Nattopet by Detektivbyrån

CLOCKWORK FAERYTALE AU PLEASE EXCUSE ME AS I INDULGE MYSELF

Once upon a time there was a tower deep in a forest.  It stretched to the clouds themselves, and deep underground, hiding many secrets within, daring adventurers to explore its depths and heights.  Chief among those was the creature that owned it.  A being with powers unimaginable, and a mind incomprehensible by mortal means.  It built and built its single building empire, creating and disposing of its clockwork trinkets on a whim, sending its soldiers to nearby villages to steal whatever caught its interest.

One day a woman approached the tower, her eyes an icy blue, her hair the palest of blondes.  She came without sword, without shield, without bow, and she stood before the entrance and made her will clear.  The being at the top had taken her sister many years ago, and at long last she was there to retrieve her.  The being above laughed so hard it shook the countryside like thunder, exclaiming that she would fall like all the rest, but the woman stood firm, and with an unwavering smile she stepped into the tower.

Gale Harmonia Who Wins: Gale Whether you defeat her in battle or not doesn’t matter.  The fact is you’re getting braid spikes to the face and are being taken to court.  You aren’t winning in the courtroom, either.  Don’t fight Gale

NyLa Y’Tani Who Wins: No One Well if you WANT to punch a robot, go right ahead.  Chances are if you can ignore the blistering pain in your hand you’ll probably win.  Chances are if you win you’ll find your bank account emptied and every account to anything ever has had their passwords changed as they blather on about how much of an asshole you are.  But you punched a robot.  Good job.

Claire “Lynette” DeLune Who Wins: You Yeah, you can take her.  She’s tricky, but she can’t throw a punch and mostly relies on not getting in fights.  Not only that but she goes down when hit by a fluffy pillow.  Still, you can’t seem to find your wallet now...

Sylvester Maryne Who Wins: Sylvester Look, the guy’s a cranky ass, and he deserves a good punch, and he looks like a reedy nerd, but still, the guy’s got super strength.  Plus, have you seen those boxing gloves of his?  Those things have spikes on the ends of them.  Definitely not something you wanna mess with.  Oh shit you already punched him?  Jeez now you’ve pissed him off... Don’t fight Sylvester

Wren Motöro Who Wins: You Unlike Sylvester, Wren looks intimidating, but you can probably take him.  Just because someone works out doesn’t mean they know how to fight.  The guy sits around and, like, grades papers or something all day.  Go for it.  Fight Wren.  It’ll be funny when he tries to punch back and falls flat on his face.  Plus, if you plan it right, the nigh indestructible charcoal demon he has under his command might come out and laugh at him with you.

Crom Who Wins: Crom Remember the nigh indestructible charcoal demon?  Yeah don’t fight Crom.

Kat Who Wins: Kat Oh sure, you’ll beat her up.  But then, when you least expect it... Boom.  Headshot.

Serinal Lamppost Who Wins: Sylvester This one’s a toss up.  Serinal looks skinny as a rake and would probably fall over if you pushed him, but then he goes raven demon and all hell breaks loose.  His magic isn’t that much to worry about because it has as much chance of exploding on him as actually working, but if he does get it to work...  Then again, bring a pair of cymbals and a flashlight and he’s pretty much out of the fight. Whatever the case, Sylvester hates him, and he hates you, so he’ll laugh his ass off at whoever loses.

Pff.  Turn the pointy hat into a hood and give him a plague doctor mask and then you’d have what he’d ACTUALLY wear for Halloween.  He’s a dramatic little shit like that.

Can you add it to Ser's wardrobe and keep him a mage? unless clothes are a symbol of status or something.

Well I only just saw this.  Woops

How is it learned and executed?

for human magic i will refer to mages.  there are other types, but they are typically either supernaturally exclusive or belonging to incredibly powerful beings that are no longer “mortal”

any human can become a mage with practice.  it’s just about training the mind to properly channel the energies needed.  That isn’t to say it’s easy, simply feasible.  what gets more complicated about mages is that they can’t channel those magics directly.

the word of mages in fateless night is enchantment.  transcribing a spell of some sort onto some material or other to be activated later.  this is where spellbooks come into play, as paper is easily enchanted, but only holds a single charge of a spell and is consumed immediately after.  this is where fireballs and lightningbolts and missiles of pure force and what have you come from.  a single use spell, prepared prior to use in an enchantment circle.

it’s also important to note that spells only carry as much energy as is put into them.  this isn’t as restricting as it sounds, because they can be prepared at length, and ceremonies can be put on hold for mages to refresh themselves, and other sources of energy can be pulled on as well, such as fires, electricity, and in some cases car batteries.

another thing of note is that different materials have different affinities for enchantment.  normally it takes a very experienced eye to recognize what piece of glass will hold eletricity better than fire, or is more likely to make a humming noise if someone draws near rather than redirect a bullet, but some supernatural creatures have a natural sense for it, making an alliance between them and a mage very valuable.  some even make a business out of it, with all the corruption that might imply.

the last thing to remember is that some enchantments are active while others are passive.  this is distinguished by being referred to as “spells, hexes, curses” and whatnot, and “enchantments” respectively.  an active enchantment needs to be, as is implied, activated with a small force of will.  this is unique to the mage, however, and means spells cannot be used by anyone not involved with the enchantment ritual.  typically they’re big bursts of energy all at once, which usually burns out the material used as a medium.

passive enchantments, on the other hand, are continuous and need only be activated a single time, lasting as long as the energies do.  they’re typically designed to be much more energy efficient as well, as a longer lasting enchantment of this sort is more useful than the short bursts of spells.  they’re also usually things that manipulate the material in some way, or use it as a groundwork for another effect.  reinforced glass that doesn’t break, a gun that has a built in aim assist, a sword with a blade that burns white hot.

sometimes, in complex enchantments, both can be used at once.  the mage leaves an imprint of their will in the enchantment that activates a spell under special criteria.   a door handle that, when an unknown person uses it, sends out an electric shock, for example.  lots of cool stuff.

