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Jan. 12th, 2018 11:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
grainneogPLEASE NOTE THAT THERE ARE MASSIVE SPOILERS FOR SHEPHERD'S CROWN IN THIS APP.
IF YOU HAVEN'T READ SHEPARD'S CROWN YET PLEASE GO HERE FOR A SPOILER FREE VERSION.
OOC INFORMATION IF YOU HAVEN'T READ SHEPARD'S CROWN YET PLEASE GO HERE FOR A SPOILER FREE VERSION.
Name: Gil
Are you over 15? Yes
Contact: PM to this journal, thebalrogslayer or dolthalion.
Current characters in the game: Akeldama | Parasol Protectorate
IC INFORMATION
PREINCARNATION
Name: Nanny (Gytha) Ogg. Nanny is an honorific (common in witches, see also 'Granny', 'Old Mother', etc.), and used indiscriminately, despite people's actual relationship to her.
Canon: Discworld
Age: Not known exactly. She's an agile older woman, old enough to have great-grandchildren but definitely still completely mobile. Somewhere around 70.
Species: Witch (human)
Appearance: Image 1 Image 2 (with Granny Weatherwax and Count Casanunda) and Image 3 (front centre, with Greebo on her shoulders), all by Discworld's official artist, Paul Kidby.
Short and round, with an infectious (and apparently indecent) smile. She looks like a storybook grandmother, but wearing the all black of a witch (with a few of her own embellishments). Nanny is down to one tooth, but doesn't let it slow her down.
History: Wiki link | Discworld wiki link
Nanny comes into the stories as an already aged woman, so most of her history is pieced together. We know that she was born in the small kingdom of Lancre, and while we don't know how far she travelled in her youth we do know that she made up ground in her sexual exploits (which she remembers fondly). She has survived three husbands (Albert, Winston and Sobriety Ogg – when it comes to Oggs, whoever it is that marries in takes the name), has fifteen surviving children, and countless grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She chose to be a witch as a young lady, which probably wasn't much of a surprise as magic seems to run through the Ogg family, and she is particularly headstrong. Since narrativity is a driving force on the Discworld (and given her own comments on the matter), she very quickly fell into the 'mother' role of the triple goddess myth that guides witches roles ('maiden', 'mother' and '...the other one'), a role that is, as is pointed out in the books, pretty much Nanny shaped anyway.
At the beginning of the novels, during Wryd Sisters, she is part of a reluctant coven (reluctant on her friend and fellow witch, Granny Weatherwax's behalf, anyway: Nanny seems quite cheerful about the whole affair) brought together by the youngest Lancre witch, Magrat. The novel follows a round about version of Macbeth, during which Nanny is captured and failed to be tortured by said king, and ends up taking home a brick so that the usurped king in the form of a ghost may leave the castle grounds (this leads to her taking home all of the ghosts of the castle). She then aids Granny in moving the whole country forwards in time so that the usurped king's son may age in the outside world and then return to the country to take the crown without them having to wait fifteen years, but in the end they end up placing his half brother, and Magrat's not-quite boyfriend, Verence, on the throne.
Their second adventure, Witches Abroad, takes place not long afterwards, when Magrat is named fairy godmother to a not-quite-princess in a far off land, and Granny decides to accompany her to keep an eye on her, and absolutely not for any other reasons such as the wand that she didn't want anyway. Nanny accompanies them, where her 'expertise' in foreign languages and cultures (acquired second hand, through one of her sons who is a sailor) luckily fails to slow them down on the way. At one stage, she bets away all their money and her broomstick, but Granny steps in to win them back. Nanny's cat, Greebo, does manage to eat a vampire while in the form of a bat, so at least one village actually profits from their passing through. She manages to survive a house falling on her head (luckily, Ogg's heads are extremely hard – apparently they have a dwarf in the family tree somewhere - and witch's hats are usually very well reinforced). When they reach the city, Nanny quickly sets about settling in and making friends with the locals, including the castle cook and the local witch (who, in fact, is a bit more of a voodoo lady), thus in her own way finding out what's going on. Granny's sister, Lily, has been tyrannically forcing the city into her own Disneyland fairytale, including trying to force Emberella, the daughter of the usurped duke (and Magrat's goddaughter) to marry Lily's frog prince, the Duc. They set out to disrupt her plans, hindered by narrativity which leads the story on. Magrat takes Emberella's place at the inevitable ball, accompanied by Greebo, who now has been turned human to stop Emberella's coach. Nanny and Granny also sneak in by 'acquiring' dresses from other attendees, and Nanny is flattered to find herself under the attention of Count Casanunda, a dwarf and 'the world's second greatest lover' (he tries harder). They fail and are captured by Lily, but saved by the voodoo lady, who goes to place Emberella on the throne, leaving the witches to go the long way home, via the elephants (but they still get home faster than any of Nanny's frequent letters to her family).
