The Witch is the most hated, most feared and most revered of all the usual supernatural and preternatural beings. (The Voodist and Hoodist are the only ones that are feared more, but they are not common and so rare to come across that one could search a hundred years and not come across a true one.) Their abilities stem from the same ability as the Wicca, where they “become one” with a magic. However, the Witch doesn’t have to be born a Witch, or be endowed by the power of the magic to become a witch, like the Wicca. The Witch can simply have a small amount of magical talent and get the attention of a Demon-God. (True Gods, Malds, etc. will have nothing to do with a Witch in truth. They may summon their services from time to time, but they would never create one. They all consider it an abomination.)

The Witch, as stated, can get the attention of a Demon-God, or Demon-Mald, and have them imbue them with the magic until the Witch can finally become part of the magic. This is almost only Grey and Black Magics due to the nature of those that are making the agreement. When this agreement is made, the Witch will usually lose their soul in the bargain, but gain mass amount of power. The issue is that when their soul has left their body, the body will begin to decay as though dead (This will not happen over night. Usually a Witch will remain in their natural state until their body naturally grows old and they would naturally begin to decay. The problem is that most Witches can live for two or three hundred years beyond their races natural age. Unlike most Wizards, Sorcerers, etc. they will not stop aging and will eventually fall apart if they don’t, constantly, use their magic to keep themselves young. This is what promotes the stereo type of the old haggard Witch.)

The Warlock is a bit different in this respect. Due to the nature of the agreement, and the nature of the beings that will help a male witch, the Warlock stops aging the moment the agreement is made, and will no longer age as long as they are holding true to their agreement. Even the Demon-God can not alter this part of the pact. However, if the Warlock goes against the agreement, in anyway, they are instantly transformed to the age they would have been if the agreement had never been made. (Many Warlocks have killed themselves due to this single clause, by going against the Demon-God, or doing something out of the character of the agreement.)

Because the Witch, like the Wicca, take so long casting spells, their magic is immensely powerful but very slow, they resort to using brews. These brews, called Witches’ Brews, can be placed into a vile and when the vile is smashed, the spell is cast. This is a refined art and will not work with every spell, but with many. The Witch will take one of these vials and smash it, or two or three of them, at the beginning of the match. When the vials are destroyed the spells are cast and the spells then protect her while she begins a much bigger spell. Like the Wicca, she can not be disturbed during this spell or she will have to start over. Most of the spells of the Witch not only take longer to chant, but are also delayed after the manna is spent into it. Thus, after this long chant, the spell may take up to eight rounds before it is cast. In the mean time, the Witch must defend herself and uses familiars to do so.

The Witch can not domesticate animals at all, and thus the normal creatures known as common creatures, can’t be used by the Witch. Due to this fact, the Witch has to use familiars to defend herself. These are creatures, beasts, etc. that are summoned, or trained from birth to become a familiar. They will house a portion of manna that the Witch can draw on, or they will have certain abilities that will help the Witch in a crucial time. These familiars are not just beings to be tossed aside. Most Witches only have their familiars as friends and if you attack a Witches familiar, you are attacking the Witch directly in their eyes. Most familiars will come with a nasty side to their character that will be shown if the Witch gets low on health or if you attack the Witch directly. Be ware the familiar. (This does not extend to the Male Witch, or Warlock. They do not use familiars of any sort. They, instead, will use a spirit guide that they can be granted certain abilities from. Much like the Medium, the Warlock can “borrow” abilities off of the guide to use in their fight. Unlike the Medium, they do not have an entire hell’s worth of spirits to work with. The Warlock can have up to two of these spirits at a time and more than one is pushing the ability to its max. This ability will cost a great deal of Will points to use, but is greatly worth it in the end.)

Much like the Wicca the Witch is bound by their magic and their persona will reflect this issue. If they are a Sociopath when they first made the pact, this is usually the case, they will slowly become Tolmion over time. This is not something they can counter or even notice. It happens faster the more they use the magics.

This also brings with it some drawbacks for the Witch. The grounds of any sanctified place can not be touched by the Witch, lest she take damage from them. (This is sanctified by a God that is opposite of her own. If it is another Demon-God then she has no issues.) Witches can not use holy relics of any sort that are not of the same persona as their own Demon-God. Most of the time they will find holy relics and twist them to work for their Demon-God, but this takes a lot of time and effort. Once done, however, the item will still look similar to its original state and can be placed back where it was found, allowing the unsuspecting to pick it up and use it.

