The Grand Coven is an organization of witches and other magic practitioners, dedicated to ensuring that the powers of its members are used responsibly and that their best interests are looked after. They operate as a fairly loose worldwide network of interrelated covens, and one of their main projects is a "magic school" for training up the younger generation in the various mystical Arts. The school, currently also serving as the Coven's headquarters, is located at Rowanwood, the holdfast and estate of one of their member witches.
Leadership
The Coven is governed by the Witches' Council, which itself is led by a witch known as the Supreme. In recent years, the Supreme has become less a unilateral leader, aided by a formalized position known as the Council Chair.
- The current Supreme is Fiona Goode.
- The current Council Chair is Myrtle Snow.
Current senior council officers are:
The Seven Wonders
All witches of the Grand Coven learn to demonstrate these abilities. These are especially vital for Supremes of of the Grand Coven:
Telekinesis
- The witch is able to use Telekinesis at a Basic level, allowing them to lift objects within line of sight. They can remotely manipulate objects in much the same way a healthy adult could directly do, up to the level of sophistication equivalent to manipulating items by hand and in terms of weight equivalent to what a healthy adult could lift, usually up to about a hundred pounds.
Concilium
- The witch is able to perform Concilium at a Basic level, which allows them to slip past the target's conscious thoughts to control their mind on a level below awareness. This may take the form of a simple compulsion, taking control of the physical body, or even slightly influencing memory or perception, usually for only a short time. Examples of this include affecting someone's reflexes, making their body take a specific action, or creating a passing false perception or memory. More advanced practitioners may have much more powerful techniques.
Elementalism
- The witch is able to influence the elements at a Basic level, such as conjuring sufficient fire to light a candle or a kindle a fireplace, to create a breeze, to conjure less than a gallon of water, to chill or heat a small object (such as freezing a glass of water or heating a cup of tea), or move quantities of earth equivalent to that which could be moved by a shovel.
Divination
- The witch is able to use Divination at a Basic level to sense the location of objects and substances, sense unobscured emotional or magical auras, sense extremely likely upcoming events in a person's future, or predict upcoming changes in the weather. The range of this ability is usually limited to a few dozen miles, such as within a large city, and the complexity of the landscape also plays a factor. The more mentally or geographically diverse the area, the more limited in scope this Divination tends to be. For minor events, forecasting tends to be limited to the next day or so, while extremely significant events might be hinted at months or even years in advance, though what exactly is revealed is not always reliable. Use of Divination tends to require a tool, even if just as simple as a mirror, dowsing rod, or pendulum. Forecasting tools, such as tarot cards, might allow more reliable fortunetelling that extends farther out, but results will vary.
Teleportation
- The witch is able to Teleport at a Basic level, allowing them to instantly travel up to a mile in distance if they have a good idea where they're going. For very familiar locations, they may be able to teleport up to several times farther away, but a very clear idea of the space they're teleporting to is important, as an imprecise understanding of their destination can lead to accidents -- such as, say, teleporting into a wall -- that can prove extremely dangerous, even fatal.
Vitalum Vitalis
- The witch is able to heal others at a Basic level via Vitalum Vitalis, which allows them to cure superficial or minor injuries instantly or to quicken the healing of more serious injuries to about half the time it might otherwise take to heal them. This healing also stabilizes the target and prompts healing that may not occur naturally, suppressing trauma responses and shock to the system, allowing the body to heal over time even wounds that might otherwise overwhelm it. These effects are temporary, so if the initial application of the power is not enough to heal the patient, then additional applications of Vitalum Vitalis may be necessary. Each use temporarily drains the vitality of the user, so the witch will need time to recover afterward.
Descensum
This page is currently a Work in Progress, and its contents may not be fully approved or accurate on the game.
- The witch is able to practice Descensum, a form of astral projection, at a Basic level. This sometimes strange power involves entering a state of physical repose, not unlike deep sleep or a coma, and decoupling the mind from the body. While so projecting, the witch experiences the world around them as though they were physically present in it. When projecting into the physical world, the witch cannot directly affect it except via magic, such as telekinesis, but the witch can still interact with spirits or other noncorporeal beings. Those with special mental awareness may perceive them, but they are effectively invisible and insubstantial to normal senses. With sufficient ritual preparation, they may even cast their consciousness into other dimensions, and some especially reckless covens have been known to use this practice to visit dangerous realms, such as hell dimensions. In realms where thought can have more physical impact, of course, such as in the Dreamlands, they may be more freely perceived by others, yet they will also not be restricted in how they physically interact with the environment around them.
Affiliations
The White Council
The Grand Coven is allied very loosely with the White Council ], mostly because open conflict between the two would be dangerous and destructive for everyone. Despite this, there are many points of contention between the two groups, such as the Witches' Council's refusal to strictly obey the White Council's Laws of Magic, to say nothing of the Witches' Council's disapproval of the White Council's draconian stance on unlawful magic use and the harsh punishment of so-called "rogue warlocks."