Editing Witchcraft (section)

= Three Paths of Spellcraft = 



There are a finite number of main sources of spellcraft for a sentient being to use in the valley: the all-seeing Church of Elements, the Wilders of the forests, and the spirits of the afterlife. Most of the inhabitants of the north do not make any clear choice between these, but use a kind of spellcraft that they are able to learn and that helps them in their everyday life. However, mortals strong in spellcraft usually commit to one of these three sources of spellcraft, give up others, and in return achieve greater power in their own spellcraft. A mortal who has embarked on any specific path is known in the context of this text as a walker.

There are four paths of spellcraft; the path practiced by Church of Elements, the path of Wilders known as Witchcraft, the path of Spirits, and the path of Infecti, which will be described later. The follower of one path cannot use the spellcraft (even minor spellcraft) of others. Different paths also engage in certain types of worship. Worshipers of the Church of Elements attend sermons, followers of the Wilders sacrifice to their goddesses, and those on path of the spirits perform rites for their seita and pre-mothers. There is nothing, in principle, to prevent one person from participating in the worship of other paths, but since all paths require a great deal of dedication from their followers, it is unlikely that anyone will be able to keep the worship objects of their actual path happy if they openly court with other paths.

The exception to this is the walkers of Infecti, who specifically do not commit strongly to any of the three paths and thus do not have any kind of devil operating behind the scene, that could become angry of the mortal's behavior. Indeed, those who walk the path of Infecti often engage in a wide variety of worship, but they too are not always immune to the dissatisfaction of the church, of the wilder goddesses, or the spirits if they have performed acts that are morally questionable by that specific power.

All spellcraft can be divided into minor spellcraft, major spellcraft, and greater spellcraft. Minor spellcraft can be learned by almost anyone who walks any of the paths. Major spellcraft already requires the mortal to have a deeper understanding of his chosen path, and greater spellcraft can only be learned by the most dedicated of mortals.

At the beginning of the game, your game character has not chosen his path. This means that the minor spellcraft of any path is easy to learn to use. But major or greater spellcraft of any path cannot be learned until one commits to one of them. Most of the inhabitants of the valley will never commit to any one path but will remain uncommitted until the end of their lives. Most uncommitted witches also use the spellcraft offered by more than one path. A member of the common people can thus pray for help from the Church of Elements in the morning, read a spell poem to catch prey from the forest during the day, and offer it as a sacrifice to a nearby seita in the evening.