For those readers who are interested in reading further about the places, peoples and histories that Drake will be discussing in his posts, these supplementary posts will provide lists of reference links and books where further information can be found.
I will keep these posts brief and relatively infrequent, unless there is a demand for more.
Wikipedia is a good (but not necessarily the most accurate) source that is freely available so many links will be to articles on that site where readers who have an even deeper interest can find other sources quoted that they can access if they so choose.
The first link that I am providing is to the Wikipedia article on the city of Ur...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ur
One should note that the quoted dates of prominence for Ur are later than Drake's claimed age...he states that he is 6,000 years old (meaning he would have been born at approximately 4000 BCE), while most sources state that Ur didn't rise to any level of prominence until at least several hundred years later, sometime around 3300 BCE.
Here is a link to the period of time in that region to which Drake is claiming to have been born:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalcolithic
It is called the Chalcolithic Period, which is sort of a transition time in Asia between the Neolithic (stone age) and the Copper Age.
Finally, for this premier edition of 'Readings in Drakeology', I have two more items. The first is a good book where I have been able to find many of the things that Drake speaks about in:
Magick of the Gods and Goddesses by D.J. Conway, 2003, The Crossing Press.
In the first post by Drake, he mentions the name for his father's 'people', the An'girasii.
In my readings of DJ Conway, I came across a reference on page 384 that uses a very similar word: 'angiras' a Sanskrit word meaning 'a divine spirit' that may have been the basis for the Persian word, 'angaros' meaning 'courier' and the Greek words 'angelos' and 'daimon'. This was all used in the discussion by author Conway to explaain the origin of the word 'angel' in English and 'malakh' in Hebrew.
If Drake is indeed correct, then perhaps the Sanskrit word is derived from the An'girasii name for themselves, which according to Drake, means 'the Chosen'.
Future posts by Drake will discuss the An'girasii and their claimed origins and influence on the development of humanity much more.
So I will leave you with a couple more links to Wikipedia, the first of these is the entry for 'angiras' and the following ones are hints at where Drake's narrative will take us in his next few posts (each Sunday he will get to make another post, circumstances permitting).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angiras
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harappa
Enjoy!
Monday, October 30, 2006
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Drake's Tale--#1
(This is the first in a series of posts that will be detailing Drake’s history in his own words. Pursuant to the agreement I have entered with him, there will be no content editing over what he has to say. Each of these posts will have the same title, above, numbered sequentially.—RB)
My story is a long one. But it must be told.
Six thousand years ago, I was born the third of three sons to Dracaar (having looked back on his blog, I see my not so literate host has misspelled my father’s name in more than one way) and Madeena of the ancient city state of Ur.
My parents were not married, although this was not in any way unusual in that time and place. My mother was the daughter of one the three powerful priest-kings of the city at the time. She was a powerful priestess in her own right, although her chosen deity was Tiamat—a faith that was officially banned within the city because of the propensity of Her advocates to inspire Chaos amongst Her followers. Due to my mother’s position in that society however, she was in no danger.
My father, Dracaar, was even more complex. He was the most powerful and easily the most successful general in the army of Ur. He towered over everyone else in the city. He was easily a foot taller than even the largest of his own band of elite warriors, standing nearly seven feet tall. Even among the social elite of Ur, he exuded a sense of power and a charisma that commanded respect and deference from nearly everyone who encountered him.
But my father was even more different than he appeared, physically. As you all know, my father was not entirely human. Dracaar was a member of a small but powerful race of beings who call themselves An’girasii, a word from their original language that means ‘the Chosen.’ These beings, the An’girasii, will be discussed at much greater length in future posts. Suffice it to say that they are extremely powerful Spirit beings who have their own unique physical forms, but who are also capable of taking human forms, as they choose.
When they chose to take human form, the An’girasii are able to interbreed with humans, something they have been doing for as long as they and humans have been sharing this world, which is to say a very, very long time. The benefits the An’girasii of this interbreeding will also be discussed later, but the benefits to the immediate offspring are rather variable and unpredictable. Those that survive long enough to be born may or may not inherit some of the An’girasii magickal talents.
My two older brothers, Nehmad and Sorud, were lucky enough to inherit both our father’s impressive stature and very visible vestiges of his magickal talents. I, however, was cursed with the stature of my mother and no recognizable magickal talent to make up for my smallish nature.
Growing up, I was left to my own devices. My two brothers were Father’s favorites and spent much of their time honing their warrior skills and developing their magickal talents over the weather. Sorud had the power to summon and control wind, while Nehmad reveled in his mastery over earth. Once I was old enough to feed and change myself, Mother left me in than tender care of the household slaves. The slaves were far more interested in making sure that they avoided the beatings that came with failing to keep the household running well than they were taking care of the runt of the mistress’s litter.
Mother was more concerned with developing her own considerable magickal talents and with the strategic forming and breaking of political alliances as needed than she was with raising any of her children. She was not a paragon of maternal virtue.
So my early years were spent staying out of the way of those were more important, more loved, more powerful, and more fearful than I was. Besides wishing that I was more like my older brothers, I spent most of my time observing and learning from those who were too busy to notice or care about me.
My story is a long one. But it must be told.
Six thousand years ago, I was born the third of three sons to Dracaar (having looked back on his blog, I see my not so literate host has misspelled my father’s name in more than one way) and Madeena of the ancient city state of Ur.
My parents were not married, although this was not in any way unusual in that time and place. My mother was the daughter of one the three powerful priest-kings of the city at the time. She was a powerful priestess in her own right, although her chosen deity was Tiamat—a faith that was officially banned within the city because of the propensity of Her advocates to inspire Chaos amongst Her followers. Due to my mother’s position in that society however, she was in no danger.
