This month's news from Alternative Views News

[brightwitch]

Front page article in the London Lambast Daily, 21st March

Mother of Witches announces new Magical Innovation Centre in Richmond
By Daisy Connell, Witch Correspondent

Yesterday Samantha Okeke, the Mother of Witches, officially announced the chosen location of her much-vaunted new Centre for Magical Innovation in Richmond. The selected venue is an impressive, modern building on a university campus in Teddington, Richmond, better known as a hub for scientific research.

The venue boasts state of the art facilities, including several laboratories, and was selected based on a combination of its cutting edge technological equipment, high security and excellent location.

Speaking on-location at the site for a press conference, the Mother said: "I am delighted to announce the location of our first new Centre for Magical Innovation. This inspiring and modern environment will enable us to be forward thinking, creative and rigorous in the application of new magic to address the challenges we face in today's society."

Refurbishment of the venue will take place over the next month, with the centre due to open by the end of April.

Summoning magic to become legal again?
The Mother also hinted that the Night Council is set to soften its stance on the use of magic relating to fae. She appeared to confirm rumours that Circle Daybreak have submitted a petition to the Night Council requesting that summoning magic no longer be classified as dark magic.

The previous Mother of Witches and current President of the Night Council, Sylvia Redbright, has always been known to be strongly against the use of any magic relating to fae.

At the time of writing, President Redbright was unavailable for comment.

For more on this story, go to page 5.

Article buried on page 9 in the London Lambast Daily, 21st March

Shopkeeper disappears
The proprietor of the dress shop Pins and Needles disappeared yesterday. "Mrs. Lotus" owned the dress shop in Harrow but did not turn up to open the premises on Monday. Believed to be a Seelie, local residents reported that it was typical for the rather odd shopkeeper to close up shop during summer months.

"I'd usually expect her to go when the clocks go forward, you know," said Alex Farley, the business owner next door, "which would be this weekend, so maybe she decided to take the time off a bit early. She forgot to lock up on Sunday afternoon too, so the shop was left open and empty all day. I don't know what that's about."

A request was put forward to the Night Council to investigate, and received the following response: "It is common knowledge that Seelie and Unseelie move back and forth between this world and the Other Realm. We do not believe this matter to be of any significance."

Front page article in Worldly Weirdness Weekly, 25th March

It's official: the Mother of Witches DID submit a petition to make summoning magic legal again!
By Charlene Pinter, Night Council Correspondent

Worldly Weirdness Weekly can officially confirm that the rumoured petition to the Night Council to make summoning magic legal WAS submitted by the Mother of Witches, Samantha Okeke. We can also exclusively reveal that:

• The Mother has already informed Circle Daybreak that summoning magic is not only allowed, but ENCOURAGED.
• She wants to train young witches to summon and control fae.
• She wants ALL witches to have their own familiar.

Go to page 4 for the full story and to find out why the President will HAVE to accept the petition.

Front page article in the London Lambast Daily, 31st March

Night Council makes U-turn in law on summoning magic
By Daisy Connell, Witch Correspondent

Today the Night Council announced that it has formally accepted the petition put forward by Samantha Okeke of Circle Daybreak to amend the definition of dark magic to no longer include summoning magic.

"Summoning magic is about protecting ourselves," said Peter Vrinak, the Night Council Vice President. "There has long been a hole in the law where spells to banish and trap aggressive fae have technically been counted as dark magic, even though they are absolutely vital for self-defence. We have seen fae activity in London especially increase over the past year and I for one welcome the opportunity to ensure that witches are trained to defend the supernatural community from these creatures. Efforts to contain the infestation in Bromley and Bexley have so far met with little success. This is a wise move from a new Mother who is unapologetic about putting London's needs first."

