Chapter III
The First Campaign

The dark tower loomed overhead in the morning sky, blocking out the sun as it moved into the afternoon. Before they had bought the land, the two witches were assured that all pre-existing structures would be entirely vacant, and so when Enya had traveled to the church ruins that afternoon to explore the catacombs, she was startled when she heard what sounded like load roaring emanating from deep below the crust of the planet, below the dark tower.
Investigating the mystery further, the little glass fairy ascended the snowy mountains and orbited the perimeter of the tower with a clip board in hand, sketching the environment with a brush pen and making notes of interesting features, the makeshift windmill, the colossal glowing test tube aquarium, the chimneys billowing with smokestacks. She noticed a long balcony extending from the roof to the windmill and decided to perch there to catch her breath, the air was getting thin.
She had yet to encounter any monsters, but she was anxious to get to the bottom of this mystery, and so when she found a door at the end of her perch, she thoughtlessly approached it and turned the knob. The door was thrice her height and difficult to push, but once it was open light flooded into the room. It was an oppressively large room, and all the world’s daylight merely carved out a thin, vertical pathway. Stepping out of the light, she looked around at all the crystalline dream catchers which hung from the curvature of the tall inner roof. In the center of the tower lay a thin beam of white light, except it glowed so little that it emitted no light whatsoever on the surrounding environment, as if it were superimposed on her vision. She approached the balcony and looked closely down the inner shaft, and at the very bottom she could see a glimmer of pink, dancing in and out of perception, an orb.
“Good evening,” she heard a voice rumble behind her, nearly swiping her balance. She caught the iron railing as she turned around, he was at least seven feet tall and blocked out all the light which she had let into the room.
“Good evening? I don’t think we’ve met before,” she extended her hand. “My name’s Maude Orchid, I’m your new neighbor!” She gave him an overexaggerated smile as she noticed a striped green worm crawl in and out of his exposed eyesocket. She squinted her eyes and smiled harder as the old man stared her down without a word. After so long he took her hand and gently squeezed it once before letting go. Her palm was as large as his thumb.
“I live down in the valley with my business partner Enya. We bought the land down there together from a realtor, but we weren’t expecting neighbors!” Her eyes darted back and forth “That is to say I am pleased to make your acquaintance mister…”
“Augustine.” The word flew out of his mouth like a ghost, “Richter Augustine.” His voice wasn’t as raspy as she expected, his voice seemed to echo from deep inside his chest with a low timbre.
“Richter Augustine,” she murmured to herself as she wrote down on her clipboard. “Lovely name, and you boys live together up here just the two of you?” Maude cocked an eyebrow. She gestured to the little fellow with the jinglebell hat who had been crouching behind Richter. He had been there for quite some time, but only now did he bounce into sight with the posture of a meerkat with an anxiety disorder. She noticed how differently the two dressed, they looked like quite the pair, springtime and winter.
“This is my apprentice, Ludwig,” Richter stated plainly, prompting his apprentice to quietly wave hello. His face looked much older than his mannerisms.
“Oh so you’re a teacher?
“I am a wizard. Presently, a teacher to one.”
“What’s your speciality? Are you an alchemist, an occultist, an academic?” Maude asked, and Richter’s expression changed for the first time as if to indicate confusion.
“I am an ambassador of no academy or ecclesiastical guild, I am an ambassador to truth. I am an ambassador of the natural, and the supernatural.” Now Maude was giving him a confused look. “My abilities far surpass anything one would consider to be natural, and with them I’ve raptured the imaginations of thousands and amassed a devoted following which consume my teachings as if they were scripture.”
“So… you’re a writer?” She guessed.
“To use your colloquial terminology, yes. I’ve published thousands of magical texts throughout my lifetime. For many years we’ve traveled to this ancestral castle to work on our practice in total solitude. I’ve taken it upon myself to ‘teach’ only the finest students, and he is indeed the finest.” Richter gestured to Ludwig who smiled in return under his heavy blond beard.
“It’s just in my blood, I’m nothing special,” Ludwig muttered.
