The Death Witch Camp exists among the hills of the Disc of Deads and Wraiths. When one arrives at the Disc of Deads and Wraiths, they are on a grassy hill that looks out over the countless hilltops of the terrain that are nestled in thick clouds of Divine Essence that settle over everything. The sky above the hilltops is dark violet and pristine, nothing disturbs it, no clouds of Essence, no distant stars. When a traveler to the Disc descends a grassy hilltop into the mists, they emerge into the various domains of the Disc, including Deads’ Town, the Rings of Arada that are home to Loa wraiths, and the Witches Camp that is home to the Death Witch Coven, and other witches that have been welcomed. Obayifo witches, Essence witches, Chaos witches, and so many more have come to call the Camp home. Despite the ubiquitous use of magic across the Fonlands, many Fonlanders regard those who identify as witches with suspicion. The powers of a witch can seem frightening to some because their powers are known to fluctuate wildly as a result of their relationship to the Pattern that sometimes grants huge influxes of powers depending on its will. Consequently, witches seem more dangerous or unruly, so like the Death Witch Coven with its origins on the Disc of Jo, many of the witches of the Camp were cast out because of intolerance to their actions and they never really had a home base, though many of the Death Witches that avoided banishment to Kútmómɛ became prominent fixtures of the Disc of Agê, particularly the Deep.
The Camp is as large as a continent and it is bordered by thick clouds of Divine Essence that obscures the hills with hilltops that overlook the mists. The vastness of the space has allowed witches to congregate based on shared interests and ideals, but the Death Witch Coven occupies a large portion of the continent with simple structures they use for homes or places of congregation. The wall of mist closest to the settlement of the Death Witch Coven leads to a hilltop that is steeper than others in its vicinity and proceeding from the Witch Camp and over the hill into the mists on the other side usually leads one to the Rings of Arada that is like a giant court made of colored stone that forms rings around the castle of Brigette in the middle. The Grand Brigette discovered the proximity of Arada to the Witch Camp and she has been a frequent visitor since the emergence of Fâ from the Disc. In the absence of Detritus and Quietus, the Exitus Witch has presided as the leader of the Death Witch Coven, and as a result, the leader of the Witch Camp, and she has been closely monitoring the progression of the battle against the enemy of the Fonlands. Exitus led the coven in their strange existence in Kútmómɛ and she held them together against the threat of madness in the void that they learned to shape into the home they endured until they were freed.
“It’s just as I said,” Brigette says to Exitus who floats inside of the large tent where she spends most of her time meditating in a haze of violet gray energy that is sharp around her. The violet gray of Exitus disintegrates anything that comes into contact with it, instantly turning it to Death magic.
“Remind me what you said,” Exitus says as she turns to be upright before Brigette, never touching the ground.
“The map of the Disc that Lêgba started and I have been refining with my magic and my scouts, it’s revealing something very interesting. The Disc of Deads and Wraith is expanding. Soon the entirety of the underside of the Fonlands will belong to Deads and Wraiths. I think that the Witch Camp will settle as the underside of Agê’s Disc. The disparate sections of Outer Spacetime are realigning. I think this will be the last time that I can travel to meet you so easily because it seems that what was Outer Spacetime will become the underside of the Disc of Jo. The Barons are building something that is settling towards the underside of Xêvioso’s Disc.”
“The Disc has spread? That is fascinating,” Exitus says. “I’m glad that our enemy won’t be the end of us, the Vodun are pushing the enemy back and the threat to the Fonlands seems to have passed. I am eager to see what the underside of the Fonlands will become. Have you personally traveled to other Discs?”
“Not yet, but that is why I came…” Brigette starts, but Exitus interrupts.
“I will definitely travel with you,” Exitus says enthusiastically. “I’ve been monitoring this conflict so long, I could use a break.”
“Any word from Quietus and Detritus?” Brigette asks.
“Nothing concrete,” Exitus says. “But the success here should definitely translate to their fight. I am confident they will return at the conclusion of all of this and I can’t wait. I haven’t had to talk to so many witches since we got back to the Fonlands.”
“You have been a stalwart leader, welcoming wayward witches from across the Fonlands,” Brigette says with a smile.
