Witches & Witchcraft

A witch is a type of human that possess an innate connection to magic and/or practices witchcraft. Witchcraft is the act of influencing one's environment through the use of encantations and rituals. Witches can be either male or female and can be full blooded or have some level of human blood diluting their blood. Anyone, even a perfectly normal human, can use witchcraft, however, only those who posses magical blood can possess innate abilities from birth.

Witchcraft vs. Witches
Witches are humans who possess some innate connection to magic, thus some possess an innate magical ability. However, any human, normal or otherwise, can practice witchcraft. The art of witchcraft is simply the practice of rituals and encantations to produce magical effects.

Pure-bloods are witches who's ancestry can be traced all the way back through generations of magic-users. This means, non-magical humans have never "diluted" their bloodline. Generally, the emphasis on pure bloods is mainly present in covens, though this distinction is somewhat apparent in the level of natural skill in witchcraft one possesses. Pure-blood witches all posses an innate ability, as well as some half-bloods, though not as many. Such half-bloods are generally the children of a magical parent who possess a tramendous amount of power, normally a pure-blood themselves.

In regards to the art of witchcraft, anyone with magical blood possesses an innate skill for the practice of the art, where as it is harder to learn if you are a normal human. Additionally, anyone with any human blood will never be as powerful as a pure-blood, and completely human individuals who practice wtichcraft will never be as powerful as humans with at least some magical blood in them.

Witchcraft
The art is neither evil nor good, and it is neither dark nor light. Magic is what it is. It is there to serve its wielder, thus it is the user of magic that determines whether the particular use of magic is good or evil.

History
Almost anyone is capable of practicing witchcraft, however one must harness the spiritual energy and supernatural forces that surrounds them in everyday life. Very little is known of where their powers come from, though there are many theories, most spiritual or religious.

The fey claim that they were the ones who gave humanity the first magical spells, and taught them how to use witchcraft. However, it was humanity that turned it into what it is today, and it was through deals with demons and other beings, and mating with fey creatures, that wtiches as a pure-blood race was born.

Covens
Within the witch community, many families chose to organize into covens. Covens are essentially a specific family that prides itself on nurturing it's magical bloodline. There are many well-known covens, and there are many not too well known. All families do not consider themselves covens, but all the members of actual covens are related by blood to one another. Covens are named after the original family name from when it was started, so even the current head of the coven may not share the name of the coven, though many still do.

Many witches, probably most, do not subscribe to a coven, whether this is because they have human blood or because they did not want to be a part of the one they were born into, varies.

Covens, overall, are a touchy subject with most witches, and in some non-witch circles as well, depending on rivalries and enemies developed over the year. But over all, covens are used by proud, often well off, and very old families of pure-bloods who nurture their magical talents over generations and often look down on humans and many other races.

Grimoires
While not the sole source of power for witches, most families, especially all covens, possess what is called a grimoire. A very old and very thick book, grimoires possess often the most powerful spells and rituals, as well as huge archives of knowledge that have been collected since the books making, which are often from the beginning of family's lineage.

Grimoires themselves often hold magic of their own, mainly through exposure to it over the centuries, and often develop a will that protects the book from certain individuals. Many families, especially covens, enchant their book so that it can only be touched by members of the covens, or in some cases, only by the acting leader of the family.

Innate Powers
Some witches, though not all, possess an innate spell-like ability that manifests around their 10th birthday. A witch's powers grow stronger as they get older, and they possess a number of magical abilities depending on their level of skill. While beginner and average witches focus their powers mainly through the use of incantations and rituals (and one innate power), more advanced and powerful witches have been known to use magic by sheer force of will. However, this is only a level of skill possessed by the most experienced witches who have been practicing for at least 30 years, usually.

Aside from possibly possessing one innate power and being able skilled at witchcraft, all witches have also been known to possess some or all of the following:
 * Extrasensory Perception - Many witches possess a sixth sense that can vary in strength to simply being able to sense when magical being are near, to being able to see spirits, to even being able to sense the type of magical being someone is.
 * Longevity - Many witches are known to live longer than the average human. Usually half again as long as the average human.

Schools of Magic

 * Enchanted - The act of enchanting objects, people, or anything that would otherwise be considered mundane with magical qualities.
 * Conjuration - The act of summoning and/or commanding objects, people, spirits, or other supernatural entities.
 * Elemental - The act of controlling and manipulating energy. This does not just pertain to fire, wind, water, or earth. This also includes things like kinetic energy itself, such as creating force fields or using telekinesis.
 * Transmutation - The act of physically changing, in one way or another, an object, animal, person, or anything else with a physical form. This usually entails changing the fundamental makeup of the object, so that it serves a completely new purpose.
 * Brewing (Potions) - The act of brewing and concocting paranormal elixirs that contain supernatural properties.