Post war

When the war ended there were five of us left. We became known as the Magi Lords. (Sunny) Sussy Summers, Jannett (Flower) James, Victor (Solid) Ironheart, Edward (Eagle Eyes) Elders, Norman (Slayer) Grey. My name is the last one Norman Grey. The titles were earned in the war. For what we were most known for.



Sunny, Flower, and I the Slayer were the only high magi in the war. Eagle Eye and Solid were the surviving battle magi. Our masters wanted us to stay out of the war. Yet we answered the call anyway. We had seen the evil of the Coalition against D-bees, mages, and psionic users.



Sure the Federation had just as many evils, but they were controlled. The Coalition did not control their evil. They killed everyone who was not a normal human. Even humans who only looked different because of mutations. They were all hunted down tortured and killed.



How can our teachers and the hometown look at the many victims and then turn a blind eye. It made us question if any of them felt any compassion. Or were they just empty words? We were trained to defend the weak and destroy injustice. Yet not one Lord Magi acted. Nor had most of our fellow brother magi.



We knew that the controllers could not join us because they could not bring their automations. That is like expecting a fighter pilot to fight without an aircraft. Sure they had some fighting skills but their main use was when in their automations.
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At first, the war was going in our favor. Our platoon did have some trouble with some other units. Mostly demons, and some necromancers. When we were not killing the coalition soldiers. We were rescuing the hopeless civilians. Escorting them to safety. Building goodwill with the people, and building the population base for Lord Dunscan.



For the first three months, he was thankful. Not only were we among the top teams in killing the enemy. We were the top team in rescuing others. Even though we had the smallest starting platoon of only 20 members. Most platoons started with forty members.



We tried and failed to get help from Dweomer in just escorting the civilians. Brethran D'zir wanted nothing to do with the war or the people. So we gave up trying With our home town. We instead used the weapons and equipment gained from the war to equip volunteers who would do it for us.



Our volunteer army soon eclipses even us in numbers. The numbers grew to around 640 people who were in the Volunteer Magi army. The exploits of our unit soon far surpassed that of the other units. We were the only elite unit that was growing instead of shrinking.



We had to make sure the Volunteer army floated the Federation of Magic Flag. Because the battalion that we made looked the same as the enemy. Because they used the same equipment and tactics.



The main difference is that they were escorting and rescuing civilians From the Burbs of Chi-town. Then from the villages around Dunscon's great city on the bones of old Chicago. By this time our initial unit was reduced to just five people.



The great Dunscon honored us by making us five Lords of the Federation of Magic. For our many achievements. We used our battalion of Volunteers to move people from around Chicago to the magic zone proper. To bring them to our newly given lands. These lands were currently safe. We even had an extra platoon at each of the five villages.



Just a few months later he started to complain about the volunteer army not defending his great city. We five still were doing it though. We had to remind the Lord that he agreed to let us make that army for that purpose. Causing him to think about what to do. He later decided to try to force them to fight on the front lines. In the end, we told him they were volunteers not recruits. If you try to force them they will just leave. They are loyal to the cause not a noble.



Seeing the work being done by his three High Magi. The God of Magic high lord creator Leizak D'zir decided to lend a hand.



He sent many of his High Magi to the villages to help build them up with houses to house the people. Soon after High Lord of Battler Coran D'zir sent his battle magi, and controller magi to assist, and defend the high magi. Seeing his brothers working with the volunteer army Brethran D'zir decided it would be a good time to expand his city. So he volunteered for the refugees to come to Dweomer.



With this soon only a few of the refugees decided to stay in the magi villages. Instead most went to Dweomer. This did annoy the newly promoted lords of the Federation of Magic. Yet they could not fault the refugees for doing it. Just Brethren for his conniving actions.



This continued till the war came to an end with the death of Nostrous Dunscon, and the council of the Lords of Magic. Soon followed the destruction of the great city and all the towns around it. At that time we alone were still fighting to protect the civilians. In and around Chicago.



