Fantasy Fridays: Larina for Advanced Witches & Warlocks

Advanced Witches & Warlocks by Eugene Jaworski

 I have spent the better part of this week talking about my witch character, Larina. Mostly about where she has been and who she has been. Today I want to share the next Larina. A little bit like the cameo of the 12th Doctor in "Day of the Doctor." Is this the same witch as my Dragon #114 Larina or the AD&D 2nd Ed Larina? Yes. And maybe. 

Advanced Witches & Warlocks

I wanted to be much further along on this than I am right now. I have been picking at it for a number of years. In truth, as soon as I finished my Basic Witch book. But OSRIC had not caught on like Labyrinth Lord, Basic Fantasy, or later on Old-School Essentials. But I kept at it, testing different ideas. Some of those ended up in other books, others got cut from drafts altogether, but the documents remained. I also had plenty of notes left over from other versions of my witch classes. Things I wrote, but never could get to work the way I wanted them to. Case in point: today's meta-topic. 

Advanced Classes

One of the ideas I introduce in AW&W is that of Advanced Classes. The examples were already there; the Thief-Acrobat, the Hierophant Druid, even the Bard to a degree. These are classes that start with one of the base classes and then move on to a specialization. I mean, I could have called them Specialist classes, but I like the sound of Advanced Classes. AW&W introduces three Advanced classes: the Archwitch, the Witch Priestess, and the Witch Queen. Each offers the witch something different. 

In playtests, it became clear that, with the restrictions I built in, the advanced classes were less powerful than the base class. To remedy this, I made some changes to spells and swapped out expanded spell lists at the cost of occult powers. Though there is the option to choose some occult powers later on, they are usually one of a choice of options. 

Of course, as you have all seen from my posts this week, this is exactly the sort of thing I use Larina for. In-game, and in my own history with her, she starts out as a witch but typically becomes more "faithful" and religious. She isn't just a witch, but a witch priestess in function. Now she can be that in form as well.

"Larina" by Djinn

I dabbled with the idea of making her a 13th-level witch and a 7th-level Witch Priestess. Taking the Witch Priestess levels later on, but in truth the differences were very minor save for choices of occult powers or other powers. The big difference is the choice of spells. Of course that also didn't track with the rules I wrote, but hey, sometimes my rules are not right, and I need to tweak them. In this case, though, my rules will stand. 

In this new book, there are spells common to every witch. There are other spells if the witch takes an advanced class, and there are spells unique to their tradition. So no two witches ever need to be alike in terms of the magic they have. This is less revolutionary and more evolutionary. We will see this with schools of magic and spheres of divine influence in AD&D 2nd edition, and we saw it in the Dragonlance Adventures book for the Schools of High Sorcery in AD&D 1st edition. This is just the logical middle ground between those two design choices. 

Traditions

Presently, the new traditions I am putting into this new book are The Atlantean Tradition, The Daughters of Baba Yaga, The Followers of Aradia, The High Order, and The Scaled Sisterhood. I am considering a sixth, but I want to work on it some more before I do. Five is a better number.

Each of these is considered to be "Higher" witchcraft. While many are depicted as older (Atlantean, Daughters of Baba Yaga, and Followers of Aradia), they set themselves above what they consider to be simple Hedge Witchcraft.

I suppose though that the Followers of Aradia *could* just be another type of Pagan witchcraft. Certainly their roots are there. I am still hashing that one out. Maybe Aradia is just the Witch Queen of the Pagan Tradition and not a Patron herself. 

See. Still work to do.

Larina Nix, Witch Queen of the High Witchcraft Tradition

Larina Nix, Witch Queen of the High Witchcraft Tradition

30th level Human Witch, Lawful Neutral
(7th level witch, 13th level Witch Priestess, 10th level Witch Queen)
Tradition: High Order Witchcraft

Secondary Skill: Translator (+1 language)

S: 10
I: 18
W: 18
D: 11
C: 11
Ch: 18

Paralysis/Poison: 3
Petrify/Polymorph: 3  
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 4
Breath Weapon: 6
Spells: 5

AC: -1 (Bracers AC 1, Amulet of Protection +2)
HP: 66
THAC0: 10

Weapon
Dagger +1
Staff +3, Staff of the Witch Queen

Familiar: White flying cat ("Cotton-ball")

Languages: Common, Lawful Neutral, Supernal, Elven, Draconic, Celestial, Infernal, Dwarven, Undercommon, Goblin

Occult Powers
1st level: Familiar
7th level: Circle of Warding (+2 to spell saves)
13th level (Witch Priestess/Divine Favor): Secret Formula* (one 4th level or below spell is always prepared)

19th level (Witch Queen/Occult Eminence): Witch’s Focus

Witch Priestess Powers
Divine Favor (Healing Hands, Nature’s Wrath, Invoke the Ancients, Occult Insight), Sacred Coven, Charge of the Goddess, Drawing Down the Moon.

Witch Queen Powers
Awesome Presence, Occult Eminence, A Thousand Faces, Timeless Body, Mantle of Sovereignty, Ninth Level Spells (5)

Spells
Cantrips: Clean, Dark Flame, Mend, Occult Mark
First level: Arcane Dart, Charm Person, Command, Faerie Fire, Glamour, Häxen Talons, Moonlight Veil, Sanctuary, Speak with Animals, Unseen Servant, Ceremony (Ritual)
Second level: Augury, Bless, I Told the Crows Your Name, Magic Broom, Mirror of the Self, Misty Step, Penny for Your Thoughts, Share My Pain, Sister to the Dark Ones, Spiritual Hammer (Witch's Hammer), Warding Circle
Third level: Call Lightning, Cauldron Sight, Circle of Rue and Iron, Curse of Withering, Eldritch Enchantment, Fey Bargain, Larina’s Eldritch Caress, Magic Circle, Power Word (Command), Tongues*
Fourth level: Analyze Magic, Coven Gate, Divination, Elemental Armor, Larina's Witchfire, Lunar Winds, Protection from Evil (10' radius), Scrying, Soul Snare
Fifth level: Circle of Sevenfold Flame, Coven's Might, Power Word (Pain), Speak with Hidden Folk, Two Places At Once, Witch Gate, Larina’s Word Beyond the Veil (Ritual)
Sixth level: Aspect of the Crone (Crone of Death), Blessings of The Morrigan (Greater), Guardians of the Watchtowers, Heal, Mind Fortress, Word of Return
Seventh level: Speak with the World Soul, Storm of Crows, Witch's Writ of Binding, Wave of Mutilation
Eighth level: Coven Eternal, Larina's Liberum Libre, Ritual of the Closed Veil (Ritual)
Ninth level: Bind Soul, Command the Coven, Power Word (Kill), Rewrite the Name, Seal the Gate

Theme Song: Night Bird and If Anyone Falls

Larina is a High Order witch. These occult scholars combine Arcane, Divine, and Occult practices into one esoteric philosophy. She has always honored the Triple Moon Goddess, and it was her introduction to the craft, but her "learning" of witchcraft began in a more academic way.  

