GREETINGS PEOPLE, I BRING TO YOU AS EVERY WEEK I DO, THE NEXT ENTRY IN THE COMPENDIUM OF WITCHES, With the topic you chose in the poll, a bit later because I was occupied yesterday but HERE IT IS.

The topic of colonization is one which I do like to cover because it shows and touches how the mentlaity of makind is different from the one shown in reali life, less focused on personal glory and more focused on comunal survival, more predisposed to work together than against each other, and that of course would affect a heavy topic like colonization, so I wanted to cover it in one of these entries, and now I finally have.

WIthout further to explain..LET'S DIVE IN!

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Introduction: A Bridge of Ease

Witches are here to defend humanity and guide it to the light, but not to rule over them, for becoming rulers would be tyrannical and that goes against the beliefs of The Mother, as such Witches have to let humanity do their own things, even if sometimes that leads to horrible or monstrous crimes, for they chose to believe in humanity and the best within all of us.

One of those sour topics was colonization, how does a Witch cope with the fact that the powerful will always seek to control de weak whatever the reason is? By minimizing the damage or by making sure things go as smoothly as possible, for they may not rule, but they absolutely can guide...and that is what we are going to explore today.

We are going to look at how Witches helped in the colonization, integration and peaceful coexistence between different types of people, mostly focused on the Liberion colonization as that is the most detailed and perfect example of this dynamic, we have.
So strap in and prepare to conquer...with love….as much as possible at least.

Universal Translators of Love

According to the Tablets of Urash the First Witch, Urash was given the power to understand and speak all human tongues by the High Priestess of Dhegom Mter, Baba (Dhegom Mter being how Proto-Indo Europeans called The Mother) according to the tablet:

“Baba touched the lips of Urash and proclaimed to their Mothers, the same Mother…

“…From now on my girl, you will have the power to understand the tongue of mankind

“Mattering not what this could be…”

“Mattering not where you came from”

“You will be able to understand it...”

“As the Mother wants you to be able to hear the pleas of all her children”

“As the Mother wants you to spread her message to the lands”

“I... her voice on this land declare it so…”

Thanks to this blessing Urash was able to understand all tongues regardless of their origin, even if she had never heard from it, this ability was passed down to other Witches after her passing, and this ability has been KEY in the relationships between societies ever since.

When Caesar realized this, he began using the Witches as ambassadors, other cultures who also had Witches began using theirs similarly, thanks to this approach he was able to subdue most of modern-day Gallia, Britannia and Hispania, it wasn’t always peaceful but at least thanks to the communication between the Witches, several bloodbaths and wars were stopped.

The practice began spreading alongside the prominence of Witches and soon enough, before launching into wars or conquests, societies had two Witches managing the initial diplomacy, first with Parthia (Iran), then with Germanic and Celtic Tribes, then with Berber tribes etc, however there are societies who did not like Witches (Hebrews, Chinese, The First Slavs for example) and would always attack them when approached...this resulted in an attack by the Romans as under Caesar’s law, attacking a Roman Witch was an act of war against the empire and if a citizen did it, it was punishable by execution unless the Witch showed mercy, they would still be jailed and punished though.

And on Liberion their cultures definitely figured this utility as well because many tribes and empires also did this, the Aztecs, the Mayans, the Inca and Chumash all tried this approach with the arriving colonist from Hispania, Lusitania and Fuso.

Many tribes in North Liberion however were hostile and feared Witches and they would attack Hispanian and Britannia Witches if they were seen, with time these tribes began accepting Witches little by little but it took SEVERAL years, but finally it was achieved and they were incorporated within the United States of Liberion, especially because native Witches began appearing on these tribes, they would be shunned out and taken in by the colonists or other more Witch friendly tribes.

They would explain their culture, their customs, their religions to the foreigners, their Witches would likewise explain where they came from, their intentions...these conversations would go on and on until a mutual agreement was achieved, or in the cases where this was not possible, at least promises and treaties to prevent unnecessary destruction, or in many cases if they ran into weaker tribes, they would seek protection from stronger foes.

Speaking of which, let’s discuss about a peculiar tactic using Witches.

Cultural “Netorare” Integration

As ridiculous and stupid as this sounds, it has been an absolute legitimate tactic to conquer nations who are not the kindest to its Witches, the idea is very simple…

“Come with us, we’ll make you queens and be worshiped like you deserve”

And as much as Witches can be loyal, they’re loyal to the people, NOT THE GOVERNMENT, and if their rulers screw them over and over again, do not be surprised when a foreign power comes and swoops these Witches to their side, especially when the foreign Witches sell them the idea that they are QUEENS, what woman wouldn’t want to be loved and valued for all the things she does? Even Witches crave for this need too, they’re human too after all, Cerydwen who lived alongside Lucina Vorena Pullo would summarize her feelings about their pre-Caesar era lives with this phrase:

“When I asked her why would she serve Rome, she said to me it was because they made her realize she could smile”

As simple as that...making Witches happy is the most powerful shield AND weapon an empire can wield.

Examples of this practice being used to great effect:

-The Romans used it in their colonization of the eastern provinces, especially those dominated by Hebrew cultures, they also applied it to Slavs when they began colliding with the Roman World, one example was in Arabia on the 9^(th) century, to make Arabian Witches within hostile tribe come to Roman side, they would throw LOUD birthday parties for Roman Witches, loud and large enough for Arabian Witches to see the difference, it would usually take them 3 days at most to sneak and come to the Roman camp to talk, they would often join in exchange for not harming the population which the Romans would usually grant with no problem, Witches were their most valuable resource.

-Fuso would do this ALL THE TIME to Korea, it is often say that Fuso completely depleted Korea of all its Witches before the 18^(th) century and there is some truth to that, and after that came the population (Which were mostly settled on the South Seas Island) following the Witches, which saved Korean culture from being destroyed by the Neuroi in the early 20^(th) century when the attacks from the hives in the Gobi desert came.

To some this might seem a bit vile and that is understandable, no one likes to be betrayed, but like we said, Witches are humans too, they crave for affection and recognition, it doesn’t have to be a grand gesture, a simple “You matter to me” is enough, having Witches is a blessing, a privilege given by The Mother, but if you don’t value and care for that gift, it will rot away and they will seek someone who does, it is inevitable, love is a garden you have to care for and water constantly, NEVER take it for granted.

So, remember, always value the one you have, before someone else does it for you.

Hispanian Colonization

Now let’s shift our focus to the continent of Liberion, and see how the main colonizing powers performed using their Witches, starting with the first, Hispania.

If there is a single word to describe the Hispanian colonization of Liberion, it would be “Realization”, because it was basically making the natives realize there were other ways of doing things, of course there were wars and fights, people don’t want to let go of their ways of lives easy but, for the most part they simply approached smaller tribes oppressed by great powers and showed them they could live better, they could have more autonomy if they helped the Hispanians, that is how the amassed a loyal native army to defeat the Aztecan Empire, which fought hard against Hispania but eventually the pressure was too much, not to mention their own Witches began to slowly convince them to surrender and prevent more bloodshed, it was an opportunity to achieve something great, especially now that they realized they did not have to sacrifice people constantly to please the Gods, and through these efforts, they brought down the Empire.

Once they were beaten the Witches ensured they were treated well and with respect, diseased brought from Europa were cured by the Witches, all of these directives were not only initiatives by the Witches but were royal commands given by the Hispanian Monarchs, with all this effort it did not take the Hispanians long enough to establish a solid foot hold in in what would become the New Hispanian Viceroyalty, they repeated this process in the north and with the Mayans and other tribes in Central Liberion always with great success.

With the Incan Empire it was a bit more complicated because they were in the middle of a terrible Civil War but thanks to the Witches, they were able to choose the best candidate for the Hispanians to support and helped them ascend to the throne, unfortunately this monarch (Atawalpa), betrayed the Hispanians which forced them into combat with the Incan forces, while the Witches tried to make sure the population was not as damaged (Also the combat drew in some Neuroi so they dealt with that too), ultimately Atawalpa was captured and that is how Hispania managed to take down the Incan Empire.

With every engagement the Witches were instrumental, keeping an extreme micromanagement of the whole process, and then recruiting the local Witches to do the same, as we said before, it wasn’t perfect as they could not be across the entire massive domains of Hispania in Liberion at all times, but wherever they stood, they made sure peace was kept, laws were followed and respect was had.

This made the Hispanian Conquest of Liberion one of the bloodless and less violent conquests not just in the continent but also in history, the good synergy achieved between Hispania and its colonies is still studied to this day.

Britanian Colonization

Britannia for the most part tried to emulate the Hispanian model, but their circumstances were easier and sometimes harder.

This is because unlike the massive Empires of the south, North Liberion far beyond Aztecan lands was mostly dominated by small tribal confederation without a strong union, and to top it all off, some hated Witches and others did not...so this made the process a bit more complicated for Britannians.

Fortunately, upon arriving they found an amicable confederation, The Powhatan confederation whose Witches explained to Britannian Witches the entire situation and were the first to integrate into what would become “The Thirteen Colonies” in North Liberion, from which the United States of Liberion would later be born from, but let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.

Like we said Britannia emulated Hispanians and used their Witches to establish good relations with Witch friendly tribes, but this also backfired a bit with hostile tribes, The Iroquois and the Cherokee Confederations were among the firsts to join alongside the Powhatan, but others like the Seminole and the Muskogee confederations resisted them, fortunately their interactions with Hispanian Florida made them change their mind and join the Britannian colonists.

Thanks to this integration and assimilation the colonists formed a VERY unique identity (Both cultural and physical) which began to divert a lot from the colonial Britannia (just like it happened with the “Mestizaje” in New Hispania) and this made the independent sentiment grew with time which would result in the fight for their independence in the 18^(th) century.

From that point on they would have to deal with other hostile and friendly native confederations as they expanded west, but that would be the story of the USL, they however continued the integration and socialization model they learned from Britannia...and despite the many battles and conflicts they endured, they managed to unite the nation from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast….speaking of Pacific coasts though.

Fuso Colonization

The Fuso colonization could be described as “Lucky”, had Kin Shindou (Eventual first Daimyo of the Mizuho colony in California) found hostile tribes (Which were VERY plentiful in the west coast of Liberion) he would have sailed away never to return; however, the Fuso settlers were extremely lucky to run into the Chumash people.

Very simple tribal people, not a grand power in the area like the Numic, Yokut and Salinan confederations, they weren’t even part of a confederation, but they DID have Witches, and Kin Shindou had two Witches, his daughters Hokona and Mizuki Shindou, and they met with a young 10 year old Chumash Witch named Huma to make diplomacy, eventually Hokona who was the youngest of the two sisters was taken into the Chumash camp by Huma and after one night of interactions of various types...they forged an alliance...and that alliance two years later would breed the colony of Mizuho.

It wasn’t easy because other confederations fought against Fuso with all their might and numbers, but Fuso steel, discipline and gunpowder won them those battles to preserve the colony and eventually integrate most of the western confederations into the colony, again making a very distinct identity for Mizuho people. As it wasn’t a large colony, it was much easier for Fuso Witches (Who later learned of the Hispanian method after Hispanians were SURPRISED to find a Fuso colony in Liberion) to maintain control and make sure no abuses took place, making Mizuho the most peaceful colony in Liberion and where its inhabitants lived in complete harmony, the Chumash MULTIPLIED within the colony and became enamored with Fuso custom which they mixed with their own, interbreeding with the colonists and creating their own mestizos (The so called Mizuho Fusoan).

It was such a successful experiment that Fuso repeated that colonization process in Taiwan and when they integrated the Ainu people in Fuso Mainland, it turned Fuso into a massive and respected global power.

Conclusion: Unity in Opportunity

We want to once again clarify that despite how utopic we make these events sound, it wasn’t always this peaceful, there were abuses, wars and fights all over these places, but for the most part the Witches made absolutely sure peace was kept for the most part and justice prevailed.

Life will never be 100% and once people accept that, they can be happy with at least making 75% perfect and the rest bearable, that is what Witches tried to do with colonization, not making it perfect, just good enough until the world united and a similar vision and path toward the light was achieved, because in the end that is what their ultimate goal is, unification against the foes of humanity.

One has to wonder...how much bloodier it could have been if Witches had not been around? Maybe it’s best for us to never know and just be thankful we have our saviors of mankind.

