Bosnian witches

Anita Salihović is an old lines witch, once a member of a Rroma clan in what is now Bosnia, who is somewhat older than she appears (she seems to be in her mid-twenties, but was born back in the 1760s); she is an example of a witch who abused her powers and became a succubus, reliant on soul-craft and soul consumption to sustain her—she's one of the most dangerous women in Britain, certainly more so than any human woman, but she doesn't want you to know that, and she doesn't particularly want to be, either. She works as a nurse in a coma ward, attempting to manage her need to feed on souls by only stealing the spiritual essence of those who are likely to never return. Although not as strongly tied to witches' magic as she once was, due to her transition into one of the succubi, she nevertheless knows a lot of their history from an intimate perspective, and is a good ally—one who strongly emphasizes the scant few rules all witches must follow. After all, no one knows better what the consequences can be.



history |
Probably the last truly powerful European witch of note, Anita was born Lamia in Ottoman-occupied Bosnia during the year 1762. She came from a Rroma traveller family and experienced enormous persecution, and contrary to stereotype, abilities like hers would not have been welcomed; she hid them for years. When she came into adulthood and married, she had two children, both of whom died of illnesses before reaching their third birthdays. Disillusioned with life and her husband, she abandoned him at the age of twenty, using her light skinned appearance to parley herself a new identity as a Bosniak woman. She met other witches, who recognized her powers and taught her how to use them. Employing both her magic and her social savvy, she quickly charmed many people with not inconsiderable power, and ruthlessly blackmailed heads of government whenever she saw fit—but she also helped them with her magic and influence. She became known as "the lady of dragons", for her sometimes-malicious use of an Ala which was under her control. When she realized she was a witch who could still use soulcraft to its complete extent, something that even by the late 18th century was virtually unheard of, she began to use it against her worst enemies, those she believed deserved it for their cruelty, particularly toward women. She became effectively immortal in the mid-1780s, and continued her reign for the next thirty years. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed, she moved her attentions to England and its assorted territories, even causing chaos during the first World War.