Monster Essays: Witches

 I’m not positive where I decided to include witches in my setting, but I know they’ve only been mentioned in passing in The Haunted Rose. They’re green, druidic humans, basically. They’re humanity’s magical cousins while not quite reaching into elf territory. Turns out witches are real and we were way off when we started those witch hunts way back. Sure did give them a reason to keep hiding among us, though. 

The list of the Covens is definitely a highlight here. May need to revisit a few of those ideas someday. As soon as I wrote “witch bikers” it felt worth writing this essay.

Dylan Eywind

History of Interspecies Relations II

Trials of Magic. A History of Witches

**B+. Felt like a bit of padding near the end but it’s a difficult topic to cover. Not as shocking as demons but more culturally in-depth than orcs. Keep up the good work.**

Early humans have always had a skeptical approach towards magic. Our initial fear of the unknown has led to magical figures to be considered something to distrust or destroy, leading to seclusion or even attacking of certain subcultures in our past. The reveal of the other intelligent races on earth led to realizing that witches have lived among us for ages and that they really prefer little to no involvement in humanity.

Witches are, when it comes down to it, among the most human-like creatures on earth alongside elves and halflings. They have most of the same characteristics with two distinct differences: their skin color (varying from ashen gray, coal black, aqua blue or frog green) and their keen attunement with magic. While witches have a relatively shallow grasp of magic compared to elves, their mastery of those basic elements is undisputable. This comes from an intensely druidic lifestyle, a combination of culture and religion that involves further changes and marking of their body. While not all witches are female, their society is fairly matriarchal so they tend to be the most powerful and outspoken.

Witches live among humans thanks to their simple but powerful magics. Given their radically different appearances, their use of illusions left them able to hide from or live among humanity.  While they have very long lives, witches seem to live off their connection with their magic. They also age accordingly, which leads to some confusion with those lacking in magic senses or training. While vaguely understood by outsiders, witches may grow slowly older or younger based on their own perceptions of themselves. Historically, witches with much to do tend to remain youthful and fit. Content or at-peace witches tend to grow older while protective ones become more motherly. Immature, wishful or naive witches may take on a more childish appearance, which remains a point of contention with some.

Witches are nearly identical to humans in terms of biology, which makes their culture and magical prowess their most defining trait. Several sub-groups of witches (such as the Night Hags or the Moon Riders) exist within this practice, which can get incredibly complex with too much digging. While divided over notions of human interference, magic practice and even diet, we will only cover the common knowledge of nigh-universal witchcraft.

Witches are already notable for their unique skintones, but they are also ritually marked (via scar or tattoo, mainly) after completing certain rituals in their culture. They are taught to honor and understand magic, and while they may teach and share these principles with humans, even trained humans find it difficult to perceive in the same way. As mentioned, they lack the deeper understanding of elves and modern magical theory. This mainly causes them to practice only a few potent uses of mana and magic; elemental control, illusion, enchantment, and perceptive magic. In fact, this focus over generations seems to have limited a witch’s ability to perform more complex spells beyond these scopes as if the spells were affixed to their DNA.

It is unknown when witches fell out or universally agreed to hide from humanity. Most assumptions are that some ancient ancestors of humanity started to indulge in the practice of magic, developing differently alongside humans. Their silent, fanatic culture of magic, ritualism and secrecy gave them somewhat cultish vibes that remain today. Similar to the focused and reclusive nature of dwarven society, these customs and practices remained deeply embedded into their entire society.

Witches were naturally hesitant to join society openly after such incidents as the Salem Witch Trials (during which they report only 1 actual witch was found, largely at random). Like dragons, they remained apart for some time  This made their practices and inner circles difficult to maintain contact with each other, leading to the many branches of their society known as “covens” that describe their particular practice and way of life. While they are too numerous to detail all of them (approximately 76 publicly known), here are a few of note:

The Night Hags: a very traditional, low-tech society that sees age as beauty.

The Moon Riders: the broom-riding equivalent of bikers who prefer to live in the air as much as possible

The Ghost Whispers: very thin and frail sorts who commit to using magic to the point of physical frailty akin to fasting. Particularly fond of binding elemental spirits to objects to animate them.

The Sisters Three: an eastern-based coven that incorporates physical fitness and martial arts into a chi-like magic system drawn from the body.

Crone Mothers: a diplomatic coven that recognizes themselves as holding some authority over the others. This is much disputed.

The Dark Harvests: a thriving family in the Southern US that farms exotic vegetables

The trend of their dark and intimidating names appear to mostly be rooted in warding off others, attracting only the genuinely interested in joining them while repelling humans from any mention. When interviewed about the naming of the Midnight Watchers, an ancient order of policing their own kind, 1500-year-old Arideth Thatch (a founding member of the coven) was quoted in explaining “We basically thought it would sound cool.”

Many witches remain in hiding, concealing their natural appearance out of habit and to maintain the lives they may have established for hundreds of years. Younger witches tend to be more open about their ways, as well as being quicker to question their ancient traditions. They are fully capable of interbreeding with humans, creating any number of expectedly colorful offspring. Even those who shake off the secretive practices have shown natural promise with wielding magic, stirring up some debate within their own circles on the importance of their many rituals and traditions. Still, the fact that they are willing to share themselves and their culture are good signs of humanity’s conquering of its fears and xenophobia in welcoming another green cousin into its midst.