Apprentice Wizards of Hope

by Gary J. Davies

  - Life: Naturally arising self-replicating persistent complex structures found in some stable universes including our own, including biological life such as humans and elves, as well as elemental life forms such as sprites and Demons. Various forms of life both depend on and generate corresponding Life Energies.

  - Mixy: Derogatory term for the mixed-race offspring from a pairing of paranormal individuals of different sub-races/para-human groups. As often as not, their powers are diluted rather than simply accumulated, however at times mutation and activation of what had been recessive can result in unexpected powers in offspring. Parents with no apparent powers can even (rarely) produce offspring with full Wizard powers.

  - Multiverse: The infinite collection of all mathematically consistent and hence relatively stable and real universes, bounded by a chaotic Void.

  - Norms: 'Normal' humans without powers. They are usually unaware that paranormal beings/powers exist. Natural mutation and selection in the Norm population produces small but increasing numbers of para-normal humans with powers among the Norm population.

  - Rogues: Unaligned people of power designated officially to be enemies of Hope by the Council.

  - Rogue Wizards: Unaligned Wizard-powered individuals declared by the Hope Wizard Council to be enemies of Hope.

  - Sprite: An Elemental species that inhabits this universe; a sentient, free spirited storm and Wild Magic surfer, born of Wild Magic that escapes from the Void, or possibly of the Void itself. Declared to be fictional by the Hope Council.

  - Sasquatch: Sentient close relatives of humans that live hidden in forests world-wide. Their paranormal powers, if any, are unknown, but there are rumors that they possess at least empathic powers that allow them to avoid most contact with others.

  - Skin walkers: Para-human sub-species capable of assuming the form of multiple creatures including humans and various wild beasts. Very rare.

  - Spell: A persistent work of magic attached to something/someone.

  - Unaligned: Wizards and other people with paranormal powers that are not aligned/allied with Hope. The Unaligned appear naturally world-wide and are encouraged by Hope Wizard Missionaries to move to Hope for proper training and to join Hope.

  - Vampires/Vamps: Para-humans that subsist mostly on the blood of biological life-forms. Some have paranormal powers including self-transmutation, levitation/flight, mind influence/control, extended life-times, and strength augmentation.

  - Void: The 'nether-world' interface between relatively stable universes that forms the chaotic environment where according to now defunct legend Demons, Evil, and perhaps sprites and other elemental entities arose. In the chaotic Void interface between mathematically consistent universes physical laws/math-systems shift and fail. Leaks/rifts between universes energize the Void and those energies that leak to our universe are commonly known as Wild Magic by practitioners of magic/paranormal abilities.

  - Ward: A persistent spell designed to operate for periods beyond when it is being actively supported by the originating entity. Some wards are meant to continue forever as long as its magic energies are maintained. Wards are usually tied to physical objects and sometimes maintained by multiple Wizards over many decades or centuries.

  - Werewolves/Weres: Earth para-humans that can transmute themselves from near human to wolfish-human or even pure wolf form at will. Typically the only additional paranormal capability seen is greatly enhanced strength, especially when in wolfish or pure wolf forms, though some individuals have exhibited extreme self-healing abilities and some empathic senses/abilities.

  - Wild Magic: Energetic phenomena caused by spontaneous random rifts between the infinity of mathematically similar but inconsistent universes. A leak of elemental primal energies from the Void. Impossible to predict or control and nearly impossible to understand by conventional science or Earth magic wisdom. Rumored to sometimes interact with suitably structured Life Energies, which could make it accessible via Wizard magic, but Wizard attempts to access Wild Magic have historically ended in tragedy for Wizards.

  - World Paranormal League: An organization rumored to be in development by the Rogue Wizard Alan Dale to unite all paranormal humans of Earth. Its ultimate aim is to represent the rights and interests of paranormal humans in a world where paranormal humans are known and accepted as equals by Norms.

  Hope Power Terms

  - Power: Any paranormal capability, usually deriving from control of Life Forces.

  - Power categories: Traditional paranormal power/magic categorization and rating system devised by the Aligned Wizards of Hope. Power categories are designated as P1 through P25.

  - Power strength Levels (designated by the letter 'L' followed by a number): Are Hope Council approved ratings determined through Evaluation and numbered L1 (weakest) through L5 (strongest). The quantifications for various Levels are traditional, somewhat arbitrary, and subject to change/refinement by the Council.

  - Forbidden Powers (designated by X): Powers designated as forbidden and illegal by the Hope Council.

  - Non-Existent Powers (designated by E): Rumored powers that are felt by the Hope Council unlikely to actually exist.

  Official Hope Power Categories:

  P1 - Telekinesis; L(1-2): Ability to negate/control gravitational forces and thus levitate material objects. A common Wizard ability. L1: levitation of small nearby objects; L2: levitation of larger, more distant objects. By tradition levitation of self is treated as a different category. Ranked low because it is very common.

