Tag: wild magic

#Lore24 – Entry #188 – Supers Month II #7 – Conversations on the Trails into the West

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

Once I’d calmed myself down and gotten over my shock at seein’ the pair alive and kickin’, I was of a mind that they were out to get revenge on me for it.  But that weren’t the case, cause neither of them held a grudge, even admitted to havin’ died plenty of times before.  I’ll admit, that one threw me a bit.  So, I took a seat and started askin’ the tough questions. 

They weren’t shy ‘bout talkin’ to me ‘bout themselves, since I already knew they weren’t what you’d call “human”.  Turns out they were only half-human, the other half bein’ genie.  Found that one hard to believe, but they was dead serious ‘bout it, and they’d been around for centuries.  Back when the great mage Scheherazade (always thought she was just a character in them “Arabian Nights” stories till I met these two) had first whipped up the true genies, breedin’ was one of the first things humanity felt they had to do with ‘em.  Here I thought modern times was right indecent in that way, but turns out, ain’t nothin’ had really changed.  So, they was amongst the first of the half-genie children that were made, and some of the few still roamin’ around on Earth.  They had taken up the duty of guarding the planet, they told me, from all kinds of supernatural evils and the like. 

You could say I was doubtful, but that would puttin’ it mildly given what I’d seen the two get up to in the town they’d very nearly destroyed.  That they shrugged off as just one of their “little arguments”.  They’d been huntin’ a particular vampire that had been roamin’ the town, they said, one with a taste for children, so Assane had gone and changed up her appearance to that of a child as bait.  When the deed was done and the vampire was dusted, she’d decided to stay that way for a bit, and this got Richard all riled up cause he thought she wasn’t attractive when she looked that way, and then it had spiraled out of control, she’d gotten drunk, lost control of herself for a few days, and then the rest was as I explained it earlier.

Apparently when you live forever, time don’t mean much, so what’s a few days or weeks in a drunken stupor? 

Anyway, they’d been married early on, sometime during the Crusades I reckon, though I don’t rightly know which one, both bein’ of royal blood and all.  And apparently, they’ve been causin’ trouble all over the world ever since, whenever they get into arguments or if they ain’t too careful in who they cozy up with.  Turns out these two might’ve been responsible, well, more or less, for more than one tragedy one the centuries, but that ain’t a story I’m tellin’ here; you want to know, you ask them about it.

With them revelations out in the open, I started askin’ them ‘bout how they did their magic, cause it was a good ways beyond what I could manage back then.  Turns out most of their powers came natural to them, given that they’re elementals to some extent, given their genie heritage and all, though they’d learned plenty of spells and rituals beyond what their elemental nature let them do.  I got the impression they felt I was about as capable as a newborn babe on the scale of our magic talents, but I ‘spose they saw somethin’ in me, cause as we’d travel further on, they’d teach me plenty that Granny Opal had never even imagined, or at least, had never bothered to mention.

After ridin’ down the Mississippi for a while, we disembarked in St. Louis and started headin’ west.  We didn’t have much in the way of a goal at first, cause all of us were curious to see the new side of the country that had opened up, and to get away from the nastiness that followed the war.  They hadn’t been in America too awful long themselves, just a few decades, and most of that was spent on the east coast.

Turns out there was plenty of things to keep us busy out there.  My eyes were opened up to all kinds of things I had only thought of as fanciful stories or myth till I started hangin’ round these two.  First night in St. Louis we wound up takin’ down another bunch of vampires (they just love the city life, good food supply), and it weren’t a week later we were trackin’ down a right ornery bunch of werewolves that were terrorizin’ the people travellin’ out west.  For all their rash behavior and dang near childlike antics at times, they were mighty impressive to watch when they worked.  They’d always try to make introductions and handle things peaceable, even when we came up on that pack of werewolves while they was in the middle of eatin’ their most recent kills.  Basically the choice was to get the hell out of this world and off to another one, or die where they was standin’, and bein’ pretty sure of themselves, lackin’ proper arcane trainin’ and all, they had no clue what they was facin’.  Guess the ways of the Old World weren’t so well known in these parts.

