No one would deny the honor of being the Queen of the Dead’s chosen… Except for Morrida, the Blue Witch. She is known for enjoying the company of the dead more than of the living, and some even say she has Lord Vorendal wrapped around her finger… However, the undeniable truth, and what truly matters, is that her relic grants her a power over the undead that no other being in Seleija has.
As the third daughter of house Kerak, Morrida was always seen as a burden. She wouldn’t inherit anything from her family estate and brought no prospects for her house to get higher in Abysola’s ranks. As if this wasn’t disappointing enough, unlike the rest of her family, she didn’t have an affinity for the Anush-Vah, the necromantic arts, as expected from someone in her position.
Her father, Etros, bought her a position as an acolyte in the Epitaph, the great library for the knowledge of the dead. While Morrida was there, her family spared no expense in arranging her marriage, in hopes of advancing house Kerak. She despised being treated like a tool, but what else could she do? It was what she was born for, after all.
While Morrida’s family was endlessly trying to find her a suitable groom, a well-known figure in Abysola approached her, lord Vorendal himself. Seduced by the sudden and unexpected attention, Morrida fell to his charms and empty promises. Vorendal encouraged her to explore her magic more, which seemed a kind gesture at the time. While this new relationship between Morrida and Vorendal blossomed, he told her about his mission of uncovering the secret to immortality. Even if he carried the gift, he lacked the knowledge of how to bestow it on others. According to him, one of the dead in the Epitaph, Akriphista, had access to this knowledge, and only the acolytes could communicate with her.
Willing to prove her worth, Morrida searched for Akriphista in the depths of the Epitaph, finding a resentful soul, but the ancient elf seemed to recognize something in the young and eager apprentice. Unlike all those who came before, Akriphista shared with the young acolyte secrets of the old magic, and she indeed knew exactly the information Vorendal was searching for. The truth is that immortality requires more than just the Anush-Vah, it requires mastery of other disciplines of magic, some lost since the Fall. One of these is Liastrum magic, by which one can bind reality to a shape it should not have. Akriphista could feel in Morrida the potential for it and taught her her first spells of that tradition. The girl took to it much more naturally than anything she had tried before, and the once powerful elf recognized in the human girl something of herself. It took months for Morrida to gain Akriphista’s trust and unravel her secrets, including the knowledge of the existence of a relic capable of mixing Anush-Vah and Liastrum magics, currently kept by the Conclave at Quinvala. During their time together, Akriphista may have shared her secrets but so did Morrida, revealing the true reason for her inquiries.
What Morrida didn’t expect was that, as soon as she mentioned Vorendal’s name, Akriphista would rampage, revealing how the lord had used many women throughout the centuries to reach his own goals and gotten rid of them when they were no longer useful. She knew it, for she had been the first. She had known Vorendal by another name when he still drew breath and had known the pain of his betrayal. Morrida tried to convince herself that those statements weren’t true, but… The dead could withhold but not lie, she knew that well, and was she willing to risk her safety for him? Now, her trust in Vorendal was tainted with doubt and fear by Akriphista’s words. When they finally met again and Morrida refused to share her newly acquired knowledge, Vorendal showed his true colors.
A strike on her cheek left a scar on her face and also on her heart.
She knew enough magic to heal the wound, however, Morrida made sure to leave herself a scar, a reminder to never bow her head to anyone again, nor to allow people to use her like a tool anymore. Not her family, nor Vorendal, or anyone who claimed to care about her. To be truly free as she desired for so long, Morrida had to escape Belyos and Vorendal’s claws.
With the help of Akriphista, Morrida hatched a plan that would bring vengeance to the elf and liberation for herself. On the day she was to be presented by her parents as a bride to Vorendal, Morrida would climb the steps of the great temple towards her “beloved” and put that plan into motion. People in Abysola weren’t used to Liastrum magic, which made it easier for Morrida to fake her own death. In a matter of moments, right in front of Vorendal, she raised a pillar of flames around herself. What looked like a suicide was actually a smokescreen for Morrida to teleport away from there. In her place, she left Akriphista’s body behind, freeing the poor woman from eternal servitude and creating a cover for her own disappearance. Seemingly destroying herself rather than be betrothed to Vorendal, she struck a blow to the reputations of both the Dreadheart and her parents.
Determined to achieve all her potential and move away from any possible foes, Morrida began her journey to the Conclave, under the name of Abysh. During her journey, she crossed the Umberlands, a territory formed of dark swamps and marshes, with many preserved dead bodies of ancient wars and spirits wandering freely. While traversing this path, Morrida kept hearing the murmurs of the lost souls, whispers that seemed to call to her…
She would eventually arrive at Gateway and apply to become an apprentice. She would study for years, improving her magic and searching for the tool she needed, but only after she had been accepted as a master, did she finally find the relic Akriphista had told her about, the Soul-Stitcher. The relic was long and thin, made out of bone, and many thought it to be a wand, but Morrida knew it to be something else. Kept in Quinvala for a long time, this relic was dormant, and no one had been able to wield it, for none of them knew its secrets. Morrida knew the relic was in fact a bone needle, and with the threads of Liastrum, she could give reality a new shape. Her powers unlocked the relic, and it melded with her, fusing her Liastrum abilities with her necromancy knowledge. This achievement earned Morrida the title of Blue Witch.
