Humans - Jewel Witches

Last but surely not least among the Human population are the Jewel Witches. They are highly magical, but unlike their Summoner counterparts, they have innate elemental and psionic power, able to do amazing things with their minds and willpower. These abilities are strongly aided by their use of attuned gemstones, and the purer the gem (and the closer to the wearer) the better the results.

The Witches are generally light skinned, fair haired, and pale eyed people. Only one in perhaps ten thousand of them has dark hair, hardly ever black, sometimes down into a dusty auburn shade. But mostly they are blond, silver and platinum headed with texture from stiff and frizzy to tight natural curls. They often dye their hair, and in some cases their Psionics does that for them, just like any given Griff. Though their skin seems delicate, they can stand sunlight and hardly ever seem to burn. (It has been joked that instead of tanning, they just get more white.) They have eyes in the spectrum of blues, from icy white through a rich teal, and back up through stormy green-greys. They very rarely if ever have brown eyes; hazel and even brighter greens are a feature found only in crossings with other Humans. Their occasional out-breeding with non-Humans, however, often yields extremely surprising traits such as naturally colorful hair, eyes, and even skin markings. Witches in general are also quite tall and slender, with long legs and thin fingers, though it would never surprise anyone to see how strong they are. The men often have pale facial hair, though they rarely wear those beards longer than an inch. The men are considered fairly effeminate in appearance, but that’s never stopped them from being remarkably rugged at times.

Each Witch child is studied carefully even before birth, by people with specific psionics to understand what their powers will be like. In this manner they can start selecting the right gems to pair up with their child, long before they will ever wear anything. It is a fact that the women have a stronger ability with their powers than the men, but that’s also compounded by the fact that there are slightly fewer men to begin with among this population. Not terribly imbalanced but noticeable particularly in large groups. Men are also referred to as Witches, not ‘warlocks’ or ‘wizards’ in this context. Since those, they claim, would liken them to mages which they certainly aren’t, and not psionicists, which they are.

Witch children are taught a lot about geology, geography and culture around the world. However when they reach puberty they are often beginning to show their innate psionic prowess, and sometimes it blows up on them when they’re in school doing something entirely different. Thus when any student sets their book on fire or freezes their desk in a block of ice, it’s time for them to be moved on to the next phase of their education. It’s rather like getting your first period or your first major zit. Only much, much more visible, and likely, much more dangerous to those around you.

One major difference between the Jewel Witch culture and that of others is that they rarely marry for love, and they hardly ever care who’s having affairs with whom. Political power and psionic power go hand in hand with these folks, so in order to ensure the strongest children they are often paired up by popular vote, and almost always with a certain level of genetic engineering or detection involved. Children are raised by both parents but also often enough are attended by nannies of lower power.

Those Witches who display little or no adept skill with elemental psionics and who cannot afford to have proper or exceptional gems to aid them will often wind up in service roles, and hardly ever find a partner who will help raise the quality of their children. Though they have been doing this type of selective breeding for thousands of years (they have been here more than ten thousand years, and had an existing version of this culture before on their home world through the Copper Portal) they have never quite separated the low-power from the high, and it is always possible though highly unlikely that a null-born (one without power) will be born to highly skilled parents, as those of high power may also be born to lower ones. Those who are born to such families outside their abilities are never looked down upon by their peers: what they do with their power is all that counts.

The gems which they use to focus their energies are found literally everywhere in their Province. Specialized mining equipment is used by those who have an earth affinity, and very specifically they prize above all those who can manipulate the very ores and gems themselves with their powers. Most often the Witch will have a tiara or diadem which is inset with an odd number of stones (always odd, since the first is always in the center of the forehead area, usually the one given to them by their parents at birth) and they hardly ever take this off. In fact most Witches feel extremely vulnerable without their diadem, and some have gone so far as to actually embed the gemstones in their flesh itself. Gems are added over time, as the Witch becomes more powerful or wealthy. It’s easy to tell who started wealthy over who bears strong powers and earned their money, by looking at the detail and ornate-ness of their jewelry. Those who are ‘merely’ rich often sport insensibly detailed diadems, while those who are powerful and secure in their own means will have simpler designs surrounding their gems.

