Eight Fantasms and Magics

by Jack Vance

  Hein Huss presently stumped into the room. Lord Faide turned away from the portrait, seated himself, motioned to Hein Huss to do likewise. “What of the keep-lords?" he asked. “How do they regard the setback at the hands of the First Folk?"

  “There are various reactions," said Hein Huss. “At Boghoten, Candelwade, and Havve there is distress and anger.”

  Lord Faide nodded. “These are my kinsmen."

  “At Gisborne, Graymar, Castle Cloud, and Alder there is satisfaction, veiled calculation."

  “To be expected,” muttered Lord Faide. “These lords must be humbled; in spite of oaths and undertakings, they still think rebellion.”

  “At Star Home, Julian-Douray, and Oak Hall I read surprise at the abilities of the First Folk, but in the main disinterest."

  Lord Faide nodded sourly. “Well enough. There is no actual rebellion in prospect; we are free to concentrate on the First Folk. I will tell you what is in my mind. You report that new plantings are in progress between Wildwood, Old Forest, Sarrow Copse, and elsewhere—possibly with the intent of surrounding Faide Keep." He looked inquiringly at Hein Huss, but no comment was forthcoming. Lord Faide continued. “Possibly we have underestimated the cunning of the savages. They seem capable of forming plans and acting with almost human persistence. Or, I should say, more than human persistence, for it appears that after sixteen hundred years they still consider us invaders and hope to exterminate us."

  “That is my own conclusion," said Hein Huss.

  “We must take steps to strike first. I consider this a matter for the jinxmen. We gain no honor dodging wasps, falling into traps, or groping through foam. It is a needless waste of lives. Therefore, I want you to assemble your jinxmen, cabalmen, and spellbinders; I want you to formulate your most potent hoodoos-”

  “Impossible."

  Lord Faide’s black eyebrows rose high. “ ‘Impossible?"

  Hein Huss seemed vaguely uncomfortable. “I read the wonder in your mind. You suspect me of disinterest, irresponsibility. Not true. If the First Folk defeat you, we suffer likewise."

  “Exactly," said Lord Faide dryly. “You will starve."

  “Nevertheless, the jinxmen cannot help you." He hoisted himself to his feet, started for the door.

  “Sit," said Lord Faide. “It is necessary to pursue this matter."

  Hein Huss looked around with his bland, water-clear eyes. Lord Faide met his gaze. Hein Huss sighed deeply. “I see I must ignore the precepts of my trade, break the habits of a lifetime. I must explain." He took his bulk to the wall, fingered the side arms in the rack, studied the portrait of the ancestral Faide. “These miracle workers of the old times— unfortunately we cannot use their magic! Notice the bulk of the spaceship! As heavy as Faide Keep." He turned his gaze on the table, teleported a candelabra two or three inches. “With considerably less effort they gave that spaceship enormous velocity, using ideas and forces they knew to be imaginary and irrational. We have advanced since then, of course. We no longer employ mysteries, arcane constructions, wild nonhuman forces. We are rational and practical—but we cannot achieve the effects of the ancient magicians."

  Lord Faide watched Hein Huss with saturnine eyes. Hein Huss gave his deep rumbling laugh. “You think that I wish to distract you with talk? No, this is not the case. I am preparing to enlighten you." He returned to his seat, lowered his bulk with a groan. “Now I must talk at length, to which I am not accustomed. But you must be given to understand what we jinxmen can do and what we cannot do.

  “First, unlike the ancient magicians, we are practical men. Naturally there is difference in our abilities. The best jinx-man combines great telepathic facility, implacable personal force, and intimate knowledge of his fellow humans. He knows their acts, motives, desires, and fears; he understands the symbols that most vigorously represent these qualities. Jinxmanship in the main is drudgery—dangerous, difficult, and unromantic—with no mystery except that which we employ to confuse our enemies." Hein Huss glanced at Lord Faide to encounter the same saturnine gaze. “Ha! I still have told you nothing; I still have spent many words talking around my inability to confound the First Folk. Patience.”

  “Speak on,” said Lord Faide.

