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5e witches, your preferred implementation?
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<blockquote data-quote="RealAlHazred" data-source="post: 8553210" data-attributes="member: 25818"><p>Okay, Medieval Exemplars of the archetypes:</p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Shaman:</strong> This one is the trickiest. Shamans are usually archetypically defined as magic-workers who wield the power of ancient spirits. Medieval European writers didn't usually record those people; despite some shamanic practices (e.g. Finnic shamanism) having thousands of years of tradition behind them, I can't find a "famous" shaman as an example. However, I might use <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egill_Skallagr%C3%ADmsson" target="_blank"><em>Egill Skallagrímsson</em></a> (904-995) as an archetypical example. He was outlawed from Norway after killing the son of the King. He carved a rune onto a drinking-horn that contained mead; the mead had been poisoned so the drinking-horn shattered. He set a horse's head on a pole, and used it to curse the Kingdom of Norway. My favorite factoid about him is that, after the King of Norway captured him, he was sentenced to be killed the next morning. The following morning, his last words were a poem he composed overnight praising King Eiríkr; the poem was so good that the King decided to spare him. So, he might be a better representation of a bard.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Priest:</strong> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertus_Magnus" target="_blank"><em>St. Albertus Magnus</em></a> (1193-1280). A Doctor of the Church, he had a wizardly reputation even while he was alive, but even in stories his thaumaturgical wonders are attributed to saintliness and an understanding of God's works. There is a large body of occult works attributed to him, but even just the works that can be definitively credited to him are extraordinary. My favorite factoid about him is that, three years after he died he was exhumed, and they found the body to be whole and not corrupted by time.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Healer:</strong> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegard_of_Bingen" target="_blank"><em>St. Hildegard of Bingen</em></a> (1098-1179). A Doctor of the Church, abbess, polymath, medical writer, and mystic who received visions. She was devoted to the healing arts, which included healing by prayer. My favorite factoid about her is that she developed her own conlang, <em>Lingua Ignota</em>, and an alphabet to go along with it, <em>Litterae Ignotae</em>.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Medium:</strong> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Siena" target="_blank"><em>St. Catherine of Siena</em></a> (1347-1380). Originally, I was going to put Hildegard here as she also had visions. However, Catherine is closer to a modern definition of a medium. She was the daughter of a wool dyer, who devoted herself to chastity in God from an early age. She later had a vision where she and Christ exchanged hearts, and later she had one where she displayed the stigmata. They made her a Doctor of the Church for her work. My favorite factoid about her is that she was so dead-set against marrying the man her parents wanted her to marry that she cut off her hair and began a hunger strike. After a long period of arguments, her parents caved in and let her have her way. The writers at the time thought this was remarkable, but parents nowadays would just say, "Teenagers, what are you gonna do?"</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Witch:</strong> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_de_Rais" target="_blank"><em>Sir Gilles de Rais</em></a> (1405-1440). Knight, lord, witch, and serial killer -- if you're doing a game that reflects the medieval era, a copy of this guy <em>needs</em> to be in it! He fought alongside Joan of Arc and achieved high military honors in France, retired and blew his fortune, and then became an occultist and hosted Black Masses to try to get it back. He may have killed as many as 100 to 200 young children in his occult experiments, but it was only when he kidnapped a rival cleric that he was investigated and the whole business came out. My favorite factoid about him is that he lost his riches staging a impossible theatrical extravaganza, the <em>Mystère du Siège d'Orléans</em>, which featured 120 speaking roles in 20 different scenes, and 500 extras. “[In] order to recreate the [<em>Mystère du Siège d'Orléans</em>] in its present form, we would need ships, fortresses, tents, break-away towers, walls, a bridge with detachable parts, a river and an ocean, a means for hovering saints above the stage, cannons, and various dead bodies (one of which can lose its head at will).”</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul"><strong>Scholarly Wizard:</strong> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Scot" target="_blank"><em>Michael Scot</em></a> (1175-1232). Court astrologer to Emperor Frederick II, he was also wrote many books on divination and was considered the number one public intellectual of his day. My favorite factoid about him is when he hosted dinner parties, he would have spirits bring his friends dishes from the royal kitchens of France and Spain and other realms. He should be the patron saint of GrubHub.</li> </ul><p><strong>Note:</strong> I have put "St." in front of the names of people who were widely considered saints in the Late Middle Ages. However, Hildegard of Bingen may never have been officially canonized; "it's complicated." She's only been given something called an "equivalent canonization," which I won't pretend to understand. Which is a shame, because depictions of her are badass!