| “ | They're more like the ugly stepsister. Travelers have a grudge toward anyone that draws their magic from Nature. Something about witches cursing the land to turn it against them. Now they're on the move. | ” |
— Olivia to Jeremy about the Travelers in Rescue Me.
| ||
The Travelers are a mysterious, several millennia old, once powerful, cursed sub-culture of witches who have presumably been transmitting the knowledge of their spells from one generation to another since their emergence around the time of the Roman Empire, in modern Europe.
Silas, Qetsiyah, and Markos were said to be the most powerful members during their time, and possibly the three most powerful members of all time. However, Silas became immortal, rendering him unable to practice magic; Qetsiyah was later killed by the group for making immortality achievable; and Markos was indirectly killed by The Hollow in season four of The Originals. The Travelers also kept Amara's body, which was used as the anchor for the Other Side, hidden for thousands of years until Qetsiyah brought herself back to life and located it with her magic.
The structure of the witch coven seems to consist of a hierarchy with there being a Leader, who is usually chosen due to being the strongest, having the most knowledge, and being wise. In addition, there can sometimes be up to three given Leaders or co-Leaders if desired by the members of the coven; an example of this would be Katherine taking up the role of Leadership aside Markos when she married him. There are also Elders within the Traveler coven, and they are chosen for the position based on their knowledge and wisdom and what they can offer for the coven. In addition, the Travelers have a unique position to their coven, which is known as the "executor." The role of the executor is to help maintain coven order and rules, and to help track down members who run away or commit crimes.
Membership to the coven is earned by birthright and people are still considered to be members of the coven even when they lose their ability to practice magic, such as Nadia becoming a vampire yet still being considered a de facto member of the coven. Additionally, it is also possible for an individual or family to be granted membership into the coven either by a Leader, Elder, or group vote.
After Silas and Qetsiyah created the spell for immortality, it caused several schisms among the witches, which lasted for several generation and resulted in the Travelers spreading out across Europe. Some were conservatives who wanted to maintain the balance of nature by not using magic to create abnormalities, such as the Immortals. On the other hand, a group of witches that would become the Travelers known today believed that they could use their pure magic to perform greater things much like their former member, Qetsiyah, who had created immortality.
Amongst the witches who wanted to use their magic for more power was Markos, who spent time gathering the early members of the Travelers and repairing the different factions within the coven; eventually, the Traveler coven became one coven again. In a result of the Travelers continuing to grow in power and cause disturbances, the witches, specifically the Trinity Coven and Hecate, who was angered by the abuse of magic by the Travelers and fearing the damage that they could do to the world, placed a curse on the their entire coven and subculture to prevent them from using traditional forms of magic and from gathering and settling as a tribe. The curse made them who they are due to its effects. The Travelers created a new form of magic and found ways around the curse such as the creation of the Passengers so they could gather without fear of repercussions, and without the witches noticing.
It is worth noting that despite being nothing more than cursed witches with mastery over a darker form of witchcraft, Travelers deny the fact that they are witches, possibly due to the hate and jealousy they feel towards all witches, stating that once the Travelers were cursed, perversions of pure magic appeared, much to their dismay, which caused a dramatic and irreversible change in their very nature as a species. Witches share this too, as they directly deny that the Travelers are witches, most likely out of contempt.
The only members of the Travelers who are not bound by the Traveler curse are Katherine Pierce, Nedyalka Petrova, Adyelya and Håkon Mikaelson, and Anton Petrov (via his marriage to Mariya Harman). The reason for Katherine, Nedyalka, Adyelya and Håkon are not bound by the Traveler curse is due to being part of the bloodline which cursed the Travelers—that is, part of the way to break the curse upon the Travelers is to use blood from the bloodline which cast the spell, a personal item from the witch who cast the spell, a powerful astronomical event, and a witch from the coven which helped to cast the spell. However, via marriage and a Unification Ceremony, Katherine and Markos find another way to release the Travelers from their curse in season two of The Originals. By joining together in a special unifying ritual, the curse binding the Travelers coven was overridden.
History[]
The Travelers were an ancient community of gifted witches who apparently used powerful magic to achieve great things, including things that were frowned upon by other witches. Qetsiyah and Silas—and later Markos—were two original members of the Travelers and considered to be their most powerful members. However, things changed for the Travelers when the two created a spell for immortality. When it was used on Silas and Amara, it caused a severe schism in the entire witch community, possibly over the subject of immortality itself and the possibilities that came with being a witch.
Within the Traveler coven, the creation of the immortality spell and the schism in the witch community, resulted in many warring factions forming in the coven—these different factions then spread out throughout Europe. The community was divided between those witches who sought to preserve what they saw as the natural balance of the world by using their powers for that aim, and those who believed they could use it to do anything. The war between the multiple factions of the Travelers lasted for several generations until a young man, Markos, from a royal faction, managed to reunite the coven once more into one, single unit and coven. The Travelers began to gain power again, growing stronger and more confident in their ability, especially as Markos was able to unite the coven under the idea of being able to use magic for better things, development, and to become the best—there was no need for witches, specifically the Travelers, to hide from the humans or bow down to any others covens when they had power.
Throughout The Vampire Diaries[]
Throughout The Originals[]
Purification of Magic & the Curse[]
Traveler Magic[]
Pre-Cursed Members[]
Leaders[]
Members[]
Former Members[]
Affiliates[]
Trivia[]
- According to Silas, they were once referred to as gypsies; though, he may have been merely insulting them.
- They were responsible for Qetsiyah's death.
- They were the guardians of the anchor to the Other Side, which they stole after they killed Qetsiyah.
- They move the the Anchor to the Other Side (which is revealed to be the desiccated Amara) wherever they go.
- The Travelers hold a grudge against the Trinity Coven, specifically Hecate and her bloodline, for cursing them.
- Howevering, this eventually changes after the bloodline, through Katherine, releases them from the curse.
Gallery[]