December 5th- Hocus

Hocus

Another common familiar of witches, hocuses are rather common sights in a modern city, running errands for their witch masters. Wild hocuses are also quite common, having broken free of witchy control or outlived their masters. However, most people don’t know how a hocus comes to be.

Witches of all varieties are well-known for wearing hats. There are a variety of reasons for this, but the most important is that most of them cast some magic from the moon and use their hats to capture it. This, of course, allows moon magic to infuse them and animate them. Witches of course expect this and make their hats with secret materials that are meant to create hocuses in the ways they wish so they do not end up as uncontrollable Moon Men.

As a result, a hocus tends to be obedient to their master, but highly mischievous. They come with a small range of transmutation spells and enjoy using them on anything that catches their attention. Most commonly, they turn small animals into rocks or simply other species, but when exposed to a larger being, that is when they have their real fun. They will transform ears, noses, toes, any small body part into something else. Fingers become slugs, teeth turn into flower petals, eyeballs are transmuted into lanterns. It is never advised to remove clothing around a hocus, even if you are a witch.

In the service of a witch, a hocus serves as a guardian, distraction, and companion. When attacked, a witch will often throw off its hocus, which will began spitting its wild transmutation spells around to great effect. Outside of battle, witches enjoy the entertainment provided by the chaotic nature of their magic hats.

Independent hocuses will seek companionship, whether it be a goblin tribe, a new witch, or even a colony of other hocuses. Normally, they feed off of magic from witches, but they can survive by parasitising other beings with some level of magical potential, with a specific love of sucking the magic out of undead beings and leaving them lifeless husks. As such, hocuses are sometimes used to clear out undead infestations.