Magic Users of Pre-Ikosian Altazia

• What it is: The three distinct magical traditions of pre-Ikosian Altazia — Shifters, Witches, and Morlocks — that permanently changed Ikosian magic upon contact.

Before the Cataclysm and the large-scale migration of Ikosian mages to Altazia, the continent was a complex landscape of warring tribes and isolated city-states. Altazian humans were far less populous, and their magical traditions were heavily connected to native religions. However, three distinct traditions proved exceptionally novel and influential, permanently altering Ikosian magical practice: the Shifters, the Witches, and the Morlocks.

Witches

In pre-Ikosian Altazia, only the priesthood was allowed to wield magic openly. Women — who were generally barred from the patriarchal priesthood — sometimes came into possession of magic. These "witches" lived on the edges of their communities, offering magical services to those who sought them out.

Shunned by society and opposed by the priesthood, witches formed covens to share magical insights and protect each other. They grew insular and secretive, developing their own customs and a highly antagonistic relationship with mainstream society.

• Potion Making: Witches refined rudimentary herbal remedies into supernatural cures, eventually branching out into mind-affecting drugs, Transformation potions, and poisons. This tradition is the direct ancestor of modern Alchemy.
• Soul Magic & Beliefs: Witches used soul magic for enforcing deals via geas, forging familiar links, and reading soul auras. Observing that a child's soul "buds off" from the mother's soul, they believed soul lineage originated solely from female ancestors — making sons spiritual dead ends. Some covens killed male offspring; others used them for political marriages or labor.
• Ikosian Assimilation: When the Ikosians conquered Altazia, they tempted young witches into service, legitimizing them and developing their potion basics into modern Alchemy. The Ikosians then cracked down on unlicensed covens. Surviving modern covens use Ikosian spellcasting but remain marginalized due to lingering prejudices and matriarchal traditions. Many powerful modern mage families trace their roots to ancient witch lineages.

Morlocks

The Morlocks were a culture of subterranean humans specifically adapted for underground existence in Altazia's Dungeon. They possessed white hair, vivid blue eyes, excellent low-light vision, and perfect hearing.

• Underground Empire: Morlock ancestors colonized the surface layers of the Dungeon, battling creatures for living space. At their height — just before the Silence of the Gods — they possessed the highest level of technology and magical sophistication on the continent.

• Blood Magic & Cannibalism: Morlocks were feared and hated by surface humans for their slave raids. They excelled in Blood Magic and practiced ritual cannibalism, believing they could steal the powers of enemies and preserve the wisdom of ancestors by consuming their flesh.

• The Fall: The Silence of the Gods removed their divinely-granted powers, causing them to increase surface raids in desperation. When the Ikosians arrived, they broke the morlock kingdoms, leaving them vulnerable to deep Dungeon creatures. The survivors fled to the surface and surrendered.

• Aftermath: The Ikosians forced morlocks to convert and scattered them to accelerate assimilation. Today, morlocks exist on the periphery of society and suffer heavy discrimination. However, their Blood Magic survived — secretly compiled by Ikosian mages. Many modern Noble Houses and magical bloodlines owe their existence to blood magic acquired from the morlocks.

• Dungeon