Editing Witch Hunter (section)

==Methodology==
As with any discipline, the individual exponents will vary amongst themselves, if not actively compete against each other.<ref name=":6">
:'''What's stopping Witch Hunters from just assembling a force numbers and just wiping everything else out?'''<br>
Differing methodologies, ideologies. No guarantee it'd work. - [https://old.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/iq6g7c/_/g4pyrzr Wildbow on Witch Hunters]</ref> In some cases Witch Hunter, individuals or groups, can have knowledge that rivals Practitioners.<ref name=":5"/>

Training of a Witch Hunter has been shown to include things like the use [[Innocence]] to work around Others camouflage and memory effects,<ref name=":1">When we got our training and they gave us all the tools we need to do this, they kept going on about how important the diaries are. They made us read some too.<br><br>I think my problem is that I think too much. Most of us who start this when we’re kids, we don’t live long enough to leave anyone behind. Humans have an instinctive desire to leave a legacy. I don’t like myself enough to want to leave anything of myself behind.<br>[...]<br>Rose feels different than when she left, somehow. Now, as I think about how her predecessor handled everything… I think about how Rose coped, and I wonder ‘how did she handle it?’ and I can’t come up with much.<br><br>When I asked Eva, Eva reminded me of the techniques we learned. Right off the bat, she found the discrepancy.<br><br>When we ask, “How did Rose manage?”, we struggle to answer.<br><br>When we ask, “How did the second Thorburn heir manage?” we can mutually agree that the heir was almost eerily in step with this world.<br><br>As witch hunters, free of any vows or ties to the world the monsters and practitioners inhabit, we’re protected against the trickery. A measure of innocence can challenge that reality, and clearly see the emperor without his clothes.<br>[...]<br>When we got our training and they gave us all the tools we need to do this, they kept going on about how important the diaries are. They made us read some too.<br><br>
*One Nightmare-type monster was invading dreams. Targeting normals. Not affiliated with Johannes or Sandra. Found wandering the streets in a human guise, spotted through the trickery with innocence, cut down with katana.<br><br>
Mags looked up. “Thirteen tolls.”<br>[...]<br>He offered her a light smile. A witch hunter could lie. Oaths weren’t binding.<br><br>One of these days, after years of loyal service, when it didn’t put too many people in danger, he’d skip the council meeting, and act while they were all in one place.<br><br>He had a rocket launcher at home for just that purpose. - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/09/04 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 10|Gathered Pages: Andy's Notes]]</ref> and protecting that same innocence from further erosion.<ref>“Hmm,” Lucy said. “Interact, protect, eye, access. Maybe family. Fits for a throwaway item. I don’t get the feeling there’s a lifeline… again, throwaway item, recently made or prepared. It’s a ward of sorts. Can Witch Hunters, uh, do what we do?”<br><br>“They can utilize some techniques,” John said. “Many lean on superstition and find their way to certain patterns, or they have one trick or one servant they steal from someone they’ve gone after and they use that. Combine that with what your friend Melissa can do, and keep their eyes closed or minds turned away when it comes to certain things, so they remain… innocent.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2021/04/10 Excerpt] from [[One After Another 10.2]]</ref> There are of course limitations.<ref name=":5"/><ref name=":9"/>


