A Study into the Witch of Legend
Compiled by Houndspriest Lucas Strolker, Wolstad and Civil Service Archivist Selina Stolm
“Loving mother, what have I done to deserve my fate?
To be so lost and beyond your arms.
Loving Mother, your priests come to me no more.
To be so ruined and beyond your eyes.
Loving Mother, what have I done to deserve my fate?”
The above carving was found and translated from the original Imperial Andashi from a large pillar made of ruined limestone north west of Abqala. The only text on the structure, the remainder was composed of pictograms depicting robed figures surgically removing naked humans arms and eyes.
Across Northern Andash, the regions of The Tribelands, Villacres and Sarimento, there are reports of similar structures, or even larger structures with similar carvings. Among the nomadic people there exists continued figures within their folklore. Often a spurned mother, village wisewoman or herbalist. Similarly, Greenweald Villages in The Gap, The Hunters Wood and the Western swathes of the Ravensreach Wild sometimes still tell the tales of ‘The Frau of Ill Omen’ or ‘The Mother of Sacred Malignancy’.
It is rare, but you can sometimes still find simple bloodglass and granite statues in some of these villages. Covered in grey sheets, these statues are often found off to the side of town squares, somewhere out of the way, but always overlooking the common social spaces. This is all regardless of the fact that the Andashi Empire and their interaction with this Loving Mother predates the founding of the Greenweald by nearly two hundred years. Local folklore says that the villagers did not find the statues, but that the statues founded the villages.
For at least five hundred years, something cursed and corrupted has existed on this borderland between forest and sands. Something that drove humanity to punish each other, something deeply intertwined with the Sphere of Stars and something that can destroy empires.
A Note on Naming, Gender and Love
So far we have been able to identify the following names that apply to this being, while we cannot be sure of all of them, they are attached to stories or references that are similar. All names are translated where appropriate.
In Andashi
Witch - (note; never ‘The Witch’)
Loving Mother
Queen of Sand and Star
High Priestess of the Holiest Third Rite
In the Greenweald
The Witch (Note; never just ‘Witch’)
Frau of Ill Omen
The Mother of Sacred Malignancy
The Sovereignless Queen of Cancerous Heart
The difference in key naming conventions implies that while there is an overall connection between the Greenweald response and the Andashi Imperial Response but with some key differences that currently elude us.
Throughout all iterations, there is a feminine gendering of this entity, but it is never a sexualisation. Rather the gendering comes from a recurrent theme of mothering or caring. The Witch is often presented with either a responsibility or a love to her people/children which is styled as a motherly love and doting nature. However time and time again there are stories of this love becoming corrupted/failing or changing to the point where it becomes malicious. This may be to do with the nature of the entity or maybe to do with mortals' response to the entity. Regardless, The Witch loves her children and is doomed to kill them with or in spite of that love.
The Stars and Their Mysteries
What is known is that there is clearly a connection between The Witch and the Sphere of knowledge, Stallia. The ceremony ‘Dream in the Witch's House’ is intimately connected to this entity and originates from the Stallian Sphere. While the complexity and nature of this relationship are up for debate. We have posited some theories.
- The Witch and her nature are OF Stallia and this love or education falls within the aegis of that Sphere but we currently don’t know enough about The Witch to understand how she fits within the Stallian ethos.
- The Witch and her nature are OF Stallia and this love or education fall within the aegis of that Sphere but we currently don’t know enough about Stallia to understand how that fits around The Witch.
- The Witch WAS of Stallia but is no longer, maintaining some sort of connection to the Sphere that is unclear but still allows priests to contact them.
- The Witch NEVER was of Stallia and is stealing or co-opting the power of the Sphere through an unknown method.
Unfortunately and ironically, The Concord lacks knowledge about the Sphere of Knowledge. We believe that such information is certainly present within ours and others records and is worthy of study.
Children of The Mother
Broadly speaking we have been able to identify two previously extant groups of Worshippers of The Witch, with additional evidence supporting the hypothesis of further groups.
