The City of Mages

[Harry Dresden]

It had taken a small amount of time before Proto Man and Samus had gotten Harry to realize that they could summon things that had wings. The effort for the wizard to wrap his head around that was helped by the arrival of a large yellow bird that really didn't look like it ought to be able to fly but did so anyway. This was Proto Man's mount. They both took off, Harry astride a griffon since a Y-wing was out of the question apparently. The pair flew for a time, before a floating island came into sight over the horizon. Proto Man pointed to it. "That's it, Harry." The wizard was a bit busy questioning how massive the energy expenditure required to keep this thing in the air was. He snapped out of his reverie long enough to thank Proto Man as the android flew away, then flew towards the city, which actually had a decent number of flying animals with riders circling it.

He tried to land on one of the streets, but that hadn't worked too awfully well and the city's police shouted him towards the east side of the city, with actual stables for horses, griffons, and hippogriffs. The fact that he'd summoned something from Faerie without its Name and it hadn't bitten his head off was shocking enough, but there were enough around that they had stables? He tried to pay the stable hand in US Dollars from his pocket, but the kid looked distinctly confused. "Are you a new Prime here, sir?" Harry sighed, accepting the worthless currency back. "Is it that obvious? Nevermind, don't answer that." The lad chuckled at that, stopping midsentence. Harry went on his way, assured that the griffon would be no trouble and he was "fine".

The city of Dalaran was rather expansive, and magic filled every corner. Entire shops were dedicated to potion ingredients, which looked cliche as all hell in some cases and in others looked as though their owners had started collecting quite literally everything and anything they could and putting it up for sale. Harry made a note of the shops of the latter kind; they were the real good ingredient stops. Other stores sold magically-enchanted toys, which Harry was mildly impressed by but mainly found to be a waste of time and effort. Magic wasn't a game, and shouldn't be treated as such. He strolled around the city, feeling eyes of people in robes pressing on him and his duster-clad self like he was the one dressed strangely. Which, come to think of it, he was.

The wizard found himself standing in front of an impressive building that called itself the mages' college, which Harry found simply astonishing. Never in his home world had wizards been so open. Well, he had, but nobody took you seriously when you put an ad in the Yellow Pages as a professional wizard. He knocked on the doors with his staff and was answered by a harried-looking girl in brown robes who demanded to know what he wanted. "I need to speak with a wizard about this world." The girl sighed. "New here?" Something in Harry chafed at being talked down at by someone wearing apprentice's robes, but he nodded, responding in the most sarcastic manner deemed appropriate by his conscience at the time. "I'm trying to find out how to put an ad in ye olde Yellow Pages." It was the apprentice's turn to look irritated, but she was smart enough to catch the sarcasm. She stepped back and opened the door, allowing Harry to enter but not inviting him in. It was with a great amount of trepidation that he stepped through the door, but the college hadn't had a threshold to block his magic. She directed him up and down several flights of stairs to a particular office, and told him to follow her directions exactly. Harry, being stubborn, decided to cut out the extra five flights up and down and just stop at the floor he needed. He regretted that when he lost sight of the staircase. There was nothing to guide him except paintings and doors, so he didn't stop walking. He'd have to at least find a staircase to get back to the ground floor and start over. The interior of this place was almost supernaturally confusing. He just hoped he'd find this Dumbledore person's office. He needed to find out if the White Council was a presence here, or what the governing body of wizards was if the Council wasn't. The last thing Harry wanted was another Doom of Damocles hanging over his neck.

[Samus Aran]

“Professor Dumbledore,” began the man. “Chief Warlock. I have nothing but respect for you. You are, in my opinion, the greatest wizard the Omniverse has ever seen. But I say this with all due respect: you need a more secure password.”

“Narantel, you worry too much,” dismissed the older council member, with the hint of a grin on his face. “You already have far too many guards around this place.”

Narantel sighed. “We can never have enough guards. This is the seat of Camelot’s power.”

