This is a brief overview as to how witches work in my Witches and Ghosts AU, as I really like to play around with the rules of my supernatural worlds and I think it'd be beneficial to understand how they work within my story. Also, I just love world building, and witches are one of my favorites to mess with.
Witches are quite rare as the reason for their existence is kinda similar to that of sorcerers from D&D. Witches always have human parents and it's typically something the mother was exposed to that cause their child to be born as a witch.
So, basically my reasoning behind this is that the souls of unborn humans are basically little sponges for magic, and if enough magic is absorbed their soul combines with the magic and begins producing its own. Humans don't often interact often with the supernatural world so this is a very rare circumstance.
Witches will take on characteristics or attributes of the type of magic they were exposed to and produce. For example: Tango most likely got his magic from a type of fire spirit, causing him to naturally have fire hair and other features that would likely be similar to that of a fire spirit. Most of the time witches embrace these features but some do chose to use magic to make themselves look more human or maybe even more monstrous.
Witches are quite powerful beings with their souls basically overflowing with magic. A human's soul being exposed to this much magic would typically kill them but a witch's soul having become accustomed to it while developing has created a resistance to it.
Witches are solitary creatures and chose not to live in society, either due to being othered by their community or simply just choosing to not associate themselves with humans. This will happen regardless of their upbringing, as witches devote their lives to mastering and understanding their magic.
So, with this in mind, it's extremely rare for witches to be apart of communities or have a group of friends, but there may be a certain witch who likes breaking stereotypes.
So, to a lot of, if not all supernatural creatures, humans are actually quite appetizing. Their flesh, blood, and souls are all fair game for werewolves, vampires, and demons/ghouls. Humans innately have a small amount of magic in their soul, it's just simply not enough to do anything with, but supernatural creatures will consume human souls to be able to gain power. There are such things as monster hunters and certain organizations within this universe to keep supernatural creatures from doing such things.
Also, to clarify, it is only the consumption of the soul that allows supernatural creatures to grow stronger. Vampires and werewolves often stick to the flesh but some can consume souls if they know how to extract them. Spirits, ghouls, and demons are more likely to steal souls.
Witches are basically made up of the same thing as humans, even if they wish to have nothing to do with humanity. A witch's soul is a hot commodity amongst supernatural creatures just because of how powerful it can make an individual creature if consumed, but witches are one of the most powerful creatures in the supernatural world with their ability to use diverse magic, so most creatures try not to mess with them unless they wish to meet their untimely death.
So, here's where soulmates come in, because did you really think I'd come up with a ranchers-centered AU and not have them be soulmates? So, all witches have a human soulmate, as witches were intended to be born human, and these soulmates don't typically live long. With the human and witch being soulmates their souls are tied together, and with all of the power the witch's soul produces, the human also receives some of this power but they are unable to use it, so, the magic manifests in them in different ways, one such example being that the soulmate of a witch would be able to see between the veil of the natural and supernatural world. Remind you of anyone?
If a human is discovered to be the soulmate of a witch they are often killed by a supernatural creature as their souls contain much more magic than the average human and they are unable to defend themselves unlike witches.
Most witches, being solitary creatures, could care less about their soulmates. They are aware that it's more than likely that their soulmate is dead. If a witch were to come across their soulmate, they would more than likely kill them themselves, as souls can be used in magic and even as trades to demons or spirits. Some witches might consume the soul as a way of taking back the magic they believe was stolen by their soulmate. All that is to say, witches don't often have significant others or expect to have them.
aaaaaand.... that's all I can remember coming up with for now. If there's anything I forgot or if I end up changing any of this, I'll probably just make a new post. Or I won't and you'll just see what's changed when I actually get the inspiration and motivation to write for this. I think, I may write some one-shots soon-ish...
Anyways... hope all that makes sense!
OH! and one final world building thing if you've read this far. As a genderfluid possibly trans-masc person, I like making it where some weird magic stuff explains some trans people. So... all witches are born female and there are no exceptions to this.
If you have any questions, ideas, or thoughts for this AU, let me know! I'm dying to talk more about it.
Until next time! Have a wonderful day and uh... drink water! Buh-bye!
