#waakvlam

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Earth, but with real actual magic and real actual magical creatures. Magic users hide from the normal, the mundane, teaching their children in separate schools out in the wild. The magical community is strong, but entirely hidden.

Psst, I’m gonna be participating in WorldEmber over on my WorldAnvil page (which is a worldbuilding challenge to write 10k words of worldbuilding over the month of December), and I’m gonna try to focus on my Waakvlak setting. So, uh, if you’re into modern magic and those kinda settings, maybe give it a look? I’m probably gonna be focusing on the magical creatures since that’s what I’ve been hyperfocusing on most but who knows where my hyperfocus is gonna take me.

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I know the Waakvlam stuff isn’t super relevant here (beyond the wand stuff I did a while back), but I just gotta... gotta post somewhere about this stupidly in-depth stuff I’m doing. I wanted to set up some kind of remotely logical system for linking animals to personalities (a la familiars/Patronuses/etc) so of course I went obscenely big with it. Beyond these base categories you would go down further and further, of course, until you land with a specific species. But before doing that I gotta decide if I wanna include the magical species, because in that case I’ll need to sort those into biological categories and ugh. Maybe they’ll just take their own branch in the above categories.

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Color me curious about what wand you'd give me. 👀 Hmm, let's see. I'm protective of my friends and family. I'm the chaotic mom friend who will either beg you to get some sleep or encourage Netflix binging all night. I randomly burst into song very often, including when I'm in public. I'm a functional disaster. I'm adventurous, but won't jump blindly. I'm very much creative. I'm scared of letting people down/failure and permanence/being trapped. Very empathetic. Loves puns.

Right, so depending on what you’d like to emphasize, there are 3 options (also partly because two of these are just… very similar. There’s hickory, which represents balance and good intentions. It is best for those who have good intentions, who are kind, but not overly so. There’s holly, which is similar, but represents watchfulness and goodwill. Holly is for those with goodwill, but who don’t trust openly, and those with holly wands are often beloved by animals. Finally, there’s pear, which is inspiring and creative. It is for those who care, who find creative solutions, and is well-suited for those with a passion for healing.

The conduits (the magical core of the wand), I haven’t quite sorted out yet, and are location dependent, so I’m not gonna bother with those. Wand length is between 35 and 45 centimeters, although about 10 centimeters of those are the handle. The owner can personalize their wand with all kinds of additional trinkets (and often they do, too). These decorations can include copper wire, crystals, jingling bells, feathers, wrapping the handle with fabric (to make it softer), or even painting the wand.

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Also bc the wand thing is kinda taking off, here’s my breakdown for the main-ish characters of DP and which woods they would get. Vlad gets two: rowan wood would be his younger self, whereas elder is more befitting to his ‘current’ status. A post-redemption Vlad would probably loop back to a rowan wand. On a related note, Jack gets cherry because he doesn’t try to defend himself whatsoever from Vlad’s hatred. Whenever Vlad acts mean Jack just kind of laughs it off, even when everyone else can tell that it most definitely wasn’t a joke.

Danny: Maple: self-sacrifice, rebellious, tough, compassionate. Those devoted to others, even at their own cost. Sam: Alder: courage, passion. Passionate and not afraid of acting on it. Tucker: Amaranth: creativity, knowledge. For the wise and creative. Jazz: Elm: inner strength, stability, grounding. For those who function as the stabilizer, the neutralizer, the "one sane guy in the group". Vlad: Elder: Life/Death, two-faced, poisonous/protective. Rowan: knowledge, initiation, personal power. Those with knowledge and the will and power to use it. Jack: Cherry: compassion, self-assertion, well-grounded. Care, but could stand for themselves a little better. Maddie: Cedar: strength, wisdom, knowing when to use it. Valerie: Bloodwood: strength, energy, passion – anger or love.

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Wand

World Anvil is a worldbuilding tools platform and community for writers, RPG storytellers and worldbuilding lovers

If you were one of the people interested in my modern-magic setting / the wands for it, I finally put together a page on WorldAnvil for them! I’m sure that it’s still a little rough in places, and I gotta think of the best to handle specific materials, but! It’s here!

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YOU GAVE ME THE OK SO HERE I AM! OC 1: Confident to the point of near arrogance, cocky, a F L I R T. Would totally go in a creepy old building if he thought he saw a ghost. Very adventurous. Competitive. OC 2: Emotionally/Mentally strong, kind, brave. Greets everyone with a smile but will not let herself be walked over. Patient. Bubbly. OC 3: Slow to trust, incredibly guarded. Secretive. Once she opens up, she's protective and mischevious/teasing. A fighter. Has her group's 1 braincell. Usually.

Definitely go for it! These are super fun to do, and it’s a good exercise to test if my worldbuilding is expansive enough. As for the characters, let’s see… Some of these were easier to find matches for than others, so some might be a bit of a stretch.

For number 1, I would probably go with walnut. It is best suited to those who know what they want or stand for, and who do so with confidence. An alternative could be ash, for those with focus, strength of purpose, and ambition. But like I said, that’s a bit of a stretch.

Number 2… There’s hickory, for good intentions, kind but not overly so. Cedar is for those who possess strength, but know when or how to use it. And beech is also an option; it is for friendly faces, those who often find themselves the unintentional leader of their group of friends.

And, finally, number 3! Due to her secrecy and the fact that she’s slow to trust, I would probably go with mahogany! It is for those who are, or have been, held back from their potential. Alternative options are elm, for the “one sane guy” aka the braincell holder, or holly, for those with goodwill but who don’t trust openly.

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Fiapfpwprlts hello please assign me a wand. I recently learned I might be a compulsive liar and am working towards fixing that(sorta)(slowly). Very dramatic. Pretty rangy personality that relies heavily on context, but mostly pretty loud and attempts to make many quips and sarcasms. On a scale of protectiveness I try to let people do their own thing but always worry and remind them to do stuff. I like to create! Have huge blisters on feet because refused to surrender to beingatbad at ice skating

Alright, so I have 4 possible wand woods, most with varying takes on “fixing being a compulsive liar/learning from the past”. I, uh, admittedly don’t really have anything that goes off of stubborn without tying into protectiveness, so… There’s hawthorn, for those are constantly changing, or who consider it an important mark in their past (or who work towards it). Pine is for those who feel guilt over their past, and who intend to grow beyond it. Yew is a rare wood for those who undergo change, who learn from the past and apply this knowledge to the future. Finally, the last one is the one possibility that isn’t necessarily based on the first line you gave me. Willow is for those who work in cycles and rhythms, who shift and change, fluid like water.

Other wand traits (conduit/core, length, and decorations) are explained in this post! Mostly bc I don’t have those worked out yet, whoops.

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I really liked the wand thing you did for my one oc so now I'm going to send you more. This oc is someone who tries to be the mom friend of the group, but is easily swayed by other people and mostly ends up going along with the bad ideas. -A

Well, let’s see… For someone caring, but who goes along too easily with bad ideas, I would probably go for cherry; it is for those who care, but who could learn to stand up for themselves a little better. Other options are elm (the stabilizer, the neutralizer, the “one sane guy in the group”) or eucalyptus (caring nature, inclination to healing). But overall, I think cherry would be the best fit here!