From the ROYAL STREET files: The Magical World

(Yes, and a reminder that you still have time to win this week’s contests, with links below.)

One of the fun parts of writing fantasy is building a world, and one of the fun things about writing a fantasy series is making that world deep and rich. Over the next couple of months, I’ll be tossing out occasional introductions to the world of Royal Street and the Sentinels of New Orleans series.

Today, welcome to the world of wizards!

The wizards are highly organized. A wizardly org chart might look like this:

Other than the Elders—the wizards’ ruling council—all licensed wizards fall into one of four Congresses, depending on the area in which their magical skills are strongest. There are rules about education and giving up powers and such, but I won’t go into all that today.

Red Congress wizards specialize in physical magic—they can channel magical energy and zap people with it, so strong Red wizards are considered warrior class. Green Congress wizards are the geeks of the magical world; they specialize in ritual magic, which includes charms, spells and potions. Blue Congress practice illusory magic—they can clean up a crime scene to make it appear as it was before, and tend to be highly creative. Yellow Congress is the smallest group, and these wizards specialize in mental magic—they are often psychics or telepaths.

The wizards have, by longstanding treaty, been responsible for policing the borders between the human world and the Beyond, or Otherworld. The ones who hold that gatekeeper job are called Sentinels. Usually, they are Red Congress wizards. For extra muscle, the wizards employ a secretive force of muscle, known simply as Enforcers. Not much is known about these assassins except there’s a loose affiliation with the FBI in the U.S. and other lawkeeping organizations in other countries.

In the Sentinels series, the primary character is Drusilla Jane (DJ) Jaco. DJ is a Green Congress wizard only four years out from passing her exams, and she works as a deputy sentinel with her mentor, Red Congress wizard Gerald St. Simon, warrior class. They maintain the borders between New Orleans and the Beyond—borders which are destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Mayhem ensues.

Okay, commercial over!

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To win your choice of book in this week’s HUMONGOUS Reader’s Choice contest, click HERE.

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Contests enter at midnight tonight (central daylight time in the U.S.) and are international. Now, start scrolling, clicking, commenting! And come back tomorrow to see if you won!