[Story] Chronicles of Jakob Pettersohn (01/Jun/08 - Final chapter)

[Hilary]

Wonderful closing line.

What's that about Jakob's long muzzle precluding a more human gesture?

I believe he means that if you go back up to the asterisk near the beginning of the SAIA segment, the presence of Jakob's muzzle prevented him from reacting in a more human manner than covering his eyes with his hands. Although I'm not sure what the alternative would be-- perhaps resting his head in them in a long-suffering fashion? *shrug*

[Tapewolf]

Wonderful closing line.

What's that about Jakob's long muzzle precluding a more human gesture?

I believe he means that if you go back up to the asterisk near the beginning of the SAIA segment, the presence of Jakob's muzzle prevented him from reacting in a more human manner than covering his eyes with his hands. Although I'm not sure what the alternative would be-- perhaps resting his head in them in a long-suffering fashion? *shrug*

Burying his entire face in his hands is what I'd envisiaged.
One of the things I've been trying to correct in this one is the fact that Jakob has just been too nice for his reputation in later life so I resolved to make him appear somewhat less rational.

[Tapewolf]

Chapter 19 - Violence and some language

After a brief knock on the door, a pair of guards entered, dragging a feline captive into my throne room.

"What is it now?" I asked impatiently, deeply annoyed as I was trying to read the reports from the team I had sent to Macura Province.

"MiLord, we caught this armed intruder breaking into the palace.", said the guard and prodded the now-disarmed cat who stood before him.

"I have come to end your accursed reign, foul murderer of Page..." he began.

"Not another one," I interrupted, looking up briefly.  "Throw this ingrate through the portal.  No!  Wait..."  I grabbed a piece of parchment and scrawled a short note, signing it and sealing it in wax.

"Take this letter back to your fellows," I said.  "Guards, throw him out."

It read:
So help me, I shall kill the next idiot who accuses me of murdering Page, my dearest friend and mentor.  Now piss off and leave me alone.
   -- Johan Cross

* * *

As it happened my agents in Macura had only sent me a periodic report.  The demons were still believed to be in the area, but my men were having some difficulty locating them.  This was something which had to be done carefully to avoid arousing their suspicion, so it was not unexpected.

Disappointed, I went for a stroll in the city to distract myself.  That I had risen from such modest beginnings to the absolute ruler of my own realm was something which never ceased to amaze me.  I watched the people hurry through the streets, eyeing one another with suspicion, furtive glances abound.  All these people were afraid of me!  It was something I felt slightly proud of, despite myself.  Who would have thought that a young peasant farmer would some day inspire such awe in their subjects?

As I smiled to myself, the sun approached its zenith and the early morning crowd thinned out as noon began to make its presence felt.
On a whim I sat upon a bench and watched someone, a canine of doberman descent as they made their nervous way through the street.  I allowed a faint drowsiness to wash over me... not because I needed to sleep but it would be a way to pass the time, and besides - who would suspect some old labrador lazing in the sun of being the eternally-young incubus Johan Cross?

As I sat back, I began to daydream and imagined the possibilities at my disposal.
Just think, said a voice from the darkest corner of my mind, you could have the doberman arrested for any reason.  For no reason.
You could even have him killed if you chose... or you could kill him yourself if you made all your wings reappear.  No-one would dare stop their ruler.
I realised that I held his life in my hands, and the lives of all the others who dwelt in the city, Being and Creature alike.  I wouldn't even need to touch him, I could end his life with a mere thought...
At that precise moment the doberman's head jerked back and he fell dead.

I sat bolt upright with a look of horror on my face.  My wicked reverie broken, I invoked a partial invisibility spell and glanced up at the rooftops of the tall buildings in the distance.  A dark shape silhouetted against the sky caught my eye, slithering away as I watched.  Making myself fully visible again I knelt to examine the corpse and confirmed my fears, a bullet wound.

Closing my eyes, I saw the doberman's shade staring down at me with a venomous expression.  Apparently he could see my base form and had realised who I was.
"I had nothing to do with it," I whispered.
Yeah, right... came a faint echo.  He gave me the finger and disappeared.

"Hands in the air," said a voice behind me.  I arose and complied, turning to face its owner.
"I had nothing to do with it," I said again, this time for the benefit of the guards as they attempted to arrest me.
"I'll be the judge of that," said the officer and I promptly lost my patience.
"'I'll be the judge of that, Sir,'" I retorted, revealing my headwings, backwings and turning my right hand to display the duplicate ceremonial ring that Page had given to me so many decades ago.

The effect of this was electric.  The three guards stood to attention immediately and the officer began to mumble a grovelling apology.
"That's enough of that," I said.  "Alert the other guards.  This man has been murdered by a sniper on the roof of the central bank and you must find the perpetrator at once.  I will not have people taking pot shots at my citizens."

It was only later, as one of the guards and I sorted through the dead dog's effects that I suddenly realised that the sniper was most likely targetting me.

Over the next few weeks there were a number of other murders.
In desperation I took to wandering around in something very close to my true wolf incubus form, hoping to draw fire into the projectile shield I had cast, but to no avail.  Only one of the victims survived, a feline incubus whom I managed to save by combining their own energy reserves with mine to keep them alive.  If I or another Creature of similar skill had not been at hand as he died there would have been another funeral.  Most of the victims were Beings, though.