All Witches powers are typical of ‘elemental’ types, but almost all of them display strong True Psionics as well. There are some Witches whose powers are focused by lesser crystals or rocks, fossils, amber, or even just ores like gold or silver, iron and other metals. These Witches are also likely to have more exotic powers: genetic engineering, molecular control, and the like. Their gemstones do not necessarily correspond with a specific power or use: you’d be just as likely to find a fire-manipulating Witch wearing a brilliant ruby, as one wearing a piece of turquoise. For this reason, those who choose their children’s gems usually bring along a basket of lower-quality but sample gems and stones, to compare and contrast and then select a higher-quality one shaped or cut for their use alone. This process actually is repeated several times over the course of a Witch’s life, given that she may develop new skills or want to try accentuating her power with something new.

Because they do rely on technology quite a bit, the Witches are sometimes feared by more primitive people, or assumed to be using some more exotic type of magic in order to ‘talk on the telephone’ with someone. (They do have phones, video, computers and power systems, and are among the only people of the world to enjoy ‘rock concerts’ that don’t involve actual stones beyond those on their diadems…) They like indoor plumbing, thank you very much. The exquisite design and architecture of their Crystal Dome could never have been possible without computer aided plans.

Though they are a widely traveled people, and enjoy the company of nearly every kind of person or creature around the world, the Jewel Witches share a special relationship with the Clockwork. Since their society was originally a highly advanced one, not merely relying upon their mental powers but also on technology, they know and value the Clockwork’s fine precision tools and workmanship. Though they don’t necessarily allow a Clock to assemble their personal diadems, they certainly buy tools and have crafters on hand to manufacture nearly everything else. Also, the Clocks find more useful metals in the castoff process, and thus the mines of the Province supply the Clocks with many raw materials that the Witches themselves don’t need.

Otherwise the Witches may find themselves enjoying a competition of magic with the Elves, sports with the Wyldkin, listening to stories told by the Nomad women, having a fling with a Necromancer or a Summoner, or being treated to a pleasant spa vacation in the Barony. They find the restrictive but happy nature of the Reed people to be… amusing but not more than a passing curiosity. The rough and tumble nature of the seafarers brings them the occasional bit of thrill. They deeply enjoy the company of Griffs, since they have a lot in common with the chimera, their elemental powers combined can produce amazing results. Dragons and dragonkin provide a backbone of commerce and society for the Witches, as they wish nothing more than the progress and the prosperity of the original natives of the world. Witches with strong levitation powers often enjoy a grand reception at any dragonkin or kind gathering. Jewel Witches, because they do travel a lot, are a common member of adventuring groups, and are usually seen as the ‘smart one’ even if an actual spell-mage is present. And even if they’re not as smart as said mage – they act as though they are.

Among all Humanoid cultures the Jewel Witches are seen as the overall political and social leaders, and this is hardly more evident than in the words of the Lumin king Vaelan, whose mother was a Witch. He obviously inherited not only her psionic prowess, but her keen mind; and he has made it eminently clear that he appreciates every aspect of his mother’s culture. Overall, Witches respect the leadership of all other cultures and take pains to adequately accommodate them when traveling or hosting them. Even though not everyone around the world returns the favor. Sometimes even the Wolf Queen takes a journey into the Witch territory to hash things out among her peers. The Witches do not have royalty, their purposeful genetic diversity would certainly ruin anyone’s claim on leadership in that manner. But they do govern themselves with a grace and firmness that everyone appreciates.

Names of Witches are fairly typical of Humans, with a given and family name, though they do also at times like taking either multiple middle-names, honoring their family history, or settle on ‘just one’ name and leaving off any potential confusion about whose family they’re from. (They range from ‘Madonna’ to ‘Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore’.)

Important Jewel Witches of the Era

(none save Vaelan’s deceased mother, who has not been documented well enough to be here yet.)
(Vaelan’s gem chooser also should be here)