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Night falls over the City of Redemption. Beneath the gleaming skyscrapers and picturesque facade of the City of Redemption lies another city; a community of dark and ancient magic populated by creatures of the night.
Redemption is a medium sized city in the north of England. The castle it grew up around was at various times in history a shrine, a fortress, a monastery and a manor. Today it is a thoroughly modern city, although the ruins of the castle and a rich accumulation of architectural styles serve as a reminder of the city's long history. Something old dwells behind the glass and steel skyscrapers of the city's heart; something older than the Victorian brownstones and the Gothic cathedrals; older than the remnants of the fortress walls which once ringed the town; older even than the sections of ancient forest preserved since feudal times. Magic lurks at the roots of the city and it draws creatures of darkness. Here club-hopping vampires can be seen at the city's night spots; urban werewolves run in the streets; witches and sorcerers ply their trade in unexpected places; and occasionally one will even meet one of the fae, the Fair Folk whom it is perilous for mortals to know.
Dark Redemption started out as an online role-playing game created by James Crowther (aka Jex, Lord Featherbunny), one of the Secret Masters of a Harry Potter fansite called VH. It quickly evolved into a kind of shared world novel in which each writer's plot became a thread in the greater tale of a city of magic and Gothic horror. For a while, With Jex's permission, I was serializing some of the major plots from the story in my "Live and Let Dice" column on the website Pop Thought.
The game, sadly, eventually dwindled away, and Pop Thought, too, is no more. I've decided to revive my story thread from the game and present it here. Hopefully, I may even finish it. Stranger things have happened.
So for now, let us join Strephon, a semi-immortal half-fae, and Cassandra, a mortal reporter, as they investigate the city’s secrets.
Dark Redemption is updated Wednesday evenings at 7:00 pm CT as part of the OFPMFP group; (Original Fiction, Poetry & Memoir for Fun & Progress)
Chapter 1: Stopping By for Tea
Chapter 2: Meeting Melchior
Chapter 3: Stories and Secrets
Chapter 4: Who Let the Dogs Out?
Chapter 5: Bedside Manner
Chapter 6: Breakfast On the Grill
Chapter 7: Carnival of Masks
Chapter 8: Private Conversations
Chapter 9: Smooth Operetta
- — — — — — —
Dark Redemption Cast of Characters
In order of appearance
(so far)
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Strephon Bellman: A semi-immortal half-fae, the offspring of a mortal father and a faerie mother. He is a faerie from the waist up, and has looked much the same for over a century; but his legs are mortal, and have aged as a normal person’s body would. For that reason, he has been confined to a wheelchair for much of the past several decades. He was once married to a mortal named Phyllis, but since her death, he has withdrawn from both the Faerie Realm and the world of mortals, content to observe things from the sanctuary of his old Victorian mansion. His aunt, the Queen of Faerie, has commissioned him to investigate fae activity in the City of Redemption, forcing him to become involved in the world of Redemption’s magical community.
Mrs Hudson: Strephon’s cat. A perfectly respectable cat who minds her own business and wishes that others would do the same.
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Devon: A courtier of the Faerie Realm who delivers the Queen’s commission to Strephon and who pops in every now and then to pester him. He likes to wear black and affects a cool, sarcastic persona. Strephon refers to him as a cousin, although whether there is a family connection between the two of them or Strephon is just employing a human convention is difficult to say. Strephon finds him annoying.
Tobias Simms: A Jamaican cab driver who often drives Strephon around town. He is a large, friendly man and acts somewhat like a guardian angel for Strephon, because Strephon is friends with his grandmother, a local wise woman. He has a habit of showing up just when he is wanted because “Gran’ told me you might be needing me.”
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Cassandra True: A reporter for The Daily Oracle, a local tabloid noted for sensationalistic stories and for photographs of well-endowed ladies. When we meet her, Cassandra’s job consists mostly of writing captions for the “Page Three Girls”, but she has ambitions of better things. She has an interest in the hidden history of the City of Redemption and a drive to uncover the truth. She little knows what secrets she might uncover.
