Octavian Anghelescu

History:

Octavian, like all children of hags, is of mixed ancestry. His mother Oana is a hag, his father a human. Most of the time, the resulting spawn are girls who grow into hags. Octavian is unusual in that he was born male, and a true half-breed as a result. His mother kept him deep in the woods, away from human society and even other hags that may see him as a mistake to be destroyed or worse, an aberration to be studied. They lived simply. Most of their food they grew themselves in the same garden Oana used to grow her potion ingredients, and Octavian learned to hunt with a crossbow to supplement their diet with the meat that Oana craved.

Octavian learned magic, although perhaps not as quickly as a full-blooded hag, and Oana enjoyed this time of half-solitude and contemplated making this a coven of two. However, one day, a witch hunter appeared seeking their heads. Oana fought him head on, but in the end, she lost. The hunter decapitated her, but failed to find the hidden Octavian. He left empty-handed, and Octavian emerged to find that Oana was alive and well, although she couldn’t put her head back on her body. She told Octavian of a group they could join for safety, and turned herself into a crossbow so he could defend himself finding them. The crossbow they dubbed "Scourge of Circe" after one of the great witches of old. They now enjoy the protection of the Inhuman League, and the world may soon see a fully-grown half hag.

Appearance:

Octavian is a slight and pale child, frail-looking to the naked eye. He has dirty blonde hair he cuts himself and one jade green eye. His other eye is covered by an eyepatch tied around his head. The eyepatch and his other clothes tend towards dark green and black and when he can manage, are on the nice end. His mother’s head in its glamoured form resembles a tacky plastic shrunken head.

In her true form, his mother Oana manifests as a disembodied head at the front of a crossbow. The crossbow is made of silvery metal and wood, with a string composed only of magic. Oana’s head is oversized and inhuman, a swollen cranium as pale as a maggot. Her nose sticks out like a beak and her dead purple tongue perpetually flops from her mouth.

Personality:

Octavian is unflappably polite, always remembering his manners even when faced with danger. He is also rather timid, unwilling to put himself in harm’s way unless he has to. Part of this is natural, while much more is born of trauma. His mother may have survived her beheading, but it was still a horrifying event. Of his various studies in magic, he always preferred working with the garden the most, learning what plants were used in potions and which were simply for food. He is fascinated by but has no real understanding of electronics and believes them to be a form of magic he was never taught.

Oana is rude and abrasive to pretty much everybody but her son. Octavian she is kind but stern with, always pressing him to do his best, even when it may well be beyond his means. She is disappointed in his lack of interest in her curses and hexes in favor of simple potions and charms, seeing it as a dead end, but for now she respects his skill in his chosen field.

Powers and abilities:

Octavian is trained in magic, but inexperienced in its practical use. As such, he is restricted to a rather limited repertoire of spells, most of them support or utility based.

Seeking eye- Octavian can charm one of his eyes to float away from his body to peer where he cannot. It cannot go more than a hundred feet from his body, and he only sees through it, gaining no extension to his hearing.

Fog- Summons a simple thick cloud of fog. Used mostly for retreat. Octavian’s favorite spell, Oana’s least favorite.

Distant grasp- Similar to his eyes, Octavian can have his hands float away to handle objects from a distance. It has the same reach as his seeking eye.

Hag claws- Not a spell but rather a natural power brought on by his ancestry. Octavian can grow out long, razor-sharp claws from his fingertips. Octavian lacks the strength to use these claws to their full extent, but as a bonus, the wounds they leave are cursed to resist healing magic and this ability can stack with his distant grasp spell.

Scourge of Circe:

Infinite ammo- Oana does not rely on physical bolts but her own considerable mana supply. This allows her to fire without reloading. Instead of bolts, she fires various hexes and curses.

Pox- Oana’s weakest, fastest-firing attack. Every hit of pox causes an outbreak of painful sores and boils. This attack is far more debilitating than deadly and Octavian often uses it for non-lethal attacks. It can easily close off eyes and ears that it hits and make limbs painful to use. Pox can also weaken tough skin for further attack. Pox takes the form of red, bubbling bolts.

Eldritch bolt- A more powerful shot of raw magical force. It takes longer to fire than pox shots, but is far more harmful, striking like a physical object.

Banshee’s scream- An earsplitting cone of sound. It doesn’t travel far, but can be used like a shotgun, attacking multiple close enemies at once.

Lashing tongue- Oana’s tongue extends several meters to latch onto a target. Octavian can use this technique to bind enemies or grapple himself up ledges.