I began to brood about the problem, until I was disturbed by Ashley one fine morning.

"I have good news, Mi'lord," he said.

"From Macura Province?" I asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not, sir, but it's about the assassin.  We have caught them at last."

"Very good, Ashley.", I smiled.  "Have him sent to the second board room in five minutes."

"Certainly, Mi'lord.  It's a 'she', though.", he added.

* * *

I sat at one of my desks, adopting the cynical expression I normally used for such occasions, mercifully rare though they were.  The vixen was led into the room, held in check by by two guards although she didn't seem to be struggling.
As she stood before me, I turned her weapon over in my hands, a high-velocity rifle.

"Very neat," I said.  "Where did you get this?  It seems to be based on one of my own designs."

As I spoke, I shuddered, recalling the efficient way in which it had been put to use.  Her victims didn't even know until after their bodies had died.

"You're going to kill me anyway.  Why should I help you by betraying my sources?"

"Whatever.  You know, at first I assumed you were after me.  I can understand that, but it soon became clear that you actually intended to kill other people by preference.  And if there is one thing that I cannot stand," I said coldly, "it is someone who goes around committing wanton acts of murder for their own sick pleasure."

Putting the rifle back on the table, I began to check the semiautomatic which I had taken to carrying with me.

"Pleasure?" she spat, "You think I enjoyed doing this?  You don't think I have any regrets about what I've done?"

"Well, that's the usual motive," I said casually, placing a couple of live rounds in the gun.  "But if it isn't the case this time, I'm all ears."

She looked at the gun sadly.  "You're right," she said.  "I don't deserve to live anymore.  But what I did to my victims was a better fate than they would have suffered in your hands."

"Oh, please." I snarled.  "You're the one who's just murdered six innocent people.  They were happily minding their own business until you came along and blew their heads off."

"I needed the money," she screeched.  "You wanted my motive?  That's why I did it.  I hated myself each time I fired!  The only thing which kept me going was the knowledge that you had them marked!
You were going to eat their souls!  You would have.. erased them if I hadn't got to them first."

Am I really that bad?

"I was going to kill you," I said as I flicked the safety back on, "but I've changed my mind.

"I'm a reasonably capable actor, you know.  Most 'cubi are since it helps us stay undercover and keeps us alive.
Murder doesn't come naturally to me and even though it would have been just for me to do to you what you did to those poor wretches, you can have no idea how much effort it took to steel myself to end your life.  Let alone act as if it was something I do every day.

"I could have ordered your death of course, but that is the coward's way out."  As I spoke, I removed a bottle from a drawer in my desk.

"I always confine my punishments to the physical realm," I continued.  "That's where I have jurisdiction, not the world beyond.  When I feel that the crime is sufficiently evil I may take it upon myself to end someone's life.  It leaves me feeling truly wretched afterwards, for I was taught to believe that life is sacred.

"And if the short life of a Being is sacred, then robbing someone, anyone of their afterlife is surely a crime far, far more heinous than any mere murder.  I do not believe I have the right to take such an action."

"You mean you haven't ever...  you weren't going to..."

"No.  Well okay, so I took a chunk out of Ulric's soul when he came to slay me but that doesn't seem to have done him any lasting damage, has it Ulric?"

Let me go at once, demon filth... whispered the bottle, causing the vixen's hackles to stand on end.

"Oh dear.  Apparently he hasn't learned his lesson yet," I smirked, putting it back into the drawer along with the pistol.  My expression softened as I looked back at the vixen who just sat there, gazing numbly at the floor.

"Come on, it's not that bad," I said.  "Okay, so someone conned you into murdering six innocent people.  That is a punishment of its own, for I see now that you are after all, that most precious of commodities.. an assassin with a conscience.
"What you have done will haunt you for the rest of your days, and I think that in this case, it will be punishment enough.
The one consolation as far as you're concerned is that you, I and your former employer are the only ones who know that you are responsible.  Many of my public seem to believe that I am the killer.  We can't have that, though, so I shall have to tell them otherwise.  After all, the murders will stop, at least until your master finds a new sniper."

I looked at her intently.

"And I can stop that too, with your help.  I could break down your mind to get this you know, but I don't want to do that.  So I'm asking you to tell me just two things.. who sent you and how I can reach them.  It won't bring back your victims, but it will stop there being any more."

"And what about me?" she asked.

"Well, that is up to you." I said.  "If your days as an assassin are over, then I have no further designs upon your life.  If you tell me of your employer, you will be free to go.  Having said that, you might prefer to remain here or perhaps go into exile, for the families of your victims may not be as forgiving as I if they ever should discover your identity."

"But he'll kill me."

"That's an odd reason for reticence," I said.  "You were asking me to kill you a few minutes ago.  But it is a 'he', then, is it?  That's interesting."

I was silent for a few minutes as two thoughts suddenly collided in my mind, forming new elements like the particle accelerators on Earth.

"You know, the way he's manipulated you makes me wonder if it's an Angel," I said.  She didn't reply.

"Let me tell you something about a few of your victims," I went on.  "I learned this from the incubus you failed to kill."

"Failed?" she asked, turning to me with a start.  "How?"

"Oh you killed him all right, it's just that I managed to resurrect him.  I've learned a lot about resurrecting  Creatures.. too bad I didn't study Beings as hard.  In any case, I could not have done it alone.
He is still recovering in the SAIA medical department, but he did manage to tell me something very interesting.  He was a member of a secret organisation, one which has been a thorn in my side for quite some time.