The third witches novel, Lords and Ladies, takes place immediately after they return to Lancre, during the preparations for Magrat's marriage to Verence. While they were gone, a new coven with 'modern' ideas have started in their absence – and also dancing by the Dancers (a stone circle that guards the entrance to fairyland). Granny takes on their head, Diamanda, in a staring contest, and Nanny saves Granny from defeat by encouraging one of her grandchildren to enter the circle, knowing that Granny will stop to save the child and therefore win in the eyes of the people of Lancre. Diamanda runs away to fairyland, but Granny follows and saves her, while Nanny uses a poker to subdue an elf that follows her (elves, in Discworld, are not great and gracious, but rather the terrible terrors that the ancient celts knew them as, destructive, malicious and greedy, but with a glamour that renders humans in awe of them). Nanny's son and his troupe of Morris men inadvertently release the elves from fairyland while performing a play about a donkey and the queen of the elves, that may or may not have some similarities to another play by Shakespeare, but all of the witches are too busy to catch them at it (Nanny has once again caught the eye of Casanunda, who is treating her to a date). Once Nanny realises what's happening, she takes Casanunda on a trip to the land of the king of the elves (the entrance to which is under a suspiciously shaped barrow, and marked with ancient Oggham), and asks him for his aid. Meanwhile, Granny has been captured by the elves, but Magrat has rallied and taken them on. The elven king arrives and returns the elves to fairyland, leaving Magrat and Verence to finally marry.
Maskerade takes place after Lords and Ladies. Since Magrat has left the witches to become a queen, the rule of three has been broken in the coven, leaving Granny Weatherwax restless. Nanny, recognising this, has to find a solution before Granny starts causing actual problems. Nanny thinks that Agnes, one of the witches from Diamanda's coven, might make a good third witch, but she has gone to Ankh-Morpork, the largest (and smelliest) city on the disc to try and make her way as a singer. Conveniently, in between the events of Lord and Ladies and Maskerade, Nanny has published a book on cookery and other wifely advice (such as where to appropriately sit the weasel juggler, and how to organise the fight at a wedding. Handily, this book has actually been published for all to enjoy) under the name of 'the Lancre Witch', and when Granny finds out (and finds out that Nanny is owed a pretty penny in royalties), she insists that they make the trip to Ankh-Morpork to speak to the publishers. Oh, and check in on Agnes. Just in case. Agnes has found her way to the opera house, which appears to be haunted by an opera ghost with a very particular mask and box, a young, beautiful protégé, and a penchant for killing off members of staff. Upon arrival in Ankh-Morpork, Nanny and Granny head to a 'boarding house' that one of Nanny's sons has recommended (but turns out to be a brothel, where, to Nanny's surprise, Granny is already known and welcomed from a previous visit to Ankh-Morpork), and then hunt down the publishers. After a bit of persuasion from Granny the publishers fork over several thousand dollars worth of royalties, an inconceivable amount for Nanny, who thinks that fifty dollars is a fortune. Having found out about the opera ghost they set out to solve the mystery, and Granny decides to spend Nanny's royalties on buying the Ghost's box. She sets about spending vast amounts on the trappings needed to appear rich enough to buy it, while Nanny integrates herself into the staff. The ghost is revealed to be two people – the cleaner, who is the 'true' ghost, and the director of music who has been manipulating the cleaner, stealing money from the opera, and killing those who find out, while using the identity of the ghost as a cover. Nanny discovers that the cleaner, in his ghost guise, has been writing musicals in the basement, and he takes over as director of music, leaving the witches to return to Lancre.
