TyrantTriumphant
Well-known member
A few moments after Jack tore the crossbow bolt out of Leliana's heart, she opened her eyes and picked herself off the ground.
"By the Maker what just . . ." she started to say before she froze in place her eyes widening.
"Easy there, you've been through a lot." Jack said. "But before we do anything else, here." Jack pulled a live rat that he caught earlier out of a satchel on the ground. The rat bit at his hand as he picked it up, but it did nothing to his supernaturally tough skin.
"Feed." Jack ordered as he held the rat to Leliana.
"But how . . . what . . ." Leliana spluttered before Jack cut her off.
"Just do what comes naturally." He said. "Trust me this will make things easier."
Leliana hesitated a moment before instinct kicked in and she plunged her fangs into the screeching rodent. It took a few moments for her to drain the creature dry before threw its corpse out of the camp in disgust.
"I can't believe I just did that." Leliana muttered.
"I admit that rat isn't the most appetizing meal, but I didn't want to feed off of your first human until you've learned to control yourself. The only people nearby are villagers from Redcliffe and there was a risk you'd drain one of them dry."
Leliana sunk to her knees and put her head in her hands. "By the Maker, I'm one of you now. That means that I drink human blood."
"Yes." Jack stated. "But try not to think too much about it. All Cainites have a presence of rage and hunger inside of us that we call the beast, and if we let ourselves fall into depression or monstrosity then we become animals.
"This may sound cliché, but I understand what you're going through. I was forced into this just like you were, just like almost every Cainite is. None of us get a choice about becoming a monster but we all have to learn to live with it anyway.
"I guess it's time to teach you how to be a Gangrel. I don't have a lot of experience with this so bear with me.
"Also, if Prince Roy is back then I should probably rename my dog, so I don't get them mixed up. I'm thinking Roy Jr. What do you think?"
Leliana's only reply was to groan into her hands.
___________________________________________________
It had been a few days since the party had set out from Redcliffe and so far nothing serious had gone wrong. Leliana was still in shock and Alistair was still giving both Cainites strange looks but that was to be expected.
So far Leliana and Jack had managed to keep themselves fed off of local wildlife during their travels, but that wouldn't last if they had to stay in one place for too long. Hunting also took a fair amount of the day, which might have been a problem had either he or Leliana needed to sleep.
Which was another problem entirely. Back on Earth Cainites fell were forced to rest when the sun rose but without Earth's sun to force him into slumber Jack had been almost constantly awake since arriving in Thedas.
Within the last few days Jack had begun to feel something that he hadn't felt since he was a mortal, fatigue. This was different from the irrefusable need to rest that came with the rising of the Earth's sun. Instead, this was the gradual tiredness that crept up on mortals after a long day's work.
Jack had never heard of a Cainite staying awake past the rising of the sun (except the Antediluvians who didn't count) and therefore had no ideas what long periods of uninterrupted consciousness could do to a Cainite.
If the Gangrel had to take a guess, nothing good.
On reflection it might be good to take a few days for some R&R once the mages were recruited. Until then Jack would be busy instructing Leliana on her new abilities and how to behave as a Cainite.
Ferelden was in a bad enough state already without a wight running around.
On this particular day, the rest of the party had just woken up and were making breakfast, and so Jack had decided to begin teaching Leliana the basics of how to use disciplines.
The results so far were mixed.
"Remember that speaking to an animal is not like speaking to a human." Jack lectured as Leliana knelt on the ground locking eyes with Roy Jr.
"An animal operates on instinct, regardless of how intelligent it is. The use of Feral Whispers is not speaking to an animal. It's a communication on a more basic level."
To emphasize his point Jack picked up a stick off the ground and pointed it at the dog. "As with all disciplines, Animalism uses the Beast within us to effect change upon the physical world. In this case my dog."
The Gangrel threw the stick into the distance. "Now I want you to tell him to fetch the stick. Try and think about the idea of him doing it without thinking of any words. Then look into his eyes and let the beast transfer the idea between you and him."