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Greetings everyone, once again as it is usual I bring you the next entry in COMPENDIUM OF WITCHES, with the winning subject you all chose from last week's poll, I am gonna be doing runner ups from previous Topics that didn't won by the way, for at least a couple of weeks, but yeah, NEUROI IN LIBERION!

It's a strange subject I know, I don't recall exactly where I got the impresion or read that there were no Neuroi in Liberion, probably 4chan or something, but it has always stuck on my mind and through all the years I've been working in the Epoch of the Witches, I wanted to build something cool using that topic, so here it is!

WITHOUT ANY FURTHER TO ADD! ENJOY!

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Introduction: Not so Neuroi...

It is often said by people that Witches appear when they are needed the most, and there is truth to that, there have been areas in history where no Witches appear for decades (Or in reality familiars just refuse to appear and contact Witches), and of course in areas across history that have been hostile to Witches, or have betrayed Witches in some way are punished by not having any Witches at all, until the time comes and they are needed for a change, almost as if the Mother knew when the time was for Witches to appear or when not to recruit them….even if the area is SWARMING with Neuroi, if the people of that area are hostile to Witches, NO Witches will appear, external Witches can come and help despite the hostility but...local Witches appearing, that is a big no.

Another common belief is that there were NEVER any Neuroi in Liberion before The Great Wars, this is said because no Neuroi appeared, however there is some trick to that assessment, no Neuroi AS WE USUALLY UNDERSTAND THEM appeared, meaning black creatures emerging from underground hives or fortress hives in the skies...in fact there is not a SINGLE Neuroi hive on Liberion, they only appeared during the Third Neuroi War….so taking that line into account...one can easily say there are no Neuroi in Liberion, so in theory Witches aren’t needed there….

That being said...there are many Witches in Liberion, from ancient times Witches have had a strong presence in Liberion…. but that cannot be considering all the things we mentioned above...how can there be so many Witches in Liberion if “There are no Neuroi?” Unless...there is something else…

And that is what we are going to explore on this entry, the short answer is that...YES, there were Neuroi in Liberion, but not as we understand them...we are going to explore that topic now...so strap in!

What is a Neuroi?

Most people have a very basic idea, black creatures of massive sizes who feed on Earth’s minerals, metal and soil to create themselves and massive abominations with the sole purpose of destroying mankind, all of them having a red colored core which if destroyed, destroys the whole creature in a crystalline explosion.

However as the “Odd Ones” entry showed...that is not EXACTLY always the case, coming in various shapes and forms, not just metal or dark bodies, and they are not exactly a unified faction...some hate humans less than others and in EXTREMELY rare occasion they have actually defended humans, helped and even fought alongside Witches...or fought among themselves...Neuroi are not a singular entity you can pinpoint in one archetype...really the ONLY consistent thing among them all is always their red core.

So, we need to remove the basic idea of what a Neuroi is, to understand what was in Liberion before the Great War, because as we stated, yes there WERE NEUROI…. just not in the traditional way.

Why is Liberion DIFFERENT?

Unlike in Europa, where the Neuroi often roam as creatures trying to mimic animal forms or coming out of hives to attack in large masses or large beasts, the Neuroi in Liberion acted in a very different way, they would often appear just as one individual instead of large armies of them. Except in certain specific occasions (Like the Nightcrawlers we will see later), for the most part, the Neuroi in Liberion would always attack as one singular large or medium-sized individual, requiring only one Witch at the time to fight them, often being classified as mythological, evil spirits or cryptids which makes their identification harder, since they do not look like the typical Black Neuroi.

And on top of that they would be very strong and vicious in combat, they did not only have their red fire and lasers, but they would also have other weapons like sound blasts to scare and to attack, they would have sharp claws and jaws, they produced toxic chemicals to stink or to kill people, they would kidnap children or impaired people to kill them or worst, or they would actively seek to destroy edifications planting explosives or slowly corroding structures, simply put these types of Neuroi NEEDED only Witches to fight them, humans would have a hard time if not impossible to fight them.

Their attack patterns would also be more sparse, coming just once every year, every couple of months, or with other triggers such as the population growing too large or they would go to a place for some reason the Neuroi did not like them going, and once defeated by the Witch, very rarely they would come back and would just resort to send another different looking monstrosity.

In a strange way, they operated very similar to how the Alone would many years later in space, especially with the different shapes, but as mentioned the red core always remained as their weak point.

Now the question...why would Neuroi operate so differently in Liberion as opposed to the ones in Eurasia and Africa?

It’s not exactly known why this is the case but there are several interesting theories that can presented:

Theory 1, The Shape of the Continent: Liberion has a very odd shape, as this is the continent that has suffered the most Neuroi depredation when it comes to consumption of land, metals and minerals, not to mention there are signs that the battles against the Gigas Neuroi raged particularly harder in the side of the world, causing MASSIVE DAMAGES to the continent. So, it is theorized that the Liberion Neuroi simply had extra resources to consume from and as such could allow themselves that “Experimentation” when it came to the way they fought humans. Studies show Liberion looked VERY different in the past than how it looks today, it was larger and there was a central bridge of land which is gone and the Quebec province in Faraway Land was united to the mainland, this is before the arrival of the Seven Gods around 50.000 BC.

Theory 2, Concentrated Population: Unlike in Europa, Asia and Africa to some degree, Liberion population usually gathered in very small and nomadic centers of population, large urban centers were EXTREMELY RARE, so probably the Neuroi figured they did not need LARGE armies to attack humans and just small specific single monsters of devastation were enough, especially since they would give Witches a big fight, unlike Europa where large armies were needed by them.

Theory 3, A Different Mindset: From the very earliest moments in history in Eurasia, Neuroi were identified as a distinctive hostile force against humanity and the world, no matter where you went they would understand these were a different entity, but in Liberion this DID NOT HAPPEN, in Liberion as mentioned they were perceived as magical, mythological monsters, still hostile but not something different, their religious beliefs played a big part in this change of perception, as such it seems the Neuroi might have chosen to exploit this perception to make things easier for them, preparing strong contenders to fight mankind and their Witches without much pressure, really it was a big surprise for Liberion Witches when Hispanian Witches came and shared the true nature of Neuroi to them.

During the end stages of the Second Neuroi War a hive manifested on the Pacific west of North Liberion but was quickly destroyed before it could cause any damage, marking the first time Neuroi as we perceived them appeared on Liberion, during the Third Neuroi War this continued until the Centralia Offensive, never again these weird Neuroi non Neuroi things appeared again.

However, we need to talk about the ONE exception, which manifested as a horde during the Liberion Civil War

The Terror of the Nightcrawlers (Liberion Civil War)

The Nightcrawlers were strange beings that appeared shortly after the Civil War broke out, heavily concentrated in the West of the United States of Liberion and not the East where most of the fighting took place.

They were tall creatures around 7 meters tall, made out of a round and rotund shape at the top with two long legs making 90% of its body, capable of running at 150 kilometers per hour, but also had the ability to be extremely stealthy which was REALLY dangerous at night, they could deliver devastating kicks, stomp on things with immense pressure and of course, were able to fire their red laser, although theirs was more like a heating light and not a barrage of burning pressure, so it was softer but it meant to cook you alive.

They began appearing in the year 1862 in the modern day town of Fresno and attacked the local Yokut population during the night, after which they spread rapidly across the trade routes between Mizuho, The USL and Azteca and began attacking garrisons and traders causing mass chaos, after which they launched a brutal attack against the state of Oregon, fortunately the Witches (Who we must remember at the time ALL Liberion Witches repelled them, The Union sent them and the Confederacy banished them).

As such the Governor of Oregon at the time Addison Gibbs and the Mizuho Daimyo Toshiro Shindou gathered up to deal with the situation, realizing the USL would not be able to bring any support as the east was erupting in war, it was up to Oregon and Mizuho to stop the Nightcrawlers with some help from Azteca in the south, 7 groups of 4 Witches were formed from the three places (Mostly the USL Witches) save for the last one who only had three Witches, “The Mighties” (Which is where the 508^(th) Joint Fighter Wing, the Mighty Witches get their name from by the way), formed by Galilani Lee (25) from the state of Georgia, Wilhelmina “Willie” Patterson (14) from Oregon and Kaoru Taro (18) from Mizuho...these three Witches would be extremely important later.

These battalions of Witches rode and battled the waves of Nightcrawlers, once beaten they did not die like regular Neuroi but instead they would melt...to later just respawn near the area where the core was, it is not known where the main Core first appeared, because it was moved from there by sinister forces within the USL who wanted to manipulate the Nightcrawlers to seed chaos on the Union side.

Specifically, a Confederate Official called “David Lang” who intended to control them, he found the core controlling the Nightcrawlers in a wooded area of Nevada, and captured the Mighties as they were also hot on the track of the core.

His plans did not work as intended as the moment the Nightcrawlers saw the confederate flag they went insane and began ravaging through them, after which they sprinted on a massive horde of a thousand of these beings towards Union lands, so Galilani, Willie and Kaoru took advantage of the commotion to escape and fight the forces of Lang, Willie was shot on the arm and Galilani killed the official by punching him through the chest, after which they loaded the entire fort with explosives and destroyed it alongside the core….

...the moment they did the Nightcrawlers vanished into the traditional crystalline dust...signifying they were defeated; the three Witches saved the USL from a catastrophe they were ill prepared to fight.

For years it was debated if the Nightcrawlers were Neuroi, finally in the year 2720 they were recognized as Neuroi as well as the many strange creatures that popped all over Liberion to fight the native Witches like heroes of an epic against monsters.

Conclusion: More than a Neuroi

As much as they were our enemies, some recognition and appreciation has to be given to Neuroi, not only because they shaped us into the humanity we are, helping us understand that to survive we must unite, but also from a scientific point of view on how they adapted to the various situations they had to endure to continue their apparent goal of destroying us...as we’ve stated before, it does seem there is something else behind the Neuroi’s actions, unfortunately we will never understand what that is...and perhaps, it is better that way...we just have to take what they taught us for better and for worst.

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Hello everyone, sorry for the delay but here it is, the next entry in the compendium of Witches, this time with the tie winner of the other week, I wasn't able to do it last week but finally it is here, MEGASTRUCTURES.

I tried to avoid taking the most obvious and usuals and made an effort to at the very least offer a variation whenever possible and come up with new things, I hope it was enough, because it is a fascinating topic

WITHOUT ANY FURTHER TO ADD! ENJOY!

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Introduction: A Hand in the Vast Cosmos

There is a reason The Mother decided to vouch for humanity and that is our potential for expansion and our boundless imagination, restrain is also necessary of course and that is what we have our Witches for, however the cosmos turned out to be far more vast than what anyone imagined, ages ago we used to think the solar system was just the planets and then we jumped into space, but in reality the power and influence of the sun extends far into the distance than we imagined, and that is just a very simple star among the millions that exists in the galaxy, so perhaps at this point in history we do not need too many breaks in our creativity, certainly that is what some people thought…

There is a lot of space in the cosmos, why not fill it with lots of wonderful things? Like a bunch of Megastructure?

By definition a Megastructure is a construction which dimensions surpass the continental or planetary scale, or sometimes even bigger...and they can serve various functions, from allocating humans, gathering energy or resources, scientific tools, or improving the lives of people living in that star system, true marvels whose scale and functionality bends what the laws of the universe should allow, and Aquarian Witches are essential in their construction.

On this entry we will learn about the various Megastructures in the Galaxy that have been built up to the year 4000, what do they do and what purpose do they serve...so prepare because we are going to the top!

Honorable Mentions

First we must talk about the engine that makes most of these constructions possible, the Manifestation Engine, the magnificent creation of the Isshiki family which provides infinite energy to mankind through a wireless method, using the very energy of the cosmos, through the stars to provide energy to fuel and transform, it is an absolute magnificence which deserves its own entry someday.

There are two of them, the one on Earth located near Sasebo in Fuso, and the one on Mars located over Mount Olympus, it is larger than the mount itself and it connects to the core of the planet, that can be considered a Megastructure on its own, they make life for people in the Solar System much easier, there are plans to build a third one on interstellar space between the sun an Alpha Centuari which will be two times bigger than Jupiter, but that is still under planning.

