I was cleaning up some links on my Witch Links page and I noticed a few I had from the Halls of the Mountian King, the blog of the recently passed Jason Zavoda. He posted a bit about Hyperborea, nee AS&SH, including the Witch Queen of Yithorium. I also found a lot of material for his own Blackmoor Land of a Thousand Witches.
Jason was very well respected in the Greyhawk community and I thought it might be a nice tribute to expand on his ideas some, but more importantly, share his ideas all with you. Up first, the Witch-Queen of Yithorium.
The Witch-Queen of Yithorium
There is not a lot of text on who the Witch-Queen of Yithorium is except for what she wants now.
The official Hyperborea forum has a little on her background. She is a nod/homage to Howard's witch Salome in "A Witch Shall Be Born." She rules from a 100’ tower of alien origin that immediately reminded me of Clark Ashton Smith. She is immortal, ever young, and has ruled Yithorium for nearly 700 years. She obviously knows what to do.
Jason provides the most information about the Queen herself in his post. He uses a picture of Judith from the Bible as his inspiration. Much like Salome (the namesake of Howard's witch) Judith is known for her association with a decapitated man. John the Baptist for Salome, Holophernes for Judith. We gather from his post (and others) she was a beautiful woman, small but voluptuous, with long raven tresses. Naturally, I think of Sarah Douglas.
We know she is a witch and uses a type of magic unknown to her lands. We learn it is blood magic and that no one in the City-State of Yithorium knows where she learned it. I am going to say, given the work that Jason has done, that she learned it all in Blackmoor.
There are no official stats for the Witch Queen of Yithorium in the Hyperborea books. She doesn't even have a proper name really.
Female Witch 12th level
Chaotic Evil
Race: Human
Secondary Skill: Torturer
Abilities
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 13
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 16
Charisma: 18
Casting Ability: 12
Fighting Ability: 5
Hit Points: 36
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
AC: 9
Powers
Brew Decoction (x5), Familiar, Read Magic, Scroll Use, Scroll Writing, Sorcery, New weapons skills (3), Dance of Beguilement (5th level), Effigy (5th level), Enlist Henchment (6th level), Animate Broom (7th level), Lordship (9th level).
Spells
First: Alter Self, Charm Person, Detect Magic, Shocking Grasp, Unseen Servant
Second: Darkness, Ghoul Touch, Infernal Tounges, Ray of Enfeeblement, Witch Fire
Third: Dispel Magic, Exploding Skull, Phantasm, Summon Dæmon I
Fourth: Black Tentacles, Mirror Mirror, Sorcerer Eye, Summon Dæmon II
Fifth: Anti-Magic Field, Summon Dæmon III, Summon Elemental
Sixth: Gelatinize Bones, Transfer Youthfulness
Female Witch, Blood Tradition 13th level
Chaotic
Abilities
Strength: 12
Dexterity: 12
Constitution: 13
Intelligence: 18
Wisdom: 16
Charisma: 18
Hit Points: 36
AC: 9
Occult Powers
Familiar: Raven
7th level: Evil’s Touch
13th level: Detect Bloodline
Spells
Cantrips: Black Flame, Chill, Daze, Ghost Sound, Inflict Minor Wounds, Object Reading
First: Bewitch I, Darkness, Feel my Pain, Ghostly Slashing, Glamour, Silver Tongue
Second: Alter Self, Disfiguring Touch, Ghoulish Hands, Scare, Share My Pain, Suggestion
Third: Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Dispel Magic, Lifeblood, Summon Spirit, Witch Wail
Fourth: Divination, Phantom Lacerations, Polymorph, Spiritual Dagger
Fifth: Bewitch V, Dreadful Bloodletting
Sixth: Spiritual Dagger, Summon Nightmare Steed
For this witch, I am using a combination of the Family, Maelific, and Mara Traditions.
While I am perfectly happy to keep her nameless, or only as "The Witch Queen," I am thinking of giving her the proper name of Miriam, to keep with the Biblical theme I have established here. Of course, no one besides her would know that.
Hyperborea has always been a large part of my plan for the War of Witch Queens, at least in terms of how witches are presented. At one point it was going to be my system of choice for the campaign, but I have since settled on OSE. Still, Hyperborea has a lot to offer me.
I typically mix in a fair amount of Barbarians of Lemuria into my Hyperborea games. So it might be fun to have Miriam, the Witch Queen of Yithorium be the rival of Methyn Sarr, the Witch Queen of the Fire Coast. Each thinking the other is the lesser witch while worried that the other might have access to some magic they do not. They seem to be cast from the same mould, that of Salome of "A With Shall Be Born," but one taking to fire magic and the other blood magic. I don't think they were/are sisters in the biological sense but maybe they are former coven sisters. Once allies or even friends and now bitter, hated rivals. If Sarah Douglas is my model for the Witch Queen of Yithorium, then my choice for Methyn Sarr would have to be Emma Samms. Not too far of a stretch since she was the uncredited performance/body model for Princess Teegra in Ralph Bakshi's "Fire and Ice."
Links
I love your use of Ian Baggley's "The Gate" in the article. It's one of my favorite pieces of his artwork =)
ReplyDeleteAllan.