They can lie, and are freely allowed to invade [[Demesne]]s without reservation because they aren't bound by the same rules as those who practice,<ref>“If they don’t kill the others,” Ty said. “Because Witch Hunters can kill people. Even innocents.”<br>[...]<br>The explosion, I suspected, caught ''everyone'' by surprise.  There was no clink of metal on hardwood.  Nothing ''thrown''.<br><br>Andy’s work.<br><br>Light, noise, disorientation.  I recovered fast, but I could feel my eyes ''crawling'', as if they were healing from some minor damage.<br><br>I saw Eva striding into the room.  If Callan was able to see, he would have only caught a glimpse of the girl with the machete before she disarmed him, blade striking the poker.  He was doubled over, and she brought her knee up into his chin.<br><br>I had never, not once in my varied years, seen someone deliver a roundhouse kick in real life.  Eva did it like it was ''easy''.  One step forward, another, pivot, ''kick''.<br>[...]<br>Christoff ran, staggering, disoriented.  He reached the hallway, and walked right into Andy’s waiting attack.  A jab with the taser.<br><br>The kid was barely a ''teenager''.<br><br>Eva’s kick hadn’t taken out Kathryn, or Callan for that matter.  That wasn’t how it ''really'' worked.  One well-executed blow didn’t usually knock someone out, and when it did, it often came with brain damage and long-term impairment.  It did, if done right, essentially take them out of the fight.<br><br>
Eva thrashed Kathryn, blow after blow, until Kathryn fell and made no motion to get up.  She stepped back to assess the situation, saw Callan trying to struggle to get up on all fours, a crawling position, and stomped on his shoulderblades.  His already-bleeding chin collided with the floor. - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/09/23 Excerpt] from [[Malfeasance 11.7]]<br><br><br>Eva replied.  Rather than attach another person to the radiator, she cuffed Christoff to Callan’s right leg and Kathryn’s left.  “Should we check for phones?  Wait, nevermind, the jammer.”<br>[...]<br>I heard Eva humming as she headed for the back door.  She paused, peered over one stack of books, them kicked it aside, using the toe of her boot to mess up a diagram in chalk.  She turned on the spot to resume her previous path.<br>[...]<br>I entered the mirror upstairs, and found myself face to face with Alexis, Tiff, and Ty.  They had a group of bogeymen and goblins in their company.<br><br>“The others are captured,” I said.  “They’ve been beaten up and restrained.  Evan’s waiting downstairs.”<br><br>“We’re safe here, right?” Ty asked.<br><br>“Probably not,” I admitted.  “I don’t know what they’re planning, but if a hiding spot like this was all it took to stay safe from a witch hunter, I don’t think witch hunters would be that big of a concern.”<br>[...]<br>“Getting our defenses in order was a problem even before any of this started,” Alexis said.  It seemed like she was taking point among the three.  “I don’t know if it’s even possible.”<br><br>“Especially since the witch hunters are removing defenses as they see them,” I said.<br>[...]<br>Okay,” Alexis said.  “Those are the broad strokes, the notes we have to hit.  We can’t do much about the witch hunters, agreed?  Their whole schtick is that they’re really hard for a practitioner to work around.  We can send a mob at them and hope it keeps them distracted until we can make ''another'' move.”<br>[...]<br>“Blake.  ''Witch hunters.  ''They’re the one thing Rose was most worried about, ''the'' reason she finally caved and did the dead man’s switch.  Even if we manage to beat them, the house is going to get raided at nightfall.  We-” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/09/27 Excerpt] from [[Malfeasance 11.8]]</ref><!-- the hillsglade home invasion by the duo 

Being a normal person as opposed to a practitioner affords certain advantages, as Others cannot freely act upon them nor can many Practitioners. Some are trained to

--> many demesnes will have protections of course but this can be worked around. They can be thought of as having a kind of scarred-up [[innocence]] that provides them with inconsistent protection.<ref>[https://old.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/q6pleh/at_what_point_does_innocence_break/ Some stuff on innocence]</ref><!--Old harris talks about this in his interlude--><ref name=":9">“At least she didn’t use it on you!”<br><br>“I wish she’d tried!”<br><br>“Protections aren’t absolute.”<br><br>''So it wouldn’t have worked after all''? - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2021/08/17 Excerpt] from [[Summer Break 13.5]]</ref>

They're known for having large collections of weapons and [[Magic Item]]s that they keep for particular targets.<ref>More subtly, she could conclude, objects had a kind of importance in this room. Stuff that might have been family knick-knacks in another house took up odd positions here, sort of akin to how a museum might arrange things. Giving objects a kind of prominence.<br><br>Odd objects. A figurine of a bear, a frame that held a strip of cloth with an embroidered knot on it taut, a kettle, a small statue of a pig, a mannequin’s hand, a metronome…<br><br>Andy unlocked the cabinet. A drawer slid out, heavy enough that the desk momentarily rocked when it reached its full length. Part of the drawer had to be recessed in the wall.<br><br>Knives, swords, and something that looked like a mace or a scepter, but hollow, with holes punched through the surface.<br><br>He saw her looking. “Censer. When you want to hit something and you need a particular kind of smoke, both at the same time.”<br><br>Five seconds later, he had another drawer open. Guns, many of which were old fashioned, ammo, and lead pipes.<br><br>“Take your pick,” he said.<br><br>“For real?”<br><br>“Some things I wouldn’t let you take, but that’s like, uh, that gun there, it’s the first gun I bought for myself, personal attachment. And that sword right there is impregnated with the blood of a fox-woman. And maybe that obsidian knife, unless you had a specific use for it, it’s sort of niche, and it’d be a pain to replace. Just about everything else, well, if you lost it, it’s an excuse to get a replacement, or it’s less clutter. Win win.” - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/07/19 Excerpt] from [[Signature 8.5]]</ref>

