The Magic Sphere

Aeromancy is the school of Magic that allows control over not only the wind but of lightning and weather itself. Due to the edge having power over air itself can give it is often used by tricksters, but the degree of power Aeromancy lends to its user leads to many Aeromancers choosing to conjure storms and wielding the power of nature itself.

Aeromancers, particularly enthusiastic members of the Magic Sphere, can often be found living in cities and built up areas where they can use their magic to deceive, but also can be found out in the countryside where they can use their more impressive powers with less fear of being arrested.

Information on the magic of Aeromancy itself can be found here.

To Norms, The Magic Sphere is the premier organisation in the world for stage or street magicians who use stunts of misdirection, clever equipment and sleight of hand to seem as if they are performing magic.

In actual fact, The Magic Sphere is an organisation of which most, if not all, Aeromancers are members. It presents a front to the Norms to allow their operations to occur in the background with little interruption and provides help and support for those struggling to control their powers, often acting faster than The Hammer itself in finding rogue Aeromancers before they can hurt someone (or themselves). Membership to The Sphere is not compulsory, and its structure not rigid, but the benefits provided by such a large family are too good for most to deny.

The Sphere's interactions with The Hammer is rather the love-hate relationship. Whilst The Sphere does a lot of work to keep its activities hidden from the Norms, the level to which members blatantly use magic in public to exploit money and fame is something the Hammer has been very unhappy with for a long time. However, with no actual harm being done, The Hammer leaves The Sphere be so long as they leave them be too.

Currently, The Sphere is based in Hillside Theatre in Bristol, where magic shows are frequently put on and the organisation is administered. Members of the Magic Sphere have often also been known to frequent the Hammersmith Apollo Theatre in London for shows.

Most in the world are aware of the sleek magic act of Johnson and Clark, a pair of silver-tongued, black-suited magicians with a disappearing act to rival that of Harry Houdini himself. Those in The Sphere know them more as the face, having been in the game for over a decade and having dealt with numerous crises - notably covering up the Birmingham Tornado Incident in 2005 before The Hammer could even arrive.

Having been in the game a lot longer is the legendary husband and wife duo of Dan Paulsen and the Fabulous Merry Cherie, who have been fooling crowds of Norms into thinking they've been using smoke and mirrors for over thirty years. Truly masters at the game, they are utter paragons of The Sphere.

The charismatic street magician, Nitro, has recently been making waves in the Magic Sphere as he takes a very different methodology about his magic. He doesn't go out on stage to fool the Norms but does it under their very noses. Opinions on this man are split though, as many don't know whether to embrace his new style or whether to condemn it as almost certainly going to get them all killed.

While The Sphere is primarily devoted to the wellbeing of Aeromancers, it has been known for them to work well with members of other schools - particularly pyromancers, whose illusionary powers are held highly by illusionists of Aeromancy. Generally, however, in order to keep membership in order, a user of another school's magic requires a sponsor from within The Sphere to vouch for them before the benefits of membership can be bestowed.

Norms that know where to look for magic tricks in London will undoubtedly be familiar with the world-class shop Diablo Magic Supplies. In their store in an underground shopping arcade, they sell tricks and guides to sleight of hand for Norms to amaze and wow their friends. Witches, however, know this to be a complete front for one of the largest Magic Item smuggling networks in the country. If there's a wand you want or a staff you just can't live without, Mr. Jordan Havenbrook and the staff at Diablo are the people for you. Selling everything from decks of cards designed to always give you the card they were thinking of or handcuffs that only you can escape from all the way to potions brewed by the greatest of Hydromancers, Diablo's warehouse is quite the Aladdin's Cave of magical artefacts (with a security system Mr. Havenbrook claims rivals that of even MI6…).

As one might expect, Diablo is not on good terms with The Hammer, having had to relocate numerous times in the past following “unfortunate explosions in the supply chain”. As such, it has kept its presence very much off the Internet, unlike other magical supply stores - something which Mr. Havenbrook attributes much of the store's success to (and definitely not the fact that the last shop to open in contest to him shut down within a month following “concerning amounts of cursed stock”…).

Generally speaking, most mundane magical items can be purchased with cash from Diablo, but more interesting items often come with the price of a favour to Mr. Havenbrook “to be negotiated at time of purchase”.

Aeromancy, being one of the more subtle magics, has had the comfortable position of being relatively undetected in Britain. At the peak of the persecution of the “Witch Hunts” in the 17th Century Aeromancers quietly hid away, privately working on their art while other Wytches with more obvious magics were being rounded up. In order to preserve the magic they held dear, the Aeromancers banded together as a secret society connecting similarly powered sorcerers across the country, with each member looking out for the others in a circle of trust.

With the end of the Witch Hunts and the signing of the Accord with the Hammer, the circle of Aeromancers began to expand its activities, using their particular brand of magic to trick and fool the Norms (albeit with a few tense brushes with the Hammer) for their own gain.

By the mid-19th Century, when Norms had just about forgotten about the true magic in their lands, stories of fantastical shows of illusion from abroad reached the ears of the upper classes of Britain and stage magic began to take off. Very quickly, though, the Aeromancers took control of it, expanding their sphere of influence to encompass most (if not all) stage magic, eventually formalising their association as the organisation known as The Magic Sphere.

By the 20th Century, the Magic Sphere had supported and covered for such great names as the Davenport Brothers and even the great Harry Houdini, although with the restrictions on travel imposed by the Hammer in the 1930s, the Sphere's influence - once approaching worldwide - has been restricted back to the United Kingdom. Not to deter them, though, the Sphere has expanded its operations once more to work to the benefit of Aeromancers across the country, always dealing with magical mishaps one step ahead of the Hammer to protect its members from having to deal with the governmental organisation.