Nightshade is the only known name for the founder and first Primus of the Verbena Tradition.
Biography[]
She is said to have been born in England in the late 14th or early 15th century. Her parents were keepers of the Old Faith and she grew up to be a strong leader and priestess of the English pagan community.
In 1435, Nightshade attended a Midsummer Eve ritual and was to be the sole survivor of the massacre that took place when Christopher Wyndgarde led the Gabrielites in an ambush against the pagan circle. Afterwards, Nightshade swore vengeance and pursued Wyndgarde for many years as he continued his campaign against the pagans of England.
Following dreams sent to her by the seer Sh'zar, in 1440 Nightshade attended a gathering on New Year's eve at Mistridge where it was decided a council of magical traditions would be created to unite mages against the depredations of the Order of Reason. It's also where she met William Groth, the leader of a band of German folk-mages, who like Nightshade were survivors of a Cabal assault. This shared pain eventually turned to love, they wed in a mystic ceremony that can be considered the founding of the Verbena. After Mistridge she traveled alone to America and returned with Star-of-Eagles and other Native American mages who eventually became part of the Dreamspeakers.
Finally, in 1442 with the aid of a small army she had gathered and a witch gifted with the Sight, Nightshade laid a great trap for Wyndgarde's army. His men were ravaged, and Wyndgarde himself was killed by Nightshade's hand, his soul shredded by the gathered mages. Her vengeance complete, Nightshade continued to gather members of the Old Faith to join the Council of Nine Mystic Traditions. After a battle fought against the Order of Reason during the Second Mistridge Convocation in 1449, she served an important role in the creation of Horizon and the Verbena as members of the Council of Traditions. She was also the one to select Eloine as the Verbena representative in the First Cabal.
Over the centuries, Nightshade spent an increasing amount of time in Horizon. Horizon: Stronghold of Hope suggests that after living for over 500 years, the ancient witch had grown tired of life, and mentored Charlotte Quay and then Heasha Morninglade as her heir before dying in 1988. Guide to the Traditions supports this, referring to her funeral as having taken place in 1988. However, Tradition Book: Verbena suggests that she continued to be Primus of the Verbena until the Avatar Storm, when contact with Horizon and many of the Traditions' greatest mages was lost.
Background from Castles and Covenants[]
Nightshade didn't come to the Verbena, she was born to them. Her mother and her mother's mother were wise women, midwives, and herbal healers. In the days before the Christian monotheists taught hatred and fear of women, they were the ones the villagers came to for medicine, advice, wisdom and comfort. They were unfettered by the mores of others and ran wild beneath the moon! Nightshade grew up with these freedoms - her mother was a Bacchante, who tasted her lovers' flesh and left them bleeding in the dawn chill. Nightshade was born of such a union, and the magick ran thick in her blood.
Nightshade was initiated as maiden under the moon, and her grandmother prophesied a rich, but difficult, future. She saw a palace and she knew that Nightshade would help bring the vision to fruition.
Nightshade, along with her deceased lifemate William Groth, was one of the first magi to share in the dream of Horizon. She heard Sh'zar of the Seers speak of the coming threat of the Order of Reason and knew the truth of his fears. Nightshade and Groth met with Valoran of the Celestial Chorus and Baldric of the Order of Hermes. Though the three were not natural allies, all recognized that the trials looming in the future were more important than their differences.
Nightshade and Groth became joined in a Great Rite and established a core sect of Verbena. Once their marriage rite was complete, they resolved to find other magi of different paths and invite them to the building of Horizon. Groth traveled east and encountered the Akashic Brotherhood, but he met his end before he could return. Nightshade traveled west, discovering the Dreamspeakers, whose ties to nature were close to her own. It was her encouragement that resulted in Star-of-Eagles traveling to meet with the Council.
Appearance[]
Nightshade's beauty is wild and untamed, not the carefully groomed artifice of courtly ladies or the simple comeliness of village maidens. Her hair falls free and unbound, and her expressions are without guile. In Council Chambers, she wears dresses with intricate hand embroidery.
Gallery[]
References[]
- MTAs: The Book of Shadows: The Mage Players Guide, p. 179-181
- MTAs: The Fragile Path: Testaments of the First Cabal, p. 12, 16, 31-32, 60, 63-64
- MTSC: Witches and Pagans, p. 25-27
- MTAs: Verbena Tradition Book, p. 67
- MTAs: Cult of Ecstasy Tradition Book, p. 17-18
- MTAs: Horizon: Stronghold of Hope, p. 102-103
- MTAs: Mage: The Ascension Second Edition, p. 42
- MTAs: Order of Hermes Tradition Book, p. 14
- MTAs: Guide to the Traditions, p. 113, 114-115, 122
- MTAs: Tradition Book: Verbena, p. 77-78
- MTAs: Book of Madness Revised, p. 77 (Formed the Silver Blade)
- MTSC: Mage: The Sorcerers Crusade Rulebook, p. 55, 56, 139
- MTSC: Castles and Covenants, p. 111-112
- MTAs: Dragons of the East, p. 76
- MTAs: Ascension, p. 84, 200
- ↑ MTAs: Horizon: Stronghold of Hope, p. 103