Where I'm from, there are these people called druids. They dwell in nature, but they can pass as human. Druids act as advisors toward werewolves. Emissaries. Supposedly, through their guidance and their teachings, they keep us tethered to our humanity. Most druids will tell you that they're the reason why werewolves aren't just... animals. They're wrong, but. Point is -
Druids work in potions and rituals. Magic. If a druid uses potions, rituals and magic for evil, they're called a darach. Darachs operate in blood. Human sacrifices. Curses. Spells that can fuck with a person's mind. Enslave them, kill them. Bring them pain. I knew one. The things you can do - they remind me of her, sometimes. Desecrating a church is pretty much the prime example of something a Darach would do. It's. I don't know.
I trust you. You warded my house. Reggie likes you. But I am slightly worried about what's going to happen when I meet someone from your universe who isn't a good guy. There has to be a big, bad warlock out there who would use the whole bound-to-Satan thing for slightly nefarious purposes. Right?
well, we have curses, i've cursed people. i've done it here, in fact. i summon demons and bind them, i use magic for myself. but desecrating a church is what we all do. we can't enter consecrated ground. if we try to pray to the false god, we burn.
which isn't to say that is all we do. or that i would say that the curses i've cast have been for evil. they've been for selfish reasons, sometimes. mostly it's been to defend myself. but anyway
there might be a warlock who would use it for a nefarious purpose, but it's not like i trust or like everyone in my coven back home. the witches that are here are generally pretty understanding, they're on my side. they know better than to try and mess with this.
[ derek's kneejerk reaction is - concern, but. nick keeps talking. he explains things... surprisingly reasonably, and the more he talks, the more derek feels like kind of an asshole for being unnerved by all this magic shit. nick says he just does what he does to defend himself, and that actually hits pretty close to home. that actually makes him see all this in a different light. ]
Okay... okay - look. People are scared of werewolves back home. We're hunted down and killed, even when we just - keep to ourselves. My mom always told me... "werewolves are predators, but we don't have to be killers". We don't have to be violent, dangerous animals just because that's how the world sees us. Maybe that's something you can relate to, to some degree. Curses, demons - that's unnerving, for me. It's probably unnerving to most people who haven't lived the life you've lived. But. Having a connection to those things is just who you are. This is just what you do. I shouldn't be scared of that. Not when I know you're a good person. Feels hypocritical.
Well, I promise I won't get possessive and crazy over Reggie, if that's a concern you've had.
[ a pause. he wants to ask about the werewolves in nick's life in more detail, but he's-- honestly still pretty fucked up about the deaths he's dealt with back home, and he frankly doesn't think he has it in him to dig that deeply. if not now, maybe ever. he pushes on, instead. ]
Who have you cursed since being here? Just for curiosity's sake.
[ he... actually thinks he kind of approves of that. the idea of being forced to share all his hidden shit is-- nauseating, and it makes him think of kate, who in her torture of him mocked him for all the secrets he kept hidden. that is, in derek's eyes, some pretty fuckin' good cursing. ]
I get it. Trust me. That's kind of the cornerstone of any worries I have over the things you can do. You could do that. Pry into my head. I don't like that.
[ kind of hypocritical, seeing as he has some werewolf powers that lets him do that too, but. he's already covered his hypocrisy. ]
I'm not going to ask you to curse anyone for me - I solve my problems on my own - But if, hypothetically, that was something I wanted to pursue in the future, what would it cost me?
you're safe from me. not from prudence or dorian, though. sabrina and ambrose aren't likely to try it. don't let sims get too close to you, though. he doesn't have any control.
the cost would depend on the curse. how much research i would have to put into it. how much of my time would it require. if i would need another witch to assist
but i think you're asking if it would cost you anything but money, right?
[ literally. he's committing those names down to paper, sorting them in with a handful of other threats he's been keeping an eye on. good to know. ]
Yeah. That's what I'm asking. My gut tells me you don't deal in impersonal transactions. You'd probably want... I don't know. Werewolf blood? Werewolf fur. Something you could use in potions. I feel like I'm probably a potion ingredient.
you're not a potion ingredient. i mean, you could be, but i'm not that into potion making. but you are a spell ingredient. werewolf fur is good for a ritual spell to make witches blend into the forest. werewolf claws, pulled fresh, if you plant them at the edge of your garden will make anyone who crosses into your land bleed from old wounds
Werewolf claws don't work like that where I'm from. Or - maybe they do, and it's some awful, well-kept druidic secret. They have other uses. Alpha werewolves can take a person's memories from their body - alter them, rewrite them, remove them entirely. Anything we siphon from a person's mind is stored in our claws. Digging those claws back into someone's neck can restore whatever was taken or changed. Incredibly difficult, though. My mother was the only wolf I knew who could do it.
Like I said - it's incredibly difficult. My claws would have to dig into someone's skin and physically touch the very top of someone's spine. If I didn't do it right, a thousand different things could go wrong. Death. Paralysis. Complete memory loss. Brain failure.
[ so that's not a no, it's just a list of reasons why doing this to anyone any time soon might be a bad idea. ]
I mean, theoretically, if an Alpha werewolf thought of humans or even other werewolves as disposable, they could probably start a collection. Use them for practice. Surprisingly, this is not an avenue I would encourage.
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anyway, part of wanting to desecrate a church necessitated abandoned.
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Nick.
You're so fucking weird.
