Conclave

Helena stepped between the realms.

Many lesser magicians called this stepping out of reality, but that was technically wrong.  Any place a magician could exist had to be real after all.  The mere act of stepping outside of reality defined the area.  Which meant it was very easy to create a nice meeting place if you wanted to talk with several fellow magicians on ostensibly neutral ground.  Sadly anything more than that required a great deal more power, since the pocket of reality created quickly vanished as soon as the magician left.

The space they stepped into was dark.  Helena had been expecting a Chinese teahouse or Imperial meeting room.  Instead they were in an antebellum lounge, draped with black and red, the random splashes of white looking like bone in the sinister room.  Strange jars lined the walls, and dozens of human effigies, masks, and fetishes were placed about.  A large round table sat in the middle surrounded by high backed chairs.

She gave an apologetic shrug to Camila who nodded.  They knew that it was likely any preparations would snub the woman.  For now they’d play along.  Helena slipped into one of the chairs while Camila took up watch behind her. 

There were three others already here.  She knew Gold Rat Wizard Hsu from her little problems with the Triads a few months ago.  The heavyset Chinese man seemed to think he helped run the city.  And unfortunately he was probably right.  Still he owed her, and their usual activities didn’t overlap much.  He gave a respectful nod as she sat.

To his side, next to the seat Helena had chosen was a similarly heavyset Chinese woman dressed as a fortune teller from the Middle Kingdom.  The sharp eyed woman had to be Granite Monkey Sen, Hsu’s wife.  She was a weaker practitioner, but still good enough to earn a title and seize immortality.  From the way she glanced at Helena the elder magician obviously wanted to take her measure.  Helena was curious about her as well but for now they’d have to simply exchange simple respects.

After all, the host was sitting across from Helena.  Voodoo Queen, Madame Robicroux.  Helena’s competition in offering magical services.  Curses swirled around the dark skinned woman, ready to be released at anyone who attacked her.  The Voodoo Queen wore her years openly, something that always confused Helena.  Age might give men more gravitas, but she’d never seen her Grandmother get more respect for her years.  Still the woman wore them well.  Maybe Helena would change her mind when she was closer to eighty.

The woman nodded.  “I’m glad you can join us, Curse Gunner Helena.  I’d wanted to talk to you for a while.  We have a great deal in common.”  Robicroux’s eyes flickered up towards Camila.  “Especially now.”

“I’m kinda an exception for Helena here,” Camila replied, drawing a raised eyebrow from Sen.  Helena wasn’t sure if it was because Camila was talking out of turn, or because talking jiang-shi were incredibly rare.  She didn’t particularly care right now either.  They were going to have to deal with Camila as she was.

Madame Robicroux seemed to take the comment in stride.  “Aren’t all of our companions?”  The shadows behind the woman shifted and twisted in silent laughter.

Helena nodded slowly.  The woman had spoken the truth when she’d said they were similar.  Helena might be from one of the oldest schools of witchcraft in existence, while American voodoo might be a construction made less than three centuries ago, but everything else matched up perfectly.  They were both schools that mastered curses, necromancy, and herbalism.  They both served as priests and magicians.  And they both worked at the raw primal edges of magic.  Unlike other magicians, their schools had never gotten lost in the trappings of ritual.

“It is good to finally meet you,” Helena said.  “I’m a little curious though why you had Gold Rat Wizard Hsu summon me to the conclave.  While I admit you having a lock on supplying magic to the poor of the Immigrant Realm is annoying, if I was really angry about it I’d have challenged you to a duel.”

This time the Voodoo Queen did laugh.  “Well child, aren’t you interesting.  Usually the rumors about us are overstated.  You’re the first I’ve met who’s exceeded the tales.”

“I’m not sure if I should be insulted by that or not,” Helena replied.  Her reputation should be at its height given all the work she’d done recently.  Other magicians should be terrified she’d blow up the entire realm by now.  Obviously the people spreading rumors about her weren’t doing it right.

“Are you going to challenge her to a duel to fix that?” Granite Monkey Sen asked with a sidelong glance.

Helena shrugged.  “Maybe when we aren’t in the middle of a disaster.”

Camila chuckled behind her, and she thought she saw the ghost of a smile cross Madam Robicroux’s lips.  Hsu on the other hand grimaced.  “As amusing as watching you pretend to be a barbarian is Curse Gunner, we do have important business.  Where are the others?”

