#Lore24 – Entry #192 – Supers Month II #11 – A Timely Meeting with Chrona Tempora Quanta

From the journal of Abigail “Sassy” Dawson, Mage of the Order of Hecate

I found out not long after we’d cleared out that demon that our actions were bein’ watched by more powers than what we figured on.  Or at least, mine in particular were, cause Richard and Assane were already spoken for, so to speak.  As we continued on to the northwest through them Black Hills, a couple days after we’d recovered from our demon-slayin’ and I’d restocked my supplies with some ammunition from the dead town, which, ironically enough, Richard would send off with a proper funeral pyre, I began to hear this callin’ in my head.  It weren’t like nothin’ I’d experienced before.  I knew it was a voice reachin’ out to me, and I suddenly knew exactly where to go.

So, I led the way, and soon enough, we’d spotted what later came to be called Devil’s Tower by the majority of folk, loomin’ up in the distance, and even this far away, I could sense the power of the place.  It was an ancient place, the kind that many people over the centuries and eons had used for various rituals and magics and interdimensional travel and the like, and here it was that someone was callin’ me to it.  I’d told Richard and Assane about the call, and they’d told me to trust it, cause they were pretty sure they knew who it was, but it was up to me to answer it or not.

So, me an’ Asher rode on, the genies followin’ behind, though they’d wind up waitin’ for me at the base of the tower.  Usin’ one of the tricks I’d learnt from my companions, I spurred Asher on right up the side of that tower, and we rode to the very top.  I weren’t sure exactly what I’d expected to find up there, but I could feel the warp in reality as I traveled upward.  Atop the tower I passed through a cloakin’ spell like nothin’ I’d ever experienced before, and then, as I topped the rise, passed through the dimensional barrier.  In an instant, I found myself ridin’ down an ancient stone pathway, through a garden filled with strange plants and scents I didn’t recognize but surrounded by a strange sense of calmness and serenity.  Loomin’ up beyond the garden was a massive castle, or something like a castle, huge and ancient and radiating power the likes of which I’d never seen before.

There was a pond at the center of this garden, and waitin’ for me by it was a lady dressed up in some fancy duds, stuff I thought might’ve come out of England, but, bein’ the uneducated sort I was back then, were actually a whole lot older.

This lady introduced herself as Chrona Tempora Quanta, head of the Order of Hecate.  I was not exactly sure what any of that was, nor had I heard a name like that before, but I introduced myself in turn once I was dismounted.  I certainly felt small then, but in spite of the distance of her nature, Chrona put me at ease soon enough.  She said that she’d been watching me for some time, since I’d decided to get involved in that affair with the dogmen near Bowling Green, in fact, and had approved of what it was I was doin’ with my time.  She was rather amused at my choice of traveling companions, though when she called them children, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.  Course, I didn’t know Chrona’s nature, nor her type of magic then, so it wouldn’t be for some time that I’d get what she meant.

She told me all about the Order of Hecate then, and had I not known magic myself, I’d have called her a loon, but somehow the idea of an ancient order of mages that existed on the boundaries between our world and the many beyond it seemed a good thing.  I would have much to learn, certainly, but with my aid in banishing the demon, I’d more than proven myself to join up with them.  She told me then that there would be lean times comin’ as far as magic was concerned in our world, and that, for a good while, I’d be the last recruit the Order would have, but that I’d always have a home with them, and could learn more about magic and how to hone my own in ways I’d never considered before.  And, if I wanted, I could continue doing the good work back on Earth for a while longer, cause she got the impression I weren’t quite done seein’ what the place had to offer.

It was a lot to take in, but the more questions I asked, and the more she told me, the more I knew I’d found myself a place to belong.  We must’ve talked for hours, but never did time seem to pass, and given what I’d learn about Chrona, that was no surprise.  But, after that good long chat, she bid me and Asher to follow along so that she could introduce me to the rest of the order and get me all settled in.