Phoenix P. Verity

Human • Non-binary • They / Them

✦ Personality ✦

Trivia

✦ Magic ✦

Chaos Threading

Phoenix's affinity, a form of divination passed down by the Verity family since its founding, allows Phoenix to peek into the future by bearing witness to an event in the present.

This butterfly-effect-like way of peering into the future manifests in the form of visions received concerning a specific action observed by the user. These visions detail the events that will follow this action and, with enough experience, an experienced spellcaster could theoretically follow these vision threads days, months, and years into the future, so long as the effect of that action is still being felt.

This is by no means an easy task. The longer one wishes to follow a thread, the more focus, intensity, and willpower the spellcaster must dedicate to it. For this reason, these visions can be incredibly spiritually taxing, and following a thread can be as brief as a moment or turn into hours of uninterrupted meditation, not to mention how often these threads split again and again into thousands of possibilities.

For Phoenix, however, this is even more difficult. Perhaps an unforeseen effect of their ADHD, Phoenix has immense difficulty regulating the visions they receive, especially after forming their pact bond with Raoul. While their predecessors were able to limit their visions, narrowing them down to the most probable course of events, Phoenix receives their visions practically all at once and in increased quantity, causing them to suffer sensory overload.

In addition, for every spellcaster, this particular approach to divination comes with a blindspot. For Phoenix, their blindspot manifests as an inability to see what effects their actions will have on any given situation. They are completely excluded in the equation and this often paralyzes them, preventing them from acting in tense moments due to feeling indecisive and scared. Therefore, they prefer a more passive role.

✦ History ✦

You Thought . . .

[Hardcore Locked]

✦ RP Info ✦

Contact

Comfort

✦ History ✦

CW: near death experience, car crash, allusion to animal death.

Family Life

Born into the ninth generation of a dedicated and skilled family of spellcasters, the Veritys, Phoenix was raised primarily by their single father, Ira Verity, with frequent help from their grandparents.

Their family, deeply ensconced in the world of magic both by ancestry and by Ira's career working for the Circle, focused their efforts heavily on educating Phoenix of their magical heritage and all that comes with it. Phoenix often played along, searching for their family's approval, but felt much more attracted to and comfortable in the mundane. Their passion for magic dwindled fast: topics of magic and tradition frequently went in one ear and out the other, while mundane facts, fiction, and pursuits held their attention much better.

Ira, sensing this early on and using his own affinity for divination to confirm it, came up with a plan. The Verity family held a longstanding alliance with a werewolf-like anima family, the Grosvenors, thanks to a series of favors and pacts over the generations. The families, though they were close and frequently visited each other, hadn't seen a pact bond between them in quite some time and the Grosvenor's youngest child, Raoul, was the same age as Phoenix. Recognizing the need to re-establish the connection between their families and seeing an opportunity to push Phoenix further on the path of magic, Ira reached out to Raoul's parents.

A Future Arranged

Soon enough, Phoenix was arranged for a pact with Raoul, their involvement in magic decided for them. Phoenix's feelings about the situation complicated and confusing for their young age, they continued to follow their family's wishes without much consideration for themself, trying to befriend Raoul despite his disinterest in Phoenix at the time.

However, the nature of planning Phoenix's life this way began to seep into other aspects of their life, as they wondered what other responsibilities they were supposed to take as a Verity. Phoenix's extended family had gradually become more mundane over the generations, really only leaving Phoenix to carry on the Verity's magical lineage. Would Phoenix have to start a family of their own someday? Did they want to?

This worsened around the age of 14 as they came to understand their identity. This suddenly created a drastic, perceived divide between Phoenix and their family. The year their pact with Raoul was officially formed, Phoenix realized they could never be the child their family needed and the person Phoenix longed to be at the same time.

The Summer of 2013

Prioritizing the needs of their family over their own again, Phoenix buried their feelings deep and tried to force themself into a persona that could live up to their family's expectations. Properly pact bonded with Raoul and set to stay at the Grosvenor's forest cottage for another summer, they tried to dedicate themself to their training but found themself discouraged by Raoul's disinterest and the way their magic had begun to overwhelm them since the pact strengthened it.

This was because their wand, a small wooden husky which had once been an immense comfort to them as a toy they'd fidget with when anxious, was now only contributing to their stress: anytime they'd absentmindedly play with it, Phoenix would accidentally summon their magic and be overwhelmed by intense visions.

So, demoralized, overloaded, repressed, and bereft of their childhood comfort, Phoenix confined themself to solitude for the beginning of that summer, often refusing to practice with Raoul as they'd try desperately to catch up with their affinity alone. They frequently pulled all-nighters practicing, skipped meals, and lied about these habits to keep their father from worrying. They were too embarrassed to admit they were falling short.

Their neglect to themself and their pact bond came to a head when Raoul was solely blamed for Phoenix's sudden change in behavior.

For the first day in weeks, Phoenix spent no time practicing their affinity, whisked away by their father for the day so the Grosvenors could tend to their matters privately, out of respect. Phoenix was almost left in the dark, as Ira ignored the situation for the time being in an attempt to help Phoenix relax, but, thanks to their pact, Phoenix could still vaguely sense what was going on with Raoul and the severity of the conversation.

They finally returned to the cottage at sunset, the tension inside palpable and depressing. The moon was well overhead that night while the weather was calm and clear, perfect for the Grosvenors who often took advantage of such a night to go hunting, but no one felt it right to go out. Exhaustion clinging to them, the Veritys and the Grosvenors turned in early.

Phoenix, guilt-ridden and anxious, couldn't sleep. They knew Raoul was alright, at least physically, but they hadn't seen him since they came back and the fear that he'd be angry with them ate them inside and out. Multiple sleepless hours passed before Phoenix decided to check on Raoul themself, only to discover he was nowhere to be found.

The next few hours were a blur. Panic, anger, fear. Phoenix remembers vividly the moment their father looked into the future, his face contorting in shock and worry in seconds. Phoenix still thinks about it often. The adults left immediately after. Phoenix doesn't remember how long it was before they got the twinge, but they knew Raoul was going to die.

They panicked and stole the truck their father drove that day. They knew Raoul wasn't far if they didn't take the roads. It still felt like forever, barreling through the forest, but finally, their headlights caught two figures: Raoul being attacked by something. They found out later that it was a bear, but it didn't matter in the moment. They just floored it, ramming it as hard as possible.

Phoenix doesn't remember much else of that night or the days following, but they remember warmth and a promise.

Since Then . . .

Phoenix and Raoul, having been separated for their recoveries as soon as each of them was stable enough to be moved to their homes, were tearfully reunited the following summer.

After their reunion, their friendship strengthened exponentially. Phoenix was much more prepared to train for reasons beyond their family and the support they gained by becoming closer with Raoul helped them handle their visions better. It's still overwhelming now, but it's not as excruciating.

However, despite training for it, their pact bond hasn't progressed beyond the basic ability to sense each other's well-being and whereabouts. Concerned for their development, Ira recently persuaded the Grosvenors to trust St. Spell enough to enroll Raoul along with Phoenix.

Phoenix has been set on attending the school for years, but they waited for the opportunity to attend with Raoul. With their goals, none of St. Spell's education would matter if they couldn't learn it with Raoul. Now, Phoenix is determined to figure out why their bond with Raoul has stagnated and to mend whatever has gone wrong...