Of Tales and Chatter

Set in New York 500 years after the City of Bones setting, of Tales and Chatter is an text-based RPG crossover of a Mortal Instruments/Marvel world alternate universe.


The Plot:

The classic battle of good versus evil. Nicholas Damianos is causing havoc in the Nephilim realm. Loki is plotting something big in the mortal world. The focus right now is in Nephilim world, and we are accepting only Nephilim characters at the moment. So for all the mundies that have no idea of the terms that might pop up here and there in the RP, here's a list.


Glossary of Terms (Source: Shadow Hunters Wiki; See previous post on sources):

RACES/SPECIES:

Angels - are spirits often depicted as winged messengers of God and guardians of His creations. In the Shadow World, angels are the beings from which Shadowhunters have come from. After a warlock summoned Angel Raziel, his blood was mixed with that of Jonathan Shadowhunter's in the Mortal Cup and given to humans to drink, who then became Nephilim.

Demons - are interdimensional beings who travel from world to world and destroy everything in their path. They return to their dimension when they die. Religiously, they are defined as hell's denizens, the servants of Satan, but for the purposes of the Clave, they are any malevolent spirit whose origin is outside of the home dimension. There are many different kinds of demons. Many demons are poisonous and the Nephilim healing rune (the iratze) is ineffective against it. Greater Demons are an extension of Demons and are far more powerful. They must be killed both in their physical and ethereal forms to be forced away from the home dimension. Sunlight and seraph blades are fatal to both Demons and Greater Demons. Greater Deamons, like all demons, never truly die. When they are killed, they are not simply sent back home, they are scattered in between worlds. It will take a long time for them to re-form and they will be weak for years to come. When demons die they tend to fold into themselves and vanish, generally with a shriek. Some Demons leave things behind when they die (ash, dust, fluid, etc.).

Downworlders - are hybrid creatures. It is the widely used term to refer to beings that are said to be part Human and part Demon, even said to be the lesser counterpart of Nephilim, who are part human and part Angel. Downworlders include the Children of the Moon (Werewolves), the Children of the Night (Vampires), the Children of Lilith (Warlocks) and the Children of Lylic (the Fair Folk, or Faeries). Also mentioned are peris, ifrits, nixies, and mermaids. Downworlders cannot be Marked, but can share Shadowhunter abilities, thanks to the Alliance Rune, created by Clary Fray, which is the only rune they can be Marked with.Every fifteen years, the Accords are signed between the Downworlders and the Clave, the Nephilim. According to the Accords, as long as the rules stated here are not broken, they can live in peace without bother and may even provide each other help when the need ever rises. Also, each of the four races has been accorded a seat on the Nephilim council as of the third installment in the Mortal Instruments series, City of Glass.

Fair Folk - also know as Lilith's Children, are Downworlders. They have angel blood mixed with demon blood which makes them extremely cunning. They reside in the Faerie Realm, within the Seelie or Unseelie court. They are ruled over by a queen. To enter the Seelie court in New York, you must go into the lake in Central Park where the moon is shining on the surface - under the water you will gain entrance into the court. The Fair Folk are also unable to lie. They might, however, tell what they believe is true, even if it is not. They may also expertly weave lies into sentences by using methods such as not telling the whole truth or letting others assume things. If you drink or eat any of their food then you cannot leave Seelie Court unless the Queen lets you leave. Faeries are, according to legend, fallen angels cast down out of heaven for their pride. Another legend says that angels and demons' offsprings are these faeries.

Forsaken - are warriors that have been transformed from mundane/humans by applying runes to them. Mundane humans can't handle them so they go insane. Forsaken warriors can come in different forms. Forsaken warriors cannot be returned to humans and have no knowledge of their previous existence. Valentine Morgenstern used Forsaken warriors as an army.