Dumbledore waved his hand. “Can I speak for a moment? I know you worry, but it’s not like I can’t defend myself. Every additional guard is simply another body to get through, and it’s become so crowded that it takes fifteen minutes just to get out of the building.”

“I hardly see how that’s a big deal.” egg

“Look at the big picture. If I feel like an ice cream at lunchtime, it takes me over half an hour to get out to the shops and back. Then I might be late for a council meeting. What if it’s important? It could put the whole Kingdom at risk. All because there are too many guards.”

Narantel’s exasperation was growing. “Go without. Or get a freezer in here.”

“I don’t always feel like the same thing. The point is, if I don’t get a snack at lunchtime then I’m going to get stressed. Stressed heads don’t think straight.”

“Couldn’t you just teleport out anyway?” Narantel realised, suddenly, that once again he’d been completely derailed, and struggled to remember what the actual point had been. “Look, the point is, you need a better password. Every other council member has sophisticated locking systems. I only have a faint grasp of how most of the others protect themselves, and that’s how it should be. You, on the other hand, are protected by the phrase ‘Sherbet Lemons’.”

“Don’t say it aloud! Anyway, anything longer and I’d have to write it down. Then it’d just be waiting to be found. The password is fine, and I’m not changing it.”

Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by the creaking of the door. A man stood there, somewhat sheepishly.

Harry spoke. “…Yeah. Sorry about that. I overhead you say the password. I was just looking to speak with you, really.”

Dumbledore looked at the newcomer, then back to Narantel. He folded his hands. Then, sighing, he stood up. “I’ll see about getting some sound blocking.”

If Narantel felt victorious, it didn’t show on his face. “Are you at least going to let me throw out this trespasser?”

“I highly doubt any assassin would look so hopelessly lost.”

Narantel spread his hands and stomped out, past Harry. “I’m going back to the council chambers.”

[Harry Dresden]

Harry had walked past heaven knew how many doors. He was beginning to think some of the laws of physics were being bent around a bit to allow the place to hold this many offices. Clearly, though, fortune was on his side. The name "Dumbledore" came from behind the door he was about to walk past. The title of Chief Warlock had Harry a little nervous, but maybe Warlock wasn't as much of a pejorative here. They seemed to be having an argument about security. The mention of complicated defensive spells on the doors made Harry glad he hadn't tried any of them; wizards were territorial creatures for the most part, and their locks had a tendency to drive intruders away in rather uncomfortable fashions.

“Look, the point is, you need a better password. Every other council member has sophisticated locking systems. I only have a faint grasp of how most of the others protect themselves, and that’s how it should be. You, on the other hand, are protected by the phrase ‘Sherbet Lemons’.”

Harry did a double take. The conversation went on without him as he tried to process that information. He muttered "Sherbet lemons?" to himself, and was met with a loud click followed by the creak of the door swinging open to reveal a very shamefaced Harry Dresden staring at the two occupants of the room; an old wizard and a younger one, both in robes and the younger looking distinctly frustrated with everything in his sight. "... Yeah... Sorry about that. I overheard you say the password. I was just looking to speak with you, really."

Harry regained his composure around the time the younger one asked to throw him out. He didn't like being talked about like he wasn't there, not by the Senior Council and certainly not by some upstart mini-warden. He found himself wishing he'd worn his grey cloak. As the younger man stormed out, Harry looked at Dumbledore, who had since folded his arms serenely on the desk. "May I enter, Professor?" The white-haired man with a beard that reached beneath the desk nodded, and Harry stepped inside, leaning his staff against the bookcase and setting his blasting rod next to it as a sign of good faith. He gave a respectful salute, proving to the universe that even Harry Dresden could respect his elders if he had need, and stood in front of the desk. "Regional Commander Warden Dresden reporting..." He trailed off a bit, looking suddenly awkward again as he realized that he'd been preparing to give a report to Luccio rather than introduce himself to a stranger. "Sorry, old habits. This many wizards in one building only happens in serious situations where I'm from. My name is Harry Dresden. If I might ask, is there any organization to wizards in this Omniverse? I need to know if there's anyone that can help me figure out how this place works."