“When are we leaving?” Exitus asks.
“Don’t you have to let someone know that you will be gone?”
“They’ll figure it out,” Exitus says dismissively. “Besides, Catastrophe is back and she likes to boss others around.”
“Let’s go exploring,” Brigette says enthusiastically.
And in the Une-verse…
Detritus wants to be angry because of the chaos that ensued after she and Quietus used their powers, boosted by the entirety of the powers of the Vodun forces in the Une-verse, to kill the algae that they discovered on the tendrils of Une. The Ruin Witch helped to facilitate the spread of the other witches’ powers to all of the algae in the Une-verse and the tendrils had reacted badly. It is unclear at the moment how effective their plan is; the tendrils are moving frantically and at fast speeds for their size, they seem as energized as ever.
To do something so drastic in enemy territory without gaming out scenarios and counter moves with the Vodun force they belonged to, was reckless at best, and homicidal in the worst case. The sudden, violent movement of the tendrils no doubt caught many off guard and there are bound to be casualties. Not to mention that the three Death Witches had siphoned the powers of all of their allies for long enough to accomplish the feat, and many of their allies relied on their powers to be suspended in space, which many of them were no doubt doing at the moment the three seized their powers, so many were left defenseless and free falling for the minute that Ruin sang her song to unite the algae, and Quietus and Detritus to spread their magic to all of it and kill it.
Detritus can’t imagine reconvening with the others in the force, or the Vodun for that matter. Whoever survived the loss of their powers will no doubt be livid and they would probably be sent back to the Fonlands. Detritus doesn’t want that. She had volunteered for this mission because she understood the gravity of it and she was happy to demonstrate the might of the Death Witches alongside the others of the Vodun forces, so the thought of causing such discord is something to inspire anger in her.
But she is Detritus of the Death Witch Coven, and with Quietus and Ruin, she had felt the peak of her powers, and the three of them had done something that even the Vodun couldn’t do. She had joined mentally with Quietus and they had developed a combined magic that was the best of both of their abilities, and when Ruin joined them to the algae, they spread death on a universal scale. It was truly a thrill for Detritus, and the inundation of all of the Death magic that resulted from it that Quietus had drawn to them just before their immense powers returned through their suits, left them all buzzing with even more Violet magic than they’d ever wielded. At this realization, she stops herself in space and when tendrils swing in her direction, she casts bolts of violet that explode on the surface of the tendrils and eats away at the surrounding mass of it, splitting the tendril and leaving both sides flailing frantically in what seems to be pain. Detritus had briefly drifted from her sisters in a fit of this new magic and she is now among the chaos. The tendrils had been buzzing when they first entered the Une-verse, the sonic output of Une in slumber, but now, the buzz pulses like an alarm of agony. Detritus blasts her way through the tendrils until she finds Quietus and Ruin still on a rock close to the body of Une that is obscured by the movement of her tendrils. The rock where they stand is covered in a translucent barrier and Detritus is relieved to pass through it.
“You got lost in the power, didn’t you?” Quietus says with a delighted smirk. She and Ruin course with Violet magic just like Detritus and when they stand together, the barrier around them expands and begins to damage the tendrils that smack against it. “It is wonderful.”
“This whole thing has been wondrous,” Ruin says dreamily.
“What now?” Detritus asks. “Should we find the Vodun? Xêvioso will be angry with us.”
“We are already in the presence a Vodun,” Quietus says and points to the chaotic scene before them, toward the location of Une’s surface. “I knew I felt something here but it was drowned out by the algae. In its absence, you both must feel the Vodun Agê down on the surface. Poor thing must be a prisoner. Shall we swoop in for the rescue or go back to daddy Vodun for a reprimand?”
Detritus laughs and then they all cackle together with delight.
“Let’s go sisters,” Quietus says confidently. “Never send a Vodun force to do a Death Witch Coven’s job.”
“The fungus will bare its gills to tame the powers of the leaf,” Ruin says before they depart the rock. “Strike then, or the violet green will be enough to exalt the fungus.”
“So are the words of Ruin,” Quietus and Detritus say in unison.
PRL Serials 