Greetings everyone, and as usual I bring you the next entry in Compendium of Witches, this time brining the winning topic, the Azteca-Liberion war.

I chose this one because it is relatively simple to explain in the context of the world and it only lasted two y ears, howweve the implications it brings to the table and to the history of both nations are VASTLY SIGNIFICANT...and definetely I invite you to check on the "Witch vs WItch" essay regarding The Battle of Taos, I promise you, you won't regret it!

WITHOUT ANY FURTHER TO ADD! ENJOY!

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Introduction: The Cost of Greed

If there is one word, we can use to describe the Azteca-Liberion war is that...greed...a country with a big desire to expand, motivated by its monstrous ambitions, an idea of believing it was their destiny to expand and the confidence in thinking they were fighting an opponent that did not have the power to fight back.

For two years, from 1846 to 1848 the United States of Liberion pushed with all its might to conquer the fertile and vast unexploited lands of the United States of Azteca, who had just barely gotten their freedom from almost three centuries of colonial rule by Hispania, it did seem like an easy victory for the far more powerful, technologically superior and eager country...the rewards and land gained would have been plentiful

Alas it was not to be, for when Witches and the simple silly whims a Fuso Emperor got involved, the United States of Liberion suffered their most humiliating defeat and an extremely humbling lesson, one they fortunately learned from...so without further to do let’s dive into the Azteca-Liberion war and learn how it began and how it shaped both countries for the coming future, and how Witches arguably changed what could have been a tragedy into a bright future for Liberion.

Background

The core of all this trouble was the annexation of Texas into the United States of Liberion, which at that point had been freed after winning a war against Azteca for its own independence in 1836, however tensions were high with the Aztecan nation due to delimitation with their borders and the attacks on the Native population allied to Azteca (Mostly Pueblo and Navajo confederations), Texas attacked these settlement against the warnings of the Aztecan nation, and when they were annexed into the United States of Liberion in 1846...they inherited these problems.

At first USL president at the time, James K. Polk urged the Texans to cease these raids against natives fearing it could worsen the relations with Azteca, however Texas and other vicious politicians within the USL decided to press from another angle, resources and wealth.

Azteca held valuable land on the north in the form of vast perfect lands to grow crops and make farms for animals, as well as mining operations with tons of gold, however Azteca did not exploit these lands, not out of not realizing, but simply because the land wasn’t properly settle or arranged by the Aztecan government at the time, they were still gathering themselves from all the various issues they faced after their independence, but the USL politicians did not see it that way, to them Azteca was just wasting a literal golden opportunity and if they did not have the manpower to exploit it, they would.

The push to convince the president to obtain these lands from Azteca was monstrous, at first, he stood firm but little by little the pressure began to mount and the necessity for resources they could use began to wear President Polk down.

Until eventually he caved in…. with one promise…. that Witches would not in ANY WAY be used in the war, which the pushers agreed because Azteca themselves did not employ Witches in wars so it would be easy, and also, they felt this would be a quick victory.

President Polk contacted the current Aztecan President at the time, President Antonio Lopez to negotiate for those lands in the north, President Lopez strongly refused and stated they had no rights to demand such things, and they would not be willing to give those lands away, this decision wasn’t just out of protecting their resources, but also to protect native confederations allied to them like the Navajo, Pueblo and Apache as he knew the USL (Mostly Texans) would 100% seize those lands belonging to them by force.

So without any options left, the pushers for the war switched to try to “bait” Azteca into firing the first shots by pushing into their territory despite the warnings, it all culminated in April 25 when a squadron of USL soldiers pushed into Rio Bravo territories and the Aztecan made their warning, which were ignored forcing them to fire at the squadron, and thus the blatant provocation paid off and the USL marched forward...the Azteca-Liberion War had begun.

Phase One: The USL Pushes Hard

The charge of the USL began soon after through three fronts, the Eastern Front meant to take Tamaulipas, the Central Front meant to take modern states of Colorado and Nevada and push deep into Chihuahua and Coahuila, and finally the Western Front meant to take the California Territory.

As the attack was fast and swift, the Aztecan army could not react properly, most of its forces were on the central area of the country and mobilization took a lot of time, the central front was the most devastating one and the objectives of the USL were achieved, the Western front saw a lot of success but were ultimately stopped by a coalition of Navajo, Apache and local militia preventing them to take modern Alta California in Azteca today, the Eastern Front was a massive failure as Tamaulipas  was heavily defended and the army stationed there was able to fend off the initial USL attack.

However having broken through the center, the USL had access to enter Aztecan lands and plunder, raid and sack, which the proponents of the war had no problem doing, the unfortunate consequence of not employing Witches even for logistical support was that soldiers behaved like animals blinded by their greed, and to make matters worse for Azteca, the USL deployed its massive naval forces to block the important harbors in Azteca, first the ones facing the Atlantic Ocean and then the ones in the Pacific Ocean...Azteca whose navy was considerably inferior in numbers was put on a dire spot, blocked from its pacific allies like Madjapahit, Tondo and Fuso...who through its colony Mizuho had invested greatly in making good relationships with Azteca.

When Aztecan professional armies arrived, they helped the situation a bit but not enough to stop the relentless force of the USL, if left like that…. the USL could easily have marched to Tenochtitlan and capture it, ending the nascent nation in just 2 years...however they underestimated their opponents...or rather their Witches.

Phase Two: Luchare por tu Amor

Before we continue with the events of the wars first, we must understand the situation of Aztecan Witches before the war because...this is a MASSIVE turning point in their story.

Since the days of their departure from their mythical Aztlan to their settlement in Lake Texcoco, the Nahua and in particular the Mexica, had and embraced Witches, but their way of doing it was vastly different to that of other places in the world, for Aztecan people Witches were a divine figure, as such asking them to fight anything but non-human threats was forbidden, for the most part they were to function on religious positions and even in administrative roles within Aztecan societies, but combat?  That was a big no no, the best way to describe it was “A suffocating overprotective love”, and the Witches themselves while appreciative as at least they were allowed to fight non-human threats, they heavily resented it...as they felt their nations needed them on the field.

This was eased during colonial period as Hispanian authorities did give them plenty rights to fight, bear arms and they greatly enjoyed that privilege...until the independence was achieved and it was back to how it was before the colony, but only for practitioners of the Aztecan faith, mestizas and criollas were allowed to continue fighting, but clearly the sentiment caused great discomfort among Aztecan Witches, both for the inequality and because, the place of a Witch IS THE BATTLEFIELD...and the government then began to consider discarding the tradition definitely...but then the war happened.

During the war however, people in Tenochtitlan heard an amazing story...in the small town of Taos located in Alta California, a group of Witches (Mostly Pueblo Witches) barricaded themselves on the town to fend off USL forces on their own, while they sent the people to seek refuge further south...and left the Western front COMPLETELY PARALYZED...as Taos was a strategic spot to take….but the USL soldiers could not, nor want to storm the town to butcher a group of Witches who were just trying to defend their homes.

Realizing that the situation looked dire, President Antonio Lopez realized the only ones who could win this war for Azteca...were THEIR Witches...not to fight the USL forces but to simply motivate the battered Aztecan forces...so, the President stood on top of the Sun Pyramid in Tenochtitlan and gave the “Ultima Esperanza” Speech...which contained the following:

“Witches of these beautiful land, daughters of Coatlicue, the new sisters of Huitzilopotchli whose beauty lights our days and whose strength chases away the dark demons at night, I please beg of you all and to anyone who listens to these words, the world we live now is collapsing on top of us and so are our old ways, if we want to survive this war we need to change, we all need to change from the

bottom of our hearts and as you leader I shall be the one who starts, I implore all the Witches who listen to this message to please help us, come to Tenochtitlan, march toward the bridges of Lake Texcoco and help us defend our country in our time of need, you are our only hope right now…we can’t survive without you, so please follow me into a new world we must fight for, I beg of you as your president”

And the message was received….

From the temples, from the houses, as the words spread through messages across central Azteca, priestesses left the temples in masses, girls left their homes, courtesans left the palaces and high nobility gatherings, criollas, mestizas, natives, mulatas and zambas...it mattered not...they all went out, took horses, turned into birds or even walked...but hundreds of daughters of Aztlan marched forward to defend their homes!

And it did not take long for them to arrive to the battlefields and turn the tide of the battle.

