Full Name (print): Alexander Westcott Rand
I am a...: Metahuman
My nature is: The closest thing to understanding the Emerald Tablet that pre-Awakening humanity got too was the study of Law. Both of the world and of humanity. My family is descended from a long line of sorcerers, mystics and occultists who all attempted to synthesize Goetia and Theurgy, to combine the mystical ideals of the black and whites arts in order to create real magic. Of course their quest was in vain. Magic was all but impossible before the First Awakening, but their texts and ideals are surprisingly useful for using Thaumic Science. My art involves combining the Hermetic traditions of my ancestors with the study of the law. I mostly focus upon ritual and contract magic. They both require a lot of set up, ceremony and expensive ingredients. But when I get a spell off, or have a binding agreement with a powerful entinity, I'm damn near unstoppable. Also my right leg is held together with living wood and I have to walk around with an enchanted cane, funny story that.
I want to become a student at Eventide because...:Both the Thaumic Science and the Law department at Eventide are some of the best in the nation. I hope to one day work with the UNABTF as a legal consultant, my uncle spoke highly of them when helped them during the Libyan Crisis. Furthermore the chances that I may work alongside or for a client who is one of the Awakened is very much assured. If I wish to best work with them I need as much experince with a wide variety of Demi-Humans and Dimensional Beings. Eventide provides the best combination of legal study and Thaumtic training available.
Background:
My early life isn't anything really interesting. Old money New England family that was slowly descending into poverty and desperation despite its traditions and former glory. Fairly standard gothic stuff. Things only changed for the Rands around the first Awakening, when a Huldra showed up in the backyard. Being the weirdo occultists they are the Huldra, my great grand aunt, was soon married into the family. Since then we've possessed more than a green thumb, though I'm too far descended from her to be considered a demihuman.
As for me, well, again not much. Parents took me too a lot of rituals I didn't understand, let me read old grimoires from the library and generally filled my life with spooky mystic bullshit. Skogsrå, my aunt,
was always a presence at our home, so I never became afraid of Dimensional Beings and Demihumans like the kids at school. Lot harder to hate elves when you have a nymph with a hollow back and a tale in your family tree. My life was fairly pleasant and picturesque, until the accident.
Bad things happen to even kids, it is known. Middle school me probably didn't deserve to get hit by that car, but thats just how it goes. Crushed my leg between its front and the wall, smashing bone and pulping flesh. I don't remember a lot after the initial wave of pain, I passed out pretty quickly. Sometimes I dream about but, ah, thats not why you're interested in this story. Its the leg. Long story short,
without magic I'd die, kids that age don't do well towards extreme blunt force trauma. Skogsrå stepped and made a baragin with my parents. She could do a little herself, but anything big would make her call upon the inherent power of Yggdrasil, the World Tree. Even she couldn't make such a pact for free, even for family, and prices would have to be paid. The deal was agreed too, pacts were signed and limits were placed upon any magic I'd inherit. The ritual she did made it so I wouldn't die, but my leg would forever be a ruin of flesh and wood.
I spent about a month in the hospital, letting off excess life magic and waiting until all the followup treatment was done. I quickly devoured all the fiction books they had too offer, so in desperation I turned too a massive tome about medical law. To the horror of my inner child, I enjoyed reading it. When I was out of the hospital I went and read all the previously ignored law books in the home library,
and then the ones at the town library. I was still kept in a wheel chair those days, so getting around was hard, but for books I'd do it. Sophomore year I attempted my first summoning ritual, bringing into the woods behind my school a Greek wood nymph. I was young and inexperienced, and its lucky she decided to take pity on a crippled, desperately eager boy rather than take full advantage of my ignorance. I traded her a decades work of gardening service and a sacrifice before all my meals for an enchanted staff and the full knowledge of what my parents sold for my survival. I'm pleased to note that my herb garden still blooms quite well, and my hiking habit has increased since then.
Physical mobility had been returned to me, but I was informed that my magical potential had been crippled instead. The World Tree had taken a deep toll on what I could and could not do with Thaumic Science. My parents had bargained away powers that did not exist yet, as the accident was before the third Awakening, but their offer had been taken anyways. I cannot cast spells in any time under an hour. No easy fireballs, not five minute rituals, not even a half an hour feast is available to me. Only rituals were left, and thus I took to them with gusto. While I may not be able to summon electricity with a snap of my fingers, given powdered sand, pure water and a few hours I can summon a full storm. I found the rituals in the old Hermetic books could be turned to my usage, but the real power came in when I combined legal codes with them. All power is forced to follow some law or another, and a wizard with a strong will can bind the universe to any code he wishes. Spirits and dimensional beings are the same way, and I learned how to best court devils, neoitate with angels and placate the Fae. High school was easier after that and now I'm ready to advance in my studies. I hope to take the Bar one day and fully immerse myself in the study of law. Who knows, I may find a way to combine the Emerald Tablet and US Legal Code.