"You see, they have some irrational belief that I killed Page, the city's original founder, and occasionally they send people to kill me.  It was fun at first but now they seem to be worshipping Page and since I consider that to be an insult to his memory, I'm starting to lose patience with them.  But I digress.

This 'cubi told me that their leader was an Angel, one who seems to believe that Page's successor should have been another Angel and not an incubus.  The Page worship thing seems to have been his idea."

"Why would he tell you this?" she asked.

"Well, I saved his life for one.  I guess he figured that I wasn't such a bad sort after all.  Anyway... a couple of the people you killed were members of this group, but now I know that the killings were not the work of a lone sicko, it seems likely to me that they are all involved somehow.  I'll have to double-check that.
And you know what's really interesting?  On the night before your first murder I sent them a rude letter saying I'd kill the next man who accused me of murdering Page."

The vixen was utterly silent, but her eyes changed.  She knew.

"You've got it.  I can see it in your mind.  This angel used you to frame me for martyring the members of his cause.  It's genius... bordering on insanity, I'll admit, but genius nonetheless."
I spoke to her softly, gently.  "Now all I need is a way to get at him, and that is something you can provide.  It would be a fitting way to help repair the damage you have done."

"What about the incubus?", she asked reluctantly.

"He can't remember any more than I have just said.  You caused an enormous amount of brain damage and while he should recover in a matter of months, we don't have months.  Your master will have found another sniper by then."

After a long pause, she closed her eyes and uttered a single word...  "Zarach."

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Oooo.

Hire someone, to kill members of your own organisation, making everyone believe it was your enemy, except the person you hired - who believes she was killing your enemy....

Twisty. Evil.


I like it. :-)

[Tapewolf]

Oooo.  Hire someone, to kill members of your own organisation, making everyone believe it was your enemy, except the person you hired - who believes she was killing your enemy....
Twisty. Evil.  I like it. :-)

Angelic...

Anyway, I forgot to mention that this chapter brings the word count above Gareeku's Furrae Chronicles for the first time (at 41'306 words vs 40'694 by my calculations).  I mention this because it was FC and especially the RP which inspired me to work on this story.  And there's still around 300 years of plotted history to go... that said, I'll probably jump ahead a century or so fairly soon unless I get some other ideas in the meantime.

[Gabi]

Yes, it was an interesting turn of events. But why are you counting words and comparing them to FC?

Just one thing I noticed: where it says "A allowed a faint drowsiness to wash over me..", it should be 'I' instead of 'A' and there's a missing '.' at the end.

OK, who came up with the smilie?

[Tapewolf]

Yes, it was an interesting turn of events. But why are you counting words and comparing them to FC?

I've always admired it and so I've been using it as a benchmark.  I wasn't sure if I'd be able to make it last as long as Gareeku's story.  (I'm kind of hoping it may spur him into resuming the story as well  )

Just one thing I noticed: where it says "A allowed a faint drowsiness to wash over me..", it should be 'I' instead of 'A' and there's a missing '.' at the end.

Thanks, I'll fix that now.

**EDIT**
What was that with the missing '.'?  Do you mean the ellipsis only has two dots instead of the usual three, or is there an unfinished sentence somewhere?

[Gabi]

What was that with the missing '.'?  Do you mean the ellipsis only has two dots instead of the usual three, or is there an unfinished sentence somewhere?

The former. Sorry if I wasn't clear. I didn't know how to say ellipsis in English.

[Hilary]

Glad to hear from Ulric again... heh. Lovely chapter, of course.

One typo that I noticed: "The one consolation as far is you're concerned is that you, I and your former employer are the only ones who know that you are responsible."
Did you mean 'as?'

[Tapewolf]

One typo that I noticed: "The one consolation as far is you're concerned is that you, I and your former employer are the only ones who know that you are responsible."
Did you mean 'as?'

Fixed.  Thanks for spotting that.

[Tapewolf]

Chapter 20

Ashley stood before me with a dour expression upon his face.  I bade him stand before me to deliver his report.

"Mi'lord, I bring grave news," he began.  "The Angel, Zarach, has escaped the city."

"Damn," I said, and gave a sigh.  "Well, it's not a disaster, is it?  We have broken up his loony band of rebels, and he won't be causing us any more trouble.  Put out his description and any photographs we have of him.  If ever he returns to Ha'Khun we shall have him."  I gave my special smile.

"I have taken the liberty of doing that already, Mi'lord," he replied, "but I fear it will not come to much.  You see, he has fled to Macura Province, sire."

I stared hard at Ashley, as he was behaving very strangely.  In fact the only time I had seen him do anything remotely like this was in his rash youth, when he had incurred my wrath for his attempt to behead a then-disarmed assassin.
Ever since that day, he had devoted all his energies to proving himself, and by now was practically my right-hand man.  To see him act so demurely must have meant he was very, very frightened.

"Go on," I said.

"He has fled to Macura, and... and made contact with your ancient enemies.  They have now been taken into protective custody by Governor Khano of Macura, who is refusing to extradite them to Ha'Khun.  He has caught two of our agents and executed them, Mi'lord." he gabbled.

