Witches are organised in various covens, which will be presented here when they appear in the story.
As the story progresses, more information on the different coven will be added here.
Read more on the abilities of witches and witchcraft.
WITCH MOTHERS
Witch mothers did not yet appear in the story, and no general information had yet been revealed about them.
However, the first chapters such as [B1.C2] of the narration reveal that Yves struck a deal with a witch mother during his novice years time at Emery Thurm Academy. It was said witch mother who had first imparted to him the knowledge of ethereal mirrors. As part of their deal, Yves had embarked upon a covert odyssey to obtain access to the banned Tome of the Ethereal Plaine, a repository of cryptic truths sought by the witch mother.
INDIVIDUAL WITCH MOTHERS
The Witch Mother ruling the Yellowtop Mountain Range
Root and Branch: Unknown.
Age: Unknown.
Familiar: Unknown.
First mentioned: [B1.C2]. Also [B1.C9].
The only individual claiming the power to fully restore Yves' eyesight was the witch mother who reigned in the Yellowtop Mountain Range. In stark contrast to the legion of healers and shamans who had often made promises only to falter, she presented a unique proposition — three challenges that, if met, promised the restoration of his eyesight.
From the moment her first challenge was issued, Yves dedicated his life to fulfilling her demands. The enigmatic tasks revolved around gaining mastery over the mirror dimension. Under her guidance, he delved into the creation of his ethereal mirrors, the initial requirement she had imposed. Mastering access to the Mirror Dimension was the prerequisite for the next task. To fulfil her second demand, yet undisclosed, he first needed to see and navigate the dimension, and to wield magic there. Whenever Yves pressed for explanations and transparency, the witch mother had remained cryptic about the purpose behind these challenges, asserting only that they were integral to unlocking the solution for restoring his eyesight. Upon fulfilling her third demand, she claimed the key to fixing his eyes would be revealed.
Their pact had been forged when Yves had been a student at Emery Thurm, young and oblivious to the existence and complexities of dimensional planes — let alone 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔞𝔩𝔪 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔊𝔬𝔡𝔰, as the Stalker had called the Mirror Dimension.
WITCH COVEN
Shaira — Valkonian Albweiss Witches
“When they came to the settlements, they came to control, to capture and to kill. To bend and break and bind. They did not plead. They did not barter. They took.” [B1.C17]
An influential and powerful coven of witches that resides within the Albweiss Mountains. They claim vast parts of the mountainside lands in the north-eastern Northlands.
Agenda
"The Shaira’s stronghold had loomed for decades, unyielding against orks, wizards, armies, and named fighters alike. Their numbers were unknown, but the reports agreed on this: they were many, and they were powerful. Witches, shadow-warpers, beings twisted by the mountains and the ancient magics that seeped through them." [B1,C15]
The ambitions of the Shaira are as of yet unknown.
They are known to capture wizards and beasts.
"All those warnings clawed back into his mind, of curses that passed through the mountains, rivers and desert with no other purpose than to kill. Tales from the Snowtrail, of the Shaira who raided camps like a death wind, leaving behind tents rimed with ice and bodies frozen solid, their last breaths still hanging in the air like spectral trails. The endless accounts of Tria and all those who witnessed the repeated murder or abduction of those wizards who dared to travel to the Barnstream settlements." [B1.C17]
In [B1.C14], Barbarthara revealed that she witnessed the Shaia experimenting with "Magic that forged overpowering new forms. Magic that stripped essence from others or imbued it into empty vessels. Barbarthara had borne witness to unspeakable horrors inflicted upon captives, both wizards and beasts alike." As stated in [B1.C16], the witches also experimented on Barbarthara.
[B1.C16] revealed that they worked with rockshade weavers. Bred them. Taught them. Harvested silk and venom, and studied both.
In [B1.C18], Yu states that the Shaira once made someone "sick" and then "sent" him into one of the Barnstream settlements, whereupon "the sickness got the people".
INDIVIDUAL WITCHES
Witches that are not (known to be) associated with a coven.
Samasira
Abilities: Unknown.
Familiar: Jabarrah (possibly). Joung female.
First mentioned: [B1.C12]
First appearance: [B1.C12] Seeking oracle from Faroah in the dwarven temple atop the Varren.
"You, child, are of your mothers, who gave you three hearts. You are indeed a witch." [B1.C12]
A young witch that was raised by humans, until she was taken from her parents by witches, who claimed that she was a child of theirs. The day she escaped from the coven, she was captured and then sold to a wizard, who bound her life to his. With that, she is fated to die when he does.
Seeking oracle from Faroah atop the Varren, Samasira hoped to learn how she could free herself from this fate. Amongst other things, Faroah reveals: “The future you desire takes another change of heart.” [B1.C12]
[B1.C12] and [B1.C17] reveal that she travels with several companions, amongst them Kel-Khadar (borman), Abar (human female), Elyndar-Sylvren (ker), a krynn, a seldar, and a female Jabarrah.
APPEARANCE
▪ To Estingar, Samasira's nexus points appear as dark blue hues that spread from her fingers and toes, with faint traces around her eyes. [B1.C15]
▪ Yu describes her to have "a face pale and disconcertingly youthful, framed by a mass of dark hair" and eyes that, even in orb light, "appeared glacial and lucid, almost opaque". [B1.C17]
▪ Sylvren states that Samasira claims tairan heritage, though it is not clear if that may have been a lie to appease the Albweiss Mountain Guild guards in [B1.C17].
POSSESSIONS
▪ A cage encased in lattice of blackened metal, with a dark smoke-like substance inside. [B1.C17]
TRIVIA
▪ Samasira speaks Teh and Faramyr.
▪ Samasira can see mountain blood.
▪ In [B1.C12], Samasira gave a fraction of her giving heart to the Albweiss. It was taken from her by the vein of mountain blood that stands exposed in the dwarven temple atop the Varren.
DARK WITCHES
As the story progresses, information on these witches will be added.