  “Listen then. What happens when I hoodoo a man? First I must enter into his mind telepathically. There are three operational levels: the conscious, the unconscious, the cellular. The most effective jinxing is done if all three levels are influenced. I feel into my victim, I learn as much as possible, supplementing my previous knowledge of him, which is part of my stock in trade. I take up his doll, which carries his traces. The doll is highly useful but not indispensable. It serves as a focus for my attention; it acts as a pattern, or a guide, as I fix upon the mind of the victim, and he is bound by his own telepathic capacity to the doll which bears his traces.

  “Sol Now! Man and doll are identified in my mind, and at one or more levels in the victim’s mind. Whatever happens to the doll the victim feels to be happening to himself. There is no more to simple hoodooing than that, from the standpoint of the jinxman. But naturally the victims differ greatly. Susceptibility is the key idea here. Some men are more susceptible than others. Fear and conviction breed susceptibility. As a jinxman succeeds he becomes ever more feared, and consequently the more efficacious he becomes. The process is self-generative.

  “Demon-possession is a similar technique. Susceptibility is again essential; again conviction creates susceptibility. It is easiest and most dramatic when the characteristics of the demon are well known, as in the case of Comandore’s Keyril. For this reason, demons can be exchanged or traded among jinxmen. The commodity actually traded is public acceptance and familiarity with the demon.”

  “Demons then do not actually exist?” inquired Lord Faide half-incredulously.

  Hein Huss grinned vastly, showing enormous yellow teeth. “Telepathy works through a superstratum. Who knows what is created in this superstratum? Maybe the demons live on after they have been conceived; maybe they now are real. This of course is speculation, which we jinxmen shun.

  “So much for demons, so much for the lesser techniques of jinxmanship. I have explained sufficient to serve as background to the present situation.”

  “Excellent,” said Lord Faide. “Continue.”

  “The question, then, is: How does one cast a hoodoo into a creature of an alien race?” He looked inquiringly at Lord Faide. “Can you tell me?”

  “I?” asked Lord Faide surprised. “No.”

  “The method is basically the same as in the hoodooing of men. It is necessary to make the creature believe, in every cell of his being, that he suffers or dies. This is where the problems begin to arise. Does the creature think—that is to say, does he arrange the processes of his life in the same manner as men? This is a very important distinction. Certain creatures of the universe use methods other than the human nerve-node system to control their environments. We call the human system ‘intelligence’—a word which properly should be restricted to human activity. Other creatures use different agencies, different systems, arriving sometimes at similar ends. To bring home these generalities, I cannot hope to merge my mind with the corresponding capacity in the First Folk. The key will not fit the lock. At least, not altogether. Once or twice when I watched the First Folk trading with men at Forest Market, I felt occasional weak significances. This implies that the First Folk mentality creates something similar to human telepathic impulses. Nevertheless, there is no real sympathy between the two races.

  “This is the first and the least difficulty. If I were able to make complete telepathic contact—what then? The creatures are different from us. They have no words for ‘fear,’ ‘hate,’ ‘rage,’ ‘pain,’ ‘bravery,’ ‘cowardice.’ One may deduce that they do not feel these emotions. Undoubtedly they know other sensations, possibly as meaningful. Whatever these may be, they are unknown to me, and therefore I cannot either form or project symbols for these sensations.”

  Lord Faide stirred imp
atiently. “In short, you tell me that you cannot efficiently enter these creatures’ minds; and that if you could, you do not know what influences you could plant there to do them harm.”

  “Succinct,” agreed Hein Huss. “Substantially accurate.”

  Lord Faide rose to his feet. “In that case you must repair these deficiencies. You must learn to telepathize with the First Folk; you must find what influences will harm them. As quickly as possible.”

  Hein Huss stared reproachfully at Lord Faide. “But I have gone to great lengths to explain the difficulties involved! To hoodoo the First Folk is a monumental task! It would be necessary to enter Wildwood, to live with the First Folk, to become one of them, as my apprentice thought to become a tree. Even then an effective hoodoo is improbable! The First Folk must be susceptible to conviction! Otherwise there would be no bite to the hoodoo! I could guarantee no success. I would predict failure. No other jinxman would dare tell you this, no other would risk his mana. I dare because I am Hein Huss, with life behind me.”