I debated whether her advanced class should be Witch Priestess or Archwitch, and there are really good arguments for both. Archwitch had the advantage of sounding cool and reflecting her origins as a Magic-user, but in the end I went with Witch Priestess because it better reflected how she had been played over the years. She always stood in for a cleric in many of my games. If given the choice between what is optimal and what sounds better for the character in my head, I will always go with the character-serving option. 

So her start was in the High Order due to her academic bent and the learning she did from books at the magic school library. As she progresses in her witchcraft, she becomes increasingly spiritual and takes up the Witch Priestess advanced class. 

Larina the Witch Queen

I am also giving out some spoilers for spell names like "Circle of Rue and Iron," "Lunar Winds," "Coven Eternal," and a personal favorite, "I Told the Crows Your Name." 

There will also be a few more Secondary Skills. Larina is a translator because of her gift for languages. Alchemist or Herbalist might have been the more meta-game choices, but I am playing her as a character here, not a min-maxing experiment. 

Her stats were what I rolled back then. I had three 18s, something like a 1-in-12,340 chance using the 4d6 drop-the-lowest method, and I knew the dice were telling me to do something special with her. Aside: I wonder what happened to the other characters I rolled up that day? I NEVER rolled up just one; it was always a group. I have the ones from right before (rolled up for my birthday game) and the ones after, including my next attempt at a healer. I wish I had kept those "classmates" or even "near Larinas." Somewhere in that lost stack might have been another character I would still be talking about forty years later. I did find her ex-husband and one of my other drow characters who apparently hated her. They were from my birthday game back in June of 1986, though. 

AD&D Characters from the 1980s and early 1990s

It seems rather fitting to me that Larina, who was featured as a 6-year-old witch girl in my first-ever publication, would go on to be the witch queen of my next *D&D-compatible witch book.

It only took me 40 years.

This Old Dragon Retrospective: The Road to the Witch

 Larina is a Dragon Magazine witch. But not in the way that you might initially think. 

My witch class and Larina went through many design phases and had many influences, as I have talked about here, but the truth of the matter is her genesis and my witch class's evolution owe a lot to the pages of Dragon Magazine, all long before Dragon #114 landed on the store shelves and ultimately my gaming table. 

So for today's "This Old Dragon," I am not going to do a deep dive into one issue, but rather the issues between Dragon #85 and Dragon #114, 1984 to 1986, not just some of my prime AD&D playing years, but when I did the most work on my various classes.

Since this is also a bit of an "In Search Of..." post in tone and flavor, I'll explain why this search is important to me.

Now, keep in mind, I did not read every Dragon when I got them and think, "What can I add to my witch?" I *DID*, however, read each new one and thought, "What can I add to my game?" As it turns out, I found the articles on magic, clerics, and new monsters the most useful. 

Now I did go back when I got my Dragon CD-ROM archive and look specifically for witch-related and witch-adjacent material. But that was in the 2000s. It helped inform my Basic Witch, but a lot of those concepts were already present in my earlier works. It was, however, a wonderful bit of archaeology. 

Class is in Session

To refresh everyone's memory and to set the stage from 1983 to 1987, I was in high school in Jacksonville, IL (no, not Jackson...exactly). During this time, I played in a regular group where I took turns on DM duties, usually about half-and-half. I had been working on a few new classes: The Healer, The Sun-Priest, the Necromancer, and The Witch. I saw each as related classes where clerical and wizard magic were blended. The Healer never really manifested the way I wanted, though I have played a few healers from the Werper family. The Sun-Priest eventually found life as an AD&D 2nd Edition Kit, and, using the rules as written, I have played some Sun-Priest-like characters in both D&D 4th edition and D&D 5th edition. Again, usually members of the Werper family, often sister-and-brother healer-and-Sun-Priest teams. The Necromancer finally found some life as the Profane Necromancer in my Monster Mash book. 

The witch, however, has been my runaway success. When I got the above classes into a playable state, each had what we would call today an iconic character. There was Celene the Healer, younger sister of Johan II the Sun-Priest and Paladin. The Necromancer was Magnus, and, really, the most unassuming of them all was Larina the witch. Of the four, she went on to true immortality here.  I suppose, though, the writing was all there. Luna Mondgott, Johan's and Celene's mother, was played as a witch using Cleric rules, and Johan's wife, Cara, was played as a witch using Illusionist rules. The witch was more or less inevitable for me.  

But the form it took was not. 

So let's look at one factor that shaped the class, and the character: the pages of Dragon Magazine.

Dragon #85 -May 1984

Why am I starting with this one? Good question. This is the first Dragon I ever owned and used regularly. It was in the pages of Dragon that I saw additions and changes to rules. They were not set in stone; they could be changed. I had already created many new monsters by this time, and the idea of new classes seemed not just reasonable, but actually required.

Dragon 85 was where I saw this. This issue gave me the highly valued Cleric Collection. Clerics were my main class of choice, and I played them less like holy men and more like occult scholars. So, less fighting, holy man, and more Van Helsing. 

This is also the first time I saw an ad for the Witch Hunt game.

Dragon #86 - June 1984

Gods of the Suel Pantheon and the Dragon Deities helped me rethink what gods could be in D&D terms. This issue also gave me new familiars to consider and the idea that they were not just a special pet. The article wasn't perfect, but it was a good start. The Ecology of articles were always great because it made me feel like there were "monster naturalists" in the various worlds studying these creatures.

Dragon #87 - July 1984

The big one here is the Ecology of the Dryad. I know this was a catalyst and one of the reasons why Cara and Larina are both redheads; Red hair = magic. The review for Stalking the Night Fantastic and the ads for Chill made me realize that horror in RPGs was a good option.

Dragon #88 - August 1984

This is another important one. We got Wee Jas ("Wee Yas" or "Ouija") as the Witch Queen, Goddess of Witches and magic. Plus she looked great. THAT was Larina's look for a long time. How could I have not fallen in love with her? And she is Lawful Neutral. The same alignment Larina is to this very day. I may not have known all my witches yet, but I knew who their goddess was. 

Dragon #89 - September 1984

Very helpful article in Many Types of Magic since it shows already that many types of magic are already baked into the system; it is just a matter of finding a spot for witchcraft. The ads for the Time-LIFE Enchanted World prominently feature their first book, Witches and Wizards, which gives witches legitimacy in the pages of Dragon. 

Dragon #90 - October 1984

This features the witch-coded Incantatrix. The name is related to Enchantress, and her ability to steal spells gives her a witch-like feel in a world already filled with wizards. I tried Cara out as an incantatrix for a bit, but didn't care for it for her, and she went back to being just an illusionist. Dragon is certainly circling around a witch-shaped center of gravity for me. Speaking of charm, this issue also has the definitive list of creatures that can be subject to the Charm Person spell. 

Dragon #91 - November 1984

We go darker here with a new demon from Gygax and more devils from Greenwood. Certainly material for masters of the occult.

Dragon #92 - December 1984

Double hit again from the Gygax/Greenwood tag team. Gary has more to say about clerics and I am all ears. This helps me figure out things for my clerics and paladins and ultimately my healer and witch classes. On the other end of the magic spectrum, Ed gives us more spells and has the audacity to introduce me to the Witch The Simbul without explaining anything else about her! 