The war may have ended. Yet still we are rescuing people. Now though we are not alone many other former members of the Federation of Magic are also doing the same. At least they claim to be. In many cases, they are just looking for magic loot. This leads to more conflict. Though the war should be over the fighting continued for four years. Till all the towns, and villages were empty of people.



Our volunteer army was offered a chance to join the now small city of Dweomer. They did so, leaving behind their mountain of gear from the enemy in our five towns. Only a few stayed most of them were fellow magic users. Some stone masters, techno-wizards, and a few others.



The techno-wizards were permitted to work on the coalition equipment. The Stone Masters helped us build and expand the villages. My Village was turned into a coalition graveyard. My civilians ended up moving to the other four villages.



This ended up being a good thing as we fully turned my village into a walled base. Then dug out a massive underground tunnel system to store the mountain of weapons and gear gained in the four years of war. During this time my fellow magi. Were busily administrating for their villages.



The stone masters, techno-wizards and I were creating the baseline of what would become Fort Grey. With my massive population of 12 mages. As the months went by many other techno-wizards would show up, and even a few fellow high magi who were retired. As we continued to expand.



No longer did anyone come from Dweomer. They likewise wanted nothing to do with the Coalition equipment. So we ended up keeping the 24 Mark 1 APCs, 10,000 C-10 laser rifles, 500 C-1 rocket launchers, 200 mini-missiles, thousands of grenades, energy clips, body armor, and vibro-knives. A few hundred foreign weapons. What I will later learn are from Northern Gun and Manisique Imperium. dozens of Ion, and plasma support weapons that use tripods. Then the greatest treasure of all from the tech side of the War. Six Glitterboy power armors with their massive powerful boom guns. That can destroy anything man-sized including demons in one hit even if it has armor.



We also had dozens of civilian vehicles everything from motorcycles up to a single bus. All the vehicles were missing parts. So they did not run. There were even hundreds of civilian firearms. The guns had no ammo they were just paperweights at this point.



With all this stuff my village still looked more like a military graveyard than a village. I was content though. None of my fellow magi wanted the stuff. Outside their armory for their platoon of infantry. The volunteer army could not, or did not want to take them to Dweomer. The tecno-wizards had no reason to steal them from us. For they had free reign to work on them.



The first year passed well for us in peace. The stone masters at the end of the year were done with the baseline of the underground cavern. So that we could move the weapons, and glitterboys underground. Above ground, The techno-wizards turned many of the huts into personal workshops.



The APCs were too large to store. So me and a few other High Magi made Garages to store them. To keep them out of the elements. The Garages at that time were built around them with only a single human-sized door to enter the garage. You would have to knock the wall down and then drag them out to get them. Because we took out their engines.



We also studied the weapons and decided that the weapons that were the worst and thus the ones that should be sold off first. Those weapons were the ones made by Manisique Imperium and the black market. So after the first year, only those weapons were chosen for the conversion in mass. For the conversion would greatly improve them.



The Northern Gun L5 laser rifle firepower was too good to convert. It would lose 1/3 of its power. The NG-33 was likewise the most powerful pistol. So we kept it as is. We would only sell them after the MI, and black market guns were sold. The C-10 laser rifle had the same performance when changed. So that made it pointless to change.



When it came to support weapons that use a tripod. Ion and plasma weapons lost power when converted. For that reason, they did not convert any more of them. Then sold the ones that were converted.



That left the coalition laser pistol. That was as weak as the Manisique Imperium laser pistol. Except better balanced and lighter. So it was our choice for personal side arms. Not mass sales.



For now, the glitterboy power armor, and Mark 1 APCs were off-limits. They were too precious to risk destroying. The only exception was the power system. We could not find any way to use the nuclear engines. So they were all sold.



The vibro-weapons were unchanged. Like with the nuclear engines, we could not find a use for them. Outside personal defense.



Traders started to come by to buy the Techno-wizard gear that was made by my arsenal. Because the equipment was mine that was being sold I received 80% of the profit from the sales.



My work crew all received for free. A C-10 laser rife, the same with the Coalition laser pistol that they always had converted. Alongside a vibro-knife, and Coalition body armor for defense. This helped to attract more techno-wizards. Most of all the young ones who were still learning their craft.



