Witch Hunter

xGhost91x

Hey guys. So I was wondering which deities a Witch Hunter (the stealthy conjuration archers) would worship. Stendarr makes sense, as does Meridia. Would a group like the Order of Arkay have Witch Hunters in their midst?

PrayingSeraph

Stendarr followers are definitely often crusader/witch hunter types. Meridia followers could definitely be witch hunters, but they'd define witch as someone who practices necromancy an/or undead like vampire.But they wouldnt hunt daedra worshippers(asidee of Molag Ba'l's) because they are such people.

I could also see some followers of Arkay hunt down undead/necromancers/vampires. Like I would imagine House Tamrith in Rivenspire would have such people in their past lineage

Praise Sigmar!!! err....Stendarr!!!

RaddlemanNumber7

I enjoyed playing Witchhunters a lot in TES IV and V. I'd like to suggest a different view of the class.

I have always chosen to read the name "Witchhunter" as meaning "a witch who hunts". A sort of cross between a druid and Robin Hood, with a bit of Granny Weatherwax thrown in. A guardian of The Land and wild nature. There is some support for this view in lore.

TES IV defines the class as, "Swift on foot, and clever with spells, they use distance as their ally. Slower adversaries are fodder for their arrows."

The bit about being "clever with spells" seems to fit the literary idea of a witch quite well. Conjuring a familiar to aid you is also a very witchy thing to do. Mysticism, and alchemy in the form of herb craft are suitably witchy activities, as is moving through the landscape unobserved.

In ESO I think they'd fit in very well with the Wyresses.

waitwhat

Perhaps the Tribunal, particularly Vivec and Almalexia.

Azura is another likely candidate.

Hircine would take an interest in some, no doubt, but he could go either way on the magic use depending on your interpretation of him.

I wouldn't think Malacath because of his aversion to ranged attacks, particularly arrows but also spells.

Meridia could be a possibility if we're hunting undead, but you'd have to be very careful with which branch of Conjuration you're using to stay on her good side.

People turn to Molag Bal, Mehrunes Dagon, Boethiah, Peryite, Clavicus Vile and Sheogorath for very personal reasons I'd wager, and I don't think any of them care too much who their followers are.

If Azura is the good witches' god, I would think Vaermina to be that of the bad witches.

Nocturnal seems to fit, but I don't know how much you get to stay "you" after pledging yourself to her and being taken in.

I don't think anyone gets to worship Jyggalag or really knows that he exists.

waitwhat

Auri'El is a good choice too. Many justiciars and Eyes surely fit the witchhunter description.

xGhost91x

RaddlemanNumber7 wrote: »

I enjoyed playing Witchhunters a lot in TES IV and V. I'd like to suggest a different view of the class.

I have always chosen to read the name "Witchhunter" as meaning "a witch who hunts". A sort of cross between a druid and Robin Hood, with a bit of Granny Weatherwax thrown in. A guardian of The Land and wild nature. There is some support for this view in lore.

TES IV defines the class as, "Swift on foot, and clever with spells, they use distance as their ally. Slower adversaries are fodder for their arrows."

The bit about being "clever with spells" seems to fit the literary idea of a witch quite well. Conjuring a familiar to aid you is also a very witchy thing to do. Mysticism, and alchemy in the form of herb craft are suitably witchy activities, as is moving through the landscape unobserved.

In ESO I think they'd fit in very well with the Wyresses.

You know, this is how I've always pictured Witch Hunters, including the one I played back in Oblivion. Summon a buddy and pelt the enemy with arrows while your buddy distracts them.

xGhost91x

I read somewhere that some Witch Hunters were born under the sign of the Ritual and chosen from the clergy of Arkay but I can't seem to find it anywhere.

PrinceShroob

"I am a witchhunter. I dedicate body and soul to the destruction of profane magics. Most foul are necromancers, who defile the bodies and spirits of the sacred dead. Equally abominable are the evil Daedra worshippers. The Daedra Lords delight in the torment and corruption of mortals, and they reward followers with terrible powers always used for evil purposes. In employing the tools of the Enemy -- the spells of the College of Conjuration -- I risk contamination, but fire must be fought with fire."

In Morrowind, most witchhunters are followers of the Tribunal Temple. In Oblivion, there are no named witchhunters; all other witchhunters are vampires.

I think it's safe to say that the hostile witchhunters in Morrowind and Oblivion are "contaminated," as the Morrowind "my trade" dialogue hints at. There are no witchhunters in Skyrim, though you can liken the general idea of the class to the Vigil of Stendarr.

xGhost91x

That quote is epic. Hmm, I didn't know that Witch Hunters in Oblivion were typically vampires.

PrinceShroob

xGhost91x wrote: »

That quote is epic. Hmm, I didn't know that Witch Hunters in Oblivion were typically vampires.

It's a holdover from Morrowind. Comparing the classes in Arena and Daggerfall to Morrowind and Oblivion, each specialization got one new class -- combat got crusader, magic got witchhunter, and stealth got pilgrim (and burglar was dropped in favor of agent). These new classes make sense within the landscape of Morrowind -- a land with a fervent and militaristic wing of its major religion and whose laymen strive to emulate the deeds of their gods.

No one in Cyrodiil is acting as the swordarm of the church, so there's no NPC whose profession is sensibly witchhunter. One of Azura's afflicted brethren is a witchhunter, and there are three generic vampire witchhunters. From that, I assume that the witchhunters in Cyrodiil during Oblivion are would-be vampire hunters who were turned.

That's not to say that there are no NPCs in Cyrodiil who are witches by class. However, it's difficult to describe what a witch does, exactly, based on an NPC class, because most NPC classes are mostly filler skills.