Mary Sibley

**Mary Sibley** **(née Walcott)** was a cunning and powerful witch and was responsible for the completion of the Grand Rite.

## History

Mary Walcott was born in Salem, Massachusetts. Her mother died when she was very young. At some point in her childhood, Mary's father purchased a slave named Tituba, who became more like a sister than a servant to Mary. As a young girl, Mary fell in love with John Alden, and in 1685 CE she became pregnant with his child -- although she did not reveal this to him, as he was soon to leave town to fight in the French and Indian War. After a few months, she was informed that he had died and was manipulated by Tituba and the witches of the Essex Hive into giving up her baby to the Devil in exchange for power. Tituba performed a ritual in the woods, and a demon took her child on behalf of the Devil.

As a contract witch, Mary became utterly ruthless. After Rose Browning poisoned George Sibley's wife, Mary married him -- giving her more wealth and influence than any woman in town. Blaming him for all of her misfortune, Mary sought to ruin everything he had built -- and to start this, she placed him under a spell and making him a home for her familiar.

### Witch Trials

Mary became determined to complete the Grand Rite, and schemed to do so by manipulating the Puritans into spilling blood for the witches. However, the plans began to go awry with John Alden's return from the war -- which encouraged Giles Corey to reveal he had witnessed her give up their child in the woods. To protect herself, she manipulated the bewitched Mercy Lewis into accusing him of being a witch, ultimately leading to his death. That would not prove to be the end of the threats posed to her by her former lover's return for that same night the Essex Hive's ritualistic sabbath was interrupted by Isaac Walton, who had brought Alden along. She charged Magistrate John Hale with finding the identity of whomever had witnessed their activities -- a decision she regretted as soon as he learned that it was Isaac, and had him charged with witchcraft in order to keep him from speaking.

Mary used her own magic to make Abigail Cooke appear before Isaac in his cell, convincing him to tell her who had been in the woods with him. Afterwards, she lied to John Hale, telling him that Isaac had been alone. However, still angered by Hale's disobedience in choosing to accuse Isaac, she put a spell over his daughter Anne -- leaving her close to death. She lifted the spell when Hale came to her and begged for her not to kill his daughter, pledging his allegiance to her.

Despite his pledge, Mary did not have Hale's trust. He was quick to question her when she lost control of Mercy Lewis, despite Mary's assurances that the plan would continue going forward. Furthermore, she found he had given his daughter a necklace laced with valerian root to protect her from Mary's magic. Regardless of his doubt, Mary was able to resume control over Mercy by implanting another snake familiar inside her -- assuaging the doubts of the Essex Hive.

However, Mercy pulled the new familiar from her and revealed to Mary that she knew the truth. Mary warned Mercy that if she was not useful, she would be killed. Soon, however, Mercy sought to change the arrangement -- asking Mary to teach her witchcraft. Although Mary initially intended to kill Mercy, she eventually acquiesced and took the girl into the woods to make a deal with the same demon that she had. As the two returned to Salem, they happened upon Rose -- who had just escaped from John Alden and Cotton Mather. Mary confronted her about bringing the Malum to Salem behind her back, and Rose confessed to her years of manipulation to put Mary in a position to lead the Grand Rite. Furious, Mary permitted Mercy to cut Rose's head off.

Mary claimed credit for Rose's death, making herself the new Samhain of the Essex Hive. She had Tituba help her dream walk into Alden's mind, to learn the whereabouts of the Malum, though she very nearly lost herself there due to her deep love of him -- which was proving harder and harder to deny. Meanwhile, she instructed Mercy Lewis to use magic to manipulate Mrs. Trask into accusing the Barker family of witchcraft. Although Mercy did not strictly follow orders, ultimately the Barker family was still sacrificed to the Grand Rite.

## Powers & Abilities

Even for a contract witch, Mary was exceptionally powerful. Much of her magic was powered by small blood sacrifices, which helped increase their potency.

* Witchcraft - Mary was skilled at brewing potions and casting spells.
	+ Bilocation - Mary was capable of astrally projecting herself while remaining conscious, and was even capable of casting much smaller spells while in this state.
	+ Telekinesis - Mary was capable of moving and manipulating objects with her mind from a great distance.
		- Puppetry - Mary could telekinetically control the movement's of other people.
	+ Dream Walking - Mary could enter other people's dreams.
	+ Elemental Control - Mary could manipulate the trees and plants that gave the Essex Hive their power.
		- Pyrokinesis - Mary could generate and manipulate fire.
	+ Illusions - Mary could create powerful, convincing illusions to change people's perception of the world around them.
	+ Sensing - Mary was able to psychically detect the presence of enemies, even those shielded from magic.
	+ Telepathy - with a taste of someone else's blood, Mary was able to telepathically connect to them.
* Necromancy - Mary was able to reanimate the dead, and extend complete control over those she used this magic on.