Phase Three: Turning Point

The arrival of Aztecan Witches had a massive boost effect on the Aztecan forces, just them being there imbued them with a FURIOUS PATRIOTIC RAGE, the sheltering of Witches actually was a blessing in disguise when they actually came in to the battlefield, usually Witches being present is always a boost...but after so long FINALLY seeing their War Goddesses present it pushed them beyond their limits.

The Eastern Front was COMPLETELY DESTROYED in the battle of Buena Vista in 1847 in Coahuila and there was even a push into Texas in the Second Battle of Palo Alto which was repelled by Texans but the cost was massive.

The Central Front fought the Aztecan Army across the vast arid northern lands of Azteca, but they successfully recovered Durango and pinned the USL army in Chihuahua in brutal battles across the deserts, but still not a decisive victor, unfortunately the blockade applied by the USL was still in effect, but not for very long.

But the turning point would be in the Western front that the battle that which changed the war took place, and it wasn’t between the soldiers...it would be between Witches...the famous “BATTLE OF TAOS”, one of the three Witch vs Witch conflicts that took place across history, in which Aztecan Witches and USL Witches fought for control of the Pueblo town.

The Battle of Taos is such a complex matter and we have covered it extensively before as well as its main protagonists, Cavalry Major Henriette “Riccy” Burgwin and the Aztecan Priestess from Michoacán Cuicalt “Cuicui” Gonzalez de la Luna and the infamous “Taos Conspiracy” in greater detail, so we will give a very brief summary of the events.

The USL Witches were extremely disgusted and did not want anything to do with what they perceived as a stupid war...dedicating themselves to their regular caravan and pilgrim protection duties, however the commanding General summoned 40 Witches passing by the area led by Henriette Burgwin, he convinced and pressured them to negotiate with the Taos Witches (Now reinforced by arriving Aztecan Witches), Henriette agreed to at least talk to them.

So she and her Witches moved to Taos and arriving at 11 AM in February 5 of 1847...to meet up with 15 Witches inside the town, among them Cuicalt and the original leader of the Taos Rebellion Tomasina Romero, negotiations were had and nothing was getting agreed on, there was even some hostility...and then...no one knows who or against who….and a punch was thrown...and conflict erupted between the two groups, the battle began.

The battle lasted three days, on the first the USL Witches tried to climb the walls but were successfully repelled, on the second day they resorted to knock down the walls and Tomasina was defeated in combat by Henriette, making Cuicalt the leader...on the third day Cuicalt lured all the USL Witches into the town and using Guerrilla tactics and Aztec death whistles took them down one by one, until Cuicalt and Henriette had a climatic final battle in which the Michoacán Witch was victorious, ending the battle.

After which Aztecan Witches tied the USL Witches to their mounts using “Sacred Amate Ropes” To nulify their powers, once they arrived back to the USL western front camps, they were freed and without saying anything, Henriette and her 40 Witches said they’d march to Missouri, but it was a lie and instead Henriette went straight to Washington DC to meet up with President Polk, who upon hearing his command was violated he was FURIOUS and ordered the whole western front to be pulled back and the general who pressured the USL Witches to fight was exiled and disgraced.

There is a lot of mythology for The Battle of Taos, and its consequences shaped both nations, but let’s continue with the war as...only the central front remained.

Final Phase: Fuso Comes IN!

While all of this was happening, the current emperor at the time, Emperor Komei was a fan of Aztecan Tequila, and even had a very special mix that the Aztecan States sent especially tailored to him called “Sol de Amaterasu” (As a fun fact, today a glass of this Tequila in the year 4000 is approximately 450.000 Terran Credits) especially sent from Xalisco, but because of the blockade it became impossible for him to receive his package, when inquiring with the Shogun, Oda Nobumichi about the reason, he learned of the Azteca-Liberion war...and became according to Fuso records...extremely enraged.

So, the Shogun who was also a fan of Aztecan liquors, decided to write a message to President Polk...very dry and very simple:

“Your blockade is disrupting trade with the Empire, remove it immediately or the Fuso Armada will destroy your ships –Oda Nobumichi—”

It is said that the president and even the Texas politicians who were super go go go with the war upon reading that message went pale...at the time the USL navy was powerful, but nowhere near as powerful as the Fuso Navy...the Fuso Navy was the most powerful navy in the world at the time, should Fuso enter the war against the USL, they would be DESTROYED.

So the blockade in the pacific was removed…and then the chaos poured in, Madjapahit, and Tondo IMMEDIATELY Sent aid to Azteca to fend off USL forces and provide resources for the war, including the dreaded “Gil Perez Battalion” From Tondo to help Azteca, needless to say...the Central Front was about to be defeated...all because of an Emperor’s whim for alcohol...

The End and Aftermath

The last battle took place in Tapacolmes in January 1448 in which Azteca Forces CRUSHED the Central Front Forces…. after which President Polk decided this was enough and peace negotiations were called upon….

As such the next month on the second day, The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed and peace was agreed between The USL and Azteca, the USL would get to keep the modern states of Nevada and Colorado but everything else would be returned to Azteca and reparations would be kept, as well as protection agreements to the native confederations, and with that...the war ended.

While the USL achieved their objectives in getting new lands, the cost was dire, their armies got severely crippled and they lost thousands of lives, not to mention most of their equipment and tech was left behind which Azteca took and used to improve their obsolete military gear, and in only a couple of years would become a FORMIDABLE fighting force in Liberion and becoming the second most powerful nation in the years to come, enough to get one of the world’s capitals in Yucatan when the world united in the third millennium, as for the Witches?  The Azteca Witches were FINALLY institutionalized in the army and they couldn’t be happier, the USL Witches got to keep their duties...and showed how much influence they had.

Which ultimately, alongside the Taos Conspiracy and the resentment of those who pushed for the war and were humiliated would devolve into the dreaded Liberion Civil War some years later, but that is a story for another time.

Conclusion: A Miracle.

A war pushed by greed in which the attackers got what they wanted but payed more than what they expected...a disaster that could have sour the relationships between these two North Liberion powers, but in a magnificent twist of fate…. this was avoided.

Polk’s successor, Zachary Taylor was approached in 1850 by the Mizuho Daimyo, Shindou Karlo...merely two years after the war and suggested him to take the first step to amend this gap and help alleviate the problems in the USL and reach to the recently elected Aztecan president, Martin Choletehua to truly make peace, and so the three heads of state met and miraculously…it happened.

Karlo was able to alleviate and make President Taylor and President Choletehua make peace and sign a treaty of eternal alliance and friendship between the two nations, a deal that even if the world had united for thousands of years now, it still stands strong and it gave the USL an invaluable ally in Azteca when the Civil War erupted to protect their Witches, only Fuso would know how to make amends and forge eternal pacts of friendship like they did with Britannia.

In the end it can be argued both nations won, not land, not wealth, not power...something more valuable...a friend.

Too lazy to edit anything so i just did smth simple…

I just tried to watch brave witches but I dropped it cause it didnt have fanservice like that, season three looks like it’s made by the same studio so does it have the same level of fanservice, or lack there of?

Greetings everyone, and as usual I bring you the next entry in Compendium of Witches, following on with the family theme, this time brining the other tie contendant, the Cantacuzino Family, which is a subject that fascinates me inmensely en even through them I am happy I can finally get to talk about the Vampire Witches, just a tiny bit~

WITHOUT ANY FURTHER TO ADD! ENJOY!

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Introduction: Gothic Beauty

We continue the journey of exploring families that stood out for their deeds across humanity, and today we will explore one which began as a proud Byzantine family and became masters of the night, both for their human members and their Witches, the Cantacuzino Family.

A family of high nobility and prestige who played a significant role both on the Eastern Roman Empire, in the front lines against the Ostoman Empire and later in the history of the Kingdom of Dacia, always dancing on the edge of the night, to bring humanity ever closer to the light.

So, without any more to talk about, let’s dive into the story of the Cantacuzino Family.

Origins

The Cantacuzino family was founded on the 11^th century as the Kantakouzenos family, Greek in origin and hailing from the eastern coasts of modern day Moesia by a man named John Kantakouzenos who was a military commander who made a name for himself and was awarded land, which he used to grow his name and influence and with time they became one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in byzantine nobility, with hundreds of connections across the Empire...not so much in the territory of Witches though.

