Witch

Three old crones stoop over a boiling cauldron filled with all manner of bizarre filth, churning and bubbling with a noxious fume. In the smoke and vapor above the pot, the trio can make out shapes and figures of great import, and one cackles loudly at what she sees.
A young girl sits underneath a tree, far from where the other children play. She glances about to make sure noone is watching, and snaps her fingers once to the empty air. After a moment of silence, a black cat appears around the tree’s bend and locks eyes with the girl, staring with a strange intelligence for a long moment. She gestures at one of the playing children, a heavy-set boy with a permanently affixed scowl; the cat understands. It wanders close to the boy, stretches its claws, and gets very low, ready to pounce for the boy’s eyes.
A young elf intently mutters something underneath his breath each time he exhales. Visible only to him, a string of the foulest magic winds out from him and seizes a charging orc, which drops to its knees in agony.
Witches are stricken by magic so dark it imprints a lasting shadow upon their essence. Through force of personality alone, they can spin this darkness outward, hexing creatures, casting manipulative spells, and even
commanding a familiar with their thoughts.

Cursed
While others are blessed with magic, witches are
cursed by it. Afflicted by some hateful arcana, whether
accidentally or intentionally, witches are twisted inside
and out by its daily tortures. With gruesome effort,
they can warp this power into spells to wrack others
with the same torture which plagues them.

Pariahs and Outcasts
Almost without exception, witches are feared and
hated. They are victim to a number of misconceptions,
usually relating them to hags and other evil creatures
of the night which prey on innocent people. As a
result, known witches are in great personal danger
and can usually be found dwelling on the outskirts of
civilization where townsfolk seldom tread. This does
little to stop witch hunting and burnings, but provides
some measure of safety from them.
In reality, very few choose to become witches, and
many of them can hide adeptly in society, using their
magic to fill a number of roles, from seer, to healer,
to apothecary. Being accused as a witch carries grave
consequences, no matter the validity of the claim, so
wise witches relocate frequently, never residing in one
place for too long.

Familiar Masters
It is rare to find a witch without his or her constant
companion, the familiar. Though familiars might be
conjured by other spellcasters as well, a witch’s familiar
is ubiquitous to common folk for good reason. Witches
command intuitive magic, and have a deep link to
their familiars. As a result, they can conjure more
exotic familiars, and command them more swiftly than
other spellcasters.