The final witches book is Carpe Jugulum, which starts with the announcement of the christening of Magrat and Verence's first child. Invitations have gone to all, far and wide, including the wizards of Ankh-Morpork, and the vampyre family, the Magpyres (who have used self help techniques to cure themselves of any awkward issues with traditional vampire problems such as garlic, religious objects and light, and consider themselves very modern and forward thinking). Unfortunately, Granny hasn't received hers. With Agnes now in the coven, and Magrat taking on the mother role, Granny sees this as a slight, indicating that Nanny will move onto the Hag role and Granny will be pushed out. Unfortunately, it seems that narrativity believes it too, and when she leaves Nanny starts to take on the role unwillingly. With the Magpyres taking over the castle, Nanny, Magrat and Agnes set out with the baby to find Granny and encourage her to come back. They find her, but she refuses to return, leaving them to face the vampyres on their own. When all seems lost, Granny returns, exhausted and soaked, only to be defeated by the vampyres and bitten. Nanny takes Magrat and the baby away to keep them safe, believing that Granny might have put a part of herself in the baby to allow the Magpyres to believe that she has been beaten. They end up at their castle by accident, and barricade themselves there. Luckily, as the old Count was a traditionalist, it is full of useful religious relics and holy water, and, as Nanny finds out when the vampyres turn up, they are suddenly working again on them. It turns out that rather than hiding herself in the baby, Granny hid herself in her own blood, causing the vampyres to be 'Weatherwaxed', rather than Granny becoming a vampyre. At the end of the day, the old Count is resurrected, and he promises the witches that he will take the young vampyres and reteach them the old stupid ways, so that equilibrium can be restored.
After that, Nanny appears only as a secondary character. In the Thief of Time, she is called upon repeatedly throughout her life as the best midwife in the world, until the caller finally finds her at the time where she is. She is then taken to help the personification of Time give birth.
She appears briefly at the end of Wee Free Men, along with Granny, as they were both called as unnecessary aid. As normal, she is a foil to Granny, as they introduce Tiffany to the world of adult witches (which Tiffany has had no exposure to so far, living in a place without them). Nanny appears again in Wintersmith, where she takes over after the death of Tiffany's previous mentor. This turns out to be useful, as Tiffany is being pursued by the Wintersmith, the embodiment of winter, who believes he's in love with her, and as we know, Nanny is very experienced in such things. Finally, in The Shepherd's Crown, following the death of Granny Weatherwax, Tiffany takes over her steading, as well as running her own on the chalk. Obviously, Nanny is close during the time of Granny's death, and helps Tiffany lay her to rest, although she has to resort to drinking to be able to do so.
After Granny's death, Nanny would have continued to work her steading until she knew of her death, at which point she would have thrown a huge party that probably would have lasted for as long as she had left.
REINCARNATION
Name: Gytha Ogg
Age: 95ish (due to lying about her age so many times in the past no one is sure exactly how old she is)
Appearance: Gytha has more teeth (or at least, more dentures) than her pre-incarnation, but is very similar in looks. However, she is older, and currently can only walk with the help of a walker. Where she hunches up to use it it, and her lack of mobility make her look shorter.
History: Gytha was born in 1929, a middle daughter in a fair sized family, in Folkton. At the start of WWII she lied about her age to sign up as a nurse for the uniform (and the access to the men of the military nudge nudge wink wink), where she worked throughout the war and met her first husband. Unfortunately, he died not long after the war from injuries from it, leaving her with her first child (Jason) and pregnant with her second. She found employment as a nurse in Mossgate hospital (see first echo), and worked there for three years before she found her second husband.
Leaving the hospital to have her third child, she spent the next twenty years as a stay at home mother, supplementing her husband's income by taking on washing and sewing, doing the odd bit of child-minding for the local mothers, and very occasionally helping out at Moss Manor when they needed extra hands for parties or events. She often stepped in as midwife to the local ladies. This income didn't necessarily come in the form of money: often it was favours to be paid forward, but also in food and clothing.
Her second husband died in 1965, and she caused a minor scandal by remarrying the same year to a man with whom she had another three children, bringing her total to 11, before they stopped trying in 1975, after a dangerous miscarriage. She was not without children to dote on, as by this point she had grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as the various children and relatives of children she had nursed or child-minded in the village; truly the tyrannical matriarch of a veritable army. At this point she returned to nursing, until her retirement at the turn of the millennium, ten years after the death of her husband. Even after her retirement she continued to child-mind and help out around the village, as well as involving herself with as many layers of official and unofficial politics as she could.