Without the Manifestation Engine, most of the structures we are going to mention could not be possible….so with that out of the way let’s get to know these marvelous structures:

The Megastructures of Mankind

The Dyson Sphere: A massive circular panel of metal completely surrounding a star, to gather its energy and be distributed to nearby planets, it is located in Proxima Centauri as the planets in this area were difficult to colonize, so the Witch who arrived here, Rebecca Miyafuji decided that it would be best to focus on Alpha Centauri A and B for colonization efforts, turning Proxima into a Dyson Sphere, which was a good move as the energy it provided was used to colonize the planets near the other two stars, especially its capital planet “Shin Yomon” orbiting Alpha Centauri A.

There are other two Dyson spheres in other star systems across the Galaxy, in the Altair and the Canopus Star systems built by Natalia Litvyak and Makoto Stroganov respectively, although these don’t cover the ENTIRE star like the one in Proxima does, they’re more like Dyson Swarms.

The Glutton: An extremely gigantic vessel the size of Venus that moves slowly around the Oort Cloud to gather its materials and minerals to harvest them for the solar system, called like that because of its massive mouth like structure like a giant whale who devours all the asteroids and even small planetoids on the cloud, it was built in the year 2867 by the Isshiki Corporation in collaboration with the Martian government, it is incredibly essential for gathering important minerals we use daily to build the Hyper Nylon textiles and the ice to fill planets with water for terraformation, after their return, sometimes the Witches take turns to operate it just for fun.

The Quantum Cord: What allows us to communicate instantly across the Galaxy...the people of the Iota Crucis system settled by Fatima Safavid developed it around the year 3050-140, we aren’t exactly certain but once it was established instructions were sent across the galaxy on how to use it, the structure itself is located around the Mimosa Star within the same Crux constellation, it consists of four orbiting rings around the star which have porcupine-like needles which serve as the receptors of the communication and then re-sends them across the galaxy on a quantum frequency which is modified instantly allowing for the reception of information, all you need to connect to is the “Quantum Pigeon” which is a little chip that once connected to any communication device it allows for this instant communication (Such as the TerraNet Network in the Solar system)...a marvel of technology.

The Black Hole Extractor: The Absolute marvel of engineering developed by the Witch Magie Katajainen, it consists of a star shaped platform which uses the very same gravitational energy of the black whole to create a powerful tractor beam and pull the matter it is compressing inside, once it is full it drifts away to a nearby safe location to unleash whatever matter was inside the black hole for its transformation, the star shaped ship varies in size but it is as big as the orbit of Mars around the sun, the shape prevents the ship from being destroyed by the immense gravity, the process is not easy however and one little calculation mistake in the approach can be deadly but the process is incredibly rewarding, many consider this an option in the far future to drain Black Holes and prevent them from expanding destroying the universe, not to mention gathering priceless materials.

The Gas Donut: A ring like gigantic vessel designed with one purpose, extract gases from gas giants, it is a massive metallic ring with a diameter rivaling that of Neptune and filled with holes to absorb gasses into massive containers inside, it was developed in the year 2988 on Venus based on the technology they used to drain the planet of its toxic gases, and now they use it to harvest useful gases from Jupiter and Saturn, as well as in other star systems with gas giants, it approaches planet dipping 40% of its structure inside the gas giant and then it begins to spin to absorb the gases inside and later return to a safe plane to drop its load.

The Space Chinampas: A platform of approximately 9000 kilometers square which serves as a place to farm and to grow important crops to feed the entire solar system (It is also build in other star systems in the galaxy) they are among the earliest Megastructures alongside space habitats and Dyson Swarms, built in the years 2600s a century before Witches departed into the Kardashev program, inspired by the Chinampas in Tenochtitlan, very rustic and simplistic at first but with the years they have diversified and become far more complex to simulate various environments to grow a vast degree of crops to provide even more resources for mankind, they even have their own water system using an artificial rain cycle, although this one was created in the year 3460 and before that, large chunks of ice needed to be transported to feed it with water.

The Neutron Gun: The only Megastructure designed for combat and it is located on the Vulpecula constellation among one of its neutron stars, it is a large gun-like structure feeding on the pulsar star, if fired it can produce a beam of immense destruction that can shatter hundreds of stars in theory, fortunately it has NEVER been fired although it was built as the people on that system suffer frequent attacks from the Alone, they have however vowed that the gun will NOT be fired unless it is literally the last resort, so far it has not come to that decisions and let’s hope it never is because the destructive power of this canon could be devastating.

The Elaina Gate: A prototype giant portal to experiment on fast travel between the stars systems closer to earth, it was created in 3700 by Cerydwen, Magie Katajainen, Fatima Safavid and Eureka Karibuchi...named after a wandering lady they met once, it connects the Solar System, the Alpha Centauri System and the Barnard System through massive circular gates, large enough to fit Earth in, powered by the Manifestation engine of course, so far it has been working great allowing from people within these system to easily jump through the Cosmic Flow from one point into the other, although protection is needed inside the ship because if humans are exposed to that energy they will incinerate, however Witches, VIVID Girls and Space Mikos can safely travel with no protection.

But so far there have not been any major incidents and it is expected in the future more of these will be built to finally close in the massive gap between star Systems...and allow humanity to expand EVEN MORE across the galaxy.

Conclusion: The Power of Mankind

This is only but a fraction of the capabilities mankind reached thanks to the efforts of Witches, it’s not just the structures we’ve built, but also the energy we use to terraform and colonize the most hostile planets no matter how hard it is, we’ve turned literal molten rocks into green paradises in merely a century thanks to the power of Witches and the energy we can gather for these goals.

And the universe is a large playground for us to expand, restrain and discipline are always key...after all it is what has always allowed us to survive the Neuroi and the Alone but...due to how large the universe is, we can allow ourselves some limitless fun as long as we always remember it is for the benefit of our own kin and our goal, to seed life into the universe.

Hello everyone, as usual I bring you the next entry in Compendium of Witches, I can't belive I've made 31 of these already, I am so happy...and today I bring a subject more fascinaitng than it looks, which tied on the poll last week, so hopefully I will be able to deliver Megastructures this week, if not it will come next week but it will come, you can be sure of that!

WITHOUT ANY FURTHER TO ADD! ENJOY!

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Introduction: The Fine Line of Devotion and Perversion

Despite the usage it has gained over the years again and again, Fetishism is in its essence a devotion to an object that holds immense religious significance or power, that little statue of Hera you carry in your purse? That Mjolnir necklace? That Amaterasu pendant? That is a Fetish…because you imbue the object wit that devotion and significance.

And when it comes to Witches, this is manifested perfectly...as there was a time in the Roman Empire where there was a cult to fallen Witches, being venerated like actual Goddesses and even some gaining temples to themselves, while the practice diminished with time...that devotion toward Witches, be them alive or death has manifested in many ways, and here is where fetishes come in full force.

From venerating equipment they used to even gathering the silliest things to make large cults and masses around it, even claiming they can perform amazing miracles…. here we will take a dive on the many ways Witch Fetishism manifests across the world, not across time…but across its various categories, without further to add...let’s dive in:

Temples

Few are the Witches who are notorious enough to get monasteries dedicated to them, although in modernity most of them function as museums dedicated to said Witch, Towers of Elysium replaced these monasteries as places of veneration for all Witches in general, but there are various temples of note.

First is the all mighty Witch Palace in Rome, which holds hundreds of important relics belonging to important Witches in Rome’s history, and some are buried there like Lucina Vorena Pullo, it is in fact with her grave that the temple was originally built as a shrine dedicated to there, but it would continue to grow more and more...until it became a massive temple complex with its own plaza for mass gatherings and celebrations.

Another important temple is “The Dome of Lydda” which is a circular temple structure and the resting place of the magnificent Georgia of Lydda in Palestine, a marble temple with a sapphire blue ceiling and the “Cross of Georgia” adorning the top, in the center of the structure inside there is the tomb of Georgia and a compass spreading from it, symbolizing how she united the world with her journey.

These being the only two of the Four Pillars of Rome with shrines because we don’t know where Maria of Magdala’s remains rest (she must be somewhere in Gallia but we aren’t certain) while Lady Rolande specifically stated she wished people remembered her through her actions and not through a temple.

Another important temple is the Temple of Jeanne d’Arc which was built in Rouen Gallia around the place where she was burned at the stake, a magnificent structure with dozens of stained glass images of her and her story, as well as a replica of her sword Catherine-de-Fierboism as it was before the reforging into a rapier, and it is said that those who have lost it all, can come here and be granted a miracle.

There are many shrines and temples around the world, some bigger some smaller but they all function the same, a place to venerate a beloved Witch be that through a religious ceremony or as a museum for all eternity.

Personal Objects of the Witches.

Now we get into the absolute bizarre territory, because the list here is massive…. something that belonged to a Witch in life, gets taken after her death and venerated as a divine object, no matter how mundane it can become, and trusts us...it becomes bizarre.

Swords and armors are the most common example, especially among those before the Great Wars, followed by uniforms which are the second most common object to be venerated…. but then we get into absolute lunacy.

Utensils they used, diaries, dishes they consumed food in, glasses, jewelry they possessed, panties, leotards, bras, swimsuits, shoes, sandals, even a bandage they would wrap their feet in, frying pans, bed sheets...anything where a Witch might have sit her sacred booty in can suddenly become a place of worship if people are driven enough.

Usually these are held in museums dedicated to the Witch or the group they belonged to, personal family collections that are open for the public to worship...but there is one exception that actually has a dedicated place of Worship...the Boots of Heinrike…

They have a very small chapel located outside of the Sayn-Wittgenstein Castle only available to vist on working week days, now you might be wondering WHY worship her boots? Because she had the habit of stomping on her personal which motivated them to work better, in reality they made these mistakes on purpose so she’d stop on them and they would get a nice view of her crotch when she did, although they never took it too far, just little mistakes for a pleasing view, obviously she was aware of this and played on the dynamic because at the end of the day she was a Witch, and she makes people happy, as such her boots are worshiped as a patron saintly object for tech workers, who pray and smell the boots to be better at their jobs.

Another one very famous although it does not have a place of Worship is the Mirror of Senga, belonging to Senga of Stirling, the little 12 years old cadet Witch who participated in The Battle of Plymouth Castle in 1454...and to this day she is considered one of the most beautiful Witches in history, her mirrors is on the Edinburgh Museum and people can gaze on it, it is said that if you look and she “Peeks” from the side on your reflection, you will find TRUE LOVE the moment you step out of the museum, although that has only happened 8 times since the mirror made it to the Museum in 1867.

Body Parts

While not as common...this peculiar trend in Which Fetishism DOES happen.

Mostly in the form of hair locks Witches themselves gifted to special people in life, hold to this day as priced family heirlooms which can be more expensive than a bag of diamonds in value, and others hold in special places of worship.

There is a black market of people who sell “Bones or Fingers” from Witches, but almost all of them are entirely fake as no one would be stupid or cruel enough to chop dead Witches for their bones or body parts, although it has been tried and people say a TERRIBLE CURSE falls upon you should you desecrate a Witch body like that, a curse terrible enough to lead you to take your own life.

Other than that, this is not a common practice thankfully, although some people do make sculptures based on Witch chests, asses and feet, but these are just sculptures made from the imagination or referential pictures, Akane Isshiki famously has a ring with butt cheeks of Sanya Litvyak poking out of the diameter base.

Striker Units

These controversial but incredibly useful machines which saved millions of lives and gave Witches the power to fight Neuroi during the Second Neuroi War...once they fell to disuse, they immediately became objects of adoration, even if some were severely damaged, old or broken.

Almost all of them are held in military museums under protective glasses to keep them safe, it does not stop people to come worship them and make prayers to them and for the safety of their descendants (It was a common practice among the Orphans faction during the millennium of the Kardashev Program), although some places DO allow people to hug the Striker Units provided it is just a simple hug no longer than 5 seconds and the striker is secured tightly by strings….and people do not...LICK THEM...which as happened multiple times.

Aquarian Witches cannot use them because they would just EXPLODE due to their immense power, but the Space Mikos Can at least turn them on for some demonstrations although they can’t fly with them, but at least they can use them for rituals.

The ones who were used by Yoshika Miyafuji and Helma Lennartz are worshiped as divine relics and people say that if you offer them a handmade drawing of Gertrude Barkhorn with sweets, you will get good luck for a week, especially if you are an older sibling with a little sister.