“He is too humble in the company of strange old women,” Richter looked Maude up and down with one eye.
“Well I’m something of a witch myself, I didn’t always have these wings you know.” She floated into the air, escaping the wizard’s clutches to display her stained glass wings that gleamed in the sunlight and burnt their retinas. She took out a little draw string pouch from the pocket of her dress along with a vial of translucent oil. She wet her fingers with the oil before tossing up a handful of sand and blowing gossamer bubbles in the air. A fruitfly bounced off of Richter’s forehead and got caught in a bubble which lazily floated through the room. Ludwig plucked a bubble out of the air and felt it weigh on him.
“It’s glass,” he remarked, watching the fly bouncing off the walls of the bubble as he quickly stashed it away in his bag without a word.
“Glass blowing is my trade, but it’s also my magical niche. You could call me an alchemist, but I have no use for gold.”
“That’s a remarkable trick, how do you do that?” the apprentice spoke up.
“I could teach you how to do it sometime! I used to be something of a teacher myself!” She blurted out in excitement, relieved to find some common ground. “I used to teach in primary school when I was a young girl fresh out of college, but I started teaching liberal arts classes at CCU as an adjunct while I mentored some girls in the arts of witchcraft.” She finished speaking but it felt like she sucked all the air out of the thin atmosphere. “In fact my business partner was one of my students for a time, she lives with me right down there.”
“Maybe sometime I’ll come visit you down there,” Ludwig politely said.
“Sure thing, come down anytime, we’d be happy to have you for dinner.”
“Likewise, Ms. Orchid.” Richter bellowed, his one eye tracking her every movement.
“Well with that in mind I have something to share with all the newcomers that I think you’d be interested in” Maude took a few forums from her clipboard and handed it to Ludwig, the wizard snatched the packet out of his hand. “We’re going to have a town meeting tonight at the old municipal building I refurnished. I’m running for mayor and I hope I can count on your vote. We’re going to be hosting a debate tonight, should be entertaining at least.”
“Huh?” Richter uttered.
“There are others?” his apprentice interpreted.
“Just some people from around the area who are looking for work and a place to live. We still have some vital infrastructure that we need to construct as a burgeoning little town and I’m excited to get to work.” Maude explained.
“Then you can count us in attendance.” Richter stated as Maude looked to Ludwig for confirmation. Ludwig looked at her without objection. “Will you be requiring a mediator?” Richter asked.
“For what? The debate?” Maude asked and Richter nodded. “Oh why yes, I suppose we should have one of those, like a moderator. Would you be up to the task?” She hesitated to ask but her words ran before her good sense could catch up.
“I’d be delighted,” he said with no joy.
“Oh good! It was so good to meet the both of you.” Maude quickly grabbed each of their hands, feverishly shaking them before ascending into the air quicker than she could think. “See you later, boys!”
“We’ll meet again.” Richter mumbled, as if anyone could hear him.
The two would indeed meet again after Maude had made her rounds in visiting her many new neighbors. You could spend days alone in the Sakura valley and feel totally isolated from the outside world, but if you crossed the mountain perimeter you would find a couple small villages to the east and west of their settlement. The glass fairy picked up her wings and took to the skies, heading west towards Westeria where she and the crew had previously occasioned for a drink.
She landed in a patch of grass and looked around for a sign of life, but she only caught the attention of a herd of cows grazing in the distance. She jingled like she had sleigh bells strapped to her feet as she walked along a dirt path, dragging along her large, crushed velvet purse. When she first encountered the village, her and Enya were silly with exhaustion, the moon was taking a header and in the night the town looked like a mosaic of swaying lantern lights. Looking around, many homes looked abandoned, and she couldn’t spot more than a few souls out in the open. Now that she saw the place in broad daylight, she was rather demystified. Gravespointe, the eastern town, was not much different, though she hardly occasioned the place before the sun fell, as there was hardly anything lighting her surroundings and it made her feel unsafe. She thought that would be a good addition to her agenda as mayor, new public lighting, maybe even a moonlight tower.