Sometime around 2010, as her mobility started to decline, her family started to encourage her to move from the cottage in Folkton where she has always lived. Shawn, one of Jason's grandchildren, whose Mossgate house had a convenient granny flat already installed, and had no wife or children as an excuse, was selected as her
First Echo: After managing to find employment as a nurse after her first husband's death, she found herself shoved onto the midwifing team, because that was obviously the best place for a young widow. This is how she came to end up in front of a screaming mother-to-be for the first time, something that probably wasn't as much of a surprise (but probably equally abrupt) for her pre-incarnation. Fortunately for her, the mother, and the baby, she echoed back Nanny's skills as a midwife, and all three survived the encounter. She went on to be known for her rather unusual (unhygienic, and sometimes even unsavoury) techniques, but equally how effective they were.
PERSONALITY
Pre-Incarnation Personality: A kind person would describe Nanny as a headstrong, mischievous, cheerful old lady. An unkind one may instead refer to her as a meddling, infuriating drunkard. She would refer to herself as a mother/grandmother(/great-grandmother) first and a witch second.
Her main personality trait is her cheerfulness. She is full of life and laughter, and enjoys a good joke (especially if it's a little bit naughty). In the books, it serves as a direct contrast to Granny Weatherwax's stern disposition. Nanny is always smiling and laughing, always ready to make light of the situation (or take it to the pub). The only time we ever see her taking on her a sterner, more serious character is when in Carpe Jugulum the balance of the three witches gets disturbs and she starts being knocked into the 'hag' role. This leads to her becoming more like Granny, but by the end of the novels they have evened out their places in the world and she is back to her sunny self. Throughout all of their trials and tribulations she stays light and jokey, no matter what they are dealing with. She is quick to song, and quick to the bottle, and if you can't find her the best place to look is normally the pub. She has a very positive outlook on life in general, but she is also a realist, and she knows when shit is hitting the proverbial fan (and therefore, most importantly, when to duck). As a witch, she has to be there for the good and the bad, it's just in her nature to always see the glass half full.
That isn't to say that she can't be firm when she needs to be. Nanny is the definition of a soft outer layer around an absolutely solid core. She is not a pushover in any way, shape or form. While she is very flexible, it's only until you meet her limits, at which point she stands absolutely firm. For example, in Maskerade, she is unleashed on those at the opera house rich enough to buy a box, and who are particularly demanding despite not realising that she has replaced the usual staff. She makes her displeasure known with a few shaken bottles of champagnes, and a later comment about repainting the ceiling. Since she is a witch, she has a very firm grip on the world, and one would have to get up extremely early to try and get one over on her. While she bumbles through life, she does so with a purpose behind her, and that is enough to get her through any situation.
Nanny's pleasure and talent is other people. She is friendly and open to everyone, and in return people tend to like her as well. Granny comments that her relationship with the people of the village is almost magic in itself. The other way it's summed up is that people won't dare to not do what Granny asks, but they don't mind doing things that Nanny asks them to do. Nanny remarks in the short story the Sea and Little Fishes that she prefers to be runner up, because people like runners up better (and buy them drinks), and that 'almost winning' is a much better compliment than 'only just won'. People tend to like her, and to go to her for advice, and she is kind when kindness is needed. She's also particularly good at manipulating people to get involved in whatever she wants them to do or to give her things. She is broadminded and has no prejudice against race, religion or sexuality. She is also extremely open minded when it comes to sex in general, and generally doesn't care to hide her nature. She spends half of Carpe Jugulum telling Agnes that if nothing else works, she should just marry the vampire that is attracted to her, throwing around several suggestions for the wedding night (some of which involve stakes, but not all). This is the author of the joy of snacks, with recipes such as carrot and oyster pie ('carrots so you can see in the dark, oysters so you have something to see), the strawberry wobbler, and maids of honour ('weeeell, they starts out as maids of honour, but they ends up tarts'). We also know that she was very active when she was younger, and isn't ashamed of it, and that's aside from the three husbands and fifteen surviving children.
Nanny's family is both her power and her strength. She is an absolute monarch of an entire clan of Oggs, from whom she demands complete devotion. While she's the first to coo over any baby, she is a nightmare to any daughters in law, using them as domestic servants and terrorising them, while never bothering to learn their names. There is a hierarchy in the Ogg clan based on Nanny's current opinion, and physically represented by the pictures in her house. Pride of place belongs to the current favourite, and less favoured members are placed further away, and even, horrors of horrors, in the corridor. No Ogg would dare to venture out into the outside world and not return with a gift for her, and her house is also filled with these nick-knacks. It's also very convenient to be the mother of the Lancre army, herald, and palace butler (ie, Shawn Ogg, Lancre is, after all, quite a small country), and able to call up a mob on a whim, especially when one has a 'secret' still that needs to stay in operation, or vampires have taken over the castle.