[Ganondorf]

The Grand Warlock graced Harry with a grandfatherly smile, gesturing for the young wizard to seat himself before the desk. The elderly mage waited patiently as Harry seemed to go through one last nervous spat before taking the offer. Only once Harry had seated himself, and seemed comfortable, did Dumbledore speak.

“Nice to see a new practitioner in Dalaran. Harry, was it? Seems like that name is destined to belong to great wizards,” Dumbledore said, finishing with a wry chuckle.

“As for organization… well, the closest thing you’ll find to that is the Mage’s Guild. Truth be told, it’s more of a loose community than anything. It’s only real purpose is to make sure people aren’t using magic improperly.”

“Of course, the guild also provides magical support to the kingdom at large, so perhaps that’s something.”

The Grand Warlock sighed softly, before continuing, “As for your request for information… Well, I assume you remember your conversation with Omni… or rather, his instructions. When it comes to how ‘this place works’, that covers most of what you need to know, outside of politics or history. I’m not one for politics myself, but if you’re interested, you could read up on the history of the Omniverse in the Library.”

A glint shown in the elderly man’s eye and Dumbledore leaned towards Harry with a sly grin, “You might even learn more about how things work around here there.”

[Harry Dresden]

Harry didn't quite know what to make of this elderly wizard. The man didn't seem to suffer from stick-in-ass syndrome like the greater part of the White Council. He nodded, paying attention to the older wizard's words. Age meant experience, and a wizard as old-looking as Dumbledore had to know quite a bit. He stood, shaking the other man's hand an, of course, feeling the almost-electric jolt of the touch of another wielder of magic. Dumbledore's aura felt like a joybuzzer, and not one of the wimpy ones. More like the Joker's joybuzzer. Dumbledore had a lot of magic at his disposal. It wasn't anything Harry hadn't guessed and it didn't surprise him, but he nodded respectfully. "Thank you for the help, sir. I'll get out of your hair."

The elderly wizard wished Harry well and sent him on his way with directions down to the exit. A conversation with another beleaguered apprentice secured him directions to an alley that led to the library, along with a warning that it was only sometimes visible and not to come crying back to her if it wasn't there. Harry was having trouble dealing with all the smartass apprentices. Even he'd been more respectful when he was an apprentice, at least when he'd been in Edinburgh with Ebenezar. Granted, those were rare occasions, but still. From what he'd heard the Mage's Guild was basically Edinburgh with a different name and fewer tunnels. The fact that the city housing it was floating in the air reinforced this theory.

Harry walked through the streets of Dalaran, looking for the particular stores that only sometimes housed an alley between them. The stores were there, but the stone between them was smooth and flawless, as though nothing at all could ever move it. Harry couldn't use his Sight in this place, or finding it would've been easy. There was nothing that his normal senses could pick up on, here, though. No residual hum of magic beyond the one that permeated the entire city, nothing off about the wall itself or the ground around it. So Harry stopped trying to solve the problem. He took a seat on a barrel and stared at the wall intently. It was a bit of an odd sight; a man in a leather duster glaring at a wall and sitting on a barrel in the middle of Dalaran. Still, one of the advantages Harry enjoyed from looking like he belonged on the set of El Dorado along with his duster; people tended to leave him alone while he was scowling. So he sat there, and he waited.

[Harry Dresden]

Harry hadn't meant to turn the power of his scowl on anyone in particular, but as it turned out, he'd picked the right spot. There was some sort of alleyway obscured by magic, and he was more than a little surprised to see someone familiar. That mage from the fight with the dragon just walked out of a solid wall, and Harry was more surprised that it was someone he knew than that someone walked out of a wall. Maybe that said something about the kind of life he led. "Nah, kid. I worked with Hellfire for a few years, I know how to channel it. Not that I'm used to using it with Soulfire. I have to say I prefer the latter."

