> > If it could produce anything like Vlad's > > ability then it ought to be well known and, in fact, it > would give Dragaeran > > sorcerous society a reason > > to silently suppress it lest the Easterners hear about it. If it was witchcraft based then they wouldn't need to supress it from the Easterners. Your average Athyra sorceror/wizard would be the one you'd have to worry about. Witchraft isn't exclusive to Easterners by nature, only by culture. The Empire has its own brand of magic that is clearly (in their minds) superior. Studying Witchcraft is rather like a doctor in the States studyng Hungarian folk medicine. As illustrated in Tekla, some people don't believe in it at all, and those (like our protagonists and their associates) who have experienced it first hand are still convinced that sorcery is superior. Anything an Eastern Witch can do is something that a Dragaeran sorceror can do, given the proper training. If they don't bother it's because they see no value in it.