The Witch Hunter General Rides In

Witches are only one part of the equation for many stories. Out there lays the one thing that even the forces of evil fear, the Witch Hunter General and his men. These men are both stalwart champions of good and scourges of evil. Turmoil and death follow in their wake to a degree only paralleled by the most fiendish witch. Their arsenal is vast, their knowledge of their prey complete, their interrogation skills consummate. None dare to stand against the General and his cadre. There is no hiding. There is no pleading--except to plead guilty. There is nowhere that their influence and power does not reach. Wicked, beware. Who are these enigmatic paragons? How frequent are they encountered? How many are there? Most importantly, how do they impact the horror expressed and demanded by witches, singularly or even by the coven? All will be revealed for goodness' sake.

The question of how many will depend on your setting. More witches mean more witch hunters in only some cases. More hunters could mean lesser skills or more dangerous witch powers. It is important that the hunters do not overpower the setting and dissipate the horror. They can be so powerful and unstoppable that witches have no chance against them when push really comes to shove, but this might be mitigated by the wait for the Witch Hunter General and his men to come to the rescue or the level of collateral damage created by the conflict between the two sides. Do not forget the flip side that where the hunters go the innocent fall prey to them as well over hysteria, jealousy, and other general finger pointing. They are feared by all who do not feel they measure up to that level of righteousness. Pride comes before the fall as well, be warned.

Secrecy is one of the weapons in the witch hunter's arsenal. Fear of the unknown extends to the wicked just as much as the virtuous. Stories from the witches' perspective doing away with hunters are possible if not mainstream. Extended stories of the witch hunter's training and seminaries will tend toward a more fantasy than horror feel, especially with the hunters working from such a strong base position. Even with a story from a hunter's perspective--regardless of whether high or low in rank--less is more to maintain the mystique. The line between folklore surrounding the hunters and their true power can be revealed, but benefits from being unleashed little by little--much as the most spectacular part of any story must be the climax. Come back next time for a look at the signs of witchery, witch's habits, and the tools of the witch hunter's trade.

Mood: seasoned.

Music: Fear Is The Key by Iron Maiden and Catch Me If You Can by Alice Cooper.

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Your First Born, a Goat, and Three Virgins

Making a pact with the Devil for incredible magic powers sometimes seems like an easy route to power. It can hardly be worth it, even beyond the contract's infernal legalese, where the devil really is in the details. If the pact seeker takes for granted that they are indeed dealing with the Devil then it's hard to deny the opposite side of the coin that one is getting into something that is an affront to all that is holy and the real price comes after the witch's death. Still many deny such an idea as divine punishment or see themselves on the side with any power and do not fear the future. Others consider the stance of the pact granter as claptrap to awe the superstitious or misinformation to prevent the less ardent the acquisition of power. Some just do not care, or as psychology may dictate, look to punish themselves in the long term even as they chase current desires.

The contents of a witch's pact will vary depending upon a host of factors. The first of these would be the intermediary involved. It is the rare witch--we are talking about Satanic Witches so far--that gets to deal with Lucifer himself. There are a variety of powers to be granted either as inborn abilities or as spells, or a mixture of the two. There are additional boons such as familiars and other minions that may be granted. There are costs, often at all stages, but most of them come after the power has corrupted the pact seeker and has driven them to do whatever what was agreed upon. All of these are woven into the contract whether it is written and signed in blood or only enacted upon verbal agreement. Enforcement of the pact will be detailed as well. The pact itself is of course long-winded, impossibly complicated, and intended to be unbreakable.

The costs of the pact includes items meant to ensure the seriousness of the initiate, to humiliate and control them, and items and conditions desired by the pact granter. Giving up the seeker's first born is a common cost that covers all three. Sacrifices may be required at such stages as beginning the negotiations, sealing the deal, and regular intervals thereafter. What is sacrificed may be the same every time or different based on the occasion. It may include animals, children, virgins, any random human life, or more intangible sacrifices--use your imagination. There is also the cost that the witch is indentured to the granter to do as bid at any time. The witch might not be the only one asked to pay. One of the conditions may be the enslavement of others. Or the witch might be tasked to build a cult with an ever-growing number of members.

Mood: hopeful.

Music: A Charge to Keep by Iced Earth and Wicked Witch by Demons & Wizards.

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Horror Witches Rising

I started writing this first new entry after the May hiatus without even looking to see if I had already written an entry for this date. I was last writing about role-playing games and magic systems. I may return to it, but first I wanted to inject some horror back in and make this an entry true to the Horror on Hump Day nickname. I came back to the topic of magic again recently when I started considering a project about witches. The type of project doesn't matter since it may never happen in that format, and if it does it will be low on the work priority scale below even my slow burning role-playing game work. Before I get to the witchy goodness I want to point out the great thing about RPG work is stories that don't work out, or I don't have time for, work well as scenarios in an RPG session(s) and the research for the games works just as well for stories.

Witches. I'm talking about nasty, vile-hearted, selfish, devil-worshipping witches, horror witches. The wart-nosed old hag comes to mind, but is actually of less use. Really, when supernatural events start happening and children are found ritually slaughtered everyone looks to the hag. Let's also ditch the broom unless this is a historical setting. Honestly, flying on a broom has become something done by cute girls in countless anime. Looking back at historical legend let's also ditch crazy things like houses with chicken's legs running around. Now, again, horror witches. They may sign a pact with the Devil, including giving up their first born, or they may be unaffiliated and truck with whatever forces they wish if any at all. Familiars are good, but they need some consideration regarding their apparent connection to the witch.

In a story a character, male or female--witchcraft isn't sexist--with an animal hanging around all of the time is a dead giveaway. To keep the witch's identity a secret distance events involving the familiar. The witch might be revealed when the beastly companion feeds, using the witch's teat of course. Somewhere on the witch is a superfluous nipple--aureole not included--or even a short tentacle upon which the familiar suckles blood and magical energy, part of the witch's soul, or some other intangible. Here's an odd bit of folklore I discovered when researching for "You Accused the Wrong Woman" for Killing Time - Horror E-Rag™. One method of detecting a witch involved making a cake using urine from a victim of the witch. The victim would see the witch after smelling the vapours from the hot cake, or if not then, after having eaten some of the witch cake.

Mood: enchanted.

Music: Witch Hunt by Stratovarius and Season of the Witch by Vanilla Fudge.

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