He was torn when the kid offered to treat him to food. On the one hand, he wanted to talk to him more, figure out why someone who wasn't a Knight of the Blackened Denarius had Hellfire. Maybe the kid had a shade in his head like he'd had. On the other hand, the information in the library was a priority. A loud rumble from his stomach decided for him and he followed Inlumia to the restaurant. "So, kid, what's up with the Hellfire, anyway? It's not exactly a run of the mill skill where I'm from. There's usually a pretty nasty mental passenger that comes along with it, one of the Fallen. Pick up any old coins, blackened on one side?" He was concerned; the Fallen were masters of temptation. If he wasn't in their pocket, it'd be hard to get rid of the influence of the coin. If he was, then he wouldn't care.

[Harry Dresden]

Inlumia frowned when he heard about the blackened coin and getting Hellfire with a passenger.

He looked at the other Mage and said with complete seriousness, "I understand your concern. It sounds like possession to me. That is not for me. I got Hellfire by cutting a deal with a Demon Lord for the death of one of his rivals."

Chuckling a bit he added "I made sure other rivals learned who was behind it and collected payment from them for the information, and some more for intel on the Demon Lord's defenses, abilities, and weaknesses."

Just then a waitress who was well experienced in timing her arrival for breaks in conversations arrived and took their orders.

Inlumia smiled after the order and said "I'm assuming you are after the library to learn what you can. I have already been there and checked things out. Still you may spot things I missed. I don't know how long it's been for you since the dragons, because time isn't exactly constant in this cluster of pocket dimensions wrongly called the Omniverse, but it's been a couple days for me."

He pulled out from a pocket one of his notebooks for a copy of the information he had learned and passed it to the other mage.

"This is a copy of the main information I have gathered. There is other information like exact sizes of the verses, the speed of using Omnilium for different things, the impressions Primes get during Resurrection and some more. I haven't got access to the restricted stuff there. Seems you need the character approval of two citizens of this city. They may be changing that since I mentioned that I could probably easily bribe, trick or coerce people in giving false character references. You also have to be able to show you are a mage before you get access to the general records."
Chuckling he added "They did not like me showing them a fist full of Hellfire."

As the food started to head their way he held out his hand and said "I'm called Inlumia. That's not my real name, just what I'm called."

Harry didn't know what to think of this person. They were just... random. They weren't possessed by a Fallen, obviously. None of the angels trapped in the Blackened Denarii were that crazy. They always had a purpose. He accepted the notebook anyway, flipping through it. The kid kept good notes, once Harry got past the handwriting. "This is more than enough, kid. I owe you one." He closed the book and slid it into his duster. Never let it be said that Harry Dresden turned down good information because he didn't know quite what the source's deal was. "I think I'll stick with 'Kid'. 'Inlumia' just doesn't fit you." The wizard gave a bit of a grin. Talking with the kid was odd, but not entirely unpleasant.

He shook the other wizard's hand, and the food got there. Burger King, the holy grail of fast food, it was not, but it was still edible. "So, if you don't mind me asking, how'd you get Hellfire?" Dresden asked questions between bites. He wasn't starving, and he was eating at a reasonable pace, but he just had too many questions to eat in silence. "And why are you using it by itself? That's a pretty inefficient way to go about it, when you can use it as a part of most any combat spell." He hadn't been opposed to Hellfire itself, but if this kid had found a way to get it without tying himself to a Fallen angel, then good for him. "You don't seem like a bad person, but you need to be careful with some of this stuff. Using Hellfire so much might draw attention to you, if any of the Fallen are in here." He pulled out a pen and the notebook, tearing out a piece of paper and sketching a map of the area between Dalaran and Edinburgh. "Just be careful. I haven't found a way to get a real phone to work, but I have got a speaking stone enchanted if you know how to use them." Harry flipped over the paper and sketched the pentacle symbol that marked the tunnel entryways, then wrote down the directions for the tunnels under the city of Edinburgh; take every second right and you'll arrive at the Halls sooner or later. Repeat the same when you leave and you'll end up on the outskirts of Edinburgh. "Here's how to get to me, if you need help. The tunnels themselves are massive, plenty of space to hide in if I'm not home. Just don't try to force the door. I'd hate to have to clean up the mess. Knocking won't set off the wards, though." Of course, he thought, that's if I can get proper wards bound to the door in the first place. It's still pretty solid, though.