Dragon #93 - January 1985

Real-world witch hunts come to D&D as told in Gary's “Thinking for Yourself.”  In fake worlds, “The Making of a Milieu” gave me strong advice about building a world where witches would live. This article, along with the two organization articles for Top Secret and Gamma World, gave me something I could build for Chill right away. Which in turn gave me more for D&D and witches. 

Dragon #94 - February 1985

The fiction section featuring Baba Yaga is a great addition to my witch mythos. Not a lot ton of information, but enough. The Ranger revisions also show me that classes don't have to be a static concept.  

Dragon #95 - March 1985

This one is useful as a perspective issue. Tolkien, Forgotten Realms material, non-combat experience, magic-item creation, and the religious response to RPGs in the form of DragonRaid, all feed the broader question of what fantasy gaming is allowed to be. The Denis Beauvais art for the fiction, Desperate Acts, gave me a character who was a contemporary of Larina and part of the same adventuring group. 

Dragon #96 - April 1985

I have to say, I never had much use for Dragon’s April Fools issue each year. This one was no exception; there was little in it of interest to me for the witch class, or to Larina in particular. The only thing that stands out is the FASA Star Trek vessel Ginny’s Delight. Which I low-key loved. It may not have a direct bearing on the witch, but then again, my reading and gaming habits were not so easily compartmentalized. Whether it was fantasy, horror, the occult or superheroes, I did not see them as distinct categories. The starship is part of the same milieu as all the other science fiction, and the like I was into back then.

Dragon #97 - May 1985

Another Pages from the Mages article. The implication here is that wizards are dynamic; they research, they record their work. And spell books are treasure, maybe worth more than gold by weight. 

Dragon #98 - June 1985

If nothing else, this issue reminds me that we are not, and certainly were not, bound by books. There is a lot of talk of playing RAW and rules orthodoxy these days; back then, that is not at all how we did it. There was a lot of experimentation. The “Creative Magic Items” article reminds us of this. 

Dragon #99 - July 1985

This issue covers Unearthed Arcana, and how it will change AD&D. This is a sign to me that AD&D IS a game that can evolve. The Neutral point of view helped me figure out how to play a Lawful Neutral witch when, say, a chaotic Neutral one would have been easier.  

Dragon #100 - August 1985

Classes are on Gary's and Frank Mentzer's mind with the Druid-Ranger, which seemingly breaks the rules. Well, if it is good enough for these two, who am I to argue? The Forum reminds me, though, that there are still people who refer to additions and changes to rules as "illegal."  

"City Beyond the Gate" showed me something I already knew in theory, but this was great in practice; that AD&D is not confined to the quasi-medieval world. Now I remember playing this adventure; I remember many of the characters in it: Johan II, Nigel, and I know Larina was not there.  Too bad; she would have loved it. Marvel-phile gave a strong write-up in Dr. Strange and was a good model on what I wanted for my witches. The variant magic system was also quite fascinating. 

Dragon #101 - September 1985

The biggest draw for me here is the Creature Catalog III with some witch-adjacent monsters. "Sorry, Wrong Dimension" from Mike Manolakes covers alternate realities, a feature that would be important to Larina's many futures. 

Dragon #102 - October 1985

I have not done this one for a "This Old Dragon" because I don't have a copy anymore. This one does have some items that I considered important, but not in the typical manner. Ads for The Complete Spellcaster and Elvira/Chill had my attention. The "Valley of the Earth Mother" was good, but not one I ever ran.

Dragon #103 - November 1985

A look into the future here. Gygax discusses future editions of AD&D and the game's evolution. The article on the saurians catches my interest, but not for the witch. 

Dragon #104 - December 1985

The articles on the thief class are interesting and showcase the class beyond the charts and numbers. I will use similar logic to pull the witch further away from her "magic-user" roots. 

Dragon #105 - January 1986

Our first issue of 1986. I mention here that I recall January 1986 starting out really cold. I recently taken these memories to help form a new Jackson, IL adventure featuring my frozen misanthrope The Refrigerator, but more on that later.  "Seeing is Believing" by Geoffrey Meissner covers different types of invisibility. While this had immediate uses for my witch class, it served my DM and his Riddlemaster/Adept psychic classes even more. The magic in our worlds stopped being a monolith and became multiple expressions. 

Fraser Sherman's "A world of difference: The parallel concept expands gaming horizons" was the right thing at the right time for me, as I was really exploring the idea of parallel worlds at the time. This was the height of DC's "Crisis on Infinite Earths," so we really made extensive use of these ideas. Larina would later be in contact with some of her alternates via her Mirror, or "Shards," as I now call them. 

Dragon #106 - February 1986

Issue #106 matters to me because of "A Plethora of Paladins." That article showed that the paladin need not exist only as a single lawful-good archetype with an evil mirror image. There could be variations. There could be holy warriors shaped by alignment, ethos, patronage, and worldview. For someone building new classes, that is an important lesson. It says the game's iconic roles can be opened up, examined, and rebuilt.

That matters to the witch because the witch was never just meant to be the "distaff magic-user" or the "evil cleric" or the "NPC spellcaster from a fairy tale." She needed her own space and reasons to grow. Sure, I never used a lot of these paladins; I was pretty happy sticking to the Lawful Good ones and my single Anti-Paladin NPC, but I was thrilled to see them. 

"The Laws of Magic" and "Casting Spells for Cash" both feed into the idea of magic as something with rules, culture, economics, and social consequences. That connects nicely to Larina's earliest personality: a witch pretending to be a wizard-in-training. She is not merely learning spells. She is learning how magical society works, what it expects, what it permits, and how to pass inside it while being something slightly different.

Dragon #107 - March 1986

I have not reviewed this one yet, but it is sitting here next to me. I will get into it in detail in a future This Old Dragon, but the artifact from this one is a reference to Laurana from Dragonlance. That matters because Larina’s name almost certainly owes something to Laurana. Did I get the name from this issue? Probably not. It is much more likely that it came from reading the Dragonlance novels themselves years before. But #107 shows the name, or close enough to it, was in the air at exactly the right time.

This is one of those small pieces of character archaeology that I can't prove, but that's too interesting to ignore. Larina was not named Laurana, but the resemblance is obvious, and the timing is right. Somewhere between Dragonlance, Dragon Magazine, and my own teenage need to make the character mine, Laurana became Larina. In truth, Sinéad owes her overall look and part of her history to Laurana. 

Dragon #108 - April 1986

I would not call Issue #108 a major witch issue, though "Cantrips for Clerics" is an entry worth a mention. I had come to view divine and semi-divine spellcasters with more variety in mind than the run-of-the-mill cleric; one could see that same design impulse at work in the healer, the sun priest, the necromancer and the witch.

Clerical cantrips suggested that even minor magic could help define a caster’s identity. There is no need for every effect to be a miracle or some purpose for the dungeon or the battlefield. A few well-placed blessings, charms, and practical bits of magic speak volumes about how a character stands in relation to the supernatural.

