Editing Witchcraft (section)

= Witchcraft of the Wilders = 

{{quote|
''"My house is a dark house, hidden from your sight''<br>
''My house is a cold house, its windows face the night.''<br>
''Within the metal grate burns the icy fire of despair''<br>
''I sit by the fireside and find my comfort there''<br>
''Should a friend to visit, I have no doors at all''<br>
''Neither for a stranger, if he should come to call''<br>
''But you are my puppy and I will welcome you''<br>
''And if you look for doors, you will find but two''<br>
''One leads to light sleep, a sleep from which you rise, ''<br>
''the other to a deep sleep, death in its fine disguise."''<br>
''-Mother of Darkness''<br>
}}


== Minor witchcraft ==


=== Rites of sacrifice ===


A walker with this ability of wilder witchcraft can arrange sacrificial rites in honor of his wilder mistress. Unlike Church of Light sermons, these are usually the delivery of a very small groups and may not be easy to attend at all by unbelievers or large crowds as they often anger the goddess. The sacrificial expenses of the wilders are usually bloody, with the animal sacrifice being more the rule than the exception and the human sacrifice being naturally more valuable than the animal. A walker with this ability can perform basic rites of sacrifice without spending a fortune, thus allowing those present the opportunity to seek strength from their wilder mistress.

When someone makes sacrificial expenses, nearby wilders will feel it. Rites of sacrifice attract wilders like honey attracts flies, and also others to some extent, who are operating under their target aspect. Thus, when one arranges sacrificial rites for the [[wilders|Mother of Darkness]], the goblins quickly begin to swarm around the premises, whereas the sacrificial rites arranged in honor of the Salamander Queen have a bad way of getting out of control into destructive fires, which is, of course, the best gift to the Queen of Fire herself.


=== Spell poems ===

{{quote|
''"Gloomy and cold is a winter's night''<br>
''Carrying with it the chill blight''<br>
''Of slave labor's chains and scars''<br>
''Witnessed only by the cold stars."''<br>
}}

The walker knows a spell poem that helps him accomplish a task in some specific profession. The walker can thus know the spell poem of survival in the forest (typical for hunters), the spell poem of a sharp sword (for warriors), or the spell poem of command (for regents). The spell poem is activated by mere recitation, or possibly by just whispering.


== Major witchcraft ==


Pagans are those who have not yet been touched by the light of the Church of Elements. Among the Church, the most hated and feared of the pagans are those known as the wilders. Most of the Eskarans belong into this category.

The walkers of the Wilder path draw their witchcraft from the supernatural beings found in nature, each representing some natural phenomenon. Wilder mistresses are often cruel and selfish, but worshipers of their path see through their true nature. The wilder mistresses are part of northern nature, seemingly gloomy and frightening, but in reality they are sources of all life.

Any walker must face and negotiate with strong wilder mistresses in order to acquire powerful witchcraft.


=== Birth words ===

{{quote|
''"Our grey mothers rise from their tombs''<br>
''Each with bear spear in hand''<br>
''They ride their ghostly mounts of white''<br>
''Into the border land."''<br>
}}

Birth words are a stronger version of lesser spell poems. Their speaker knows the innermost mysteries of some force of nature, or an animal species, and thus has some power over this complete phenomenon. Because of this, an expert speaker of the birth words of fire can easily withstand immensely high temperatures, and an expert speaker of the birth words of cold does not need thick clothes even in winter, and an expert speaker of the birth words of wolves is not persecuted by wolves. This protection is always automatic and complete.

The walker can also attempt to force the object of his birth words to bend to his will. The fire will rise at his command, the iron begins to vibrate, possibly even break, and water begins to rise in waves, and can rise even to dry land. It is also possible to use the birth words in such a way that, for example, the birth words of wolves can be used to curse a village by persuading a herd of wolves to persecute it. The birth words of fire can bless the furnace of a blacksmith so that it will never extinguish.


=== Third Eye of the Spirit ===

The walker has learned to look directly into the world of wilders and sees them clearly, as for others drowned in the confusing veil of the corporeal world most of them are not seen. A walker with this power understands the wilders and knows their habits. Also those with this power tend to tattoo the symbol of an eye in the middle of the forehead as a sign of the gift they have received. The Eskarans generally consider this tattoo as a way to tell real witches apart from mere berry pickers.