Witch

The witches of the Heartsbane Coven are humans from Drustvar who have been empowered by the Drust. They are led by the matrons. The death magic they wield has contorted their bodies. When a witch grows powerful enough, they slit their own throats to ascend.

Background
Witchcraft has long been in the superstitions of the people of Drustvar, but it is only recently that some of those superstitions have become reality. In Drustvar folklore, there are several beliefs about witches. The townsfolk have several ways to identify a woman as a witch. Some believe that a witch's stomach is full of dark spirits and that they thus can never get sick and puke. Others believe that witches are immune to fire, that they never cry, or that bloodflies don't bite witches because their blood is vile. Some say that a witch always floats, they never sink in water, even when tied to heavy objects.

The wave of witchcraft that recently fell over Drustvar was begun by Lady Meredith Waycrest, wife of Lord Arthur Waycrest. When she called out to any power that could save her ill and dying husband, the ancient Drust king Gorak Tul answered, and promised that death would never part the couple, for a price. Having both been turned into undead beings, Lady Waycrest formed the Heartsbane Coven of witches and became their "Mother".

Lucille Waycrest and emissaries of the Alliance re-founded the Order of Embers to combat the threat of the coven. Through their efforts, they discovered in an ancient Order of Embers tome that witches were vulnerable to silver and alchemical fire. After a long campaign, both Lord and Lady Waycrest were killed by the Order of Embers' Inquisitors.

Powers and abilities
Witches possess a wide range of abilities that make them dangerous, such as the ability to disguise themselves as normal humans. They can also control or corrupt living beings, both local wild life and even humans. They can also corrupt harvest resources such as grain. Those enslaved by their magic are recognizable by the blue-ish glow from their eyes. While it can be possible to release them, usually by breaking the fetish that keeps them under their spell, sometimes they can be too far gone, in which case the only solution is death.

Witches can use the spirits of the deceased to power wicker creatures, or create effigies that can turn humans into pigs or freeze subjects into place. Witches are also able to summon spiders en masse.

Notes and trivia

 * Eitrigg is afraid of witches.
 * Witches use cursed arakkoa animations.

Speculation

 * Given the original settlement of Kul Tiras was by Gilneans, there may be some connection between harvest-witches and these Drust affiliated witches.