Witch

Witch was a term with multiple meanings in the Realms, but was most frequently misapplied to any kind of wizard and commonly carried a connotation of evil.

Types of Witch

 * A "witch" could refer to a type of wizard, usually female, who gained instruction in the ways of magic from an extra-planar patron. Those who used this meaning referred to males as "warlocks". In the Feywild, this entity was typically an archfey or the goddess Sehanine Moonbow.
 * For Elminster and those of his generation, "witch" referred to any self-taught herbalist or spellcaster of arcane magic. Such witches usually lived a rural life, in villages or land that bordered wilderness, and mainly concerned themselves with making a living through casting spells applicable to daily life.
 * Bubudow were witches that specialized in the use of medicinal herbs.
 * Mediums, also known as spirit channelers, were witches that specialized in necromancy and communicating with the dead. The entities these witches gained instruction and spells from were spirits.

History
In 1100 DR, the term "witch" began commonly being used in some areas of the Realms as a pejorative for female spellcasters and servitors of hags. Such as in Chessenta, Turmish, and the Vilhon Reach. Such usage would last into the 1300's DR, being especially common among the Bedine of Anauroch.

Trivia

 * Hamadryads were one of many races in the Feywild known to occasionally be granted magic and take on the mantle of a witch.
 * Solitary witches were often gravitated towards places where moonglows still operated.
 * There was a variety of fungus in the Feywild known as a witchcap.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Shadowdale
 * Shadowdale