This applies to witches as well. It is not enough for a witch to be judged by her top-tier spells; she must have that quality in her minor workings, too. Hedge witches need recognition as well and need to work into my systems of magic.

Dragon #109 - May 1986

While I can easily point to Dragon #114 as a major issue for the witch, issue #109 might have been more influential. While I had a fairly good grasp of the math behind XP per level values, Paul Montgomery Crabaugh’s "Customized Classes" becomes the article where I can test my ideas. It was a pivot point in my home games. I created the witch, healer, and sun-priest XP values that spring. My DM Grenda used it to create his various Riddlemaster/Adept classes. That summer was spent playing and playtesting a lot of new classes. This article showed me not just that I could build a witch, but I could build a good one. 

The Barbarian Cleric by Thomas Kane even gave us a shaman-like class. Great for my ideas on what a primitive witch could be. 

Dragon #110 - June 1986

The Cult of the Dragon was a HUGE influence on the development of cults and heresies in my game. In fact, my very first notes on what would become my Scaled Sisterhood Witchcraft tradition were written down here. Ed also gives us some more background on Elminster himself and some spells.

The Norse Myth articles gave me Angur-boda, Grid, and Gullveig. All described as witches and all of whom have played some role in my writings and development. 

Dragon #111 - July 1986

The magic focusing items grabbed my attention right away, and certainly West Haven owes a little bit to the magical city Malachi. 

If DC was dominated by the Crisis on Infinite Earths at this time, Marvel had their Phoenix Cycle. Phoenix gets a write-up from Roger E. Moore and later on Supergirl gets one as well from Greg Gordon. Why are they important, well both are described as two of the most powerful beings in their respective universes and both to a degree had impacts on my later game writing in particular the work I did on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

Dragon #112 - August 1986

I just covered this one last week. The big thing for me was that this was the first issue that let me know there had been a witch class in the pages of Dragon, and I was not creating something that no one would want.  I would need to wait for Dragon #114 to see it, but that was only a couple of months away; it wouldn't be until I picked up Best of The Dragon (Volume 1) that I saw the witch from Issue #5. And it would be even longer before I got the Dragon Magazine CD-ROM collection and then saw the witches from issues #20 and #43.

By the time Larina appeared in my notebooks in July 1986, most of the ingredients were already there. Dragon #112 showed me the magazine had older witches in its own past, and Dragon #114 gave me the first Dragon witch class I actually had in my hands.

Dragon #113 - September 1986

The last issue before the witch. The cover alone was enough for me since the swordsman reminded me of my Johan III character.  "Clout for Clerics" is a good article for expanding the Cleric's role and giving them some followers.  James Yates gives us lesser clerics and man-at-arms followers for clerics and explains why, out of all the classes, they should have them. I expand on these ideas for covens. 

There is also a great article on Hades. 

Dragon #114 - October 1986

And here she is. I have said so much about this particular issue that I am at a loss as to what more I need to add. So, here are some links to things I have already said, including Larina's involvement.

• This Old Dragon, #114
• Character Creation Challenge: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1st Edition
• Skylla: Dragon Magazine #114
• Larina Nix for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (Dragon #114 version)

The Larry Elmore art of the "enchantress" became my stand-in art for Larina for decades. While this was the first Dragon Magazine witch I read about (like many others) it was not their first, nor as you can see from above, the first time witchy topics were discussed in the pages of Dragon.

In retrospect, there is an inevitability to Dragon #114. Not because TSR was always going to publish a witch class, but for over two years I had been reading in that direction. The magazine had put before me its share of god-bound clerics and odd familiars, goddesses of magic and spellbooks with a past, not to mention alternate and custom classes, the monsters of folklore, parallel worlds, magical cities and the sort of horror that lingers at the periphery of fantasy. Come October 1986, the pieces were all laid out on the table; I picked them all up and reassembled them into something more Larina-shaped. 

Special Mentions

While these do not fit inside the publishing window for the most part, I would be remiss if I didn't bring up Best of Dragon vol. I, II, and IV.

Best of The Dragon

This first collection reprints the witch from The Dragon #5. Great little bit of archaeology and shows that the witch has been haunting the pages of Dragon (and D&D) since the very beginning.

Best of Dragon, Vol. II

This one gave me the Anti-Paladin and the Healer class. Not to mention two different ninjas. I learned that classes are not a static thing.

Best of Dragon, Vol. IV

This is where I first saw the Death Master NPC class and compared it to my own Necromancer. I liked the Death Master quite a bit, and I actually approached Len Lakofka about it later on. We stayed in regular communication until his death.

Not all of these shaped Larina in particular or even my witches in general, but they did contribute to the environment in which my witches could grow, and Larina could be created and grow. 

That is why I say Larina is a Dragon Magazine witch, but not because one article created her. Dragon gave me permission, examples, arguments, monsters, spellbooks, gods, and the idea that classes could be built, tested, changed, and made personal. Dragon #114 gave me a witch. The previous two years helped make sure that when I finally found her, I already knew what to do with her.

Character Creation Challenge: Day 31, The Simbul Witch Queen of the High Witchcraft Tradition

There are only a few characters created by others in this game that I can say I absolutely adore. Feiya is one, so is Iggwilv. And The Simbul, aka Alassra Shentrantra Silverhand, is another. As I said before, Ed Greenwood's obvious love for this character in his writing pulled me into this character, and I love her. I love her power, her madness, and her obvious tragedy. She is great, and I could not wait to add her to my games. Of course, I had to put my own spin on her.

The Simbul is often misunderstood because people take her madness at face value. They see chaos, volatility, and emotional extremity and assume a lack of control. That is a mistake. The Simbul is not mad because she is weak. She is mad because she is too strong for the structures that attempt to contain her.

Unlike Iggwilv, who burns down identities and walks away, Alassra remains. She stays. She binds herself to place, to people, to purpose. Aglarond is not merely her realm; it is her anchor, her sanctuary. Her madness is the pressure of power that refuses to dissipate. Where other archmages retreat into towers, demiplanes, or abstraction, The Simbul holds the line in the world itself.

This is the essential difference between High Witchcraft and the more solitary or liminal traditions. High Witchcraft is not about secrecy or withdrawal. It is about standing openly in the storm of magic and daring the world to endure you. The Simbul does not hide her power, nor does she soften it for the comfort of others. She bleeds magic. She leaks prophecy. She burns bridges even as she protects them.

"Do NOT presume to lecture me, Larina Nix, envoy of Baba Yaga or not."

- Alassra Silverhand, The Simbul

Her relationship to the Seven Sisters is equally telling. They are reflections of Mystra’s will, but Alassra is the one who most visibly suffers for it. She is not the most restrained, nor the most diplomatic, nor the most serene. She is the one who feels everything. That emotional intensity is not incidental. It is the price she pays for channeling magic on a scale that would unmake lesser beings.

If Iggwilv represents the witch who refuses all masters, then The Simbul represents the witch who accepts a burden no one else can carry and survives it anyway.