Leliana looked deep into Jr.'s eyes, who just made a slight growl in response. With a look of intense concentration on her face Leliana kept her eyes locked with the dog's, with neither moving until eventually Jr. rolled out his tongue, gave a loud bark, and charged at Leliana.
She tried to scramble back but was instead knocked over by the enormous dog who immediately began to lick her face.
Jack looked on awkwardly as his dog covered his childe with its slobber as the former sister desperately tried to get Jr. off of her without actually hurting him.
"Huh," Jack mumbled to himself, "perhaps we should move on to Fortitude for a while."
"Hey Jack," Jack heard Alistair's voice call out behind him. "I think you need to see this."
"What is it now Alistair?" Jack said as he turned around. "I don't have time to deal with your . . . oh no."
At this point the Gangrel saw what Alistair was worried about and was at a loss for words himself. On the horizon, reaching up as far as the eye could see, was a swirling pillar shaped mass of darkness. It was obviously not natural and the inky blackness of it reminded him suspiciously of the powers used by clan Lasombra known as Obtenebration.
As for how far up it went, Jack figured that it reached all the way out of the atmosphere.
Surely no Lasombra could create such a thing. Their clan had trouble using their shadow powers in the presence of artificial light much less sunlight. What kind of a monster could do this during the day?
"By Caine. I . . . what the hell is this?" he muttered as he stared at the pillar of darkness.
The rest of the group didn't seem to be doing any better. Even Sten seemed to be in shock.
But Morrigan's reaction was especially interesting. While the whole party was staring at the pillar with shock and fear, Jack didn't think that Morrigan's expression looked like the fear you see when confronted with the unknown.
She looked more like someone who just had their worst fears confirmed.
How interesting.
"I have to admit, you don't see that every day." Jack said in a more flippant tone than he actually felt. "But does anyone have any idea what it is?"
Most of the party simply stood in silence in response but Morrigan continued to stare at the pillar.
"I have only heard of events like this in the stories that my mother told me when I was a child. Stories of when Arlathan was still young, and the ancient elves waged war against the Antediluvians. She told of how the Lasombra Antediluvians used vast clouds of shadow to devour entire cities. I know of nothing else that could do this."
Jack stared at her for a few moments before he started to chuckle. "What a ridiculous idea. I'd thought from what your mother had said that your family might know something about my kind but now it's clear that you're just as ignorant as Alistair here. Whatever that thing is it certainly isn't the work of a Cainite, and definitely not the work of the Lasombra Antediluvian."
"What else am I supposed to believe?" Morrigan sneered back. "Since before the birth of the Tevinter Imperium Cainites have been nothing but a myth, lost to history and known of only to a few people like my mother. And then one day you show up and all of the sudden Orlais is overrun by Lasombra.
"In all my life I have never seen my mother frightened of anything, I was not even sure if it was possible. But after she first met you, she told me that the legends were clear that a Cainite could only cross the boundary from their world to this one through the power of an Antediluvian. And that terrified her."
Jack shrugged. "I have no way to judge whether any of what you claim is true, but regardless of that the Lasombra Antediluvian is not here. After all, he was killed over five hundred years ago.
"But what I find really interesting is how you seem to know so much about my kind all of the sudden. When we first met you mistook me for an abomination. And now you seem to think you're some kind of expert.
"The only one who actually seemed to know anything about Cainites here was your mother. I think you've been talking to her. Recently. I haven't bothered to keep an eye on you every moment of the day and it certainly wouldn't be hard for you to meet discreetly when you can both turn into birds."
Morrigan looked at bit nervous at that. "I did learn about Cainites from my mother before meeting you. But from what she told me you were a species that had long since passed into history. I did not make the connection when we first met."
"But you still do seem to know a bit more this subject then you would get from bedtime stories." Jack said. "And from what you and Flemeth have said then before I showed up, she considered Cainite lore to be nothing but historical trivia. Interesting, but not really relevant enough include in her child's education except for the basics."
