D&D General Looking for fluff replacement for the Sorcerer class

[Laurefindel]

I have a homebrew setting where all spellcasting classes have been refluffed, keeping abilities intact. Most aren’t that far from their original version but it’s fine; it still gives a different flavour to the setting. I am unsatisfied with the Harbinger (refluffed Sorcerer) however, and seek suggestions and ideas.

The setting borrows a bit from Ghibli Studios and similar anime, and their depiction of early modern Europe with emphasis on nations with Celtic-like, Nordic-like, and Slavic-like ancestries. The world is inhabited by humans (it's a human-only world) and many spirits taking various shapes. Mainly, there are nature spirits (forest spirits, rain spirits, river spirits, wind spirits, fey spirits, fire spirits, and guardian spirits) tending to the health of the world, and regal noble spirits that rule them on the mortals' worlds like in the shadowlands. In this setting, the world is emerging out of the low middle age and into pre-industrial modernity.

• Witches (clerics) tend to the nature spirits and ensure the health of the land, acting as mediums between the mortals' world and the shadowlands. Modern witches have cozy town boutiques selling remedies and spellcasting services. Witch subclasses are types of nature spirits they serve.
• Enchanters (bards) are the descendants of early humans caught in the fey-spirit wars as champions and pawns. They travel the world in search of lost glamours; their magic. Enchanted subclasses are different roads trodden, both literally and figuratively.
• Changelings (warlocks) are spirits reborn as mortals in payment for the soul of a newborn taken to the shadowlands. As they grow, they rediscover some of their lost powers but must ultimately choose between dying like a mortal or be banished from the shadowlands as a monster of legends. Changeling subclasses are the different monsters they are doomed to become should they refuse mortality.
• Mages (druids) make a pact with noble spirits, supporting and empowering them with their own life-essence. In return, the noble spirits repay them with magical powers. For the most parts of the setting's medieval period, mages ruled supreme as magical kings and queens, sometimes wisely but often as tyrants. Their power is now broken in this new era of the world. Mage subclasses are different courts of noble spirits.
• Marauders (rangers) were an order of knights serving the powerful mages. Now that their order is broken, they live on the fringe of society, forgotten by all, keeping an eye on the mage lineages and performing their sacred duties in secret. Marauder subclasses are different chapters of the order.
• Runecasters (paladins) are practitioners of the ancient (and dying) tradition of rune casting, a knowledge allegedly given to humans by the Olden Gods of pagan faiths who themselves received it from the dwarves when the gods sided with them against the mythological giants. Runecaster subclasses are individual olden gods, with their own ethos and codes of conduct.
• Hedge-Magicians (artificers) are practitioners of an old magical tradition, independent from the granted powers of spirits. Their magic is highly dependant on material components, talismans, ritualistic tools and dolls. There are very few Hedge magicians left in the setting, and their subclasses are geographically based.
• Academicians (wizards) are scholars studying magic as a science, mixing esoteric priciples with mathematics and geometry. This is the most recent magical tradition born out of the application of the scientific method to hedge-magic. The mages' order was trown down by a series of revolutions made possible by the Academicians' magic. Their subclasses are scolarly subjects of magic. This class differs the least form its original.

- And finally, Harbingers (sorcerers) are people invested by an otherworldly force. The gods and goddesses of this setting do not interfere in the affairs of mortal and don't grant spells, but some celestials, demons, fey lords, and otherworldly beings have less scruples and empower mortals for reasons incomprhensible. Basically, its almost the same as the regular D&D warlock and slightly beside the theme, so i'm looking to change it. Any idea how the sorcerer could adopt a slightly different identity that would fit with the vibe of the setting and the abilities that sorcerers grant?

thanks in advance

 

[aco175]

Perhaps a mix of science and heresy. Most may have started out with the expectation that science explains things only to run into walls and tests that barred exploration. When they mixed the science with the old tests they found that inner power that they lusted for.