My father, Dracaar, was even more complex. He was the most powerful and easily the most successful general in the army of Ur. He towered over everyone else in the city. He was easily a foot taller than even the largest of his own band of elite warriors, standing nearly seven feet tall. Even among the social elite of Ur, he exuded a sense of power and a charisma that commanded respect and deference from nearly everyone who encountered him.
But my father was even more different than he appeared, physically. As you all know, my father was not entirely human. Dracaar was a member of a small but powerful race of beings who call themselves An’girasii, a word from their original language that means ‘the Chosen.’ These beings, the An’girasii, will be discussed at much greater length in future posts. Suffice it to say that they are extremely powerful Spirit beings who have their own unique physical forms, but who are also capable of taking human forms, as they choose.
When they chose to take human form, the An’girasii are able to interbreed with humans, something they have been doing for as long as they and humans have been sharing this world, which is to say a very, very long time. The benefits the An’girasii of this interbreeding will also be discussed later, but the benefits to the immediate offspring are rather variable and unpredictable. Those that survive long enough to be born may or may not inherit some of the An’girasii magickal talents.
My two older brothers, Nehmad and Sorud, were lucky enough to inherit both our father’s impressive stature and very visible vestiges of his magickal talents. I, however, was cursed with the stature of my mother and no recognizable magickal talent to make up for my smallish nature.
Growing up, I was left to my own devices. My two brothers were Father’s favorites and spent much of their time honing their warrior skills and developing their magickal talents over the weather. Sorud had the power to summon and control wind, while Nehmad reveled in his mastery over earth. Once I was old enough to feed and change myself, Mother left me in than tender care of the household slaves. The slaves were far more interested in making sure that they avoided the beatings that came with failing to keep the household running well than they were taking care of the runt of the mistress’s litter.
Mother was more concerned with developing her own considerable magickal talents and with the strategic forming and breaking of political alliances as needed than she was with raising any of her children. She was not a paragon of maternal virtue.
So my early years were spent staying out of the way of those were more important, more loved, more powerful, and more fearful than I was. Besides wishing that I was more like my older brothers, I spent most of my time observing and learning from those who were too busy to notice or care about me.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
A Blast from the Past...Part 2
Jim leaned forward, his elbows braced on the table. “The second article discussed a new financial instrument that an obscure little company was trying to get approval for, post-mortem mortgages.”
I couldn't resist interrupting. “Post-mortem mortgages? How the heck would that work?”
“Well, the article was a little fuzzy on the details of how exactly these things would work. But essentially, this new little company, Bone Financial, was offering to pay out substantial lump sums to ‘well qualified applicants’ who agree to sell the rights to their bodies after death.”
Ravyn looked exasperated. “What kind of company would buy the rights to dead bodies?”
Jim nodded. “I was curious about that as well. In some countries, viable organs for transplant have some economic value, but in this country it is currently illegal to sell any organs from a deceased person. However, an interesting person from this Bone Financial was quoted as saying that the bodies would not be used for organ donation, and in fact, these applicants were not in any way discouraged from donating their organs, should they so choose to. The name of that person was what caught my interest. It was a guy by the name of Leto, Mr. D. B. Leto, to be precise.”
“Could that be the same…?”
Jim nodded at my question. “It gets worse. I also noticed that there was one final note about how this new company, Bone Financial, was ‘a member of the Mercury-Unlimited Group family of companies.’ Once I put all of that together, I was able to do some research on the Net. I was able to pull up a photo from the Bone Financial website of this D. B. Leto, who is listed as the President of the company. It looks an awful lot like our friend, El Diablito.”
“Son of a bitch! When did you learn all of this?”
“I was just putting all of this together between the games today. I was going to call you and let you know tomorrow, after I had a chance to do some more research on MUG and Bone Financial.”
“Do you know where this Bone Financial is headquartered? I think I may need to make a road trip.”
Jim held up his hands. “Hold your horses, Rusty. I’m still gathering the information on these two companies. Let’s not rush into anything blind. Let me put together a full dossier of all available information on these new companies, then we can get together again, in the real world this time, and then we can plan our next moves.”
The Frau sat back and stretched her arms. “I agree with Jim. Let’s not be too hasty. Let’s make sure we go into this next case with as much information as possible. I’m very curious as to how this Bone Financial can actually be planning to make money by paying out money before people die for their bodies, especially if they aren’t selling the organs. My guess is that there are a lot of hidden aspects to this scheme that we will need to puzzle out before we can really see the whole picture here. Jim, keep us informed when you have your research done. Rusty, you need to go finalize your little deal with Drake.” She looked knowingly at Cerrydwen and Ravyn. “Ladies, we have our own little project to finish, agreed?”
Both Ravyn and Cerrydwen nodded their agreement to the Frau.
I was curious. “Just what are you gals up to now?”
The Frau stood up, walked over behind me and patted me on the shoulder. “It’s women’s business, Rusty. When everything is ready, you’ll know. Until then, you’ll just have to guess.” With that, she walked to her portal, opened the door, and left.
Cerrydwen was the next to leave, simply nodding to each of us, although she did flash a brief, conspiratorial smile at Ravyn as she nodded towards her. She was at the door and out so quickly it was as if she had run.
Ravyn flashed a smile as she hugged Jim and I and bounced out to her own door.
I looked at Jim. “Any idea of what they are up to?”
He shrugged, downed another mug of Diet Pepsi, and sighed. “I have no idea. It’s probably best that way too.”
I couldn't resist interrupting. “Post-mortem mortgages? How the heck would that work?”
“Well, the article was a little fuzzy on the details of how exactly these things would work. But essentially, this new little company, Bone Financial, was offering to pay out substantial lump sums to ‘well qualified applicants’ who agree to sell the rights to their bodies after death.”