Personal Creations to Worship

But since many of the things we mentioned are restricted to just one place, people will often make their own Fetishes to show their devotion to the Witches, crafting personal items and giving them that special quality and endearment factor to make them special.

There are millions of objects people have crafted in various ways using images or symbols representing their Witches they proudly wear as ornaments or even tattoos on their bodies, as well as small altars and statues built in their homes around big pictures of the Witch or on their yards, some people have built entire giant monuments and shrines on their own to worship their beloved Witches, in accordance to their respective faiths and that is 100% valid as the love for Witches has no bounds.

PLANET?

Yes...there is an entire Planet which is nothing but a glorified Witch church….across its entire surface, it is located in the Solar System, Eris which used to be a Planetoid but the Neuroi fused several of them together into Eris during the Third Neuroi War to gather resources to the point it grew as large enough to rival a small planet like Mercury, at some point they might have attempted to hurl it towards the Earth but they were stopped by Nikita Gollob...who cleaned the planet and later with other Aquarian Witches put the Planetoid in a safe location, as it had a lovely whiteish sand, she later returned as she departed on the Kardashev Program to terraform it and colonize it, turning it into a magnificent blue and pink garden planet.

Which was later used by humans to build thousands of obelisk with holographic images of Witches powered by stellar energy, as well as a single massive temple on the center called “The Keeper Temple” which is for the people who manage this “Planet Tourist Attraction”, currently across the planet there are thousands of obelisks dominating the surface, each of them around 500 meters tall projecting holograms just as huge...while people on the solar system pray on that direction to the Witches...quite an amazing accomplishment.

Conclusion

As we discussed before, humanity has that intrinsic need to believe in something, it is part of human nature, be that Gods, their Witches or objects that they believe brings them closer to these entities and give them comfort.

And that curious association the word eventually had to sexual desires, it just adds an element of comedy to the whole situation, because some of those objects and prayers do lean more on the sexy side than on the religious side, but hey...at the end of the day it is the belief in something that brings inner peace and strength what ultimately matters.

View Poll

Greetings everyone, and as usual I bring you the next entry in Compendium of Witches, this time deliveing on a massiver list of personal amazing weapons employed by Witches custom made for them.

A very simple topic and it turned out to be a bit harder than I expected, but I am pleased with the results.

WITHOUT ANY FURTHER TO ADD! ENJOY!

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Introduction: An Honorable Weapon

Because of how strong they are and how intense their magic powers can be, normal weapons are not usually effective for Witches, their swings and trusts are powerful enough to shatter even the hardest of steels, although they do destroy the target, not to mention Neuroi with armored parts need a harder method to pierce them.

To forge these special weapons the Witch needs to be present and transfer some of her magic into this process, not only it imbued the weapon with harder characteristics but also it personalized it to the Witch...so it could be wielded with great efficiency and be passed across the ages, many rest in museums now, others are still in use, in any case they all have their history.

On this entry we are going to learn about the most notorious weapons forged across time, when were they made, for who and where are they now...so let’s strap in and prepare, they will be placed in chronological order:

The Witch Weapons

1) Venus Euphoria: A Gladius forged and the first of the Roman Witches personal weapons, it was forged in the 1^(st) century for the Italic Witch named “Messalina” who is also de founder of the “Sabinum Lineage”, as it was the first it was a normal Gladius with a significant pink or red metallic shade to it, with time it has become a bit more “Pink” but it is very deadly, it was passed down through Messalina’s descendants until it reached the commander of the Ardor Witches Federica N. Doglio...currently it is used by her descendant the Aquarian Witch Parvati Doglio.

2) Gandiva: A mystical and powerful Indian bow forced in the 1^(st) century but it might be older, named after the mythological one wielded by the hero Arjuna of the Mahabharata, made for a legendary Indian Witch named Kumari, it was able to channel her magic to cast “Astras” to shoot multiple arrows and destroy massive armies of Neuroi, currently it resides in a temple dedicated to Varuna, but any Indian Witch can take it provided they’re worthy.

3) Buddug: A powerful sword and the personal weapon of the Immortal Witch Cerydwen, this one is particular because like its owner, it has undergone MULTIPLE transformations and reforging through time, first it was a Gladius, then a Claymore, later a No-Dachi, then back to a Claymore which is its current form, she still holds it and uses it and took it with her to space, she can use it to perform a Reppuzan of enough destructive power to split a star in half.

4) Amesha: A powerful Iranian sword famous for its golden winged handle, forged in the 2^(nd) century by the Parthians, meant to be given to the mightiest champion in Iran but no one was able to hold it, until a Witch named “Paniz” came and simply did it, so it was moved to be given to Iran’s mightiest champion, the legendary Apranik wielded it in the 7^(th) century and decapitated an Arab commander with it when he foolishly challenged her to a duel thinking he could kill a Witch, from the reformation of the Immortal Guard it was given to the main commander of the Ctesiphon guard, although currently it is the personal weapon of the Iranian Witch Princess Fatima Safavid.

5) Paterna: The personal Spatha belonging to Barbara of Nicomedia, forged by herself, long and capable of harnessing her electric powers, forged in the 4^(th) century and she always wore it to battle, she slayed thousands of Neuroi and enemies of the Empire with it...currently it resides in the Witch Palace in Rome.

6) Georgia’s Sword/The Broken Gladius: Perhaps one of the most famous blades in history, unlike the others this one was not originally a magical Witch weapon, but a simple Gladius with guards on the sides gifted to Georgia by her friend and first love, the legionary Flavius because Georgia had problems blocking attacks, so he added the guards to stop blades, the Gladius was broken during her famous battle with the Dragon Neuroi in which Flavius was killed by the flames, using the shattered Gladius Georgia fought and destroyed the Dragon becoming the hero she was meant to be, as a memento she decided to keep the blade broken although she did maintain it with the years and fought with it...which became an iconic characteristic of her character, during her sixth journey however the Fusang blacksmith Kaemon reforged it with Fuso steel but kept it broken...however Georgia now had the power to imbue it with her magic so the blade could transform into a magnificent celestial blade, she used to perform the first Reppuzan in history and destroy the massive Golem “El-Shaddai”.

She used the broken blade ALL HER LIFE...until the end when it became such a powerful symbol of honor and perseverance that several countries across Europa implemented that cross like symbol of her broken Gladius into their flags...naming it “The Cross of Georgia”...currently the sword rests at the Witch Palace.

7) Derile: Arilda of Edi’s signature spear, given to her by the people of her tribe who also forged it alongside the mythical spirits of the Picts, which gave the tip the power to shift colors depending on the magic poison Arilda used, despite the length she was very deadly with it in combat...currently the spear rests at the Witch Palace.

8) Benipe: Maura of Thebas’ personal bow, crafted by herself using wood and elephant bones for a maximum pull and damage, as a Nubian woman archery was her prime craft, she was able to make the arrow fly up to a kilometer in length, although she had to make her own arrows because any other would just shatter on release...currently the bow rests at the Witch Palace.

9) Toki and Albiona: Both forged in the 5^(th) century and being the respective weapons of Galla of Camulodunum and Yaeko respectively, the two Fuso and Britannian Witch who became friends and lived many adventures in Fuso, Toki was a Tsurugi sword originally property of Yaeko while Albiona was a Gladius originally property of Galla, they exchanged weapons upon separating when Galla returned to Rome, Toki was extremely sharp while Albiona was so hardy Yaeko could shatter rocks with it...upon the death of both, the swords materialized into sparks and flew into the Cosmic Flow.

10) Tabiti’s Spring (Original): Forged in the 5^(th) century by Flavia Aetia, the legendary Scythian/roman commander who battled Attila the Hun, she made it using a material called “White Gold” and it was imbued with a tremendous amount of power, normal Neuroi flinch and retreat when a Witch with tremendous power wields it. It was buried with her body after her death only to later be uncovered by the Brave Witches Sasha and Nipa, to use it and fight the resurrected Attila as a Neuroi monstrosity, after the Battle of Kyzyl the sword was taken to the Hermitage where it rests to this day.

11) Excalibur: Forged in the 8^(th) century by the famous “Lady of the Lake”, a magnificent blade with an intense magical energy which only a true champion of Britannia can hold, when she died Cerydwen tossed the sword into the lake alongside the lady and from there it moved to the Cosmic Flow, the sword has the power to manifest in ANY body of water regardless of the time and distance, as long as that Witch shows she is a true champion of Britannia, it will appear to them to be used and then vanishes once the battle is won, it even worked this way for Aquarian Witches who were on planets light years away from Earth, it mattered not, the sword resides within the Cosmic Flow and it helps those she deems worthy.

12) Durandel: Forged in the 9^(th) century by order of Emperor Charles the Great as the personal lance for his most devoted Witch, Lady Rolande, a magnificent silver lance which shone bright on night (Useful as she was a Night Witch) and she wielded it bravely across her life, holding it firmly upon her death, it is said to be completely indestructible, and considering the intensity of how she would combat, that claim might not be entirely false...it currently rests in the Witch Palace.

13) The Xiuhcoatl: The ancient serpent mace sword weapon of the Aztecan god Huitzilopochtli...it is not know exactly when was this weapon crafted but it was likely around the 10^(th) century, a serpent like weapon made of jade, it holds an incredible amount of power, it can SHATTER many Neuroi just on touch exposing their cores, it is meant to only be used by powerful Aztecan Witches, until Guadalupe Cuauhtlatoatzin tainted its divinity by using it to kill her cheating boyfriend, eventually she was redeemed and ascended as a powerful divine figure, the weapon was later placed in the Guadalupe Sanctuary in Azteca where it rests now.

14) Tizona: Forged in the 11^(th) century by the Hispanian Witch Rogelia Diaz de Vivar “La Cid”, it has the peculiarity of glowing with a golden color at night or whenever it destroys a Neuroi, a truly magnificent blade for a magnificent knight, it rests on her grave in Valencia.

15) Schlachtross: A powerful bow made of pure steel forged by Mila von Malberg after being released from her captivity with the Mongols in the 12^(th) century, she needed a bow powerful enough to sustain her immense strength and power, she fought with it all her life and many of her descendants got to use it until it was put to rest and resides at her grave in Berlin….although it was taken out during the Third Neuroi War to be used by Rio Barkhorn, after which it was returned to its resting place.

16) Jirnnodhara: Forged in the 13^(th) century in Madjapahit, a powerful Kris blade said to be able to split the sea and to reveal the truth beneath the waves, it was crafted on the orders of Gajah Mada, the mighty general and statesman of the Empire, legends said he used steel taken from every single island in the archipelago and the handle is made with Elephant husks, the Empire usually grants it to the most notable Witch in every single era, currently it is on the possession of the Aquarian Witch...Citra Masuda who took it with her on the Kardashev Program.

17) Illapu Warak'a: A slingshot said to be used by the Incan god Illapu to create thunderstorms, and when employed by a Witch with enough power the projectiles can SHATTER mountains, so it makes it an incredibly destructive weapon despite its small size, currently it is under the possession of the Aquarian Witch Micaela Sisa, who took it with her into the Kardashev Program and legends said she DESTROYED a planet with it.

18) Catherine-de-Fierbois: The Legendary sword of Jeanne d’Arc, said to be taken out of a temple and having belonged to Charles the Great, she wielded it bravely until she was captured and executed, Burgundian sold it to be scrapped but somehow...it was reforged and when Jeanne emerged from the cosmic Flow for the final battle she had it with her, after the battle of Castillon she gave it to Gilles de Rais to keep it safe and to later be used by “A future savior of Gallia”.
When he founded the Ilumineux lodges it became a treasure revered for its power to “Perform Miracles”, it survived until the Gallian Revolution when Maximilian Robespierre attempted to have it be sold, but it was retrieved by the Witch Ivette Montford who took it with her to her natal Andorra, alongside Queen Marie Antoinette and her children to save them from the guillotine, it remained there for many years until Ivette gave it back to the Ilumineux lodge, only this time it was reforged as a rapier to hide it better.

The lodge holding it was destroyed during the First Neuroi War but the sword was saved by the young Gallian lady Penelope Clostermann who passed it to her son Jacques Counterman who intended to return it, tragically he died and the sword ended up being taken by the heroine who was meant to hold it and save Gallia...Perrine Henriette Clostermann of the Strike Witches.

