Back On Track [ closed]

There were many things that had to be done. Ever since he had met the little angel he had actually made his way back to hell, He had of course been dreading this and [putting it off as much as he could. After all he had spent so long away from the place that reports were no doubt going to be filling the halls of the seat expecting his own input into them. It Was after all, his land and he was at war. A king away from his throne, and his generals were expecting word. Ceila had already been in the hall but for the most part at the moment Jack was in the cold room scrubbing away the last remnants of blood from the table. He had creatures that would do this for him but ultimately it gave him an excuse to dodge people for just a little bit longer. But that didn’t seem as if it was going to stick this time. Ceila came bargaining into the room Jack apprehensively looked up, letting out a sigh. The leader of madness never had been one to wait or one that had any concept of tact. “ Well hallo stranger!”. She yelled out, the room echoing.

“ Just where have you been?”. Jack shook his head. “ You know where I’ve been in the human realm, studying the blood magic, I’d learned all I could down here and the human world has much rarer ingredient s ultimately it seemed common sense that if we were going to defeat the glutton we need all advantages possible”. Ceila tilted her head and nodded. “ Sure I suppose that makes sense but why were you taking troops topside, we needed them down here to keep the hunger thralls at bay”. Now that was probably one tactical oversight Jack had expected to be questioned on, but hadn’t really thought about at the time he had ordered it. He had taken troops from rage topside to help guard the temple of obstinancy and keep his land his land, ensuring that Iskra knew it. But it seemed that even with those soldiers there Iskra saw no reason to bother. Thakfully he had brought most of them back. Much to the pleasure of Jonah and Ceila.

“ There are some threats topside that I needed them for””. Ceila’s eyes seemed to glimmer with curiousity at that point but one warning glance from Jack seemed to be enough to turn her off that line of questioning. So she seemed to leave it. But there would undoubtably b more to follow. “ So the”. She said, moving onto her next point. “ What was with the Kami?”. Jack at this stage simply stuck to the most basic answer. He didn’t really want to go into the pure hard facts of wanting to know just where his previous human cohort and maybe existant daughter might have been. “ Blood magic”. He said simply. “ I needed Kami blood, and it seemed less likely I would receive interference from their kind down here”. Ceila gave him what could only really be described as a penetrating gaxe. One of those looks where she knew that he wasn’t being completely honest with her.

Even if the answer in itself was partially true. Jack did need Kami blood for his experimentation. But he could have easily drained her fully and kept it for himself after all Jack wasn’t known for keeping his subjects alive for long let alone letting them escape. Not of course that he had let her escape. But he was sure that the little bird would make her way back to him soon. One way or another she would be drawn back to him. “ So then”. Jack followed himself.

“ Start with your reports of the past few months”.

Ceila scratched her head looking at him rather nervously. “ Well that ain’t really my kinda thing, you know I’m the one who asks the questions and Jonah is the one who answers them hehehe”. Typical, the girl acted brainless even though arguably she was one of his most intellectual followers. It was something in the blood of the madness demons. Like the court jesters of old. They acted the clown, the fool but secretly they knew far more than they let on, a dark intellect behind those yellow eyes. One that made Jack wonder constantly just what she had planned for herself and for madness. But then again she was right on that front Ceila had never been particularly good at giving answers to his questions. At least direct answers anyways. She always knew more than she would let on but she would never really give it out just give him it in a format that only left him with more questions to ask and more places to look and honestly he didn’t need that at this stage only wishing for a direct clear cut approach to the reports and answes of the situation of the past few months of his basense. And to do that he’d need the stony hearted Jonah. Jack sighed and gestured to the door. “ Go to the throne room, grab Jonah, IO’ll meet you there in roughly ten minutes”. Ten minutes might have been enough to scrape up the last remnants of blood from this table. Hed stick it into a tube for later research. COuldn’t really waste much of it. With that complete he reassembled the chains god knows he was probably going to need to use them later. Putting the rest of the blood into a test tube and that tube in his pocket he headed out the door and down the corridor. Coming to the throne room of the seat of pride. That had been one thing he had kept at least from her. His seat. It had once been Jowans and ever since he had taken it he had been almost completely possessive over it. Even if it was just a base object. That’s how he felt about it. She had taken his arm but she would not take his seat, that was something he had complete confidence over. And thats when he heard the echoing laughter in his head of the man behind the door. Almost as if he was kidding himself.

