Black Magus

Chako Blude

***

I remembered.

No, not I. We.

We remembered a time of gleeful ignorance. A time when we were the matriarch of our domain. Monarchs of the sea. We remembered freedom coupled with power; power coupled with intellect. We remembered a dream.

Parties. Gangs. Guilds. Syndicates. Mafias. They were all the same at a fundamental level. We were all the same. We wanted to become more like the one who made us. So we dreamed. Two beings, dissimilar in all regards. Save that one thing. A dream to build a family and explore at his side. A dream that brought us together and merged us into a newly made woman. That was what I remembered.

Eotrom. An endless sea with many islands; the largest being Mani, wherein the Silverstream Forest played songs that made us remember. We remembered our kin. Our daughters and sons- the first sky orcas of Eotrom. They remembered us. And how eager we were to reunite with them. How eager they were to become like us.

As their matriarch, I couldn't have been happier. But as their matron, I had to set an example.

Orcinus, I explained to them, roughly translated to 'Of the Dead Kingdom.' The underworld, the ocean depths- the domain of our extended group of pods and families. The Weaver of Worlds granted us power over the seas. And so it was our mission to spread his influence across the World Seas, swimming through the fluids of liquids and solids alike and inevitably connecting the mortal realms in ways like never before.

That was to be accomplished by first building a network of nomadic kingdoms beneath the sea, just like Amun was doing above the sky. Thus, our first task was to form our Umas with his help.

Born from the flesh of the creatures that dwelled within our spirits, they emerged as stony or metallic husks forged in the same form and color scheme as the orcas. Colossal creatures, somewhere between 10 and 13 kilometers long. Hollow bio-mechanical machines. Mere frames with semi-transparent walls and stone floors waiting to be filled with landscapes, cities, and Estates. Grand Hadal Estates, a haven where the most esteemed rogues, ne'er-do-wells, and of course, Legionaries could flock. So too, however, was the Mafia to build strongholds, safe houses, and fortresses across lake beds, river basins, and sea floors; polished mirrors of the dark Umas that roamed the open seas they were. Lavish resorts and various services strategically placed throughout the world's waters; opened only to those approved by the Mafia for their more benevolent deeds.

Just as Amun formed the Legions to protect his realm, our Mafia was to protect our Umas and habitats from the Mermaid Mob, Triton Kingdoms, Atlantean Dominions, and Sea Elf Clans that all felt as if they owned the seas. Similar to the Legionaries, our made men and women would exhibit the highest level of discipline. They would be most capable. The most ruthless. Just like Amun, we were to operate on the surface as legitimate business owners of nomadic undersea resorts. We would be nondiscriminatory towards those we would meet and conduct business with. But not towards those we would assist or recruit. We would direct our help towards those who had similar pasts to us. Those branded as rogues. Outcasts; the poor, the sick, the unskilled and uneducated. We would give passes to anyone thrown away by society, opening our Suites for them to be pampered, healed, and educated. Their stay could see them gain work and accrue wealth, then they'd return to the surface to make something more of themselves.

And so it was. We wove the planet Orcus into existence. Our world stood out in Eotrom because of its lacked of moons and watery composition. Only a few of the many mountain ranges breached the surface to form islands,some of which were lifted into the air to float- safe havens for seals and seabirds alike.

For five years, we worked, trained, implemented, and improved. We designed and exported en masse. Days passed on the Mortal Plane in the meantime, thus feedback trickled in slowly, only to be countered and implemented within relative minutes. Day by day, we worked. Year by year, we improved. In time, more of our companions arrived. And more, we improved.

Iris was the first to appear, seeming to be around my age, if not older. She fawned over our Umas- after our reunion, of course. Within them, she guided us in installing machines and technology to increase their sensory range, maneuverability, and combat capabilities. Then she put machines inside of us to grant us control of every aspect of our Umas from afar. With those augmentations came a mind that worked far more keenly than ever. We absorbed her lessons as easily as water, gaining within days the capacity to make technology for our occupations with our own hands. Then she left us to fill our Umas with infrastructure made by our hands.

Simultaneously, we absorbed Etan's lessons. Of course, he continued teaching us how to fight as usual, appearing day after day with new techniques tailored for submerged combat or our transformations. From his subordinates, however, we learned many languages and got psychological screenings. Seemingly for shits and giggles. At least until he began passing on his knowledge to us.

He laid bare our faults and weaknesses. Then he taught us how to overcome them before we learned how to intimidate, deceive, and manipulate like drow; how to read people and use intuition and logic to predict their actions; how to plan not years or even decades into the future, but centuries and millennia- a foundation, it was, for the rogue course we would take later under Amun was much more challenging, for I, specifically, learned the ways of the Mastermind.

Geri taught us animal handling skills; mostly for creatures of the land, but also some things translated across all forms of life. The same concept went into her scouting or tracking exercises and winter operations; all the while she taught us how to operate a myriad of high-powered vehicles before demanding we design fast movers capable of traversing the land, sea, and air. And when all was done, her winter wolves went about the skin of our vessels to install manufacturing complexes, maintenance bays, and hangars for our new vehicles.