And so things went for the better part of the winter months that year, more or less without misfortune, movin’ on from one town to another on the trail of some maneater or troublesome fey or some cult doin’ magic they had no business delvin’ in, the kind dealin’ with elder bein’s from beyond, that kinda foul thing.  I had to act as mediator between the two half-genies a few times, and they’d manage to rope me into some rather…intimate affairs I ain’t gonna speak of here.  They’re nothin’ if not passionate, I’ll say that. 

Our good deeds wouldn’t go unnoticed, though, and soon enough we’d find ourselves bein’ the ones that were getting’ hunted.

#Lore24 – Entry #187 – Supers Month II #6 – Burning Passions, Burning Buildings

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

Havin’ suffered the loss of my family as I had, and then spendin’ the last few years mostly alone in the hills talkin’ to Granny Opal and our familiars, I weren’t in no position to be offerin’ no shoulder to cry on.  Not that I could really know how to comfort whatever this woman was; I knew she weren’t exactly human by then.  I finally managed to find my voice again when I felt the prickle of ice on my skin, even through my wards, and realized she was colder than the wintery cemetery was, yet not a bit of ice stuck to her. 

She looked a mite embarrassed when she realized what she was doin’, and picked herself up, wiping at her tears, which were somehow stayin’ wet in the frigid air.  She went and sat on some poor feller’s tomb and cried some more but told me about how she’d had a fight with her husband, gotten a little drunk, and needed to be alone for a while.  Course, that sounded right normal to me, and not a word of it explained why I was standin’ in near two feet of snow in October.  Still on edge, and waitin’ for an attack of some kind, I cautiously leaned up against one of the tall, statuesque grave markers and asked her blunt-like what she was tryin’ to hide, what she was, and what she was doin’ with the weather.

It was almost like she hadn’t even realized she’d been controllin’ it then, given that look on her face.  I will admit, that was one of the few times I ever saw Assane embarrassed by the things she did.  Almost at once the cold eased around her, and the wind started to die down, though it’d take another couple of days for the cold to clear up altogether and get back to a more seasonable climate.  She collected herself from there, using a quick burst of magic to gussy up her appearance and change her clothes into somethin’ that looked more fitting for the cold.  Certainly, she was more talented with the arts than I was, cause I’d never seen the like from Granny Opal’s teachin’s. 

‘Fore I knew it, we was headed back into town proper like, her ridin’ with me on Asher.  He weren’t havin’ no trouble in the heavy snow, even with the both of us, given the little magical tricks he’d used all on his own.  By evenin’, we were sittin’ down for a proper meal at the hotel, and I was tryin’ to learn more about her, though she was bein’ just as curious ‘bout me, always leadin’ the conversation off herself and back to me.

It was durin’ our little sparrin’ match that her husband Richard would show up, and my fate were sealed.  I’d almost got her to spill the beans ‘bout what she was when her face darkened and I felt the air go cold ‘round us, her eyes a lookin’ to the doorway.  Again, I won’t be sayin’ much ‘bout appearances, cause those meant little to these two, but Richard was comin’ in like all was forgiven, but she weren’t havin’ none of it.  Weren’t long before the two were standin’ right in the middle of the restaurant and yellin’ at one another.  Didn’t take me long to figure why, cause I was lookin’ him over with my mystic sight and found the same odd nature I’d seen with Assane, only he was pure fire instead of solid ice.

Now, I never claimed to understand just how love works, nor how opposites attract; works for magnets, guess it worked for these two, but damn, they can be trouble when they get riled up.  Kinda put me in mind of a couple a spoilt children after a while.  Couldn’t have known then how right I was on that one…  Anyhow, before I knew it, Assane had slapped the shit outta Richard, and he slapped right back, then the two was a brawlin’ right there in the floor.  There was a right ton of onlookers, downright mortified most of them, cause this weren’t no proper behavior for a lady nor a gent. 

I saw the magic bubblin’ up from the pair right before it exploded, before I could do much about it.  Fire burst outta him, and ice came outta her, uncontrolled, wild, like their brand of love, I guess.  Next thing I knew, people was runnin’ and screamin’, the buildin’ was a burnin’ on one side and froze solid on the other.  Worse, the two had found their way out onto the street, and their magic was a spreadin’ all over the street.  I weren’t equipped for this kinda thing, cause I hadn’t learnt no magic that could hope to stand up to their power yet, so I just did what I could to try and get people outta harms way. 