exp:1119
pwc: 1058

“ The hunger thralls for now seem to have hel;d back on their relentless assault of our lands but I doubt that it will be long before they start again”> Said Jonah. It seemed that these past few months of organising the defence of prides bastion had taken their toll upon the leader of fear. However when Jack had first came in it was clear that Jonah was in fact more shcokec about the state of Jack. Eveyrone thought that hell was a rather savage place and yet in all his time in being down here Jack had never came across any opppstion that had been capable of wounding him to such an extent which he had lost a limb. And yet here he was returning from what demons considered one of the two weaker realms with one arm missing. However they didn’t really ask about it. But he was sure that they would at some stage. But for now he was glad that at least they had enought tact not to mention such a thing to him. He knew that it was problematic. It could be taken as a sign of weakness. But most of them knew that Jacks main strenghths didn’t lie in his hands but in his mind and in his magic. They wern’;t going to try to challenge his authority so long as his mouth and his mind were his main weapons. If he had ruled them wit soley the power of his body and fist then perhaps he would be in trouble. But that was not the way it was to be. Regardless for now it seemed that their lands were moving to be the safer palce from the hunger forces. But what Jonah said next shocked him. “ however the main forces that we’re seeing opposition from arn’t the hunger thralls at the moment but rather regular demons who are trying to escape hunger. They don’t want to be driven mad by the Gluttons power and so come here attempting to come to our lands for safety knowing thaw we can fight off the forces of hunger. However on your orders we have been turning them back, but it seems that after several attempts they have decided to fight their way in. Jack. I have to say that this position of non growth, its not helping us...if we had something to build from. These demons could vbuild us defences fortifications, we do not need to keep their weakness out, they can help us with their numbers”. Jack stroked his chin, its just what Isrka had advised him to do and yet it had been precisely what he had avoided in the first place. Pride’s bastion was supposed to be uninhabited. A place that would be the fear and bane of all others within hell. And yet, here it was. He was forced to choose between tactical necessity and his own...well. He didn’t want to rule anyone. He wanted to be feared. Yes. Respected. Certainly. Even worshipped. But to rule was to be given the responsibilities and needs of that rule. He couldn’t just take off and do his own thing. He would have to stay within the place and actually do work that would take up his time in research and eventually bogged down by so much work he would be weak. And someone would surpass and usurp him.

That was a thought that he didn’t like. Particularly was the thought that if he allowed it he’d have no time to plot his revenge against Iskra and if he didn’t do that, she would expect that she ruled the city. Once again the ominous laugh of the man behind the door echoing in hiss mind. He had to wonder though why the man had rarely spoken since his defeat at the hands of Iskra. Jack probed that but met with no response other than the dark silence that followed the laughter. Almost like the eho of the laugh itself. It seemed to go on and on, unending. Ceaseless. Like the halls of the library itself. For now Jck just looke don at them weighing the ups and downs of certain things and trying hard not to just say ‘ Fine but don’t expect me to be keeping everyone right’.. He just looked down at the floor, then back up at them. Sighing deeply. “ Fien”> He said. Holding back the comment in his head.

“ But I have things that I need to get done, I cannot be bogged down with the needs and ushers of ruling a place...if they wish to build themselves a home in my land, I shall not stop them, but nor will I have them stop me. My research and gaining power will take up most of my time and will continue to do thusly”. Jonah seemed to get a little bit of a kick for that one, Managing to persuade Jack into doing something that he had velmontly denied to do previously. And it seemed to be a victory over all. “ Very well”. Jonah said. “ But we will have to arrange for someone to be their social leader”. Jack pressed a fist to his cheek. He didn’t really know anyone that he trusted that was particularly good at ruling over demons fairly. That’s when it struck him however.. There was someone in his court that he could use for this task. A small smirk creped up his face. And Jonah, and Ceila. Both grimaced. Knowing that nothing good ever came of that. “ Alrighty Jonah I’ve decided that for them, I’ll appoint your wife as my representative, The leader of Sloth shall be the appointed leader of these...lesser demons.....do inform her...”. Jonah as per usual barely made any kind of expression at all. “ I think she’d rather hear it from you”.