Bearing in mind her age, and occupation, Nanny has seen most of the best and worst that people have to offer. Even though she isn't well travelled at the beginning of the books, her knowledge is all in people and she is a very good study. By the end of the books, especially for a small town lady, she is very well travelled, and even more experienced in the people of the world. She's an extremely good witch, an even better midwife and more over extremely confident in herself and her abilities. She is not one for introspection or self doubt, and propels herself through life knowing that everything will turn out for the best (and if it doesn't, there'll probably be a pub somewhere, which will do just as well).
Any differences?: For ease of understanding, I will be referring to Pre-Incarnation Nanny as Nanny, and reincarnated Nanny as Gytha.
Gytha comes from a very different world to Nanny, with two major differences that have shaped her character: firstly, on the Disc, narrativity and stories are a fundamental force, and a power to be used, and secondly, the patriarchy and subjugation of women as it exists on Earth does not occur in the same way where she's from. Both of these have impacted her growing up, and altered how she sees the world and her place in it.
Narrativity and the role of stories are a literal force of nature on the Discworld. There is always a good witch and a bad witch, witches always come in threes, and any ring thrown into the sea will always reappear when you next have fish for supper. This doesn't necessarily mean that one's path is set, especially if one knows how to twist stories to one's advantage, and while Granny is the expert in manipulating stories that doesn't mean that Nanny can't hold her own when it comes to it. Gytha, on the other hand, comes from a world where stories are just that – stories – and she doesn't expect to be able to shape the future using them. This means that she is both less tied down by the path that narrativity leads, but also less 'canon savvy'; less able to read the present and the future based on what has come before. Where Nanny would read a situation and see several paths that it might lead down (and how she can manipulate them to the one that suits her best), Gytha would use experience, both in life and with people, to try and nudge things in the direction that best suits her.
While some echoes of patriarchy can be found in Lancre culture (primarily in the way that Magrat sees herself as queen), as both a witch and as the head of a matriarchal family, Nanny has never found herself coming up against them in a way that would prevent her from doing anything that she wants to do. Nanny will quite happily let people see her as a little old lady should it suit her, but only for as long as that is the case, at which point she will rocket out of the role with some force. If anything, she is the worst perpetrator we see, with the way that she treats her daughters in law, forcing them to take care of her and her house, while not even bothering to learn their names. On the other hand, Gytha has spent all of her life coming up against places and situations where she, as a woman, could not involve herself, and while she is still not one to take it lying down, she has developed different methods of dealing with it. While Nanny would walk completely unrepentantly into a male only space and expect to be accepted, Gytha would either send a male relative to do what she needs to do, or find a back entrance and enter in disguise. She's used to having to find work arounds to get what she wants, in a way that Nanny has never had to, and she's had to work harder to make her way. She's also kinder to her daughters in law (although she's still a ferocious matriarch), accepting them as one of her own, with all the advantages and disadvantages that brings. She still expects them to wait on her – as she does for all of her children.
This has also led Nanny and Gytha to strive for different things in different ways over their lifetimes. While Nanny has never had to seek out or struggle for her place in the world, Gytha has. And on the other hand, Gytha has never had to seek out knowledge or skills (especially since her main ability she acquired through an echo), whereas Nanny acquired the skill originally through hard work.
Witches are blessed with ability to know when and how they will die, something that obviously Gytha is lacking. This may seem like a minor difference, but for a lady in her 90s, death is around every corner, and while Gytha isn't one to dwell on her mortality, she is prepared to die. Nanny, on the other hand, knows that she knows when she'll die, and so while she hasn't had that precognition why should she worry about death? Besides, she's met him several times and he seems like a fairly nice person, for a skeleton. For Nanny, death is something to worry about when she knows it's going to happen. For Gytha, death could happen at any time, so she always needs to be wearing her best knickers. Just in case.