The Manisique Imperium laser weapons that we converted became a hot item in the magic zone. When converted, both the pistols and the rifles had the same damage output as the famous C-10 laser rife. The same with full automatic civilian rifles. It was there exceptional range for merchant marines who flew the barges that wanted them in mass. They had twice the range of a C-10. Even if you have to do burst shots. When using it.



We also worked on turning the civilian vehicles into something we could sell. By using create steel I could recycle scrap metal. so we could replace the parts needed for the vehicles. Then create wood, and ironwood spells made it so that I could add armor to them. Without cutting down trees. The techno-wizards then converted them to run on magic magic engines.



A full third of the junkyard that is my village has been turned into a vehicle graveyard. We could not use the Normal Internal combustion engines. So we sold them as well.



We ended up sending out salvage teams to locate more vehicles, and scrap metals to replace the ones we sold. To my surprise one of the biggest buyers was Dweomer. Our forges were working 24 hours a day to forge the needed parts from the scrap metal. That I created from the create steel spell.



Other teams were trying to find a use for the civilian guns. The best they could come up with is to convert them to shoot civilian-grade energy attacks. Not monster-grade weapons. Still, they proved to be good sellers as well. Finding ammo was always the hardest thing for civilian weapons.



Now that it is no longer an issue. The weapons have the power of a civilian hunting rifle. Including the little sub-nosed pistols. The weapons can do decent damage and can be used by any mage or psionic user. The sale of civilian guns was important to the techno-wizards. For them, I only took 20% of the profit. Those same teams were also making flaming swords and lightning rods from some of the scrap metal. Once again for those weapons, they keep 80% of the profits.



All pay for the techno-wizards was from their creations. I did not have a salary for them. They did have a free place to stay though I did not charge for rent. I would also help them sell to the increasing number of merchants. By this time I was a good negotiator. I also had connections with many merchants now.



Well, my village became a market. The Other villages became like a mini Dweomer. All the children were learning how to use mystic energy, or as it is most known by Potential Psionic Energy. Often called P.P.E. for short. Personally, I like to call it life energy.



Sussy and Jannett were also making things as my fellow High magus. They created a body armor system that will be exactly the same as the huntsman from Northern Gun. The difference is the sources of the hide and armor. For the girls they used coalition armor for the breastplates, and the protective plates that are sewn into the monster hide armor. Well, Northern gun would use their own produced armor plates, and demon hide. Both suits had the same performance. The girls called their suits the Lioness armor because most of them were yellow like the fur of a lion. Plus the making of these became the duty of the housewives of the villages for extra income.



The men under the leadership of Edward, and Victor were busy with combat training to be able to defend the villages from outside attacks. Including the training on how to use the Coalition weapons that they have as part of their militia equipment. When on duty each soldier would have the C-10 laser rifle a sidearm, and a vibro-knife, as well as the new armor that their villages started to produce.



By the second year, all the civilian guns were sold, except for the revolvers, and bolt action rifles. Because they only had five or six shots. The rest of the BM and MI laser weapons were converted and waiting to be sold. Outside of the converted magic guns. The only things we had for sale now were the flaming swords, lightning rods, vehicles, and the new Lioness armor.



The Lioness armor profits were broken down like so. 20% to the local lords of the villages that they were made in. Then 80% for the women that made it. She still had to buy the parts to make it. The leather from the market, and the Coalition armor from Norman Grey.
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At the beginning of the 18th year in the winter, a group of children came to the villages from Dweomer. They are currently on a field trip. 10-year students who know magic but are still learning the final touches of their crafts. In simple terms they are seniors. Becoming a Lord, or High Magus takes 8-12 years of training. Most graduate after 10 years. The purpose of this trip is to see how a High magus can work with a techno-wizard to build a better tomorrow.



One of the children was unique she was only the size of a 9-year-old. Around the 16-18 year-old human children. Caterina Grey is her name. far younger in looks compared to her fellow students. Normally the Elves are as common in the mage classes as the humans.



