The Ties That Bind and the Scars That Speak
You are a part of a Coven of Witches that follows the old traditions of Magic Tying. It is the tradition of each child of each generation of the coven being Tied to a member of one of the surrounding Covens, Packs, Clans, or Pods. The Tying ceremony is done before the fifth birthday of each child.
The Tying binds the magic and therefore, some say, the souls of the participants. The Tying pools the magic of the two, allowing them to double their power, and on occasion draw on abilities only one or the other may have. One of the most memorable side effects of the Tying causes the participants to share pain, scars appearing on one person’s skin when the other gets injured.
Your generation is one of the last to have gone through with the binding.
When you were a child, the King’s brother carried out a coup and broke the peace treaty between the kingdom and the denizens of Shadow Vale. You are one of the very few survivors of the massacre that burned down the entire Vale.
You’ve always wondered how your other half has managed to survive this long with the numerous scars that have appeared on your skin over the years.
You’re trying to sneak your way into the kingdom to purchase some much needed medicine for yourself and the people you’ve been staying with.
On your way into town, you’re caught in the middle of a skirmish between some of the king’s soldiers and a group of renegades. You’re just trying to get away from the fight and back on track to your goal, but you get dragged into the fight when one of the king’s soldiers spies you as a witch and attacks.
One of the renegades screams at the same moment you’re stabbed, and you realize as they run to your rescue that you recognize the scarred hands that drag you away from the fight. The scarring is the same as what you look at on your own hands every day.
The world that you thought you knew is promptly thrown on its head. Most of the renegades are Tied magic users, and there are more of them than you ever could have hoped to find. The renegades adopt you into the fold quickly and they help you ferry the necessary medicine back to the people who’d been giving you shelter.
You join with the renegades and practice your magic with your soul-bound partner. You feel more at home than you thought possible, training and going on missions to further the goal of taking down the corrupt king.
Things are better than you can ever remember them being, but an information-gathering mission throws your world off its axis once again. You find documents proving that the current leaders of the renegades, elders who’d survived the massacre, may not have survived because of luck and skill. The papers you hold in your hands show proof that the elders had a hand in the coup that put the evil king on the throne.
No one but your team has seen the papers, and you are divided on whether or not to share the information with the rest of the renegades. Which side do you fall on? The fate of the revolution rests in the balance.