The sword remained with her family all the way to her granddaughter Eleonore Clostermann who wielded it during the Third Neuroi War, however unlike other weapons on this list, she left it on Gallia before going into the Kardashev Program since it belonged to Gallia and it has remained in the temple dedicated to Jeanne d’Arc since then.

19) Timawanun: Forged in the 16^(th) century as the personal mace of the Tondo Princess Kandarapa, said to be forged containing pieces of the mace used by the hero of Mahabharata’s fame Bhima, she split ships and Neuroi with it and legends say she “hammered an Island out of the ocean” with it to meet with her Hispanian lover, Juan de Salcedo….it currently rest in the Royal Tondo Museum.

20) Donderbuss: Forged at the end of the 16^(th) century and the only firearm on this list, the devastating arm cannon employed by Mori Ranmaru created by Lusitanian engineers, it could hold three types of ammunition, a devastating canon ball, shrapnel and a fiery forceful explosion which could shatter armies and buildings, and she was able to charge it with magic to unleash a “Reppuzan CANON”, it currently resides on the Mori Ranmaru section of the Tokyo National Museum.

21) Serebryanyy Verblyud: Forged in the 20^(th) century, it is a Bardiche axe crafted for the Orussian Witch Mathilda Alelyuhin, who later gave it to her daughter the fantastic commanding officer in battle of the Mirage Witches, Alya Alelyuhin who gave it its name during her time in the Cossack Witches while she fought Neuroi on top of a camel in Samarkand, it currently resides in the Hermitage Museum.

22) Eila’s Suontaka Miekka: A Magnificent traditional Suomi blade, forged in exquisite icy silvery blues, it is customary to give it to the very best of Suomi Witches, which Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen belonged to, she always wore it on her back under her uniform, it was said that the moment Eila would take out that “Fucking” sword, it was over...her foes were history the moment she took the handle, as such she only got to wield it 2 times in her career, during the Azania incident and the Battle of Berlin, she passed it down to her descendant Eleonore Clostermann who wields it as her personal blade, her grandniece Apollonia Juutilainen wields the one given to her sister Aurora.

23) Tabiti’s Spring (Replica): A replica of the original blade created by the Valkyries of Vladimir to fight the resurrected Attila as they were not able to find the original, given to Waltrud Krupinski to wield but Attila beat her, after which Hikari Karibuchi took it and sliced the Hun Neuroi in the chest marking his core forever but the sword broke, later Nipa and Sasha repaired it after they found the original one, both swords were used to defeat Attila, although the sword was given to the Valkyries it was later taken by their descendant Maggie Katajainen who took it as her personal weapon.

24) Dersaadet: The sword of Princess Agnes, given to her as a child by Mustafa Kemal after he helped her escape from the Young Turks rebellion which shattered the Ostoman Empire for a while and destroyed House Osman leaving Agnes as the last member, a kilij of immense power, no one is sure where or how Mustafa Kemal got it (it wasn’t in the 20^(th) century for sure) but whenever Agnes used it, it would glow a light reddish color that was poisonous to Neuroi and it sometimes made them docile which she later used to pacify one of the Neuroi Witches (X-11.5/Tori), she would carry this sword through her many adventures with the Echo Witches and it remained with her for the rest of her life...it currently resides in the Constantinople Museum.

25) Lord Revan: The final weapon on the list created during the 21^(st) century, a laser saber of blue pure raw Witch Magic (Although it would glow red if the Witch was angry), it was the invention of Loba Kuroda, the eccentric granddaughter of Kunika Kuroda, by this time she forgot where she got the name Revan but it does hold importance to her, it is an extremely powerful blade as it is concentrated raw pure Witch Magic, however she sometimes lends it to other friends like Rebecca Miyafuji, Carlita Stafford, Edelgard Barkhorn and Godiva Sayn-Wittgenstein, the blade changes colors when another Witch holds it, although it always goes red when a Witch is furious.

View Poll

Greetings everyone, and as usual I bring you the next entry in Compendium of Witches, this time brining the winning topic, the Azteca-Liberion war.

I chose this one because it is relatively simple to explain in the context of the world and it only lasted two y ears, howweve the implications it brings to the table and to the history of both nations are VASTLY SIGNIFICANT...and definetely I invite you to check on the "Witch vs WItch" essay regarding The Battle of Taos, I promise you, you won't regret it!

WITHOUT ANY FURTHER TO ADD! ENJOY!

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Introduction: The Cost of Greed

If there is one word, we can use to describe the Azteca-Liberion war is that...greed...a country with a big desire to expand, motivated by its monstrous ambitions, an idea of believing it was their destiny to expand and the confidence in thinking they were fighting an opponent that did not have the power to fight back.

For two years, from 1846 to 1848 the United States of Liberion pushed with all its might to conquer the fertile and vast unexploited lands of the United States of Azteca, who had just barely gotten their freedom from almost three centuries of colonial rule by Hispania, it did seem like an easy victory for the far more powerful, technologically superior and eager country...the rewards and land gained would have been plentiful

Alas it was not to be, for when Witches and the simple silly whims a Fuso Emperor got involved, the United States of Liberion suffered their most humiliating defeat and an extremely humbling lesson, one they fortunately learned from...so without further to do let’s dive into the Azteca-Liberion war and learn how it began and how it shaped both countries for the coming future, and how Witches arguably changed what could have been a tragedy into a bright future for Liberion.

Background

The core of all this trouble was the annexation of Texas into the United States of Liberion, which at that point had been freed after winning a war against Azteca for its own independence in 1836, however tensions were high with the Aztecan nation due to delimitation with their borders and the attacks on the Native population allied to Azteca (Mostly Pueblo and Navajo confederations), Texas attacked these settlement against the warnings of the Aztecan nation, and when they were annexed into the United States of Liberion in 1846...they inherited these problems.

At first USL president at the time, James K. Polk urged the Texans to cease these raids against natives fearing it could worsen the relations with Azteca, however Texas and other vicious politicians within the USL decided to press from another angle, resources and wealth.

Azteca held valuable land on the north in the form of vast perfect lands to grow crops and make farms for animals, as well as mining operations with tons of gold, however Azteca did not exploit these lands, not out of not realizing, but simply because the land wasn’t properly settle or arranged by the Aztecan government at the time, they were still gathering themselves from all the various issues they faced after their independence, but the USL politicians did not see it that way, to them Azteca was just wasting a literal golden opportunity and if they did not have the manpower to exploit it, they would.

The push to convince the president to obtain these lands from Azteca was monstrous, at first, he stood firm but little by little the pressure began to mount and the necessity for resources they could use began to wear President Polk down.

Until eventually he caved in…. with one promise…. that Witches would not in ANY WAY be used in the war, which the pushers agreed because Azteca themselves did not employ Witches in wars so it would be easy, and also, they felt this would be a quick victory.

President Polk contacted the current Aztecan President at the time, President Antonio Lopez to negotiate for those lands in the north, President Lopez strongly refused and stated they had no rights to demand such things, and they would not be willing to give those lands away, this decision wasn’t just out of protecting their resources, but also to protect native confederations allied to them like the Navajo, Pueblo and Apache as he knew the USL (Mostly Texans) would 100% seize those lands belonging to them by force.

So without any options left, the pushers for the war switched to try to “bait” Azteca into firing the first shots by pushing into their territory despite the warnings, it all culminated in April 25 when a squadron of USL soldiers pushed into Rio Bravo territories and the Aztecan made their warning, which were ignored forcing them to fire at the squadron, and thus the blatant provocation paid off and the USL marched forward...the Azteca-Liberion War had begun.

Phase One: The USL Pushes Hard

The charge of the USL began soon after through three fronts, the Eastern Front meant to take Tamaulipas, the Central Front meant to take modern states of Colorado and Nevada and push deep into Chihuahua and Coahuila, and finally the Western Front meant to take the California Territory.

As the attack was fast and swift, the Aztecan army could not react properly, most of its forces were on the central area of the country and mobilization took a lot of time, the central front was the most devastating one and the objectives of the USL were achieved, the Western front saw a lot of success but were ultimately stopped by a coalition of Navajo, Apache and local militia preventing them to take modern Alta California in Azteca today, the Eastern Front was a massive failure as Tamaulipas  was heavily defended and the army stationed there was able to fend off the initial USL attack.

However having broken through the center, the USL had access to enter Aztecan lands and plunder, raid and sack, which the proponents of the war had no problem doing, the unfortunate consequence of not employing Witches even for logistical support was that soldiers behaved like animals blinded by their greed, and to make matters worse for Azteca, the USL deployed its massive naval forces to block the important harbors in Azteca, first the ones facing the Atlantic Ocean and then the ones in the Pacific Ocean...Azteca whose navy was considerably inferior in numbers was put on a dire spot, blocked from its pacific allies like Madjapahit, Tondo and Fuso...who through its colony Mizuho had invested greatly in making good relationships with Azteca.

When Aztecan professional armies arrived, they helped the situation a bit but not enough to stop the relentless force of the USL, if left like that…. the USL could easily have marched to Tenochtitlan and capture it, ending the nascent nation in just 2 years...however they underestimated their opponents...or rather their Witches.

Phase Two: Luchare por tu Amor

Before we continue with the events of the wars first, we must understand the situation of Aztecan Witches before the war because...this is a MASSIVE turning point in their story.

Since the days of their departure from their mythical Aztlan to their settlement in Lake Texcoco, the Nahua and in particular the Mexica, had and embraced Witches, but their way of doing it was vastly different to that of other places in the world, for Aztecan people Witches were a divine figure, as such asking them to fight anything but non-human threats was forbidden, for the most part they were to function on religious positions and even in administrative roles within Aztecan societies, but combat?  That was a big no no, the best way to describe it was “A suffocating overprotective love”, and the Witches themselves while appreciative as at least they were allowed to fight non-human threats, they heavily resented it...as they felt their nations needed them on the field.

This was eased during colonial period as Hispanian authorities did give them plenty rights to fight, bear arms and they greatly enjoyed that privilege...until the independence was achieved and it was back to how it was before the colony, but only for practitioners of the Aztecan faith, mestizas and criollas were allowed to continue fighting, but clearly the sentiment caused great discomfort among Aztecan Witches, both for the inequality and because, the place of a Witch IS THE BATTLEFIELD...and the government then began to consider discarding the tradition definitely...but then the war happened.

During the war however, people in Tenochtitlan heard an amazing story...in the small town of Taos located in Alta California, a group of Witches (Mostly Pueblo Witches) barricaded themselves on the town to fend off USL forces on their own, while they sent the people to seek refuge further south...and left the Western front COMPLETELY PARALYZED...as Taos was a strategic spot to take….but the USL soldiers could not, nor want to storm the town to butcher a group of Witches who were just trying to defend their homes.

Realizing that the situation looked dire, President Antonio Lopez realized the only ones who could win this war for Azteca...were THEIR Witches...not to fight the USL forces but to simply motivate the battered Aztecan forces...so, the President stood on top of the Sun Pyramid in Tenochtitlan and gave the “Ultima Esperanza” Speech...which contained the following:

“Witches of these beautiful land, daughters of Coatlicue, the new sisters of Huitzilopotchli whose beauty lights our days and whose strength chases away the dark demons at night, I please beg of you all and to anyone who listens to these words, the world we live now is collapsing on top of us and so are our old ways, if we want to survive this war we need to change, we all need to change from the

bottom of our hearts and as you leader I shall be the one who starts, I implore all the Witches who listen to this message to please help us, come to Tenochtitlan, march toward the bridges of Lake Texcoco and help us defend our country in our time of need, you are our only hope right now…we can’t survive without you, so please follow me into a new world we must fight for, I beg of you as your president”

And the message was received….

From the temples, from the houses, as the words spread through messages across central Azteca, priestesses left the temples in masses, girls left their homes, courtesans left the palaces and high nobility gatherings, criollas, mestizas, natives, mulatas and zambas...it mattered not...they all went out, took horses, turned into birds or even walked...but hundreds of daughters of Aztlan marched forward to defend their homes!

And it did not take long for them to arrive to the battlefields and turn the tide of the battle.

Phase Three: Turning Point

The arrival of Aztecan Witches had a massive boost effect on the Aztecan forces, just them being there imbued them with a FURIOUS PATRIOTIC RAGE, the sheltering of Witches actually was a blessing in disguise when they actually came in to the battlefield, usually Witches being present is always a boost...but after so long FINALLY seeing their War Goddesses present it pushed them beyond their limits.