Ravyn looked exasperated. “What kind of company would buy the rights to dead bodies?”
Jim nodded. “I was curious about that as well. In some countries, viable organs for transplant have some economic value, but in this country it is currently illegal to sell any organs from a deceased person. However, an interesting person from this Bone Financial was quoted as saying that the bodies would not be used for organ donation, and in fact, these applicants were not in any way discouraged from donating their organs, should they so choose to. The name of that person was what caught my interest. It was a guy by the name of Leto, Mr. D. B. Leto, to be precise.”
“Could that be the same…?”
Jim nodded at my question. “It gets worse. I also noticed that there was one final note about how this new company, Bone Financial, was ‘a member of the Mercury-Unlimited Group family of companies.’ Once I put all of that together, I was able to do some research on the Net. I was able to pull up a photo from the Bone Financial website of this D. B. Leto, who is listed as the President of the company. It looks an awful lot like our friend, El Diablito.”
“Son of a bitch! When did you learn all of this?”
“I was just putting all of this together between the games today. I was going to call you and let you know tomorrow, after I had a chance to do some more research on MUG and Bone Financial.”
“Do you know where this Bone Financial is headquartered? I think I may need to make a road trip.”
Jim held up his hands. “Hold your horses, Rusty. I’m still gathering the information on these two companies. Let’s not rush into anything blind. Let me put together a full dossier of all available information on these new companies, then we can get together again, in the real world this time, and then we can plan our next moves.”
The Frau sat back and stretched her arms. “I agree with Jim. Let’s not be too hasty. Let’s make sure we go into this next case with as much information as possible. I’m very curious as to how this Bone Financial can actually be planning to make money by paying out money before people die for their bodies, especially if they aren’t selling the organs. My guess is that there are a lot of hidden aspects to this scheme that we will need to puzzle out before we can really see the whole picture here. Jim, keep us informed when you have your research done. Rusty, you need to go finalize your little deal with Drake.” She looked knowingly at Cerrydwen and Ravyn. “Ladies, we have our own little project to finish, agreed?”
Both Ravyn and Cerrydwen nodded their agreement to the Frau.
I was curious. “Just what are you gals up to now?”
The Frau stood up, walked over behind me and patted me on the shoulder. “It’s women’s business, Rusty. When everything is ready, you’ll know. Until then, you’ll just have to guess.” With that, she walked to her portal, opened the door, and left.
Cerrydwen was the next to leave, simply nodding to each of us, although she did flash a brief, conspiratorial smile at Ravyn as she nodded towards her. She was at the door and out so quickly it was as if she had run.
Ravyn flashed a smile as she hugged Jim and I and bounced out to her own door.
I looked at Jim. “Any idea of what they are up to?”
He shrugged, downed another mug of Diet Pepsi, and sighed. “I have no idea. It’s probably best that way too.”
Monday, October 16, 2006
A Blast from the Past...Part 1
The council ended without much further serious discussion. Naomi’s bombshell visions that had been provided by the peacefully sleeping child in her arms certainly sobered up the discussion. She consented to a meeting between Alexa and the ring that held Drake’s Spirit form, if I chose to go ahead with the rest of the deal.
As Alexa stirred in her arms, Naomi looked around the table before standing up slowly. “I need to get back before she wakes up, please excuse me.”
After a brief exchange of pleasantries and a smattering of kisses on Alexa’s forehead, Naomi took her leave.
Naomi’s name was fading above her now closed door before anyone moved or spoke again.
Jim sat forward, poured himself another mug of Diet Pepsi from the magickal pitcher before he broke the silence. “Rusty, there’s something else we need to discuss, since you’ve dragged me here.”
“What’s that Jim?”
“I came across a couple of news items of interest when I was reading through some back issues of the Wall Street Primer that had piled up on my table. The first story was actually the more recent story, one that I at first glanced through in passing, but came back to in more detail and more interest after the second story really caught my attention.”
“Oh? So what were these stories about?”
He took a long swig from his mug, draining it and setting it aside as he created to room to be more demonstrative with his hands. “Well, the second story was an anouncement by one Dick Arnold, the former CEO of VortiCorp, about a new company that he has formed with a number of silent partners.”
“Dick Arnold? I thought he had fled the country when we messed up the financials for VortiCorp?”
Jim nodded. “He did. That’s what this announcement newsworthy. It appears that VortiCorp had a number of offshore subsidiaries in the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos, and the Caymen Islands. This story was a puff publicity piece that was attempting to rehabillitate his image by blaming the financial problems of his original company on the ‘unethical and illegal activities of certain highly trusted employees’ and to trumpet his return with a newly formed holding corporation called the Mercury-Unlimited Group.” Jim sighed as he refilled and drained his mug again. “That article didn’t go into much detail about what businesses this new hoilding corporation was getting into, other than its ‘highly diversified investment portfolio,’ but the second article provided some ominous clues.”
Ravyn cocked her head and pursed her lips before speaking. “Mercury. That’s an interesting choice. There’s implied ties to business and commerce, which is probably the obvious refernce they are going for, but there could be a lot of magickal meaning hidden in that name. Mercury has a lot of associations with magick in modern occultism, especially the rulership over magick.”
The Frau chuckled, looked up from her second dissected grapefruit and spoke up. “Yes, Mercury also played a role in guiding the spirits of the dead. I don’t think this was a random choice at all, especially from what we know that VortiCorp was trying to do before.”
Cerrydwen nodded. “I agree. This name was not chosen by random. So what did the other article say?”
As Alexa stirred in her arms, Naomi looked around the table before standing up slowly. “I need to get back before she wakes up, please excuse me.”
After a brief exchange of pleasantries and a smattering of kisses on Alexa’s forehead, Naomi took her leave.