How is it accessed?

already sorta answered, but i’ll reiterate.  enchantments on materials.  passive?  always active so long as the energies last.  active?  activated with a force of will from the mage that made the enchantment.  anyone can enchant if they know how and have the focus to draw upon their will to shape their energies.

Does it have a will of its own?

Complicated question with a complicated answer.  Both yes, and no, as frustrating as that is.  Supernatural creatures in Fateless Night are creatures of magic, formed from it, and most have wills of their own.  To some this constitutes as such.  Others lay claim to how certain materials have affinity for certain spells or enchantments as evidence it has its own will.  However, if it does have this will of its own it has not acted upon it in a recorded way, so no.

Is it restricted in space and time?

in a way.  magic is dependent on the energies put into the enchantments, and more powerful spells need more surface area of materials or they might overload.  transportation enchantments are common enough, but while a time machine is theoretically feasible, it would be such a complex work of enchantment it has never been created.  the most a mage has made was a chamber that suspended animation until the energies within wore down, and there were still kinks to be worked out.  as such, time magic is generally frowned upon, and while some mages have made spells that “stop time” in a small area around them, it was only in a sense of holding kinetic energy in place for a short period, and only in objects or beings at a certain size range.

What does available magic do?

depends on the imagination of the mage and compatibility of the materials, as well as how much energy can be put into it.  Fireball?  Sure, easy.  Teleportation?  Harder, but feasible.  Forming a sword made of water?  Difficult, needs lots of preparation, but yeah, it can be done.

How does it relate to the character, plot and theme of the book?

one character is a mage.  he works for a group called Hawthorne Securities that produces supernatural security systems.  he’s the lead mage, while one of his partners has an innate sense for a material’s affinities, another tests these security systems from her experience as an expert thief, a third does their taxes, and their leader arranges everything.

ha ha sylvester’s a desk jocky.

What is the cost of magic?

energy, in some form or another.  the mage has willpower, which resembles physical energy, and can be replenished by eating, relaxing and sleeping.  they can also draw upon life energy of beings around them, using their willpower, electricity, fire, kinetic energy, and whatnot.

What can it not do?

it can’t just be called upon at a moment’s notice.  a mage that tries to do that will probably get their head blown off as the energies flow through them.  it has to be prepared ahead of time in order to be safe.  it also cannot do things to manipulate the “soul.”  whatever makes a human a human cannot be granted by magic.  any creatures raised by magic will simply be mindless, only able to act through the will of others.  there may be other restrictions.  i’m still thinking about that.

How long does it last?

as long as the energies do.  more efficient enchantments can last for lifetimes, and some draw energy from around them to sustain themselves (think solar panels storing energy in a battery).  an unactivated spell may go dormant if it’s not enchanted well, letting it seep energy, but even that can take a while, and a spell enchanted well will be ready to activated indefinitely.  this makes it dangerous, however, as older spells start to wear a bit and may go off at a moment’s notice.

Who can use it?

spells can only be used by mages involved in the enchantment ceremony.  enchantments can be used by anyone at all, like any other tool.

How do others react to it?

most humans don’t know it exists.  mages react to it with caution, as mages spend a lot of time vying for control and killing each other.  supernatural creatures do the same, but may scoff at it.  humans using magic is just sort of silly, considering how little control they have of it, and how it typically doesn’t actually change them from being, well, squishy humans.

Why haven’t people with this power taken over the world?

who says they haven’t?  or at least parts of the world.  however, mages aren’t nearly as powerful as other things existing in this world, most of which would smack them silly just for thinking about it.  The other reason is that magic is REALLY volatile and dangerous.  Mages typically don’t live long if they aren’t careful.  They’re often hunted down by other mages due to whatever reason, and spells have odd reactions when in close proximity to one another, sometimes going off for no reason at all.  Magic is cool, but it tends to get you killed, yo.

Of the Hawthorne Securities crew there is literally a single heterosexual character in the form of Sylvester.  In side characters we also have Evangeline, but the vast majority are queer in some fashion or another.

The rest of the main characters are as follows.

Serinal: Biromantic and very much greysexual.

Lynette: Pansexual panromantic with a slight leaning towards ladies.

Gale: Bisexual, again with leanings towards women.

NyLa: Asexual panromantic.  She's a being of magitech, though, so things are somewhat complicated for her.

Kat: Bisexual and entirely aromantic.

I'd also like to point out that NONE of them will end up in a relationship together because THAT'S JUST HOW I DO, YO!

Also of note is that not every character in Fateless Night is CIS, although they tend to be less open about these identities than their sexualities, since for at least a few of them the point is to pass.  As such I will not be discussing it openly.  Make sense?  Cool.