Magic and the Gods

[Landifarne]

In Holun, all spellcasters derive their magic from the energy that manifests itself in the world, and (much less often) from otherworldly, extrapanar sources.

Mages generally channel and collect energies from the natural world, siphoning power from inorganic portions of the environment- elemental sources such as lightning, fire, lava, ice, rock, stone and the wind, and from opening up conduits to alien/extra-planar realms. Some mages can pull energy from organic, living things (necromancy), but most do not...not for ethical reasons, but simply because they have been trained in a fundamentally different manner.

Druids pull lynsic/necromantic energy from organic bodies (vegetation, decomposers, organisms and bacteria in the soil, etc) and also from elemental sources, like mages. Druids understand that wanton use of their necromantic powers can kill ecosystems, so they generally encourage growth in living systems (if for no other reason than to have abundant sources of magic around). Druids tend to have a neutral outlook on things, but they also can have strong political and moral beliefs.

Clerics are a strange lot, as their low level spells siphon power from all aspects of the environment (like druids), but only through the accumulation of power through the performance of highly ritualized ceremonies. Clerics do not understand the nature of the energy that they harness but, having been trained in their particular doctrines, are nevertheless able to control it. Low level clerics are usually deluded, and most pray to gods that do not exist. But high level clerics (5th level and above) are aligned to some being of higher power (a demon, a supernatural entity, or a "real" demi-god), and receive spells from that entity as reward for service. Clerics (good and evil) of such "deities" siphon monads of energy from large numbers of individual congregants through necromantic rituals and then funnel that power to their masters (who send a fraction of it back to their clergymen). Although higher level cleric spells (level 3+) are garnered from these stronger beings, the energy involved was ultimately acquired through vampiric means.

There are a few "real" gods in/about Holun, but only select characters will know of them.

The people of Nurlund generally worship Bellash, the Puissant Lord (Lord of Fecundity, Prosperity and Agriculture) or Tammara (Goddess of Family, Security and the Hearth). Neither of these gods are "real," but the people of Norlund perceive them as such.

The dwarves of Horlenholt worship Branna, the Mother. She is not a real god, but the higher level clerics of Horlenholt gain their magical powers from a hidden entity.

[Landifarne]

The Witch class is available to players, as detailed in Dragonsfoot's periodical Footprints #20. I'll post relevant sections here, for players' easy reference (slowly building it up):

Re-using this material: The following article is Open OSRIC content.

Witches are people with mystic vision. They can see into the spirit world and converse with entities imperceptible to others. They draw on ancestors or local gods for power, rather than the deities of major pantheons. Examples of such characters from literature include Robert E. Howard's Pictish wizard Zogar Sag, Leiber's Snow Women or Ursula Le Guin's village occultists. In traditional Western European-style campaigns, they may come from less technologically advanced tribal cultures. The witch is meant to cleave to OSRIC's source literature which contains few clerical archetypes. In campaigns that lack clerics, witches can, to some extent, be substituted. Alternatively, witches can work alongside clerics, since the two classes' abilities do not necessarily overlap. Humans, half-elves and half-orcs may be witches. Half-elves and half-orcs are limited to level 6 at the highest. A witch may be of any alignment.
The witch's prime requisites are Wisdom and Charisma, and they receive a 10% experience bonus if both exceed 15. Witches never receive Wisdom-dependent bonus spells. The witch may use magic items usable by clerics.

The Witch Character
Minimum Scores: Str 6, Dex 6, Con 9, Int 6, Wis 9, Cha 10
Hit Die Type: d6 (max 10)
Alignment: Any
Experience bonus: Both Wisdom and
Charisma 15+
Armour/Shield Permitted: Leather or padded armour only, with or without a shield
Weapons Permitted: Club, dagger, hand axe, sling, spear, staff.
Weapon Proficiencies: 2 + 1 every 3 levels
Penalty to hit for non-proficiency: -4
Weapon specialisation: N/A

Second sight is the witch's innate power to see invisible things and detect magical auras. The witch spends one turn concentrating and has the percentage chance listed to see invisible or detect magic.
Contact spirit is the witch's chance to speak with the local spirits, if any. Although certain spirits can be helpful, as a general rule spirits are often mischievous and much of what they have to say is likely to be disinformation.