Naomi’s name was fading above her now closed door before anyone moved or spoke again.
Jim sat forward, poured himself another mug of Diet Pepsi from the magickal pitcher before he broke the silence. “Rusty, there’s something else we need to discuss, since you’ve dragged me here.”
“What’s that Jim?”
“I came across a couple of news items of interest when I was reading through some back issues of the Wall Street Primer that had piled up on my table. The first story was actually the more recent story, one that I at first glanced through in passing, but came back to in more detail and more interest after the second story really caught my attention.”
“Oh? So what were these stories about?”
He took a long swig from his mug, draining it and setting it aside as he created to room to be more demonstrative with his hands. “Well, the second story was an anouncement by one Dick Arnold, the former CEO of VortiCorp, about a new company that he has formed with a number of silent partners.”
“Dick Arnold? I thought he had fled the country when we messed up the financials for VortiCorp?”
Jim nodded. “He did. That’s what this announcement newsworthy. It appears that VortiCorp had a number of offshore subsidiaries in the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos, and the Caymen Islands. This story was a puff publicity piece that was attempting to rehabillitate his image by blaming the financial problems of his original company on the ‘unethical and illegal activities of certain highly trusted employees’ and to trumpet his return with a newly formed holding corporation called the Mercury-Unlimited Group.” Jim sighed as he refilled and drained his mug again. “That article didn’t go into much detail about what businesses this new hoilding corporation was getting into, other than its ‘highly diversified investment portfolio,’ but the second article provided some ominous clues.”
Ravyn cocked her head and pursed her lips before speaking. “Mercury. That’s an interesting choice. There’s implied ties to business and commerce, which is probably the obvious refernce they are going for, but there could be a lot of magickal meaning hidden in that name. Mercury has a lot of associations with magick in modern occultism, especially the rulership over magick.”
The Frau chuckled, looked up from her second dissected grapefruit and spoke up. “Yes, Mercury also played a role in guiding the spirits of the dead. I don’t think this was a random choice at all, especially from what we know that VortiCorp was trying to do before.”
Cerrydwen nodded. “I agree. This name was not chosen by random. So what did the other article say?”
Monday, October 09, 2006
The Shadow Council...Conclusion
Luckily, Jim had been on the ball, recognizing the changes in Naomi as she went under her trance. He had pulled out a small pad of paper and taken down the verses for us to analyze in more detail. He read them back to us.
“Wow, I said all of that? I’ve never heard any of those lines before.” She looked down at the sleeping toddler (Alexa was now nearly 15 months old) and back up at us again. “I never did finish what I was going to tell you about what I saw when I was dead.”
Ravyn nodded. “We’d certainly like to hear about what you saw.”
Naomi cleared her throat and began her story again. “As I was saying before I got so rudely interrupted, I went down the steps in that funky smelling cave at the base of Rusty’s tree and came to the reflecting pool. I bent down to look into the pool and I saw all sorts of images moving around in the pool, there were so many and they were moving so fast at first, that I couldn’t make any sense out of what I was seeing.”
Jim was leaning forward over the table, bent over his notebook, scribbling notes, but he glanced up long enough to throw out a question. “Do you remember anything of those early images?”
Naomi paused, concentrated and nodded. “Yes. I remember seeing lots of images of war. Tanks, planes, soldiers fighting other soldiers. Soldiers shooting women and children. Lots of bombs. Missiles striking cities.” She stopped, her voice catching as she realized what she was remembering and what she was saying. A tear trickled down her cheek. “I...I...I saw so many people dying. Dying from war. Dying from disease and starvation. It looked like the end of the world. One of the last of the flashing images that I saw was a bunch of nuclear bombs going off, each over a different city, just like we saw in all of those crazy movies ten or fifteen years ago.”
Jim, furiously scribbling, glanced up again as he asked another question in a calm, clinical voice. “Did the visions stop there?”
Naomi shook her, her eyes now full of tears. “No.” She sobbed before continuing. “The images stopped flashing, but a new image came up. It was the image of a beautiful face. I know it was Alexa’s, all grown up. Her eyes were so big and sad. She looked right at me and spoke to me.”
The Frau’s face was beaming as she interjected. “What did she say to you?”
Naomi looked down at the angelic face of our sleeping child and brushed a small dark curl from her forehead before looking up again. “She said, ‘Mother, what you’ve just seen is the most likely future. It is a view of a day that will dawn all too soon, unless we do everything in our power to change it.’ I was crying then, just like I’m crying now, I tried to tell her that I was dead, that I wouldn’t be able to change anything about it, but she kept speaking. ‘Mother, soon, you will wake up, and when the time is right, you will remember what I am saying to you now. Know this, that there is a chance, however small that chance might be, for that future to be averted. But for that to happen, you must not yield to the normal maternal instincts to shield me from all possible harm or dangers. As I grow up, I must see and experience everything that I can of the human condition. I must know both Good and Evil and everything in between if my Dance is to have the power to change this future towards which we hurtle even now.’”
The silence in that room could not have been deeper when she finished speaking. Each of us sat there absorbing the words of the blissfully sleeping child who had not yet spoken her own first word.
I was the first one to break that sacred silence. “Well, I guess Drake gets his deal then. You can’t get much more evil than that bastard was and still be human.”
“Wow, I said all of that? I’ve never heard any of those lines before.” She looked down at the sleeping toddler (Alexa was now nearly 15 months old) and back up at us again. “I never did finish what I was going to tell you about what I saw when I was dead.”
Ravyn nodded. “We’d certainly like to hear about what you saw.”
Naomi cleared her throat and began her story again. “As I was saying before I got so rudely interrupted, I went down the steps in that funky smelling cave at the base of Rusty’s tree and came to the reflecting pool. I bent down to look into the pool and I saw all sorts of images moving around in the pool, there were so many and they were moving so fast at first, that I couldn’t make any sense out of what I was seeing.”