For some reason, the senior High magus class of 18 P.A. only had one elf. At first, the class visited the villages where they learned of the new armor being made there. They also got to watch its construction straight from Sussy and Jannett. Who like them are High Magus trained. They then watched the girls make wood for the construction of a new house. Together they made half a ton of wood. The villagers then started to nail the wood in place for the construction of the house.



Then the next day came to the junkyard. That is Norman's domain. They watched how he uses his spells to make sheet metal, and metal bars from the create steel spell. Then gives those over to the men who work the forges to build junk car parts.



They then watch how to make wooden planks from nothing. He made roughly 1 ton of it in a single cast. as if it was not that hard. The students could not do that unless they were at least at a leyline or a nexus.



They were amazed that they did not realize that they were within the range of the Ley line that connects all five of the villages together. Still, they would have to concentrate on the spell that size not cast it willy nilly. The man then started to bolt the wooden planks on the car in front of him. Plus the day before two High magi had to work together just to make half as much.



Then followed the car contours to shave off the wood that was sticking out, After shaping the wood to fit to the shape of the car. A group of retired magi went over and started to cast Ironwood on the wooden paneling. Making each of the pieces of wood strong enough to withstand a strike from a missile or a rail gun shot.



They then did the same thing for another 2 vehicles. Then a group of other men came by to pick up the wooden scraps to take them to a different location. Where the Techno-wizards are useing them in their own magic creations.



Some of them combine them with lightning rods as they make a handle for it. Well, others are making a handle base for the flaming sword. Some are even using them for other contraptions that the students don't understand.



The little girl approached the man in charge of building the car. "Pardon me, sir?"



"Would you happen to be Norman Grey?"



"Yes, what about it?"



"I am your cousin Caterina Grey."



"Do you expect something from me because my uncle is a man whore little girl? Is at least your mother married to the man?"



"No, Not yet."



"Don't tell me you came to talk to me in private to ask for money."



"Nope, I just want you to know I chose to be a High Magus because of you. You are a hero for us elves back in Dweomer."



"I highly doubt that. The people of Dweomer did not care about the suffering of the people from the war. They did not even lend a hand till the fighting was almost over. Then it was only to steal the gains that we sacrificed for years to gain."



"Just like how your teacher is studying our process to bring it to the dweomer to compete with us."



"Do you hate your home now cousin?"



"I do not know."



"Do you hate master Leizak D'zir?"



"Never, He is like a father to me. His brother may be trash but never him."



"He never once looked at Caterina acting as if he was talking to himself. Norman just continued to work as if she was never there."



"Caterina", her teacher calls out. It is time to go.



"Goodbye cousin."



He did not reply, he just continued to work.



Lady Summers flew over the pair that were just talking. Lady Summers had a pair of white angel wings. From the spell-winged flight. We have trouble, we need you, Slayers. Eagle Eyes has found a long-range patrol.



"Hey guys give us your mystic energy. We are about to go to battle." As one of the techno-wizards went to touch Lady Summers. She told him no, "Give it to Slayer. He is the one that needs the most P.P.E." Norman then sprouted a pair of wings as well. Then flew off with Lady Summers.



She wanted to give him P.P.E. too. She was stopped by her teacher. Let them be Miss Grey they are the Federation of Magic. We are Dweomers elite. Besides we are only here to learn their construction processes. So that we can use it to help build up dweomer.
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Because of the heavy losses from the war the Coalition mostly hires mercenaries to do long-range patrols in the magic zone. That 2/3 of them die in there. That makes it worth it, price-wise. You don't pay the dead. For that reason, most of the stuff is normally lower quality compared to the Coalition stuff.



When I do go into battle I spend the first minute invisible and observing before I charge into battle. The most effective combat for a battlemage is melee combat. That is exactly what I do. Sure I could shoot off spells, but the damage from the spells have the same power, or else worse power than going melee. When spelled up.



My combo is invincible armor, armor bizarre, magic shield, light blade, and then magical adrenal rush. The last spell does not last long but with that one, I am comparable to a juicer. Sometimes I will use other spells as well.



