A horticulturist, a journalist, and a pharmacist walk into a bar...

And that's our little Hollywood Triumvirate
It took Annie five hours to triple check her wards, her charms, and her human made shelves, doors, windows, and locks. She completed another walk through of the shop as if she were a first time customer, trying to notice things a nonmagical may notice. She walked back and forth in front of the bookcase that hid the door to the speakeasy. She stood outside and pondered the storefront for a good long while, thinking she did a pretty fine job of painting. Why wouldn't anyone believe this was just a tea shop for respectable people?
"Finally satisfied?" Roy asked walking out the door. "I've walked through, it looks great. No one will be able to see any access to any speakeasy."
"Keep your voice down! Yeah, I think we're good. I can't think of anything else that needs warding or checking," Annie said. "Can you believe it's only been six weeks? I feel like it's been years."
"It's not going to be easy getting our permits from the Council, is it?" Roy asked.
"I'm not sure. There's a new Council as of last week, or partially new. Dealing with leadership is always a task, but if we play our cards right, it won't be an issue. They aren't really there to obstruct any other witch's activities, they just make sure we don't... mess up and let the cat out of the bag about us." Annie said, locking the door. "Let's get back inside. I'll fill you in on who's who while we wait."
The drive from Hollywood and La Brea, where the Council's office was, to Hollywood and Vermont, where Annie's Place was, was going to take a while, so Annie had plenty of time to teach Roy about the Council and strategize their pitch. "Any Council has to have a certain configuration of practitioners, and they have to be considered rather powerful," Annie started. "The Council generally covers three typical areas, the land, people, and magic itself, so the Council tends to have an Earth mage, a soother, and reality bender. The point of them is to ensure the harmonious divide between our culture and human culture. Without question, they have connections and influence in the human community. "
"Have you ever been on the Council?" Roy asked.
Annie snorted a laugh. "Me? Ha! Never. I may have a rather unique talent, but it doesn't have any breadth, and it isn't what you'd call an important community talent. I can see plans take shape and see outcomes. I see logistics. That isn't particularly helpful in leading a clan of witches, or deciding anyone's fate."
"Seeing outcomes seems rather significant to me, Boss," Roy said a little defensive.
"Nor do I care to ever interact with the human community on a regular basis, so that pretty much keeps me out of the running every time. If you don't have relationships with humans, there's no point of you being on the Council."
"Things work a little differently back in New York. We have the Council, but... it's more authoritarian. I don't know if there is as much thought going into it as there is out here," said Roy, as if in his own serious thought.
Annie continued, "Anyway... Parker is new, and rather on the young side, so he'll be the easy one to convince," Annie started. Not to mention, he's the one you see in the speaks almost every night. I'm guessing he was chosen as part of the Council because he's a horticulturist and works for the City."
"So... invite him to your garden, and you'll have the most beautiful tomatoes you've ever seen?" Roy guessed.
"Exactly. It's common to have a horticulturist on the Council, though Parker's talent for plants has everyone impressed. He was a child prodigy. Every coven wanted him to visit their gardens to get their herbs and fruits going. Once he was old enough to figure it out, he started bartering and charging. He managed to secure a job high up with the City, with agriculture. He can just as easily kill a garden, so don't piss him off. I need mine, as I'm sure you need yours."
"No way, Boss. Besides, we don't need his green thumb. I'm pretty sure I can convince him he needs our speak," Roy said, perhaps a little too confidently.
"Roy, I know you're a Soother, but they'll feel that a mile away. Don't try it on any of them. They're our current leaders for a reason."
"Alright, alright. So who is next, then?"
Annie smiled, "Adeline. Adeline is an old friend of mine. Doesn't mean she'll just convince the other two to give us the permit to open. She's a straight shooter, not a fan of corruption or conflicts of interest, and I'm sure that's why she was chosen for council."
"So what, she's a Truth Seer?" Roy asked.
"Bingo. Adeline is a journalist, working for the Times."
"That can't be easy for a woman," Roy said.
"It isn't. But Adeline's a tough cookie, and she gets the stories other's can't. You can probably imagine that not only can she see the truth, she sees lies, and she has a sooth sayer voice, like you."
Roy whistled in awe and respect. "Your point earlier about feeling my soothing a mile away is taken, Annie."
"But," Annie continued, "when something in our community catches the eye of the humans, she's there to cover our asses. She's also privy to city information that the Council needs to be in the know about."
"Isn't that sliding into corruption and conflict of interest?" Roy asked.
"When it comes to humans finding out about us, there's no conflict."
"I'm teasing. Okay, and third?"
"Third is Morgan. Morgan's been around a long time. Longer than anyone I know. She's probably the most powerful witch around."
"She's the one with the basement workshop that people use? Didn't the vote happen there?" Roy asked.
"Yup. That's Morgan. There really isn't a name for her kind of power. Sort of a Jill of all Trades. On the human side, she's known as a pharmacist and drug store keeper. For us, she's a charm maker, a potion mixer, a reality bender, and the best damned healer in LA, and the candle maker. You remember all those books in her workshop?" Annie asked Roy.
"Yeah, it was like a library," Roy answered.
"She can recall every word on every page and which book it's in. She remembers everyone's history, and she can see auras. I'm pretty sure she has second sight, too, and can see the Inbetween," Annie said.
"What's her connection to higher ups in the City?" Roy asked.
"Oh everyone comes to see Morgan at some point. Humans come to see her for all sorts of things, and she has them leaving the store feeling like all is right with the world, never the wiser. They leave happy and healed, and some leave quite a bit of valuable information with her.. .as if they've wanted to tell Morgan their life story for ages. They never think twice."
"That's something," Roy acknowledged.
"She's the one that will be the tricky one. She does not like our... enterprise, let's say. She'll be the one who will give us all of the statistics of how many people get sick, blind, or die from bad booze." Annie said with not a little bit of irritation.
"But that'll be easy, Annie. We never buy that stuff. Besides, sometimes I just sooth people into thinking they're getting booze when they've clearly gone overboard." Roy said.
"Maybe. But she'll take her role seriously on the Council. She always does, since these the senior member and by default has to be the strictest. She'll be the one checking all of our wards."
"Ah, so that's what all that was, checking everything a thousand times."
"Yes, it all has to go perfectly. And so... that's our little Hollywood Triumvirate. And speak of the handsome Devil."
The bell rang, and a horticulturist, a journalist, and a pharmacist walked into the bar...

Type

Administration / Management