Jim was leaning forward over the table, bent over his notebook, scribbling notes, but he glanced up long enough to throw out a question. “Do you remember anything of those early images?”
Naomi paused, concentrated and nodded. “Yes. I remember seeing lots of images of war. Tanks, planes, soldiers fighting other soldiers. Soldiers shooting women and children. Lots of bombs. Missiles striking cities.” She stopped, her voice catching as she realized what she was remembering and what she was saying. A tear trickled down her cheek. “I...I...I saw so many people dying. Dying from war. Dying from disease and starvation. It looked like the end of the world. One of the last of the flashing images that I saw was a bunch of nuclear bombs going off, each over a different city, just like we saw in all of those crazy movies ten or fifteen years ago.”
Jim, furiously scribbling, glanced up again as he asked another question in a calm, clinical voice. “Did the visions stop there?”
Naomi shook her, her eyes now full of tears. “No.” She sobbed before continuing. “The images stopped flashing, but a new image came up. It was the image of a beautiful face. I know it was Alexa’s, all grown up. Her eyes were so big and sad. She looked right at me and spoke to me.”
The Frau’s face was beaming as she interjected. “What did she say to you?”
Naomi looked down at the angelic face of our sleeping child and brushed a small dark curl from her forehead before looking up again. “She said, ‘Mother, what you’ve just seen is the most likely future. It is a view of a day that will dawn all too soon, unless we do everything in our power to change it.’ I was crying then, just like I’m crying now, I tried to tell her that I was dead, that I wouldn’t be able to change anything about it, but she kept speaking. ‘Mother, soon, you will wake up, and when the time is right, you will remember what I am saying to you now. Know this, that there is a chance, however small that chance might be, for that future to be averted. But for that to happen, you must not yield to the normal maternal instincts to shield me from all possible harm or dangers. As I grow up, I must see and experience everything that I can of the human condition. I must know both Good and Evil and everything in between if my Dance is to have the power to change this future towards which we hurtle even now.’”
The silence in that room could not have been deeper when she finished speaking. Each of us sat there absorbing the words of the blissfully sleeping child who had not yet spoken her own first word.
I was the first one to break that sacred silence. “Well, I guess Drake gets his deal then. You can’t get much more evil than that bastard was and still be human.”
The Shadow Council...Part 4
Naomi arrived with shortly afterwards, baby Alexa held in her arms. She looked more than a little nervous as she walked up to the table as we all watched. “Is something wrong?”
“Yes and no, dear.” The Frau was the first to reply. “Rusty was simply discussing whether or not our dearly departed friend Drake should have an opportunity to meet your precious Alexa. I reminded him, however, that there are some things where one must consult with the mother of a child prior to deciding.”
Naomi gave me a hard stare as she clutched Alexa closer to her bosom. The defiance in her eyes gave her answer without a single word being uttered.
I held up my hand. “Wait a minute. I never said I had agreed to anything yet, I was simply bringing the matter up for discussion. But, Naomi, since you are here, let me tell you the whole story.” I glanced sideways at the Frau. I saw her little sly smirk.
Naomi’s body language only softened slightly once she heard the entire proposition and was caught up on the discussion to date. Her words, however, shocked all of us.
“I think that this is an offer that we will have to take at some point.”
Everyone’s eyes opened wide, a few mouths dropped open.
She rocked the peacefully sleeping Alexa ever so gently, glanced down at her beautfiul face and then looked each of us in the eye before continuing on.
“In the time that I was...gone...I spent some time at the Tree that Rusty planted. It...spoke...to me. It told me to go down into the cave within its roots and that I should look into the reflecting pool within. When I did that, I saw so many things! The Tree told me that Alexa is more special than I could ever imagine. I saw and heard things I could not believe, that I didn’t want to believe were even possible...”
As she spoke, Naomi’s eyes glazed over, the pupils rolling up towards her forehead until only the whites of her showed. Her voice took on a huskier quality as she continued to speak.
“Amidst Despair and Discord, the Daughter of Death has come!
From Darkness she was born, Descendant of Slaves now seeming free.
Conceived from Greed and Deceit, the Daughter of Death has come!
Through her Dance and her Deeds, Empires fall and the Mighty flee.
“Stricken by Faith and Terror, the Daughter of Death has come!
To War turns the Old Guard, proclaiming loudly the false Victory.
Whilst Wind tears and Waters roar, the Daughter of Death has come!
Tho’ Fire and Shadow may strive, Hope or Peace has no guarantee.
“Riven by Doubt and Fear, the Daughter of Death has come!
Final Victory within his grasp, the Undying Hunter fails in Conceit.
As the Elder Scions gather in Malice, the Daughter of Death has come!
The Hunt begins anew, can the Unliving restore Hope to Humanity?”
Naomi sagged, her head slumping down to rest on Alexa before she came out of her trance. She sat up straight and shook her head. “I don’t know what just came over me.”
Ravyn and I looked at each other. I managed to spit out the words that she was thinking as well. “I’ve heard the first two verses before, T’tubah recited them in a very similar trance state in New Orleans, just before we rescued Alexa.” I left it unsaid that we also failed to save Naomi, who was killed by a very nasty troll-like creature just as we arrived.
Naomi looked curious as we spoke. “What verses?”
“Yes and no, dear.” The Frau was the first to reply. “Rusty was simply discussing whether or not our dearly departed friend Drake should have an opportunity to meet your precious Alexa. I reminded him, however, that there are some things where one must consult with the mother of a child prior to deciding.”
Naomi gave me a hard stare as she clutched Alexa closer to her bosom. The defiance in her eyes gave her answer without a single word being uttered.