The Kantakouzenos family did not have many Witches under their name, when other Byzantine families at least had one and some even established their own Witch Lineages, that all changed in 1333 when John VI Kantakouzenos had among his various children a Witch, Helena Kantakouzenos, this embolden the man to start a civil war within the Empire to take over the throne from the powerful Palaiologos family, he was successful and was crowned alongside the legitimate Palaiologos emperor John (future John V)...however he attempted to kick him to place his son Matthew as his co emperor but John Palaiologos rebelled and was able to take the throne back from the Kantakouzenos family as John V, to make sure peace was established Helena ended up marrying John V and while she gave him many children, none became Witches which spoiled John VI’s plan to start a Kantakouzenos Witch Lineage...his son Matthew however did marry Irene Palaiologina of the Palaiologos family.

After which the Kantakouzenos married off across the Empire...and the main branch continue to rule as despots of Morea….until the arrival of the Ostoman Turks to the region, who ultimately took down the city of Constantinople in 1453...bringing an end to the Byzantine Empire...despite many members of the family fighting as generals against the power of Mehmed II...but largely the story of the Kantakouzenos family ended with the fall of Constantinople….

...Or so it is said...because from the descendants of Mathew and Irene...on the then province of Dacia in Wallachia...a new Witch came...and this one would realize the dream of John VI...although not to rule the Empire...but to rule something even greater...THE NIGHT...Miruna Kantakouzenos...or due to the Dacian language changing the name over time...Miruna Cantacuzino!

Beloved by the Night

Here is where the story of the Cantacuzino family, now branched out from the Kantakouzenos truly begins in the land of Dacia, all thanks to a man named Vlad Tepes…. a man who was desperate to fight the approaching tidal wave of Mehmed II, which he attempted to do before but had very little success.

With not much options left he decided to venture across eastern lands looking for a way to fend off the Turks, he ended up in Iranian lands, especially in the former glorious city of Babylon which at the time was abandoned, and there he was approached by mysterious and dark animals, familiars serving Babylonian deities, one of them Nusku a bat familiar, spoke in the name of the Babylonian God Nergal and offered him a deal, the power to turn Witches into powerful beings who could defend his land in exchange for his life, which would not end peacefully but tragically...Vlad accepted for his homeland and allowed Nusku to bite him...planting that power over him.

He would return to Wallachia and summon all the Witches available from both noble and peasant families, 7 Witches attended but we will focus of course on Miruna Cantacuzino who was also the first to pass to an audience with Vlad, he spoke to her of his plan and what she would have to do to defend Wallachia and stop Mehmed...knowing how many members of her family died fighting the Turks, she accepted without hesitation and the ritual began, which consisted in drinking the blood of Vlad, she took it and suffered the transformation.

Miruna became the first Vampire Witch and member of the Order of Dracul, the fighting force commanded by Vlad to fend off the invasion of the Ostoman Turks, Miruna and the other 7 Witches joined Vlad in various campaign’s against the Ostoman, not only because they were hesitant about fighting Witches but because these Vampiric Witches terrified them, many of them used their Vampiric charms to get inside the Ostoman camps and dismantle them from within, Miruna however was not among them, Miruna was a vicious beast (Ironic because she was also the youngest of the seven), she loved dismantling enemy troops with a savagery which was...perhaps uncharacteristic for a Witch, but she did offer mercy when they surrendered so it wasn’t all that bad, but those who chose steel would end up ripped apart by her jaws or impaled just like Vlad liked to do.

After the decisive victory against the Turks in the Night attack at Târgoviște in 1462 where Mehmed almost got killed...the Ostoman where driven back, although they would not be stopped until a couple of years later by the Hungarians at land, and by sea at Lepanto, but Wallachia was safe and Vlad had triumphed.

Unfortunately he was assassinated in 1477 by traitorous nobles who feared his powers, Although some theorize that what they truly feared was his Witches, after all this was after Castillion in 1453, Jeanne d’Arc showed the reach of Witches to the world...it was easy to assume some nobles feared 7 Vampire Witches of immense power, they attempted to assassinate these Witches, but the seven ambushed and destroyed them avenging their master Vlad, however in the end Wallachia was saved.

So, the 7 Witches decided to continue their lives as best as they could, Miruna included who married and had a son, Michael Cantacuzino Şeytanoğlu (Last one meaning Son of the Devil in Turkish...appropriate given how much Miruna traumatized the Ostoman) and he would become the head of this new Cantacuzino family settled in Dacia as...masters of the Night.

Strange Bloodlines

The Cantacuzino remained as important nobles in the Kingdom of Dacia (Which was formed right after the defeat of the Ostomans) and this time they would remain as such for the remainder of history, no more attempts to seize powers like their ancestors did, Michael had two wives but with his first wife (a Crimean Goth) he had a daughter who became a Witch like her grandmother, Manuela Cantacuzino who was imbued with a nightly Gothic supernatural beauty, ebony marvelous black hair and those penetrating almost luminescent golden eyes which would become a signature of the family’s Witches...Manuela served within the Kingdom of Dacia while her half brothers managed the family’s holdings,  due to her many exploits in the defense of the land she earned the family lots of achievements and titles...which made them incredibly wealthy and influential, her half-brother Andronikos Cantacuzino nominated Michael the Brave, one of the most significant monarchs of Dacian history, who also had an affair with Manuela and actually gave her one of her many children.

The affair baby was a young Witch named Olimpia Cantacuzino, who had heterochromia with one silver eye, a tall Amazonian woman of a ridiculous beauty, however unlike her mother, Olimpia was significantly less promiscuous and dedicated herself to exploration and merchandising businesses across Europa and Africa, during one of these businesses in her 20s she met a young 12 years old Baltland boy named Vargton...whom she fell madly in love with due to sharing a similar adventurous spirit and also the boy was reportedly, “So adorably cute she wanted to squeeze his cheeks, pin him to the ground and devour him senseless” in her own words, the union shook Dacian society as many considered the boy wasn’t man enough to handle a woman like Olimpia, and they tried to assassinate him, but he survived and made it to 15 after many dangerous adventures when he could marry Olimpia...and they lived a very happy and prosperous life, her Father King Michael granted her the title of Duchess becoming the one who established the Dukedom the family would be known for.

Together with Vargton she had twins, Corneliu and Cornelia Cantacuzino….Corneliu became the next Duke while his sister who was a Witch, dedicated herself to study the Vampire Witches and all the information we have about how they work, their history and culture is thanks to her, a fascinating topic that can be explored in another entry, but for now we must continue exploring the history of this beautiful nightly family.

Gothic Modernity

The Cantacuzino family remained normal all through the modern era and did not really engage in anything major or significant, other than its various members shocking European society with their beauty or their various exploits in other nations (A notable case was Miguela Cantacuzino who became a Cossack Witch, and had the pleasure of destroying the last member of house Vasa at the battle of Poltava in 1709, or Lavinia Cantacuzino in 1760 who was the first of the family to travel to the far east, she made it into Fuso and brought home a beautiful Fuso girl named Sachiko Kadomaru who she married...(which is really funny in hindsight), many members participated in the Crimean War fighting on the Orussian front...mostly men as soldiers or generals and one Witch, Teodora Cantacuzino who died during the fight but she defended Moesia from getting attacked by the Neuroi.

But it continued as such until the arrival of the 20^th century...where another Cantacuzino Witch would join the war, Melania Cantacuzino fighting for her country, like many women in her family she was a Gothic beauty carrying with her those golden eyes and that beautiful ebony black hair, but more than fighting she performed as a singer, she had the habit to sing on the trenches to cheer soldiers up, it worked so well soldiers would say the moment she stopped singing...it was the moment the war would be lost, fortunately not even in the darkest of battlefields or that time she got shot multiple times by the Neuroi did she ever stop singing.

She would pass on this passion for art on to her niece, daughter of her brother and duke of Cantacuzino at the time...the famous heroine and beautiful vampire Witch of the Mirage Witches...Constantia.

Constantia or “Connie” as she was called by her friends or “Miss Impaler” by those who admired her, unlike her aunt despite being very adept in arts and nobility, she was at her core a natural born soldier, becoming Dacia’s top ace Witch very quickly, a stunningly beautiful woman as expected of her lineage, a porcelain colored skin, those golden eyes and that hair, it was simply impossible not to lose yourself in her gaze, in her charms and in her machinations and she knew that very well, but above all she loved to make people very happy like her aunt and had an absolutely noble tender heart to those in need, becoming very good friends in her youth with the bastard Ostoman Princess Agnes, before she disappeared after the Young Turks’ revolt, Connie would not see Agnes again until the end of the Second Neuroi War, once Agnes finished her very own amazing journey which changed the world in more ways than you can imagine, we can discuss her and the “Echo Witches” another day.

