Witch of Rheged
"When I was young, I was a hero. I lived long enough to become a villain. Then I kept on going, and now I'm beyond either and have become The Witch."
The Witch of Rheged is one of the two publicly known True Mages on the island of Ynys, and the only one in the northern half of the island. She has lived within the Cully Dhorcha of northern Rheged since before the kingdom itself existed, and has become more of a legend than a person. Many stories of Rheged feature protaganists who make a bargain with the Witch, and she always keeps her word, and she always charges a heavy price.
Early Life
It is believed that the Witch was born sometime before the fall of Sange, during the period when the Clarati ruled over the island of Ynys. If she was born in the land where she now lives, she would have grown up within the domain of Solis, whose experiments were the cruelest of all the sorcerers. The Witch would have been exposed to countless nightmares and monsters during her childhood, and been scarred over and over again. When her gift for Magic manifested, she was horrified - to her, Magic was the domain of the dark woods and the evil witch, and finding it in herself was yet another nightmare inflicted upon her by the world.
An Outlaw and a Rebel
At some point, she was discovered to have Magic, and forced to flee the village where she was born. She took to the forest, and made her way west, crossing the River Severin and entering into the territory of Clarion. At first, she thought this to be a paradise. Clarion did not experiment with horror and terror, being more interested in other topics. But soon she observed that he had no more love or care for the people than Solis, and would use them in his own endeavors just as freely.
It was around this time that the Witch met Tod the Fox, an outlaw who was actively working to bring down the seemingly invincible Clarati. He was trying to turn the power of the Egregoric Force against the sorcerers, undermining their image in the public mind. He would take any opportunity to make the Clarati and their servants look foolish and impotent, with the aim of using public belief to make them into powerless fools. At that time, the Witch knew little about how the forces of the world worked, and she quickly became obsessed with the idea that the Clarati could be defeated. While Tod the Fox was primarily focused on Clarion, she dreamed of destroying Solis and freeing her homeland. In pursuit of this, she teamed up with the Fox and spent the next several years learning how to use her Magic and how to destroy the Clarati.
Chaos and War
When the continent of Sange vanished from the world, taking the majority of the Clarati with it, chaos reigned over the island of Ynys. For reasons still unclear, the Clarati sorcerers who ruled Ynys went insane in the aftermath of Sange's destruction, and began to destroy each other. At first, this was a series of one-on-one duels that claimed two of the sorcerers, Illustrata and Clarion. Then the conflict shifted from duels to wars. The remaining Clarati used every means at their disposal to wear each other down. Armies besieged their homes, while monsters tore through their defenses. Complex and deadly spells were unleashed, wreaking havoc upon the people and creatures of their opponents.
For three hundred years, the sorcerers battled. And during it all, the Witch was moving. She defended villages from monsters, and diverted horrific spells. Always, she sought to get closer to Solis, intending to put an end to the ancient sorceress and her cursed experimentation. One by one, the remaining Clarati either died or vanished, killed by each other or by rebels. Finally only Solis remained, hidden deep within her stronghold at Castle Ulthor, deep within the mountains of Cait. The Witch led the group of Albidosi warriors that breached Solis's retreat and slew her, putting an end to the Clarati rule.
With the sorceress destroyed, the Witch returned home at last, hopeful to see her people finally break free of the nightmare inflicted upon them for so long. But that was not what she found. The cycle of terror and fear was rooted deep within the culture of Rheged, and no longer depended on Solis to maintain it. Monsters were still spawned in the Cully Dhorcha, and the people still feared them. While everything was different, nothing had changed.
The Witch in the Woods
The discovery that Solis' manipulations had outlived her filled the Witch with despair. She tried for years to shake the people free of their nightmare, but it made little impact. A few things helped - she taught Calum an Duff the ritual dances to bind the monsters to the treeline, which the Duffian Foresters still use today. She helped create the Stone of Destiny, which linked the ruler of Rheged to the land, hoping that it would give leverage to break the cycle of fear. When the stone instead destroyed one mind after another, while at the same time becoming integral to the kingship, she gave up. Embittered, she withdrew into the forest, and for years denied all who came to her door.
Today, she has become a part of Rheged's dark forest, enmeshed in the stories the fill it. The Duffian Foresters all must meet her, as a test of their courage, but beyond that she receives few visitors. Those that do dare come to her can try to make a deal, to gain some magical blessing and pay some great price. Some people believe that she has become a victim of the stories about her, and is suffering from Dissolutio Identitatis after all these centuries. Others think she is biding her time, waiting for the right moment to finally destroy the cycle of horror that Solis created. It's possible that both are correct, or that neither are.
A Grain of Salt
The Witch is the subject of countless tales and songs, and it is almost impossible to tell which are true and which are fabricated. Even the Witch herself might no longer be able to tell, if (as some believe) she is suffering from the degenerative condition known as Dissolutio Identitatis. Regardless, while this article presents one version of the Witch's life story, it may not be what actually happened.
Under the Rule of Solis
Solis was fascinated with fear and strangeness, and how the Egregoric Force interacted with these elements to warp the world into a new shape. In the northern part of her territory, which is now the kingdom of Cait, Solis used mental magic to inspire strange and eldritch beliefs. But in the southern part, she experimented with fear. She pushed tales of horrors lurking in the woods, reinforcing and augmenting them over generations. These stories led to the manifestations of nightmares with the Cully Dhorcha, which would attack the local people. These attacks would then inspire more fear, and more nightmares, creating a self-perpetuating cycle. In the centuries since the death of Solis, this cycle has continued to operate, although the Duffian Foresters have learned to bind the monsters within the woods - mostly.
This article was originally written for Spooktober 2024. You can find all of my Spooktober Articles at Spooktober Central.
This article was originally written for Spooktober 2023. You can find all of my Spooktober Articles at Spooktober Central.
Love this. I particularly like Dissolutio Identitatis, how through Egregoric Force an ancient or seemingly immortal being can have their own identity changed by collective belief.
Thanks!