Humans - Regular humans, also called "mundanes" or "mundies," are ignorant to the Nephilim/Demon world. The Shadowhunters/Nephilim are humans, with the blood of Angel Raziel in their blood, that give them their powers. Humans can be turned into Vampires or Werewolves through being bitten, and infected with the Demon disease. Also human children can be turned into Shadowhunters with the Mortal Cup. When Nephilim, Demons or Warlocks put up Glamours, it is so that Mundanes cannot see them. The mundanes see either something they would expect, or nothing at all. Also the Shadowhunter Rune of invisibility means that mundanes cannot see them.

Iron Sisters - are the female counterparts of the Silent Brothers. Very little is known about them except that they are a communal organization that, when tested, Charlotte Branwell had them at her disposal. They are the creators and forgers of Shadowhunter weapons. They are the only ones who know how to shape adamas, the stuff steles, witchlight runestones, and what the demon towers of Alicante are made of. The Iron Sisters are a communal organization of female shadowhunters. They craft the weapons that shadowhunters use from their fortress, the Adament Citadel. During the uprising, one of the Iron Sisters, Sister Magdalena, crafted the weapons of the Circle. Then, after the Uprising failed, she fled from the Adament Citadel before her part in the Uprising could be discovered. They are said to live in almost total solitude, in the Adamant Citadel, and speak only to female Shadowhunters. The Iron Sisters all wear pale white gowns. The gowns blend in with the mist that encroaches the Adament Citadel so when they come to speak with someone, they seem to appear out of nowhere. Additionally, all Iron Sisters possess orange eyes the color of flames.

Nephilims -often referred to as Shadowhunters, are a secretive race of humans born with angelic blood. They are a demon hunting race that has survived for over one thousand years. They have fought the demons valiantly, creating their own culture and civilization. Their mandate is to protect humans. If you reverse the Mortal Cup, creating a demonic version, you can turn Shadowhunters into Dark Shadowhunters. All you need is demon blood and a demonic Mortal Cup. You then give it to a Shadowhunter to drink, and he or she becomes demonic.

Silent Brothers - are a powerful group of all male Shadowhunters. To strengthen their minds, they have taken upon themselves the most powerful of runes known to shadowhunters. However, the process mutilates their appearance. They are among the most feared and dangerous shadowhunters. They are so powerful that they even scare other shadowhunters. The Silent Brothers usually cover themselves with heavy hooded robes the colour of parchment and with an intricate runic design along the hem and sleeves in the colour of dried blood. Underneath the robe they have bald heads that are as white as eggs. They have no eyes, just indents where they had once been. Their lips are crisscrossed with a pattern of dark lines that resemble surgical stitches. Their skin is as thin as parchment paper and inked all over with runes. The Silent Brothers are Archivists. They keep the records of the Nephilim within the confines of the Silent City in which they reside. They are duty bound to assist shadowhunters in their quests to defeat the forces of demons. They are not fighters in the way that other shadowhunters are. They constantly do everything in their power to learn more. Primarily, The Silent Brothers are archivists. They keep extensive records of all shadowhunter transactions and operations. They hold the histories of the Nephilim within the confines of their Silent City. They keep the information on all recorded cases of Reparations withing their archives.Additionally, the Silent Brothers keep exhaustive records on all members of the Clave. They have knowledge of all shadowhunters. Their records even stretch so far as to knowing the shadowhunters since the beginning of the race.