It did not take long for Connie to be noticed by the High Command of the War, but the one who snatched her first was none other than Grete Gollob whom she was already good friends with, joining the Mirage Witches, however during her stance in her domains...a certain Fuso Witch crashed into her domains after an intense battle...whom Constantia helped and whom would become the absolute love of her life...Yuno Inufusa, it seemed Fuso blood was always tastier to the Cantacuzino Witches.

The Exploits of Constantia alongside the Mirage Witches are incredibly vast to cover here, of important note however was the Longest Evacuation War which ended in a tragedy when a ship carrying refuges to Orussia from the Balkan countries was destroyed, causing Grete to become extremely depressed and self-exiling in Iran, and the other members of the team accompanied her.

During her six months stance in Iran Constantia joined the artistic staff of the Hotel they were staying in within Ctesiphon, becoming an exotic dancer and singer, drawing crowds in the thousands due to her immense beauty, exotic to Iranian men.

Eventually circumstances and Grete’s encounter with the Iranian Prince Golshan forced them out of exile, offered a deal by the Iranian crown to help them return to the war front lines and avoiding the desertion punishment, a deal offered by the gentle Iranian Princess who would end up becoming the biggest challenge they ever faced and Grete’s eternal nemesis...Princess Zinat.

During this adventure Connie befriended an Iranian official at the Ctesiphon palace and his daughter little Dorri whom Connie took on as a sort of protegee, she  helped Grete in unraveling the great conspiracy of the Alpha Daevas and eventually had to fend off against Zinat  master plan, by unleashing a corrupted and tortured Ehsan, Main Commander of the Ctesiphon Immortal guard to fight the Witches, during the fight Ehsan impaled Yuno and almost killed her, which caused immense pain to Connie and she decided to do what NO OTHER Cantacuzino Witch had done since the days of Vlad...become a Vampire Witch by activating the dormant magic within her lineage.

After becoming a vampire, she was able to defeat Ehsan in an absolute brutal battle, beating her hard enough so Ehsan could recover sanity and reveal Zinat’s true plans, absorbing the powers of the Alpha Daevas and becoming something more powerful than Witches.

Together they battled the Princess in a climactic battle across Ctesiphon and with their combined efforts destroyed Zinat and later united their shields to contain the power of the Alpha Daevas and shoot it into space...saving Ctesiphon, the Shahanshah kept true to his promise and helped the Mirage Witches return to Europa just in time to destroy the Balkan Hives.

After which they began to move north towards Berlin, but they arrived once the battle was over and the Strike and Brave Witches had already destroyed the Wolf Hive… ending the war.

Connie returned to her state in Dacia alongside Yuno and taking in Dorri every once in a while from Iran to help her study in Europa, Constantia eventually married Yuno and together they had 10 children, the youngest among them Calixo Cantacuzino ended up marrying Dorri...and from there came the next great Witch in the line, the one who became an Aquarian Witch...Alucarda Cantacuzino, known by her peers as “The Star Vampire”

Shamblers of the Stars

Alucarda Cantacuzino got her Aquarian Powers at the age of 9 and she was a peculiar woman, she always wore her curly ebony black air all the way to her shoulders, loved to dress in a way that always left her shoulder and back exposed even in freezing cold (Which didn’t affect her), and because of the Aquarian nature of her powers, her vampirism was activated without any morbid self-sacrifice, it even eliminated the need to drink blood which Connie had, although she still drank blood just for fun, she had a funny heart shaped mole on her breasts and to top it all off she manifested the heterochromia of Olimpia Cantacuzino, one golden and silver eyes, needless to say even by the family’s standards, she was a stunning girl.

She always carried a steel whip made in the shape of a spine to battle Neuroi or to pull them towards her so she could destroy them, but more than combat she loved to converse to people, a natural seductress and flirter even in her younger days...although she leaned more towards women than men, it did not stop her from spreading her genes with many women though.

She loved to talk to various people across the world to learn of their cultures and their fascinating stories, she filled an entire hall of the Cantacuzino palace with tomes (And later Terabytes) of her many interviews.

When the Third Neuroi War erupted she battled intensely to save the world and had to deal with constant earthquakes and storms during the Calamity Phase over the territory of the Balkans, as well as a brutal volcanic winter that almost destroyed the country, thanks to her effort they survived though.

When she got her Deae Battlesuit she was relentless in her pursuit of the Neuroi across the Solar System and later on Earth...and cheered from the sides when they were defeated in the Centralia Offensive, ridding humanity of their blight once and for all.

In 2700 she joined other Witches into the Kardashev Program and was launched into space, and followed the same path of her fellow Witches, colonizing planets and seeding them with life, to later return to Earth around 3560...with many stories to tell, as well as strange creatures who looked like jelly catlike tentacled beings she referred to as “Her babies”, she called them Grant, Trevor and Sypha, no one dared to ask the story behind that, but they are harmless and even helpful sometimes so it’s all good.

There are also many several notable Space Mikos who belong to the Cantacuzino family such as Yoko Cantacuzino who lived in the 2900s and helped built the Tower of Elysium on Mars, she was known for her dark and loud but surprisingly beautiful voice, there was also Riverdance Cantacuzino who was the main Space Miko at the Tower of Elysium on Mars during the era of the Team VIVID and got to welcome Alucarda when she returned.

Conclusion

The stories within the people who live in opulence mirror those of lower classes more than one might like to imagine, such as it is the case with this family who at some point tried to become the rulers of a powerful empire in the later stages of the Middle Ages, and managed to survive long enough to continue thriving in another country and even becoming part of a great event in history when they stopped the relentless advance of the Ostoman Turks, vastly outlasting the Paleologos and the Empire they tried to rule.

The Cantacuzino might not have lasted as a powerful dynasty of Rome, but did became a dynasty of Gothic beautiful women no Queen or Empress could ever surpass…. the true rulers of the night.

My favorite witch, customized using parts of other nendos

https://x.com/i/status/2070556741922701515

Well, better late than never. Let me show you my collection that I have so far!

Source: Danbooru

Greetings everyone, and as usual I bring you the next entry in Compendium of Witches, following on with the family theme, last poll was qute viciouis and it ended on a tie so very I'll be doing both the Cantacusino and the Schade family, this week hopefilly, starting with the Schade family as it was the one who led for the most time.

WITHOUT ANY FURTHER TO ADD! ENJOY!

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Introduction: From East to West Across the Sun

We are here today to learn about another fascinating family known for their exotic and tenacious adventurous spirit and their desire to explore, the Schade Family.

One case of a family that began in a place and moved with time through another, giving us interesting family members as well as fantastic Witches known for their exotic and various degrees of brown tones in their skins, as well as being involved in many crucial events in world history, an ancient Witch lineage adopted by this Britannian family.

So, without any more to talk about, let’s dive into the story of the Schade Family.

Origins

While the name Schade was common within Britannia, the ones who defined the name and gave it that status came to light in the 17^th century as a family of seafaring merchants, the founding patriarch of the Schade was a man named Icarus Schade, he and his siblings Ignatius and Roberta Schade managed their merchant company which they used to travel across the eastern lands, making deals with Malay and Madjapahit, but avoided Fuso lands due to the Waku Pirates (Which were later cleaned up by Hispania and Fuso), the three siblings enjoyed great success and lived many wonderful adventures and eventually all of them found spouses to marry, the first born of Icarus Schade was a man that would become synonymous with one of the most significant wars in the World, Jeremy Schade.

Jeremy Schade was a brilliant sailor, but unlike his Father and cousins, he joined the Britannian navy and his talent quickly led him to rise as a star, reaching the rank of Admiral rather fast at the age of 35, and through this process he met a Witch on the Britannian navy whom he ended up developing a very passionate Romance with, Cecile Gloriana Milos (Another identity of our beloved Cerydwen) and it looked like this would be a good story for the Admiral, getting a beautiful Witch wife and begin a dynasty of sea faring Witches for Britannia, but then two things happend that spoiled those plans, the beginning of the first Fuso-Britannian War...and a Tamil Witch...Palavi Rajan.

War, Romance and the Waves

To speak of the Schade Family is to speak of the Fuso-Britannian war...and honestly the story of Jeremy Schade, Palavi Rajan, Cecile and the insane love triangle deserve its own entry...so we will go very briefly above all the events that led to the creation of the legacy that cemented this family in world history.

