- Magick exists and everyone knows it. It’s a valuable resource and also seems to be something you are either born with, or are not. Magick, like any other resource, is taxed heavily. Magick users must be able to afford a magicks license and meet a litany of other grueling criteria in order to be able to practice and work as witch in the world. With the cost of training courses, coven costs, and now licensing fees in addition to yearly taxes, many witchfolk have resorted to practicing illegally. Practicing without proper licensing and documentation is a serious felony, and most are caught by Hexhounds (a brute squad of elite trained soldiers, rumored to be able to scent magickal signatures). Some who are caught serve their time. Some are never seen again.
Even before the Mage War, witchfolk have needed three things to begin practicing magick: 1) a familiar 2) a coven 3) a wand
- A Familiar: a spirit guide and guardian birthed from the source of magick and bonded to a witch telepathically and only them.
- A Coven: a school of witches with a particular set of magickal skills where you will dedicate your life to bearing the burden of casting together and grow as you learn.
- A Wand: this only can be given after all members of your coven have endorsed you. Then you can accept a wand that is build piece by piece for you that tells the story of who you are, what you could become, and what may lie in store for you if you don’t grow. A wand is made up of three parts: the pommel, the grip, and the shaft.
- What is the level of technological advancement in the world? Are there any significant inventions or discoveries? Technology and magick have grown intertwined since the Mage War, with witchfolk creating a more eco-conscious version of a cyberpunk reality as they integrated into society fully.
To practice magicks without all three of these things is not just illegal but forbidden. Wands and covens and familiars help tamper the effects of magicks and guide a witch to use magick ethically. Casting any magick without a wand is deemed wandless magick and there is no graver transgression in the witch community.
Wandless magick is powerful, dangerous, unpredictable, and worst of all addictive.