The Modern Witch Conspiracy

The surface has been brushed for period piece settings and stories with evil satanic witches. What though of the modern day? Has the ghastly horror witch gone the way of the dodo? The answer is a resounding no. They are certainly about and still practicing their nefarious ways. They do have their work cut out for them in some fashion though. Their brand of wickedness pales in comparison to the likes of serial killers, mass genocide in foreign lands--though honestly those kinds of atrocities have always gone on, if not as efficiently bloody as now--and the general moral slide of society with a total disregard for the value of courtesy, freedom, humanity and life not seen in centuries. Where then is the place for witch when the Adversary seems to be doing fine without lifting an apparent finger?

As with everything that slides into the present and looks to the future the ways and the wants of the witch have become more complex. Things are subtler now than ever. Part of it has as much to do with the witch hunters as it does the witches and their master. Staying covert went from a matter of privacy to one of downright survival. As would prove later to be beyond prescient the greatest lie the Devil ever told was that he did not exist. Thus too was it for his witches. The witch scare died down, past some unknown point, but likely earlier than now expected, the bulk of the victims of the stake were left to the innocent and the witches' own chosen scapegoats. Beyond that need for discretion was the need to find ever new, ingenious, and complicated ways to waylay and corrupt a populace that was continually growing savvier and more educated by the decade.

That formerly mentioned moral slide may have occurred all on its own, but the levels that it reaches and the ways that people are led, or driven, to act on the worst impulses that it represent can, and is, tweaked by the slyest of witches. There is a new, more ambitious, agenda at work. It is hard to nail down what it is precisely, but it is insidious, widespread, and broken down into a vast array of cogs that work as a monumental mechanism of evil the likes of which hasn't been seen before. Trying to chip away at those cogs is hard work and there are multiple redundancies. There are whispers and innuendo in certain circles about the nature of the witches' endeavours. The most frightening hypothesis put forward about this Machiavellian project is that even the attempts to derail it at every turn are pushing it toward its nefarious goal.

Mood: sly.

Music: Everything Louder Than Everything Else by Meat Loaf and Pure Evil by Iced Earth.

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From Coven to Grave

The witch's mark is an intimate marker that warns of an unholy alliance. Very few will have opportunity to see that nipple from which the familiar suckles blood. Those who need to discover a witch before it is too late must look for more external signs. Some are very blatant and others more subtle. When the witch is discovered then he or she must be captured, a job best left to the witch hunters. That requires special equipment if the witch is very powerful, and sometimes even when not. After that there is the trial, which has its own equipment needs. The capture in many ways is the easy part thanks to the skill of the hunters. The confession is paramount but not easy to attain. These are the devotees of the Adversary (the Devil) after all--lies come to them naturally. The last step, passing sentence on a confessed witch has the simplest parts requirement.

In the dead of the night they gather. Travel out to the woods, away from prying eyes. Around the fire they dance and cavort. No special garments denote them for they must be skyclad, their nakedness full and complete beyond mere skin, their wicked souls fully on display. The nudity strips them of rank and importance; they are all supplicants to their evil Master. The rituals of which they partake are dark and ominous, many of them in stark contrast to proper behaviour, such as the Witch's Sabbath. Their vileness knows no bounds as exemplified by the Unholy Water--made in a hole in the ground from the urine of the Master and the members of the coven. They fornicate with all abandon at these gatherings. Yet by day their wantonness remains hidden just as the rest of their fiendishness. No, they must be caught in small lies and tiny sick acts.

The hunt begins once a witch is discovered. Oddly enough holy water doesn't play into our hunter's bag of tricks, due to these hunters not being Catholic--though they have their share of hunters--think instead Protestants, Quakers, or perhaps for a change of pace, Mormons. Other holy items are used. Some of them are not your run of the mill crosses. They include pieces of the cross from Calvary and in the same vein nails from the crucifixion, perhaps even the famed missing fourth nail. There may be other reliquary of more esoteric history. The equipment of the trial includes dunking devices, stocks and legs irons among other painful bindings, and different torture chairs such as the pyramidal Judas Cradle. In the field all it may take is a length of rope and a stream. When it's all done it's off to the stake to burn in the soul cleansing fire.

Mood: judgemental.

Music: One by Metallica and Let Me Hear You Scream by Ozzy Osbourne.

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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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