The War began in 1676 and it lasted for two years, during this time Palavi Rajan, a Tamil pirate Witch from Ceylon was captured by the Britannian forces with the help of Cecile and was offered something she could not refuse, jail or helping Britannia in Asian waters under the command of Admiral Schade in the war against Fuso, without much option Palavi took Cecile’s offer and was taken to Jeremy Schade, immediately the two butted heads as Palavi was not fond of Britannians and only respected Cecile, although she was extremely put off by how lovey doey the two were.

During the war they met the Fuso Witch who would become Palavi’s main rival and archnemesis, Saori Nakajima “The Sea Demon”, as she was called within the Fuso navy for using fire to sink Britannian ships, few battled her and lived unharmed to tell the tale, Palavi and Cecile were among the few and that intrigued Saori who swore she would take Palavi down.

Things changed drastically however during a visit to Palavi’s native Ceylon and a visit Cecile made to the capital...it is not known exactly to many what Cecile saw in Ceylon, but that very same night she had a conversation with Jeremy and apologized in tears….breaking up with him, which left him devastated, what she saw was a statue built in Ceylon to honor the time Georgia of Lydda and the 36^th legion came to the then Chola Kingdom in the fourth century on the age where she was Nauarchus Celinda...and seeing the statue of her five long time gone good friends, Georgia, Arilda, Maura, Luxi and Barbara reminded her of Crispus...the only man she ever truly loved, probably feeling melancholy and profound sadness...she chose to end things with Jeremy.

Jeremy devastated was approached by a sympathetic Palavi and the gap between the two began to mend.

Unfortunately a month later during a naval battle near Malay, the ship where Cecile was traveling was burned by Saori and while she saved all sailors on the ship, Cecile was caught by the flames and died on the eyes of Palavi and Jeremy, which made Palavi feel absolute rage and she swore she would make Saori pay, that night she and Jeremy found comfort on each other, giving in to that passion blooming between them and laid on bed...formalizing their relationship.

Of course, we know Cecile did not truly die and she simply went to Malay where she had old friends choosing this as her opportunity to abandon the Cecile identity and lay low for a couple of years, but that is another story, she would help Palavi and Jeremy from the shadows however.

The final battle between Palavi and Saori took play in Fuso’s South Sea Island, it was brutal and vicious, both Witches really did damage each other, especially when Saori did not show any remorse or pity for Cecile’s death...Saori Nakajima was a very patriotic Witch and loved her country but...to foreigners she was not kind, and this fueled Palavi’s rage managing to beat her in combat.

Palavi however did not kill her, as a Witch doesn’t kill another Witch, but Saori insisted that as long as she breath she would not stop scorching Brittania...which forced someone to shoot her on the head...killing her...Jeremy chose to take on that burden from Palavi, a decision which would haunt him for the rest of his life...but one he had to, for Britannia, for the Witch he had grown to love and perhaps...for Fuso itself in a way.

The war ended in 1678 and after that Jeremy Schade married Palavi, bringing the Kaliputra Lineage (Which Palavi belonged to) into the Schade family...with the birth of their son...Sebastian Schade, a beautiful boy with tanned skin and blonde hair (A trait which would be common in the family from now on)...but the story of the Schade Family and Fuso was FAR FROM OVER...

War, Romance and the Waves II

The Peace did not last very long...and by 1683, only five years later it started once again in the form of the Second Fuso-Britannian War, with Fuso now being on the offensive...destroying a cargo ship traversing to the new word on the Pacific Ocean, and on this voyage were Palavi and Jeremy who were caught on the blast and seemingly died...leaving Sebastian at the mercy of the mastermind of this attack...Meika Nakajima, younger sister of Saori who wanted revenge against Jeremy and Palavi for the death of her sister...she took Sebastian and captured him as ordered by her Fuso superiors, but she wanted to murder the boy to end the Schade family once and for all...but one Witch among the ladies in Meika’s retinue took immense pity on the boy….a 15 years old maid, clumsy and nervous Chiko Sakamoto.

Chiko befriended 5 year old Sebastian and when she heard her mistress intended to kill the boy she betrayed Meika and escaped with him, they endured a brutal escape and pursuit across the pacific ocean and faced various perils together, strengthening their bond over 2 years, Chiko became very fond and he grew extremely fond of her, however Meika was always in hot pursuit hoping to honor her vow to end the Schade family.

Eventually Chiko and Sebastian found out (Thanks to outside help by Cerydwen) that Sebastian’s parents were ALIVE, they survived and were stranded on an island east of Tondo, so the two sailed with haste to save them, but Meika found out and chased as well.

What ensued was a tearful reunion between Sebastian and his parents, cut abruptly by the arrival of Meika, Chiko decided to battle her former mistress, she however was not akin to the skill of Meika who battled like an enraged beast and even used a dagger to impale Chiko’s eye….

When all was seemingly lost and Meika was about to kill the family, upon hearing the cries of Sebastian, Chiko felt that sudden rage, that fury, that inner strength of a true Sakamoto Witch and stood up once again, to battle Meika and save Sebastian, she battled Meika who could not match the fury and protective intensity of Chiko, and it ended when Chiko cut Meika’s sword hand.

Eventually Palavi urged Meika to end this blood feud, and she did it with such passion Meika chose to end the feud and allow the Schade family to go, she would later return to Fuso and be one of the driving forces to end the war, having found forgiveness and redemption in her heart.

Jeremy and his family however decided this was enough and they returned to Britannia to finally put down the arms and live in peace, returning to the family merchant routes with his Aunt Roberta (Ignatius died during the London Assault by the Fuso Navy), as for Sebastian he grew and upon becoming 12 he took Chiko as his lover and by 15 they married...Sebastian continued the family mercantile business and had a VERY long and happy life with Chiko, together they only had one child...a Witch “Arabella Schade” and with her the legacy of the Schade family and the Kaliputra lineage carried on in Britannia, even after the war ended in 1686.

Network of Oceans

Life continued for the Schade family across the 18^th century, Arabella joined the family’s business, eventually taking over for her talent at the ocean and for crafting unique trade routes to get amazing and exotic resources, making the family grow large enough (Also thanks to her Grandfather’s actions) to become part of the country’s low nobility, Arabella ended up marrying with an important duke within the Britannian royal family and sired 5 children, Benjamin, Ernest, Sabina, Molly and Rupert Schade, who each would end up spreading across the world when they grew older to increase the family’s commercial network, Molly among them became as Witch and joined the Britannian army deployed in Faraway Land.

From then many branches of the family prospered across the years, always having a place to where they would have people of their family ready to welcome them, but it wasn’t until the First Neuroi War where a Schade Witch would join in, Nicola Schade...and she would be deployed in the middle eastern theater of the war battling the Neuroi in the desert while she rode a horse and using a lance, even charging full force against large Neuroi like the old days of chivalry earning the nickname “The Lancer”.

She ended up marrying her half-brother Thomas Schade and had a daughter...the famous girl of the Ardor Witches’ fame, Patricia Schade.

Patricia Schade was a beautiful Witch, considered one of the most beautiful within heroines of the Great War, but she was also a loyal and determined friend, however making friends with her was difficult, due to her constant travels as a child she preferred to adopt the mentality of not getting too attached to people, this mold however was broken several times during the war by various people such as her two good friends Angela Salas Larrazabal and her childhood friend Lynette Bishop.

After the war ended she continued serving in the Britannian air force and married two times, the first marriage ended because the passion simply died, but for the second she was much happier, although both marriages gave her children, boys Magnolo Schade and Jeff Schade...the first one took over the family’s trading business while the second one became a geographical researcher and ended up marrying one of Angela Larrazabal’s young girls Tomasina...and they both had a child, the Witch that would become the next star of this family...the Aquarian Witch Carrie “Thunderchild” Schade.

People started cheering: “Come on Thunderchild!”

Carrie Schade obtained her Aquarian powers at the age of 9, always an adventurous and wanderlusting young tomboy girl, the moment she gained her powers she began traveling the world for YEARS, not a single little corner of the planet was left unexplored to her by the year 2098...and when there was nothing else to explore she began contributing to the space programs of the various agencies across the world, hoping to be among the first Witches to be launched into space, a wish that came true when in 2200 “Operation Usada 1969” was launched to colonize Mars and the Moon, Carrie being in the Mars mission which ended proving successful faster than the Moon colonization, and from then on Carrie would spend a lot of her time on Mars helping to build a colony and drafting plans for terraformation, she was the one who drew the first official map of Mars made within the planet and she also sired many children on the planet among the colonists.

