Come Into the Woods

There is a secret little village somewhere in the world. A special little village full of witches. Now, you won’t find this village on any map, old or new, but it’s said that any true witch will find this place when it is time.

“When it is time” is a subject of debate even amongst the witches of the village. Some discovered their powers and found the village when they were only children, and yet some did all of this when they were quite old. In fact, the first three witches that came to the village were all of a varying age. There was Isidora Woods, who was at the time only thirteen; Chandra Morelli, who was forty; and Ingrid Shade, who was the ripe old age of 76.

The very first to find the village was Ingrid Shade, who at the time was an herbalist and a wise woman of some small hamlet. She brewed medicinal tinctures and potions for the townspeople there, to heal anything from warts, boils, burns, and all sorts of ailments.

Ingrid was foraging one day when she stumbled upon the village, which she found already had warm, well-decorated homes, and even a few shops stocked with glass vials and everything she might need to make her potions.

Chandra Morelli was a librarian. She studied witchcraft as a special hobby, and read all sorts of books on the subject matter, and even kept her own grimoire of magical secrets.

She lived in a large city with a large, beautiful park. And every day, on her lunch break, she would walk the paths there and see what there was to see.

As she was walking down a familiar path, she stumbled upon the village, and found that the city around her had quite disappeared. She could neither hear nor see any cars, tall buildings… only the cottages and shops of a mostly empty village.

Mostly empty, of course, except for Ingrid, who was already standing in front of her shop and smoking a pipe. “‘Bout time somebody else got here!” Ingrid said.

And then, Isidora Woods. She was just a regular high school goth who loved learning about the occult. She was particularly fond of cats and considered them her familiars. She was doing goth things—wandering graveyards and writing poetry in them—when she saw a very colorful, actually quite psychedelic cat.

Curious, Isidora followed it a while, and what do you think happened? Yes, it led her right to Chandra’s bookstore, in the little quiet village, and there Chandra welcomed her with a smile and a cup of hot chocolate.

Since then, more witches have found this little village. Witches of all creeds, of all practices. Pictish witches, Stregha witches, Feri witches—you name it! They all live here, in peace, and exchanging the wisdom of the ages.

Will you wander into the village?