They were like a force of nature at this point, and though it might’ve been less, I woulnd’t have been surprised if a quarter of the city was either burning or froze up.  People had already been hurt, but there weren’t nobody else who could deal with the two, so I had to make a tough choice then.  I didn’t like killin’, but I weren’t about to see a bunch of innocents get killed over a lovers’ quarrel, so Asher and I rode up after then.  I tried to reason with them, but they weren’t hearin’ none of it, even flung fire and ice my way when I got too close.  As much as I hated to, I unloaded my six-shooter into them. 

I think they were probably just as surprised by it as I was, but my improved magic bullets did the job, and the two fell dead in each other’s arms, all tragic romance like. 

I didn’t linger longer than I had to after that.  I did what I could to help fight the fires, and after a long night, I avoided the hard questions that were a stirrin’ in town and hit the first boat bound down the Ohio River, a bit shellshocked at havin’ to kill a pair like that. 

I was sleepin’ real sound from sheer exhaustion after that in my tiny cabin.  I’d gone to bed alone, Asher up on deck with the other horses, so when I awoke later on in the day, I was right surprised to discover I weren’t the only one in the bed.  I must’ve squealed right loud when I realized I had two people pressed up on either side of me, but I was even more surprised when I’d hopped out of bed and realized who they was. 

I’d gunned the pair down myself the night before, but here they was, grinnin’ at me just as alive as they had been the night before durin’ their spat, though they looked completely different now, aside from what I saw of their true forms with my mystic sight. 

“We like you; you’ve got guts, kid,” Richard had said, flashin’ a smooth smile at me.  “How about we get to know each other properly?”

I should’ve refused the offer.  Lord only knows why I didn’t.

#Lore24 – Entry #186 – Supers Month II #5 – Winter Comes Early in Louisville

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

After that hot summer down in Franklin, and a little more time spent in the surroundin’ area to make sure no more of them mongrels were lurkin’ about, I eventually drifted up north, and into Louisville.  It just so happened that fall was comin’ on hard by then, and when I say hard, I mean winter hard.  There was a cold snap came in, and it was downright wintery up there, and it was barely halfway through October; had snow in the air and everything.  Asher pointed it out to me first off:  that weren’t no natural weather pattern what had come in; it was magical.  I was downright impressed with the scale they’d managed to change up the weather, but then I started wonderin’ exactly why whoever was responsible for it had done it.  Didn’t make no sense at first glance, ‘ceptin’ to make things harder on the folk ‘round the city, till I got to thinkin’ about some of Granny Opal’s stories and lectures.  Looked like I had another monster runnin’ around to deal with, some kinda feyfolk or, Lord forbid, a wendigo.

Well, as I would soon learn, I weren’t to have no such good luck.

I restocked my supplies and got me some winter clothes first off, checked into a hotel for the first time in a good while and started to get a feel for Louisville and the arcane flows that were messin’ with the weather.  The flows of magic weren’t like anything I’d seen before.  They were subtle, mostly hidden, but stronger than anything I’d encountered before, like a true master of the arcane had formed them.  As I was tracin’ them out and lookin’ for a source, I began to wonder if I was steppin’ in on the territory of some witch more powerful than Granny Opal, cause I’d never seen even her make somethin’ like this. 

So, after a few days trudgin’ round in the freezin’ weather, with snow startin’ to pile up, I finally managed to trace down the source, which was in the Cave Hill Cemetery.  Once I’d worked out the nature of the flows, it was like a vortex swirlin’ around the place, and a cold one at that.  I was wrackin’ my brain tryin’ to figure out what could be lurkin’ in there that could be controllin’ the weather like that, what kinda creature could or would do it.

Well, when Asher and I finally made our way in, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, so I had insulated myself against cold magic and had some fiery surprises in store for whatever it was.  What I didn’t expect to find was a beautiful woman wearing a rather scandalous dress for the time, the kind you’d see in a brothel, even if it was colored more like something befitting a funeral, moping about amongst the graves, not affected in the slightest by the wintery weather.  Won’t say much about her looks here, cause, as I’d learn, how she looks from one time to another don’t much matter.  She hadn’t noticed me as I approached, too deep in her melancholy, and I strained to get a read on what she was.  She looked human at first, and for the longest time, I thought she was, but once I’d had a good long look at her with my mystic sight, I finally pierced the magic that was around her; there was a spell up to keep her from being noticed, one I’d used myself plenty of times, but there was somethin’ extra about her appearance. 