"WHAT?!?" I screamed, my wings and headwings fluffing out in shock and fury.  Ashley made a sound very much like a kitten being trodden on as I stood up, the deadly anger that burned upon my face clearly visible to all.

"Get up," I snapped.  "Pull yourself together!  They will not get away with that.  Ashley, I want a strategy drawn up for an attack on the capital.  Invading the governor's palace is to be our main strategic objective... I do not care what it takes.

"I will have those demons and their allies brought before me, Governor Khano included.  When we have annexed this precious Province of his, I will show that fat bastard what happens to those who so blatantly defy Johan Cross!"

Ashley looked very shaken as he left, and on any other occasion I would have felt guilty.  But the anger burned fierce in me that night and I was numb to all feelings except my desire for revenge.

By morning I felt quite different, subdued and unhappy as opposed to wrathful, and I summoned Ashley to my chamber.
"Perhaps I was a little hasty," I began.  I could be completely frank with Ashley, even though I was a demon overlord and he was just a Being.  "A war will likely cost hundreds of lives, maybe more."

"I fear it is too late now, Mi'lord," he said.  "The battle plans are well advanced, and to back down now might be perceived as a weakness on your part.  It could quite conceivably result in our own invasion if word of it were to get out, for your... reputation... is one of the key factors that keeps the region stable."

"You are right, as ever, my friend," I said, and Ashley turned away - he seemed to be rather embarrassed by this remark.
"And of course invading Macura would have its up-sides too... ridding the world of Khano, for example."

Governor Khano was a tiger, an exemplary specimen who went a long way to proving the old adage that felines tended to be cruel.  That his ancestors had demon heritage did not help either, and had lengthened his years far beyond his natural span as a Being although in most other respects he seemed to be fairly ordinary.
While I was suspected of killing hundreds of dissidents, Khano didn't bother to hide behind such ambiguities, instead preferring to behead criminals in public.  While this did achieve an even lower rate of crime than Ha'Khun, it had come at a price that even Johan Cross was not prepared to contemplate.

In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I wondered why I hadn't done anything about him before.  Probably it was because, as Ashley had said, the balance of power in the region was somewhat fragile.
This was still a concern, but if it allowed me to get my claws around the necks of those demons, regional instability would be worth the price, to say nothing of ending the death penalty in Macura Province.  In any case, it was far too late to back out now.

"Tell me about the two agents who died," I said.
It was not a pleasant conversation, and squeamish as I am, I had to ask Ashley to skip some of the more explicit details.  Nonetheless, I had their names, and the difficult task of informing their next-of-kin.

* * *

I cannot bring myself to speak in detail of the war which I embarked upon.  There were many deaths, of foe and friend alike, and I consider it now to be one of the most hateful things I did in my career as ruler of Ha'Khun although my analyst, Delna, assures me that it ultimately turned out for the best.

One of the few consolations was that the bulk of the fighting lasted mere days, although sporadic fighting by small pockets of resistance persisted for a number of months following.
This remarkably quick operation was largely by virtue of the way we took them by surprise, aided not least by my strategy of warping my shock troops into the capital by means of the portal.  Thus, the palace was captured almost immediately, decapitating the nation in a manner eerily reminiscent of what Khano was wont to do to his own enemies.

I was tempted to give him first-hand experience of why executions are wrong, but he escaped my justice, taking his own life before I could avenge his victims.

I think the main thing which upset me about the whole endeavour was the fact that the demons had vanished without trace.  Since they were the cause of the war, it came as a bitter blow to me.  Zarach too had fled, to the neighbouring realm of Port Okra, and I had sent agents to follow him also.

But in spite of these failures, I had doubled the size of my realm.  I changed the name of my prize to "Khiann Province", after one of my dead agents, and the capital was henceforth known as "Tiera" in memory of his companion.
As with Ha'Khun city, I opened it up to all races, posting one of my more trusted men to act as Governor.

The real prize was Governor Khano's son, Bhalo - a spoiled and thoroughly obnoxious prince of about fifty.  Supposedly the child of his tiger father (now recently deceased), he took more after his wife, a lynx who had been executed shortly after the birth in the apparent belief that she had been unfaithful.  Khano had nonetheless grudgingly brought his son up as an heir, finally accepting him as his true son once it became clear that he was not ageing past twenty-five.  This curious upbringing had instilled in Bhalo a hatred for all things lynx, and he had tried very hard to kill Ashley upon sight, slaying several of my guards in the attempt.

Wanton murder is one of the few things which makes me angry enough to take the lives of others, and I would have killed him then, but I had a better idea...

* * *

When Port Okra decided to invade us, the story was rather different to the invasion of Macura Province.
Whether they acted out of panic at seeing their neighbour fall, or whether as I would like to believe, they thought Ha'Khun to be weakened by our attack on Macura, I cannot say with any certainty.  But I can safely say that they had no idea of what they were letting themselves in for.

Lacking Azrael's portal technology or my own personal skill at teleportation, they were forced to use the more conventional approach of sending troops.  Many men died, the result of the enemy's own prowess, countered by the fact that we had a team of snipers upon the slopes of the Black Mountains.

This initial carnage only ceased when I intervened in person, my troops falling back as if in rout, leaving me alone to face them, armed only with a projectile shield.

