Witches

A **witch**, as it is translated in English, is a person who wields magical abilities by channelling them from an external source rather than an innate capacity to interact with the Magestream. In practice, this meant obtaining magical abilities from Titans or Dread Titans, or occasionally from other exceptionally powerful witches. Witchery remains a capital offence in the Nesarian Empire to this day, as unsanctioned contact with a Dread Titan is classified as treason of the highest degree, leading to the offender being branded as Eludacava.

Witchery was the only route to magical power for non-magical races who did not possess the ability to sense the Magestream - however, it was not solely mundane races that sought this power. Some witches through history were also mages, possessing innate magical abilities which they augmented with those from a Titan. Such witches were by far the most dangerous kind - not only because they had two sources of power to wield, but because mages had an instinctual understanding of how best to use the magic that witchery granted them.

Since witches received their power from an external beneficiary, they were obligated to follow the will of that beneficiary and do their bidding. In order to receive magical power from a beneficiary, a witch had to freely offer their entire being; they had to allow the beneficiary's magic to permeate every part of their body, and had to allow a connection to be made between the beneficiary and their own life-essence. As such, the beneficiary rapidly turned into the master, holding the witch's life hostage.

A witch who displeased their master could have their magical abilities revoked, but one who truly angered their master would find themselves struck with any number of terrible fates; some would be melted from the inside out by a surge of white-hot magic, some would be turned inside out by unnatural forces, and others were mutated into mindless gibbering beasts to become slaves for eternity.

Witches were considered so dangerous because they were entirely beholden to the whims of a master with unknowable aims. Even if a witch had good intentions - and, indeed, a great many witches did seek these dark powers for just and noble reasons - they could be easily overridden to serve the goals of beings who likely did not consider mortals to be anything more than acceptable casualties, and who would punish disobedience with tortures beyond imagination.

## Making the Connection

In order to communicate with the inhabitants of the Dreadlands, Witches used a device called a Window (or less commonly a Wall-Breaker), which had the appearance of a sparkling black gemstone, oval-shaped and polished to be perfectly smooth. Windows were typically attached to a chain or ribbon and worn as a necklace by Witches. Other methods of communication were known of, but these are exceptions to the rule; the overwhelming majority of Witches made use of Windows. In order to establish a connection, the Witch would have to sleep next to the Window, keeping it close to their head, which would open their mind up to the curious probing of those on the other side. The connection to a Dreadfolk or Dread Titan would be established in a dream, and from that point on the Witch could communicate with the one on the other side at any time simply by grasping the Window.

In return for granting magical power to the Witch, the Dreadfolk or Dread Titan would almost always ask for something in return (though power that was freely given was not unheard of). Some desired material objects, some desired living slaves, and those who were capable of harvesting it often requested life-essence (the possibly immaterial energy which keeps creatures alive, which is not fully scientifically understood) - which essentially consisted of a blood sacrifice. Some of those who possessed the necessary organs would also request sexual favours, which has contributed to the stereotype of Witches being sexually immoral.

## Distinction from Black Magic

"Black magic" is the name typically given to invoking the power of supernatural demons (in the religious sense) in order to manipulate the world. This is not the same as a witch gaining the allegiance of a creature of the Dreadlands; whilst the inhabitants of the Dreadlands are often called "demons", they are universally agreed to be real creatures and are very distinct from the supernatural, often non-material demons which are present in many religions and whose existence is disputed by secular scientists. In Nesarian, and in most languages of Inecuria, the two types of entity go by different names; intelligent beings of the Dreadlands are *Morcane*, whereas supernatural demons (such as those in Abrahamic belief) are *Daimone*.

Black magic is not believed to exist by everyone, including - when they still existed - many witches, as some are either non-religious or have a different religious perspective which leads them to believe that "true" demons are not real. Black magic is considered to be real by most religious people of the Empire, particularly the Christians, though even among them its existence is disputed. Witchery, however, was a practice that demonstrably existed and is well-attested to in historical records.

## Famous Groups of Witches

Some groups of Witches are well-known for either the scale or nature of their activities (or both).

### Shadowseers

The Shadowseer was one of the leading figures in Vampire society, bringing all the Bloodhomes together and providing direction for their fragmented race. It is now commonly accepted that the Shadowseer was in fact a Witch who established a relationship with Silaris the Great Raven, a Titan who positioned herself as the guardian of the Vampire race - if she was not in fact their creator, as many have theorised.

### Witch-Pirates

There have been four distinct groups across the history of Inecuria which were known as the Witch-Pirates; the Witch-Pirates of Bakar and Ferahild, which operated in ancient times and were stamped out after the continent was unified under the Nesarian Empire (though the former resurfaced during the Time of Troubles), and the Black Navy, a coalition of seaborne nomadic pirate fleets during the Civil War.

The Witch-Pirates of Bakar and Ferahild knew of each other's existence and considered each other allies, having no conflict of interest as they operated in different waters; those based in Bakar (modern Suqohayn in Kalzuranur) ravaged the north, primarily in Titan's Rift and the Birdsea, and those in Ferahild (modern Avamorica) ravaged all across the southern seas. Both groups of Witch-Pirates were made up of individuals far beyond just the local area of where they were based. Many were simply bandits seeking to gain money at the expense of others, but they also had plenty of members who were in it for ideological reasons - particularly in Bakar, as many of the pirates were former slaves who deliberately targeted the merchant ships of known slavers, freeing any slaves that they found.

The Black Navy, unlike the Witch-Pirates of Bakar and Ferahild, were nomadic and were not centred upon a single port, and were even more diverse in their membership. Also unlike the Witch-Pirates of Bakar and Ferahild, which were semi-democratic republics, the Black Navy was an oligarchic coalition of so-called Pirate Kings (and Queens) who, as the name suggested, ran their ship(s) in a dictatorial manner. Contemporary sources differ, but there was between 20 and 30 Pirate Kings in the Black Navy, who together possessed somewhere between two hundred and four hundred ships - many of which were powerful military-grade ships of the line. The Black Navy was eventually put down, in large part thanks to the efforts of Admiral Safera the Huntress.

The Witch-Pirates used the power from their Dreadlander beneficiaries to take down treasure ships, and kept their beneficiaries satiated by sacrificing the captured crew and offering their life-essence to the world beyond. Many of the Witch-Pirate leaders, particularly the Pirate Kings of the Black Navy, suffered extensive physical corruption as a result of their allegiance with the Dreadlands, but their minds were left untouched and they continuously proved themselves to be far more quick-witted than the navies hunting them down.