But it weren’t no illusion she wore.  I wasn’t even sure what I’d seen even then, cause what I saw didn’t make no sense to me.  It was like I saw two overlapping images that were at once the same being; one the human woman, the other a woman composed entirely of elemental ice and cold, both bound together by something else I just couldn’t put my finger on.  She must’ve finally felt my eyes on her, cause she whipped around suddenly, and the air got even colder somehow, pressing down on my wards against it like an avalanche rolling down a mountain; it was all I could do to hold them in place.  Even Asher got anxious, dancing about a bit despite himself.

She didn’t attack me outright, though, seemed more startled that I’d spotted her, really.  We stared at one another for several minutes I think, not sure what to make of one another.  I sensed her mystic sight upon me as she looked me over and saw her look of puzzlement.  Finally, I broke the ice, so to speak, and introduced myself, and that I was just inquirin’ as to why she felt the need to turn the Louisville area into a winter wonderland, and if there were anything I could do to help her out. 

Lookin’ back on it now, I suppose that was one of the biggest mistakes I could’ve made.

Before I knew it, she had burst into tears and was on her knees in the snow, cryin’ her eyes out about her lover and her getting’ into a big fight, and before I knew it, I was down there tryin’ to comfort her.  Finally got a name out of her, and it was a weird one for Kentucky to be sure, Assane.  Sounded foreign, just couldn’t guess which kinda foreign back then, not that I would’ve ever guessed it right anyway.

I certainly had no idea what was happenin’ right then, nor could I have understood exactly what I’d just stepped into, but the next few years would be one hell of a ride.

#Lore24 – Entry #185 – Supers Month II #4 – Something Worse than Man

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

With some supplies from Granny Opal’s stores, a bit of food, and plenty of powder and shot, I set out from her cabin and didn’t look back.  I wanted to see the country, see what had become of it after the war.  I was kinda an odd case at that time, I guess.  I’d had my life torn apart by the war, but I didn’t feel no strong emotions about it.  I guess my trainin’ in the arcane, learnin’ that there was a much bigger world out there that most people don’t even know about kinda put things in a whole new perspective.  Things I’d only heard of growin’ up that I thought were fairy tales were real, in some way or another, and though I didn’t know it at the time, it weren’t too long before I’d run headlong into some of them.

I’d only ever been around small towns and the hill folk growin’ up and even when I was with Granny Opal, so for all my desire to explore, I was nervous as heck when it came to dealin’ with people, and they were not shy about givin’ me the hairy eyeball.  Guess it was the fact that I was dressed like a mountain man, wearin’ leathers and hides instead of them dresses and the like that women normally wore back then. 

I was a lady out of time even when I was a youngin’, I ‘spose. 

Still, as I made my way along through the small towns and down them hills and valleys of Kentucky, goin’ from place to place, I was slowly learnin’ how to speak with folk again, though I could tell there was some serious trauma all over the place.  I’d lost count of how many wounded soldiers I’d seen makin’ their ways back home, or how many homesteads I’d come across that were abandoned or burnt out.  Weren’t none of it right, and it ought not have happened, and I don’t even think I understand exactly how it came about even to this day.

But, I’m ramblin’ on here when I need to get to my point.  It were maybe three months after I’d cleared on outta Granny Opal’s holler and I was over on the western end of the state in the flatlands, just south of Bowling Green when I first came across one of them kinds of things Granny had warned me about.  By this time, I’d managed to earn a bit of money and had won a few shootin’ contests, and had myself a pretty well-kept Colt Navy revolver and a proper gun belt and clothes (still weren’t wearin’ none of them fancy dresses, though), and I still had my trusty old Enfield and a wicked little Arkansas toothpick I’d picked up.