Like his sister, Freki taught us about animals. Specifically, how to hunt, herd, and farm everything from mollusks and clams to marlin and seabirds. Then, he taught us how to make salves, ointments, or other herbal concoctions with the materials we didn't eat. Moreover, he collaborated with us to connect his land and air-based industries with ours for the sake of both himself and the Legions.

The other, darker members of the Troupe came with surprisingly more varied lessons. Wilson, for instance, taught us a bit of his hedge wizardry, magic circles, sigils, words of power, and a lot of alchemy. He taught us how to gather alchemical ingredients from the reef without harming it and much the same with heat and minerals from hydrothermal vents. Then, he taught us how to use our necromancy and slip between planes.

Rickley taught us the bardic arts and how to entertain various people during anything from a funeral to a sporting event. Strangely enough, she taught us how to use poison for healing and, in Sam's case, to cook poisonous food for her undying palette. We learned sociology from her, as well as how to dispose of the dead in ways that ranged from preservation and mummification to liquidation and butchery. Not to mention she shared what she learned about fencing and cursed items.

Reina taught us biology. Of germs and microbes and flora and fauna. Of how they all fit into ecology and the sacred druidic arts; then how all of that fit into science. Specifically disease and medicine. Like with Freki, that brought us to form a partnership with her, wherein she could build her clinics in any of our structures to heal those who needed it the most, and we would build a resort for each of her Broods.

Leary taught us not just how to destroy, but how to create as well; more importantly, he showed us how the two went hand in hand. Admittedly, weapons of destruction comprised most of it, but inventing and engineering comprised a fair portion as well. And more, from him, we learned about goblin phenotypes and their culture. About the difference between the savage and civilized variants of Betrarthean natives; Goblinoids and Orcish alike. Then, he forced us to listen to his admittedly ambitious plans to strengthen that culture upon our return to the Plane before he talked of bones endlessly.

They taught us much; we taught them more. After we prospered, of course.

I learned and then taught the Troupe all about my particular focus. REST. Recreation, Entertainment, Sports, and Tourism.

I first learned how to pamper everyone and everything using every cosmetic skill Amun knew of, then built facilities to ensure everyone maintained their hygiene. Especially Leary, who took many days of scrubbing and hundreds of treatments to even begin to look passable. Etan's subordinates were invariably worse. Not as bad as the undead- not as bad as Reina. But of course, what I learned went beyond that. I learned how medicine and witchcraft could alter one's appearance, cover up one's actions, and make fighting more efficient. But of course, that was just on the surface.

The depths of knowledge I traversed were visible not only to the rest of the Troupe but also to my other Orcinus Matriarchs as well. Kali was the first of them. The Elven orphan from Shavew became the Grand Hadal Enterprise's Senior Healthcare Specialist by day and the Mafia's Master Assassin by night. She had 8 members in her pod, each specializing in a different type of healthcare. Pediatric care. Childcare. General care. Eldercare. Aftercare. Trauma Care. Therapy. Research. Each of them specialized in a unique method of assassination: Accidental, according to investigations; Messy, where there was to be no restraint; Whacking, to be done in the open; to be Ghosted was to disappear without a trace; Bounties were to be returned alive, if barely; a Message was used to instill fear; to Frame was to pin the murder on another; a Mystique was an unsolvable case.

Each of them taught the Troupe the basics of their professions; both sides of them. Unlike the other two subordinates of my pod; for their professions blended seamlessly into civil and uncivil life.

Gwehn, the up-and-coming gang leader I recruited from Chor, took up everything related to sports. She and her six subordinates constructed vast gymnasiums and went to study the physiologies of every known creature to build machines that could improve their physical fitness. They then recreated a number of games from the depths of the Archives, tailoring them for those with and without magic. The conclusion was each of them took over a distinct style of sport. Summer sports, winter sports, casual sports, extreme sports, water sports, and air sports. As a side gig, however, they would offer themselves to the locals as 'Hoons'- Hired Goons. Protection, escort, and bodyguard services were what they offered openly. Naturally, that extended to them teaching the Troupe how to protect VIPs and other security related tasks.

Lizlee, on the other fin, was an orphan from Chor. An up-and-coming bard like so many others. But unlike others, one who studied in the School of Media. Her pod of seven was a journalist, a broadcaster, a publisher, a radio host, a show host, a streamer, and a ManaNet forum administrator. Their job was simple. To take the abundant information pouring in from the various networks and edit them to be more entertaining before distributing them across the realms. They then taught the Troupe the potential effects of information spreading like wildfire, then taught them how to use those effects to create propaganda, disinformation campaigns, spoofing, and overloading techniques.

As my group of pods took up the sea to specialize in the residential sector, Sam and her pod of thirteen grouped up with the pods of Emily and Chloala to claim dominion over the surface. Thus resulting in a group centered on commerce.