Vampires - are a species of Downworlders, and are also know as the Night Children. Due to the enhanced predatorial nature of vampires, their abilites tend to be the same as humans but multiplied. Allegedly, their strengths increase and grow stronger as they grow older. They have the ability to sheath and unsheath their fangs on command (though with younger vampires this is harder to master). Vampires can also shapeshift into bats, rats and dust. The Night Children have the power to mesmerize and essentially control their prey – mundanes. Simon unwittingly uses this when he convinces his mother that he never told her he was a vampire. Notably, the vampires of the Downworld aren't vulnerable to garlic and can see themselves in the mirror. They are still, however, vulnerable to daylight and holy symbols (of whatever their religion was before Turning). They are also somewhat vulnerable to fire, as they catch it easily. Blood is the main component of a vampire's diet; all vampires need to drink some kind of blood for their survival. Whether it is the blood of humans or animals is up to the vampire. Mundane food, on the other hand, can make a vampire sick since they cannot digest it, although some have learned to eat food in some unexplained way. For a human to be turned into a vampire, one must drink Vampire blood, be bitten by other vampires, die, buried, and then be reborn and brought back from the dead, then fed blood. When a human consumes vampire blood, they become darklings. They begin fearing that they are turning into vampires themselves, mainly because this is how vampires pass their powers to others - through blood. Anxiety in the sun and when seeing vampires, even in movies, are some signs. Although the effect fade eventually, most Darklings are still drawn to the place where they received the blood, or the vampire from whom they ingested the blood. This urge also goes away when they become vampires. Then, the darkling must be bitten or drained of blood by a vampire to continue the process. Vampire saliva is said to have healing and transformative properties. Once bitten, the human may die. If the human is not completely drained to death, he will only be close to dying and will be at the verge of transformation. The process is said to be like being drugged, painless and pleasant, as if merely going to sleep. Since they have consumed vampire blood, the vampire properties have slightly been transferred to the human, they may rise again as a vampire.Once 'dead', the fledgling – not-yet or newly born vampires – human must die within 24 hours after consuming blood in any manner where the body is preserved. Upon mortal death, the undead body will awaken in a state of transition. They must then be buried and must dig themselves out of their grave and will then be 'truly born'. If no one is there to help them dig out of their grave or if they are unable to, they stay like that, trapped like rats under the earth, starving underground. But if they are not buried, they will stay in the state of transition, dead but not quite dead; never waking. Immediately, the newly born vampire is in a frenzy for blood and will kill anything or anyone close to them just to drink the blood. In order to complete the transition, within the next 24 hours, the new-born, transitioning vampire must consume an exceptional amount of blood, or else they will fade and die.

Warlocks - are immortal. They are the only Downworlders who can cast magic because they have demon blood (unlike vampires and werewolves, who are infected by a demonic disease). They are the direct offspring of Humans and Demons, and are called Lilith's Children. Many (if not all) Warlocks have unnatural body parts (called a demon's mark) such as bat wings, goat feet, lizard tails, scaled hands or cat eyes. Some also have different coloured skin, such as Catarina Loss in City of Fallen Angels. Warlocks are also unable to get pregnant, as Will tells Tessa in Clockwork Angel. It always resulted in a stillborn, as they are crossbreeds and thus, sterile, as Jace explains to Clary in City of Bones. John Thadeus Shade (and his wife Anne Evelyn), Mortmain's foster parents, were married. Apparently, meeting a married warlock couple is rare, and even rarer that they adopt a human child. The same goes for Madame Dorothea, whose Warlock mother left her in charge of the Portal at Clary's home.Ifrits are Warlocks that can't cast magic. Raphael Santiago states that drinking Warlock blood does strange things to vampires, though he doesn't elaborate on what they could be. It was a Warlock that summoned the Angel Raziel to create the first of the Nephilim.