❖❖❖

That evening the hall of the commons house was decorated with fairy lights and candles which emitted a radiant glow throughout the town square. The glass fairy guided the blacksmith as he hauled ornate bookshelves which still smelled of the oaky varnish the man had applied days earlier. The blacksmith lifted a bookshelf onto his back with his legs, placing it in front of the wall. Meanwhile the glass fairy took the liberty of lifting her rocking chair off the palette and placing it up front on stage.
“Don’t worry about lifting any chairs,” the blacksmith commanded. “I’ll take care of that after I’m done with these bookshelves.”
“You’re too good Artos, although I’d like to get this done in time for the meeting tonight.” She tried pulling a bench from off the palette but dropped it midway through, hitting the newly polished floor. She pulled the bench down and dragged it in front of the central table. Artos watched her with dismay, his bandana covering his clenched teeth.
“That’s alright ma’am, really I mean it. Don’t you have material to prepare for tonight?” He approached her, his big winter boots squeaking with each step.
“I suppose I do have other things I could attend to. You’ve really been a terrific help” she grabbed her coin purse from her big purse and unbuckled the pin, grabbing a handful of coins and pouring them into the pocket on Artos’ puffy jacket “here’s some sovereigns, and you can keep the change.”
“That’s not necessary, but thank you kindly m’am.”
“Think of it as a retainer, this town’s going to need a library soon enough!” Maude walked up the stairs of the commons hall and walked around the balcony, stepping into the office on the top floor. It was shut between two double doors which opened up to a cramped little room with a big desk in the middle, two large bookshelves on either side and two tiny chairs which were pushed into the desk. Maude walked to the other side and sat in her plush lilac chair to study her notes.
The townspeople began to gather one by one, first Aphelios and Phil who initially greeted Artos before they sat in the benches. Then came the local scientist who Artos recognized as a customer, his story was that he was studying the local ecology under a grant from the Scrimshaw institute. Then the local priest came in who was familiar to the people of Gravespointe, but not so familiar to anyone in Sakura Point, although Aphelios noticed that Phil looked mortally frightened to see a priest. After him, a stranger arrived. Nobody in the hall seemed to recognize him, but a few people flocked his way to get a slice of the pumpkin pie he brought to the meeting. Maude could smell it from her office, when the time was right she hurried down to meet all the new faces.
“Sicarus!” She beckoned from the stairs, and suddenly everyone became rather quiet. The stranger looked up at her with a serving knife in hand and quickly darted towards the woman.
“Oh my god girl how are you!” Sicarus gave Maude a hug while the knife was still in his hand, and she reciprocated as the man lifted her into the air.
“Boy, put me down!” Maude laughed, flying out of his spiderweb grasp. “I’m so glad you made it, I hope your trip down the mountain wasn’t too frightful.” The two of them yucked it up as the rest of the hall continued their stifled conversation, unable to avoid overhearing their boisterous conversation. From that point on, the rest of the crowd poured in as the clock struck ten past eight, so they were getting anxious to begin.
“Alright everyone!” Maude shouted out, and everyone went quiet. “Thanks you guys, for those who are new here, my name is Maude, I’ve been hosting these meetings for the past three months now. Some of you may be aware this is not typically where we meet, this is actually the townhall of old Sakura Point which my friend Artos the blacksmith has graciously reconstructed.” Phil yawned and Aphelios elbowed him. “However, for our first order of business I’d like to ask that everyone congregate behind the community center of Orchid & Mauve. Thank you.” The crowd stood up from their seats at once and began shuffling toward the town center.
“What’s happening, I thought we were doing it here?” Phil did a double take and tapped his campaign manager.
“Did you say you would do it here?” He looked at Phil who pursed his lips with shifty eyes. Aphelios sighed, “it’s an old debate tactic, she’s changing up the location to throw you off your game. Doesn’t mean anything, just stick to the script.” Phil nodded and the two shuffled out of the hall, past the old well and behind the community center where rows of lawn chairs were set up in front of a stage of scaffolding with two lecterns placed on either side, Maude occupied the closest one. Phil waltzed in front of the crowd and walked up the stairs on the other side. In front of him stood the tallest man he had ever seen, he was the size of a fantasy coffin and dressed like one as well. Phil was on a two foot platform standing at six feet tall, this wizard was looking down at him, until he was looking toward the crowd.