The Eastern Front was COMPLETELY DESTROYED in the battle of Buena Vista in 1847 in Coahuila and there was even a push into Texas in the Second Battle of Palo Alto which was repelled by Texans but the cost was massive.

The Central Front fought the Aztecan Army across the vast arid northern lands of Azteca, but they successfully recovered Durango and pinned the USL army in Chihuahua in brutal battles across the deserts, but still not a decisive victor, unfortunately the blockade applied by the USL was still in effect, but not for very long.

But the turning point would be in the Western front that the battle that which changed the war took place, and it wasn’t between the soldiers...it would be between Witches...the famous “BATTLE OF TAOS”, one of the three Witch vs Witch conflicts that took place across history, in which Aztecan Witches and USL Witches fought for control of the Pueblo town.

The Battle of Taos is such a complex matter and we have covered it extensively before as well as its main protagonists, Cavalry Major Henriette “Riccy” Burgwin and the Aztecan Priestess from Michoacán Cuicalt “Cuicui” Gonzalez de la Luna and the infamous “Taos Conspiracy” in greater detail, so we will give a very brief summary of the events.

The USL Witches were extremely disgusted and did not want anything to do with what they perceived as a stupid war...dedicating themselves to their regular caravan and pilgrim protection duties, however the commanding General summoned 40 Witches passing by the area led by Henriette Burgwin, he convinced and pressured them to negotiate with the Taos Witches (Now reinforced by arriving Aztecan Witches), Henriette agreed to at least talk to them.

So she and her Witches moved to Taos and arriving at 11 AM in February 5 of 1847...to meet up with 15 Witches inside the town, among them Cuicalt and the original leader of the Taos Rebellion Tomasina Romero, negotiations were had and nothing was getting agreed on, there was even some hostility...and then...no one knows who or against who….and a punch was thrown...and conflict erupted between the two groups, the battle began.

The battle lasted three days, on the first the USL Witches tried to climb the walls but were successfully repelled, on the second day they resorted to knock down the walls and Tomasina was defeated in combat by Henriette, making Cuicalt the leader...on the third day Cuicalt lured all the USL Witches into the town and using Guerrilla tactics and Aztec death whistles took them down one by one, until Cuicalt and Henriette had a climatic final battle in which the Michoacán Witch was victorious, ending the battle.

After which Aztecan Witches tied the USL Witches to their mounts using “Sacred Amate Ropes” To nulify their powers, once they arrived back to the USL western front camps, they were freed and without saying anything, Henriette and her 40 Witches said they’d march to Missouri, but it was a lie and instead Henriette went straight to Washington DC to meet up with President Polk, who upon hearing his command was violated he was FURIOUS and ordered the whole western front to be pulled back and the general who pressured the USL Witches to fight was exiled and disgraced.

There is a lot of mythology for The Battle of Taos, and its consequences shaped both nations, but let’s continue with the war as...only the central front remained.

Final Phase: Fuso Comes IN!

While all of this was happening, the current emperor at the time, Emperor Komei was a fan of Aztecan Tequila, and even had a very special mix that the Aztecan States sent especially tailored to him called “Sol de Amaterasu” (As a fun fact, today a glass of this Tequila in the year 4000 is approximately 450.000 Terran Credits) especially sent from Xalisco, but because of the blockade it became impossible for him to receive his package, when inquiring with the Shogun, Oda Nobumichi about the reason, he learned of the Azteca-Liberion war...and became according to Fuso records...extremely enraged.

So, the Shogun who was also a fan of Aztecan liquors, decided to write a message to President Polk...very dry and very simple:

“Your blockade is disrupting trade with the Empire, remove it immediately or the Fuso Armada will destroy your ships –Oda Nobumichi—”

It is said that the president and even the Texas politicians who were super go go go with the war upon reading that message went pale...at the time the USL navy was powerful, but nowhere near as powerful as the Fuso Navy...the Fuso Navy was the most powerful navy in the world at the time, should Fuso enter the war against the USL, they would be DESTROYED.

So the blockade in the pacific was removed…and then the chaos poured in, Madjapahit, and Tondo IMMEDIATELY Sent aid to Azteca to fend off USL forces and provide resources for the war, including the dreaded “Gil Perez Battalion” From Tondo to help Azteca, needless to say...the Central Front was about to be defeated...all because of an Emperor’s whim for alcohol...

The End and Aftermath

The last battle took place in Tapacolmes in January 1448 in which Azteca Forces CRUSHED the Central Front Forces…. after which President Polk decided this was enough and peace negotiations were called upon….

As such the next month on the second day, The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed and peace was agreed between The USL and Azteca, the USL would get to keep the modern states of Nevada and Colorado but everything else would be returned to Azteca and reparations would be kept, as well as protection agreements to the native confederations, and with that...the war ended.

While the USL achieved their objectives in getting new lands, the cost was dire, their armies got severely crippled and they lost thousands of lives, not to mention most of their equipment and tech was left behind which Azteca took and used to improve their obsolete military gear, and in only a couple of years would become a FORMIDABLE fighting force in Liberion and becoming the second most powerful nation in the years to come, enough to get one of the world’s capitals in Yucatan when the world united in the third millennium, as for the Witches?  The Azteca Witches were FINALLY institutionalized in the army and they couldn’t be happier, the USL Witches got to keep their duties...and showed how much influence they had.

Which ultimately, alongside the Taos Conspiracy and the resentment of those who pushed for the war and were humiliated would devolve into the dreaded Liberion Civil War some years later, but that is a story for another time.

Conclusion: A Miracle.

A war pushed by greed in which the attackers got what they wanted but payed more than what they expected...a disaster that could have sour the relationships between these two North Liberion powers, but in a magnificent twist of fate…. this was avoided.

Polk’s successor, Zachary Taylor was approached in 1850 by the Mizuho Daimyo, Shindou Karlo...merely two years after the war and suggested him to take the first step to amend this gap and help alleviate the problems in the USL and reach to the recently elected Aztecan president, Martin Choletehua to truly make peace, and so the three heads of state met and miraculously…it happened.

Karlo was able to alleviate and make President Taylor and President Choletehua make peace and sign a treaty of eternal alliance and friendship between the two nations, a deal that even if the world had united for thousands of years now, it still stands strong and it gave the USL an invaluable ally in Azteca when the Civil War erupted to protect their Witches, only Fuso would know how to make amends and forge eternal pacts of friendship like they did with Britannia.

In the end it can be argued both nations won, not land, not wealth, not power...something more valuable...a friend.

Greetings everyone, and as usual I bring you the next entry in Compendium of Witches, following on with the family theme, this time brining the other tie contendant, the Cantacuzino Family, which is a subject that fascinates me inmensely en even through them I am happy I can finally get to talk about the Vampire Witches, just a tiny bit~

WITHOUT ANY FURTHER TO ADD! ENJOY!

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Introduction: Gothic Beauty

We continue the journey of exploring families that stood out for their deeds across humanity, and today we will explore one which began as a proud Byzantine family and became masters of the night, both for their human members and their Witches, the Cantacuzino Family.

A family of high nobility and prestige who played a significant role both on the Eastern Roman Empire, in the front lines against the Ostoman Empire and later in the history of the Kingdom of Dacia, always dancing on the edge of the night, to bring humanity ever closer to the light.

So, without any more to talk about, let’s dive into the story of the Cantacuzino Family.

Origins

The Cantacuzino family was founded on the 11^(th) century as the Kantakouzenos family, Greek in origin and hailing from the eastern coasts of modern day Moesia by a man named John Kantakouzenos who was a military commander who made a name for himself and was awarded land, which he used to grow his name and influence and with time they became one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in byzantine nobility, with hundreds of connections across the Empire...not so much in the territory of Witches though.

The Kantakouzenos family did not have many Witches under their name, when other Byzantine families at least had one and some even established their own Witch Lineages, that all changed in 1333 when John VI Kantakouzenos had among his various children a Witch, Helena Kantakouzenos, this embolden the man to start a civil war within the Empire to take over the throne from the powerful Palaiologos family, he was successful and was crowned alongside the legitimate Palaiologos emperor John (future John V)...however he attempted to kick him to place his son Matthew as his co emperor but John Palaiologos rebelled and was able to take the throne back from the Kantakouzenos family as John V, to make sure peace was established Helena ended up marrying John V and while she gave him many children, none became Witches which spoiled John VI’s plan to start a Kantakouzenos Witch Lineage...his son Matthew however did marry Irene Palaiologina of the Palaiologos family.

After which the Kantakouzenos married off across the Empire...and the main branch continue to rule as despots of Morea….until the arrival of the Ostoman Turks to the region, who ultimately took down the city of Constantinople in 1453...bringing an end to the Byzantine Empire...despite many members of the family fighting as generals against the power of **Mehmed II...**but largely the story of the Kantakouzenos family ended with the fall of Constantinople….

...Or so it is said...because from the descendants of Mathew and Irene...on the then province of Dacia in Wallachia...a new Witch came...and this one would realize the dream of John VI...although not to rule the Empire...but to rule something even greater...THE NIGHT...Miruna Kantakouzenos...or due to the Dacian language changing the name over time...Miruna Cantacuzino!

Beloved by the Night

Here is where the story of the Cantacuzino family, now branched out from the Kantakouzenos truly begins in the land of Dacia, all thanks to a man named Vlad Tepes…. a man who was desperate to fight the approaching tidal wave of Mehmed II, which he attempted to do before but had very little success.

With not much options left he decided to venture across eastern lands looking for a way to fend off the Turks, he ended up in Iranian lands, especially in the former glorious city of Babylon which at the time was abandoned, and there he was approached by mysterious and dark animals, familiars serving Babylonian deities, one of them Nusku a bat familiar, spoke in the name of the Babylonian God Nergal and offered him a deal, the power to turn Witches into powerful beings who could defend his land in exchange for his life, which would not end peacefully but tragically...Vlad accepted for his homeland and allowed Nusku to bite him...planting that power over him.

He would return to Wallachia and summon all the Witches available from both noble and peasant families, 7 Witches attended but we will focus of course on Miruna Cantacuzino who was also the first to pass to an audience with Vlad, he spoke to her of his plan and what she would have to do to defend Wallachia and stop Mehmed...knowing how many members of her family died fighting the Turks, she accepted without hesitation and the ritual began, which consisted in drinking the blood of Vlad, she took it and suffered the transformation.

Miruna became the first Vampire Witch and member of the Order of Dracul, the fighting force commanded by Vlad to fend off the invasion of the Ostoman Turks, Miruna and the other 7 Witches joined Vlad in various campaign’s against the Ostoman, not only because they were hesitant about fighting Witches but because these Vampiric Witches terrified them, many of them used their Vampiric charms to get inside the Ostoman camps and dismantle them from within, Miruna however was not among them, Miruna was a vicious beast (Ironic because she was also the youngest of the seven), she loved dismantling enemy troops with a savagery which was...perhaps uncharacteristic for a Witch, but she did offer mercy when they surrendered so it wasn’t all that bad, but those who chose steel would end up ripped apart by her jaws or impaled just like Vlad liked to do.

After the decisive victory against the Turks in the Night attack at Târgoviște in 1462 where Mehmed almost got killed...the Ostoman where driven back, although they would not be stopped until a couple of years later by the Hungarians at land, and by sea at Lepanto, but Wallachia was safe and Vlad had triumphed.

Unfortunately he was assassinated in 1477 by traitorous nobles who feared his powers, Although some theorize that what they truly feared was his Witches, after all this was after Castillion in 1453, Jeanne d’Arc showed the reach of Witches to the world...it was easy to assume some nobles feared 7 Vampire Witches of immense power, they attempted to assassinate these Witches, but the seven ambushed and destroyed them avenging their master Vlad, however in the end Wallachia was saved.

So, the 7 Witches decided to continue their lives as best as they could, Miruna included who married and had a son, Michael Cantacuzino Şeytanoğlu (Last one meaning Son of the Devil in Turkish...appropriate given how much Miruna traumatized the Ostoman) and he would become the head of this new Cantacuzino family settled in Dacia as...masters of the Night.