As they are informed of the supernatural it is hard to leave all that behind and live an ordinary life with the world working against them.<ref>“Their lives were in shambles. Roberto fell in love with Angie and tried to be better for her, and ended up in kid jail. A lot of the time, these weird cases will pop up where Aware will cause a ton of problems, including problems for themselves, and because they face problems when it comes to actually doing stuff… this is a whole complicated concept-”<br><br>“The Aware run into resistance if they try to climb the rungs and become a politician or make a billion dollars with their talents,” Lucy said.<br><br>“Yeahhh,” Yadira said. “So you know that much. But not even top rung stuff. Even like… if Roberto became a car salesman and he used his asshole power to become the top seller at the biggest car dealership in his city, wherever he is, that’d draw too much attention. So he becomes the top seller at a place where there’s enough other crap going on people don’t pay him a lot of attention, and he doesn’t make that much money. So a lot of Aware will find themselves in similar places on the social ladder, and in the same neighborhood in a town or whatever, and then they crash into one another. And they may not survive those crashes.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/11/03 Excerpt] from [[Cutting Class 6.3]]</ref> Practitioners will likely be on the lookout for witch hunters and [[Lords]] might try to target them.<ref>Right. They were witch hunters. They knew ''stuff'', and it was hard to leave all that behind and live an ordinary life. Practitioners could very well be unhappy or unsettled by the appearance of the twins in their town. Lords or local powers could seek to control them, even abuse them. - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/07/19 Excerpt] from [[Signature 8.5]]</ref> It's just as likely for such people to try to work with agreeable witch hunters to keep the more crazy witch hunters away.<ref name=":7">
:'''Why are they not a bigger thing that people are afraid of?'''<br>
People are plenty afraid of them. Sometimes you can deal with them by making unofficial contracts and whatever. Bringing Andy & Eva onto the council; if (m)any witch hunters show up those two will say 'this is our turf'. And they're tied into a network that knows what's going on and keeps tabs on the people out there, so they could get tipped off if Long and Mayes drifted their way. Of course, Andy is plotting for the contingency where he needs to blow them all up, so it's not all sunshine and daisies. - [https://old.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/iq6g7c/_/g4pyrzr Wildbow on Witch Hunters]</ref>

In some cases a Witch Hunter may have a strong [[pattern]] around them established by past successes or family history, even if Witch Hunters aren't known for having families.<ref>I think my problem is that I think too much. Most of us who start this when we’re kids, we don’t live long enough to leave anyone behind. Humans have an instinctive desire to leave a legacy. I don’t like myself enough to want to leave anything of myself behind. - [https://pactwebserial.wordpress.com/2014/09/04 Excerpt] from [[Interlude 10|Gathered Pages: Andy's Notes]]</ref> This might make magic less effective on them (similar to a [[Skeptic]]) or draw them into being a Witch Hunter against their will (similar to a [[Designated Victim]].)<ref name=":0">“He keeps strange tenants. Some are complicated. A gilded lily, who stumbles on magic items by accident on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Many are cursed. Someone who saw something so bent and broken it drove him around the bend. A child of a witch hunter who survived the rest of her family, who knows something is afoot in the shadows of this world. The pattern of that family seeks to wrap her up in its flows. [...] Some of them remain and are power sources. I imagine that swarm tenant is both steady income and a trickle of power. Others balance out the other tenants. A skeptic that dulls practices around her to help take the bite out of the worst cursed items. An elusive man to keep the witch hunter scion’s attention without ever bearing fruit.” - [https://palewebserial.wordpress.com/2020/09/15 excerpt] from [[Leaving a Mark 4.8]]</ref>