Abilities:
Healing/midwifery: Most of witchcraft is a combination of being the local wise woman and healer, and most witches have specialities. Nanny's is midwifery, and she is acknowledged by the books as the best midwife on the disc, but she is also an all around carer for the local population. Witches take care of those who can't take care of themselves, including the old, the young, and the infirm. They are generally talented herbalists and healers, but Nanny also has a particular talent for being a listening ear and providing praise, sympathy, or a sharp poke where needed.
Headology: is the Discworld version of psychology and the main driving force of witches' power. Headology is using people's expectations, wishes and 'knowledge' with and against them to achieve your own desire. In Wintersmith, a witch is struggling to explain to a family why having their toilet by their well is causing them to get sick: Granny solves the issue by telling them that there are goblins being attracted by the smell and they understand that and immediately start moving it. Headology is also the reasoning behind the witches uniform: people see a witches hat and immediately think witch; being instantly recognisable solves a lot of problems (and causes a few in areas where witches are less respected than in the Ramtops, which is why some travelling witches have to have stealth hats). Headology does have some magic to it to back it up: using a voodoo practitioner's belief in her voodoo doll causing suffering to the person it represents and turning it against them by sticking a hand in the fire and setting fire to the doll. Granny is the absolute high example of headology, but Nanny can certainly hold her own next to her. Word of God is that Nanny is actually the most powerful of the witches, but is clever enough not to let Granny know, which means that her cheerful bumbling charisma is also a form of headology to protect her from her friend.
Magic: The most important thing that a witch learns as she grows in the craft is that the more skilled you are, the less magic you use. However, despite avoiding it, witches are definitely able to use magic when necessary. When using magic, witches tend to look for the easiest spot, or the right place to place a lever, to use the least amount of magic for the most effect. For example, a door is opened by convincing the wood that it is still alive, causing it to start growing again, or by convincing Greebo completely and utterly that he is human, he is able to turn human. Nanny is, by her own admission, extremely powerful, but doesn't work hard at it, and is generally able to get her way without having to resort to magic. Witches are unable to use magic on iron (but that doesn't stop them from turn skin unpiercable, or stopping injuries from taking effect until later).
Scrying and fortune telling: Witches can use anything reflective to scry in; fancy glass balls are for wizards and witches who place too much emphasis on things and not enough on ability. Anyone can see the future in a glass ball: it takes a really talented person to see it in a puddle. Examples given in the books are a saucer full of water with black ink and a glass buoy brought back by one of Nanny's sons. On top of this, witches all have a lesser or greater degree of natural fortune telling. Some of this comes from their greater knowledge than the world around them, but some is actual magic. While Nanny doesn't really use this in her day to day life, it does pop up from time to time, such as when she's thinking about Agnes and it causes the ghost's mask to show up in her tea cup. Additionally, witches are always granted a premonition of when they are going to die, usually a day or two before the fact.
Demon summoning: Nanny is the most experienced witch we are introduced to in Discworld at demon summoning, something which is traditionally considered a wizard skill. This is because demons are generally male (or at least appear to be so). Unlike most wizards, however, Nanny is completely aware that you can use whatever you want to summon a demon, as long as you get the words and the feeling right. This leads to the witches summoning a demon in her washroom using the scrubbing brush of Art and washboard of Protection. Traditionally, once summoned, demons can be asked three questions, but will do their best to wiggle out of giving helpful answers.
Flying: Witches generally use broomsticks to fly, and Nanny is no exception (although she does tell Casanunda that she has also tried using yarrow stalks). She is perfectly capable of flying long distances, but prefers not to as the long term disadvantages are cold and sore nether-regions, if you know what I mean.
Borrowing: is an ability that most witches have touched on at some point, but also uncommon as a talent. It is the ability to ride alongside an animal's mind – not taking over it (as a wizard would do) – but gently guiding it, so that you are able to be one with the animal. The major risk is becoming too involved or attached and being unable to return to your own mind. The longer you borrow, the harder it is to return. Additionally, some witches find the idea of borrowing distasteful. While borrowing, your body takes on a comatose state, cold and barely breathing. Nanny is able to borrow, but does not. At some point, she borrowed a rabbit, and became too involved and was stuck there for three days before Granny retrieved her.
Relationship with Death, Gods, and other supernatural beings: Witches are able to see these beings that other adults generally can't. Being a witch, she is well acquainted with Death in particular, and considers him a nice enough being, despite what he is. She was called to be midwife for the personification of Time.