Werewolves - also known as Lycanthropes or the Children of the Moon, are part of the Downworlder population. Like Vampires, werewolves are actually humans that have contracted a disease from Demons which therefore resulted in their transformation and enhanced abilities, in their case, the ability to transform into wolves and have their inhuman strengths and powers. Werewolves have the ability to change into wolves. New werewolves change every time there is a full moon, whereas older werewolves master it and can change whenever they want. Although they feel different during the full moon. Werewolves also have the ability to partially change into wolves, like extending their claws and making their eyes look like wolves' eyes without fully transforming. When shapeshifted, werewolves look like normal wolves. However, while in human form they look fairly normal, although they may appear a little dirty as they don't bother cleaning up much. When in wolf form, tend to look relatively alike their human forms. In human form, werewolves have enhanced speed and strength and the ability to transform into their wolf form at will. As werewolves, they follow the long held tradition of being mortal enemies of vampires. Maia explains that the demons that passed on the disease to humans that gave birth to vampires and werewolves were mortal enemies, and that prejudice was passed down to their races. Werewolves are not generally born but are usually humans bitten by another werewolf. After the first transformation, it takes a werewolf some time to be able to resist the effect of the moon in different phases. Many, like Luke Garroway, train themselves to be impervious to the moon, but even Luke is forced into wolf form during a full moon. Following old trends, these werewolves can be killed by silver, and have a natural aversion to it. Each pack is lead by a leader, and any werewolf that kills that leader gains control of the pack.



PLACES:

Alicante - also known as the City of Glass, is the home city of the Nephilim. It is in Idris and is its capital and only city. The demon towers are demon repelling towers that look as if they are made of glass. They protect the city from demons, and can only be deactivated with demon blood.

Five-Dimensional Door - also known as a Portal, is a magical portal that can teleport you to anywhere you just by thinking of it. There were only two known portals, one being at Madame Dorothea's apartment, and another at Renwick's, where Valentine Morgenstern was hiding in the first novel.

Idris - is the Shadowhunter home country located between Germany and France. Its capital is Alicante, also called the Glass City. Wardings have been put up over all its borders so that if mundanes try to cross into it, they are instantly transported from one border to the next and therefore few mundies know about it. A counterpart to mundane globes can be found in the Institute's library, which includes other lands only known to the beings of the Shadow Realms.Most Shadowhunters come from Idris, and some even grow up and are trained there. Hodge Starkweather, although banned from actually going anywhere other than the Institute during his exile as punishment, he was particularly banned from Idris, seeing it as just punishment as most Shadowhunters who grew up here long to be in their home country.

Pandemonium Club - is an all-ages club in modern New York in The Mortal Instruments. It was also a place where Downworlders and mundanes mingled. Shadowhunters also came to catch demons who sneak their way into the club. In The Infernal Devices, the Pandemonium Club is an organization of mundanes meddling with magic and the Shadow World. It is said to be a rather old organization of mundanes who have interested themselves in the magical arts where, at their meetings, they do spells and try to summon up demons and spirits. They are powerful in the Downworld, their members being rich and important figures in mundane society. They supervised a set of secret gambling dens frequented by Downworlders. They existed to lure mundanes in and trick them into losing all their money in magical games, then, when the mundanes fell into debt, the Dark Sisters would extort the money back at ruinous rates. They ran some other businesses as well, most unsavory ones, such as brothels.

Taki's Diner - is a supernatural restaurant that the characters all hang out and eat at. It offers food (and beverages)for all of their varied clientele.





OTHERS:

Accords - are peace negotiations signed between the Downworlders and the Clave. According to the Accords, as long as the rules stated here are not broken, they can live in peace without bother and may even provide each other help when the need ever rises. The Accords are signed again every fifteen years to keep the magic potent. Although the Accords keep the two parties in good enough terms to avoid slaughter between them, hostility is quite unavoidable.

Clave - is the government for the world of half-humans. It is made up of a Council, the Inquisitor, and the Consul. They meet in the Gard at Alicante, Idris. The Council makes the law of the Clave, known as the Covenant. The Council also signs the Accords. Originally this council held only Shadowhunters. By the end of the City of Glass, the New Council has been formed, now including seats in the council for representatives from all four Downworlder races (Vampire, Werewolf, Faerie, and Warlock).The Clave has different branches, or divisions of smaller groups of Shadowhunters in different countries who reside in their Institute. In New York, it is referred to as Conclave, and Enclave in London.

