Alpha & Omega Series #1: Cry Wolf

• the few witchblood families left in Europe during the Napoleonic Wars had quit killing each other, forced instead to protect themselves from the ravages of more mundane fighting¹²¹
• clans of witches²¹³
• a bad time for all in Europe; the Inquisition had taken a terrible toll a couple of centuries before - and when it was over, the witches started fighting for power; only Napoleon kept them from exterminating each other entirely²¹³
• the only Western European bloodline to survive the power struggle was the Torvalis line, which was interbred with the Gypsies²¹³
• witches were still born here and there into mundane families, but seldom had a tenth of the power of the old families²¹⁴
• the Eastern European and Oriental witches had never established the kind of dynasties the Western European witches had²¹⁴
• they guarded their spells from each other; so each family tended to specialize²¹⁴
• witches are so jealous of each other²¹⁹

Mercy Thompson Series #10: Silence Fallen

• Spanish Inquisition set off the Witch Wars²⁹⁴
• centuries ago every village had a coven of witches²⁹⁴
• every city of any size had a witch as strong as Elizaveta Arkadyevana in charge of it²⁹⁴
• humans began it, driving the witches into breaking treaties that had been in place for centuries; by the time it was finished it seemed for fifty years after that they had succeeded in killing off every witchborn person on the planet²⁹⁴

Mercy Thompson Series #11: Storm Cursed

• back in the days covens dotted the landscape of Europe¹⁵⁵
• covens are no more; just make-believe attempts; not enough witches from thirteen families²⁵⁸

• a witch is born to use magic Chat 2007-11-03
• they are trained in spell usage Chat 2007-11-03
• and they are usually born to different families who are witches Chat 2007-11-03
• some of the things witches can do to increase their power, is as corrupting as sorcery Chat 2007-11-03
• witches do things with mind and body. Wizards have power over the physical – and both do magic. The ends are sometimes the same, but the means are different. It's far easier to be a powerful wizard and still be a good person then it is to be a powerful witch Chat 2008-07-27

From Cry Wolf: witches and dead things went together; there were witches that didn't kill but they were far less powerful than their darker sistersCW-234 witches often hired themselves outCW-181 there were witches who regularly worked for the various law-enforcement agenciesCW-181 most witches are human and not immortalCW-191 magic and fire have an odd, synergistic effect sometimesCW-237 likely the witches didn't know why it was forbidden for them to try to take a werewolf for a pet or familiar–not that most of them had the power to do itCW-239

Mercyverse Short Fiction: Seeing Eye

• thirteen members¹³⁹
• no member related to any other to the sixth generation
• each family amassed its own specialty spells, and a coven of thirteen benefited from all those differing magics¹³⁹
• most of the witchblood families had been wiped out by fighting among themselves, covens became a thing of the past¹³⁹

Mercy Thompson Series #6: River Marked

• Gordon Seeker burned cleaned out a coven; burned the whole town down to do it; Maryhill never recovered

Black Witch
Gray Witch
White Witch

Alpha & Omega Series #1: Cry Wolf

imprisoning spells are pretty basicCW-189 illusions were among the very basic tenets of witchcraftCW-174 a strong enough witch can control any werewolf who doesn't have a pack to protect him; it is forbidden by witch law, but it is possibleCW-218 it usually took witches a while to gain a hold on a lone wolfCW-232 power circles: some witches used them to set guard spells to keep things they valued safe, and others used them to store power for drawing upon laterCW-234 changing what the senses of other perceived was one of the major powers of the witchCW-234 most of witchcraft is potions and spellsCW-236 witches could hide in plain sight if they had some sort of hold on you; hide-me spellsCW-238 a witch's creations did not survive their makerCW-280 self-sacrifice–as when the witch uses her own blood to fuel a spell – has some power, but it's difficult to work withHG-120 power circles; some witches used them to set guard spells to keep things they valued safe, and others used to them to store power for drawing upon laterCW-234 changing what the senses of others perceived was one of the major powers of the witchCW-234