astor family

THE ASTOR FAMILY

HISTORY

the astors are a long line of werewolves that have a rich history and much experience in magic, being regarded by many witches as perhaps the best, even being traced back as the founders of magical connections, to their most ancient ancestor, ardolph astor. they have invented many spells used today, and have created many complex spells of their own for personal use within the family. because of their contribution to the magical community, they are paid a generous sum of money every so often by some magical councils and committees as a form of "royalty" or appreciation of their work.

perhaps the most important, at least in the eyes of the family themselves, spell the astors have developed is that which they use to light the flame of their lighthouse. initially being used to bring heat and keep ardolph astor alive, it is now used to light the lighthouse beacon, guiding in boats and acting as the living heart of the town. each astor lends a splinter of their own soul to the flame with this spell, feeding in a portion of their own magic. it can only be used by those who have astor blood flowing through their veins, and the spell is a long process, taking an entire day to cast. this leads to an almost ritual of some sorts that each astor child must undertake when they are of age. the spell is permanent, and once part of a soul has been shared, it cannot be retrieved until death, no matter how many extra people may cast the spell afterwards.

ardolph astor was the founding astor. he left home as a teenager at midnight, sneaking onto a boat and when discovered, changed his name and invented his own new persona. he learned the ropes and grew up sailing, and when he matured, he left the sea and travelled even moreso on foot and on horseback. throughout his travels he met many people and fell in love, however more importantly established connections with familiar spirits and deities. he eventually found himself settling on ardolph's point so he could build on these connections, and they spoke to him about the universe. as he toed between the links of humans to magical energy, he was given many gifts of knowledge about magic, however was also brought the curse of lycanthropy, which he spread it to his children, who spread it to others. in a lycanthropic rage, he created a rift through a magical barrier seperating his own plane of existance on earth to others in a desperate attempt to find the deity who cursed him. and this is where he met his end.

GENERAL TRAITS / DISTINGUISHING FEATURES

the astor bloodline is made up entirely of werewolves who are wizards.

generally, member of the astor family have bay-coloured skin that is covered in freckles, and dark, curly hair.
they usually have a snout-like nose, and quite round features.

ARDOLPH'S POINT AT INNISOILEÁN - THE ASTOR LIGHTHOUSE

the astors have kept and resided in a lighthouse located on ardolph's point; a headland ("cape") on the edge of the small coastal town of Innisoileán in England, and seemingly always covered in a storm. the lighthouse itself is built into the cliffside, and has a view than overlooks and in the lower parts of the lighthouse, can be underneath the sea. the astors have remained undisturbed for almost all of their time spent here, mostly due to the remote location and rumours throughout the surrounding area telling of beasts that shouldn't be reckoned with.

ardolph astor left his home to travel and to research ; he had made connections with familiar spirits, and as he realised that he needed a space to write logs and to establish solid connections with himself and existance, he settled at ardolph's point, building a shelter that over time, has become what the lighthouse is today. in the more modern scale, it has undergone various changes and reinforcements such as adding electricity and replacing eroded walls. it has 6 flights of stairs (84 steps) and has 21 used rooms, with much more space that is unused for various reasons. there are many secret passages throughout the lighthouse, and in front of almost every wall in the house, there is a bookshelf, which is filled with books that hold various tales and many secrets of astor magic, including logs written by astor himself.

the lighthouse is lit by using the lighthouse-lighting spell developed by the astor family, which entails binding their own souls and magic to the lighthouse flame, keeping it lit in the worst conditions and ridding the surrounding area of unpleasant auras, allowing the town to live and maintain itself.

the town was build around the construction of the lighthouse, perhaps somewhere in the 1400s. it's a common misconception of the public and those who don't live there to simply refer to it as "ardolph's point", however although ardolph himself established the town setting, he named it Innisoileán ("recount"/ "standing in the water of a remote location") ; the nickname came many years later, most likely from the astors themselves who were commemorating their ancestor.

"So ardolph's point. That's the town, or moreso what people who don't live there call it- People who DO live there simply call it "the Town" and know that Ardolph's Point is actually the place where the astor lighthouse is; a few miles away and on a small peninsula. It's better to cycle there, and is pretty straightforward at that,,, You just follow the sea along a cliff and beside numerous rye fields, along the path where the marram refuses to grow to avoid getting trampled on, through the forest where "you mustn't go, dear" and there you are.
The town itself is on a steep hill, and at the bottom is the harbour and beach. The beach is below a small cliff that is still a good few feet drop, and for most of the year isn't even visible; the tide is often so high that it's level with the harbour path, but during summer when it doesn't rain so much (yet is much more lightning-y), the tide is so much further out and one can take a path down to the beach. In the opposite direction to ardolph's point is the path to the city, which is an hour's bus journey away. This direction is where people tend to live (people including carmen's uncle and originally Digs too).
Overall, there isn't much in this town. People just don't tend to visit here if they don't live here or aren't going out fishing; sure it's a nice place but there's better places; ones without monsters and storms. There wouldn't even be a bus if boats didn't come in so often."