  “Nevertheless we must attempt every weapon at hand,” said Lord Faide in a dry voice. “I cannot risk my knights, my kinsmen, my soldiers against these pallid half-creatures. What a waste of good flesh and blood to be stuck by a poison insect! You must go to Wildwood; you must learn how to hoodoo the First Folk.”

  Hein Huss heaved himself erect. His great round face was stony; his eyes were like bits of water-worn glass. “It is likewise a waste to go on a fool’s errand. I am no fool, and I will not undertake a hoodoo which is futile from the beginning.”

  “In that case,” said Lord Faide, “I will find someone else.” He went to the door, summoned a servant. “Bring Isak Comandore here.”

  Hein Huss lowered his bulk into the chair. “I will remain during the interview, with your permission.”

  “As you wish.”

  Isak Comandore appeared in the doorway, tall, loosely articulated, head hanging forward. He darted a glance of swift appraisal at Lord Faide, at Hein Huss, then stepped into the room.

  Lord Faide crisply explained his desires. “Hein Huss refuses to undertake the mission. Therefore I call on you.”

  Isak Comandore calculated. The pattern of his thinking was clear: he possibly could gain much mana; there was small risk of diminution, for had not Hein Huss already dodged away from the project? Comandore nodded. “Hein Huss has made clear the difficulties; only a very clever and very lucky jinxman can hope to succeed. But I accept the challenge, I will go.”

  “Good,” said Hein Huss. “I will go, too.” Isak Comandore darted him a sudden hot glance. “I wish only to observe. To Isak Comandore goes the responsibility and whatever credit may ensue.”

  “Very well,” said Comandore presently. “I welcome your company. Tomorrow morning we leave. I go to order our wagon.”

  Late in the evening Apprentice Sam Salazar came to Hein Huss where he sat brooding in his workroom. “What do you wish?” growled Huss.

  “I have a request to make of you, Head Jinxman Huss.”

  “Head Jinxman in name only,” grumbled Hein Huss. “Isak Comandore is about to assume my position.”

  Sam Salazar blinked, laughed uncertainly. Hein Huss fixed wintry-pale eyes on him. “What do you wish?”

  “I have heard that you go on an expedition to Wildwood, to study the First Folk.”

  “True, true. What then?”

  “Surely they will now attack all men?”

  Hein Huss shrugged. “At Forest Market they trade with men. At Forest Market men have always entered the forest. Perhaps there will be change, perhaps not.”

  “I would go with you, if I may,” said Sam Salazar.

  “This is no mission for apprentices.”

  “An apprentice must take every opportunity to learn,” said Sam Salazar. “Also you will need extra hands to set up tents, to load and unload cabinets, to cook, to fetch water, and other such matters.”

  “Your argument is convincing,” said Hein Huss. “We depart at dawn; be on hand.”

  IX

  As the sun lifted over the heath the jinxmen departed Faide Keep. The high-wheeled wagon creaked north over the moss, Hein Huss and Isak Comandore riding the front seat, Sam Salazar with his legs hanging over the tail. The wagon rose and fell with the dips and mounds of the moss, wheels wobbling, and presently passed out of sight behind Skywatcher’s Hill.

  Five days later, an hour before sunset, the wagon reappeared. As before, Hein Huss and Isak Comandore rode the front seat, with Sam Salazar perched behind. They approached the keep, and without giving so much as a sign or a nod, drove through the gate into the courtyard.

  Isak Comandore unfolded his long legs, stepped to the ground like a spider; Hein Huss lowered himself with a grunt. Both went to their quarters, while Sam Salazar led the wagon to the jinxmen’s warehouse.

  Somewhat later Isak Comandore presented himself to Lord Faide, who had been waiting in his trophy room, forced to a show of indifference through considerations of position, dignity, and protocol. Isak Comandore stood in the doorway, grinning like a fox. Lord Faide eyed him with sour dislike, waiting for Comandore to speak. Hein Huss might have stationed himself an entire day, eyes placidly fixed on Lord Faide, awaiting the first word; Isak Comandore lacked the absolute serenity. He came a step forward. “I have returned from Wildwood.”

  “With what results?”