Strange Bloodlines

The Cantacuzino remained as important nobles in the Kingdom of Dacia (Which was formed right after the defeat of the Ostomans) and this time they would remain as such for the remainder of history, no more attempts to seize powers like their ancestors did, Michael had two wives but with his first wife (a Crimean Goth) he had a daughter who became a Witch like her grandmother, Manuela Cantacuzino who was imbued with a nightly Gothic supernatural beauty, ebony marvelous black hair and those penetrating almost luminescent golden eyes which would become a signature of the family’s Witches...Manuela served within the Kingdom of Dacia while her half brothers managed the family’s holdings,  due to her many exploits in the defense of the land she earned the family lots of achievements and titles...which made them incredibly wealthy and influential, her half-brother Andronikos Cantacuzino nominated Michael the Brave, one of the most significant monarchs of Dacian history, who also had an affair with Manuela and actually gave her one of her many children.

The affair baby was a young Witch named Olimpia Cantacuzino, who had heterochromia with one silver eye, a tall Amazonian woman of a ridiculous beauty, however unlike her mother, Olimpia was significantly less promiscuous and dedicated herself to exploration and merchandising businesses across Europa and Africa, during one of these businesses in her 20s she met a young 12 years old Baltland boy named Vargton...whom she fell madly in love with due to sharing a similar adventurous spirit and also the boy was reportedly, “So adorably cute she wanted to squeeze his cheeks, pin him to the ground and devour him senseless” in her own words, the union shook Dacian society as many considered the boy wasn’t man enough to handle a woman like Olimpia, and they tried to assassinate him, but he survived and made it to 15 after many dangerous adventures when he could marry Olimpia...and they lived a very happy and prosperous life, her Father King Michael granted her the title of Duchess becoming the one who established the Dukedom the family would be known for.

Together with Vargton she had twins, Corneliu and Cornelia Cantacuzino….Corneliu became the next Duke while his sister who was a Witch, dedicated herself to study the Vampire Witches and all the information we have about how they work, their history and culture is thanks to her, a fascinating topic that can be explored in another entry, but for now we must continue exploring the history of this beautiful nightly family.

Gothic Modernity

The Cantacuzino family remained normal all through the modern era and did not really engage in anything major or significant, other than its various members shocking European society with their beauty or their various exploits in other nations (A notable case was Miguela Cantacuzino who became a Cossack Witch, and had the pleasure of destroying the last member of house Vasa at the battle of Poltava in 1709, or Lavinia Cantacuzino in 1760 who was the first of the family to travel to the far east, she made it into Fuso and brought home a beautiful Fuso girl named Sachiko Kadomaru who she married...(which is really funny in hindsight), many members participated in the Crimean War fighting on the Orussian front...mostly men as soldiers or generals and one Witch, Teodora Cantacuzino who died during the fight but she defended Moesia from getting attacked by the Neuroi.

But it continued as such until the arrival of the 20^(th) century...where another Cantacuzino Witch would join the war, Melania Cantacuzino fighting for her country, like many women in her family she was a Gothic beauty carrying with her those golden eyes and that beautiful ebony black hair, but more than fighting she performed as a singer, she had the habit to sing on the trenches to cheer soldiers up, it worked so well soldiers would say the moment she stopped singing...it was the moment the war would be lost, fortunately not even in the darkest of battlefields or that time she got shot multiple times by the Neuroi did she ever stop singing.

She would pass on this passion for art on to her niece, daughter of her brother and duke of Cantacuzino at the time...the famous heroine and beautiful vampire Witch of the Mirage Witches...Constantia.

Constantia or “Connie” as she was called by her friends or “Miss Impaler” by those who admired her, unlike her aunt despite being very adept in arts and nobility, she was at her core a natural born soldier, becoming Dacia’s top ace Witch very quickly, a stunningly beautiful woman as expected of her lineage, a porcelain colored skin, those golden eyes and that hair, it was simply impossible not to lose yourself in her gaze, in her charms and in her machinations and she knew that very well, but above all she loved to make people very happy like her aunt and had an absolutely noble tender heart to those in need, becoming very good friends in her youth with the bastard Ostoman Princess Agnes, before she disappeared after the Young Turks’ revolt, Connie would not see Agnes again until the end of the Second Neuroi War, once Agnes finished her very own amazing journey which changed the world in more ways than you can imagine, we can discuss her and the “Echo Witches” another day.

It did not take long for Connie to be noticed by the High Command of the War, but the one who snatched her first was none other than Grete Gollob whom she was already good friends with, joining the Mirage Witches, however during her stance in her domains...a certain Fuso Witch crashed into her domains after an intense battle...whom Constantia helped and whom would become the absolute love of her life...Yuno Inufusa, it seemed Fuso blood was always tastier to the Cantacuzino Witches.

The Exploits of Constantia alongside the Mirage Witches are incredibly vast to cover here, of important note however was the Longest Evacuation War which ended in a tragedy when a ship carrying refuges to Orussia from the Balkan countries was destroyed, causing Grete to become extremely depressed and self-exiling in Iran, and the other members of the team accompanied her.

During her six months stance in Iran Constantia joined the artistic staff of the Hotel they were staying in within Ctesiphon, becoming an exotic dancer and singer, drawing crowds in the thousands due to her immense beauty, exotic to Iranian men.

Eventually circumstances and Grete’s encounter with the Iranian Prince Golshan forced them out of exile, offered a deal by the Iranian crown to help them return to the war front lines and avoiding the desertion punishment, a deal offered by the gentle Iranian Princess who would end up becoming the biggest challenge they ever faced and Grete’s eternal nemesis...Princess Zinat.

During this adventure Connie befriended an Iranian official at the Ctesiphon palace and his daughter little Dorri whom Connie took on as a sort of protegee, she  helped Grete in unraveling the great conspiracy of the Alpha Daevas and eventually had to fend off against Zinat  master plan, by unleashing a corrupted and tortured Ehsan, Main Commander of the Ctesiphon Immortal guard to fight the Witches, during the fight Ehsan impaled Yuno and almost killed her, which caused immense pain to Connie and she decided to do what NO OTHER Cantacuzino Witch had done since the days of Vlad...become a Vampire Witch by activating the dormant magic within her lineage.

After becoming a vampire, she was able to defeat Ehsan in an absolute brutal battle, beating her hard enough so Ehsan could recover sanity and reveal Zinat’s true plans, absorbing the powers of the Alpha Daevas and becoming something more powerful than Witches.

Together they battled the Princess in a climactic battle across Ctesiphon and with their combined efforts destroyed Zinat and later united their shields to contain the power of the Alpha Daevas and shoot it into space...saving Ctesiphon, the Shahanshah kept true to his promise and helped the Mirage Witches return to Europa just in time to destroy the Balkan Hives.

After which they began to move north towards Berlin, but they arrived once the battle was over and the Strike and Brave Witches had already destroyed the Wolf Hive… ending the war.

Connie returned to her state in Dacia alongside Yuno and taking in Dorri every once in a while from Iran to help her study in Europa, Constantia eventually married Yuno and together they had 10 children, the youngest among them Calixo Cantacuzino ended up marrying Dorri...and from there came the next great Witch in the line, the one who became an Aquarian Witch...Alucarda Cantacuzino, known by her peers as “The Star Vampire”

Shamblers of the Stars

Alucarda Cantacuzino got her Aquarian Powers at the age of 9 and she was a peculiar woman, she always wore her curly ebony black air all the way to her shoulders, loved to dress in a way that always left her shoulder and back exposed even in freezing cold (Which didn’t affect her), and because of the Aquarian nature of her powers, her vampirism was activated without any morbid self-sacrifice, it even eliminated the need to drink blood which Connie had, although she still drank blood just for fun, she had a funny heart shaped mole on her breasts and to top it all off she manifested the heterochromia of Olimpia Cantacuzino, one golden and silver eyes, needless to say even by the family’s standards, she was a stunning girl.

She always carried a steel whip made in the shape of a spine to battle Neuroi or to pull them towards her so she could destroy them, but more than combat she loved to converse to people, a natural seductress and flirter even in her younger days...although she leaned more towards women than men, it did not stop her from spreading her genes with many women though.

She loved to talk to various people across the world to learn of their cultures and their fascinating stories, she filled an entire hall of the Cantacuzino palace with tomes (And later Terabytes) of her many interviews.

When the Third Neuroi War erupted she battled intensely to save the world and had to deal with constant earthquakes and storms during the Calamity Phase over the territory of the Balkans, as well as a brutal volcanic winter that almost destroyed the country, thanks to her effort they survived though.

When she got her Deae Battlesuit she was relentless in her pursuit of the Neuroi across the Solar System and later on Earth...and cheered from the sides when they were defeated in the Centralia Offensive, ridding humanity of their blight once and for all.

In 2700 she joined other Witches into the Kardashev Program and was launched into space, and followed the same path of her fellow Witches, colonizing planets and seeding them with life, to later return to Earth around 3560...with many stories to tell, as well as strange creatures who looked like jelly catlike tentacled beings she referred to as “Her babies”, she called them Grant, Trevor and Sypha, no one dared to ask the story behind that, but they are harmless and even helpful sometimes so it’s all good.

There are also many several notable Space Mikos who belong to the Cantacuzino family such as Yoko Cantacuzino who lived in the 2900s and helped built the Tower of Elysium on Mars, she was known for her dark and loud but surprisingly beautiful voice, there was also Riverdance Cantacuzino who was the main Space Miko at the Tower of Elysium on Mars during the era of the Team VIVID and got to welcome Alucarda when she returned.

Conclusion

The stories within the people who live in opulence mirror those of lower classes more than one might like to imagine, such as it is the case with this family who at some point tried to become the rulers of a powerful empire in the later stages of the Middle Ages, and managed to survive long enough to continue thriving in another country and even becoming part of a great event in history when they stopped the relentless advance of the Ostoman Turks, vastly outlasting the Paleologos and the Empire they tried to rule.

The Cantacuzino might not have lasted as a powerful dynasty of Rome, but did became a dynasty of Gothic beautiful women no Queen or Empress could ever surpass…. the true rulers of the night.

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Greetings everyone, and as usual I bring you the next entry in Compendium of Witches, following on with the family theme, last poll was qute viciouis and it ended on a tie so very I'll be doing both the Cantacusino and the Schade family, this week hopefilly, starting with the Schade family as it was the one who led for the most time.

WITHOUT ANY FURTHER TO ADD! ENJOY!

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Introduction: From East to West Across the Sun

We are here today to learn about another fascinating family known for their exotic and tenacious adventurous spirit and their desire to explore, the Schade Family.

One case of a family that began in a place and moved with time through another, giving us interesting family members as well as fantastic Witches known for their exotic and various degrees of brown tones in their skins, as well as being involved in many crucial events in world history, an ancient Witch lineage adopted by this Britannian family.

So, without any more to talk about, let’s dive into the story of the Schade Family.

Origins

While the name Schade was common within Britannia, the ones who defined the name and gave it that status came to light in the 17^(th) century as a family of seafaring merchants, the founding patriarch of the Schade was a man named Icarus Schade, he and his siblings Ignatius and Roberta Schade managed their merchant company which they used to travel across the eastern lands, making deals with Malay and Madjapahit, but avoided Fuso lands due to the Waku Pirates (Which were later cleaned up by Hispania and Fuso), the three siblings enjoyed great success and lived many wonderful adventures and eventually all of them found spouses to marry, the first born of Icarus Schade was a man that would become synonymous with one of the most significant wars in the World, Jeremy Schade.

Jeremy Schade was a brilliant sailor, but unlike his Father and cousins, he joined the Britannian navy and his talent quickly led him to rise as a star, reaching the rank of Admiral rather fast at the age of 35, and through this process he met a Witch on the Britannian navy whom he ended up developing a very passionate Romance with, Cecile Gloriana Milos (Another identity of our beloved Cerydwen) and it looked like this would be a good story for the Admiral, getting a beautiful Witch wife and begin a dynasty of sea faring Witches for Britannia, but then two things happend that spoiled those plans, the beginning of the first Fuso-Britannian War...and a Tamil Witch...Palavi Rajan.

War, Romance and the Waves

To speak of the Schade Family is to speak of the Fuso-Britannian war...and honestly the story of Jeremy Schade, Palavi Rajan, Cecile and the insane love triangle deserve its own entry...so we will go very briefly above all the events that led to the creation of the legacy that cemented this family in world history.

