Witch Doctor Rebirth

The Covenant of the Restless Spirits

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There are powers in Norrath that answer to prayer, powers that bend to study, and powers that submit to command. The spirits belong to none of these.

Long before shamans carved their first runes and before the learned races gave names to the schools of magic, there were tribes who understood that death was not an ending. Every battlefield, every forgotten village, every ancient grove and ruined temple left something behind: memories, anger, loyalty, hunger, and fragments of will that refused to disappear simply because the body that carried them had returned to the earth.

The first Witch Doctors learned to listen. They did not worship these spirits, nor did they enslave them. They bargained with them. Through Rebirth, a rare few adventurers discover that the veil separating the living from the restless has grown thin around their souls. Their spells begin leaving echoes behind.

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Flame, storm, curses, and rituals disturb the unseen world, drawing wandering spirits toward the Witch Doctor until an invisible procession follows in their wake.

These are known as Spirit Charges. A Witch Doctor may gather as many as five spirits at once. Each spirit lends a fraction of its urgency to the Witch Doctor, quickening both spell and weapon. The more spirits gathered, the faster the Witch Doctor's incantations flow and the more swiftly their weapons answer their hand. Yet spirits are impatient companions. When battle ends and nothing remains to hold their interest, they slowly wander back beyond the veil.

Gathering spirits is only the beginning. A skilled Witch Doctor learns when to keep the dead close and when to release them. Certain rituals, curses, storms, and invocations call new spirits to the Witch Doctor's side. Other powers consume those spirits, exchanging their presence for sudden and extraordinary manifestations of power. Thus the Witch Doctor's greatest strength comes not from hoarding spirits forever, but from knowing precisely when their aid is worth more than their company.

Nowhere is this covenant more visible than in the Witch Doctor's summoned servants. When spirits are offered during a summoning, they do not simply disappear. They enter the summoned creature, strengthening the fragile bond holding it within the mortal world. Such servants may strike harder, attack with greater fury, remain longer than their ordinary brethren, and, in moments of exceptional spiritual power, even arrive in greater numbers.

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