u/ArthurRex123

Magic as Infrastructure: Tethers

Good morning, all! I saw how well my last post did so I thought I might share a little more about the magic of my Sound and Steel setting! Hope you enjoy!

A lot of UF has some connection to the old mythological idea of the “thread of life” concept. I first became aware of this concept when I was a kid when I read about the three Fates of Greek Mythology. Since then I’ve noticed that a large majority of fantasy, both UF and otherwise, uses the concept in more or less the same manner as the mythological uses seen throughout real life mythologies.

In order to make the concept work with my idea of magic as infrastructure, I decided to go a bit of a different route. In my setting, tethers aren’t merely the method by which a person’s life is maintained (though that is one of the functions). It’s a conduit. For certain individuals, the connection to the Veil provided by a person’s tether is how they siphon magical energies to perform certain feats of magic. One of my protagonists has the ability to sever someone’s tether with a flick of his wrist, making him one of the most efficient assassins in the setting.

Another protagonist of mine can use her connection to the Veil to grant herself enhanced sight, helping her notice details she would otherwise miss, which would be a bit of a problem given that she’s an investigator that solves supernatural mysteries.

Where does this tie into infrastructure, you ask?

Like I mentioned earlier, tethers in my universe are conduits for energy. As such, you can decide how much or how long you remain “plugged in” as it were. The longer you do so, however, the riskier things become. Use too much for too long and you run the risk of fraying your tether; or worse, snapping it. Fraying your tether will result in a form of sensory overload that can and does put people in a coma, sometimes for days or weeks at a time. Snapping your tether will do one of two things:

1. It will kill you,

Or,

2. It will drive you utterly mad.

Essentially, tethers are extension cords and coffee acts as something of a supernatural surge protector that keeps reality itself from overloading and shorting out.

>Urban fantasy loves flashy magic, but Soundrunners don’t work that way.
>
>In Out of Grounds, Mara’s abilities aren’t about force — they’re about truth recovery.
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>My canon bible puts it bluntly:
“Soundrunner abilities are fundamentally investigative in nature… Their greatest strength is the ability to discover what others failed to see.”
>
>She reads tether scars, drift patterns, Veil disturbances, and environmental inconsistencies the way other characters read body language.
>
>She’s dangerous because she can see what everyone else is trying to hide.
>
>UF hits harder when the protagonist’s power is something the world fears quietly.
>
>What’s the most subtle supernatural ability in your world?

I’m looking for test readers for a completed urban fantasy/noir manuscript titled Out of Grounds (about 34,000 words). This is not a beta read or critique request — you don’t need to analyze anything or give line‑by‑line feedback.

I only need three things after you finish:

1. Did the story keep your attention?
2. Which character did you care about most?
3. What moment stuck with you afterward?

That’s it.

If you enjoy any of the following, you’ll probably vibe with the book:

• urban fantasy grounded in real‑world settings
• supernatural mysteries
• noir voice and atmosphere
• ghosts with personality
• character‑driven stories
• Seattle as a living, breathing backdrop

Premise:
A burned‑out former medium running a failing espresso stand on Bainbridge Island gets dragged back into the supernatural world she left behind when a ghost with a noir detective’s voice anchors himself to her van, a desperate stranger arrives during a rainstorm that shouldn’t exist, and the Veil starts to crack open in ways that shouldn’t be possible. What follows is a mix of supernatural investigation, character trauma, ghost‑human dynamics, and Seattle‑coded weirdness.

I can send the manuscript as a PDF, Google Doc, or Wattpad link — whatever’s easiest for you. Be advised that as of this posting, only four chapters of the work are released on Wattpad.

If you’re interested, comment below or DM me and I’ll send it over.

Thanks in advance to anyone willing to help. Your reactions will genuinely help me finalize the book for publication.

I’ve been working on a supernatural urban fantasy with a noir edge — Seattle’s rain‑soaked streets, old families with older debts, and magic that hides in the cracks of the city. Thought I’d share a short excerpt for anyone who enjoys atmospheric UF:

>"The esperesso machine was possessed again, and I was out of grounds."

If you like supernatural detectives, corporate occult conspiracies, or magic that feels like it belongs in a real city, I’m happy to share more excerpts or talk worldbuilding. Full serial link in the comments.