Sylvana Witch

"Thrice the power, thrice the pain. Thrice the seeds, thrice the gain.
 Thrice the Mothers gnawed and bit. Thrice the Nymph cried and wept.
 Thrice a curse left her mouth. Thrice their forms twisted and fused.
 Thrice came the Merciless. The Cat, the Owl and the Snake.
 Three fruits fell from the tree. Three lines pass, Red and Green.
 Triple and triple, in might and measure.
 A Vessel to atone, for the sins of the Mothers."

Witches, the women who deal out blessings or curses, who mingle with the spirits and the supernatural, an icon of female power and liberation, are more than a myth in a world where the gods are silently lurking underneath the skin of reality. The clans of Sylvana, blessed with the Ichor their three ancestresses acquired from the Great Nymph Tafarye, can do so much more than turn the milk sour. The Sylvana-Peren clan, receiver of the eyes, were granted the gift of sight. The Sylvana-Tylyach clan, the foremost of the clans, the brain and spirit, holds domination over life, death and the earth itself. The Sylvana-Ker clan, the ones who took away the heart, shapes flesh and bones.
The three clans are not always on good terms. They waged wars, came into agreements, and together, they withstood the vicissitude of fate.
Blood is thicker than water. A sister is and will always be, a sister.

Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

Witches reproduce through natural birth, all of their daughters are witches, but sons humans.

Growth Rate & Stages

Sylvana Witches age ten times slower than humans do as soon as they reach 16. Witches will enjoy a prolonged youth, but the ageing will intensify when the end of their time is approaching.

Additional Information

Facial characteristics

Hair: All witches of Sylvana lineage have hair of red colour scheme. The hair colours include but are not limited to: ginger, orange, copper, fiery red, red-brown, brick, scarlet, wine-red and even magenta. Their hair can be curly or straight, long or short, but always very thick and fluffy.
Eyes: All Witches of Sylvana lineage have eyes of green colour-scheme, and the iris is patterned with leaf veins.

Civilization and Culture

Major Organizations

Nomadic Priestesses of Ayra-Kushya
Daughters of Magna Mater
Circle of the Moon
Sisterhood of Candeliana
Sisterhood of Nemesis

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Witches' weddings are performed following the Fae tradition. The bride and groom are joined at the presence of at least three witnesses, the bride's and groom's parents or guardians and one elder from the bride's family. They will then exchange their names and love tokens, and their hands will be bound by a Wylye of the stone circle.
However, this ceremony is only performed when a Witch to wed someone from the Twilight Realm, they will follow human traditions if they were to stay with humans (unless the man is 100% ok with his wife being a witch). However, Witches do not consider themselves married if not joined in a Fae hand-fasting ceremony.
All witches will give birth to their daughters in their sacred stone circle. Candeliana witches will raise their sons to 18 years old, while the Nemesis Witches will simply abandon their sons, or use them as sacrifices in extreme cases.

Common Taboos

Sister-slay
Not having a daughter born, or at least baptised in the Stone Circle.

History

In elder time when gods and men lived side by side, a great nymph Yvienne and her sisters descended among mortal men. The Fae blood grants their earthly offspring great talent and skills over magic.
For a long time the women of Fae blood remained scattered, and they each might well have been worshipped as goddess, at least holy woman, in their perimeters. Three larger sects of these women were recorded and recognised as the predecessors of today's Candeliana and Nemesis Sisterhoods. One, the nomadic priestesses of Ayra-Kushya, the lion-seat one, from the red seas. Two, the daughters of the Megas Mater, the Great Mother, on the island of Crete. Three, the Circle of Moon in the vast forests of central Europe.
The priestesses of Ayra-Kushya were the oldest of them, their practices of magic reminisced the old times, crude and rough, and blood played a significant part. They controlled weather, blessed fertility, healed sickness, talked to the dead, also brought harm to their foes. The Great Mother's daughters specialised in herbs and potions, spells and charms, creating illusions and mirage to play with the hearts of men. The maidens of the Circle allied themselves with the forests and the elements, they were the doorways to the ancestral spirits and the Fae realm, mistresses of shape-shifting, and enchantresses of skin and bones.
The three sects of women had no systematised contact for a long period of time, not until the wise Kashmit, the powerful Circe and the pure Cyrridven were visited by a same dream. A star fell on an island under three moons. And beyond the island, a dark phoenix was battling a great serpent between two rivers.
Feeling puzzled, the three women followed the signs and Fate led them to the Island of Aeaea. For the first time in millennia, the wise women came to know the existence of their other sisters. The three argued from a new moon to a dark moon, and the rise of renewed moon sent a revelation.
The three goddesses were one, like the moon she waxed and waned, from the playful maiden, to the powerful mother then to the wise crone, then she renewed herself.
A new school was born on the Island of Aeaea, the Sisters of Treiskyries, of the three ladies. Kashmit, Circe and Cyrridven each beckoned their own clans, many followed their steps, some remained, but the Island of Aeaea had become a capital of magic.
Hundreds years later, when Queen Mildumat had a daughter with a mortal men, Kashmit, Circe and Cyrridven knew what their dreams meant. They paid a visit to the Queen and her newborn daughter, and offered them a silver crown, a fallen star and ash of a phoenix.
The witches sided with Queen Mildumat when the Queen's War broke out. But the war had no winner, and the Witches suffered great loss. Before the Sisterhood had a chance to recover, they were struck again by Yelaadim, the children of light. In the older time, when the wise women were still testing their limits, many vile things had been done in the name of study, majorly to the Children of Light, mortal men as well. Yelaadim took on the Witches in revenge of their fallen brothers and sisters.
The Sisters were forced across the sea, chased into the forest home of the Circle of the Moon and the Faefolk, hence the Sisterhood changed its name to Candeliana, the Vein of Light, and all Witches born afterwards took on the name Sylvana in honour of the forests that housed them.
Peace remained for decades when Yelaadim followed their trace, the Sisterhood once again faced great threats both from outside and inside. A group of witch, mainly the followers of Kashmit, unleashed a series of plagues to attack their precursors. This acts angered the Sisterhood, the Inner Circle banished the Witches who committed such crimes. But to the Sisterhood's horror and surprise, many others followed their footsteps, and this eventually led to the rupture of the Sisterhood. Those who seek vengeance on their fallen sisters formed the Sisterhood of Nemesis, while the others who adapted a gentler approach remained the Sisterhood of Candeliana.

Historical Figures

Circe
Kashmit
Cyrridven
Medea the stone-heart
Creirwy of the Circle
Morgana Fynelwyn (Morgana daughter of Alwyn) / Morgan le Fey
Aradia Sylvana-Tylyach

Lifespan

Up to 1000 years

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Witches of Candeliana Sisterhood tend to have a darker skin tone due to their connection with the earth. Witches of Nemesis Sisterhood appear to be clammy and pale.