“They’ll be here soon,” Madam Robicroux said.  “Curiosity will draw them in”

Sen sniffed and folded her arms.  “More likely the fools are all stalling so they can arrive last.  Pathetic showmanship to conjure up an air of mystery.  But then what would you expect from children who think they are wise?”

The words had barely left Sen’s lips before two magicians appeared.  One male, one female, both wearing blue robes with intricate silver runes woven in.  The man carried a staff, the woman a sword.  Helena recognized them as Gilbert and Joanna of the Granite Tower School.

“Apologies for our lateness.  We had experiments to finish,” Joanna said with a dark look towards Sen.  It seemed the woman’s taunt had hit home.  Helena forced herself not to smirk.  She could test them later.  Academic mages and practical mages like everyone else at the table had a long running rivalry.

“Your foolish compatriots chose not to join again,” Hsu said.  “I take it they remain uninterested if the city burns down around them?”

Gilbert sat down.  “They have confidence in our abilities.”

“I hope it is not misplaced.”

The sudden words from the shadows made Helena start.  Camila shifted to get ready to attack, as a man walked out of the shadows.  How had he hidden himself there?  She would have noticed if he had teleported in, right?

The newcomer wore feathers in his hair, and deer leather pants and shirt.  Helena immediately knew he was the Adena.  No one knew his real name, or even what realm he had come from.  He claimed that his people had been wiped out before Europeans had ever reached the Americas, and it was possible he was telling the truth.  Other magicians from the Americas lived in their own realms.  Only the Adena walked through the Immigrant Realm.  A constant boogeyman to other magicians.  No one knew what spells he had, or the strange techniques he could draw upon.

Helena really wanted to see what he could do.  Unfortunately practice duels were out of favor in this realm.  She needed to take a trip back to the Realm of Illusion soon.

As he sat down on Helena’s other side Madame Robicroux opened her arms.  “And now everything is in alignment.  We are ready to face the danger that approaches our domain.”

“You speak of the foulness that kills?” the Adena asked.  “It is strong yes, but it seems no stronger than others who have come to the land.”  He motioned towards Camila then to the shadows behind Madame Robicroux.  “The dead here are its equal if not better.”

“I did kick its ass,” Camila agreed.  Both the tower magicians twitched in surprise, and this time Helena didn’t conceal her smile.

However, as amusing as it was, she couldn’t ignore the problem.  “They’re at less than half strength.  When the rituals are completed, they’ll become much stronger.”

“Also it’s powers are more similar to ours than to a warrior,” Hsu said.  “It doesn’t matter how much stronger we might be if the thing burns half the city down before we deal with it.”

“You’ve gotten ahead of yourself, Gold Rat Wizard,” Joanna said.  “What is this thing, and how did you come to know of it?”

Helena was curious as well.  Hsu wasn’t the type to walk the slums, and Madame Robicroux seemed to know about the issue already.  She leaned back and let them take the lead.

Hsu pulled out a pipe.  “Three days ago a group of lesser magicians activated some twisted construct.  It slaughtered around fifty humans and minor creatures in the underworld, taking flesh from its victims before vanishing.  This has happened three more times, each time the beast growing stronger.  The last incident the creature targeted one of my associate’s storehouses.  Some rather powerful magical weapons were used against it, to no effect.”

“That’s strange.  I kicked the angel around pretty good.  Is the fallen angel stronger?” Camila whispered to Helena.

Helena frowned as the table’s attention turned to her.  She needed to talk to Camila about reading the atmosphere.  Still she leaned forward and began to explain her side of the story.  “About the same time, I ran across a demon who had been attacked by an angel.  Or so she’d thought.  I offered her sanctuary, and began investigating the incident.  After talking to my contacts in the police,” she motioned to Camila, “and my friend’s contacts elsewhere, I determined there are two groups committing ritual murders across the town.  One using killing those who embody the seven deadly sins.  The other killing those who embody virtues.  The Demon Stitcher thinks the rituals are attempts to create an angel and a fallen angel, respectively.”

“Normally I’d call that ludicrous, but if the Demon Stitcher thinks it can be done we have to consider the possibility someone is trying,” Gilbert said shifting in his chair.

“The Curse Gunner is correct,” Madame Robicroux said, splaying three cards in front of her.  Judgment, the Devil, and the Tower.  “Someone wants to start Armageddon here.  The loa have been on edge for two weeks.  I’ve managed to learn secrets from them.”