I held up my hand. “Wait a minute. I never said I had agreed to anything yet, I was simply bringing the matter up for discussion. But, Naomi, since you are here, let me tell you the whole story.” I glanced sideways at the Frau. I saw her little sly smirk.
Naomi’s body language only softened slightly once she heard the entire proposition and was caught up on the discussion to date. Her words, however, shocked all of us.
“I think that this is an offer that we will have to take at some point.”
Everyone’s eyes opened wide, a few mouths dropped open.
She rocked the peacefully sleeping Alexa ever so gently, glanced down at her beautfiul face and then looked each of us in the eye before continuing on.
“In the time that I was...gone...I spent some time at the Tree that Rusty planted. It...spoke...to me. It told me to go down into the cave within its roots and that I should look into the reflecting pool within. When I did that, I saw so many things! The Tree told me that Alexa is more special than I could ever imagine. I saw and heard things I could not believe, that I didn’t want to believe were even possible...”
As she spoke, Naomi’s eyes glazed over, the pupils rolling up towards her forehead until only the whites of her showed. Her voice took on a huskier quality as she continued to speak.
“Amidst Despair and Discord, the Daughter of Death has come!
From Darkness she was born, Descendant of Slaves now seeming free.
Conceived from Greed and Deceit, the Daughter of Death has come!
Through her Dance and her Deeds, Empires fall and the Mighty flee.
“Stricken by Faith and Terror, the Daughter of Death has come!
To War turns the Old Guard, proclaiming loudly the false Victory.
Whilst Wind tears and Waters roar, the Daughter of Death has come!
Tho’ Fire and Shadow may strive, Hope or Peace has no guarantee.
“Riven by Doubt and Fear, the Daughter of Death has come!
Final Victory within his grasp, the Undying Hunter fails in Conceit.
As the Elder Scions gather in Malice, the Daughter of Death has come!
The Hunt begins anew, can the Unliving restore Hope to Humanity?”
Naomi sagged, her head slumping down to rest on Alexa before she came out of her trance. She sat up straight and shook her head. “I don’t know what just came over me.”
Ravyn and I looked at each other. I managed to spit out the words that she was thinking as well. “I’ve heard the first two verses before, T’tubah recited them in a very similar trance state in New Orleans, just before we rescued Alexa.” I left it unsaid that we also failed to save Naomi, who was killed by a very nasty troll-like creature just as we arrived.
Naomi looked curious as we spoke. “What verses?”
Sunday, October 01, 2006
The Shadow Council...Part 3
Without further delay, I laid out the deal that Drake was offering.
Even as I was finishing, Ravyn and Cerrydwen were protesting. “Oh no!” “You can’t let him get near Alexa!”
Both the Frau and Jim had remained silent, the Frau looking unperturbed as she used a dagger-like knife to cut open a giant grapefruit from the ever-full fruit bowl, while Jim sat back stroking his chin in a contemplative manner.
I held up my hands in mock surrender to the previously sparring sisters-in-magick, as I sat back in my chair. “Hey, I didn’t agree to the deal yet! In fact, it’s been almost a week since he proprosed it.”
Ravyn look exasperated. “A whole week! Why didn’t you just reject his deal and be done with him?”
Cerrydwen nodded in agreement to Ravyn’s words. “Indeed, I doubt that Drake would have the discipline to maintain his silence if you rejected his ‘deal.’ You would have seen this by now if you had rejected the proprosal outright.”
I nodded. “My first reaction was to refuse the deal, I even told him that seeing Alexa was the dealbreaker, but he insisted.” I looked over to Ravyn. “I thought better of giving a definitive answer of ‘no’, just in case he wasn’t bluffing. I didn’t want to cut off an avenue to information we might need, just in case.”
Jim dropped his hand from his chin and sat up straight. “Let’s look at each element of this deal and see how feasible it all is. First, he wants you to open up your blog, which has previously been your own personal domain to tell his story to us, and to the world. Are you willing to conside that request?”
I looked from person to person around the table before responding. “I don’t have any real problem with part of the deal, I suppose.”
Jim took the pitcher form the center of the table and poured more Diet Pepsi into his cup, marvelling at the magick of the pitcher, able to pour any liquid the holder desired. “Is there any way to take this thing back home? It would save me a mint!” He put the pitcher down and looked up at me. “Have you considered how ponderous this request might be? This guy has been supposedly been around for five thousand years, and appears to have been involved in many historical periods. That part of the deal alone could take years to complete, and you could very lose the readers of your blog. That is, unless they are particularly interested in Drake’s history, told from his side.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
He nodded. “You need to. If this is something you are going to consider, I recommend that you negotiate on that one a bit, make sure you limit the posts on his life to perhaps once a week.”
“Good idea.”
After he drained his cup, Jim sat back. “Now, item two. He wants you to agree to take up this struggle against Drakaar and his fellow demi-godlike beings since he can’t continue that struggle himself. While on the face of it, this seems like a foregone conclusion, it is still a serious issue. You don’t know how many of these other beings are out there, or what their individual motivations may be. Even if Drake tells you his perspective on these beings, we will need to independently verify his story and come to our own conclusions about whether they are truly the threat to humanity that Drake is stating that they are. He does have a rather spotty record with the truth, as I recall.”
I couldn’t argue that point. “Yes. He finds ways to twist the truth worse than any president ever did. I also had a concern about these other beings, besides Drakaar. I felt what he was like, so I’m pretty confident we’re going to face off against him. But the rest of his brethren? That I don’t know just yet.”
“So, I would recommend that you try to negotiate further on this part of the deal as well. Either limit your agreement to tracking down and facing off against Drakaar and any allies that help him, or ask for names that we can do further independent research on before agreeing fully to this item. That leaves us with the final condition of the deal. The meeting with Alexa.”