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Melchior Dusk: The mortal guise of Lord Melchior, a powerful fae noble. He calls himself one of the “Silicon Fae” and claims to be a new breed of fae with an affinity for technology and immunity to cold iron. How he gained these abilities, he has not divulged. He has bought Vanir Technology, a company designing computer games, and is applying fae magic to the firm’s new gaming platform. Since any time a fae noble is absent from the Faerie Court for any significant length of time it can only mean he’s plotting something, Strephon has been charged with finding out exactly what he’s up to. Melchior is also trying to recruit Strephon to his side for his own purposes.
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Inanna: An executive assistant working for Lord Melchior. Like Melchior, she is a fae, and also like him, her faerie nature has been augmented to give her an affinity for technology and an immunity to cold iron, an anathema to most fae. A saucy minx, she exhibits a most improper interest in the mortal portions of Strephon’s anatomy.
Grandma Simms: A wise woman who runs the local Friendlee-Mart on Fitch Street and is the undisputed matriarch of the Jamaican community. She has known Strephon for years and he respects her wisdom and her no-nonsense advice. He doesn’t always follow her advice, but when he doesn’t, he usually wishes that he had.
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Isaac Masey: A police detective who was investigating wolf attacks in the city until one of his suspects bit him. He is now trying to balance his responsibilities as a police officer against his new status as a werewolf and the consort of a powerful pack leader. He does not play a large role in this story.
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Aoi Kurayami: A shrewd businesswoman who owns a tech firm as well as a string of cyber-cafes. As serene as a worldly Buddha and as lethal as a shuriken, she is also a powerful vampiress, and her club, the “Cyba-Netsu” is popular place with the city’s denizens of the night, as well as with mortal clientele who enjoy living on the dark side.
Malcolm Raven: Werewolf and leader of the Raven wolf pack. He is also a business rival of Lucinda Dupres.
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Lukas Bianka: Handsome and charismatic, a respected businessman and the founder of the Redemption Decency League. But although he fights moral turpitude by day, by night he is the leader of the Reaver Pack, one of the more unsavory werewolf clans of the city. His pack is noted for wearing collars inlaid with silver runes as a mark of their loyalty to him, and perhaps for other reasons as well.
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Lucinda Dupres: Leader of the Moonshadow Pack, one of the most powerful wolf packs of the city. She also runs a marketing firm, with the same ruthless efficiency as she runs her wolf clan. Both Lukas Bianka and Malcolm Raven of the rival Raven Clan would like to merge their respective clans with her, but so far she prefers to keep her pack independent. She has recently acquired a new “pet”, Detective Masey.
Mr. L.G. Trotter: President of the city’s largest bank. Although a titan of finance, he is socially a quiet, unassuming man. He probably collects silver cow creamers or some such thing.
Mrs. Trotter: The wife of the banker, and devoted patron of the arts. She leads the Redemption Culture Claque, a civic group devoted to promoting the arts and preserving the city’s rich history; and she organizes its annual Gilbert and Sullivan Festival. If she were in a Marx Brothers movie she’d be played by Margaret Dumond.
Thoth: (also known as Mithras, Aliester Crowley, and Timmy), An eccentric bookseller who runs the oldest established New Age bookstore in the city. He claims to have been the Egyptian god Thoth, and since he is immortal, he may be telling the truth. He is also as mad as a moonbeam sandwich.
Byron Sanders: Senior programmer for Vanir Technologies and creator of the original “Virtual Hot Tub” game. He’s in his mid-20s, although he looks younger. Since Melchior bought out the company he has become more and more unsettled by the uncanny changes Melchior and his people have brought. He thinks Melchior might be an alien, but he’s wrong. He’s sure that there’s something not quite human about Melchior and there is is more correct than he could ever imagine.