Morrigan pursed her lips and looked rather sour. "You are not as stupid as you appear. I have indeed met with my mother a few times since we began this journey. She wanted to keep an eye on our progress. She also thought it would be prudent to teach me about vampires if I was going to traveling with one."
"You seem to be fairly calm to learn that Flemeth has been spying on us." Alistair said to Jack while glaring at Morrigan.
Jack shrugged. "I would have done the same in her place. If some mythical monster showed up on my doorstep back in New York I certainly wouldn't have let it go running around without supervision. I'd have been more surprised if she hadn't been spying on us."
"I am glad you see it that way." Morrigan said insincerely. "Though as long as you are aware of my mother's observation, you should know that she is quite interested in the recent history of your species. She asked me to find out about it from you if I could. I would be open to an exchange of information if you are interested."
"Be specific." Jack said. "What exactly does Flemeth want to know? And what exactly would I get in return?"
"She wishes to know the current status of the Antediluvians and of how you arrived in Thedas. In return I would tell you of the history of the Antediluvians in Thedas and what the Sabbat are doing in Orlais."
Jack had to admit it was an interesting offer. On one hand it was pretty much taboo to tell humans anything about Cainite history or culture. The things he'd already revealed were bad enough but talking about the Antediluvians to a human seemed almost sacrilegious.
On the other hand, Jack really did need to know what the Sabbat were up to, and he was very interested in Antediluvian history. Also, the Camarilla wasn't present to punish him for revealing Cainites secrets. Of course, he was still unwilling to reveal Gangrel secrets, but some other information wasn't out of the question.
"I admit, I'm interested." Jack said. "But first tell me about the Sabbat. Depending on what you tell me I might agree to the rest of this deal. You could refuse, but the only other source of what you want to know is the Sabbat, and if your mother could have gotten it out of them, she already would have done so."
Morrigan scowled in response. "Very well." She bit out. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything you know. But we can get to most of that later. For now, I'll settle for the Sabbat's war effort against Orlais is going and how they're governing their territory."
"Fine." Morrigan said. "But be aware that my mother's information is limited. She is powerful but not omniscient. And even then, she has not had the time to tell me everything.
"The Sabbat is so far stalemated in their conflict with Orlais. For the moment they seem more focused on insurgency than outright warfare, but they do govern a number of small settlements in the Dales. They mostly use human troops for combat and limit the embrace for commanders or elite forces."
"These villages they rule," Jack asked, "How do they govern them? And how do they get the blood for their Cainites?"
"They mostly leave the peasantry to govern themselves, though they have killed almost every noble and priest they could get their hands on. So far, they have careful to take only what blood and resources they can from the population without causing undue harm, at least for the moment."
That was certainly unusual. The Sabbat usually just took whatever they wanted and worried about consequences later. And they almost never used humans to fight their wars. They didn't even like using ghouls. A lot of their ideology was based on the idea of Cainite supremacy, the idea that Cainites were so far above humans that they didn't need to worry about their opinions.
Whatever person was leading these Orlesian Sabbat must be a very strange individual.
"Interesting." Jack muttered to himself. "Next question. Are the Sabbat spreading their ideology and theology to local humans under their rule or are they reserving that for their Cainite recruits?"
"They are spreading their ideas to the populace, though in a very limited form. Mother suspects this more due to lack of ability than lack of interest. There is only one of them who is actually from the Sabbat homeland, and he has to spend most of his time on warfare rather than instruction."
Now that was very interesting. If it was true that whatever Sabbat was running around in Orlais intended to teach the local humans about Sabbat ideas, it meant that most Cainite secrets would get out regardless of what Jack told Morrigan. Jack may as well get some benefit out of his people's secrets being revealed as long as it was going to happen anyway.
"Last question." Jack said. "Do you think the Sabbat can win?"
"No." Morrigan said. "By which I mean that they are unlikely to conquer all of Orlais unless something drastic changes." At this she took a moment to glare at the pillar of shadow, which seemed to have grown slightly larger since it had first appeared.
"My mother believes that while the Sabbat will be unable to hold their captured territory against the might of the full Orlesian army, the Orlesians will be unable to fully destroy the Sabbat. She expects their insurgency to last for several decades. The ultimate outcome is impossible to guess."