The revision to the law means that the following magic will now be allowed by both the Night Council and Circle Daybreak:

• Summoning fae
• Banishing fae
• Commanding fae (once summoned)
• Entering a contract with a fae (once summoned)
• Travelling to the Other Realm

Dark magic is still forbidden – but summoning magic no longer counts
After more than fifty years of summoning magic being forbidden by Circle Daybreak, much of the craft has been lost. It is expected that the Mother of Witches will seek to train young witches and build up expertise in this tricky and delicate area of magic.

When asked if she believed that dark magic should be allowed, the Mother responded: "I am against dark magic. I fully support the Night Council's efforts to ensure that dark magic is not practised in our community, and that we do not damage the hearts and souls of our young witches by encouraging them to practise it. I am proud to lead Circle Daybreak and to continue to use our magic for good, for the betterment of the community, and to improve the lives of thousands of witches up and down the country."

For more on this story and rumours of the Maiden's involvement in the original petition, go to page 4.

[OOC: This post is open to anyone who wants to react or talk about any of the news! If you want to grab an NPC, just say so in your comment.]

Comments

[falsify]

Eames takes that all in, nodding. Not much of it is new information per se, but hearing it from someone who's had that experience makes it all a lot clearer in his mind.

"Samantha's familiar-- Mogget. He has some sort of bell attached to him." Wow that feels like a stupid observation to have made. Eames shakes his head, but he continues on, "I wrote it off as a cat accessory but it's there in his other forms, and the chime is definitely magical."

It's a question more than it is a statement, asking if Finnick's ever heard of anything like it.

[thelittlemerman]

Finnick nods in return. He has relaxed a lot since they got onto a topic less about him and his capability to act. "There are physical things, like collars and magical tethers, that will keep the bond in place and strengthen it. It might not necessarily break the bond if you remove it - there are lots of ways to maintain a bond without constantly thinking about it but witches seem to like using physical objects to focus their magic. The cat, specifically... if he has been inherited like you said, Samantha may not have the means to keep him bound without that collar, since his contract would have been with some other witch."

[falsify]

That makes sense and Eames hums in understanding, thinking on it. The information is useless unless he intends to release Mogget from his binding somehow, but Eames also hasn't written that off entirely.

"Thank you," Eames finally says after what feels like a long silence. He still feels like there's a lot he doesn't quite get, but at least he has some idea of where his understanding is lacking now.

[thelittlemerman]

Finnick doesn't acknowledge that with anything more than a brief frown. He still doesn't feel like he's contributed anything, and he won't until he's had the opportunity to fight.

"They had iron cages when they came to Bromley," he says, his tone now gentle and sad. "They'll pass it off as consent when those fae make deals to get out. We might have to fight our own soon."

[falsify]

"I know." It's been a concern. Witches are dangerous, but fae under their control even more so. "They'll likely use them to pull more over to their side too."

[thelittlemerman]

"Then maybe we should find out how to get them back," Finnick says, glancing in Eames' direction like he's waiting for him to say it's a bad idea. "We need to deal with Samantha but those fae need help."

[falsify]

He thinks it's an awful idea, but he's not going to say that. He's also not going to make those fae a priority, but he nods slowly. It'd be nice to help them, even if he doesn't feel strongly about it the way Finnick does.

"We should look into ways to undo bindings," he says, "just in case any of them are bound with something stronger than a verbal contract."

[thelittlemerman]

Finnick's thinking more along the practical lines of cutting off what he can only imagine is a significant power source for the witches as well as a bolster to their numbers. Plus, you know, the fae are trapped and they deserve to be saved.

"Investigating one might help us with the other. If Daybreak's using a specific spell to bind all those fae we can find out what it is and how to undo it if we get closer."

[falsify]

Eames nods, fingers drumming impatiently along the side of his cup. It sure would be nice if things would stop being awful for a little while.

With a very weary sigh, Eames leans back in his seat and rubs his face with both hands. "It's probably not going to be simple and easy, is it?"

[thelittlemerman]

Finnick gives him a very soft look, almost feeling sympathy for the man. Finnick knows this weariness well - when it's not external forces it's internal ones making his life difficult. Simple and easy is a rare feeling for him.

"No."