When you Mix Magic with Noir

[VeiledDesires]

Concept

So I have been craving a good Detective Noir style story and after taking some inspiration from Sara Nillson I thought I would see if anyone else would be interested in this setting. To get things started the actual time period for this story does not really matter. We could have this set in the mid 20s, the past, or an alternative future. The main draw to this story is not the team period but instead the kind of adventure you can have with two or more characters working with and maybe at times against each other to solve a mystery. The ideal start to this story would be for a beautiful woman (the actual gender of the writer does not matter one bit) to come into my character's office looking for help. Whether she is in actual need of help or is really just there to use the detective to make sure her own goals are accomplished is completely up to you.

The world this takes place in will have magic. The level of magic completely depends on my partner and what he or she wants to include. The very basic level would be that people in this world know that magic exists, and that some people can use it, but it is a rare gift. Using magic in this world would always come at a cost, and those who are willing to or able to pay the price can gain access to that magic. Another world setting that this story could take place in is one where there are a mixture of humans and magical creatures. Having a magic wielding detective could be necessary to balance out the world in which vampires, witches, and werewolves live in the open among powerless humans.

When it comes to basic requests your character could have for the detective the possibilities are limitless. Maybe a woman needs to prove the innocence of her husband/boyfriend/family member (AKA Who Framed Roger Rabbit), or maybe your character has recently found out that someone is trying to assassinate her and she needs to find her killers before they find her. The possibilities are endless and they can shift halfway through the story if you are willing to try and extend this plot for a while.

Writing Partners

So this is the section where hopefully my ideal partner becomes a bit more obvious. I am looking to play a male character working with a female character. I have no preferences on the actual gender of my writing partner, but I do only write heterosexual stories. Ideally my partner would be interested in writing this story in threads as I do not write off of E. I have no real posting minimums or maximums and I feel that the length of a post depends on what part of the story we are in. If you would need me to post every day I can guarantee that is never going to happen, but I try to post every other day if possible. If you have any other questions or concerns as to whether we might be compatible writing partners just send me a message.

Writing Sample/Opening Post

I have a starter worked out for this post. This starter is for a specific world and is by no means one I would want to use for every concept. I am mainly posting this starter as a way of showing what I feel a good set up for a possible world would look like.

Desperate Measures (VeliedDesires & Sierra Nillson)

Magic wasn't just something that existed in books and people's imagination, int this world it truly existed. While every person on earth possessed the ability to use magic, it wasn't something that most people could actually preform. Magic in some ways was like astrophysics. Sure, technically anyone could get out a pen and paper and write down the equations, but that didn't mean that you understood what the hell you were doing or writing. That was just the first step in a long list of problems that prevented most people from using magic. The next barrier, the one that made the use of real magic practically non-existent was the cost to its use. There was no physical cost to casting a spell, it didn't tire you out or make you age. Instead, magic ate away at your soul. Each spell had a certain cost, and that cost varied depending on what you asked from the magic itself. This became abundantly clear back in 1102 AD when a powerful sorcerer attempted to smite down an entire army, only to cast a lightning bolt that killed 15 people and drop dead the second the spell hit its targets. There were ways to play with this second rule of magic, an individual could make certain bargains with unholy beings to allow them to cast more powerful spells...if that person knew which demons to trust.

In the end the practice of magic was practically forbidden. The church had established proof of souls with the use of magic and deemed its practice forbidden. That rule scared off most people from even attempting to use magic, but that did not have the effect the church wanted. Instead of allowing humans to study magic and find out its exact costs and uses, magic became an urban legend. People would spread rumors about what you could and couldn't do with magic, and that lead to scam artists claiming that they could preform magic. With no group to inform the public about what magic really was the crooks and con artists descended upon the unsuspecting citizens of the world in swarms. It didn't help that with a bit of practice many people could cast small, useless spells.

To a desperate individual someone who could shoot sparks out of their fingers or turn your shirt from white to purple with a snap of their fingers probably had the power to speak to the dead or find your lost treasure. It was this use of scams and tricksters that truly made Benjamin Carter's life quite difficult. At a young age he found out that he could use magic. Growing up in a religious community he had to hide his magic from practically everyone, but in his spare time he was always practicing his spells. By the age of 15 he had mastered a level of wizardry that was nearly unheard of in this era. He grew confident, and confidence lead to cockiness. Being a teenage boy he had a weakness for the popular crowd, and in an attempt to impress a group of kids he promised them that he would be able summon them whatever they wanted. A boy took him up on the boast and demanded that Ben summon them a car to have fun in. That level of magic would cost him a great portion of his soul, but he was young, and dumb, and he accepted the challenge. What happened next, well that is a story for a different time.

Needless to say after that day he changed, he learned the true price of magic and vowed that he would only use his magic to help others. He knew that he would have to limit his use of magic, and with his already impressive analytical ability he soon came up with the perfect job for himself. After graduating college Ben opened up his own detective agency, Demonic Detective Agency, or the DDA for short. He did not come from a rich family and while he opened up his shop in central LA, he had to find a location that he could afford. That meant that he rented the basement of a small three story building. The first story of the building was a grocery store and the second story was meant for the family who ran that store, with the third floor being occupied by the landlord. Ben was left with a small one room detective agency with just one window to let the light in. Sure Ben had to live in the spare room right next to his agency, but at least the commute was easy.

Business was slow at first. People had reason to doubt his services, and he really couldn't just put 'magic detective at your service' in the newspaper or online and expect to be taken seriously. But people were desperate, and they eventually stared to come to him. He always got results, and soon people began to spread word of his success. Despite the near flawless results of his agency, word still took time to spread. It was because of how Ben conducted business. There was a cost to using magic, and he made sure that his clients knew the cost and were willing to share it with him. Those that knew the cost was worth his service gladly paid, and those were the people he would hand his cards to. He had a simple black business card. The front of the card had the DDA symbol in red on the front, with the back only providing his business address. He didn't see a need to give a number and get prank calls or calls asking pointless questions. If people needed him, they would come to him.

That Friday he sat in his office with his feet on top of his desk, legs crossed and a half empty glass of scotch in his hands. he had finished a big case that morning and was enjoying a long overdue drink. Normally he would wait a few weeks before taking another job, but he never turned down a customer who showed up at his door. The front door was unlocked and whoever entered would be able to see Ben sitting there in dark khaki pants and a white dress shirt. He had rolled up the sleeves to his shirt and it was covered in wrinkles, a sign that he had been up the entire night before on his case and was just too tired to bother to change into anything new and nice until he finished his drink.