Relevant Witch Class' First Level Spells:

Allure (Reversible)(Occult illusion/phantasm)
Level: Witch 1 Components: V,S,M
Range: Self Casting time: 1 round
Duration: 1 hour Saving throw: Neg.
Area of effect: Caster
Allure enhances the caster's persuasiveness
with regard to the target creature. Used on
an NPC, the target will be 50% more likely to
respond positively to the player character's
attempt at persuasion, intimidation, bribery
or other social manipulation.
For example, the caster attempts to bribe a
guard. The GM adjudicates that the bribery
attempt would normally have a 50%
chance of working, so the Allure spell makes
the chance (50%x50%=)25% more likely to
work, for a final chance of 75%.
This spell makes no difference to an attempt
at manipulation which normally has no
chance of success.
The spell's reverse, Hideousness, causes the
caster to take on a horrifying aspect.
Creatures in combat with the caster suffer a
penalty of 25% on morale check rolls.

Call familiar (Occult conjuration/summoning)
Level: Witch 1 Components: V,S,M
Range: Special Casting time: 2d12 hrs
Duration: Special Saving throw: Special
Area of effect: 1 creature
Except as may be noted above, this spell
resembles the 1st level arcane spell Find
Familiar. The creature that appears is
determined on the following table:-
d20 Familiar AC Mv HD hp #at Dam Special
1 Badger, normal 4 60 ft 1+2 1d8+2 3 1d2/1d2/1d3 Swim (30 ft)
2 Bat, giant 8 10 ft ½ 1d4 1 1d2 Flight (240 ft), sonar
3 Bat, normal 8 10 ft ¼ 1d2 1 1 Flight (240 ft), sonar
4 Cat 6 60 ft ¼ 1d2 1 1d2-1 Rear claws
5 Centipede, huge 9 150 ft ¼ 1d2 1 Nil Poison (save at +4)
6 Dog 7 120 ft 1 1d8 1 1d4 -
7 Fox 7 120 ft ¼ 1d2 1 1d2 -
8 Frog/toad/newt 6 30 ft 1hp 1 - - Swim
9 Goat 7 90 ft ½ 1d4 1 1d2 -
10 Owl 6 10 ft ¼ 1d2 1 1 Silent flight (150 ft), nightvision
11 Rat, giant 7 120 ft ½ 1d4 1 1d3 Disease (5%)
12 Rat, huge 8 120 ft 1hp 1 1 1 Disease (5%)
13 Raven 7 10 ft ¼ 1d2 1 1 Flight (360 ft), speech
14 Skeleton, animal 8 60 ft 1-1 1d8-1 1 1d4 Resist sharp weapons
15 Spider, large 6 60 ft 1+1 1d8+1 1 1d4 Poison (save at +2), webs
16 Stirge 8 30 ft 4 1d8+1 1 1d3 Blood drain
17 Talking skull 9 Nil ¼ 1d2 1 1 Speech
18 Weasel, huge 7 150 ft 1+1 1d8+1 1 1d8 Blood drain
19 (Player's choice)
20 (Player's choice)

Grimalkin (Occult conjuration/summoning)
Level: Witch 1 Components: V,S
Range: 20 ft Casting time: 5 seg
Duration: 2d8 rounds Saving throw: None
Area of effect: 1 summoned creature
With a chant and a gesture, the witch
conjures a Grimalkin—an evil spirit bound
into the form of a long-bodied cat-like
creature, about the size of a lynx. The
Grimalkin will fight as the witch commands.
If there is no enemy to fight, it will perform no
other service, and will demand that the
witch feeds it some of her blood (costing her
1d3 hp). The Grimalkin fights as a Huge
Weasel: AC7, MV 150ft, HD 1+1, #AT1, dam
1d8 + blood drain. When the spell's duration
expires or the Grimalkin is killed, it fades
back into the spirit world, leaving no corpse.