She had a whole new world of possibilities in front of her, and, with that prospect, Morrida decided to leave the Abysh name behind and return to Belyos. On her way back, she crossed the Umberlands again, but now the murmurs of the dead made more sense to her. The pleas for help coming from many spirits drew her attention and, in between their wailing, Morrida figured out what they desired. After so long in an incorporeal form, they only wished for a way to walk through Selejia as more than just ghosts. Morrida followed those beings towards the ruins of Drav, an ancient fortress, forgotten and left behind by the necromancers of the capital since none of them were capable of controlling or even understanding the spirits of the Umberlands as Morrida could now.
The spirits were tired of being ignored by Abysola’s Court and by the Queen of the Dead. Morrida empathized with their sorrows and saw the court’s neglect as wasteful if nothing else. According to Anush-Vah, one’s purpose didn’t end with their death, that’s why the dead were kept within the Epitaph, to begin with. How could so much knowledge and potential be ignored by Abysola?
The Blue Witch took this moment to prove why the Soul-Stitcher had chosen her. Wielding her magic, Morrida was able to grant physical forms to many of the greater spirits in Drav. It was impossible to give them their original bodies back, but the Soul-Stitcher allowed Morrida to insert the spirits inside a hollow body, and the Umberlands were filled with those. She didn’t have enough power to raise all of them, but it was already a step beyond what any others had done for those spirits… Even so, this was the least impressive feat she accomplished in the Umberlands. Morrida managed to find and raise one of the Corpse Titans as an undead servant. A creature rumored to be used in ancient conflicts as a weapon of war. This huge being had been dormant for centuries, and Morrida needed to assemble many spirits together to give its corpse the semblance of life… It was a single one of the Titans, and the effort to raise it had almost broken the Blue Witch, but it was still an impressive and terrifying sight and a powerful ally for Morrida. The Corpse Titan was so powerfull in fact that it could travel no further from the Amatrix than the Umberlands, for beyond these borders the reach of the Queen of the Dead and of the Anush-Vah is tenuous at best. The Blue Witch knew she couldn’t stop in the Umberlands, there was still more that could be done for the spirits, more Corpse Titans she could find… Her next step was clear now, she had to bring her knowledge to the Court of the Dead.
The tales about the Blue Witch who could convene with spirits spread throughout Belyos, which caused fear and admiration within even the higher ranks of Abysola. But one lord saw that as a second chance. Vorendal soon realized he had been played by Morrida and wasn’t willing to let her escape again. Contacting Etros, he arranged to marry her and present their union for all of Abysola to witness. She had all the powers he desired and what Akriphista denied him, it was a one-in-a-lifetime chance. As soon as Morrida arrived at the capital, she was presented with this farce. Yet another move to turn her into a tool again, but the Blue Witch wasn’t the same young woman she had once been, dazzled by false promises, and her powers were her own to wield now. Morrida decided to play along until she was among the court.
It wasn’t a surprise when the Queen of the Dead offered Morrida a place as her right hand, but not a single soul, dead or alive, expected the Blue Witch to refuse such an honor. No one really understood why Morrida turned her back on this unique opportunity. Everyone knew the Queen of the Dead hadn’t much time left, if Morrida accepted her offer, she would surely assume the throne as soon as the queen died. No one would question her rise to power, who would dare to defy the Blue Witch who had a Corpse Titan in her service? Anyone in her place would kill for that chance, and many had in fact done that before. However, as she insisted many times in her life until now, Morrida had no interest in acting as it was expected of her. She was the Blue Witch, one of the most powerful Seekers in Selejia, and no one was going to force her into any role she wasn’t willing to fulfill. Let the politicians play their foolish games, she was interested in making some real change.
The Queen of the Dead insisted on giving Morrida a role in the court, and she demanded what no one had ever desired: to become Countess of the Umberlands. Why would anyone consider ruling a desolate province only populated by spirits? For the Blue Witch, it was exactly what she desired, and so she officially became the ruler of those lands. With this, she freed herself from both her family and Vorendal’s intent.
However, Morrida still isn’t satisfied with her current knowledge. Is it possible to create bodies from zero, or even regenerate the original ones? How far can this magical craft go if all the power from the Soul-Stitcher were to be unlocked? So much was lost after the Fall… The Blue Witch is willing to uncover these mysteries, and, for that, she needs to reach the source: the Malediction.
With her army of undead and Liastrum magic, Morrida became a Seeker and now ventures forth to the Malediction in search of knowledge and power. Her quick rise in the court, her dismissal of the Queen, and the very power she wields have vexed many of the other nobles, the Dreadheart chief among them, so she knows her position is only as secure as she can make it. It won’t take long until someone tries to copy her achievements, and the Blue Witch needs not only to protect her legacy but also to reach beyond, into the heart of chaos, and gather even more ancient and powerful spirits for her cause. Only the relics lost within the storm of chaos can grant Morrida what she desires, and she won’t spare efforts to give the spirits what they need, nor to protect everything she has conquered until now.
