Patchwork Sorcerers

Perennial adversaries of witches, patchwork sorcerers could conceivably take the place of the Church of Radiance as protectors of humanity were it not for the pernicious contagiousness of the power they wield.

Despite their haughty demeanour, patchwork sorcerers are not the masters of their power, but merely its vessels. Each of them believes in the strength of their will that prevents them from becoming puppets possessed by the patchwork spirits, yet none have managed to elude this fate.

Patchwork sorcery is passed on to the beholder, and the endurance of one's sanity under this curse remains an enigma. No one knows how long an individual's mind can withstand the onslaught before becoming an empty husk from which the patchwork spirits emerge.  Thus, anyone can try to tread the path of a patchwork sorcerer, but only one in a hundred will find the strength not to surrender to the patchwork blight instantly. For those who withstand the first onslaught, the further struggle will persist throughout a lifetime. Few, however, can withstand it for long - most often, the bearers of the patchwork blight descend into madness and give up in the first month.

Nevertheless, the surviving patchwork sorcerers become capable of twisting reality at will, honing their craft in the form of Sigils - the foundational element of patchwork sorcery. They summon torrents of flame and bind patchwork spirits, strike their enemies with levitating objects and tear them from within, turning their blood into ice spikes.

The Church of the Radiance forbids the study of patchwork sorcery due to its extreme peril. After all, most who have attempted to delve into the essence of the patchwork sorcery symbols eventually fall prey to its malevolence. That said, no symbol is uniquely dangerous - some individuals can peruse blasphemous tomes from cover to cover and not feel a thing. In contrast, others become haunted by patchwork spirits with but a glimpse of the patchwork symbols.

Even the Ladies and Lords of Radiance can be susceptible to the insidious grasp of the patchwork spell, so their helmets always have a blind visor, prepared for encounters with the patchwork spirits or their source. Only witches and their ilk can somehow ignore the horrendous effects of the patchwork sorcery - perhaps because they are already the receptacles of other evil?