"Alright, I agree to your proposal." Jack said. "You said you want to know what the Antediluvians are up to?"
"That is correct."
"Then you are in luck. The Camarilla tries to discourage learning about the Antediluvians and of ancient history in general. Fortunately for you my sire is a former member of the Sabbat and she thought that I should be educated in such matters."
"Wait," Alistair interjected, "you said that the Sabbat are a bunch of murderous psychopaths. How could your sire have been one of them?"
"Keep in mind that the Sabbat is a big organization with a lot of different factions, most of whom don't have much in common other than a hatred of the Antediluvians and the Camarilla." Jack answered.
"My sire, Caitlyn Murray, was a member of a group called the Harmonists. They believed that while Cainites are the superior race, it was beneath the Sabbat to treat humans with deliberate cruelty. Eventually the rest of the Sabbat eventually got tired of getting preached at and had them purged. The few survivors, such as my sire, fled to the Camarilla."
Jack snapped his fingers. "I almost forgot. Alistair, I want you to take Sten and patrol the area for any bandits or darkspawn."
"Wait, "Alistair said, "what about-"
"I only promised to tell Morrigan about the Antediluvians Alistair." Jack interrupted. "I never said anything about you or Sten. Now get going and don't come back for about an hour."
Alistair grumbled but still complied while Sten, as usual, said nothing. As they left Jack could hear Alistair complaining to himself that he thought that he was supposed to be the one in charge.
"Now," Morrigan said, "fulfill you end of the deal."
"Sure." Jack replied. "Saulot, the Eldest, Lasombra, and Cappadocius have been diablerised. Zapathasura was destroyed by other means fairly recently. Nothing has been heard of any of the others in almost two thousand years. I don't know much more."
"That's all you know?" Morrigan hissed. "What of Ennoia?"
"That's not something my clan really talks about much with outsiders. But I suppose . . . the Clan elders think she's still alive in some form but not active. That's all I can say."
"Fine then." She said. "How did you arrive in our world?"
"I don't know." Jack answered. "I remember being in New York City and then being here. I have sort of a vague recollection of things happening in between, but it is rather foggy."
"While that is not what I had hoped for, but if that is all you know than nothing else can be done. Shall I carry out my end of the bargain?"
Jack nodded.
"But be aware that this information is from so long ago that few records survive. Even my mother is not old enough to have lived through these events. My knowledge may not be entirely accurate."
"So how long ago did the Antediluvians show up here?" Jack asked.
"From what my mother said, about seven to ten thousand years ago. Anything more detailed than that would be impossible.
"In those days the Evanuris, the elven gods, ruled over the Empire of Elvhenan of which Arlathan was the capital. At the time the Empire had not yet reached its height, but it was still powerful. The elves were the only intelligent race in Thedas with no humans or dwarves to be found. At least until the Antediluvians arrived.
"Even the Evanuris did not know by what means they crossed the boundaries between your world and theirs. It must have been rather shocking for beings that considered themselves to be gods to be left clueless.
"The first Antediluvian to arrive was Saulot. He arrived in Arlathan with no warning and broke into a library belonging to Mythal. He devoured most of the staff, stole some of its most important texts, and left without a trace.
"This was not the last time Saulot came to Thedas, and he was soon followed by several of his brethren. For several centuries Saulot, Cappadocius, Lasombra, Ennoia and the Eldest intermittently travelled to Thedas, rarely at the same time and usually not for longer than a month. They seemed mostly interested in raiding the Evanuris's libraries and research facilities. With the exception of Ennoia who simply attacked elvish cities and the Evanuris themselves."
"Wait a second." Jack interrupted. "If these Evanuris were supposed to be gods, why would they need to do research? Wouldn't they already know everything? Not that I believe they actually were gods."
"Perhaps your understanding of godhood is limited." Morrigan replied. "Or more likely the Evanuris were never gods at all. I have never believed in such things myself.