  P2 - Empathic sense; L(1-2): Ability to read/sense the emotions of other living creatures. L1 for limited, erratic ability; L2 for highly reliable and precise ability. Arguably ranked low largely because it is very common.

  P3 - Healing of self; L(2-4): Ability to heal oneself. L2 (common) is the ability to heal minor injuries or illnesses more quickly than 'normal'; L3 (uncommon) is the ability to heal serious problems and more quickly; L4 (very rare) is the ability to heal fatally serious problems almost instantaneously.

  P4 - Healing others; L(2-4): Ability to heal others. L2 (uncommon) is the ability to heal minor injuries or illnesses quickly; L3 (rare) is ability to heal serious problems quickly; L4 (very rare) is the ability to heal even fatally serious problems almost instantaneously. It should be noted that such acts typically place a heavy burden on the Wizard that accomplishes the healing, including pain and weakness. (This is an instance of the more general ‘there is no free lunch’ rule.)

  P5 - Telepathic communication; L(2-4): Ability to send and receive/'hear' consciously directed thoughts. 'Reading minds' unbidden is a related ability that is much frowned upon socially and in extreme cases are punishable by law. Levels are based on accuracy, distance, and masking from others. Level 4 involves coded messages.

  P6 - Self illusion & invisibility/cloaking; L(2-4): From a science perspective invisibility cloaking includes the ability to halt for a time the absorption and emission of electromagnetic waves/photons from the body's surface. Illusion involves the altering of sensed appearance but not actual forms. Both are common powers but restrictions and cautions for use are required, as safety issues and various forms of felonious mischief are sometimes related phenomena. Cloaking can prevent visual and telepathic sensing that if done well can render an individual impossible to sense even by Wizards, except through touch.

  P7 - Levitation of self; L(2-3): Ability to influence/negate gravitation effects on self. Common but extreme caution of use is advised due to high level of observability by the non-Wizard public outside of Hope. L2 involves mere 'floating' in place by merely negating Earth's gravity but L3 denotes the ability for swift flight likely achieved through fine manipulations of gravity.

  P8 - Energy transformation/attack; L(3-4): Ability to convert one energy form into another. Can be highly dangerous to both the attacker and the attacked. Many use restrictions; L4 used in attacking. Most forms rare. Legends of L5 - level energy conversion and control (E) are part of Hope history.

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nbsp; P9 - Pyrotechnic ; L(2-4); X: A common form of energy transformation resulting in the ability to ignite/combust objects. Higher ratings are ascribed to high volumes of flame at great distances. Common but discouraged for those below Wizard rank and forbidden for non-Wizards except in training situations. Use as a weapon highly forbidden; extreme caution is advised.

  P10 - Astral projection; L(3-5): Ability to project visual image of one's self to other locations. All levels very rare. At L5 (E, X) the projection assumes the abilities of the sending party, which is forbidden but perhaps is only a mythical/rumored ability.

  P11 - Cyber influence; L(3-4): Ability to influence computer and other electronic operations. Rare, strongly discouraged, and usually illegal (X).

  P12 - Psychic attack; L(3-5); X: Ability to disrupt or attack the minds of others, or in rare cases, control thought. Strongly forbidden/illegal though most occurrences are assumed to be accidental slips in control. Rumored to be a common vampire ability.

  P13 - Séance; L(3-5); X, E: Ability to communicate in some fashion with spirits of the dead. Very rare. Both forbidden and officially believed not to exist.

  P14 - Transmutation; L(3-5): Physical transformation of inanimate objects. For level 5 atomic and molecular identity can be changed. Level 5 is forbidden (X) but unlikely to exist (E). Levels 3 and 4 are allowed only by Wizards or in training situations.

  P15 - Sensing of Evil; L4; E: The ability to sense elemental Evil. A very rare or perhaps even non-existent skill. Evil has been declared by the Hope Council to not itself exist, rendering this ability useless.

  P16 - Personal physical transformation; L5: X: Ability to change the actual physical structure of the body. Forbidden for humans. Common for some para-humans such as werewolves, vampires, and (the most extreme case) skin-walkers. Legendary Demon ability.

  P17 - Self-clone; L5; X: Ability to produce a perfect clone/copy of oneself. Very rare and forbidden.

  P18 - Strength enhancement; L(1-4): Ability to strengthen one's self, from slight enhancement of endurance (L1, common) to super-strength (L4, rare). A treasured ability for Attack Wizards. Rumored to be relatively common in werewolves and vampires.

  P19 - Shield; L(2-4): Ability to physically protect self from physical and/or psychic harm. Relatively common for L2 and L3.

