Tanith

Tanith (a.k.a. "The Swamp Witch", "Witch of the Albanmarsh")

A witch of the Albanmarsh. She is infamous in Ciello for her part in decieving Duke Medwyn Belaroth. According to the duke she kidnapped his son Ethan Belaroth in his infancy, and switched him with an evil changeling; whom the good duke unkowningly raised as his son until the age of 16. At that age the true Ethan Belaroth, who had escaped from and subsequently slain the witch, returned and uncovered the plot. The wicked changeling was imprisoned, but escaped.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

It is unknown how long Tanith has been alive. Rumors of a powerful witch in the Albanmarsh go back at least as far as the Imperium and probably beyond. A witch is said to have adviced the hero Poimen the Brave, for instance. If this is the same entity as Tanith is unknown, but it seems possible. If so she has been involved with events on Ciello for many centuries.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

The motivations of witches and fey are often mysterious to others. Tanith is described in the stories as offering advice or warning, and as sometimes helping, and sometimes hindering those she meets. She is said to have observed events on Ciello for a very long time, occasionally nudging events in one direction or the other, but never playing a major part. Perhaps simple self preservation or cynisism drove her; and perhaps had has some other goal in mind. Yet all her schemes are now at an end.

Social

Family Ties

Tanith is known to have been the mother of at least one changeling child, whom is still alive. As she is thought to have lived for centuries she may have concieved other children. If she has any living siblings or parents is unknown. One myth claims she was born in the fey realm, as a result of an affair between a fairie queen and a shadow demon. Another story imagines her as the whisp of a dead god, given mortal form. Others still believe her to have been nothing more than a particularly skilled witch with a penance for age prolonging potions.

Mannerisms

Those who met Tanith described her as confident, and strange, always seeming to know more than she let on. She sometimes spoke in riddles, and at other times could be blunt as a rock, and just as hard. She could be helpful, but rarely without recompense of some kind. Ethan Belaroth, who lived 16 years as her prisoner said of her that she "was often kind, motherly even. Yet also distant. Difficult to anger, but when roused she was terrifying. She lied without shame, even at the end."