Miedvied/GladeWs

Glade Witches

Description: The Glade Witches usually appear to be women of middle age, though their skin has taken on a dark grey color and grown wrinkled and cracked as if having spent an age wandering the deserts of the South. Their hair is usually green and wirey, appearing to be more of a thick mop of wires than hair, and their eyes glow so bright that no iris or pupil is visible; only yellow flames licking out from empty sockets.

The Glade Witches are air elementals born of the ice and the dreary desolation of the North; they are almost as much little gods of Mindless Cruelty as they are of ice and wind. They are known to dwell in groups, though no social structure has ever actually been witnessed, nor any especially intelligent behavior (with the exception of their group combat tactics.)

The Glade Witches are hated by the populace throughout the northern mountain ranges; they Glade Witches make hunting tenfold more difficult, expansion of paths almost impossible (the Witches are responsible for crafting the Ice Forest, and attempt to recraft any chopped down trees - as well as attempting to kill anyone that tries to chop the ice trees), and any trade caravans (or any form of travel at all, really) must be in large, heavily gaurded groups lest the Witches decide to attack.

The true nature of the Witches, however, is neither so mindless nor so cruel; in past times, they were but the essence of a single greater elemental; Herfiligr, an air elemental of exquisite beauty, whose skin shone the azure of sapphires and whose hair was silk woven from lightening plucked from the sky. She and Myrkr's previous incarnation jointly protected and looked over the North; and it was when the Great Curse truly closed over Myrkr's heart and he lost himself that he slew his lover.

Myrkr's new incarnation does not recall his past lover or the manner in which he slew her, no more than the Glade Witches do. However, they do remember the two strongest feelings that had dominated Herfiligr's soul before she had passed on; her love for the mountains and Ice Forests over which she and Myrkr had watched, and her deep bitter hatred for the man that betrayed her. It is with these overriding feelings - protectiveness and hatred - that all new Glade Witches are formed, and which urge them to protect the Ice Forests as best they can, and to slay any and all they come across.

When in combat, the Glade Witches invariably act in concert; there is no such thing as a lone Glade Witch assault. Most usually, a pair of Witches will use their charms to aid the others, another pair to hinder their foes, and the rest concentrate on driving their foes to slay one another. (A sample attack group will be outlined below.) What is most frightening to their foes is the fact that mere strength of arms is usually insufficient to slay the Witches; their reputed ability to glance into the future grants them enviable ability to dodge incoming blows (As if they always see them coming a fraction of a second ahead of time), and the fact that their primary attack is usually one upon their target's mind - not their body. Their charms are always known to be activated because every charm is accompanied by a unique howl.

Attributes: Strength 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 3,
Charisma 5, Manipulation 5, Appearance 1, Perception 3,
Intelligence 2, Wits 4
Virtues: Compassion 1, Conviction 5, Temperance 4,
Valor 4
Abilities: Awareness 2, Brawl 1, Dodge 5 (Melee +3), Endurance 1, Resistance 3 (Arctic +3), Craft 3 (Ice +3), Presence 4, Stealth 3 (Ice Forest +3), Survival 4 (Arctic +3)
Charms: Natural Prognostication, Landscape Travel, Benefaction, Harrow the Mind, Possession, Stoke the Flame, Confusion, Binding, Host of Spirits, Principle of Motion, Words of Power, Uncanny Prowess, Malediction
Elemental Powers:Rejuvenation (Ice), Element's Domain (air),
Cost to (de)Materialize: 30
Base Initiative: 6
Attack:
Punch: Speed 6, Accuracy 4, Damage 2, Defense 5, Rate 5
Dodge Pool: 7 (10 in Melee)
Soak: 3L/3B (Skin)
Willpower: 6 Health Levels: -0x2 / -1x2 / -2x3 / -4x1 / Inc.
Essence: 3 Essence Pool: 62
Other Notes: Glade Witches can, with a Dex + Craft (Ice) roll, create an ice tree at will. The size of the tree is determined by the number of successes and essence expended; a one success tree is a short (10 ft. or less) thin tree, while five would be a massive sprawling tree of no less than one hundred feet in height, ten in diameter, with roots spread for for fifty feet in every direction. For every success spent on creating the tree, the Witch must also expend 5 motes. The Witch may choose to create a tree smaller (and so, cheaper) than the one she rolled up successes for.

Combat, with six Glade Witches: 1. Glade Witches should all have actions stocked up on with Principle of Motion 2. Glade Witch A should be expending her essence pool to beef up her buddes with Benefaction 3. Glade Witch B should be knocking down the opponents with Malediction 4. If any the targets are afraid, Glade Witch C should be using Stoke the Flame to make sure they fleeee. 5. Glade Witches D-F should be using Harrow the Mind and Confusion to guide the targets into attacking one another (or throwing down their weapons and wandering about aimlessly), as opposed to attacking the Witches. 6. Subsequent rounds, D-F should mix up using Harrow the Mind and Confusion with using Possession to make /sure/ that their targets are attacking one another, as opposed to the Witches.

The more of this that can be done from hiding or treetops, the better; the witches prefer to let men kill one another and let the survivors tell tales of men gone mad in the seclusion of the endless forests of white and blue ice.