Their leader simply could not believe my audacity and began to taunt and heckle me.  When I finally grew bored of this, I snapped my fingers and his entire battalion slumped into a state of unconsciousness as I cut through their primitive mind-shields like butter.  He most certainly did believe my audacity after that encounter.

Now I was the master of three realms, and unhappily, more were due to follow, not least because Zarach had fled yet again.  In both cases there were Creatures who were in high favour with the previous administration and something had to be done about them.
Some reluctantly embraced my new regime, others refused and were expelled from the realm, their possessions confiscated and their egos savagely beaten.
One chose to rebel, and I slew her with my tentacles as I had slain the bosses of Zarista Clan over a century before... yet another face to haunt me when I ponder my old crimes.

* * *

Decades passed, and in due course Ashley came up for retirement.
I been planning this moment for some time, but I had not told him a word of it - after all, he might have refused.  Chuckling to myself, I wondered what he'd make of it, but whatever he might have said before, once it was done I was pretty sure that he wasn't going to back out of it.

"I have a surprise for you, old friend," I said, entering his chamber to find him reading a book by the fire.  He looked up at me, and suddenly his body went limp.  With care, I removed his glasses and pocketing them, slung him over my shoulders and carried him down to my laboratory.

On a stone table there was another figure, breathing rhythmically as he lay in the same state of unconsciousness as Ashley.  I placed my friend upon a second slab, and stood between them clutching a jewelled pendant.  I placed a hand upon each cat's forehead, the pendant posing a slight problem in that it required a third hand, but one of my wing-tentacles served this purpose adequately enough.

The difficult part was going to be clearing off the residual memories in the brain so that they could be replaced with the personality data from his soul, but I was pretty sure I would be able to handle it.  Basically it was either that or run the risk of losing Ashley altogether.

The entire operation took about 45 seconds of extreme concentration.  Standing over the young man, I probed his mind gently.  It was confused, but I had suspected as much.  I left him to sleep for about an hour, examining the elder lynx in the meantime.

"Happy retirement," I said to Ashley as he awoke.  "Of course, you might want to consider postponing it for another few hundred years or so."

"What are you on about?" he said, and stopped, because it wasn't his voice that came out.  Sitting up, he turned to one side and saw his own body lying there.

"Oh my Gods," he whispered, and looked down at himself, pawing at his fur and examining the spot patterns.
"That's... I'm... the prince kid from Macura.  How on Furrae did you manage that?  Soul transference?" he shivered, remembering what 'cubi can do to souls, and stared at the lifeless body besides him with a look of dawning horror.

"Good guess," I said.  "And before you ask, no, he is not soul-dead.  I've managed a complete transfer and he should recover shortly, although what he'll say when he comes out of it is anyone's guess.
"I could have slain him outright of course, but then I realised how much he resembled you, and what a waste it would be given that his body should be good for a few more centuries at least.
"You know, Ashley, I don't think you quite realise how much I've come to depend upon you, and the prospect of losing you was not something I was willing to endure."

"Well, you certainly think long-term, I'll give you that.  Where did you keep him all this time?"

"In a cupboard," I replied.  Ashley's reaction was priceless.

"Let me get this straight," he said, growing more accustomed to his new body.
"You kept the part-demon heir to Khiann Province locked in a broom cupboard for the last thirty-odd years?"

"More-or-less.  I cast a zero-tau field around him to keep his body in suspension.  I could probably have just locked him up in one of my dungeons, there was a risk that he might decide to follow his father's way out.  So I kept him in stasis.  The only real problem was when I needed to revive him, as I couldn't remember exactly which cupboard it was."

While Ashley recovered from the operation quickly enough, the real Bhano was not so lucky.  Although Ashley had once been younger himself, Bhano had never experienced old age and the shock deranged him.  It was easy enough to have him committed to an asylum in Port Okra where no-one would recognise him, and he spent the rest of his days there telling everyone that he was the real governor of Macura.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

"I couldn't remember which cupboard" *bwahahahahahahaha*

Lovely story, Tapewolf. As ever, I await the next chapter. :-)

[Hilary]

"You know, Ashley, I don't think you know quite realise how much I've come to depend upon you..."

An extra word there.

I'm glad to hear that Ashley will be around for a while yet. Was the news of the soul-switching broadcast to the public, or did people think that Ashley had suddenly gone insane and Bahno had become Johan's right hand man?

Heheh. Cupboard.

[Tapewolf]

An extra word there.

Sorted.

I'm glad to hear that Ashley will be around for a while yet. Was the news of the soul-switching broadcast to the public, or did people think that Ashley had suddenly gone insane and Bahno had become Johan's right hand man?

Good point.  I was thinking more in terms of his incarceration somewhere further afield, for example, Port Okra, where they don't know who Ashley was.  It would probably be the 'new' Ashley who organises it anyway.  Actually I've just added that to the text.

I was wondering whether anyone would pick up on this:
http://clockworkmansion.com/forum/index.php?topic=647.msg81085#msg81085
...my third posting from that sequence in particular is the giveaway.  We're still some way away from that point though.

[Gabi]

Actually, since then I had been wondering whether it was the same Ashley, and if so how he had managed to live that long. I guess that explains it.

[Tapewolf]

Actually, since then I had been wondering whether it was the same Ashley, and if so how he had managed to live that long. I guess that explains it.

Originally the plan was to use a succession of host bodies, but with 200 years to cover that would have exceeded Jakob's corpse quota by three or more.  Superluser's timely unearthing of Amber's line about half-demons in the Abel's Story thread gave me the missing piece of the puzzle.