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Where I'm from, there are these people called druids. They dwell in nature, but they can pass as human. Druids act as advisors toward werewolves. Emissaries. Supposedly, through their guidance and their teachings, they keep us tethered to our humanity.
Most druids will tell you that they're the reason why werewolves aren't just... animals.
They're wrong, but. Point is -
Druids work in potions and rituals. Magic. If a druid uses potions, rituals and magic for evil, they're called a darach.
Darachs operate in blood. Human sacrifices. Curses. Spells that can fuck with a person's mind. Enslave them, kill them. Bring them pain.
I knew one.
The things you can do - they remind me of her, sometimes. Desecrating a church is pretty much the prime example of something a Darach would do.
It's. I don't know.
I trust you. You warded my house. Reggie likes you.
But I am slightly worried about what's going to happen when I meet someone from your universe who isn't a good guy.
There has to be a big, bad warlock out there who would use the whole bound-to-Satan thing for slightly nefarious purposes.
Right?
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which isn't to say that is all we do. or that i would say that the curses i've cast have been for evil. they've been for selfish reasons, sometimes. mostly it's been to defend myself. but anyway
there might be a warlock who would use it for a nefarious purpose, but it's not like i trust or like everyone in my coven back home. the witches that are here are generally pretty understanding, they're on my side. they know better than to try and mess with this.
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[ derek's kneejerk reaction is - concern, but. nick keeps talking. he explains things... surprisingly reasonably, and the more he talks, the more derek feels like kind of an asshole for being unnerved by all this magic shit. nick says he just does what he does to defend himself, and that actually hits pretty close to home. that actually makes him see all this in a different light. ]
Okay... okay - look.
People are scared of werewolves back home. We're hunted down and killed, even when we just - keep to ourselves.
My mom always told me... "werewolves are predators, but we don't have to be killers". We don't have to be violent, dangerous animals just because that's how the world sees us.
Maybe that's something you can relate to, to some degree.
Curses, demons - that's unnerving, for me. It's probably unnerving to most people who haven't lived the life you've lived.
But.
Having a connection to those things is just who you are. This is just what you do.
I shouldn't be scared of that. Not when I know you're a good person.
Feels hypocritical.
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Amalia went possessive. And crazy. That's why she died. I didn't want her to die, I didn't want her to leave me or suffer like that.
So I'm attached to werewolves.
I don't know if I'm that good a person, but I'm trying
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I promise I won't get possessive and crazy over Reggie, if that's a concern you've had.
[ a pause. he wants to ask about the werewolves in nick's life in more detail, but he's-- honestly still pretty fucked up about the deaths he's dealt with back home, and he frankly doesn't think he has it in him to dig that deeply. if not now, maybe ever. he pushes on, instead. ]
Who have you cursed since being here?
Just for curiosity's sake.
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do you jonathan sims?
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Wait, maybe. I think I saw him when he first arrived - he had a fake werewolf tooth in a jar, or something.
Why?
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[ he... actually thinks he kind of approves of that. the idea of being forced to share all his hidden shit is-- nauseating, and it makes him think of kate, who in her torture of him mocked him for all the secrets he kept hidden. that is, in derek's eyes, some pretty fuckin' good cursing. ]
Well. Good. Fuck that guy.
You okay?
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i think that's the only curse i've lain here
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You could do that. Pry into my head. I don't like that.
[ kind of hypocritical, seeing as he has some werewolf powers that lets him do that too, but. he's already covered his hypocrisy. ]
I'm not going to ask you to curse anyone for me - I solve my problems on my own -
But if, hypothetically, that was something I wanted to pursue in the future, what would it cost me?
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the cost would depend on the curse. how much research i would have to put into it. how much of my time would it require. if i would need another witch to assist
but i think you're asking if it would cost you anything but money, right?
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[ literally. he's committing those names down to paper, sorting them in with a handful of other threats he's been keeping an eye on. good to know. ]
Yeah. That's what I'm asking.
My gut tells me you don't deal in impersonal transactions. You'd probably want... I don't know.
Werewolf blood? Werewolf fur. Something you could use in potions. I feel like I'm probably a potion ingredient.
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you're not a potion ingredient. i mean, you could be, but i'm not that into potion making. but you are a spell ingredient. werewolf fur is good for a ritual spell to make witches blend into the forest. werewolf claws, pulled fresh, if you plant them at the edge of your garden will make anyone who crosses into your land bleed from old wounds
but i like you. so money
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[ don't like that. ]
Werewolf claws don't work like that where I'm from. Or - maybe they do, and it's some awful, well-kept druidic secret.
They have other uses. Alpha werewolves can take a person's memories from their body - alter them, rewrite them, remove them entirely.
Anything we siphon from a person's mind is stored in our claws. Digging those claws back into someone's neck can restore whatever was taken or changed.
Incredibly difficult, though. My mother was the only wolf I knew who could do it.
Money is easier than all that.
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So this isn't something you're likely to do anytime soon?
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My claws would have to dig into someone's skin and physically touch the very top of someone's spine. If I didn't do it right, a thousand different things could go wrong.
Death. Paralysis. Complete memory loss. Brain failure.
[ so that's not a no, it's just a list of reasons why doing this to anyone any time soon might be a bad idea. ]
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I mean, theoretically, if an Alpha werewolf thought of humans or even other werewolves as disposable, they could probably start a collection. Use them for practice.
Surprisingly, this is not an avenue I would encourage.