Alassra Shentrantra Silverhand "The Simbul"
31st level Human Arch Witch/Witch Queen (21/10), Neutral
Tradition: High Witchcraft

Secondary Skill: Initiate

S: 14
I: 18
W: 15
D: 18
C: 16
Ch: 19

Paralysis/Poison: 2
Petrify/Polymorph: 2  
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 2
Breath Weapon: 4
Spells: 3

AC:  -2 (Bracers of Protection +3, Cord of Protection +2, Ring of Protection +3, Dex 18 -4)

HP: 78
THAC0: 8

Weapon
Dagger +1 1d4/1d3

Familiar: Familiar Spirit

Occult Powers
1st level: Familiar
7th level: Witch Vision (see magic, invisible) 

Archwitch Powers: Mastery of the Veil (gained at level 7), Arcane Communion (gained at level 9), Unbound by Circles (gained at level 11). 

Witch Queen Powers: Awesome Presence, Occult Eminece (Witch's Blessing), A Thousand Faces, Timeless Body, Ninth Level Spells (5)

Spells
Cantrips: Arcane Mark, Daze, Mote of Light, Object Reading, Open,
First level: Analgesia, Bar the Way, Burning Hands, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Eldritch Fire (Silverfire), Glamour, Mend Minor Wounds
Second level: Arcane Disruption, Agony, Alter Self, Continual Flame, Dweomerfire, ESP, Evil Eye, Web 
Third level: Bestow Curse, Clairsentience, Control Winds, Danger Sense, Dispel Magic, Fly, Lightning Bolt
Fourth level: Analyze Magic, Ball Lightning, Divination, Polymorph Others, Polymorph Self, Remove Curse
Fifth level: Break Enchantment, Maelstrom, Sending, Ward of Magic 
Sixth level: Analyze Dweomer, Greater Scry, Mislead, Rain of Fire
Seventh level: Astral Spell, Chain Lightning, Greater Teleport 
Eighth level: Eye of the Storm, I Am The Fire, Storm of Vengeance, 
Ninth level: Foresight, Imprisonment, Seal the Gate, Power Word Kill, Shapechange

Theme Song: Every Little Thing She Does is Magic

The Simbul occupies a rare and precarious position. She is both an Arch Witch and a Witch Queen, but she is not defined by conquest, hierarchy, or cult. Her authority is not derived from dominion over other witches, but from presence. When The Simbul acts, reality pays attention. When she speaks, even the gods listen carefully.

She is best used in a campaign not as a quest-giver or antagonist, but as a force of nature given human form. The Simbul does not maneuver behind the scenes. She erupts. She intervenes. She is not a gentle breeze; she is a storm, she is a hurricane. 

She makes decisions that reshape the magical landscape, then lives with the consequences, in full view of the world. Player characters who encounter her should feel small, not because she belittles them, but because she reminds them of the scale at which magic can truly operate.

Yet, for all her terrifying capability, there is a deep sadness at the heart of Alassra Shentrantra Silverhand. She has given up the possibility of an ordinary life, not for ambition, but for necessity. She endures so that others may not have to. That sacrifice is what elevates her from a powerful spellcaster to a Witch Queen in the truest sense.

I am not sure what I feel about her canonical death. While I do not pretend for a moment that any Witch Queen should live forever, her end feels strangely hollow to me. Yes, she died doing something entirely in character, but the framing feels uncomfortably refrigeratory, reducing a complex, volatile, deeply loved figure to a moment of narrative utility rather than culmination.

In my games, she sacrifices herself, yes, but not in that way. It is her magic and her sanity that are consumed, burned away to seal what could not otherwise be contained. Alassra lives, but she is vastly diminished. The storm has passed, and what remains is the woman who stood at its center.

I like to think that in this state, Elminster keeps her hidden and protected, not as a guardian of the realm, but as a dear and close friend who refuses to let her story end in silence. He works without rest to restore what was lost, knowing full well that success is uncertain. Whether she will ever return as the Simbul the world knew is unclear. But she is alive. 

And for a Witch Queen, that matters.

Where Iggwilv survives by changing, and others by ruling, The Simbul survives by being remembered, even when she can no longer remember herself.

And that's another 31 Day Character Challenge!

Character Creation Challenge: Day 30, Iggwilv Witch Queen of the Demonic Tradition

 I rather love Iggwilv. 

There is a quote attributed to her that I think is spot on. "I can't remember the number of times I have burned everything to the ground and started over." It captures her well I think. From the girl Natasha to Natasha the Dark, to Tasha, to Tashanna, to Hura, Iggwilv, and now? Zyblina. I see no contradictions here. Witches are fluid, liminal creatures, and witch queens more so. 

Iggwilv has never been a creature of stasis, either in her world or ours. She does not cling to names, crowns, or even worlds. She sheds them. Each incarnation is not a disguise so much as a molting, a deliberate abandonment of what no longer serves her. Where other archmages obsess over legacy and continuity, Iggwilv embraces rupture. Reinvention is not a failure state for her, it is a strategy.

This is what separates her from the traditional wizard archetype and places her squarely in the lineage of witch queens. Wizards accumulate. Witches transform. Iggwilv understands that power calcifies if it is not periodically broken down and reforged. When she burns everything to the ground, it is not an act of petulance or nihilism. It is pruning. It is alchemy. 

There is also a deeply witchy pragmatism to her infamous dealings with demons. Iggwilv is not a supplicant, nor is she a true believer. She does not worship, and she does not kneel. Demons are tools, dangers, lovers, rivals, and sometimes mirrors, but never masters. Her greatest victories over fiends were not won through brute force or righteous opposition, but through understanding their nature better than they understood themselves. 

The Demonic Tradition she embodies is not about corruption for its own sake, but about sovereignty. To bind a demon is to assert that no cosmic hierarchy is absolute, that even Hell has rules that can be learned, exploited, and rewritten. She is part of the Demonic Tradition because she knows demons, she can gain power from them, and not let it harm herself. Well. Most times.

If Baba Yaga is the archetypal Witch Mother, eternal and terrible, then Iggwilv is the Witch Daughter who refused to remain in her shadow. She learned everything she could, then walked away.

Iggwilv
30th level Human Arch Witch/Witch Queen (20/10), Chaotic Neutral (Evil)
Tradition: Demonic (formerly Daughters of Baba Yaga)

Secondary Skill: Scribe

S: 10
I: 20
W: 17
D: 21
C: 19
Ch: 22

Paralysis/Poison: 3
Petrify/Polymorph: 3  
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 4
Breath Weapon: 6
Spells: 5

AC: -10 (leather armor +4, Bracers of Defense +3, Ring of Protection +5, Dex 21 -4, Tastchti's Mark -2)
HP: 66
THAC0: 10

Weapon
Dagger +1 1d4/1d3

Familiar: Quasit, "Black Comet"

Occult Powers
1st level: Familiar
7th level: Touch of Evil

Archwitch Powers: Mastery of the Veil (gained at level 7), Arcane Communion (gained at level 9), Unbound by Circles (gained at level 11). 