As it were, I came across the scene of a right tragic affair down in a town called Franklin, and a spread that had been allied with the Confederates that had seen its own brand of Union terrors.  Place stood out cause it was a unique lookin’ house, octagon shaped, and I could see the arcane energy in turmoil all over the property.  Was somethin’ much worse lurkin’ around them parts back then, cause the Veil Between Worlds was right thin there; I just didn’t know if it were cause of what happened, or if that had caused the stuff that had happened there.  I’d seen places that had off-kilter flows before, but nothin’ like this.  Didn’t take much talkin’ with the locals to learn that somethin’ was goin’ on, and it weren’t no Union troops doin’ it.  There were people goin’ missin’, and piles of bloody remains bein’ found, like people and livestock both were bein’ butchered and eaten.

Don’t know really what made me do it, just a sense of doin’ the right thing, I guess, but I decided to do what I could to deal with the problem.  Not that I was no expert or nothin’, but I reckon I could shore up the barrier and root out anything that might’ve been comin’ through.  Won’t linger too long on the nitty-gritty details here; after some huntin’, I’d learnt that it was a pack of dogmen that had moved into the area, come from somewhere on the other side through the leyline that went through the area.  Kinda like werewolves, only without the subtlety, I ‘spose.

It weren’t the brightest decision I ever made to track these things, to be sure, but I was young and dumb back then.  They knew I was a trackin’ them pretty quick, and it weren’t long before they came after me.  Musta been a good two-dozen of them in that pack.  Asher and I both got one hell of a workout that first encounter, and thankfully they’d only sent half a dozen after the lone human and her horse, thinkin’ I was easy prey.  They weren’t countin’ on me havin’ magic bullets, nor on Asher movin’ faster than them.  He weren’t just no ordinary horse, after all, and had grown stronger alongside me.

After that, things got real dangerous, real cat n’ mouse kind of huntin’, and I took a few licks myself.  If you can, I’d recommend NOT getting’ bit or clawed by dogmen; ain’t a pleasant thing.  I must’ve been out there in those fields and patches of trees for a good two weeks trackin’ these things in and out of the places where they’d jump the Veil.  Each time I’d come across a portal, I’d work up the ritual to seal it off, usually havin’ to fend off another bunch of the pack while I did it.  They eventually got the hint, though, and cleared out of the territory, and I put up as strong a warding as I could in the area to bolster the Veil, though I don’t expect it to have lasted forever.  Ain’t had a chance to make it back there to follow up, cause my life would take a drastic turn after that little excursion. 

#Lore24 – Entry #184 – Supers Month II #3 – The Way of the Gun

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

The rifle I’d managed to get my hands on weren’t anything special, just an old Enfield muzzleloader that had seen a bit too much work on the battlefield.  Accurate enough for what I wanted if a bit on the “well-used” side, but not like them new fancy repeaters that were startin’ to show up.  Couldn’t get my hands on a new Springfield or no revolvers at the time either, but that’d come later on.  I’d grown up with this kind of gun anyhow, so I knew all about their quirks.  Even spending a couple years in the hills with Granny Opal didn’t affect my aim too much; a dozen shots with the gun and I was pretty much dead on target.  Not that she appreciated all my shootin’ up in her holler, and I don’t reckon Smoky liked it none either, but the meat I brought in with it made up for it, even if she might’ve looked at me like I was a little off in my head.

Still, weren’t too long after that when I started playin’ around and mixin’ my magical learnin’ with my shootin’.  Started by enhancin’ my caps so that they would always go off for one, so none of that misfirin’ for me!  Then I started messin’ with some of the divination to enhance my aimin’; before long I was nailin’ shots with that ol’ rifle that nobody on Earth had the right to make.  After that, I got the bright idea to start infusin’ some elemental energy into my shot.  First time I shot a tree with one of them explodin’ Minie balls, I was somehow impressed and terrified at the same time.  After that I toned things down a bit, makin’ a smaller charge, tryin’ some fire and ice and such.  Even tried workin’ with the power to try some kinda quick reloadin’ scheme with an elemental helper, but that didn’t work out so well.  Wouldn’t be the craziest thing I’d wind up doin’ with my guns by any stretch; I was just getting’ started after all.

One day down in town, I heard that the War Between the States was declared done and learned about President Lincoln getting’ assassinated.  Seemed like things were on the mend, but I’d learn soon enough that couldn’t be further from the truth.  Still, I got that itch to see just how things had changed since those Union bastards came in on us.  I was still raw about that, but war ain’t nothin’ great, and brings out the worst in everyone, so I wasn’t plannin’ on holdin’ a grudge or nothin’; I done dealt with those that did it, after all, and was finally startin’ to sleep full nights again without wakin’ up screamin’. 