</p><p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Hildegard_von_Bingen.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 364px" /></p><p></p><p>EDIT: More correctly, several of these are "Doctors of the Church," and Albertus Magnus is not officially a "Church Father." Mea culpa.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RealAlHazred, post: 8553210, member: 25818"] Okay, Medieval Exemplars of the archetypes: [LIST] [*][B]Shaman:[/B] This one is the trickiest. Shamans are usually archetypically defined as magic-workers who wield the power of ancient spirits. Medieval European writers didn't usually record those people; despite some shamanic practices (e.g. Finnic shamanism) having thousands of years of tradition behind them, I can't find a "famous" shaman as an example. However, I might use [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egill_Skallagr%C3%ADmsson'][I]Egill Skallagrímsson[/I][/URL] (904-995) as an archetypical example. He was outlawed from Norway after killing the son of the King. He carved a rune onto a drinking-horn that contained mead; the mead had been poisoned so the drinking-horn shattered. He set a horse's head on a pole, and used it to curse the Kingdom of Norway. My favorite factoid about him is that, after the King of Norway captured him, he was sentenced to be killed the next morning. The following morning, his last words were a poem he composed overnight praising King Eiríkr; the poem was so good that the King decided to spare him. So, he might be a better representation of a bard. [*][B]Priest:[/B] [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertus_Magnus'][I]St. Albertus Magnus[/I][/URL] (1193-1280). A Doctor of the Church, he had a wizardly reputation even while he was alive, but even in stories his thaumaturgical wonders are attributed to saintliness and an understanding of God's works. There is a large body of occult works attributed to him, but even just the works that can be definitively credited to him are extraordinary. My favorite factoid about him is that, three years after he died he was exhumed, and they found the body to be whole and not corrupted by time. [*][B]Healer:[/B] [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegard_of_Bingen'][I]St. Hildegard of Bingen[/I][/URL] (1098-1179). A Doctor of the Church, abbess, polymath, medical writer, and mystic who received visions. She was devoted to the healing arts, which included healing by prayer. My favorite factoid about her is that she developed her own conlang, [I]Lingua Ignota[/I], and an alphabet to go along with it, [I]Litterae Ignotae[/I]. [*][B]Medium:[/B] [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_of_Siena'][I]St. Catherine of Siena[/I][/URL] (1347-1380). Originally, I was going to put Hildegard here as she also had visions. However, Catherine is closer to a modern definition of a medium. She was the daughter of a wool dyer, who devoted herself to chastity in God from an early age. She later had a vision where she and Christ exchanged hearts, and later she had one where she displayed the stigmata. They made her a Doctor of the Church for her work. My favorite factoid about her is that she was so dead-set against marrying the man her parents wanted her to marry that she cut off her hair and began a hunger strike. After a long period of arguments, her parents caved in and let her have her way. The writers at the time thought this was remarkable, but parents nowadays would just say, "Teenagers, what are you gonna do?" [*][B]Witch:[/B] [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_de_Rais'][I]Sir Gilles de Rais[/I][/URL] (1405-1440). Knight, lord, witch, and serial killer -- if you're doing a game that reflects the medieval era, a copy of this guy [I]needs[/I] to be in it! He fought alongside Joan of Arc and achieved high military honors in France, retired and blew his fortune, and then became an occultist and hosted Black Masses to try to get it back. He may have killed as many as 100 to 200 young children in his occult experiments, but it was only when he kidnapped a rival cleric that he was investigated and the whole business came out. My favorite factoid about him is that he lost his riches staging a impossible theatrical extravaganza, the [I]Mystère du Siège d'Orléans[/I], which featured 120 speaking roles in 20 different scenes, and 500 extras. “[In] order to recreate the [[I]Mystère du Siège d'Orléans[/I]] in its present form, we would need ships, fortresses, tents, break-away towers, walls, a bridge with detachable parts, a river and an ocean, a means for hovering saints above the stage, cannons, and various dead bodies (one of which can lose its head at will).” [*][B]Scholarly Wizard:[/B] [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Scot'][I]Michael Scot[/I][/URL] (1175-1232). Court astrologer to Emperor Frederick II, he was also wrote many books on divination and was considered the number one public intellectual of his day. My favorite factoid about him is when he hosted dinner parties, he would have spirits bring his friends dishes from the royal kitchens of France and Spain and other realms. He should be the patron saint of GrubHub. [/LIST] [B]Note:[/B] I have put "St." in front of the names of people who were widely considered saints in the Late Middle Ages. However, Hildegard of Bingen may never have been officially canonized; "it's complicated." She's only been given something called an "equivalent canonization," which I won't pretend to understand. Which is a shame, because depictions of her are badass! [IMG width="364px"]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Hildegard_von_Bingen.jpg[/IMG] EDIT: More correctly, several of these are "Doctors of the Church," and Albertus Magnus is not officially a "Church Father." Mea culpa. [/QUOTE]
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