Witchling Generations

284-644: The Prototypes—The first generations of witchlings were highly unstable, and often died prior to reaching adolescence; what abilities manifested in that time were often self-destructive or imperceptible. The Prototypes can be credited with early myths of the Witchlings as cursed and ill-fated, much to the devastation of their families.

654-784: The Chimera—Witchlings in this generation's mutations were triggered by puberty, and the effects were drastic. The Chimera are at the root of stories that portray witchlings as transforming into murderous monsters, as their mental and emotional control was typically impaired by these developments; earlier myths did, however, portray others that maintained human sentience and hid or aided their kin, though these have become less popular over time, or attributed to different supernatural entities.

794-864: The Dreamers—Generally considered to be the first stable generations of witchlings; physically, their abilities were limited to improved immune system and healing factor; most witchling generations to follow would retain a degree of the extended lifespan this facilitates. In appearance, they were exceptionally human passing, though might be described in our terminology as "elf-like." Their primary trait was the ability to astral project into a Norn-like energy state, in which they gained the such abilities as psychoempathy, multi-spectrum sensory awareness (or "witchsight"), and even degrees of electromagnetic manipulation. However, these abilities waxed and waned with the solar maximum and minimum, and the astral forms themselves were vulnerable to disruption from a number of energetic sources. The Dreamers were intended to by spies and infiltrators.
-Notable Witchlings: Jharik
**It is possible that the Time-Eater originated in this generation

874-924: The Psychics—By this point, standard protocol (not barring errors in genecoding) include longevity, resilience, and witchsight. Largely, this iteration focused on developing psychoempathic abilities.
-Notable Witchlings: Erida and Olandr Vyke of Kadar

954-974: The Resonant—These generations experimented with tapping into the living resonance harnessed by the Engines, augmented by physiological components; ideally, these influences could be used target the vulnerable, mortal elements of the Tarnished. Resonance Witchlings were capable to projecting auras that would cause emotional and behavioral alterations in the lifeforms around them; while hypothetically each had the potential to wield this power with great versatility, it was found that environmental factors and other pre-dispositions seemed to determine the type of aura each witchling projected. Examples include love/devotion, fear/panic, violence, revelry, and depression/suicide. However, witchlings were not immune to their own influences, and while more resistant than the average mortal, boasted no greater resilience to the effects than the Tarnished.
-Notable Witchlings: Lovely Mhari, the Dancer, the Mourner, the Nightmare
**It is possible that the Time-Eater originated in this generation

*Note: At this point, the Generational Methods became more strict as the resource of captured Norn Spirits dwindled, requiring projects to be proposed and approved prior to field initiation.

984-1024: The Geomancers—Influence/manipulation of physical laws, largely weather, magnetic fields, etc.
-Notable Witchlings: P'lharin Cras, the Skybreaker

1084-1094: The Dynamists—Manipulated the flow of energy, thermodynamics, entropy.
Notable Witchlings: Jhin Arghast, Old Withers
**It is possible that the Time-Eater originated in this generation

1104: The Operators—Combining Psychoempathy and Resonance, allow for more detailed control of others
Notable Witchlings: Death-Breath, Verminborn
**It is possible that the Time-Eater originated in this generation

1114: The Neuromancers—Enhanced mental capabilities, nervous system robustness, problemsolving, intelligence, etc.
Notable Witchlings: Nikodareus Mharsh
**It is possible that the Time-Eater originated in this generation

1124: The Spectrals—A reinvestigation of Dynamism paired with Operations, focusing on manipulation of perception and projection.
Notable Witchlings: Silmon Wald

1134: The Clandestines—Subtler expressions of previous generation abilities, in assorted combinations; most successful with Neuromancy and Operation, and to a lesser degree Spectraldynamics
-Notable Witchlings: Eramis Dhorum, Hyde Grimshaw

1144-1164: The Biomancers—Heightened Endocrine systems to increase likelihood reflexive arcane response to stimuli, as well as establish predisposition for thrillseeking and violence.
Sarhía Morley, Ofhelia Dyre
***Ofhelia's heightened endocrine system may have multiplicaticely enhanced her psychophysiological response to inheriting a Tarnish, triggering a major mutation cascade.

1174+: The Apex—Consolidating the research of previous generations, the Apex Generation is meant to be the final, lethal strike against the Tarnished and Corrigan, with all previous witchlings acting as supplemental utilities and managment. The Apex Witchlings possess the most extensive improvements to longevity, health, and healing factor of any generation thus far. They are also equipped with witchsight, and like the Biomancers, given the bolstered endocrine response to stress, providing additional adrenaline and endorphins to the system when faced with danger. Unlike previous generations, no predisposition has been established for Biomancy, Geomancy, Psychoempathy, Resonance, Electro/Spectral/Thermo Dynamics, or any other studied field—instead, all potentials are epigenetically present but dormant. These potentials can be unlocked in any manifestion/combination through the witchling's enhanced nervous system, which first) bolsters the number and efficacy of their mirror-neurons and autonomic functionalities (ie, balance, reflex, intuition), and second) limits dendritic pruning and reinforces myelination during infancy and adolescence, allowing for a higher degree of connective pathways to foster skills in learning, memory, and problem solving. The desired effect is to allow the body and spirit to self-regulate the rate and direction of mutagenic adaptation as ideal to the witchling's environment and predispositions; the compounding effects should ultimately create multidiscipline arcane prodigies that can harness the full intuitive capacities of their Norn spirits.
-Notable Witchlings: N Donahue