Four Witches of Kathtom

The "Four Witches of Kathtom" is a moniker given to the four young female mages who were adopted and trained by the mage Ragishss, making their first appearance in the game Rance 02. They are Maria Custard, Eleanor Ran, Mill Yorks, and Shizuka Masou. They were told they would be trained to use their magic abilities to serve as Kathtom's guardians. After roughly a decade of instruction Ragishss graduated them and gifted them each with a powerful magical ring, known as the Phil Rings. Shortly thereafter, however, the girls, led by Shizuka Masou, rebelled against their teacher and killed him. They then cast a magical barrier on Kathtom and began researching forbidden magic, setting off the events of the game.

They appear at first to be the main antagonists, but this becomes less clear upon defeating the first "witch" Maria, who promptly joins the party. Maria reveals that the rings Ragishss gave them altered their personalities and have been the driving force behind their villainous acts. Furthermore, while the Phil Rings provide a substantial boost in magical power to its wearers, it will also steal magical power from any virgin Sorceress, siphoning it to another source. Ragishss was aware of this when he put the magical rings on the four girls and is revealed to be the true villain.

With the help of Rance's party, the Four Witches were eventually freed from the Phil Rings' possession (by Rance seeing to it that the girls were no longer virgins). When the rings were stolen from Rance by Ragishss spirit, along with all the power the rings had gathered, the girls set out to defeat him - though with little hope of winning against the newly empowered mage. Rance appears once again to aid them and in the end the combined efforts of Rance, Sill, and the Four Witches working together succeed in vanquishing Ragishss once and for all.

Since these events, the girls have played prominent roles in Rance's adventures and are rarely known as Witches anymore (with Maria largely abandoning the study of magic to focus on technology). With their minds restored the girls have taken up the duties they were originally promised, protectors of Kathtom. Maria and Shizuka maintain the defense of the city (and sometimes surrounding areas) from foreign threats. Mill tends an item shop with her sister, Milli. Ran stepped in as Mayor of the city and handles the administrative duties of Kathtom. For the most part the girls have taken up a peaceful existence - but they are still not to be taken lightly.