The Church of the High Priestess
The worship of The Witch in Old Andash certainly has the trappings of a powerful institution with coherent beliefs and the ability to begin those beliefs on the world, thus our characterisation of it as a Church. It remains unclear whether this was a public institution and part of the state or if it was a private cabal. But the frequency of reference to ‘The High Priestess of the Third Rite’ and ‘The Mother’ alongside ‘The Witch’ ties this Church to our Witch.
The organisation appeared to have had multiple orders of priests, with some dedicated to enforcement of beliefs (see the previously mentioned ‘punishing pillars’ of Northern Andash), others dedicated to some sort of public works, although if this was infrastructure, education or something else is unclear.
However the Priests of the Third Rite are repeatedly referred to as ‘Her holiest Children who reside closest to her’. Very little is known about this order. Further research into the Church of the High Priestess in Old Andash is certainly warranted.
The Cult of The Mother of Sacred Malignancy
Contrasting, the organisation within the Greenweald is far less well known and appears to have been far less organised.
The full life of the cult predates settlement by The Baronies and was likely an aspect of the clans that resided in the region before the Zekartaal. So there may have been multiple cults that were independent of each other or perhaps there is a common ancestry. This remains unknown.
What we do have is the aforementioned statues that still remain and have strong superstitious ties in the hamlets that have them. To these people the ‘Cursed Mother’ is a Stallian ‘Spirit’ who curses those who believe falsehoods and tell lies. In the same way that a mother might strike a child for acting out, the Cursed Mother curses and betwitches those who believe lies.
Worryingly, in the process of researching this reverence of the Cursed Mother (which may border on Idolatry at worst) we herald rumour of the worship of ‘The Sovereignless Queen of Cancerous Heart’. This was presented as a secret thing that some of the villagers revered in the deepest of winter. A spirit that must be sated with the death of sages who take cursed knowledge with them beneath Blacksap plantations, where they sate the ‘Queen's need to consume those who know so that she might bleed lies upon the world no longer’. This worship is almost certainly heresy, but it is unclear how widespread it is within the Western areas of Resinderholz, but is certainly worthy of further research.
Final Remarks and Further Research
This research is alarming for many reasons. It outlines the presence of a likely malevolent entity throughout the history of Southern Esterra which is intimately involved in at least two regions history, is connected to one of the Divine Spheres and has no known ‘defeat’ and as such should be assumed to still be present. We fear that both the history of The Witch and her present threats are of equal importance. We posit the following possible avenues of research.
- The Church of The High Priestess of The Third Rite in Old Andash. Not only would this allow us to properly understand this relationship but would further reveal information about the Lost Empire.
- The Cult of the Mother of Sacred Malignancy. This appears older than the Church of the High Priestess but less influential. Understanding this path may lead us closer to a ‘beginning’ but the Greenweald is a warren of falsehoods and curses.
- The Sphere of Stars. Knowing more about how Niccolo understood Stallia and how that understanding was interpreted may help us reveal the connection between The Witch and this Sphere.
Regards,
Selina Stolm
Addendum - A Study on The Triarchs
Research into The Witch consumed much of our time and efforts this past season. But we were able to briefly study the archives for references to the outlined sets of three-element knowledge within our records. They are as follows:
Sun, Moon and Stars
Unfortunately, Sun, Moon and Stars appears to be a colloquialism within the Andashi people that rises and falls with time and sociability. The Sun and Moon are well understood to be a cultural element speaking to the duality of life, whereas stars are regarded highly for their beauty and usefulness in navigation. The tendency of this to be shortened to Sun and Moon more often makes its existence as a set of three a cultural conscience more so than conspiracy.
Oak, Ash and Thorn
So little is known about the Zekartaal that makes it difficult to say anything with certainty. What is known is the difference here. Oak and Ash are trees, whereas Thorn is not. Thorn is always presented as separate from Oak and Ash. Research into the history of the Zekartaal is almost certainly warranted.
Wolf, Bear and Owl
Our research into why the Iron Valley Old Gods were a triarchy revealed a most enthralling truth. They weren't. Very little is known, but an Artebazzani text held in a private collection in Lerona Mere describes the Iron Valley gods as a set of five; The Stone Bear, The Iron Wolf, The Star Owl, the Ash Viper and the Bloodglass Stag. Historic research into the Old Gods of The Iron Valley would be required to learn more.