“Good evening!” Richter beaconed to a silent crowd. After a long pause, the crowd looked at one another in total silence.
“Good evening!” The crowd responded, except for Enya and a tall, lanky figure dressed in black garbs, the two of them were making quiet chit chat in the back row.
“Tonight we will begin with an appeal to the land, to the mother of all creation, and to almighty Sakura,” he bellowed from the back of his throat and recited dead prayers in indecipherable tongues, but he spoke so quickly that the ritual had ended before anyone knew he switched languages. But before anyone could say a word, he grabbed a black crystal ball from his ribcage and began to shake it wildly. “Tonight we will ask our subjects a series of questions determined by this magic orb of truth. The subjects will answer to the best of their ability within two minutes and then we will open the discussion to the masses. Do we concur? Excellent.”
Phil looked every which way, getting distracted at all the individual faces in the crowd. Before he knew it, nobody was talking anymore and suddenly all eyes were on him.
“Phillip?” Richter was talking to him.
“I’m sorry, what was the question?” Phil shuffled his notecards as Richter peered into the eye of the magic ball.
“What will you do to improve the town’s infrastructure?” Richter recited.
“Well I think we should make a new hospital a top priority, we definitely need one in this town, especially because of how dangerous it is to live here, and we want more stable pathways to get around town so that people don’t trip and fall, but then we also need to make it so that we have a place where people can go if they’ve committed a crime, and of course we can prosecute people unless we have a court, so I guess what I’m basically saying is we need a lot of money right now to build all this important infrastructure which will bring jobs and-”
“And that’s the end of your time Mr. Julius” Richter interrupted. Phil unbuttoned the top button of his collar, the necktie was starting to choke him. He thought his answer was alright but the audience didn’t give him much of an indicator, aside from Aphelios who gave him a reassuring, stoic smile.
“What are your qualifications to be a mayor?” Richter asked Maude.
“Well I could bring you my resume but I was a college professor for many years, I was published in the Corsica Law Review on many occasions, I did some volunteer work in the inner city with CPS, I helped organize the teacher’s union at the East Side Academy so I’ve had experience with legal negotiations. I took advantage of rent services for twenty five years so you know I’m proficient at filing paperwork,” she chuckled. “I yield the rest of my time to the mailman.”
“And now you Mr. Julius, what are your qualifications?”
“Well I’m young so I haven’t got much experience.” He looked at Aphelios and took a moment to pause, “but I’ve been a mailman for a while now and I’ve gotten to know a lot of you folks, actually most of you folks just through my profession. I’ve learned a lot about this town while on the job, I’ve actually done some exploring too and I think y’all would be interested to see some of the stuff I’ve uncovered around here!” He cleared his throat, “but I’ve had a lot of odd jobs, I’ve been to college but I’ve mostly learned while working with my hands. I’ve been told I’m quick to learn if given the opportunity.” The crowd seemed lukewarm, but he felt confident in his own answer.
“How will the law be enforced in this town?” Richter asked Maude.
“When a serious crime like murder or destruction of property is committed I will assemble a militia to hunt down the perpetrator. Petty crimes and misdemeanors will be addressed by myself personally. As mayor I’ll assemble a code of law with sentencing regulations inspired by the overseas code, and when a crime is committed I will appoint a judge to act as neutral counsel in deciding their guilt and sentence. With me you won’t be second guessing the law, unlike the mailman who has never studied municipal law. I yield the rest of my time.” Everyone turned to Phil.
“I can’t argue with that, although when a crime is committed I think it would be best to appoint a council of three so that we can avoid further bias. I guess I yield my time.” Phil answered plainly. He looked over his shoulder and noticed that Maude was glaring at him. After several rounds of questioning, Richter finally turned around and addressed the crowd, picking out the priest who raised his hand first.