EXP:1027
PWC:1013

Jack wasn’t happy with how this situation was bringing itself out. But ultimately it seemed that there was really no other choice about the resolution of the issue. They didn’t need to start being attacked by both sides, particularly when he could turn one side to an advantage. The only problem was actually having to tolerate them on his land. And tolerate was precisely the word, the main reason he’d taken the land in the first place was mostly just to issue a statement about how strong Pride was. But now it had turned into less of a territory for Pride and more of a land where the psyche demons in general lived. Jack was for lack of a better word accidently, crafting a kingdom for a united tribe. And he was the main head of state, something that he didn’t really want to be. Those kinds of people had to deal with paper work issues, laws, and of course the enforcement of those laws. Even if he was to appoint someone to do it well it required him actually having to fgo through the process of finding someone wwho could do it properly who wouldn’t try to screw him over and honestly that in this place wasn’t that easy. Hell he would have hired a kami to do so if they weren’t so intent on killing all demons. In fact, that was an idea. He sat there staring aat Jonah, and the voice of the man behind the door floated in once again. “ Careful now” It said. “ Thats sounding awfully familiar and it didn’t turn out so well...at least...I don’t think it did . Jack inwardly questioned just what the man behind the door was talking about, it was rare that this madness demon would ever bring anything up like that. ” Whispers on the wind, shadows in the advancing dusk....as I said....I remember enough to know that I’ve forgotten”. Jack thought about that for a moment, remembered enough to know he’d forgotten. It was a mad concept in itself, but he’d heard the same words from Ceila explaining just why she searched for fragments of the past. Because they were aware that they had forgotten something, yet just didn’t know what. Jack was more a creature of the here and now, despite looking into his past with the Kami in an attempt to find the human woman Hanabi. Certain points of the past were relvent to the now. To know that something will come back to haunt you, thats when you try to fix such things.

Jack brought his hand to his chin and then looked outwards, past Ceila and Jonah. “ So then...whats the news on the outside of Pride’s bastion”. And so began the stories of just what the scouts of fear had been reporting. Apparently things wern’t lookoing to bright on the outside as far as things went. Well as if they had ever went well in the first place. Hell had always been a dangerous place yet recently it had become even more dangerous. With the emergence of the glutton and its thralls. And as it devoured more, its hunger only continued to grow and get worse. Jack knew that he would soon have to put an end to the glutton once and for all. “ Go ahead, give the order to op[en the borders”. With that Jonah took off to give the orders to the border control soldiers. Ceila however stayed behind. Jack had a few problems as far as the glutton went. Whilst he doubted he was strong enough in himself particularly with this arm problem. He also was running thin on allies. He had his own forces and of course there was going to be those who were building further defences now. But his allies topside were going down in number. In fact if anything they were building in number of enemies. Iskra for one, she had offered to help him secure his domain by helping him defeat the glutton and he did not doubt her ability to fight and kill. But he would not ask her. Not now. Not ask an enemy for help. He planned to kill her, and would not threaten his pride once again by asking her for that. No he would do it himself and with those who were in league with him. “ It was Iskra wasn’t it”. The voice of Ceila echoed out in the halls. Jack knew precisely what she meant. His arm. He nodded. “ Yes”. There was another thoughtful look on her face as she slowly approached the throne. “ I knew she was trouble first time I saw her, you and her fought too much. She’s too proud, and so are you...only difference is that you’ve got something that you shouldn’t have”. Jack raised an eyebrow. “ And just what do you suppose that is?”. She poked a finger at Jacks chest. “ You’ve got a heart Jackie boy!, you try to hide it to conceal it and you do it well. I think you even fool yourself sometimes. But its there, and its a rare thing for one of our kind, someone sometime made you feel something, and its not gone away, there’s a bit of human in you yet And thats the difference between you and her, shes all instinct. He ain’t got no heart strings to pull her down....you do”. Jack didn’t quite react adversely for. Part of him knew that this was true. And he blamed Hanabi entirely. “ Shes a creature of instinct sure she has emotions but they’re all related to that...everything stems from her base animal instincts....only difference between that and you, well....she may have no heart strings to pull her down. But nor does she have any to pull her back up”.

EXP:1047
PWC:1032

Job Roll!

The member 'Jack' has done the following action : Dices roll

'10 (aka Steal) Roll' : 4

Total EXP:3193
Total PWC:3102
Items: 4 jars of Kami blood