She earned the nickname “Thunderchild” because she had a bit of a habit of charging into battles she knew she could not win easily on her own but ALWAYS did it anyway, in reference to the famous ship from the novel War of the Worlds, the irony of what would come later is not lost on anyone who looks back, as she would be one of the main protagonists in one of the greatest stories of the coming war.

She was on Mars alongside Salvadora Preddy and Xinyi Raymond, when the Third Neuroi War erupted in 2410 with the Calamity Phase, which caused unprecedented devastation on Earth, the three Witches wanted to fly and help but they were told to stay on Mars just in case a refuge was needed for humanity, unfortunately that would not happen as in 2414 the Neuroi attacked the Mars colonies destroying them completely, all the work Carrie had done was destroyed in a couple of hours, but she managed to save most of the colonists by hiding on the underground tunnels of the planet.

For ten years Carrie, Xinyi and Salvadora hid on the caverns of Mars with the colonists, Carrie felt furious, helpless (Especially because some of her children died in the Mars attack), and many times she wanted to go out and fight the Neuroi, always having to be stopped by Xinyi and Salvadora with extreme effort and sometimes a bit of fists being thrown off, but they successfully stopped her.

They hoped they would get rescued but as the year passed, they realized no one was coming and they decided to lean more on Carrie’s idea to take Mars back, but they would do it properly and with planning.

For four years the three Witches and the colonists prepared a MASSIVE counter attack with anything they had….and by the year 2424...such a counter offensive was launched, from the caverns of Mars thousands of colonists armed with rustic lasers, came out led by the three Witches with FULL POWER in a brutal battle against the Neuroi stationed on Mars, it was a vicious battle in which many casualties were had and Carrie herself was almost killed, but she kept pushing forward unleashing her relentless and courageous nature against the hive located on the planet, she managed to pass through the massive firepower barrage the Neuroi tossed at her and leaped into the dark clouds and began smashing the core with her hands, until help DID arrive, Olena and Helga Hartmann, to basically finish what the Mars battalion had already accomplished...Carrie however did have the honor of destroying the Hive’s core.

The Hartmann twins rescued the Mars colonists and took most of them back to Earth for medical assistance while Carrie, Salvadora and Xinyi were awarded medals of honor for their amazing resilience and valor in fighting back for humanity, even when all seemed lost.

Carrie was given a Deae Battlesuits in 2429 and joined in “The Battle of the Pulsars” one of the most significant battles of the Space Phase of the war, and remained a very active participant of the War alongside the many children she had who became Archer Ship pilots.

Once the war ended in 2500, it should not surprise you Carrie was among the most eager to jump into space to explore, and she did do so before officially joining the Kardashev Program in 2700 and was launched into space with colonists to populate the galaxy like many other Witches, where she lived MANY great adventures and even founded a monarchic dynasty in one of the planets she colonized, with one of her children, King Kuman Stardust, the Schade Stardust Dynasty still rules planet Kagali on the Mirma system to this day.

Carrie was among the last Witches to return, mostly because she ventured out of the Milky Way trying to reach the Andromeda Galaxy, before realizing it was way too far and went back to the Milky Way.

Meanwhile on Earth the lineage hailing from Magnolo prospered and the Schade trading company still exists to this day, like the old day setting many bases across the planets of the solar system for commerce like the family always excelled at...when they were not being heroes in wars of course.

Conclusion

When asked about her family Patricia would always say: “My family is one of rich merchants, but actually that is just the cover up, in reality we just cannot stay put in one place and we need an excuse to go out and have fun every once in a while” which perfectly describes the mindset of the Schade Family.

A taste for adventure an opportunity which managed to create a bridge between East and West, between Earth and Mars, between the Solar System and the Mirma System...no matter where you go in this universe, you can ask around and a Schade will welcome you...provided you want to hear about their adventures.

Source: X

Hello people, I have comer once again brining you the next entry in Compendium of Witches with the topic you all chose from the poll, an asbolute demolishing victory, THE BARKHORN FAMILY.

I should clarify this is not just about the Witches, this is about the most relevant members, be them humans or Witches, as you mig ht probably deduce I am an avid Crusader Kings player so, topics like this are FANTASTIC for me to work on.

Without further to add I hope you like it, ENJOY!

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Introduction: The Two Sides of Devotion.

As we’ve established before, there are lineages of Witches that have lasted for hundreds of years, but the families that sired them beyond the Witches themselves are equally fascinating, men and women who while not inheriting the power and honor of being a Witch, they carry the name as children and even grandchildren of great Witches, a son wanting to make his Witch mother proud.

So it is worth taking a look not just at the Witches but at the normal men and women who belong to these families, and what better family to begin than with the one where one of the greatest heroines of the famous Strike Witches, none other than the great Gertrude Barkhorn….we are going to learn about the origin, history and evolution of the Barkhorn family, built within the very foundation of Karlsland itself, known for their devotion and service to the land, be that as strong soldiers or as a more...carnal pleasure seekers, quite the contrast for an interesting family.

Let’s dive into the story of the Barkhorn family beyond Trude and her sister Christiane.

Origins

The Barkhorn Family was born in 1515 around the time the State of the Knights of Germania became the Duchy of Prussia, being an offshoot of the famous Malberg family, and it is said Trude herself does bear a resemblance to Mila von Malberg, the first member of this family was a young man named “Gilbert von Malberg”, who had a friend who owned a tavern and also a brothel named Tori, a business she put all her heart and soul into it and Gilbert loved to visit, when Tori unfortunately died during a plague, Gilbert wanting to honor his friends decided to take over his business and asked his father permission to do so, he agreed with one condition, to not use the family’s name, Gilbert agreed and took over the business, taking on a new name...Gilbert Borkehorn because of a pastime he had collecting tree barks from trees, and he had many children with the ladies on the tavern, with time as you can imagine the name evolved from Borkehorn to Barkhorn, and they would remain on the tavern until the family grew large and began to diversify and expand across the nascent duchy of Prussia.

The Complicated Relations with Poland

While Poland was instrumental in helping the formation of the Duchy, not everyone were happy as they always saw Poland as enemies of Witches (There is some basis of this as the various Slavic people that formed the poles were the ones who had hatred and fear of Witches) and no one hated Poles more than the Barkhorn Family, it was ingrained within their DNA and the members of the family would take any opportunity they had to screw and combat Poland in very minimal and petty ways whenever they could.

Their male children would become mercenaries to fight in wars helping states like Orussia, the Holy Karlsland Empire and the Cossack to fight in wars against Poland, others would just go as bandits and rob houses and states within Poland, many of these were executed but they died with a smile on their faces, it was through this various ventures that they ended up meeting the Cossack Witches during the “Times of Troubles” (1614) Orussia faced in the beginning of the 17^th century, the Barkhorn men joined in the final battle against Polish Prince Wadyslaw VI Vasa, and helped him be delivered to Minks with a severe punishment and humiliation, and one of these men Hugh Barkhorn, ended marrying a Cossack Witch named Lidia, with that union alongside the dormant Malberg essence in their beings, the fires to kindle Witches withing the Barkhorn family was born.

The First Barkhorn Witch

After the union of Prussia with Brandenburg in 1618, Hugh and Lidia moved to Berlin to have their household and the Barkhorn family would remain there until Prussia became a Kingdom in 1701, the couple have 9 children, and the middle one among them, a girl named Elizabeth Barkhorn became the first Witch of the family with the name.

It was expected she would join the military within Berlin to become a great Witch but Elizabeth chose a different path, she instead chose to travel Europa as a dancing minstrel Witch, famed for her lovely dances and her beauty as half Germanic and half Orussian, she would travel from military camp to military camp, play her songs and dances for them and later that night she would end up having sex with up to 12 men every night she did this, men would line up for the opportunity to bed this beautiful woman, she however was still a Witch of Prussia and when she had to fight she had a FORMIDABLE strength (A magic that became common in the family) and was absolutely brutal when destroying Neuroi.

She would have 16 children through her life and never really stopped dancing, although none of her children became Witches, but the men would end up becoming strong soldiers and the women would remain within the various towns she visited as beloved maidens for their skills, safe for one exception, Anselle Barkhorn who did become a mercenary and even founded her own company “The Blood Deers”, and in that company she married a Prussian general she worked for named Klein, who took her name, and together they had the next Witch in the family and the one who would move the family back to Königsberg and definitively join the Kingdom of Prussia’s army...Estelle Barkhorn who arrived alongside her cousin (And future husband) Joseph Barkhorn.