The Frau looked up from her half eaten grapefruit at the mention of Alexa’s name. “Well, I don’t think we have all of the interested parties here to discuss this last point.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
She looked from Jim to me and then over at Cerrydwen and Ravyn. “Clearly, the only person who really answer this point is Alexa’s mother, Naomi.”
Even as I was finishing, Ravyn and Cerrydwen were protesting. “Oh no!” “You can’t let him get near Alexa!”
Both the Frau and Jim had remained silent, the Frau looking unperturbed as she used a dagger-like knife to cut open a giant grapefruit from the ever-full fruit bowl, while Jim sat back stroking his chin in a contemplative manner.
I held up my hands in mock surrender to the previously sparring sisters-in-magick, as I sat back in my chair. “Hey, I didn’t agree to the deal yet! In fact, it’s been almost a week since he proprosed it.”
Ravyn look exasperated. “A whole week! Why didn’t you just reject his deal and be done with him?”
Cerrydwen nodded in agreement to Ravyn’s words. “Indeed, I doubt that Drake would have the discipline to maintain his silence if you rejected his ‘deal.’ You would have seen this by now if you had rejected the proprosal outright.”
I nodded. “My first reaction was to refuse the deal, I even told him that seeing Alexa was the dealbreaker, but he insisted.” I looked over to Ravyn. “I thought better of giving a definitive answer of ‘no’, just in case he wasn’t bluffing. I didn’t want to cut off an avenue to information we might need, just in case.”
Jim dropped his hand from his chin and sat up straight. “Let’s look at each element of this deal and see how feasible it all is. First, he wants you to open up your blog, which has previously been your own personal domain to tell his story to us, and to the world. Are you willing to conside that request?”
I looked from person to person around the table before responding. “I don’t have any real problem with part of the deal, I suppose.”
Jim took the pitcher form the center of the table and poured more Diet Pepsi into his cup, marvelling at the magick of the pitcher, able to pour any liquid the holder desired. “Is there any way to take this thing back home? It would save me a mint!” He put the pitcher down and looked up at me. “Have you considered how ponderous this request might be? This guy has been supposedly been around for five thousand years, and appears to have been involved in many historical periods. That part of the deal alone could take years to complete, and you could very lose the readers of your blog. That is, unless they are particularly interested in Drake’s history, told from his side.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
He nodded. “You need to. If this is something you are going to consider, I recommend that you negotiate on that one a bit, make sure you limit the posts on his life to perhaps once a week.”
“Good idea.”
After he drained his cup, Jim sat back. “Now, item two. He wants you to agree to take up this struggle against Drakaar and his fellow demi-godlike beings since he can’t continue that struggle himself. While on the face of it, this seems like a foregone conclusion, it is still a serious issue. You don’t know how many of these other beings are out there, or what their individual motivations may be. Even if Drake tells you his perspective on these beings, we will need to independently verify his story and come to our own conclusions about whether they are truly the threat to humanity that Drake is stating that they are. He does have a rather spotty record with the truth, as I recall.”
I couldn’t argue that point. “Yes. He finds ways to twist the truth worse than any president ever did. I also had a concern about these other beings, besides Drakaar. I felt what he was like, so I’m pretty confident we’re going to face off against him. But the rest of his brethren? That I don’t know just yet.”
“So, I would recommend that you try to negotiate further on this part of the deal as well. Either limit your agreement to tracking down and facing off against Drakaar and any allies that help him, or ask for names that we can do further independent research on before agreeing fully to this item. That leaves us with the final condition of the deal. The meeting with Alexa.”
The Frau looked up from her half eaten grapefruit at the mention of Alexa’s name. “Well, I don’t think we have all of the interested parties here to discuss this last point.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
She looked from Jim to me and then over at Cerrydwen and Ravyn. “Clearly, the only person who really answer this point is Alexa’s mother, Naomi.”
The Shadow Council...Part 2
As I called forth each person, runes above their specific door lit up with magickal fire, spelling out their names.
Ravyn’s door was the first to open. She bounced in through her door, her eyes showing concern at the sudden summons. Her gaze quickly settled on me as she approached the table. “What’s wrong?”
I motioned for her to take a seat. “I have received a rather disturbing proposition, but I want to wait until the others get here before I lay it all out.”
She nodded, moved her chair back a bit and plopped down into it. Each of her quick, deliberate movements left a brief afterimage of fire, like the sparklers I had bought for my kids many years ago.
The Frau’s door was the next to be nosed open as she padded into the room and transformed into her familiar, fully clothed form. She pushed the door shut with her left hand and walked easily over to the table. Apparently, she didn’t retain her limp in the Shadowland. When she reached the table, she gave Ravyn a strong hug before settling into her seat, to the left of Ravyn.
Cerrydwen’s door had opened very quietly as the Frau was settling into her seat. She was halfway across the room before any of us had noticed her. She nodded acknowledgement to each of us as she stood behind her chair, hands gripping the seat back firmly.
The Frau glanced over at Jim’s still unopened door. “Oh dear, I hope the poor man remembers how to get here.”
Ravyn, reaching into the basket of fruit to pull out a particularly large pear looked over at the door herself. “He’ll be fine, Frau. We spent two days last month practicing, I know he can make it work.”
Cerrydwen arched her eyebrow and gave a sly smile towards Ravyn. “Two days, huh? What were you two doing all of that time?”
“Cerry! I don’t know what you are insinuating! He needed the practice! He’s never done this sort of thing before!” She blushed as she spoke.
Cerrydwen laughed. “Yeah, it’s no wonder you’ve had an easier time getting your co-op budget increased! Buttering up the money man!”
For the briefest of moments, Ravyn’s mouth dropped open in shock before she recovered and chucked her half-eaten pear at Cerrydwen’s head.
