Kai Brafe'ha: Introduction, Part 1

My name is Kai Brafe'ha, a non-binary witch who has just graduated from the Academy of the Metaphysical Mysteries.

Normally a witch is sent to just one village at a time to work, but because I'm in a very rural area I will be working a circuit of three towns: Cleaverton, Nightway, and Kelschurch. At the end of the year, I can decide which of the towns I wish to work with on an ongoing basis.

I'm a pretty solitary witch, so the rural locations suit me just fine. It's not that I'm anti-social; I would even say I've dreamed of finding a coven to practice with. It's just that my magick is...odd, and it always made it hard for me to fit in.

When a child is born, they have the ability to become almost any kind of witch. As they grow older, they learn what they like and dislike, where their strengths and weaknesses are, and their magick starts taking shape within them. When they come of magickal age—which can be almost any time between the ages of 12 and 18—their magick usually coalesces into two different specialties, a major and a minor specialty.

And it's usually not a surprise when that happens. A child who likes to work with horses and other non-human companions might get the specializations of Healing and Truespeak. A child that loves being in a potions lab is almost certain to gain Alchemy and Herbalism. Adult witches who have specializations can do other forms of magick; it's just those other forms will always be more difficult, like writing with your non-dominant hand. The trade-off is that the specializations become so much more powerful.

On a rare occasions, there are witches who never receive a specialization, and they will keep doing the full spectrum of magick throughout their lives. These are known as Chroma witches, and I thought I might be one right on past my 18th birthday, because I still hadn't specialized.

And then it hit me just two months later: Death and Chaos.

Almost no one ever asks for these specializations, and certainly not both of them together. Death witches are almost always morbid and depressed, and they usually have to rely on whatever their other specialization is...because who wants a village witch who kills things? Chaos witches are usually rebellious and anti-social loners; they love up-ending the social order just because it suits them. They don't work well with village authorities, and usually end up living alone or in fringe witch collectives.

And both specializations together?? That's wicked witch material right there. Death and Chaos witches are often misanthropists who want to see everything burn, and almost every one of them ends up building some kind of evil sorcerer tower and trying to rule things, until some hero decides to kill or imprison them.

Why me?? I really didn't ask for this.

I mean, sure, there was that time when I was 12 when I looked at my closet and realized without planning it that I had accidentally ended up with a mostly-black wardrobe. But I quickly introduced more color, and by the next school year all the black had been phased out.

And yes, while most of my fellow students were attracting furry or feathery companions, my first companion was—I'm not joking—the ghost of a dead boy my own age. He only stuck around until I was about 10, at which time I promptly replaced him with a hamster.

I'm also very meticulous about keeping things in order, unlike other Chaos witches. I mean, sure, when I was younger, I didn't just have a messy room; I had piles of books and clothes and toys so deep that I couldn't even find the floor most of the time. But by my teenage years, I had straightened myself out, and now I don't even allow a speck of dust on my robes.

I consider myself to be a rule-following, law-abiding citizen...well, at least I try to be. A lot of the times I make mistakes because I misunderstand something. I'm trying to do the right thing, but sometimes what people tell me is the right thing just doesn't make sense. Still, I really want to fit in, and I try very hard to make sure that I hide the parts of me that might cause trouble. I don't want to be a trouble-maker.

So here I am, a Death and Chaos witch, ready for my first village assignment. Smile on face. Think positive thoughts. I'm sure they'll accept me when they see that I'm not a killer or a rabble-rouser, and I won't grow in power until I rain destruction on the entire kingdom.

Let's do this!