[Harry Dresden]

Pulling out the stone Aragorn gave him, Inlumia handed it over.

"I met the king around these parts and spoke a bit with him after we tangled with the Dragons. He gave me this and recommended I head this way. He also recommend I visit the Pale Moors."

"All I've seen so far has only shown me three things that may be considered impressive by the standards of the powers out there. Omnilinium, summoning Secondaries and the fact that he is apparently operating in such clear breach of a very powerful rule by summoning followers of other Powers."

One of the other patrons angrily called out, "And what about us Secondaries? Don't we count for anything?" The anger was clear in the air.

Inlumia looked at him, "Since it was Primes that Summoned you, and not a Power, as Omni seems to be, then no. The rules only apply to Powers, and those acting on clear orders from Powers. Only if a Power ordered a Prime to summon Secondaries who serve another Power, then would the matter be covered by the Rules."

One of the secondaries snorted, "And why would they do that for?"

Inlumia looked at that one. "Remove many key followers of a rival faith? After all, if a High Priest and spiritual adviser to a powerful Emperor was to suddenly vanish because they were summoned here, it would help the faith of the one who summoned the guy right into an area infested with Undead. If things check out to work as people believe they do, I know a few thousand people I would gleefully do things like that to, but in places where they are less likely to start working with undead. Until I can be absolutely sure of it, I will hold off on moral grounds.

"After all, I'm not entirely sure we are not all clones of real people created by Omnilinium. This includes Primes as well. That would be one simple way to avoid the rule all together, and explain how Primes can summon Secondaries. Until I know for sure one way or the other I have to consider all possibilities as potentially valid."

Harry stayed out of Inlumia's argument with the restaurant's other patrons. Instead, he familiarized himself with the enchantments on Inlumia's speaking stone. They were different from the ones he and Ebenezar had made, but not much so. Suppose there's only so many ways to make a rock talk. Taking out his own and placing it in his palm, he tried to make contact with the other stone, and succeeded. The small rock vibrated a bit, stopping when Harry relaxed his concentration on his own stone. "Your stone ought to remember what mine feels like now. Sort of like caller ID, I guess." Dresden shrugged. "Hadn't really thought about how much like cell phones these things really were, once you take away all the arcane mumbo-jumbo that we wizards like to ladle on everything." That got Harry to chuckle, at least, but then again, he usually laughed at his own jokes. The rest of his meal was eaten in silence, listening to Inlumia and the patrons argue it out.

He stood up and shook his head, drawing silence from the rowdy patrons. "I don't think I'm a clone, and really, if Omni made this place, I seriously think he can call it whatever he wants." Harry's encounters with Odin and the Erlking and Mab and Titania and various other powers might not have been respectful. Hell, he'd summoned and bound the Erlking to stop the Wyld Hunt from being called. That said, he avoided antagonizing them until the situation demanded it. Really, he did. Honest. The situation just had a tendency to demand it quite a bit. "So, you lost me with the High Priest and Emperor stuff. Guessing religion is massive where you come from, but I really don't have much time to talk about it. Thanks for the notes, kid. I've got a decent chunk of reading to do, and then I think I'll go and do what I did back home." He smirked at that and turned to leave, striding towards the griffon stables where his mighty steed waited for him.

Code:

EXIT HARRY DRESDEN