Serafina Pekkala

Serafina Pekkala is a witch queen Her daemon is Kaisa, a large grey goose, who is capable of being separated from Pekkala by long distances, as is normal with witches’ dæmons.

Serafina once had a child by the Gyptian Fader Coram, who saved her life when she was attacked by another witch’s dæmon. For witches to fall in love with men appears common. There are men within the witch society who serve the witches, or who can be taken for lovers or husbands. Witches are said to be capable of appreciating men for their beauty, intelligence and bravery; but due to the witches’ long life-span, the men appear to grow old and die almost at once. This is said to cause the witches great emotional pain. When witches give birth, their female children inherit magical powers and an extensive life-span, while male children do not and are therefore soon sent to live with their fathers.

According to Serafina, witches live for many hundreds of years. Serafina claims to be three hundred years old or more, and states that her clan’s “oldest witch mother” is nearly a thousand. Witches fly on branches of Cloud-Pine and equate flying to living; as Serafina states, “A witch would no sooner give up flying than give up breathing. To fly is to be perfectly ourselves”.