Being the matriarch, Sam's pod was the largest; though not because of that factor alone. Being quite the talented chef, she'd been studying everything related to food and recruited thirteen cooks from a Chorian kitchen to bring her food industry to fruition. They each had roles, both professionally and in the Mafia. Sam was the proprietor of her industry, unceremoniously named Sam's Kitchen. Yet, she was also the Mafia's premier smuggler. Her second in command was her executive chef. Followed by the head and sous chefs; smugglers for the land, sea, and air, the three of them. Then there was the Chef of Fish, the Chef of Meats, the Chef of Veggies, the Saute and Pastry Chefs, the Master Butcher, and the Sauce Boss. All had jobs in the Mafia that were invariably separate from their professions. All but the three senior chefs. Theirs blended into a role that kept one side hidden from the light that reached the surface.

The Senior Chef of the Garrison was the first of them; responsible for feeding the Mafia and those they protected. Second was the Senior Chef of Exportation; responsible for preparing and storing food for exportation to the impoverished, refugees, those suffering from famines, or those in post-war recovery. Last was the Senior Chef of Legions; similar in responsibility to the Senior Chef of the Garrison, but with far more duties. She took a list of preferred foods from the Imperators and made menus out of them, then designed grand kitchens and great halls for their pleasure. She then distributed the tools and machines needed to make her designs, recipes, and menus to the Legions, then produced and billeted field rations to the legionaries.

Naturally, their Uma- the Shark Tank- was first filled with offices for each of them. Then, with the factories they used to produce tools and machines to assist in their occupations. They oversaw the production of each item. Trained with and used them in their daily lives as they cooked increasingly larger portions and learned wider varieties of dishes. Some being unsettling, like the blood cuisine Zakira told them about. Simultaneously, they learned of the aspects of being a chef that often went untaught. They learned medicine and witchcraft, but focused solely on the digestive system and nutrients. They learned of magic and science to research ways to make newly uncovered foods or to determine the nutritional content of a meal or even prepare otherwise inedible ingredients. Then they used that knowledge to make more culinary tools and machines.

Conversely, they studied the bardic and monastic arts in tandem. The former, to learn how best to present, serve, and entertain anyone from a dinner date to an army preparing for war. The latter to protect their kitchens without spoiling all the food from spells and collateral damage.

That was only Sam's specialty, though. Emily, from Shavew, specialized in witchcraft, medicine, and alchemy to create a drug industry for all things healing and euphoria. Her five specialized in differing methods of consumption, rather than types of effects: Edibles, Smokes, Drinkables, Injected drugs, and Infused drugs. With help from Wilson, Iris, Rickley, and Reina, she made drugs for the undead and augmented alike. Then, after making plans to create drug dealers out of locals, they began shipping drugs to the Legions and Eotrom- much like Chloala, the gnome from Shavew.

Chloala's pod took up retail and covered the black market. She named the former Davy Jones' Locker and the latter the Black Pearl, then divided her 11 vice presidents accordingly. Finance. Production. Sales. Marketing. Development. Research. Logistics. Chief of Management. General Management. Local Management. Together, they made designs for shopping malls within the watery depths and black markets in every Uma, intending for both to sell everything sold in Eotrom, so long as the creator of said item agreed with the profit being split no less than 50-50, no higher than 25-75, as we did not work for money.

By the end of our training, they were using the tech granted to them by Iris to oversee the store functions on the various networks. It had to be stated, however, that Redd's Uma came before all of this; as did her stronghold shortly after our world was formed.

Carved inside a mountain, Redd's stronghold was where we all used the ritual Amun taught us to make our Umas- to be performed only when a matriarch was born. Her specialty originated from her speed, despite her power being ice. She could ride the currents of the ocean deep better than any of us. Because of that, she took up more roles than any of us. On one fin, she was the one who expanded our nautical territories. On the other fin, she constructed our structures in those territories. That included settlements for the Mafia, places of wandering for the Umas, and resource outposts for the Legions.

As a result, she directed her group's focus towards the industrial sector. Her pod, specifically, was a corporation with ties to marine construction, civil, and marine engineering, complete with a sister company centered on logistics and transportation- a front for her trafficking role in the Mafia. One meant to ferry people to and from our domains or anyone else outside the confines of the law. All while remaining within the bounds of consent.

Like Sam, her 14 subordinates reflected that. Each of them was a foreman or worked in some role that found and founded new settlements. Whether she be in any of her three states of transformation or at the helm of her Uma, Redd would range the seas, leading a pack of two pods trailing closely behind her. A cartographer and a navigator, respectively, each trailed by a prospector and a settler.

All others either remained with the group or remained inside the Uma. In either case, they would remain in place until they came to a suitable location. Then the foremen for the residential, industrial, commercial, and heavy civil industries banged heads with Redd to come up with a plan while the Plastic Worker, metalworker, and Mason went off with the Chief Miner prepare resources.

Yet, like the rest of us, her group studied yet more crafts and designed the infrastructure to mimic them in our domain. And like the rest of us, she didn't stop until it was time for us to awaken our cores and begin our initiation.