Mercyverse Witches

Witch History

the few witchblood families left in Europe during the Napoleonic Wars had quit killing each other, forced instead to protect themselves from the ravages of more mundane fighting¹²¹
clans of witches²¹³
a bad time for all in Europe; the Inquisition had taken a terrible toll a couple of centuries before - and when it was over, the witches started fighting for power; only Napoleon kept them from exterminating each other entirely²¹³
the only Western European bloodline to survive the power struggle was the Torvalis line, which was interbred with the Gypsies²¹³
witches were still born here and there into mundane families, but seldom had a tenth of the power of the old families²¹⁴
the Eastern European and Oriental witches had never established the kind of dynasties the Western European witches had²¹⁴
they guarded their spells from each other; so each family tended to specialize²¹⁴
witches are so jealous of each other²¹⁹

Spanish Inquisition set off the Witch Wars²⁹⁴
centuries ago every village had a coven of witches²⁹⁴
every city of any size had a witch as strong as Elizaveta Arkadyevana in charge of it²⁹⁴
humans began it, driving the witches into breaking treaties that had been in place for centuries; by the time it was finished it seemed for fifty years after that they had succeeded in killing off every witchborn person on the planet²⁹⁴

back in the days covens dotted the landscape of Europe¹⁵⁵
covens are no more; just make-believe attempts; not enough witches from thirteen families²⁵⁸

a witch is born to use magic Chat 2007-11-03
they are trained in spell usage Chat 2007-11-03
and they are usually born to different families who are witches Chat 2007-11-03
some of the things witches can do to increase their power, is as corrupting as sorcery Chat 2007-11-03
witches do things with mind and body. Wizards have power over the physical – and both do magic. The ends are sometimes the same, but the means are different. It's far easier to be a powerful wizard and still be a good person then it is to be a powerful witch Chat 2008-07-27

witches often hired themselves out¹⁸¹
there were witches who regularly worked for the various law-enforcement agencies¹⁸¹
most witches are human and not immortal¹⁹¹
witches and dead things went together; there were witches that didn't kill but they were far less powerful than their darker sisters²³⁴
magic and fire have an odd, synergistic effect sometimes²³⁷
likely the witches didn't know why it was forbidden for them to try to take a werewolf for a pet or familiar–not that most of them had the power to do it²³⁹

a coven of witches was thirteen witches, one from each of the thirteen families²⁸⁸
if you had a complete coven, then you were limited in power only by your imagination²⁸⁸
since they are witches, usually that lasted a few months or a year at a time before someone fought with someone else and there would be bodies all over the place; untidy folk, witches²⁸⁸4
examples of what they did: Stonehenge, the Little Ice Age, a couple of volcanic eruptions; used plagues to discipline rules who worked against them²⁸⁸
the Great Plague of London killed a hundred thousand people in eighteen months; the London Coven was killed by Bran Cornick²⁸⁸

thirteen members¹³⁹
no member related to any other to the sixth generation
each family amassed its own specialty spells, and a coven of thirteen benefited from all those differing magics¹³⁹
most of the witchblood families had been wiped out by fighting among themselves, covens became a thing of the past¹³⁹

Gordon Seeker burned cleaned out a coven; burned the whole town down to do it; Maryhill never recovered

Identified Witch Families & Lines
Cornick Family Witches
Corunda Family Witches
Eramus Line
Green Family Witches
Hardesty Family Witches
Keller Family Witches
Kikimora Family Witches
Mariposa Line
Torvalis Line

illusions were among the very basic tenets of witchcraft¹⁷⁴
imprisoning spells are pretty basic¹⁸⁹
a strong enough witch can control any werewolf who doesn't have a pack to protect him; it is forbidden by witch law, but it is possible²¹⁸
it usually took witches a while to gain a hold on a lone wolf²³²
power circles: some witches used them to set guard spells to keep things they valued safe, and others used them to store power for drawing upon later²³⁴
changing what the senses of others perceived was one of the major powers of the witch²³⁴
most of witchcraft is potions and spells²³⁶
witches could hide in plain sight if they had some sort of hold on you; hide-me spells²³⁸
a witch's creations did not survive their maker²⁸⁰

self-sacrifice–as when the witch uses her own blood to fuel a spell – has some power, but it's difficult to work withHG-120