Mother of Magic

Incaps

"Sounds like the Salem Witch Trials" Le commented.

Ava gave that idea a negative head shake. "There were no trials of us by the non-magical. Not by any legal standard. No courtrooms or evidence. No lawyers. Most importantly for witches? There was no defense. Nothing we could say or do to convince people we were not evil. In some cases, that may even have been true. Not all witches treated their power with honor and respect back then. Fewer do today, and it's down to what happened back then at least in part. Witches faced mobs. People pushed on by fear. That alone was bad enough. The powerless ... without magic I mean ... they feared those that had power over them because of their access to magic. It was made far worse by others. People that wanted power. It did not have to be magic power. Power over people was good enough. Followers that gave themselves over to the so-called leadership of these men."

Ava looked into the middle distance and sounded philosophical. "People have not changed. Back then the common folks were encouraged by false prophets of false gods. Men who feared and desired the witch's power but did not have it. People without power who wanted to control real power. Magic power. Minor witches could be controlled by some of these pretenders. Witches are people too. Driven by the same things, including some that are weak of mind and easily taken in by charlatans like this. It was easier to give them what they wanted than fight them all. No witch of significance would do it. Usually. There were some alignments of convenience, but that is a different issue. One-on-one, a witch with any access to magic could take down a non-magical person if they put their mind to it."

Ava's eyes came back to Stephanie and Le. Her expression hardened. "We did not need to align with any of them, and in total, few did. That any did was appalling enough, but as I said: People are all driven by the same needs. A minor witch or one with unmet greed can be seduced by promises of things magic cannot give you. Admiration. Love. Sex. Sex most of all."

Ava four-finger finger tapped her sternum through her many layers of clothing. "To have our power is already to want for nothing in the way of worldly things. A false prophet back then had nothing to offer a witch of sufficient power. Sex? Gold? Clothes? Comfort? We can make that all for ourselves. Except for sex. That is easy to come by in any number of ways. Sex is the one currency the non-magical have that we cannot merely conjure up. I cannot make a man. Not a golem who would do my carnal bidding. That limitation of magical power has made sex a form of payment for the powerful. This is part of my issue with the church of today ... but I am getting ahead of myself. We will get to that."

Le and Stephanie both remembered the post-coital position they had been found in when they were taken. It did not seem to either of them that this carnal engagement was behind Ava's motivation. They non-verbally agreed on that point.

Ava continued. "A witch could be overpowered by a mob. There was only one solution. Eventually, witches banded together into larger groups. Dens and Covens became congregations became churches. Churches built temples that could be defended from mobs using grouped and consolidated magic. The witch wars were hot and bloody but ultimately brief. A well-defended temple, with the appropriate wards in place, was and is impenetrable. Siege machine projectiles were deflected back upon the army that launched them, with added force. Fires and floods called out to afflict those that attacked. The mobs or armies... whatever was facing the temple? They could not starve out a people that could summon more supplies at will. The unmagical cannot block the magical supply lines. Unlike castles of old under siege, non-magical army against non-magical army, witches of enough power could not be starved out. Food and water were easily created. Projectiles were useless. Even those made with Namber. A Namber projectile is ineffective at this kind of scale. They would never be able to collect enough of it together to make more than one. Then the witches have their entire Namber supply, and the opposing army is even less of a threat. Guerilla tactics completed the equation. The mob could not get to us, but the prophets could not stop assassins sent to kill them. One by one they were taken out, and their followers were left leaderless. If some joined a different cult, then sooner or later, that group's leader was killed. Did not have to be a magical assassin. Any killer willing to work for gold could be hired. It was impossible to defend against all the ways witches could launch singular assaults against unannounced and far-reaching targets."