Witch
Witches are, in essence, humans with elemental-based magical powers. For millenia they have been the peacekeepers and law enforcers of the supernatural world, and have protected the mortal world from the worst of the supernatural.
Witches access and direct magical energy. Bigger spells require more energy. Physical energy and magical energy are linked - being physically exhausted limits the strength of a witch's magic, and using lots of magic will also leave a witch feeling physically exhausted. Using too much magic can result in Sorcery Sickness and even exhaust a witch to death.
Witches with the standard elemental powers and spellcasting abilities, of any power level, are known colloquially as Fullblood Witches. Subsets of witches exist, whose powers are focused solely on one aspect of magic. These subsets are born this way, with a genetic magical mutation, and cannot access any other type of magic:
Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
Magic travels down the female line. Sons of female witches will be witches, and a daughter of that son would be a witch, but the son of a a male witch will be a mortal (however will carry a recessive gene for magic, so that if he had a daughter she would be a witch and restart the magical bloodline of that family.)
An unbroken line of witches produces more powerful witches than a broken line, as the magic has that travels through bloodlines has had more time to build up and become concentrated. A witch who is descended from 10 generations of witches will be more powerful than the first witch from a long line of magicless sons:
Only one witch parent is needed to pass on their magic. Witches born of two witch bloodlines are incredibly rare but incredibly powerful. If a male witch and a female witch try to conceive, their combined magic is typically too much energy for a foetus to contain, and usually results in a miscarriage. Very rarely a child of two witches will be brought to term. Because they are the child of two magical bloodlines, their capacity for magic and their powers are much greater than the average witch:
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Witches (excluding the witch subsets) derive their powers from the five classical Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Spirit. In addition to being able to cast spells, perform rituals, and brew potions, all fullblood witches have a single unique ability or power derived from one of these elements. More powerful witches, be they more experienced, from older bloodlines, or rarest of all descended from two witch bloodlines, will sometimes see this ability grow or evolve, manifesting in additional unique 'powers.' For example, a strong witch with the power of telekinesis may see this progress or evolve into levitation , which may then grow into full-blown flight if the witch were powerful enough. Most witches will only ever manifest one power; strong witches may manifest two powers; only the most rarest and most powerful witches will manifest three or more powers.
There are as many unique powers and power evolutions as there are witches; no two witches will have the same set of powers. For example, two witches may manifest the power of psychometry, however one of those witches may see that power evolve into instant learning, while the other witch will manifest the power of tactile telepathy. Secondary and tertiary powers are always a natural growth out of the witch's primary power, and are usually only attained after years of practicing magic and attaining a level of mastery over their primary power.
There are as many unique powers and power evolutions as there are witches; no two witches will have the same set of powers. For example, two witches may manifest the power of psychometry, however one of those witches may see that power evolve into instant learning, while the other witch will manifest the power of tactile telepathy. Secondary and tertiary powers are always a natural growth out of the witch's primary power, and are usually only attained after years of practicing magic and attaining a level of mastery over their primary power.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Because witch powers and magic travels down the female bloodline, witch families are by necessity matriarchal, and trace their ancestry through their matrilineal line. As such, witches carry on their mother's maiden names. In pre-modern times when this was not acceptable, witches would commonly only adopt their husbands' names in public, or if they were powerful enough, compel and ensorcel anyone who questioned them to ignore the inconsistency.
History
A council of the most powerful genii locorum created the first witch approximately 65,000 years ago. This council, which comprised of three of each of the genius loci races (Dryad, Sylph, Naiad, and Oread) chose a pregnant woman from a Palaeolithic African tribe, and imbued her unborn daughter with magical powers of the elements, with the sole purpose of that witch acting as a conduit between the spirit world and the mortal world, and as the servants and guardians of nature. That first witch passed her powers genetically onto her daughters, and so on and so on, thus populating the world with witches.
Genetic Descendants
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