After this combo I am as fast as a juicer with the strength of a demon, looking like a worm wraith. That causes great fear. With the toughness of a full conversion borg, As well as being able to parry all attacks, and kill any man in a single hit. Or even chop down a enforcer leg in a few seconds.



We located eagle eyes thanks to our goggles that have the power to see the invisible. He's watching a group of mercs. As they explore the forest. The mercs have a giant robot I have not seen before, they also have four power armors I do not know of. The six men with them are armed with the NG-L5s, At this time I still did not know of Northern Gun. Otherwise, I would have known this was their first-generation robot and power armor.



The men take off their clothes. For their wives will cat giant growth on them for the battle. Neither Flowers nor Sunny get in fights unless they have to. They instead back up their lovers who they plan on taking as husbands.



For this reason, the guys being naked does not phase them. The giant growth spell will sap most of their PPE. It is one of the reasons I do not use it. The girls then save the rest of their PPE for healing. I still prefer to call it life force. That is what makes most sense to me.



Well, they are taking their close off I am pumping my spells off. To power up. We then decide on who is going to target who. It was decided that they would take the power armors, well I took out the robot.



We all then charge into battle. Mt target is the robot's toes if it can't walk it can't fight or run. It would end up falling. That would increase our salvage.



The guys are targeting the heads of the power armor. With their two-handed weapons. They each carry 2 two-handed swords. That they cast power weapon and speed weapon on their weapons. This combined with their combat training means they can use both weapons at the same time.



Their spell combination is as deadly as mine. The difference is they need their women to help them with the spells. Where I can do mine alone.



Less than half a minute later all three machines are down. We then go to work on the six men All it takes is one strike each. That is just how powerful we are when useing our combat spells.



We are all skilled enough from the war to always do called shots. With these being new enemies we wanted to check out their gear. We decided to use the Dweomer spies to help us get the stuff back to my junkyard. So that we can investigate in peace. After we take a campfire break. To warm the guys up. It was so cold that even the little guys of the men were hiding in the folds for warmth. We do have to remember that it is January.



It took some time of course the students were interested. As well as my workers. Except for the stone masters who are currently working on building tunnels in the human-occupied villages. Places they can run to in case of trouble.



The robot and power armor are much weaker than the Glitterboys. Even though the robot is more than double the height of the Glitterboys. Because of our find. The class was permitted to stay longer. So they could have a first-hand chance to research these machines that are unknown around here.



Well, they were all examining the power armor and robot the guys and I took the rifles and armor to my house. That has a magic circle that we use to travel to the secret underground labyrinth we use to store our war gear.



Of course, the only ones who know how to get in here are us five magi. We left the armor in the living room to test later vs Coalition armor. When it came to the weapons it was something we were used to seeing. So we knew where to put those.



We also prepared a new area by cleaning up some down here. Sometimes the girls and I do a lot of studying down here on the weapons, and other gear. It can get messy when researching. We could store the missiles that are on the robot. We are all excited about comparing this new robot the the Enforcer we faced during the last year of our time around Chicago.



One thing you should know is that during the war 90% of it was between the cities of Chicago and Chi-town. Very few battles were in the actual magic zone. The war would have been reversed if it had been.



We get done and take back some coalition armor to use in the fire test later. We then left the house to return where everyone is still going through machines. All wide-eyed and happy. We then pulled a finished truck from the car lot to the machines to disarm them.



We can't leave explosives out in the open. The kids were enjoying the show even my so-called cousin. After disarming the robot's missiles. We did the same to the power armors. They had giant machine guns as their main weapon. We will be putting these weapons in storage later. Same with the power armors. After they are repaired and examined.
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Well, we were taking the weapons to a safe location for storage. We found out on our return that one of the power armors was in pieces. When we saw it we were angry. "What the hell are you doing? You fucking vultures. I permitted you to see what we brought back. Yet you destroy our property. If not for Father Leizak I would kill you all! Leave my property and never return!"



Do not raise your voice to me or act that way toward me. Unlike trash like you, I am a faithful son of Dweomer!



Norman ran up the the human male teacher and struck him in the jaw. The punch was so hard everyone heard the jaw pop out of joint. Both Victor and Edward tackled Norman before he killed the fool.