Sen looked derisively at the cards but nodded.  “And when armies are mustered, war is soon to follow.”

Joanna grimaced.  “An apocalypse in town would be messy.  An apocalypse with fake angels and demons would be even worse.  At least actual angels are predictable.”

“So how are we to hunt these foes?” the Adena asked.  “If they vanish before we can make battle we are on the defensive.  And against foes like this, to defend is to lose.”

“Obviously we share what we know,” Hsu said.  The man pulled out several sheafs of papers.  “Madame Robicroux has already confirmed there’s a group of foolish satanists making the fallen angel.  My associates have determined what some of them must look like.”  He placed several sketches onto the table.  “I’ve also told my associates to assist any of you if you choose to hunt them in the underground.”

Helena picked up the sketches and began running through them, Camila looking over her shoulder.  Mostly women, and mostly western European.  However the woman she’d run into earlier wasn’t among them.  She finished looking them over and handed the papers over to the Adena.  “I don’t know who’s behind the angel, but I can tell you the thing is coated in Truesilver.”  She pulled out the map of the attacks and placed it down.  “Here’s where the angel and fallen angel constructs manifested for their rituals.”

“Clever,” Sen said.  “Might I make a copy?”

“Feel free,” Helena said.  She didn’t want to lose her prey, but the woman wasn’t a fighter.  Sen was famous for scrying and information gathering.  Offering this could only help.

Sen carefully cast a spell that summoned a duplicate, then a third and a fourth.  “These will be connected for a week and a day.  We can communicate by writing on them.  If needed.”  Helena nodded and took her map back.  Madam Robicroux and Gilbert took the other two copies.”

“I will send a messenger directly if I find something,” the Adena said.  Helena rolled her eyes but didn’t protest.  Taking a magic item someone else had crafted was a risk.  And he had more secrets to keep.

Joanna shook her head.  “So do we have anything more?  This isn’t enough to get me sweeping the streets.  It seems to me we’d be best off letting them summon the damn things and kill them afterwards.”

“Kinda hard on all the people who get murdered,” Camila said.  There was a dangerous tone in the woman’s voice, one that Helena agreed with.  But it was wasted on the other wizard.

Madame Robicroux tapped her knuckles on the table.  “There is one more thing before this meeting can come to an end.”  She placed her palm on the table.  “These monsters threaten our city.  If we let them come to fruition unopposed there will be great suffering.  Entire districts will burn.  That is what the loa tell me.  And so we must unite in opposition.”

Gold Rat Wizard Hsu nodded and placed his own hand on the table.  “The usual rules will not suffice.  The city’s order is in peril.  Some sacrifices are needed.  We must agree to support each other in the event the battle rages out of control.  I, Gold Rat Wizard Hsu, agree to give my full aid, both magical and mundane, to anyone who defends our city.  Even if they must destroy an entire block to do so.”

Helena shivered.  Hsu wasn’t joking.  He was seriously saying he’d bail out anyone who destroyed a city block, so long as it took out one of those monsters.

And he was right.  This had to be handled.  And soon.  Or city blocks ablaze would be the least of their worries.  Helena placed her hand down on the table.  “I, Curse Gunner Helena, agree to give my full aid, both magical and mundane, to anyone who defends our city.”

Gilbert looked at her.  “So quick to agree, Curse Gunner?  Are you eager to fight the police if one of us decides to take the easy way out?”

“You and I both know there’s only two people in this room who are going to hunt the thing,” Helena replied.  “Swearing to defend myself isn’t much of an oath.”

“As expected, Curse Gunner.”  Sen placed her own hand on the table.

The Adena nodded in approval.  “You may catch them before me with that strength.”

The remaining magicians all placed their hands on the table and recited the oath, each giving their title.  As the last voice faded, the table glowed, and the contract was sealed.

“The conclave has spoken,” Madam Robicroux said.  “Fate moves on to the conflict.  We will all speak again after this event has been resolved.”

Camila moved over to whisper to her again.  “You think it’s really gonna take blowing up a city block?”

Helena looked up at her friend.  “We’re not the only people fighting.  I’m not planning on it, but if one of these barbarians decides to do something foolish….”

Camila’s eyes hardened.  “Guess we’ll have to beat the bastards before that then.”

“Yes.  We’ll make them curse the miserable fate that made us their enemy.”