“The Devil-Witch Of The Mountain Pass”

​The most devious witch of the Far North, Awhiana Topaia, resided in a narrow pass East of The Black Lake – a lake that has long since dried and disappeared from memory. She had traveled with the original canoes, but she never married and settled, and was renowned among her people for her mystical powers. 

​Over time Awhiana befriended the powerful Taniwha Pōria, and studied dark magic under his tutelage. This did not sit well with her village elders, and the tohunga was banished from her iwi – a decision she would never forget nor forgive, when she returned to cast a wicked spell that decimated the tribe. Her devotion to the darkest arts were now complete.

​Toward the end of the first Taniwha War, Awhiana had sided with neither Aho or Taniwha, and she even deceived Pōria, striking her master down and stealing all of his secrets.

​She became too dangerous for the Taniwha, and they cruelly hunted her down and blinded her as punishment, leaving her to fate. This was not the end of the witch, as she settled the Pass and grew her terrible legend by slaying all who either tried to cross her or navigate the hilly region she controlled. 

​Her hut was built from the skeletal remains of her victims, and she even tried to remove their eyes in the belief she could replace her own. Her last known conflict was against Tu-haka Waewae – the outcome of which no-one ever witnessed, and the witch – whom studied and practiced the secret of long-life – was never heard from again.