The Witches of Fayn Part 1
A Small Introduction
The Witch is a separate class that, in many ways, combines the Cleric and Magic-User classes, and in some ways the Illusionist sub-class. An astute referee will be able, if he so desires, to adapt the game information in this series for use in his own campaign.
A stock photo of a Witch I found once and used for a PC of mine. I don’t know if that’s a real person or an AI image or what, but it’s a good representation of a Daughter of Hekate.
A Witch’s patron is either Hekate or Lilith. Devotees of Hekate are Neutral in alignment (roughly 20% NG, 50% True Neutral, and 30% NE), while followers of Lilith are either CN or CE (30%/70%). Looking at that alignment spread, it’s clear that Witches are rarely people to be fully trusted and are almost never found in strongly Lawful societies. Queen Daentrella has banned them outright from Great Staraya, though it is said that some Whores of Lilith still lurk within the capital. Even then, they keep well away from the Queen and her fellow Paladins with their own dark machinations. Druids generally dislike both sects, seeing Witches as disruptive to the balance of nature, though they may deal with Hekate’s Daughters on a limited basis.
Common folk tend to view the two sects differently. Country dwellers may seek help from a Daughter if no better option is available, while destitute city folk may sell themselves or their services to the cult of Lilith in exchange for power. In either case, the seeker may find themselves indebted to the Witch in ways they never expected.
Witches are almost always female, though rare exceptions are made for particularly promising males. Any Witch of either sect will have her familiar close at hand, gained much the same way a Magic-User obtains his. As mentioned above, Witch magic crosses Cleric, Magic-User, and even Illusionist lines, so their spells include healing, harming, banishing, divination, and glamours—depending on which sect they serve.
A Witch’s power comes from the liminal boundary where the esoteric structure of Fayn as a demi-plane touches the mortal world. Their patron teaches them how to reach into Fayn’s under-structure and draw on its power for their own ends. Daughters of Hekate often meet at crossroads or other places where choices are made, while the Whores of Lilith gather in underground places where flowing water or current can be found.
Because of the way Lilith came into being in Fayn, Hekate’s Daughters despise the rival sect and seek to destroy them as dark abominations. Likewise, the Whores of Lilith view the Daughters as an inferior version of themselves and treat them with contempt; in some cases they even toy with a Daughter for amusement before finally dispatching her. Woe to any village or region that becomes the battleground for a Witch war.
Over the next week or so, the Witch will be expanded in a quartet of subscriber posts. First will be an outline of the Witch class with all mechanics included. Second will be the spell list unique to the class, including cantrips. Third will be a detailed look at the Daughters of Hekate and the special powers granted to them. Finally, the Whores of Lilith will be explored along with their powers and influence.
To learn much more about the Witches of Fayn, subscribe now. Paid subscribers will get premium content before the peasants do, and will have the option to comment and influence further development of Fayn material!