  P20 - Teleportation of self and/or objects; L4: Rare but common for Master Wizards.

  P21 - Spell casting/warding; L(2-5): Ability to create a persistent paranormal effect with regard to a person or object. Typically the effects persist for only minutes or hours, but some famous wards have lasted for centuries. Relatively rare.

  P22 - Gollum ability; L(4,5); X: Life-like animation of the normally inanimate matter. A rare and forbidden spell.

  P23 - Seer ability; L(3,4): Ability to sense/'see' through cloaking and/or across great distances. Relatively rare.

  P24 - Weather, Earth command; L(4,5): The ability to influence the weather or other geophysical phenomena. Requires combination with P8 energy transformation for effectiveness. Relatively rare.

  P25 - Cloistering; L5, X: Ability for beings of power to joint-think and command joint powers. Rare and strictly forbidden.

  P26 - Premonition ability; L5, E: Ability to see/predict/foresee future events. Very rare, to the point that its existence is in doubt.

  P27 - Masking ability; L3-4: Ability to cloak other persons or things.

  Hope Wizard Categories/Levels:

  Apprentice Wizard: Student of Hope HS receiving advanced training for control of powers. Evaluation confirmation of at least one or more Level 2 (or higher) powers is required.

  Assistant Wizard: Has at least one Level 3 power, and has passed HS level Wizard training.

  Wizard (Full Wizard): Has three powers of Level 3 or higher, and approval of the majority of the Wizard Council.

  Master Wizard: Wizard that has one or more powers that are at least Level 4, and Council unanimous approval.

  Council Member: A Master Wizard approved by at least seven of the Council to be one of the eleven Hope Wizard Council members. Removal requires approval of all ten remaining Council members.

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  About Other Publications by This Author

  Readers may also be interested in the additional published e-books of this author, including a diverse novel-length collection of twenty fantasy and sci-fi short stories titled There Goes The Neighborhood; Earthly Fantasy/Science Fiction Short Stories. Like the novels and novellas, these short stories range from pure science fiction to pure fantasy, and most take place in contemporary Earth settings.

  If the reader likes ancient secrets, magic and science, romance and adventure, science fiction and fantasy, parallel universes and hidden fantasy worlds, they may enjoy the full-length novels Secrets of Goth Mountain (which like the second Global Warming Fun story/ novella has a strong Native American setting) and its loosely coupled epic fun-packed epic sequel Government Men. Government Men has a bit of everything, including the book itself and its author.

  Yes, oddly enough Government Men includes itself and the author, along with unicorns, psychics, space aliens, an impending Armageddon, and much more! Started in 1992, Government Men was this author's first fiction writing experience. Both Secrets of Goth Mountain and Government Men are action filled books that employ a great deal of science-based fiction including parallel universes, as well as strong doses of fantasy (yes, unicorns are fantasy!) and romance.

  Bird lovers that like strong human female heroines and stronger blue jay heroes may (if T-rex sized raptors and other nuisances can be tolerated) enjoy an adventure trip to Aves the bird planet, achieved by reading the traditional science fiction thriller Blue Dawn Jay of Aves. Other than some of the short stories and perhaps much of the Global Warming Fun series, this is the author's only totally 'pure' science fiction work to date.

  Global Warming Fun is a series of short stories, novellas, and novels that uses climate change as a backdrop for the centuries-long life of telepathist Ed Rumsfeld and the emergence of sentient ants as well as ancient stone creatures that are based on the Mohawk myth of stone-coat giants and European legends of ice giants. At this writing six volumes of the planned ten part series are published.

  Fantasy noir detective fans that can abide what used to be known by feminists as a 'male chauvinist pig' private detective as a hero, and can also tolerate trolls, elves, and other unexpected visitors to our world along with a talking mob cat, may enjoy The Shrinking Nuts Case. Thus far this is the author's only major work written in first-person voice and is the most 'pure fantasy' work of novel length.

  White Dragon's Chosen is also primarily fantasy. It is the contemporary story of a teenager with certain powers and the white dragon that has chosen him to be his companion to join him in a fight to save Earth and other worlds from evil.

  The current work, Apprentice Wizards of Hope, is mostly fantasy/science-fantasy. It is about paranormally powered teens in a contemporary setting, with Demons and Evil the primary dangers to overcome.

  There is an attempt to employ some humor in most of these works, particularly in Government Men, The Shrinking Nuts Case, and some of the short stories. Positive outcomes are also very heavily favored, although just as in real life, those don't always happen.

  To learn the author's philosophical world view (Weltanschauung) including thoughts on multiverse and quantum mechanics physics concepts and how that compares with phenomena that occur in the above novels, get geeky with the novella-length non-fiction e-book NOW and the Weltanschauung of Government Men.

  All are available at sites where you found this E-book.

  Have fun reading, everyone!

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