But, that’s neither here nor there.  Once I’d mentioned to Granny Opal I was thinkin’ about explorin’ about a bit, she put me through my paces in the next few weeks, makin’ sure I had all the knowledge I could ever need.  We parted on good terms, in her cantankerous way, and I was even told I was welcome back if I ever found myself back in this neck of the woods.  I’d never make it back to her, though, and I never really found out what happened to her, but I half expect to see her show up somewhere down the line, chidin’ me for not visitn’ her none.

#Lore24 – Entry #183 – Supers Month II #2 – The Way of Magic

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

I’d learn a few things when I finally woke up and took account of where I was.  I could smell the age of the old cabin mixed with the scent of herbs and fresh-baked bread, saw that my wounds had been tended and bandaged.  It only took a few moments before I realized I was right hungry, so I eased out of bed, unsteady as I was at the time, and stepped through the open doorway into the main room of the cabin.  That was when I’d meet Granny Opal for the first time, a witch older than the hills themselves so it was said.  I’d heard the name growin’ up but didn’t ever figure the tales of a witch up in the distant hills to be fact till I saw her and she introduced herself.  She weren’t nothing like what I figured from what I’d heard about her; she looked more like the ‘granny’ of her namesake than the old crone you’d think of when you hear the word “witch”, gray hair up in a bun, plump and wrinkled with age, a little pair of glasses threatening to slip off her nose, that kind of look. 

Still, she weren’t one to mince words and dillydally about, so she told me how it was and how it was going to be for a fair sight.  As she told it, I’d sought her out on my own after a fashion now that my powers had woke up, and she was gonna teach me how not to get myself and others killed with what I could do, at least, not by accident.  I guess maybe she took a bit of pity on me then when my stomach spoke up, cause she said she’d wait till after breakfast before startin’ my lessons.  I never once questioned her ‘bout all this; just seemed right to me now that I didn’t really have noweheres else to go; I had family up north ‘round Lexington somewhere, so I’d been told, but I never met them, so they might as well not have ever existed.  I took a seat at the old table and noted all the strange things she had hangin’ ‘round her place, animal bones and sticks and beads and feathers and the like, all kinds of different arrangements, and all kinds of bottles and jugs filled with things I’d learn about later on, not all of them pleasant.  Granny Opal was a good cook, I’d say, fixed some fine bread and stew, though the taste was a little funny till you got used to it.

Once my stomach weren’t interruptin’ us from jawin’, she started teachin’ me about what had happened.  I started gettin’ images in my head of what all had happened that day as my memories came rushin’ back.  I got real close to sickin’ up right then when I remembered what I’d done, but managed to hold all that food I’d just eaten in somehow.  As she went over the basics and started learnin’ me some techniques to focus my mind and spirit and my head cleared up, I first became aware of my familiar, Asher, lingerin’ over by the fence, chewin’ on some grass.  Turns out he’d been my familiar since I’d handled breakin’ him in a couple years back, I just never realized what it was I’d done.  Now that I’d started learnin’ the ways of magic, it weren’t long before I was talkin’ to him in my head and hearin’ his voice just as plain as day.  That’s how I eventually learned he’d picked me up out in the woods, havin’ slipped outta the stables on his own once the shootin’ started, and he’d sensed Granny Opal all on his own and took me to her.

I’d be sittin’ out the rest of the War with Granny Opal, becoming an apprentice witch, I suppose.  She’d introduce me to her familiar soon enough, a big ol’ bobcat named Smoky, and though he weren’t no normal bobcat, he still put Asher’s nerves on edge whenever he was about.  I’d learn that our familiars acted as something of a buffer and a conduit for tappin’ into the magic that was all around us, though I reckon magic had started to fade away from the world a while back for whatever reason, which was why there weren’t too many of us witches about anymore.  They were also magical beings, our familiars, bonded to us for the rest of our days, though they could certainly still be killed through other means, and were that to happen, we’d lose our connection to the majority of our magic till we bonded a new one. 

I’d learn some basic control techniques, how to call upon the elements and formulate magical essence into our “spells”, and a fair bit of her herbalism and alchemy, and how to use the mystic sight, too.  ‘Course, I had to learn all them pesky rules and such about what I should and shouldn’t be doin’ with my magic, but I’ll save all that lecturin’ for somewheres else. 