Witch Queen Powers: Awesome Presence, Occult Eminece (Polymorph Other), A Thousand Faces, Timeless Body, Ninth Level Spells (5)

Spells
Cantrips: Alarm Ward, Arcane Mark, Chill, Daze, Ghost Sound, Summon Vermin
First level: Bad Luck, Cause Fear, Charm Person, Darkness, Fey Sight, Ghostly Slashing, Glamour, Protection from Spirits, Silver Tongue
Second level: Agony, Biting Blade, Discord, Enthrall, Evil Eye, Invisibility, Mind Obscure, Phantasmal Spirit, Tasha's Hideous Laughter (Ritual)
Third level: Astral Sense, Bestow Curse, Dispel Magic, Feral Spirit, Ghost Ward, Toad Mind, Witch Writing
Fourth level: Analyze Magic, Divination, Intangible Cloak of Shadows, Phantom Lacerations, Spiritual Dagger, Tears of the Banshee, Withering Touch
Fifth level:  Break Enchantment, Enslave, Greater Command, Magic Jar, Witch Box
Sixth level: Anchoring Rite, Anti-Magic Shell, Break the Spirit, Dismissal (Ritual)
Seventh level: Banishment, Draw Forth the Soul, Forbidding
Eighth level: Astral Projection, Gate, Trap the Soul
Ninth level: Bind Soul, Foresight, Imprisonment, Seal the Gate, Power Word Kill,

Theme Song: I Hate Myself for Loving You

What makes Iggwilv compelling is not that she is powerful, but that she is unfinished. Or more to the point, ever-changing and ever-growing. Even now, even under yet another name like Zybilna, she is still becoming. A Witch Queen is not a static end-state like lichdom or apotheosis. It is a road, and Iggwilv has walked it forward, backward, and sideways across multiple realities.

For a campaign, Iggwilv should never be a simple antagonist. She is an event. An inflection point. Crossing paths with her should permanently alter the trajectory of a story, even if swords are never drawn and spells are never exchanged. She might teach, betray, ignore, manipulate, or save the party, but she will never do so for their sake alone. There is always a larger calculus at work.

And yet, for all her monstrous reputation, there remains something profoundly mortal at her core. She still loves, still hates, still remembers. Her many names are not masks to hide emptiness, but scars that prove she has survived herself over and over again.

That may be her greatest magic of all.

Character Creation Challenge: Day 29, Kersy Witch Queen of the Atlantean Tradition

Kersy is a wonderful character. Bruce Heard, her creator, admits she is basically a Circe stand-in, but I saw her as something else. I have to admit, when I saw Vanessa Williams in ads for the 1997 TV mini-series "The Odyssey," I thought, "Now that is great casting for Circe!" Sadly, I got it wrong: she was cast as Calypso, and Bernadette Peters as Circe. But it stuck with me. So when I came back to D&D in the 2000s and encountered Kersy, I already knew what she looked like. She looked like 1990s Vanessa Williams. 

Kersy has an interesting character beyond her origins as a Circe stand-in. She is introduced in the D&D Masters-level module M1 Into the Maelstrom. She is using her human guise as a 30th-level Magic-user, and she is the ruler of the Island of Turkeys.  If you are thinking she sounds a lot like Circe and her Island of Pigs then you are correct. Doing some deeper research into Kersy gives me a stranger tale. Over at the Vaults of Pandius, they have expanded on her background a bit more. 

She is described as the distillation of Koryis' own unwanted thoughts, urges, and feelings.  

Koryis is the Immortal Patron of Peace.  While he was on his epic quest, he sought to purge himself of evil in impure thoughts. He was successful, and that "impurity" manifested itself as Kersy. If Kersey looks like Vanessa Williams from The Odyssey, then Koris looks like Armand Assante.

At least that is what his mythology says. 

We learn from M1 that she is a "beautiful maiden" and a "30th-level magic-user." But other details are scant. From the Vaults of Pandius, we learn that she is beautiful, with long raven-black hair and amber-colored eyes.  She is the Patroness of Witchcraft and Charms.  

What can we gather from all of this? Kersy is Koryis' "dark anima" in Jungian psychology.  The description of Koryis' quest to rid himself of these dark, impure impulses sounds exactly like a quest to confront his Anima, who is Kersy. However, Koryis failed to integrate his "shadow self" and is less than he was. 

Now, if this is what happened, then according to Jung, Koyris is now forever incomplete.  Reading over the history of VoP, it would seem that Kersy knows this. If we extend this to other Jungian archetypes, then Kersy fits one perfectly. The Witch.  She is powerful, connected to the Earth, and a source of wisdom.  Koyris, in his quest to rid himself of Kersy, only weakened himself and gave his power away.

Kersy might wish to reunite with the now forever incomplete Koryis, or not. She has grown since then. 

In my Occult D&D, they would forever be circling each other, each seeking what the other has and never feeling quite complete. An Anima and Animus, or a Yin and Yang. 

And given her history, she is also perfect for my Atlantean Tradition.

Kersy
29th level Human Witch/ Witch Queen (20/9), Neutral (Chaoic Neutral)
Tradition: Atlantean 

Secondary Skill: Astrologer

S: 12
I: 18
W: 18
D: 16
C: 14
Ch: 18

Paralysis/Poison: 3
Petrify/Polymorph: 3 
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 4
Breath Weapon: 6
Spells: 5

AC: -2 (leather armor +3, Bracers of Protection +3, Cord of Protection +2, Ring of Protection +3, Dex 16 -1)
HP: 66
THAC0: 12

Weapon
None

Familiar: Rainbow Warbler (Song Bird) "Victoria"

Occult Powers
1st level: Familiar
7th level: Speak to Animals
13th level: Drawing Down the Moon
19th level: Witch's Blessing

Witch Queen Powers:
Awesome Presence, Occult Eminece (Polymorph Other), A Thousand Faces, Timeless Body, Ninth Level Spells (4)

Spells

Cantrips: Daze, Guiding Star*, Mote of Light, Object Reading, Open
First level: Allure, Bar the Way, Bewitch I, Burning Hands, Call Spirits of the Land, Charm Person, Comprehend Languages, Glamour
Second level: Alter Self, Beckon, Blight of Loneliness, Burning Gaze, Detect Charm, ESP, Evil Eye, Mind Obscure
Third level: Astral Sense, Bestow Curse, Calm Animals, Clairsentience, Control Winds, Danger Sense
Fourth level: Ball Lightning, Confusion, Divination, Masque, Polymorph Others, Threshold
Fifth level: Break Enchantment, Commune with Nature, Maelstrom, Song of Night
Sixth level: Bones of Earth, Cloak of Dreams, Greater Scry, Mislead
Seventh level: Astral Spell, Breath of the Goddess, Veneration
Eighth level: Adoration (Overwhelming), Eye of the Storm, Storm of Vengeance
Ninth level: Foresight, Mass Polymorph, Seal the Gate, Sovereign Geas, Time Stop

Theme Song: Veil of Isis

My Kersy has outgrown the original Kersy much as she outgrew the original Circe. She is my witch queen of the Jungian archetype of the Anima. So, in a way, it makes some sense to me to make her an Atlantean Witch. She also brings up something.

