Spellcasters, Part 6: Witches

A witch in Rothganar is a being apart, walking on the line between person and magical creature.

Witches generate their own magical energy fields, completely separate from that of the planet itself. As with spellcasters, they vary in degree of power, but cannot cast spells. Instead a witch must rely on her ability to manipulate other magical creatures drawn to her power. A witch draws in fairy creatures like sugar. The ones people would consider wicked desire to eat the witch, and the others simply want a taste of her aura. Spellcasters may also take power from the supply a witch generates (more about that in another post).

They’re vanishingly rare to begin with, and witches are almost always female. A male witch is considered a force of destruction and chaos. It’s the worst of luck for a male child to be born in the caul, which is the sign of a witch; those who are must be drowned. Ironically, children of a witch mother are more likely to be witches themselves.

A witch’s life is likely to be both nasty and short. Most witches who survive into adulthood are protected by powerful patrons, whether intelligent creatures who desire magic, or spellcasters seeking a boost.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this series on spellcasters. Soon I’ll be going into more detail on different characteristics of magic itself, so if you like hearing this stuff, stay tuned.