We didn’t see a lot of visitors out there at Granny Opal’s cabin; not many would venture out that way unless they was in need of some of her special healin’ poultices and the like.  Everyone was downright afraid of her, really, but I figure that was more just somethin’ she spread around to keep most people away.  She enjoyed her privacy, and just tolerated me for a short spell, I reckon.  Still, she weren’t unpleasant or mean, was a good teacher, and was mostly patient with me.  I’d ride Asher down through the hills a good ways to town ever so often to pick up a few supplies that weren’t traded to Granny by her occasional visitors, and I’d pick myself up a rifle for huntin’ and such after a fair bit of tradin’. 

Granny thought I was a might touched in the head when I came back with that gun, since everything we could ever need we could work through magic in some way or another, but I just didn’t feel right not havin’ one.  Sure, I could fling rocks or manage a spurt of fire, or somethin’ else like that by then, but I don’t reckon that’d go over well outside her little holler.  Folk just weren’t gonna accept that sort of thing in the modern world.  Might actually be why magic started to fade, I guess; people just stopped believen’ in it.  I didn’t plan on stickin’ around forever, and she didn’t expect me to either.  So, I’d start playin’ around on my own, and as I’d learn, I could do some right fancy tricks when I combined my magic with my shootin’. 

#Lore24 – Entry #182 – Supers Month II #1 – An Awakenin’ Magic

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

I weren’t raised for no book learnin’, and I never figured I’d ever be writin’ this stuff down, but I guess things in life don’t always go how you figured they would.  Since I joined up with the Order, I’ve been asked by Chrona to write out some details ‘bout my past and start keepin’ a record of things, so here we are, I guess.

I was raised up in the hills of Kentucky, over on the eastern part, in a good-sized family, the hard workin’ kind that took care of a large spread up in those hills, tendin’ to the plantin’ and raisin’ animals and such, though my paw always wanted to get a proper horse farm a goin’.  Back then, I had three brothers and a sister, and though we weren’t ever what you’d call “rich”, we lived pretty good.  Weren’t nothin’ really stood out about my early life too much, ‘cept my way with horses, I suppose.  I was always good with them, could “whisper” to’em as I heard it called back then, always knew what they were a thinkin’ and how to get’em to do whatever it was I need’em to do when nobody else could.  Put my big brothers to shame a time or two, I reckon, when none of them could break a particularly spirited horse to saddle, and I could just walk up to’em and speak a few things and they’d let me on’em just as pretty as you please.

‘Course, that was before the War Between the States done got started up, and everythin’ went to Hell.  We was in a border state, so weren’t never nothin’ easy back then.  Always had to walk on eggshells ‘round people who had been close friends back then, and there was always a sense of paranoia around.  Well, things went bad for my family back then, what with my brothers signin’ up and joinin’ the Confederacy along with most everyone else ‘round the hometown.  Won’t be speakin’ much of the details ‘bout then first couple years, just a bit too personal.  It’s what came later on that matters here, cause that’s when I really opened up my gates and experienced my magic for the first time, outside of what I was doin’ with the horses.

Well, as it was, the war went just about everywhere back then, so course, it had to come home eventually.  Weren’t good to learn that two of my brothers had gotten killed, put maw and my sister and me in a right bad state when my last brother rode in damn near dead from gunshot wounds that night.  Course, we didn’t have much time to grieve or register what was really goin’ down, cause weren’t too long before that Union detachment rode up, hot on the trail of my brother.  They was lead by one of our neighbors’ sons, one who I’d been sweet on once, show’d ‘em right where we were. 

Things got…violent, then.  Words were said, voices raised, and before we knew it the shootin’ started.  I weren’t too bad with a gun back then, cause I’d been raised with’em and had to start helpin’ with the huntin’ and such, not near as good as I am now, so I don’t think some of them soldiers were expectin’ it when me and my sis fought back too.  Well, that didn’t last, cause we weren’t no trained soldiers, and they had us outnumbered by a good many.  I don’t rightly recall how exactly it all went down, just remember that my paw and maw and brother were dead, my sis was dyin’ from a shot to her gut, and I had a bullet in my arm. 