Baba Yaga is not a member of the Daughters of Baba Yaga tradition; she is Classical. Aradia is not a member of the Followers of Aradia tradition; she is a Pagan. Likewise, Kersy is the Queen of the Atlantean Tradition and founded the Aquarian Tradition. The Aquarians, in their own way, honor her as their Witch Queen, but they aptly refuse to have a witch queen of their own. 

I have done quite a lot with Kersy over the last five or so years, and she has been great. Truly one of the most powerful Witch Queens I use. 

Character Creation Challenge: Day 28, Areelu Vorlesh Witch Queen of the Malefic Tradition

 Areelu Vorlesh is another witch queen I adopted, this time from the Pathfinder game. She is a half-succubus witch and a whole lot of fun. In the Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous video game, she is described as something like a mad scientist and mother of monsters. So for this reason, I gave her the Alchemist secondary skill. Since a lot of her magic seems based on her occult devotion, I also decided that she would be a witch priestess, more akin to an occultist than anything. I considered archwitch, but felt this worked better. She sought to claim the authority of the gods in my games. 

The human who would become the witch Areelu Vorlesh has been lost to time. It was known that she was a witch in Deskari’s cult.  She was researching the nature of the separation of the worlds and planes.  It was her success at opening the Worldwound that caused her Patron to transform her into a half-fiend.

After her defeat at the World Wound, Areelu Vorlesh sought other allies. The ones she found became The Coven of the Shattered Crowns. Vorlesh is going after the Gods themselves. 

Witch Queen Areelu Vorlesh

Areelu’s elevation to Witch Queen came not through lineage, coven recognition, or patron blessing, but through apotheosis by catastrophe.

The creation of the Worldwound was not an accident, nor a summoning gone awry. It was a calculated experiment: to pierce planar reality and hold it open long enough to observe what crawled through. That demons followed was expected. That the wound endured was the true triumph.

In this moment, Areelu crossed the threshold from Malefic Witch Priestess to Witch Queen, for she no longer merely wielded magic, she altered the cosmological order.

This act places her above regional sovereigns and elemental queens, but below those who embody primal myth. She is not inevitable. She is possible, and that is far more dangerous.

Areelu Vorlesh
28th level Half-Succubus Witch Priestess/Witch Queen 28 (20/8), Chaotic Evil
Tradition: Malefic 

Secondary Skill: Alchemist

S: 14
I: 18
W: 18
D: 18
C: 18
Ch: 19

Paralysis/Poison: 3
Petrify/Polymorph: 3  
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 4
Breath Weapon: 6
Spells: 5

AC: 0 (Bracers of Defense, +3 Amulet of Protection)
HP: 73
THAC0: 10

Weapon
Dagger of venom +4 1d4/1d3

Familiar: "Gimcrak" (Quasit, Enhanced)

Occult Powers
1st level: Familiar
7th level: Evil's Touch
13th level: Devil's Tongue
19th level: Curse

Witch Queen Powers:
Awesome Presence, Occult Eminece (Polymorph Other), A Thousand Faces, Timeless Body, Ninth Level Spells (4)

Spells
Cantrips: Arcane Mark, Detect Curse, Message, Summon Vermin
First level: Bewitch I, Cause Fear, Charm Person, Command, Increase Sex Appeal, Quicken Healing, Shattering the Hourglass, Silver Tongue
Second level: Ecstasy, Enthrall, Evil Eye, Hold Person, Invisibility, Phantasmal Spirit, Rite of Remote Seeing, Scare
Third level: Bestow Curse, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Dispel Magic, Feral Spirit, Fly, Tongues, Witch Wail
Fourth level: Abomination, Charm Monster, Confusion, Divine Power, Spiritual Dagger, Withering Touch
Fifth level: Baleful Polymorph, Feeblemind, Greater Command, Nightmare 
Sixth level: Break the Spirit, Mass Suggestion, Repulsion, True Seeing
Seventh level: Draw Forth the Soul, Eternal Charm Monster, Gate (Ritual)
Eighth level: Bewitch VIII, Damming Stare, Destroy Life, Wail of the Banshee
Ninth level: Bind the Soul, Imprisonment, Power Word Kill, Shapechange

Theme Song: Hexenhammer & Queen of the Infernal Pantheon

Areelu Vorlesh ultimately earns her place among the Witch Queens not because she commands lesser demons, but because she refused to accept the limits imposed by gods, planes, or tradition. Where other witches bargain, rule, or endure, Areelu experiments. She treats the cosmos as a problem to be solved and suffering as an acceptable reagent. In this, she represents a uniquely modern horror, not the ancient terror of Baba Yaga or the cold inevitability of Koliada, but the relentless conviction that reality itself is flawed and must be corrected, no matter the cost.

Character Creation Challenge: Day 24, Elena the Fair Witch Queen of the Daughters of Baba Yaga

We are getting to the part of the Challenge where my high-level characters come out, and in this case, that means Witch Queens! Since it is the weekend, I am not going to detail what a Witch Queen is in the context of AD&D and Occult D&D, but I'll do so on Monday. So, for today, I have one of the most misunderstood Witch Queens. Elena the Fair.

Elena the Fair, Witch Queen of Summer, Daughter of Baba Yaga

Among the daughters of Baba Yaga, Elena the Fair is the most misunderstood. Tales name her "the beautiful one," "the gentle sister," or "the bride who never was," and from these epithets, many assume she is merely ornamental, a soft contrast to her dread mother and her infamous sister. This is a grave error.

Elena is not gentle because she is weak. She is gentle because she understands the terrible cost of power.

In the oldest Russian tales, Elena appears as a radiant princess, bound by enchantment, wagered in impossible trials, or held captive by sorcerers, dragons, or deathless kings. Yet in every telling, she survives not through brute magic, but through patience, kindness, clever bargains, and the quiet certainty that summer always returns. These stories are not disguises. They are masks worn by a Witch Queen who learned early that overt rulership invites hunters, heroes, and gods alike.

Where her sister Natasha, later known as Iggwilv, turned away from Baba Yaga in hunger for mastery, Elena remained.

Not out of fear. Out of love.

Elena is the Witch Queen of Summer, but she does not sit upon a court of marble or command a realm bound by banners and borders. Her dominion is seasonal, wandering, and alive.

Summer, as Elena embodies it, is not conquest or fire alone. It is growth that must one day wither. It is beauty that exists because it cannot last. Elena does not demand fealty. Those who serve her often do not realize they have done so until years later, when they look back and recognize the invisible hand that guided them safely home.

Elena and Natasha

If Natasha is Baba Yaga’s ambition, Elena is her memory.

The sisters represent a fork in the witch’s road. Natasha sought dominion over demons, kings, and gods. Elena sought harmony with cycles older than all three.

Elena does not hate her sister. She mourns her.

In some legends, Elena foresaw what Natasha would become and tried to stop her. In others, she stepped aside, knowing that fate cannot be unmade, only endured. What remains constant is this: Elena never joined Iggwilv’s wars, nor did she oppose her openly. Summer does not challenge winter head-on. It waits.