Mystic delving (Occult divination)
Level: Witch 1 Components: V,S
Range: Touch Casting time: 1 round
Duration: Instant Saving throw: None
Area of effect: 1 object
Mystic delving enables the witch to understand
the properties and purpose of an item
that is held or touched. There is a 10%
chance per caster level that any command
word will be revealed and, if the item has a
significant or relevant history, the witch will
see a vision that sheds some light on it e.g.
touching a murder weapon might give a
brief glimpse of blood.

Regenerate (Reversible) (Occult necromancy)
Level: Witch 1 Components: V,S
Range: Touch Casting time: 1 round
Duration: See below Saving throw: None
Area of effect: 1 creature
Regenerate heals injury on the target
creature at the rate of 1hp per round. It lasts
for at least 1d6 rounds with a minimum of 1
round per caster level. Thus, a 7th level
witch need not roll, since her spell will always
last for 7 rounds.
The reverse of the spell, Affliction, causes the
target creature to lose 1hp per round. The
target creature must be touched (requiring
a "to hit" roll), and receives a saving throw.

Spirit servant (Occult conjuration/
summoning)
Level: Witch 1 Components: V,S,M
Range: 10 ft Casting time: 1 round
Duration: 12 rounds Saving throw: None
Area of effect: 1 summoning
Except as noted above, this spell is exactly
as the arcane spell Unseen servant, save
that the Spirit servant is particularly adept at
household chores and can perform tasks
such as fetching wood, drawing water,
laundry or sweeping in half the normal time.
The material component is a saucer of milk.

Touch of suggestion (Occult enchantment/
charm)
Level: Witch 1 Components: V,S,M
Range: Touch Casting time: 1 seg
Duration: 1d6 rounds Saving throw: Neg.
Area of effect: 1 creature
The caster utters the spell and touches the
targeted human, demi-human or humanoid,
who then receives a saving throw vs.
spells. Success means the spell has no
effect, but failure means the target will obey
a brief, reasonable-sounding suggestion for
1d6 rounds. Long suggestions, or those that
sound unreasonable to the target, will have
no effect.
The spell can overcome many suspicions,
but will fail in the face of certainties. For
example, if John the guard has received
orders to investigate the mysterious
disappearance of the Esoteric Jewel of
Kwal, and the witch suggests that he looks
for footprints outside the ground floor
window, then the spell might work on him;
but if he has been ordered to arrest the
witch for theft, then he will not obey her. This
spell will never work in a melee or pursuit
situation.
If instead of touching the target, the witch
kisses him or her on the lips, then the saving
throw is at -4.

Weird whetstone (Occult conjuration/
summoning)
Level: Witch 1 Components: V,S,M
Range: Touch Casting time: 1 round
Duration: 1 turn Saving throw: None
Area of effect: 1 whetstone
By means of this spell the caster conjures a
magical whetstone that will cause any
non-magical, edged or pointed weapon
sharpened by it to become a +1 magical
weapon for the next three turns (30 melee
rounds). It takes one round to sharpen one
axe, sword or polearm, two spears or
javelins, or three arrows or quarrels. The
whetstone vanishes after one turn (10
rounds).

Witch-candle (Occult conjuration/ summoning)
Level: Witch 1 Components: V,S,M
Range: Touch Casting time: 1 turn
Duration: 4 hours Saving throw: None
Area of effect: 1 candle
This spell is used to speed the recovery of
the party's hit points while resting. The witch conjures a magical candle that is lit upon
arrival and will burn for up to 4 hours unless it
goes out for any reason, whence it vanishes
and the spell expires. While the candle is
burning, every living creature within 30 ft of it
regains 1hp per complete turn that elapses,
so long as that creature is resting (not
memorising spells, not standing watch, but
actually resting). No matter how many such
candles are within 30 ft, only 1hp per
complete turn can be regained with this
spell.