Hard head: literally. Nanny has survived having a house dropped on her head, as well as being hit with a bottle of champagne. Apparently there's a dwarf somewhere down the family line, and her extremely well built hats are also helpful.
Languages: despite being unable to actually speak any foreign languages, Nanny has the ability to make herself known in the mishmash of languages that she actually uses. This is probably a side affect of her ability to make herself comfortable in any environment, see social and interpersonal skills below. She is also able to understand the Nac Mac Feegle, despite their heavy accents.
Singing (and musical instruments): Nanny's singing apparently isn't so much bad as extremely invasive. When combined with the acoustics of a metal bathtub it causes the village to retreat to their houses in a panic. She is certainly an enthusiastic singer, and always the first to jump on any table top and begin a rousing verse of 'the hedgehog can never be buggered at all', or any similar folk song. She's also capable of getting a tune from pretty much any instrument, although again, 'enthusiastic' is probably the most accurate representation of her skill level.
Brewing and distilling: Nanny is a very skilled brewer and has a 'secret' still in the woods since brewing is technically illegal in Lancre. She is able to brew scrumble, which is an extremely strong spirit made from apples. Mostly apples.
Social and interpersonal skills: This is not a supernatural ability, although it is compared to one several times. Nanny is extremely talented with people, and very good at getting accepted into any place or situation. A good example is in Maskerade, where within a day of arriving, she knows the names of a large amount of the people working at the opera house, as well as their health and their family, and is totally accepted as one of their own. She knows how to insert herself, and how to make people comfortable around her in a way that means that she doesn't need to find out things: people will tell her. Nanny's social awareness and skill means that she is even able to manipulate Granny Weatherwax when she needs to. And, on the flip side, she is also able to feel comfortable in every situation, making herself at home no matter what's going on.
ROLEPLAY SAMPLES
Third Person: “Choo chichoo! Who's a big boy! And him at only two weeks, too. He'll be eating you out of house and home soon enough, Lou.” Nanny finally looked up from the baby in her hands to grin mischievously at the tired looking mother in front of her. She always made a point to check on first time mothers more often, but knowing that Lou was struggling more than some she had popped in yet again as she was 'just passing through'. Not that that wasn't entirely true – Bev's youngest down the road had a bad cough again, and old Rob needed seeing too as well (not to mention popping in for a cuppa and a natter with Sharon to catch up on some of the gossip she might have missed out on).
“I sees his grandparents finally came down to see him.” She added, happily, nodding towards the basket on the table. She knew perfectly well that they had been over because she told the grandfather on no uncertain terms to get his arse over there. “What did they think of his name?”
“I'm not sure. Dad said it was a bit weird.”
“He'll get used to it.” Nanny said, firmly, finally handing the baby back over to her. “Just like he will your husband, for all that he's a foreigner.”
“Nanny, he only comes from over the mountain.”
“Like I said, a foreigner.”
Network: Here and here
ANYTHING ELSE? Combo request for Greebo here; application for Greebo here. Please note that the spoiler warning given at the top is only there because this is a sample application, SOE's policy on spoilers can be found here, and reads as follows:
Characters can be applied for from one month after the first international release date. For six months after the first international release date, they must have a spoiler warning on their application, an opt-in for spoilers on their info post, and may not receive spoilery echoes.
Combo app request
Date: 2018-01-12 11:46 am (UTC)OOC INFORMATION
Name: Gil
Are you over 15? Yes
Contact: PM to this journal, thebalrogslayer or dolthalion.
Current characters in the game: Glorfindel/Gabriel West – Tolkien's Middle-earth
IC INFORMATION
Names: Nanny (Gytha) Ogg and Greebo
Canon: Discworld
Why should they be combined? Greebo is Nanny's pet cat, whom she has had since he was a fluffy kitten. While he has a large home territory (even when he isn't actually at home) and is extremely independent, Nanny is also the centre of his world (physically, rather than mentally, as it would be for a dog), and he always comes back to her. He has a human form, but only because of her and her fellow witches, and doesn't have a full human consciousness in it. Cats in Discworld have more personality than cats in the real world (the author is very much a Cat Person), and on top of this he is a witch's cat, so he was already approaching sentience before he acquired a human form, and in it the only real difference is that he can now speak (sort of) and therefore reason with speaking characters. He is very much described as a cat in a human's body and all of his actions and reactions come back to his catness.