There are whispers that Elena alone can still speak to Natasha without drawing blades or binding circles, though such meetings are rare and leave scars on the land.

In darker places still it is whispered something even rarer. Natasha, who is Iggwilv, who is Zybilna, also wishes she could reconcile with her sister, but fears that someone as good as Elena could never forgive her over what she has done.

Elena the Fair
24th level Human Witch (Witch 20/ Witch Queen 4), Lawful Good
Tradition: Daughters of Baba Yaga

Secondary Skill: Herbalist

S: 11
I: 16
W: 10
D: 17
C: 17
Ch: 18

Paralysis/Poison: 5
Petrify/Polymorph: 5  
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 6
Breath Weapon: 8
Spells: 7

AC: 1 (Ring of Protection, Garter of Defence, Dex)
HP: 77
THAC0: 12

Weapon
Dagger +1 1d4/1d3

Familiar: Mouse, "Myshi"

Occult Powers
1st level: Familiar
7th level: Kitchen Witchery
13th level: Detect Bloodline
19th level: Boon (instead of Curse)

Witch Queen Powers
Awesome Presence, Occult Eminece, Ninth Level Spells (2)

Spells
Cantrips: Alarm Ward, Detect Curse, Object Reading, Warm
First: Bewitch I, Burning Hands, Command, Drowsy, Faerie Fire, Far Sight, Sleep, Handfasting (Ritual)
Second: Alter Self, Blast Shield, Ecstasy, Enthrall, Fever, Hold Person, Phantasmal Spirit, Rose Garden
Third: Astral Sense, Bestow Curse, Continual Fire, Feral Spirit, Fly, Imbue Witch Ball (Ritual)
Fourth: Air Walk, Elemental Armor, Grandmother's Shawl, Moonlit Way, Neutralize Poison, Spiritual Dagger
Fifth: Anti-Magic Candle, Dream, Primal Scream, Song of Discord
Sixth: Control Weather, Find the Path, Heroes' Feast, True Seeing
Seventh:  Ball of Sunshine, Breath of the Goddess, Etherealness, Serpent Garden
Eighth: Astral Projection, Greater Mislead, Mystic Barrier 
Ninth: Imprisonment, Time Stop

Theme Song: The Mystic’s Dream

As the Queen of Summer, one of Elena's duties is to guard the gates of the Summerlands.  This is the afterlife of the Witches, and where their spirits go for rest prior to being reincarnated to their next life.

She is also the Protector of Midsummer and sees to it that all witches are protected on the night of Midsummer's Eve. Elena has both the smallest and largest courts. Small in that there is no formal court that she holds, but also the largest since all witches pay her at least some homage.

Character Creation Challenge: Day 13 Jana & Sarana

Today I want to explore two similar witches. Or more to the point, two witches who approach similar magics and traditions of witchcraft from two different vectors.

 Jana is another witch I created a couple of years ago. I wanted a human witch mixed up in the affairs of the Faerie Courts, in particular my Court of Swords. Despite being high(-ish) level, she is in way over her head. I have her serving the current Queen of Swords, Nicnevin. This is just one of her titles, she is also one of my witch queens. The Court of Swords is one of the "Shadow Courts" neither the Seelie nor the Unseelie, but somewhere in between. What they lack in prominence they make up for in guile, intrigue and ruthlessness. Nicnevin herself is ancient and very powerful. I say that Jana has a bit of fire nymph blood in her heritage, not enough to really do much than raise her charisma score a couple of point, but enough to give her entry to these courts. 

Sarana is not really my character exactly. She also featured in my War of the Witch Queens, in the adventure Tanglewood Keep, from DL15 Mists of Krynn, as well as a past Character Creation Challenge. She is a composite of two of Vince Garcia's characters, Sarana and Stevie, who may have been the same character anyway.

Both of these characters are "Faerie Witches" that is, they are part of the faerie tradition. Since I am trying to figure out what my Occult D&D looks like through the lens of AD&D, I figured I would compare and contrast the play styles of two different sort of faerie witches. Jana is a faerie traditional witch from Mayfair's Role Aids book "Witches." Sarana uses my Faerie Tradition from my Old-School Essentials book, Monster Mash II: A Midsummer Night's Dream. I am also grabbing some ideas from my The Craft of the Wise: The Pagan Witch Tradition and The Green Witch for Swords & Wizardry. This covers OSE, S&W and AD&D 2nd Ed; so none of them are AD&D 1st ed. 

Given I am trying to stick close to their native rules today I am not using Cantrips or Bonus spells. 

Jana
13th level Human Witch, Neutral

Secondary Skill: Translator

S: 11
I: 17
W: 16
D: 12
C: 11
Ch: 17

Paralysis/Poison: 11
Petrify/Polymorph: 9
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 7
Breath Weapon: 11
Spells: 8

AC: 6 (Leather +2, AC 8)
HP: 31
THAC0: 16

Weapon
Dagger 1d4/1d3
Staff +1 1d6

Spells
First level: Audible Glamer, Comprehend Languages, Friends, Read Magic
Second level: ESP, Forget, Know Alignment, Detect Good & Evil
Third level: Delude, Speak with Animals, Tongues, Remote Seeing
Fourth level: Emotion, Fear, Wizard Eye, Enervation 
Fifth level: False Vision, Domination, Advanced Illusion
Sixth level: Mindwrite, Mislead

Theme Song: Another Year of Rain

Jana is one of Queen Nicnevin's translators. Her job is to cast sublte magic to both enthrall and intimidate visitors to the Queen's court. 

In my game Queen Nicnevin combines the mythological Nicnevin, with a bit of Hecate (already part of Nicnevin according to some scholars) and a bit of Scáthach. 

Sarana
13th level Half-Elf (Gray Elf) Witch, Neutral

Secondary Skill: Herbalist

S: 10
I: 18
W: 19
D: 13
C: 15
Ch: 19

Paralysis/Poison: 9
Petrify/Polymorph: 9
Rod, Staff, or Wand: 10
Breath Weapon: 12
Spells: 11

AC: 6 (Robe AC 9 +3)
HP: 43
THAC0: 16

Weapon
Dagger +2 1d4/1d3
Staff 1d6

Familiar: White Dove, "Zeraida"

Spells
First level: Allure, Wailing Lament, Fey Step, Glamour
Second level: Burning Gaze, Evil Eye, Stunning Allure, Witch's Tooth
Third level: Blink, Psychic Assault, Magical Vestment
Fourth level: Command Person, Dryad's Door, Threefold Aspect
Fifth level: Baba Yaga's Secret Chest, Magic Cauldron
Sixth level: Arcane Window

Theme Song: Gypsy

Sarana is always an NPC, so I don't have much to say about her growth as a character. As a witch though she has fewer spells than does Jana at the same level. 

Along with Eireann and Rána, they were all in my "Kingdom of Rain" mini-campaign a couple years back. This was around the time I was experimenting with the Land of Faerie/the Feywild as a means to access other worlds. It would explain how I can have Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance Character's interact without resorting to gate spells, astral travel, or Spelljamming.