[Gabi]

Heh. Nicely solved.

[Sid]

I have caught up! Finally! ... *collapses* So much... to read... must talk... like Shatner...

A very nice story, even though I am one of the few (I assume) who read it without getting any outside references (to Gareeku's story/RP for example), so I guess I'm missing some of the more "Ohhhhhh!"-tastic bits. Ah well, can't win'em all, and it's proof that your story stands well on its own

The Dark God arc was a nice break from the norm (The Phoenix Oracle seriously cracked me up, just like the "It was like that when I got here, Lord" bit.) and is one of my fav segments so far. Loved the bit about the High Priest pointing at nothing when the Dark Lord is starting to realize that something went very, very wrong...

Only thing that (very lightly) irked me is that some chapter breaks conveniently skipped past the climax at some points (like going from Zarach's mention straight to him fleeing while his rebel group has been broken up, or the invasion of the capital/palace (EDIT: Even though the critical parts of that are explained in partial flashback, so it doesn't really count)). I understand that skipping parts is necessary (God knows I'll have to do that with my own fic... once I get Kitzi past his first two days at SAIA ), but it creates an odd fast-forward effect in mid-arc now and then. Not complaining, just noting.

And Jakob's throne room should have revolving doors, considering how many assassins are trying to get in

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

*bweeeheeheehee*

"So, can we get revolving doors installed here?"


.. Then, of course, there is the trapped revolving doors trick - they walk in, the inside door closes, the outside door closes, and they're stuck going around and around and around, like a hamster, and can't get out. :-)

... or is it just me that thinks that that's funny?

[Sid]

"So, can we get revolving doors installed here?"

.. Then, of course, there is the trapped revolving doors trick - they walk in, the inside door closes, the outside door closes, and they're stuck going around and around and around, like a hamster, and can't get out. :-)

You have a very cruel sense of humor, and I like it! Besides, the mental image of Johan Cross' Assassin Hamster Wheel of Doom amuses me to no end

"Are we there yet?" - "No, just a few more rounds... should be there any minute..."

[Tapewolf]

I have caught up! Finally! ... *collapses* So much... to read... must talk... like Shatner...

A very nice story, even though I am one of the few (I assume) who read it without getting any outside references (to Gareeku's story/RP for example), so I guess I'm missing some of the more "Ohhhhhh!"-tastic bits. Ah well, can't win'em all, and it's proof that your story stands well on its own

Thanks.  I've begun the process of revising it for DeviantArt.
The first two chapters may be found here:  http://tapewolf.deviantart.com - I've been making a number of adaptations to get it to work on its own, i.e. without prior experience of DMFA.  The opening paragraph in the first chapter has been rewritten to help explain what Jakob is without actually revealing that he's an incubus, and I will probably make further improvements further on.

Only thing that (very lightly) irked me is that some chapter breaks conveniently skipped past the climax at some points (like going from Zarach's mention straight to him fleeing while his rebel group has been broken up, or the invasion of the capital/palace , but it creates an odd fast-forward effect in mid-arc now and then. Not complaining, just noting.

Usually it happens when I'm completely stumped for how to handle it.  I might fix some of these in the DA versions, but no promises.  The next chapter, when it's ready is going to jump about two hundred years and will probably be the last one for this era, after which I'll be looking at Jakob's return to SAIA.

And Jakob's throne room should have revolving doors, considering how many assassins are trying to get in

Hmm.  That's giving me a few related ideas, although the bulk of the assassins were sent by Zarach, and I still haven't decided whether he's survived or not...

[Tapewolf]

Well, it looks like there will be an extra chapter before the end of this arc after all...

Chapter 21

About seventy years had passed and I had taken control of six territories including the Kingdom of Rhiann, of which Macura had formerly been a province.

The Kingdom had been an unexpected bonus, for the King had seen his neighbours fall and had personally ceded his entire Kingdom to me in order to prevent further bloodshed.  I had not actually planned on invading him, but who was I to turn down such a magnificent gift?  It was probably the result of his demon outlook that the strong ruled over the weak by right.  I was so pleased that I allowed him to continue ruling his land upon my behalf, although it was now but a province of Ha'Khun, and he sent me regular tributes.

Ashley and I were locked in the throne room.  I had left strict instructions to my staff that an important meeting was in progress and we were not to be disturbed under any circumstances save dire emergency.

"What about 'STUDER'?" he asked.

"Certainly not," I replied irritably.  "No surnames or foreign languages, and that word is both."

"Nuts," Ashley replied, and picked the letters back off the board.
Just because you're losing, he thought, before suddenly realising that his mind shield had slipped for a moment.

"WHOLE SEXY VIBRANT GIMP", I said, studying the board.  "Dunno what that says to you, but what it's sayin' to me ain't good."

I was about to suggest an alternative word for my friend when I noticed something flicker out of the corner of my eye.  The letters fell from Ashley's open hand and skittered across the board as I turned around.
A cowled figure stood before us in the centre of the throne room.

"That's impressive," I said.  "But wouldn't a Warp-Aci have been easier?"

"Those are for girls," he replied and threw back his hood to reveal grey fur, vulpine features and feathered headwings.
"You are Jakob, are you not?" he continued.  "My name is Daryil."