As them soldiers came inside on us, the things they said, the outright hate they were a spewin’ at us, and the things they tried to do to me…well, something done broke inside me then.  It was like a dam just exploded then, and I felt my first real taste of magic just wellin’ up inside of me as all my anger and sorrow gushed out.  I remember them soldiers who were hasslin’ my sis went first, just exploded all over the place like nothin’ I’d ever seen before.  The rest…well, it was pure chaos.  Fire, ice, stuff I’m not so sure what it was, all of it went through them Union men and spread over the homestead, but specifics are lackin’ in my mind.

After it was all said and done, I remember churnin’ up the earth and buryin’ my family after that, like that magic flow was doin’ whatever I wanted it too at the time, then remember staggerin’ off into the woods, but don’t recall how exactly I wound up where I did after that, cause all that magic what came outta me left me drained.  Reckon it was a week later when I finally woke up, not as dead as I woulda figured on bein’, in an unfamiliar cabin a good ways off from the old homeplace, no idea how I’d wound up there.

 

#Lore24 – Entry #71 – Fantasy Month #11 – Ruins of Shinsei Daitoshi

 

From the journal of Angeliqua “Goldeneyes” Cartacustos:

 

A rather sad topic today, but such is the nature of history.  Once the capital city of a great Kerryn empire, Shinsei Daitoshi was destroyed following the Demonic Incursion approximately two-thousand years ago, when the sealing of the dimensional breach resulted in a terribly destructive explosion, which in turn triggered the Great Cataclysm that followed, reshaping the very face of Andyllion in the process.  The true history of the city, even its true name, and the kerryn empire that it once served, has been greatly obscured and erased by decree of the first Great Dragon Emperor during the same decree that saw the kerryns themselves perpetually enslaved, lest they be allowed to cause another calamity with their demon-summoning ways.  Or so the official history states.

As a side-note here, I feel that I must note that the Order itself was founded in the century following these decrees and the foundations of the Empire, in an attempt to preserve as much history as possible from those who would seek to bury or destroy it.  Such is the way of tyrants, I suppose.

Back to the topic at hand:  The ruins of Shinsei Daitoshi still remain, however, and lie several weeks travel to the west of Draconis Magna, beyond the Ashenvale and the Broken Spine Peaks, in the region now known as the Demon Blight, a magic-scoured wasteland filled with poisonous plants, deadly creatures, and horrible monstrosities, many of which bear the taint of demons to this day.  For those adventurers brave enough to venture into the region, the city ruins can be found roughly two-days travel beyond the start of the Blight, many of the ancient buildings still standing on the outskirts, but now crumpling ruins and just as likely to house vengeful spirits of the past as a demon-tainted monster hungry for a meal. 

Beyond the outskirts, the ruins become so much rubble, eventually leading to the center of the city, where the Gateway Crater now lies, spanning over a mile in diameter and just as deep by several accounts of those who have been there and returned alive, though later accounts state that it has since, at least partially, filled with toxic water infused with the lingering demonic essence in the area.  The entire region is likewise a wild zone for magical energies, with terrible arcane storms flaring up without warning, and spellcasting of all types becoming unreliable at best, dangerous to its wielders and their allies at worst, as the very magical essences are twisted and corrupted as they are cast, resulting in wild, unexpected outcomes, though most accounts indicate explosive results are the most common. 

And yet, there are always those foolhardy enough to risk venturing into the region and the city center, for there are still treasures to be uncovered, long lost secrets to scour from the destruction, lying buried in the rubble or in the vast underground tombs that were once the very buildings that composed the city.  The Emperor has of course decreed that such ventures are outlawed, but that has done little to stop such activities, as there are many places beyond the empire where such secrets are worth a fortune. 

I must admit that even I have a desire to at least see the ruins of Shinsei Daitoshi for myself, to walk amongst the ancient kerryn buildings and witness the Gateway Crater for myself.  I can only imagine what history has yet to be uncovered there, and perhaps what secrets may be uncovered that the Emperor wishes to remain thus.  I have much training to do yet, and will also admit to having little worldly experience in adventuring, so it is unlikely that I’ll ever venture there, but still, one can dream, though it may be considered a strange and terrible dream.  As a student of history, however, I feel rather obligated to uncover as much of it as possible in the small length of time I have upon this world.