Namid Cook
Namid Cook scribed by Kelsey Anne Lovelady.
Know Your Guide
Height. 5’4”
Weight. 132 lbs
Hair Color. Black, waist-length
Facial Hair. N/A
Eyes. Brown
Distinguishing Features. Dragonfly tattoo on her forearm
Family
Parents. Mike (Dad) , Aki (Mom)
Siblings. Ziggy (younger sister), Wenona (older sister)
Spouse. None
Children. None
Professions
By day, entrepreneur trying to open her magick and homeopathic store, specializing in the creation and commissions of dream catchers.
By night, Incubus/Sucubus hunter.
Residence
Namid lives in the studio apartment located above her shop in New Orleans.
Personal Information
General Overview. Namid is a loner, even within her own family. Sure, you could chalk that up to being the “overlooked middle child”, but no one can say her family didn’t try, despite Wenona’s overachieving student tendencies, and Ziggy’s ADHD. Namid has always had a deep connection to the world of dreams. Her dreams were always more vivid than normal, and in some cases, they could predict the future. Nothing really important. Just little conversations overheard in a specific place, easy to forget until they happened in real life. So Namid was always in her head, not really caring to have friends or take part in extracurricular activities. This has remained true through out her life into adulthood.
Nicknames. One requires friends to have nicknames. “Daughter” is about the only one she has, and that’s exclusively used by her mother. Namid is used by anyone outside the tribe for easy pronunciation.
Likes. Dreams, her culture, making dreamcatchers, magick, helping others with their nightmares and their demons (literally). Reading, keeping to herself, learning.
Dislikes. Parties, loud people, demons, incubai, sucubai, cultural appropriation for the sake of profit that DOESN’T go back to the culture the items were taken from.
Flaws And Weaknesses
Loner. Namid much prefers her own quiet company over pretty much anyone else's company. Even certain members of her immediate family, she can only stand in short periods of time. In many ways, this is good--she caused very little trouble as a child because she could keep her own company and entertain herself. But she is also on the fringe of becoming a hermit.
Stubborn Self-Reliance. Being a loner, Namid has been very self-reliant, even from an early age. She gets her chores done, does her homework or does basic adulting without having to make it a habit or be told to do it. However, this means that when she does need to ask for help, she doesn’t or she has a very hard time doing so. She will work herself to exhaustion trying to do everything by herself, and the really attentive friends have to swoop in and help her. Part of this stubbornness is that she has a difficult time trusting others. Part of it is from the trauma.
Indifferent Social Awkwardness. Namid’s lack of a social life means that there are certain social graces that she never really picked up or developed. People tend to view her as blunt to a fault or lacking in any form of empathy or sympathy because she will tell it like it is rather than entertaining irrational feelings. Namid may be a witch, but she works with facts even in her practice. She needs the essential information. Emotions tend to get in the way of that.
Skills And Abilities
Magick. Namid studied the religion and spirituality of her tribe heavily, learning everything that she could about the spirits and started to follow a path of Shamanism before she left home. She has become very familiar with the duties of the Shaman, including healing, connecting to the spirit realm, and the Shaking Tent rite.
Dream Walker. Namid’s shaman training included strengthening her connection to the spirit world and to dreams. She started off remembering her dreams more vividly, and almost being able to predict the future with them. With training, she has been able to step into the dreams of others to see what they are seeing and what might be disrupting their sleep. She is working on hunting Incubai and Sucubai while they are in the dreams of others.
Encyclopedia of Homeopathy. Namid knows everything about herbs, plants, and spices, especially how they can be used (or not used) in healing and protection. She didn’t stop learning at what was just readily available in her environment. She sought to learn about the world beyond her home.
Dream Catchers. Dream catchers originated with Ojibwe Tribe, better known as the Chippewa. As such, making dream catchers has been a long-standing tradition in Namid’s community. She started learning how to make them at a very young age due to the unnatural vividness of her childhood nightmares and night terrors. With time and experience, Namid has perfected her craft of these relics and uses them for hunting Inubai and Sucubai. They act like nets or other forms of binding traps, and their specific target can change based on the design of the web, the bead-work, the number and colors of the feathers, etc.
Shaking Tent Rite. This was a ritual used by Ojibwa tribe as well as the Cree, Innu, Penobscot, and Abenaki tribes. A client would pay a shaman like Namid to construct a tent for then. The Shaman would then enter at night and would drum and sing to summon the spirits that would take the form of animal calls of the shaking of the tent. The point of the ritual was to cure the space of negative spirits and protect it from negative magic. Namid is working on perfecting this ritual and bringing it into the modern world. She would even like to start a charity to build homes for people and then perform the ritual for every home she builds.
Personal Attire
Normal Daily Wear. Growing up in Montana, comfort, warmth, and buying small businesses rather than cooperates was the name of Namid’s game. T-shirts in the summer, flannels in the colder months, jeans and tennis shoes. New Orlean’s drastically different weather is going to be a bit of a shock for her and she’ll have to adjust.
Alternate Wear. Namid’s incubus hunting gear is that same as her regular wear but all black. Namid also has ceremonial garb from her tribe used for special occasions.
Magical Artifacts/Weapons
Thunder Healing Drum. Even though Ojibwe Shaman’s were typically male, Namid’s family wanted to stay with tradition when they realized her abilities and what she was meant to do. So they made her a thunder healing drum the way their ancestors did. This is the drum that Namid uses to communicate with spirits, and she intends to use it when she starts doing shaking tent rites.
Skinning Knife. The day Namid left Montana for New Orleans, her father was the only person to see her off. As his final farewell to her, he gave her this skinning knife “for protection”. She keeps it close and if she can find a way to smuggle it into places that would confiscate it from her, she will.
Dragonfly Totem. In indeginous traditions, animals are considered guiding spirits that watch over you--hence the term “spirit animal”. Namid has a traditional right to a spirit animal, and it is said that an animal that appears in your dreams at least 4 or more times is your spirit animal. This was the Cooks family’s first tip that Namid was more connected to the dream world and spirit realm. In the early days of her childhood, Namid would see swarms of dragonflies dancing in her dreams every single night. Dragonflies are the totems of change, emotions, spirituality, wisdom, and insight. As such, Namid has as many dragonfly items as she can get, and wears a totem that her father carved for her around her neck.
Introduction Written by Scribe
Um, hi. I’m Namid.
Um, I guess I’m supposed to introduce myself. Um. I’m eighteen. I just graduated from high school this year. I grew up in Montana, and I just moved to New Orleans. That’s about it.
Oh. Right. I guess it’s important to note that I’m a Shaman. Um, I don’t really know how. It’s just kinda something that I’ve been doing for most of my life. I’m really in touch with my dreams and the spirit realm. And I want to use my abilities to help others. There’s really not much else to say. I don’t really trust you enough to tell you the whole story. Don’t take that personally. I don’t trust anyone that much.