The pear traced an arc through the air as it missed the ducking Cerrydwen by mere inches.
Ravyn sputtered. “Why I’ve never...”
“Sure you haven’t, sis!”
The Frau clucked her tongue. “Girls! Settle down!” She patted Ravyn’s hand. “Don’t worry, Dear, I believe you.”
Ravyn leaned forward to grab an orange this time. “Well, I’m glad someone around here does.!”
Cerrydwen chuckled as she sat down this time. “I’m just hoping he was listening to you more than he was watching you during this instruction! He sure is taking a while!”
“Should I Call him again?”
The Frau shook her head. “No, Rusty. Once is enough. Your Call was very strong as it is. Another one might do more harm than good. He may well have been in the middle of something when you issued the Call.”
“That’s true. Well, I do want to wait until he gets here before I discuss what made me decide to do this right now. So, let’s talk about something else until he shows up. Has anyone heard or seen anything involving Drakaar?”
Before anyone else could answer, Jim’s door burst open as he rushed into the room. He quickly turned his large frame around and slammed the door shut, leaning against the thing for good measure. Sweat streamed down his face from underneath his Toledo Mudhens baseball cap.
He looked at all of us gathered around the table, concern etched across his face. “So what’s the emergency?”
Everyone turned to face me. “Well, I don’t know that it is an emergency, per se, but...”
Jim was now striding towards the table. “You mean you called me during the bottom of the ninth inning of the second game of a double header against the Yankees, and it’s not an emergency?”
That picqued my interest. “Did the Tigers win?”
He nooded as he pulled the chair out and sat down. “Yeah, Craig Munroe hit a three run homer in the top half of the inning and Jones closed it out. That’s what took me so long, I wasn’t going to come here until I knew the outcome. The pennant race is getting too close now!”
An orange peel hit me in the face. “Men and sports!” Ravyn exclaimed. “Let’s talk about the important stuff here. Now why did you call us here, Rusty?”
(To be continued later tonight)
Ravyn’s door was the first to open. She bounced in through her door, her eyes showing concern at the sudden summons. Her gaze quickly settled on me as she approached the table. “What’s wrong?”
I motioned for her to take a seat. “I have received a rather disturbing proposition, but I want to wait until the others get here before I lay it all out.”
She nodded, moved her chair back a bit and plopped down into it. Each of her quick, deliberate movements left a brief afterimage of fire, like the sparklers I had bought for my kids many years ago.
The Frau’s door was the next to be nosed open as she padded into the room and transformed into her familiar, fully clothed form. She pushed the door shut with her left hand and walked easily over to the table. Apparently, she didn’t retain her limp in the Shadowland. When she reached the table, she gave Ravyn a strong hug before settling into her seat, to the left of Ravyn.
Cerrydwen’s door had opened very quietly as the Frau was settling into her seat. She was halfway across the room before any of us had noticed her. She nodded acknowledgement to each of us as she stood behind her chair, hands gripping the seat back firmly.
The Frau glanced over at Jim’s still unopened door. “Oh dear, I hope the poor man remembers how to get here.”
Ravyn, reaching into the basket of fruit to pull out a particularly large pear looked over at the door herself. “He’ll be fine, Frau. We spent two days last month practicing, I know he can make it work.”
Cerrydwen arched her eyebrow and gave a sly smile towards Ravyn. “Two days, huh? What were you two doing all of that time?”
“Cerry! I don’t know what you are insinuating! He needed the practice! He’s never done this sort of thing before!” She blushed as she spoke.
Cerrydwen laughed. “Yeah, it’s no wonder you’ve had an easier time getting your co-op budget increased! Buttering up the money man!”
For the briefest of moments, Ravyn’s mouth dropped open in shock before she recovered and chucked her half-eaten pear at Cerrydwen’s head.
The pear traced an arc through the air as it missed the ducking Cerrydwen by mere inches.
Ravyn sputtered. “Why I’ve never...”
“Sure you haven’t, sis!”
The Frau clucked her tongue. “Girls! Settle down!” She patted Ravyn’s hand. “Don’t worry, Dear, I believe you.”
Ravyn leaned forward to grab an orange this time. “Well, I’m glad someone around here does.!”
Cerrydwen chuckled as she sat down this time. “I’m just hoping he was listening to you more than he was watching you during this instruction! He sure is taking a while!”
“Should I Call him again?”
The Frau shook her head. “No, Rusty. Once is enough. Your Call was very strong as it is. Another one might do more harm than good. He may well have been in the middle of something when you issued the Call.”
“That’s true. Well, I do want to wait until he gets here before I discuss what made me decide to do this right now. So, let’s talk about something else until he shows up. Has anyone heard or seen anything involving Drakaar?”
Before anyone else could answer, Jim’s door burst open as he rushed into the room. He quickly turned his large frame around and slammed the door shut, leaning against the thing for good measure. Sweat streamed down his face from underneath his Toledo Mudhens baseball cap.
He looked at all of us gathered around the table, concern etched across his face. “So what’s the emergency?”
Everyone turned to face me. “Well, I don’t know that it is an emergency, per se, but...”
Jim was now striding towards the table. “You mean you called me during the bottom of the ninth inning of the second game of a double header against the Yankees, and it’s not an emergency?”
That picqued my interest. “Did the Tigers win?”
He nooded as he pulled the chair out and sat down. “Yeah, Craig Munroe hit a three run homer in the top half of the inning and Jones closed it out. That’s what took me so long, I wasn’t going to come here until I knew the outcome. The pennant race is getting too close now!”
An orange peel hit me in the face. “Men and sports!” Ravyn exclaimed. “Let’s talk about the important stuff here. Now why did you call us here, Rusty?”
(To be continued later tonight)
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