“My name is Father Agnello, I don’t believe we’ve met Ms. Orchid. Phil. Will my church be impacted by your administration?” All eyes looked at Maude, but she simply shuffled her cards around.
“Oh would you mind if Phil took this question first? I just want to make sure he produces an original answer,” she scorned.
“Erm uh… Okay whatever, yea your church won’t be affected, my guy. I don’t care, you leave me to my business and I’ll leave you alone with yours.” Phil scowled at the priest, and the crowd seemed to be out of the loop.
“Well I don’t know about the mailman, but I on the other hand,” Maude piped up, “I’d like to be involved in promoting community leadership, creating community outreach through volunteer groups and community events. I always want to make sure this valley is a diverse oasis, unburdened by theocracy or religious repression, and that goes for your faith just as much as it goes for mine.” She stated very diplomatically, although Brutus seemed alienated by the last part. Richter looked around for another question and pointed to the back where Aphelios was sitting. He stood up and looked Maude in the eyes.
“This question is for Maude first,” he stated, “do you have any respect for the people that make this town?” Maude struggled to think of an answer to that one.
“I’m sorry, is that your question?” She stammered, jostling the papers in her hands.
“Yes because you keep referring to him as just a mailman as if you look down upon him,” he became increasingly aggressive.
“I don’t look down upon him, he’s a valued member of this community and performs a vital function for this town day in and day out,” she said while crinkling up the papers in her hands.
“But you say that as if that’s all he’s capable of,” he argued, “you’re just coming off as condescending to everyone.” Maude looked around at all the formerly blank faces which suddenly became interested in the proceedings.
“But I’m not saying he’s incapable, I just don’t know if he is capable. He’s never proven himself to anyone, he’s just a mailman!” She unknowingly began to shout, and suddenly the silence washed over her like a tsunami. “That is to say, we all come from different walks of life and we all have something we can bring to the table.”
“Phil, would you like to answer that question?” The wizard asked
“I think she did enough talking for the both of us.” He shuffled his cards before pointing at Ludwig who had his hand up for quite a while, “I think he has a question for me.” The bell on the man’s hat jingled as he stood up.
“Yes, I had a question for Mr. Julius. What is a mailman? I don’t think I need to hear from Ms. Orchid,” he said, looking her in the eyes with furrowed brows.
“You don’t know what a mailman is?” Phil gulped “Well a mailman delivers mail, he meets a lot of people every day, he carries heavy packages, does a lot of walking. Often they’re paid by local tax dollars, sometimes by an institution. I meet a lot of people day in and day out, and I think I’ve done a lot of ‘community outreach.’ Sicarus, I delivered your sugar. Sebastian, you got those new flasks the other day. Maude, you even had a letter delivered today. I know how to talk to people and when I’m mayor I’ll learn the terrain as I uncover it, that’s what being a mailman is all about.”
After several more questions, the debate ended solemnly with Phil giving his longest answers while Maude attempted to tread water. The two adjourned for the night before Maude adjourned the rest of the meeting, directing everyone to go to the ballot boxes she had set up in the community center where they could cast their votes. Phil mingled proudly with the community while Maude caught up with Enya and her new friend.
“Maude darling you did so well!” Enya forced herself to smile.
“Keep your sympathies to yourself dear, that went terribly,” she sighed in resignation. “I’m still confident in my aptitude but that guy in the back really tripped me up.”
“Don’t worry about it, you came off as condescending but you’re clearly the more qualified candidate,” the lanky figure said under the hood of their cloak.
“Who’s your friend, Enya?” Maude asked. A long, pale forearm stretched out from the cloak, delicately taking Maude’s hand and kissing it gently.
“My name is Lothric III, heir to the Emberlyn estate.”  Lothric leaned into her ear to whisper, “if you would be so good as to hear my offer, you would do me a great kindness.”
“Shall we convene at the Foxtrot bakery?” Enya offered.
“That would be most agreeable,” Lothric said, and Maude concurred.

Author’s Notes

N/A