The name was familiar, but I couldn't place it.  As I stared back at the fox, he gave a thin smile and there was a strange light in his eyes.

"You don't recognise the name?  That's a pity, but perhaps this will jog your memory."
As he spoke, he gently tugged at the sleeve of his robe until his wrist was entirely visible, lines of power glowing upon the curves of his clan marking.
My clan marking.  Daryil Clan.

"Oh my Gods," I whispered, and fell to my knees.

"I have been watching you on and off for centuries," he said.  "and your father before you.  Alas he has fled to SAIA and is now beyond my reach.  You, however, are here outside where I could easily track you down."

My hackles began to rise as he spoke.
"Oh come now... get up, get up.  I must say I am most impressed by your achievements.  It's quite a nice empire that you have here."

Shakily, I rose to my feet, staring back at my Clan leader in fear.

"If I may ask, how many souls would you say you have eaten over the years?"

"Nuh... none," I replied shakily.

"Tut, tut," he said.  "You won't make it past three thousand if you don't vary your diet.  But that doesn't matter right now.  All that matters to me is that Azrael is gone and now there is no-one to stand in the way anymore."

His casual reference to Page's death stung me, but the fear choked it back.
I had no idea what he was talking about, but it couldn't be good.  Most likely he had decided to relieve me of the burden of leadership, taking my hard-won territory for himself.  Whatever it was, he'd evidently been planning it for a long, long time.

"What do you want?" I said in a frightened voice - not exactly the voice you'd usually associate with Johan Cross, but he only smiled.

"Originally I had come to bring you back to the fold, to make you a true  member of Daryil Clan once more, but I think I prefer it here.  Ultimately it's up to you.  I have, as I said, been watching you for a long while, and I believe that the time has come for me to make a proposal to you."

There was a strange, almost pathetic smile upon his face, and as he spoke he stepped closer and closer until suddenly he threw his arms around me, causing my wings and headwings to fluff out in alarm.

"Oh Jakob," he cried - Oh shit, I thought - "I want you.  Say you'll be mine."

Ashley's eyes were trying very hard to leave their sockets.  Mine were too, and it wasn't just because my leader was squeezing me rather hard.

I had been extremely tense, psyching myself up for a battle against my own Clan leader - a battle which I knew I could not win and would quite likely have seen him eat my very soul - but which nonetheless had to be tried.
Although I couldn't hope to win, I might at least have distracted him long enough to allow Ashley and just maybe myself as well to escape to SAIA.  If I could avoid paying the ultimate price in the meantime.

I knew precious little about our clan, but Daryil had a reputation as a wily, crafty old fox.  That he might have fallen in love with me was not a thought that had even vaguely occurred to my mind.

I struggled slightly and the besotted vulpine released me.  He stood there holding a flower with an expectant expression on his face.  "I love you," he said simply.

"Uh, look," I said, unsure what to say.  After all, how do you phrase something like this to a powerful Creature who can crush you like a bug?

"I'm flattered," I continued.  "Really I am, but I... I don't think I can go through with it."

My leader's face fell, and then turned to anger.  Whoops.

"You!" he snarled, facing Ashley.  "Of course, I should have realised!  Another handsome young spotted feline.  You're a substitute for Azrael and you took my rightful place by Yak's side!  Well it ends now, pretty-boy!"

Daryil's fingers began to glow for a moment as Ashley shrank back, but then his expression suddenly changed again.

"No...  that isn't the answer..." he mumbled, "he'd never forgive me."
The powerful leader of my Clan looked like he was about to cry.

This guy's out of his gourd, I thought wildly.  How the hell did this madman found our noble clan?  Or is that why we split from them?  Because Daryil Clan proper are a bunch of utter fruitcakes?

"Him... me...?" said Ashley, looking at me with a very strange expression.  "Are you suggesting what I think you're..."

"Um, look," I said.  "Noble leader, I think you've got the wrong end of the stick.  I'd be honoured to join you and I'd love to take you to be my lawful... um, something, but the simple fact is I don't swing that way."

Ashley looked relieved.  Daryil just stared.
"But... so... what about you and Azrael, then?"

"No, absolutely not.  No way.  Never ever.  Nuh-uh."
In the back of my mind I was sure I could hear Page laughing fit to bust.

"But,"

"NO!!!  I've tried it of course, but women interest me more."  Now Ashley was staring again.
"What?" I said, exasperated.  "You don't spend four hundred years stuck in an academy full of shapeshifters who are permanently twenty-something without some experimentation."

Ashley's face said it all - Too much information!

"But you're supposed to!" wailed Daryil.  "It's a Clan trait!"

"What?" I yelped.  Now it was my turn to stare, but I recovered quickly.
"That's ridiculous!  Petter married a she-wolf and had kids.  I had kids with a vixen, eventually leading to Niall."
Daryil's ears pricked up at the mention of my great-great-grandson.

"You touch him and we'll have to pick a new clan leader," I snarled.

"Duly noted.  I see your confusion about the clan trait, though." he said.  "It's not all-or-nothing, it's a population control device.  Once you've had enough children to ensure the clan's survival, you're supposed to switch polarity.  It prevents the clan growing too large and exceeding the resources available to it."

"But you founded the clan.  Why should it affect you too?"

"You forget - I was the one who recoded our clan DNA to enable this feature.  I had to try it on someone.  Who better than me?"