Consul - is a high ranking member of the Clave. He acts as an advisor to the council, the group of Shadowhunters that dictate laws. He also can appoint a Shadowhunter as head of an Institute. He is the one that decides the next Inquisitor after the previous dies.

Council - is the governing body of Shadowhunter culture. They write the laws and dictate decisions for all shadowhunters. All shadowhunters are official memeber of the council after they turn eighteen. However, some shadowhunters choose not to attend the meetings.

Covenant - the law of the Clave. It is formed by the Council.

Mortal Instruments - are the three divine items, according to legend, given by the Angel Raziel to the first Shadowhunters (particulary Jonathan Shadowhunter, the first Shadowhunter): the Mortal Cup, the Mortal Sword, and the Mortal Mirror. The Mortal Cup, also known as the Angel's Cup, was a cup from Angel Raziel. In the Bible, the Nephilim, or Shadowhunters, were the offspring of humans and angels, created more than a thousand years ago when humans were being overrun by demon invasions from other worlds. A warlock summoned the Angel Raziel, who mixed some of his own blood with the blood of men in a cup, and gave it to those men to drink. Those who drank the Angel's blood became Shadowhunters, as did their children and their children's children. The cup was used to create more Shadowhunters through the years, when Shadowhunter ranks were depleted. It can also be a demonic cup, which can be used to turn Shadowhunters demonic.Apparently, the Cup mostly works on children. An adult would either be unaffected by the process entirely, or killed outright. Although, only selected humans are selected to be turned into Nephilim since most never survive the transition. It takes special strength and resilience and they must be extensively tested, which Valentine apparently wouldn't bother about.The Mortal Sword, also known as the Soul-Sword, The Angel Blade, or Maellartach, was the second Mortal Instrument given by Angel Raziel to the Shadowhunters, kept by the Silent Brothers. It was first seen by Clary in the Silent Brother's council room hung against the dark wall above the Speaking Stars. It was described as an enormous silver sword, with a hilt carved in the shape of outspread wings. It was later stolen by Valentine.The Soul-Sword is used by the Inquisitor in trials to determine if a Shadowhunter is lying.The alliance of the Soul-Sword is seraphic, its power drawn from Angel Raziel himself. When Valentine stole the sword, he intended to perform the Ritual of Infernal Conversion to reverse its alliance from angelic power to demonic; this way, it will be of more use to Valentine's cause, such as the power over demons, and possibly even to bring them into Idris in number.In order to perform said ritual, the Sword will be seethed until red-hot then cooled four times in the blood of Downworld children: a child of Lilith, a child of the moon, a child of the night, and a child of the faerie. The Mortal Mirror, also known as the Mortal Glass, Lake of Dreams and Mirror of Dreams by the Fair Folk, is in fact Lake Lyn in Idris. For a long time, the whereabouts and information about the mirror remained a mystery for the Nephilim, although the Lake Lyn has been in their origin legends. It served as the entrance into Idris through a Portal, making it necessary to make your arrival known so someone will be at the other side to wait for you. This was said to be the lake the Angel Raziel rose from, with his cup and sword. Since then, the lake was said to have been cursed. Ingesting the lake's waters can be poisonous to Nephilim, but have no effect Downworlders. Faeries drink from the lake, saying that it gives them true vision, while the water causes hallucinations for the Nephilim, driving them to madness.