  “I believe that it is possible to hoodoo the First Folk.” Hein Huss spoke from behind Comandore. “I believe that such an undertaking, if feasible, would be useless, irresponsible, and possibly dangerous.” He lumbered forward.

  Isak Comandore’s eyes glowed hot red-brown; he turned back to Lord Faide. “You ordered me forth on a mission; I will render a report.”

  “Seat yourselves. I will listen.”

  Isak Comandore, nominal head of the expedition, spoke. “We rode along the river bank to Forest Market. Here was no sign of disorder or of hostility. A hundred First Folk traded timber, planks, posts, and poles for knife blades, iron wire, and copper pots. When they returned to their barge we followed them aboard, wagon, horses, and all. They showed no surprise-"

  “Surprise," said Hein Huss heavily, “is an emotion of which they have no knowledge."

  Isak Comandore glared briefly. “We spoke to the barge-tenders, explaining that we wished to visit the interior of Wildwood. We asked if the First Folk would try to kill us to prevent us from entering the forest. They professed indifference as to either our well-being or our destruction. This was by no means a guarantee of safe conduct; however, we accepted it as such, and remained aboard the barge." He spoke on with occasional emendations from Hein Huss.

  They had proceeded up the river, into the forest, the First Folk poling against the slow current. Presently they put away the poles; nevertheless the barge moved as before. The mystified jinxmen discussed the possibility of teleportation, or symboligical force, and wondered if the First Folk had developed jinxing techniques unknown to men. Sam Salazar, however, noticed that four enormous water beetles, each twelve feet long with oil-black carapaces and blunt heads, had risen from the river bed and pushed the barge from behind—apparently without direction or command. The First Folk stood at the bow, turning the nose of the barge this way or that to follow the winding of the river. They ignored the jinxmen and Sam Salazar as if they did not exist.

  The beetles swam tirelessly; the barge moved for four hours as fast as a man could walk. Occasionally, First Folk peered from the forest shadows, but none showed interest or concern in the barge’s unusual cargo. By midafternoon the river widened, broke into many channels and became a marsh; a few minutes later the barge floated out into the open water of a small lake. Along the shore, behind the first line of trees appeared a large settlement. The jinxmen were interested and surprised. It had always been assumed that the First Folk wandered at random through the forest, as they had originally lived in the moss of the downs.

  The barge grounded; the First Folk walked ashore, the men followe
d with the horses and wagon. Their immediate impressions were of swarming numbers, of slow but incessant activity, and they were attacked by an overpoweringly evil smell.

  Ignoring the stench, the men brought the wagon in from the shore, paused to take stock of what they saw. The settlement appeared to be a center of many diverse activities. The trees had been stripped of lower branches, and supported blocks of hardened foam three hundred feet long, fifty feet high, twenty feet thick, with a space of a man’s height intervening between the underside of the foam and the ground. There were a dozen of these blocks, apparently of cellular construction. Certain of the cells had broken open and seethed with small white fishlike creatures—the First Folk young.

  Below the blocks masses of First Folk engaged in various occupations, in the main unfamiliar to the jinxmen. Leaving the wagon in the care of Sam Salazar, Hein Huss and Isak Comandore moved forward among the First Folk, repelled by the stench and the pressure of alien flesh, but drawn by curiosity. They were neither heeded nor halted; they wandered everywhere about the settlement. One area seemed to be an enormous zoo, divided into a number of sections. The purpose of one of these sections—a kind of range two hundred-feet long—was all too clear. At one end a human corpse hung on a rope—a Faide casualty from the battle at the new planting. Certain of the wasps flew straight at the corpse; just before contact they were netted and removed. Others flew up and away or veered toward the First Folk who stood along the side of the range. These latter also were netted and killed at once.

  The purpose of the business was clear enough. Examining some of the other activity in this new light, the jinxmen were able to interpret much that had hitherto puzzled them.

  They saw beetles tall as dogs with heavy saw-toothed pincers attacking objects resembling horses; pens of insects even larger, long narrow, segmented, with dozens of heavy legs and nightmare heads. All these creatures—wasps, beetles, centipedes—in smaller and less formidable form were indigenous to the forest; it was plain that the First Folk had been practicing selective breeding for many years, perhaps centuries.