"You... reprogrammed yourself... to fancy other men?" I spluttered.

"Yes, hon."  He was still looking at me wistfully, and it was starting to make me feel rather uncomfortable.
"It was supposed to be passed down from generation to generation.  I guess it must have mutated when your family broke away from the Clan.  Either that or you haven't had enough children yet."

"I see," I said, with a touch of sarcasm.  "And what other weird and wonderful 'features' have you engineered into our unsuspecting Clan's bloodline?"

"Well, the wolf-heads on your wing-tentacles, obviously."  He grinned, proudly.  "Complete with real, working eyes!  Took me a while to figure that one out, although I must admit I copied the idea from Cyra Clan.

"Then there's the affinity for teleportation.  It's not built-in, but I've made a number of changes to the brain structures to allow more rapid development of teleportation, without any of that messing around summoning Warp-Acis.

"And finally, there's the best bit.  Have you ever seen someone die?"  He paused for a moment.
"Yes, I can see it from your expression.  As 'Cubi, we can manipulate souls, so I figured - why shouldn't we be able to see them, too?  Of course it only really works when the soul has become separated from the body - usually following death - and retrofitting it to the visual cortex was difficult to do without disrupting the existing visual subsystems."

Well, I thought, our glorious leader may be a basket-case, but he certainly knows his metabiology.

"So in other words, if I close my eyes when someone's just died, I can see their shade."

"Yes," he said, and gave a lovelorn sigh.

"Would you mind explaining the theory behind that?"  I asked.  "If you know that much about Azrael, you'll know that I'm still interested in anything that might help me to raise the dead,"

"Very well," he said.  "On one condition..."

"No!" I yelped, backing away from him.

"No, no... You say you're more of a ladies' man, well I won't press you.  All I ask is that if ever you do change your mind, I get first dibs, okay?"

"Erm, alright," I said, praying feverently that it wouldn't ever happen.

Daryil and I spent three hours in my study, discussing our clan and exchanging notes on 'Cubi metabiology and resurrection.  Finally he departed, and upon that same day every year since, a single rose has been delivered to my palace.

The ordeal over, I turned back to the scrabble game and let out a roar of fury.
Ashley, the cheating bastard, had added at least two more words to the board while I was out of the room.

[Gabi]

That was... quite original. Half funny and half disturbing, in my opinion.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I love the two extra words.

That just makes it totally hysterical. :-)

[Tapewolf]

That was... quite original. Half funny and half disturbing, in my opinion.

It was half-disturbing to write, as well - and this is not an area which I'm intending to revisit, either
Of course if you want to be really disturbed, I couldn't finish the second chapter of Zedd's story.

I love the two extra words.
That just makes it totally hysterical. :-)

I wondered if I'd overdone it, to be honest.  Regarding the scrabble board, the line about "VIBRANT SEXY GIMP" was actually said by my brother during a scrabble-like game we were playing with fridge magnets¹.  I wish I could remember what the first word was though.  I did write it down, and I may revise this if I ever find the real word.

"I've tried it of course, but women interest me more" is taken from 'Illuminatus!' by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea.  I personally have not 'tried it' and do not intend to.

I was never sure whether to make the clan leader truly insane or just winding Jakob up for some nefarious reason.  I haven't excluded that possibility.  Originally Fa'Lina was going to explain about the shades-of-the-dead thing.

¹You pick a core word, in this case 'Vibrant' and attempt to use all the remaining letters to build valid words - it's infuriatingly addictive.

The fridge at the time looked a little like this, but with another word that wasn't 'Whole'.


G
VIBRANT   W
M        H
P        O
          L
         SEXY

C,D,F,J,K,Q,U,Z

[Drake Manaweilder]

My various reactions to this:
1: this should be good.
2: oh snap  D:
3:
4: oh... oookaay... a little extreme but it makes sense...
5:   ->   ->

one thing though:

Finally he departed, and upon that same day every year since, a single rose has beed delivered to my palace.

I think you ment: "...a single rose has been delivered to my palace"

A very humorious chapter overall.

[Tapewolf]

Finally he departed, and upon that same day every year since, a single rose has beed delivered to my palace.

I think you meant: "...a single rose has been delivered to my palace"

Fixed, thanks.

[Sid]

MWAHAHAHAHAHA
*cough*

Priceless chapter, and not at all disturbing in my eyes. Then again, I've read and written things of higher ratings, so Daryil trying to get some quality time (and more) with Jakob doesn't really faze me. Even though I'll freely admit that it caught me off-guard

Jakob's frantic "No, absolutely not. No way. Never ever. Nuh-uh." reaction totally cracked me up, just like his explanation about SAIA experimentation and the reaction to this fairly odd Clan trait.

Sort of a pity, too. Jakob/Daryil snuggle-romance could've been cute...

And somehow, the idea of the ultimate, hardcore overlord playing Scrabble is hilarious, too

[Gabi]

Then again, I've read and written things of higher ratings, so Daryil trying to get some quality time (and more) with Jakob doesn't really faze me. Even though I'll freely admit that it caught me off-guard

That wasn't what I found disturbing. It was Dariyl's experiments, and the fact that he used himself as a test subject.

[Hilary]

Aww, poor Daryll. 

It might have made more sense for him to simply program the guys so that they would become sterile... but this way's more fun.