Institute - An Institute is a place for Shadowhunters to find safety in the event of danger. It is a stronghold for the Shadowhunters that live there.The hallowed ground prevents vampires from entering. The bricks have been blessed with deceased Shadowhunter blood, that in and of itself being a powerful protection. Every metal rod is made out of iron and every nail silver, protecting against faeries and werewolves respectively. In addition, the doors cannot be opened without Shadowhunter blood, thereby stopping anyone but a Shadowhunter from entering. Also, it is glamored. Any mundane that looks upon an Institute would see nothing but, for example, a rundown church.Inside an Institute, there are many amenities that are the same. An Institute is supposed to be lived in. Therefore, it has a kitchen. These kitchens are quite large and well put together. There's also a formal dining room, able to seat over two hundred comfortably. Additionally, in the residential wings, there are over two hundred bedrooms. These room are always open to Shadowhunters that wish to take up residence there. They all have an infirmary to heal injured Shadowhunters. There is a library filled with books always open for the Shadowhunters' use. There's also a training room. Shadowhunters are at liberty to enter the training room and develop their fighting skills at any given time. There are usually beams along the ceiling to allow Shadowhunters to practice flips, and a locker room attached to the training room for the Shadowhunters to store spare clothes while they train. Additionally, there's an armory filled with all sorts of weapons. They have everything from bows to seraph blades at the disposal of the Shadowhunters. Outside of the hallowed ground is the Sanctuary. This area is purposely put outside the hallowed ground for meetings with Downworlders. Vampires and demons cannot enter hallowed ground. Therefore, the Sanctuary is the meeting place with downworlders and the holding cells of demons that are being interrogated.Additionally, the Institute is the seat of power over a given area. They are the authority force for the city in which they reside and they oversee all tactical missions. They report directly to Idris and are often Council members.To be a head of an Institute indicates a great deal of power. Though most Shadowhunters are paid roughly the same, Institute heads are paid more because of their difficult position. They deal with many administrative tasks: communicating with Idris, Downworlder negotiations, etc. Therefore they are rarely seen going out on a hunting mission for no reason. They generally take on the more dangerous missions, such as raiding a large vampire nest, and don't often do much else. Orphaned Shadowhunters, wards, are given into the care of Institutes. When someone leaves the Clave, the one thing that they must give up is their children. Every year, until the child is eighteen, the Clave will ask the child if they would like to join the Clave and become a Shadowhunter. If the child answers no every time until they are eighteen, they are free. At any point during the eighteen years, the child can go to any Institute and ask for training.Additionally, if the former Clave members die, their children become the custody of the Clave. They are given to the Institutes to be watched and raised until they are eighteen, when they can decide what they want to do. This holds true to children whose parents haven't left the Clave. If they have no close relatives, they are given to an Institute to be raised and trained. An Institute belongs to the Council. The guardians of it may live there, but it isn't actually theirs. Therefore, it is considered unprofessional to decorate an Institute as one would a family home. The halls and public rooms should be kept clean of all family portraits.A good example of an unprofessional Institute would be The York Institute in 1878. The Starkweather Family had run the Institute for centuries. Therefore, they decorated it like a family home. Institutes aren't supposed to be passed down from generation to generation. When the former head of an Institute dies, a new one should be appointed without being a member of the former's family. The change of hand allows new ideas to enter seats of power.

Inquisitor - is a high-ranking member of the Clave. She is, according to Luke, the only one who can use the Soul-Sword, the second Mortal Instrument, on a Shadowhunter to tell if he is lying during a trial. She investigates Nephilim for the Clave, making sure that they have not broken the Covenant, or the Law of the Clave. The Inquisitor also apparently chooses punishment in some cases; like when Inquisitor Herondale exiled the Lightwoods and had Hodge cursed. According to Isabelle, if there was a hierarcy in command, the Nephilim would be near the bottom, and the Inquisitor would be near the top

Parabatai - Parabatai are a pair of Nephilim warriors who fight together and are closer than siblings.It is against the law for parabatai to fall in love with each other. Parabatai share each others powers and can feel a strong connection between them. They also share a part of their soul with each other.

Runes - are markings used by the Nephilim. They are drawn on the skin with a stele, and have many effects.These runes are what make the Shadowhunters stronger than regular humans. The closer to the heart a rune is drawn, the more powerful it is. Some runes are temporary, and fade into white scars after use, but others are permanent. Once faded, the runes have to be drawn on their skin again to be able to use it. To draw a rune on a mundane means to kill them, while certain powerful runes can make them into Forsaken.