Adelfried was married to Leyna who died a long time ago. They had a daughter Minna sometime just after the fall of the Roman Empire. Harold was Adelfried’s brother who craved the power of the Root.
The Root was the single largest source of ESH (Extra Special Human abilities) on earth that could tip the balance of power between the Wrecht Order and the Sovs. Adelfried was accidentally sent to the future while he and Harold fought for the Root. In present day he met and ended up living with Harpers.
Ying and Jim Harper are married with children Evan and Kae. Their dog is Zarg an oversized greyhound who has a tight bond with Evan and has absorbed magic from the Root.
Evan drains magic and cannot use it. Kae is his older sister who can use magic and has some training from Adelfried.
Nina and Red were partners and agents of the Wrecht Order.
Reggie is an independent and eccentric information specialist. Red intensely dislikes Reggie.
Federico is a mage and ultimate wizard fanboy. Evan healed him from the magical crazies inflicted on him from Sahir, a powerful wizard. Federico’s former husband Chad died in the night club from the Sovs who were targeting Adelfried. Federico helped Jim and Adelfried talk their way out of the Wrecht Order HQ.
Adelfried, Jim, and Ying
When Adelfried finally came face to face with Mistress Kreeg (Mistress of War in German) he was initially ecstatic to realize his daughter, Minna, was still alive after all these years. He soon started to realize she is not the same innocent girl he knew just a few months ago by his timeline. She is the most powerful wizard in the world and runs the Wrecht Order, the self-appointed and authoritarian police force of the magic/ESH wielding community. When Minna found out the location of Harold (the Warlock of Stonehenge), Adelfried’s brother, from Ying who was just recently a Sov, she immediately went to kill him.
Minna claims that Harold deserves to die for many reasons including creating the Sovereign Sect, otherwise known as Sovs. They can convert someone to a mind-controlled member of the Sovereign Sect by bringing someone close to death where their mind can’t fight the Sov mind control magic. Minna also claims that Harold killed Adelfried’s wife Leyna, but Harold denies it. He tells Adelfried to simply ask Ying who was once a Sov, and she will be able to confirm it.
During Minna’s battle with Harold, their home with was dropped underground with Evan, Kae, Nina, and the Root in it. Jim had shot Minna several times to get her attention in the middle of the battle. Even though Minna was fine, she found Jim’s act of shooting her inexcusable and left Jim to become a Sov when she teleported everyone else back to where Harper’s home once was. This angered Ying who grabs Adelfried and was able to use him as a massive battery of ESH and severely hurts Minna enough to where she was about to die. Then Ying realized that this isn’t who she is and heals Minna. This happens right before Jim arrives back safely and not as a Sov. Ying said hello and passed out. Because of all of this, Ying was moved to a Wrecht hospital and was being kept fully sedated as a precaution.
Jim and Adelfried force their way out of the Wrecht Order facilities without starting a battle, even though it got close. They regroup with Federico at his home in Spain for a while. When Harold paid a visit, he claimed he never hurt Leyna and was moments later chased away by Minna. She then takes Adelfried to some remote location that looks like a prison in the middle of the ocean. She tries to explain her actions and defend why she does what she has done. Finally, she wants Adelfried in a good mood to meet his grandson.
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Evan, Kae, Nina, and Zarg
Evan, Kae, Nina, and Zarg were home with the Root when their house was dropped into the underground of the Cuāuhtli Kingdom, an ESH and steam-based society which is believed to be the remnants of the Aztec Empire. While the Root was stolen by the same unknown bandits who dropped the house, it was enclosed in an impenetrable barrier Mistress Kreeg put on it herself. Therefore, she is not concerned with the fact the Root is missing because no one can get through the barrier but her.
Once underground, Nina was forced to leave Evan and Zarg in the tunnels to travel by wire with Kae who broke her arm and had internal bleeding. Since Evan can’t use magic in any way, he was stuck there only with Zarg and few supplies.
In their travels through the tunnels, Evan and Zarg were discovered by a cute local girl, Tozi. She immediately is smitten with Zarg but treats Evan warmly and coldly depending on the moment. She finally brings Evan to her home where they just had a meal with her mom Rosa who figured out easily Evan was not from the underground world. She agreed to shelter Evan even at risk to them, because of what the empire had done to Tozi’s brother and father. They were enslaved as Tlacotin. Rosa was worried the same fate awaits Kae and Nina if they are caught and discovered to be from the topside.
Rosa and Tozi have a nice home and large mushroom farm but are still struggling to make ends meet because of being forced to move to the outer regions of the kingdom and the troubles with Tozi’s brother and father. Tozi’s aunt Tia works in the local town at the hospital. Rosa decides at some point they will go into town and check with Tia to find out if she knows anything about Kae or Nina.
What Tozi and Rosa don’t know is that Evan absorbs magic and that he is knee deep in mages and wizards from the topside.
Red and Reggie
Red still wants to free his wife, Lisa, from the hold the Sovs have on her and Evan is the only person to have ever freed someone from Sov control, his mom Ying. Realizing Red needed help if he was going to help rescue Evan, Nina, and Kae, he begrudgingly visited Reggie who is the best source of intel on the ESH world. Reggie decided a buddy trip with Red was too good to pass up and heads down with Red through a secret access tunnel only he knows about. After surviving a nest of massive centipedes, they had a moment of truth where Red realizes he blames Reggie for everything bad that had happened to Lisa because Reggie left the Wrecht order, even if he left for the very same reasons Red was leaving. It had become too authoritarian under Mistress Kreeg.
When we last left them, they had just arrived in a town square in the capitol of the Cuāuhtli Empire with two Jaguar Warriors surprisingly heading right for them. Reggie was meeting a contact who he was talking to from a distance with mind talking.
Magic System Reminder
Magic Levels
- Charmer – lowest level that anyone who has some exposure to magic can attain – average person in the magic world
- Conjurer – a medium powered wielder of considerable strength
- Mage – a powerful magic user capable of great feats
- Wizard – extremely powerful, almost god-like in their abilities
General Facts
- ESH/Magic comes from diamonds brought to earth from asteroids. The energy absorbed by diamonds in their millenniums of travel is where ESH comes from.
- The ESH/Magical community uses ESH charged crystals as money. Thus, the more ESH you have the richer you are or can be.
- Regardless of raw ESH/Magic abilities, one still needs training to be able to use their power. Therefore, a well-trained mage could defeat or otherwise hurt a wizard not sure what they were doing.
- Even among the levels mentioned, different individuals have different strengths and weaknesses based on training, experience, and genetics. Not all mages are even. E.g. Nina is very powerful and a highly efficient user but is still young and inexperienced when compared to someone like Red.
- The human body, and other animals, absorb ESH through exposure. The more ESH one is exposed to, the more powerful an individual becomes. This does not mean they know how to wield it. The Harper Family have all been exposed to ESH to varying degrees, but only Ying, who was once a Sov, knows how to wield it. Once exposed, the body acts as a battery and stores ESH, within limits.
- ESH/Magic abilities vary based on training, species, and experimentation, e.g. Harold focused on magic of the body and was able to create the Sovereign Sect, a combined mind hive he controls.