"But returning to my point, while it probably didn't seem like much of a war from the perspective of the Antediluvians, the same cannot be said for the ancient elves. From what little evidence remains, it seems the Antediluvians were utterly unconcerned with collateral damage and tended to devour the population of any settlement they wandered into.
"They sometimes brought groups of their childer and human slaves with them on their excursions. When the Antediluvians left, they did not always bother to bring their human cattle back with them and the Evanuris did not see these abandoned humans as a threat and left them alone. These scattered groups were first humans in Thedas, the ancestors of the human tribes and kingdoms that later formed and eventually destroyed Arlathan.
"As time went on the Antediluvians visited less and less, and eventually they stopped coming at all. That was the last anyone in Thedas had seen of your kind until you appeared."
"This is all that I know. If you want to learn more, you shall have to find it from my mother or some other source."
"I have to admit, that's an interesting story." Jack said. "There are some noddist scholars who would walk over hot coals to hear this. But your story has a few holes in it."
Morrigan raised an eyebrow in response. Jack took that as an invitation to continue.
"Flemeth obviously knows something about Cainites, after all, she did recognize me and knows about the Antediluvians. But I'm skeptical that she learned all this from some ancient records or some other secondhand source.
"When she saw me for the first time, she was absolutely livid. I could see hate, disgust, and even a bit of fear in her eyes. You don't get that kind of visceral reaction without some kind of personal connection."
Morrigan kept a straight face, but Jack thought she looked a little unsure. "You do not need to have seen a volcano in person to know that a mountain that produces smoke is a worrying sign. Intellectual knowledge of something is more than enough to create fear."
"That is true to a certain extent," Jack answered, "but not the degree that I saw."
"My mother has ample reason to be worried. As far as we know the only way to enter Thedas from your world is through the Antediluvians. You simply appeared, with no knowledge of how you arrived or even of how you speak our language just at the right place and time for you to manipulate events. And as far as my mother can tell, the same goes for the leader of the Sabbat in Orlais."
"I admit that this is pretty suspicious." Jack said. "In fact, it is fairly obvious that someone or something sent me and that Sabbat guy here on purpose. But there's no way that one of the Antediluvians is responsible. It could be a Methuselah. There were several of those active in New York when I was last there."
"What is a Methuselah?" Morrigan asked.
"Right, I suppose if your latest information dates back as far as you say you wouldn't know that." Jack said. "Depending on context, a Methuselah can either be in the fourth of fifth generations, or over a thousand years old.
Granted, a Methuselah being behind my appearance here would still be horrible for me and everyone else, it just wouldn't be apocalypse level bad."
"Does this truly have to be the work of one of these Methuselah?" Morrigan asked. "Are you so sure the Antediluvians I mentioned are truly dead? You mentioned that four of them had suffered diablerie. So did your late Prince Roy, but he is still with us. Could not the Antediluvians too live on through these fools who have devoured them?"
"That's a fair point." The Gangrel responded. "But if the Antediluvians had possessed those guys I think everybody would know about it by now. The unstoppable rampaging monsters would be hard to miss.
"Hell, as far as I know the guys who ate the Eldest and Lasombra, Lugoj Blood-Breaker and Gratiano de Veronese, haven't done anything but sit on their butts for the last five hundred years. There's no way they wouldn't have used that kind of power by now if they had it."
"That could be true. But do you have an explanation for that?" Morrigan glanced at the mass of darkness off on the horizon.
"Nope." Jack said. "But if you or your mother are feeling particularly suicidal, you could always try asking the head of the Sabbat over in Orlais. Lasombra are experts on magical blobs of shadow."
Morrigan glared but didn't answer back. Jack took this to mean that their conversation was over.
The pillar of shadow, whatever it was, did not disappear until around midnight.
And though Jack may have pretended to not to be worried when talking to Morrigan he was absolutely terrified.
He had spent three years fighting against the Sabbat in New York and he knew what the shadow powers used by the Lasombra looked like when he saw them.
This thing on the horizon was definitely created by Obtenebration.
