Rust in the Root

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In 1937, Laura Ann Langston navigates a divided America, where the mystical arts clash with the rise of Mechomancy, a technology-driven future. Following the Great Rust, which disrupted the arcane force known as Dynamism, the nation is focused on rebuilding through industry. However, Laura, a talented young queer mage from Pennsylvania, believes in the power of traditional magic. On her seventeenth birthday, she travels to New York City, hoping to earn her mage's license and escape her roots as a mere rootworker. Yet, four months later, she finds herself broke and disheartened. Desperate for a fresh start, Laura applies to the Bureau of the Arcane's Conservation Corps, a government branch tasked with restoring the Dynamism to support Mechomancy. There, she meets the Skylark, a powerful mage with a secretive background, who reluctantly agrees to mentor her. Together, they embark on a mission into the nation’s oldest Blight, uncovering the dangerous legacy of Black mages persecuted in America’s past. Their journey reveals threats that could endanger both their lives and their aspirations, as they confront the shadows of history that still loom over their world.