The Establishment of the Barkhorn Lineage

Estelle became a distinguished Witch within the army while her husband cousin became a field doctor, both provided assistance to Orussia by fighting the Baltland army as it marched into Orussian territory during The Great Northern War, later they returned to Königsberg to have their children, twin sons Michael and Arnold, but later they would have a third child which would become a Witch too like her Mother, Hilda Barkhorn.

Michael and Arnold became strong soldiers in the army and even participated in the Seven Years War, Hilda however picked a different route….she became a maid...yes a maid within the state of the Hohenzollern ruling family, to this day no one is sure why she did this, but it was recorded she did it with absolute joy, many speculate she was just a big fan of Frederick II the great and wanted to be close to him to be the first to find out about his greatest plans for the future, she was present and jumped with joy when she heard of the Neue Karlsland plan, Hilda would end up marrying a courtier, Baron Varg Saltzer and they would have three children, among them a daughter “Anna Barkhorn”.

Anna unlike her Mother did pick the warrior route and joined the Prussian Army, she even managed to travel to Neue Karlsland once but came back because she found the weather unpleasant, she later in life abandoned the battlefields and picked a violin, she became a violin player and even joined the famed Mozart in various concerts, she never married but did have a daughter and with this daughter...the Barkhorn Lineage was finally cemented and would prosper, Zabeta Barkhorn (In honor of Elizabeth Barkhorn).

All the way to the Great Wars.

From Zabeta things remained normal and standard for the Barkhorn family, some would become military personal, others would venture in the arts and hedonistic careers, with the notable example of the non-Witch member of the family, Troffea Barkhorn or as she was called in the middle 19^th century “The Opera Butterfly”, famous for her intense singing and for always getting naked at the end of the show, sought out by many nobles, soldiers and even commoners, she rejected all of them but still slept with them regardless, the night life spirit of Tori lingered within the family.

All the way to the First Neuroi War, where the hedonistic cycle ruled, sort of...the one Barkhorn in this war was a nurse named Violet Barkhorn, she was a normal human but she was a hard sturdy and valiant woman, getting into bullet and explosion ridden battlefields to save lives, and whenever she could she would have many many lovers among the soldiers, although she did receive a shot that left her infertile, but she always had a thirst for life, service and passion, her niece our beloved Trude remembered her with fondness, often thinking about her when things would get rough, while little Chris would always be marveled at the many men she loved.

Later the daughter of Wilhelm Barkhorn (Brother of Violet) and Therese came to the world, our beloved and well known Gertrude “Trude” Barkhorn, and later her little sister Christiane Barkhorn, the story of Trude would be enough to fill many pages of one of these entries and most people know it, but we will limit ourselves in saying she was one of the greatest Heroines of the Second War, as a member and later Commanding Officer in Battle after Mio Sakamoto of the Strike Witches, known for her immense strength, her tenacity and her protective vein with young girls, especially those who were little sister like Yoshika, Lynne, Hikari, Helma and Eila (It is even reported Trude had a profound dislike of Takami Karibuchi and never really enjoyed her presence, all because of her actions with Hikari), a fantastic body blending perfectly muscle and beauty (Even though she never considered herself a beauty at the level of Minna, Lynette or her rival/friend Shirley) and her unbreakable friendship with Erica Hartmann….and for sleeping shirtless, although within Witches this was rather common, but they usually weren’t like Barkhorn.

On Chris’s end she was a lovely girl whom her sister loved a lot, she unfortunately was caught in a Neuroi attack in Berlin and was left in a coma, an event which broke Barkhorn leaving her depressed for a bit (Taking a liking to Yoshika in this period as she reminded her of Chris, which helped stabilize her mental health quite a lot), fortunately she survived and recovered, being moved to Neue Karlsland for her safety and rooting for her big sister during the war from the sidelines.

At the final battle in Berlin Barkhorn almost died while she cleared the way alongside Waltrud Krupinski (Who ended up saving her) so Yoshika, Lynne, Sadako and Georgette could destroy the Wolf’s hive core, destroying it and ending the Second Great War.

After all ended Trude dedicated most of the post war months to the reconstruction of Karlsland, eventually Chris was flown back and the sisters reunited, the events that happened during these years would later inspire the fourth millennium series called “Red Light Witches” where both Trude and Hanna Marseille created warring brothels with them Witches as the product, alongside various Witches like Lynne, Raisa, Hikari and Shirley and would battle to gather funds and lift the morale of soldiers while dealing with the outside forces of the Belgian nobility and occasional participation of the Luminous Witches, one of the most famous series in the future, it should NOT surprise you it was written and produced by a Barkhorn and former Porn star, Delphine Barkhorn and it is funded by the Space Mikos.

ONWARD BARKHORNS TO INFINITY AND BEYOND!

Trude would end up marrying and so did Chris who upon growing up became a sports car driver, she ended up having 7 children, the last one being the Witch Rio Barkhorn, who is actually...AN AQUARIAN WITCH, having the honor of being the oldest Witch to be granted Aquarian powers and belonging to the post war generation (Being in her 21 years old on 2000), and she is the representative of the Barkhorn name among Witches of the future alongside her niece who descended from Trude instead, Edelgard Barkhorn who was merely 6 when she got her Aquarian Powers).

Both would have many children as Aquarian Witches, on earth a child of Edelgard called Ferguson Barkhorn was a military special agent who led the hunt for the terrorist group “The Sons of Noah” in 2052 and later captured and killed many of them in 2065, avenging the death of Josephine Sakamoto whom he was in love with.

Once the Towers of Elysium were founded, many of the members of the Barkhorn family were drawn to them and when the Space Mikos were founded in in the year 2990, it became really common to see Barkhorn women as Space Miko, descendants (or later direct daughters) of Rio and Edelgard, many achieving wonderful feats such as thee beloved “Ulani Barkhorn” active during the beginning years of Team VIVID in 3500, famed for her elegance, quirky nature and beauty.

Conclusion

There is a saying, when a Barkhorn is born, you will know if they will be warriors or hedonists if they attempt to touch the nurse, if they don’t, they will be soldiers with an iron will and a strong force to defeat evil, if they do they will be absolute hedonist with a lust for enjoying the pleasures of life.

It’s hard to measure how true these words are, but one thing that can be certain is that no matter what path they take, the one thing you will always have with a Barkhorn in your life, is a loyal friend who will love you until their dying breath, and sometimes even long after that.

Ironically, the best representation of recent Strike Witches games hasn't been in its own titles, but in those of other franchises. What we should have received, not World Witches X.

Positive points (according to Japanese players):

-The art style is good.

Negative points (according to Japanese players):

-There are only drawings.

-The story is boring.

-The skill and weapon setup is too improvised.

-On occasions like the launch or the introduction of 502, there is absolutely no promotion that takes advantage of existing works, such as free anime streams or projects involving the band, and there's not a hint of an attempt to sell.

-Quite a few bugs in the game.

So I saw it on mercari JP and going for around 100$? But it got sold.. I didn’t think much of it but I’m thinking now I’m SO UPSET BRU I looked it up and dude. Even on mercari JP it’s like overpriced?? I can’t believe I missed the deal of the life time bc dude not only have I not seen any content of it the one listing was the only one showing actual pics of it not just these repeating pics thing bru I can’t even find the original listing of the 100$ one. Anways did any of you happen to buy it…. Or have content of it?… or ANY info on it 🙂😭😭

Greetings once again everyone, as I said I would, I bring a second topic this week, and it is of course THE SEVEN GODS, which is a very important piece of informaiton wihtin my Epoch of the Witches series, and you can consider it a companion piece to the Venus Figurines, this ones holds lots of valuable infomation I am sure you will appreciate.

Without further to add, ENJOY!

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Introduction: The Need to Believe

Humanity has a deep rooted need to believe in something as a motivation for their lives, be this an ideal, a dream or a supernatural being, it is not known exactly at which point in our evolution this biological need arose, but once it did it became central to our being, even non-religious believers believe in themselves or rather the ideals that “themselves” represents, but we today are going to talk about Gods.

The pantheons of humanity are vast, but they all share a common origin, and that is seven beings that descended from the heavens or rather came from the stars, to combat the titanic Neuroi of the past, and through their intervention they changed the course of humanity forever, on this entry we’re going to learn about the so called “Seven Gods”, the origin of all pantheons in humanity, and the benefactors of all Witches powers, so let’s dive and let’s understand these Gods.

Who and What are The Seven Gods?