And with the Lasombra Antediluvian dead, the Gangrel was certain that such a feat could only be the doing of a very powerful Methuselah. Probably one the Lasombra Antediluvian's childer.
Jack Tanner had faced long odds before, but he knew that he would die for certain if he faced such a creature.
So, he wouldn't.
The Gangrel had already put together the outlines of a plan.
Even a Methuselah couldn't survive forever against humanity as a whole, or else the Masquerade wouldn't be necessary.
The moment the blight was stopped and Flemeth cured his condition, Jack would fake his death in a fire and flee to the Brecilian Forest. There he would wait until the Methuselah was killed or sent into torpor. At that point, he would make his triumphant return, either forming a new Camarilla to oppose the Sabbat or seizing control of the Sabbat remnants as their new leader and reforming them into a more rational organization.
And if the Methuselah and his cronies somehow managed to win their ridiculous war with Orlais then Jack would just hide in the woods forever.
It was unfortunate that his traveling companions would probably be killed by the Sabbat before his plans could come to fruition, as Jack had, with the exception of Morrigan, become somewhat fond of them.
But sacrifices had to be made for the greater good.
No matter what happened, Jack Tanner would make the best of it and live on with no regrets.
"By the Maker what just . . ." she started to say before she froze in place her eyes widening.
"Easy there, you've been through a lot." Jack said. "But before we do anything else, here." Jack pulled a live rat that he caught earlier out of a satchel on the ground. The rat bit at his hand as he picked it up, but it did nothing to his supernaturally tough skin.
"Feed." Jack ordered as he held the rat to Leliana.
"But how . . . what . . ." Leliana spluttered before Jack cut her off.
"Just do what comes naturally." He said. "Trust me this will make things easier."
Leliana hesitated a moment before instinct kicked in and she plunged her fangs into the screeching rodent. It took a few moments for her to drain the creature dry before threw its corpse out of the camp in disgust.
"I can't believe I just did that." Leliana muttered.
"I admit that rat isn't the most appetizing meal, but I didn't want to feed off of your first human until you've learned to control yourself. The only people nearby are villagers from Redcliffe and there was a risk you'd drain one of them dry."
Leliana sunk to her knees and put her head in her hands. "By the Maker, I'm one of you now. That means that I drink human blood."
"Yes." Jack stated. "But try not to think too much about it. All Cainites have a presence of rage and hunger inside of us that we call the beast, and if we let ourselves fall into depression or monstrosity then we become animals.
"This may sound cliché, but I understand what you're going through. I was forced into this just like you were, just like almost every Cainite is. None of us get a choice about becoming a monster but we all have to learn to live with it anyway.
"I guess it's time to teach you how to be a Gangrel. I don't have a lot of experience with this so bear with me.
"Also, if Prince Roy is back then I should probably rename my dog, so I don't get them mixed up. I'm thinking Roy Jr. What do you think?"
Leliana's only reply was to groan into her hands.
___________________________________________________
It had been a few days since the party had set out from Redcliffe and so far nothing serious had gone wrong. Leliana was still in shock and Alistair was still giving both Cainites strange looks but that was to be expected.
So far Leliana and Jack had managed to keep themselves fed off of local wildlife during their travels, but that wouldn't last if they had to stay in one place for too long. Hunting also took a fair amount of the day, which might have been a problem had either he or Leliana needed to sleep.
Which was another problem entirely. Back on Earth Cainites fell were forced to rest when the sun rose but without Earth's sun to force him into slumber Jack had been almost constantly awake since arriving in Thedas.
Within the last few days Jack had begun to feel something that he hadn't felt since he was a mortal, fatigue. This was different from the irrefusable need to rest that came with the rising of the Earth's sun. Instead, this was the gradual tiredness that crept up on mortals after a long day's work.
Jack had never heard of a Cainite staying awake past the rising of the sun (except the Antediluvians who didn't count) and therefore had no ideas what long periods of uninterrupted consciousness could do to a Cainite.
If the Gangrel had to take a guess, nothing good.