The War began in 1676 and it lasted for two years, during this time Palavi Rajan, a Tamil pirate Witch from Ceylon was captured by the Britannian forces with the help of Cecile and was offered something she could not refuse, jail or helping Britannia in Asian waters under the command of Admiral Schade in the war against Fuso, without much option Palavi took Cecile’s offer and was taken to Jeremy Schade, immediately the two butted heads as Palavi was not fond of Britannians and only respected Cecile, although she was extremely put off by how lovey doey the two were.

During the war they met the Fuso Witch who would become Palavi’s main rival and archnemesis, Saori Nakajima “The Sea Demon”, as she was called within the Fuso navy for using fire to sink Britannian ships, few battled her and lived unharmed to tell the tale, Palavi and Cecile were among the few and that intrigued Saori who swore she would take Palavi down.

Things changed drastically however during a visit to Palavi’s native Ceylon and a visit Cecile made to the capital...it is not known exactly to many what Cecile saw in Ceylon, but that very same night she had a conversation with Jeremy and apologized in tears….breaking up with him, which left him devastated, what she saw was a statue built in Ceylon to honor the time Georgia of Lydda and the 36^(th) legion came to the then Chola Kingdom in the fourth century on the age where she was Nauarchus Celinda...and seeing the statue of her five long time gone good friends, Georgia, Arilda, Maura, Luxi and Barbara reminded her of Crispus...the only man she ever truly loved, probably feeling melancholy and profound sadness...she chose to end things with Jeremy.

Jeremy devastated was approached by a sympathetic Palavi and the gap between the two began to mend.

Unfortunately a month later during a naval battle near Malay, the ship where Cecile was traveling was burned by Saori and while she saved all sailors on the ship, Cecile was caught by the flames and died on the eyes of Palavi and Jeremy, which made Palavi feel absolute rage and she swore she would make Saori pay, that night she and Jeremy found comfort on each other, giving in to that passion blooming between them and laid on bed...formalizing their relationship.

Of course, we know Cecile did not truly die and she simply went to Malay where she had old friends choosing this as her opportunity to abandon the Cecile identity and lay low for a couple of years, but that is another story, she would help Palavi and Jeremy from the shadows however.

The final battle between Palavi and Saori took play in Fuso’s South Sea Island, it was brutal and vicious, both Witches really did damage each other, especially when Saori did not show any remorse or pity for Cecile’s death...Saori Nakajima was a very patriotic Witch and loved her country but...to foreigners she was not kind, and this fueled Palavi’s rage managing to beat her in combat.

Palavi however did not kill her, as a Witch doesn’t kill another Witch, but Saori insisted that as long as she breath she would not stop scorching Brittania...which forced someone to shoot her on the head...killing her...Jeremy chose to take on that burden from Palavi, a decision which would haunt him for the rest of his life...but one he had to, for Britannia, for the Witch he had grown to love and perhaps...for Fuso itself in a way.

The war ended in 1678 and after that Jeremy Schade married Palavi, bringing the Kaliputra Lineage (Which Palavi belonged to) into the Schade family...with the birth of their son...Sebastian Schade, a beautiful boy with tanned skin and blonde hair (A trait which would be common in the family from now on)...but the story of the Schade Family and Fuso was FAR FROM OVER...

War, Romance and the Waves II

The Peace did not last very long...and by 1683, only five years later it started once again in the form of the Second Fuso-Britannian War, with Fuso now being on the offensive...destroying a cargo ship traversing to the new word on the Pacific Ocean, and on this voyage were Palavi and Jeremy who were caught on the blast and seemingly died...leaving Sebastian at the mercy of the mastermind of this attack...Meika Nakajima, younger sister of Saori who wanted revenge against Jeremy and Palavi for the death of her sister...she took Sebastian and captured him as ordered by her Fuso superiors, but she wanted to murder the boy to end the Schade family once and for all...but one Witch among the ladies in Meika’s retinue took immense pity on the boy….a 15 years old maid, clumsy and nervous Chiko Sakamoto.

Chiko befriended 5 year old Sebastian and when she heard her mistress intended to kill the boy she betrayed Meika and escaped with him, they endured a brutal escape and pursuit across the pacific ocean and faced various perils together, strengthening their bond over 2 years, Chiko became very fond and he grew extremely fond of her, however Meika was always in hot pursuit hoping to honor her vow to end the Schade family.

Eventually Chiko and Sebastian found out (Thanks to outside help by Cerydwen) that Sebastian’s parents were ALIVE, they survived and were stranded on an island east of Tondo, so the two sailed with haste to save them, but Meika found out and chased as well.

What ensued was a tearful reunion between Sebastian and his parents, cut abruptly by the arrival of Meika, Chiko decided to battle her former mistress, she however was not akin to the skill of Meika who battled like an enraged beast and even used a dagger to impale Chiko’s eye….

When all was seemingly lost and Meika was about to kill the family, upon hearing the cries of Sebastian, Chiko felt that sudden rage, that fury, that inner strength of a true Sakamoto Witch and stood up once again, to battle Meika and save Sebastian, she battled Meika who could not match the fury and protective intensity of Chiko, and it ended when Chiko cut Meika’s sword hand.

Eventually Palavi urged Meika to end this blood feud, and she did it with such passion Meika chose to end the feud and allow the Schade family to go, she would later return to Fuso and be one of the driving forces to end the war, having found forgiveness and redemption in her heart.

Jeremy and his family however decided this was enough and they returned to Britannia to finally put down the arms and live in peace, returning to the family merchant routes with his Aunt Roberta (Ignatius died during the London Assault by the Fuso Navy), as for Sebastian he grew and upon becoming 12 he took Chiko as his lover and by 15 they married...Sebastian continued the family mercantile business and had a VERY long and happy life with Chiko, together they only had one child...a Witch “Arabella Schade” and with her the legacy of the Schade family and the Kaliputra lineage carried on in Britannia, even after the war ended in 1686.

Network of Oceans

Life continued for the Schade family across the 18^(th) century, Arabella joined the family’s business, eventually taking over for her talent at the ocean and for crafting unique trade routes to get amazing and exotic resources, making the family grow large enough (Also thanks to her Grandfather’s actions) to become part of the country’s low nobility, Arabella ended up marrying with an important duke within the Britannian royal family and sired 5 children, Benjamin, Ernest, Sabina, Molly and Rupert Schade, who each would end up spreading across the world when they grew older to increase the family’s commercial network, Molly among them became as Witch and joined the Britannian army deployed in Faraway Land.

From then many branches of the family prospered across the years, always having a place to where they would have people of their family ready to welcome them, but it wasn’t until the First Neuroi War where a Schade Witch would join in, Nicola Schade...and she would be deployed in the middle eastern theater of the war battling the Neuroi in the desert while she rode a horse and using a lance, even charging full force against large Neuroi like the old days of chivalry earning the nickname “The Lancer”.

She ended up marrying her half-brother Thomas Schade and had a daughter...the famous girl of the Ardor Witches’ fame, Patricia Schade.

Patricia Schade was a beautiful Witch, considered one of the most beautiful within heroines of the Great War, but she was also a loyal and determined friend, however making friends with her was difficult, due to her constant travels as a child she preferred to adopt the mentality of not getting too attached to people, this mold however was broken several times during the war by various people such as her two good friends Angela Salas Larrazabal and her childhood friend Lynette Bishop.

After the war ended she continued serving in the Britannian air force and married two times, the first marriage ended because the passion simply died, but for the second she was much happier, although both marriages gave her children, boys Magnolo Schade and Jeff Schade...the first one took over the family’s trading business while the second one became a geographical researcher and ended up marrying one of Angela Larrazabal’s young girls Tomasina...and they both had a child, the Witch that would become the next star of this family...the Aquarian Witch Carrie “Thunderchild” Schade.

People started cheering: “Come on Thunderchild!”

Carrie Schade obtained her Aquarian powers at the age of 9, always an adventurous and wanderlusting young tomboy girl, the moment she gained her powers she began traveling the world for YEARS, not a single little corner of the planet was left unexplored to her by the year 2098...and when there was nothing else to explore she began contributing to the space programs of the various agencies across the world, hoping to be among the first Witches to be launched into space, a wish that came true when in 2200 “Operation Usada 1969” was launched to colonize Mars and the Moon, Carrie being in the Mars mission which ended proving successful faster than the Moon colonization, and from then on Carrie would spend a lot of her time on Mars helping to build a colony and drafting plans for terraformation, she was the one who drew the first official map of Mars made within the planet and she also sired many children on the planet among the colonists.

She earned the nickname “Thunderchild” because she had a bit of a habit of charging into battles she knew she could not win easily on her own but ALWAYS did it anyway, in reference to the famous ship from the novel War of the Worlds, the irony of what would come later is not lost on anyone who looks back, as she would be one of the main protagonists in one of the greatest stories of the coming war.

She was on Mars alongside Salvadora Preddy and Xinyi Raymond, when the Third Neuroi War erupted in 2410 with the Calamity Phase, which caused unprecedented devastation on Earth, the three Witches wanted to fly and help but they were told to stay on Mars just in case a refuge was needed for humanity, unfortunately that would not happen as in 2414 the Neuroi attacked the Mars colonies destroying them completely, all the work Carrie had done was destroyed in a couple of hours, but she managed to save most of the colonists by hiding on the underground tunnels of the planet.

For ten years Carrie, Xinyi and Salvadora hid on the caverns of Mars with the colonists, Carrie felt furious, helpless (Especially because some of her children died in the Mars attack), and many times she wanted to go out and fight the Neuroi, always having to be stopped by Xinyi and Salvadora with extreme effort and sometimes a bit of fists being thrown off, but they successfully stopped her.

They hoped they would get rescued but as the year passed, they realized no one was coming and they decided to lean more on Carrie’s idea to take Mars back, but they would do it properly and with planning.

For four years the three Witches and the colonists prepared a MASSIVE counter attack with anything they had….and by the year 2424...such a counter offensive was launched, from the caverns of Mars thousands of colonists armed with rustic lasers, came out led by the three Witches with FULL POWER in a brutal battle against the Neuroi stationed on Mars, it was a vicious battle in which many casualties were had and Carrie herself was almost killed, but she kept pushing forward unleashing her relentless and courageous nature against the hive located on the planet, she managed to pass through the massive firepower barrage the Neuroi tossed at her and leaped into the dark clouds and began smashing the core with her hands, until help DID arrive, Olena and Helga Hartmann, to basically finish what the Mars battalion had already accomplished...Carrie however did have the honor of destroying the Hive’s core.

The Hartmann twins rescued the Mars colonists and took most of them back to Earth for medical assistance while Carrie, Salvadora and Xinyi were awarded medals of honor for their amazing resilience and valor in fighting back for humanity, even when all seemed lost.

Carrie was given a Deae Battlesuits in 2429 and joined in “The Battle of the Pulsars” one of the most significant battles of the Space Phase of the war, and remained a very active participant of the War alongside the many children she had who became Archer Ship pilots.

Once the war ended in 2500, it should not surprise you Carrie was among the most eager to jump into space to explore, and she did do so before officially joining the Kardashev Program in 2700 and was launched into space with colonists to populate the galaxy like many other Witches, where she lived MANY great adventures and even founded a monarchic dynasty in one of the planets she colonized, with one of her children, King Kuman Stardust, the Schade Stardust Dynasty still rules planet Kagali on the Mirma system to this day.

Carrie was among the last Witches to return, mostly because she ventured out of the Milky Way trying to reach the Andromeda Galaxy, before realizing it was way too far and went back to the Milky Way.

Meanwhile on Earth the lineage hailing from Magnolo prospered and the Schade trading company still exists to this day, like the old day setting many bases across the planets of the solar system for commerce like the family always excelled at...when they were not being heroes in wars of course.

Conclusion

When asked about her family Patricia would always say: “My family is one of rich merchants, but actually that is just the cover up, in reality we just cannot stay put in one place and we need an excuse to go out and have fun every once in a while” which perfectly describes the mindset of the Schade Family.

A taste for adventure an opportunity which managed to create a bridge between East and West, between Earth and Mars, between the Solar System and the Mirma System...no matter where you go in this universe, you can ask around and a Schade will welcome you...provided you want to hear about their adventures.