Thomelisa Witch Magic

I spent some time today hammering out how the witch magic works in this world- here's what I came up with (again, using this for NaNo, so zero editing- woo!):

Witches need life-force to power their spells, either their own, or that of others.  The spells don’t necessarily kill the source of power, but the more energy you take, the stronger the spell, so the most powerful witches are the ones with no compunction about killing.  The larger the animal, the more life-force, so a hare charges more than a mouse, and a human charges a hell of a lot more than a hare.  For this reason witches aren’t particularly interested in using babies or children for their magic: they can get the same amount of power with a lot less hassle, from a sheep or goat.  They can also take life force from plants, but trees have their own magic, and trying to take from them without permission rarely ends well for the witch in question.

Spells must be prepared (and charged) ahead of time.  There must be a vessel for the spell, be it something as simple as a piece of paper, or something as complex as a cuckoo clock.  The shape of the vessel interacts with the intention of the spell, so it makes more sense to try to align the two.  You can put a cutting spell in a rock and it will work (if you’re powerful enough), but it will work a hell of a lot better if you put it in a knife.

You can use a living thing to hold a spell, as well, but it’s tricky and runs the chance of being accidently activated by the vessel itself.

Spells can be transferred from one vessel to another- if you have the proper spell to do so.  Vessels can theoretically hold more than one spell, but it takes a powerful, careful witch to make that work.  Most don’t bother, because errors tend to be fatal.  Witches with exceptional control can spell different parts of the same vessel- for example, each corner of a dice might hold a different spell.  That’s some seriously advanced stuff, tho’.

Generally speaking, spells are one-and-done, so once you use the vessel, they’re drained and are left a nearly-ordinary object.  I say nearly-ordinary because they remember that they were spelled, and it is easier to spell them again in the future- especially if you use the same spell.  For this reason witches are reluctant to leave their vessels behind- but they will if forced.  Some witches make it a habit to hunt down and collect the forgotten remnants of other witches, a hobby that is made easier by the fact that once-spelled artifacts have a particular ghost-glow to those actively seeking them, almost as though they want to be found and put back to work once more.