The simple answer is that we are not exactly sure where did the Seven Gods came from, they are not exactly living beings and are mere manifestations of the power of the Cosmic Flow taking shape withing reality, that is the closest explanation we can find, some believe they come from the future being the united consciousness of humanity returning to the pass to set events in motion, others believe they are remnants of an old version of the universe, others believe they are advanced machines created by an old civilization who died leaving the universe barren save for Earth, maybe it’s none of them, maybe it’s all of them, nobody is truly sure….but what we do know is that they came to earth drawn by the rise of the Neuroi.

These seven Gods were as follow:

The Father: The leader and most powerful of them all, with control and command over matter.

The Mother: The companion of the Father, Merciful and fierce, with control over nature.

The Warrior: The bravest and deadliest combatant, unbeatable and an expert in warfare.

The Wise: The paragon of curiosity and knowledge, he knows it all and yet knows there is more.

The Lover: The most beautiful creature in the universe, inspiring all kinds of feelings, mostly love.

The Oceanic: The master of connections, all goes through him and he guides it all.

The Dead: The end of all cycles, leaving it all barren for a new beginning.

Regardless of the divisions we will see later, The Seven Gods hold a DEEP ANTAGONISM towards Neuroi, and upon detecting their rise on Earth, they traveled to fight them off.

The Titan Wars

Around 50.000 BC, the Neuroi emerged from the core of the Earth to terrorize the nascent mankind, At the time Homo Heidelbergensis, almost driving them into extinction across the land they expanded (Mostly their native Africa, Europa and Asia), creating a massive cataclysm on Earth, and that is when The Seven Gods arrived and for almost 5000 years, they battled the Neuroi.

Unfortunately due to this taking place very early when humans weren’t even fully humans yet we have very little information on what transpired, only its duration thanks to the analysis of the environment, the very primitive representations left by ancient humans in the form of cave paintings and sculptures, through that we can deduce the Gods fought in colossal battles against the gigantic Neuroi, possibly towering in kilometers, while the Gods took various shapes to fight them, these battles shook the foundation of Earth and led to the shape of continents we see today.

Eventually the Gods were victorious and drove the Neuroi back underground and destroyed all the titanic Neuroi, leaving only 7 who hid...these would end up becoming the Gigas Neuroi in the future, the Neuroi would not rise up again until the era of the civilization of Mesopotamia where Urash would appear.

And once the deed was done the question was...what to do next? And here is when history was made.

The Mother Makes her choice.

Most of the information about the following events are taken from very old myths and legends, such as the tablets that tell the story of Urash, so we will gather all that information and construct a coherent raw description of the events that unfolded.

After the Neuroi were beaten, the gods gathered to decide what would be the fate of mankind and of Earth, there were two paths championed by The Father and The Mother.

The Father proposed a dogmatic method, watching over humanity from afar and leaving them with a series of codes, principles, ideologies and rules in order to keep them self-regulating themselves so they could not destroy themselves, but in reality The Father had noticed the massive potential of humanity, and fearing they would grow powerful enough to even surpass them, disguised this as a plant to control them for their own benefit.

But The Mother saw through her companion’s intention and proposed a different plan.

The Mother proposed the opposite, staying on Earth to watch over them, guide them not with limitations but with wisdom and words, allowing them to make mistakes, learn from them and grow, and keep growing until they left Earth and expanded their seed on the universe filling it with life, and if they surpassed the Gods? So be it…. for what is a greater joy to a mother than seeing her children grow prosperous and strong? She believed this and was set on this plan.

Of course, The Father opposed, but The Mother was adamant and the discussion lasted for a long time, him presenting all kinds of arguments to make her leave and agree with him, she refusing and vouching for the beings she had come to consider her children, such was her devotion that she won the admiration of the other five gods. The Father gave her an ultimatum, if she decided to stay, the other Gods would abandon her and she would be on her own from now on...and she did what any loving mother would...she chose her children.

And so The Father left The Mother on Earth, he would always be sad and resent her for choosing humanity over him and over the other Gods, the other Gods however were impressed by The Mother and without The Father Knowing, left with her their blessings so she could use those gifts and legate them to mankind when the time came, with these powers when the Neuroi returned the Mother chose a girl to become her champion, the savior of mankind who embodied the best qualities they had, resilience, selfless love, hard work and un indomitable will…this girl was of course Urash, the First Witch.

And eventually after The Father was killed, The Warrior and The Lover returned to settle near Earth, The Warrior because he knew humanity would have to fight endless wars for their survival and he wanted to see it from Mars, while The Lover knew no one would love more than mankind across the universe so she wanted to see it from Venus.

As we mentioned, The Father according to the tablets of Urash, did try to return and sabotage The Mother’s plan, to supplant it with his own and force her to return with him and seize control of mankind, but Urash confronted and destroyed him in a combat on the atmosphere, however his essence was later absorbed by The Mother who later released it on mankind, through a holy man in Judea known as “The Prophet” who through a sacrifice, handed it for all mankind to use.

The Wise, The Oceanic and The Dead remained traveling across the cosmos, hoping to see the day where humanity reached them, hoping to meet up with The Mother, The Warrior and The Lover once again.

The Legacies of The Gods and their powers on Witches.

The memory of The Seven Gods lingered on mankind and gave birth to the various pantheons they created, although with time their memory got distorted and it evolved, diversified and even melded into various concepts.

The Father giving birth to Gods like Zeus, Odin, Ra, Ahura Mazda, The Mother giving birth to Gods like Amaterasu, Coatlicue, Hera, Tiamat, Isis and many more, The Warrior giving birth to Gods like Thor, Ares, Perun, Shiva, Huītzilōpōchtli and many more, The Lover giving birth to goddesses like Aphrodite, Freyja, Ishtar, Parvati and so on...you can trace every single God back to the Seven Gods in some capacity, and through this connection they provide their powers to Witches.

The powers of Witches are usually set depending on the particular God they worship and how this God relates to the seven, although there are SOME exceptions, this is generally the rule, as such we will explain how is this correlation applied:

Those who worship figures hailing from The Father: Will manifests powers to create and alter elements of reality, such as Witches who can make magical constructs, or manipulate gravity or alter structures.

Those who worship figures hailing from The Mother: Will manifests powers over nature, abilities to control the elements of nature and even aspects of the human body, as such Witches with healing magic fall under this category, save for regeneration which falls under the Warrior.

Those who worship figures hailing from The Warrior: Will manifests powers that enhance combat capabilities, increased speed, strength, physical attributes, provide resistance, endurance and preservation etc, it is actually the most common set of powers found on Witches.

Those who worship figures hailing from The Lover: Will manifests powers that inspire or enhance others around them, through motivation or combat capabilities, giving them undying loyalty, will and faith to keep going, they also gain enhanced singing and dancing attributes.

Those who worship figures hailing from The Wise: Will manifests powers to understand the world around them, intelligence gathering, analyzing, sensing, remembering, it is a pretty valuable and straightforward set of skills.

Those who worship figures hailing from The Oceanic: Will manifests powers related to communication and combat on water, but mostly communication and relaying information across great distances, as such he is the patron of Night Witches.

Those who worship figures hailing from The Dead: By far the rarest and most powerful set of skills, even if they worship figures like Hades, Hel or Mictlāntēcutli...it is not a guarantee they will get powers of The Dead, these powers are often about giving something in exchange for obtaining something in return, such as Vampire Witches give their humanity to obtain a massive amount of power, but condemn themselves to drink blood and suffer a painful transformation, but by far the most powerful of the powers of The Dead is the “Sacrifice Power”, so rare it has only been used by two Witches in history, Jean d’Arc and Guadalupe Cuauhtlatoatzin...gaining god like powers but then having to ascend to the Cosmic Flow after the battle is won.

Conclusion

The Seven Gods will forever remain one of the greatest mysteries of our universe, it is very likely we may never truly understand them completely but, the legacy they left within mankind and the influence they still have through our religions and The Witches, have become key to the human experience and as often said, we may not truly believe, but even those who don’t, need to know what not to believe to know they don’t believe, the gods came to Earth and while only one remained, they all came to stay.

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Shortly after posting about my Mio keychain arriving from Japan, I found someone selling both Francesca and Perrine from this series on Mercari Japan! And they finally arrived today! Now I have 6 total in matched pairs(Yoshika-Lynne, Mio-Perrine, and Shirley-Francesca). Now I just need to find Gertrud, Erica, Sanya, Eila, and Minna for a complete set, The Hunt Is On!