd-clad. Influences from black cats, their eyes in particular, are especially common.

Most males do not become familiars, as fighting is typically seen as a “woman's job” among the Wyr. Familiars are nonetheless respected for their role in defending the Wyrdwood Moon.

When a pact-holder Witch taps deeply into the Wyrd, a portion of their power bleeds across the familiar bond. The Familiar can let this energy flow into them, shaped by the pact, to make them Wyrd-clad. The Wyrd changes them drastically, forging them into creatures of powerful stature and resilience. Wyrd-clad almost always have distinct feline features, ranging from a hulking were-lion form to a massive tiger-like creature.

Wyrd-clad have physical strength and resilience akin to the Witches they are pacted to.

For reasons unknown to the Wyr, the Wyrd is significantly more powerful in the spaces between worlds. An attack incantation that might take down a tank within atmosphere grows greatly in size and strength in space, enough to take down vessels and creatures the size of fighters or frigates. A sword slice may be strong enough to rend a ship in half. The cost to a witch's life seems the same regardless of output.

The War Witches of the Wyr are comparable in power to many space-faring battleships in terms of destructive potential. They are still mortal, however, and their dwindling numbers cause them to be very cautious of where they apply their military strength.

The nature of Wyr magic is that it's heavily based on the wielder's desires or nature. For balance purposes, this can't be anything too game breaking - but it can be weird, flashy, bombastic, and more. Some cool fights from various 'magical girl' series are below. War witches are older than the genre norms to avoid problems, but this type of combat is great for inspiration!

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVi_fs2oz3E
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0XssHL6ka4
• https://streamable.com/u622v

• The Wyrd is both blessing and curse, in more ways than one. Some say that their powers draw from the same place that the Droma come from and, that by using the Wyrd, they draw the Droma in.
• On the far side of the world that the Wyrdwood Moon orbits, it looks like a second moon has been slowly crashing for decades. This is where the Droma come from, or so the stories go.
• Beneath the darkened skies of the world beneath the Wyrdwood is the ancient home of the Wyr.

• Player Whisper created this on 2022/02/02 09:04.

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