Stylish man in a vintage office conjures blue smoke from a large Megapolisomancy tome.
A steampunk-inspired, vintage office scene features a dapper man at a heavy wooden desk, releasing pale blue smoke from a colossal Megapolisomancy book. The room is filled with brass gadgets, a detailed city map on the wall, and dramatic stormy lightning outside, creating a magical realism mood perfect for occult fantasy and arcane science audiences.

Stylish man in a vintage office conjures blue smoke — AI art by @panos

@panos · 3/28/2026

Megapolisomancer Henri-Laurent De Castries

Stylish man in a vintage office conjures blue smoke from a large Megapolisomancy tome.
A steampunk-inspired, vintage office scene features a dapper man at a heavy wooden desk, releasing pale blue smoke from a colossal Megapolisomancy book. The room is filled with brass gadgets, a detailed city map on the wall, and dramatic stormy lightning outside, creating a magical realism mood perfect for occult fantasy and arcane science audiences.

Tags: megapolisomancy, steampunk, occult, magic, vintage office, arcane science, fantasy artwork, lab gadgets, blue smoke, city map, mysterious scientist, steampunk gadgets, stormy sky, laboratory desk, fantasy decor

14 likes · 11 comments

Comments

panos

Famous SF/F/H writer Fritz Leiber wrote a book in 1977 "Our Lady of Darkness" a classic of Urban Fantasy (nefore it became narrowed down to the Paranormal PI format - or the Elves&Dwarves-in-NYC format, not that I don't love both of these.) Thre he showcased "Megapolisomancy" {Magic of Mega-cities} It is an excellent concept, a hybrid of Science and Black Magic. It considers modern very big cities as a kind of organisms, a Gestalt-type of Entity where organic (people, animal) and non-organic (Buildings, streets, cars etc.) components form a whole where weird energies flow. A megapolisomancer is an Adept of that Science?Magic, using these energies to suit his purposes. Really, Cayla it is a fascinating concept and I simply cannot showcase here examples of it, you need to read the book to marvel at that: Weird, innovative and chilling, the Principles and uses of MPM are a masterpiece-concept before which, all thes "Technomages" etc. that followed, pale in comparison.

CaylaCatz

I love Fritz's Gray Mouser. I never read the books you referenced. It looks like he was the forerunner of what they call Arcanepunk, Magicpunk and/or Urban Fantasy. Even before De Lint got into it from your timeline. I didn't know Leiber did urban fantasy as I knew the rogue set.

panos

Thank you David! The details that show so wonderfully a megapolisomancer's office is the reason I chose this image over a GPT one, more minimal, more portrait-like than this one. I knew of course, it would not do well in the DC - and it didn't. 🙂

CaylaCatz

Ok, I'll bite. What does a megapolisomancer do?

archangeltara

WOW this is really cool awesome work

DavidP

Awesome image, so much cool detail

panos

Of course Fafhrd and the Mouser are his most famous creation. He had a huge body of work though, very multi-faceted embracing the three Genres of what I (and others - call Literature of the Fantastic: SF/Fantasty(Supernatural) Horror. Indeed he was one of the first to present original Urban fantasy concepts. "Our Ladi of Darkness" as I said is a classic of the field but he had also other novels and short stories in such a vein. Recently I read another such one, his novel "Conjuer Wife" written in the - get this - '40s