The students just stood there dumbfounded, and frightened. That was when Sussy and Jannett went to the kids. Listen you have to leave. Sussy said we do not enjoy the way your teacher has treated us.



Jannett then said, for your knowledge, you are hereby banned from our lands. Including all other teachers and students. In the future. We want nothing to do with elitist cowards.



Sussy then says until your PPE recovers I will guide you to my village. Then we will send you back where you belong. Come along children I will guide you. Jannett you take care of that trash on the ground his jaw was dislocated.



Yeah, I know. Why are there so few decent magi in Dweomer, The only ones who are helpful are the old retired ones. The rest seem to be trash, don't worry I be sure the fool is as good as new. When he wakes up from his snow nap.



That hurt to hear them say that but we kept quiet. My cousin was ready to kill us all and he would have felt nothing doing it. This is the dark side of being a hero. Even though it is true that only the refugees and elves consider him a hero. The elitism in the city is rampant. Most of all the lord Magi, and the High Magi who are like my teachers.



As we walked off I saw Jannett reset my teacher's jaw, and I looked to my hero and all I saw in his eyes was HATE. Is he already gone, is there no coming back for him? Even my twin sister Terinica would be freaked out by what happened. Is this the reason we were banned from being in the war? I wish there was someone I could trust to talk to. Other than my older twin sister.



after I cooled down I had the techno-wizards and old Magi join me in seeing if we could fix the power armor. Thankfully we had the other one there as a reference as well. Through our study, we learned that the power armor was much simpler than we assumed it to be.



So much so that we could even build replacement parts for it. Of course, those parts would be made of softer materials. Because we can't manufacture tech-based materials. If we replace those with wooden parts then we could though.



That will have to be put on the back burner. Trying to find a wood carver of that skill is difficult. Wooden power armor sounds rather funny. Yet, as an elf, I kind of want to see it. Truth be told it would likely only be half wood at best. There are still some things wood can't do.



For now, we placed them in my house garage. To get them out of the snow. Then when we had spare time we planned to do a detailed study. There is no longer any reason to store it in the hidden cavern.



The event with the teacher did cause some backlash. Many of the orders from Dweomer ceased. As in sale orders, they almost came to a stop. The message was clear accept being treated dirty if you want our money.



That was fine with us. We will find others to sell to, which is how we felt about it. We the five estranged magi were set on this. Even though we all felt secretly betrayed.



Through the winter things Like this continued we also were destroying more long-range patrols. The new vehicles were so strange. They were ATVs with giant wheels. Compared to the normal-sized wheels we were used to seeing.



After we brought them back and gave them a quick study we learned that they were called. The mountaineer ATV, and the big boss ATV. All-terrain vehicles that were made to be used in the wilds between towns, and cities even in the winter. They reminded us of construction vehicles. Think of backhoes, and trackters. That is the kind of wheel size we are talking about.



The big boss looks like a dune buggy. Strange yes, but reasonable compared to the mountaineer. That can fit five people in its seats compared to the 4 seats for the big boss. It has 2 giant front wheels and one giant back wheel. There is also a large compartment area ideal for an IFV, or APC.



That means infantry fighting vehicles and armored personal carriers. The enclosed cargo bays is 10 x 8 x 8 foot area. Some of them do have minor weapon systems most do not. They are often used to carry extra troops.



We also came across some motorcycles. The wastelander was the most interesting. Over the back tire, it is reinforced to have a large storage container. The size of a mini fridge or freezer. There is also the highwayman motorcycle that looks like an armored-up combat bike often with a machine gun built into it above the front tire.



We also learned during the winter that all of these new vehicles, including the L5, and 33 style lasers. The robots, and power armors as well. Are all from a manufacturer called Northern Gun. It seems that both Northern Gun and Manistique Imperium are city-states that are in Northern Michigan.



We have already converted and have been selling Manistique Imperium's lasers. Because their quality is low. Compared to Northern Gun, and the Coalition States. To think that the sale of gear is so far now. Normally outside the Ley lines of the magic zone trade is very limited