Bexals
In these benighted villages, female births are viewed as signs of ill omen. Often girl babies are left to die in the woods by their parents in the dark of night.
Although strictly forbidden by Eyvean doctrine, this shameful custom nonetheless continues. And it is undoubtable that some of these girl babies have been resuced by the Bexals, and are brought up into their cult.
The Bexals, known as Black Witches or Mountain Witches by the villages, are a tribe of women that have dwelled in the mountains north of Hawthorne for at least a century. They practice their own brand of black magic and live in a sort of communal farming. They are sorely feared by villagers, but they come into contact with lowlanders only seldom. They are nonetheless usually blamed for all manner of bad omens and events, and the authorities of the Church of Eyva have on occasion attempted to check their activities with trepidation. Generally though, they are feared so much that they are left alone, and they encounter other vilagers in person so rarely that both sides seem content to leave each other alone most of the time.
It is rumored that no man is allowed to enter the Bexal villages on pain of death and torture. They are believed to replenish their cults by actually stealing girl babies as well as rescuing abandoned ones (as mentioned above), and by keeping some males around strictly for breeding purposes. Whether this is true or not no one can say.
“They say the soothsayers of those women spin curses and hexes all day. They sit by a stream and dip black ladles in the water and let it pour out, chanting evil verses and calling demons to do their bidding on earth.”
Although strictly forbidden by Eyvean doctrine, this shameful custom nonetheless continues. And it is undoubtable that some of these girl babies have been resuced by the Bexals, and are brought up into their cult.
The Bexals, known as Black Witches or Mountain Witches by the villages, are a tribe of women that have dwelled in the mountains north of Hawthorne for at least a century. They practice their own brand of black magic and live in a sort of communal farming. They are sorely feared by villagers, but they come into contact with lowlanders only seldom. They are nonetheless usually blamed for all manner of bad omens and events, and the authorities of the Church of Eyva have on occasion attempted to check their activities with trepidation. Generally though, they are feared so much that they are left alone, and they encounter other vilagers in person so rarely that both sides seem content to leave each other alone most of the time.
It is rumored that no man is allowed to enter the Bexal villages on pain of death and torture. They are believed to replenish their cults by actually stealing girl babies as well as rescuing abandoned ones (as mentioned above), and by keeping some males around strictly for breeding purposes. Whether this is true or not no one can say.
“They say the soothsayers of those women spin curses and hexes all day. They sit by a stream and dip black ladles in the water and let it pour out, chanting evil verses and calling demons to do their bidding on earth.”