The Witch can be harmed by holy waters and certain other “religious” icons as well, though this varies greatly from one Witch to another and by which God the water was blessed. Thus most do not use it against them for fear of simply pissing them off.

Witches will often tie themselves to a land. Making that territory their own and rarely leaving it. There are wondering Witches, such as the Great Witch Siratis, but this is rare. Usually the land is marked and it is always cursed in some way (the same as sanctified but by an evil spirit, demon, Demon-God, etc.). If a Witch is on her own territory, they have many abilities that they would not have normally. These will vary depending on the curse of the land, but usually it grants them a second supply of manna, speedy recovery from wounds, familiars that they don’t have to directly control, and makes their spells work much faster, sometimes actually cutting the spell casting in half. This can be devastating in a match with a Witch due to the immensity of their spells. (A Fireball chanted and loosed by a Mage can deal around 20 pts. of damage. The same Fireball chanted and loosed by a Sorcerer can deal around 40 pts. of damage plus the fire attack. That same spell, exact same, chanted by the Witch, will deal around 65 pts. of damage, the fire damage, plus the fire will spread like napalm when it hits the victim.) Always be wary of the Witch.

Note: Most Warlocks will make their pact with a Demon-God named Slejayon Thendora. This Demon-God was once a Gen and grants the Warlock the ability to “wish”. In this the Warlock can make a wish and his powers will kick in to grant the wish, without him chanting a spell. The manna and will are drawn from the Warlock and then the spell is cast. When using this, the Warlock can only wish for things that he has already learned. He can wish for a Fireball, a Water Ball, a Wall of Overgrowth. Each of these, if he has learned the spells, will be granted without the casting time and will come into play instantly. However, every time he uses these abilities, the spells will cost double their cost for brining them in instantly.

Note 2: Witches will sometimes use dolls in their assortment of torture devices. These dolls, if used in conjunction with an item that is owned by the opponent, will be used to damage the opponent. The more powerful the doll, the more powerful the damage. Some of them can even control their opponents with the dolls to varying effect. (Voodoo and Hoodoo use these dolls almost exclusively and as such are more feared than the Witch. In their case, though, they often will have little need of the opponents effects and their dolls are much more powerful than that of the Witch.)

Note 3: Witches can not be the direct attack of Energy. These attacks are routed around them and will deal their damage to anyone behind the Witch. It is a matter of the agreement, or pact, that they entered and allows them anonymity from Energy users. (This does not negate energy attacks that are area attacks, or bouncing from one thing over to the Witch, they simply can’t be the target of such attacks.)

Note 4: All Witches will carry a focus that will help to focus their energies when using their magic. This focus is used to amplify their talents. The focus is not always obvious and sometimes is an innocuous as a broom. Many Witches will use these items, usually a broom, to help them in their fights. This is why the broom has become synonymous with Witches. It is rare to see a Witch actually riding a broom. They are simply used to focus the energy and that is why they are carrying them when flying.

Note 5: Witches, due to their very nature, are rarely, if ever, are allowed within cities, near civilization, etc. They are often hunted by Witch-Hunters, but it takes an extremely powerful one to take on a Witch by themselves and thus hunters usually travel in big bands of eight or more. Due to this, the Witch will see them coming and take measures. Most people are smart enough to never take on a Witch on their own territory. Kings will not allow them to seek an audience and having them anywhere near a castle is considered a massive dishonor and so frighteningly scary that most will kill her on site. At least they will try.

Note 6: It is rare, but Witches will sometimes work together. If they have a common goal that overreaches their own mistrust of one another, they will work together in a Coven. These Covens have been so powerful as to take down even Gods in the past. A Coven of Witches can use their power over a great deal of time and forge it into weapons, brews, potions, etc. and then use those against their foes. They can even collect enough peroneal items to create dolls of nearly everyone within a castle. This has happened twice through history and the cities had to be destroyed completely to defeat the Witches. Sadly, all save a handful were killed in both instances. Be ware the Witch and let her not sink her fangs into your home.