On reflection it might be good to take a few days for some R&R once the mages were recruited. Until then Jack would be busy instructing Leliana on her new abilities and how to behave as a Cainite.
Ferelden was in a bad enough state already without a wight running around.
On this particular day, the rest of the party had just woken up and were making breakfast, and so Jack had decided to begin teaching Leliana the basics of how to use disciplines.
The results so far were mixed.
"Remember that speaking to an animal is not like speaking to a human." Jack lectured as Leliana knelt on the ground locking eyes with Roy Jr.
"An animal operates on instinct, regardless of how intelligent it is. The use of Feral Whispers is not speaking to an animal. It's a communication on a more basic level."
To emphasize his point Jack picked up a stick off the ground and pointed it at the dog. "As with all disciplines, Animalism uses the Beast within us to effect change upon the physical world. In this case my dog."
The Gangrel threw the stick into the distance. "Now I want you to tell him to fetch the stick. Try and think about the idea of him doing it without thinking of any words. Then look into his eyes and let the beast transfer the idea between you and him."
Leliana looked deep into Jr.'s eyes, who just made a slight growl in response. With a look of intense concentration on her face Leliana kept her eyes locked with the dog's, with neither moving until eventually Jr. rolled out his tongue, gave a loud bark, and charged at Leliana.
She tried to scramble back but was instead knocked over by the enormous dog who immediately began to lick her face.
Jack looked on awkwardly as his dog covered his childe with its slobber as the former sister desperately tried to get Jr. off of her without actually hurting him.
"Huh," Jack mumbled to himself, "perhaps we should move on to Fortitude for a while."
"Hey Jack," Jack heard Alistair's voice call out behind him. "I think you need to see this."
"What is it now Alistair?" Jack said as he turned around. "I don't have time to deal with your . . . oh no."
At this point the Gangrel saw what Alistair was worried about and was at a loss for words himself. On the horizon, reaching up as far as the eye could see, was a swirling pillar shaped mass of darkness. It was obviously not natural and the inky blackness of it reminded him suspiciously of the powers used by clan Lasombra known as Obtenebration.
As for how far up it went, Jack figured that it reached all the way out of the atmosphere.
Surely no Lasombra could create such a thing. Their clan had trouble using their shadow powers in the presence of artificial light much less sunlight. What kind of a monster could do this during the day?
"By Caine. I . . . what the hell is this?" he muttered as he stared at the pillar of darkness.
The rest of the group didn't seem to be doing any better. Even Sten seemed to be in shock.
But Morrigan's reaction was especially interesting. While the whole party was staring at the pillar with shock and fear, Jack didn't think that Morrigan's expression looked like the fear you see when confronted with the unknown.
She looked more like someone who just had their worst fears confirmed.
How interesting.
"I have to admit, you don't see that every day." Jack said in a more flippant tone than he actually felt. "But does anyone have any idea what it is?"
Most of the party simply stood in silence in response but Morrigan continued to stare at the pillar.
"I have only heard of events like this in the stories that my mother told me when I was a child. Stories of when Arlathan was still young, and the ancient elves waged war against the Antediluvians. She told of how the Lasombra Antediluvians used vast clouds of shadow to devour entire cities. I know of nothing else that could do this."
Jack stared at her for a few moments before he started to chuckle. "What a ridiculous idea. I'd thought from what your mother had said that your family might know something about my kind but now it's clear that you're just as ignorant as Alistair here. Whatever that thing is it certainly isn't the work of a Cainite, and definitely not the work of the Lasombra Antediluvian."
"What else am I supposed to believe?" Morrigan sneered back. "Since before the birth of the Tevinter Imperium Cainites have been nothing but a myth, lost to history and known of only to a few people like my mother. And then one day you show up and all of the sudden Orlais is overrun by Lasombra.
"In all my life I have never seen my mother frightened of anything, I was not even sure if it was possible. But after she first met you, she told me that the legends were clear that a Cainite could only cross the boundary from their world to this one through the power of an Antediluvian. And that terrified her."
Jack shrugged. "I have no way to judge whether any of what you claim is true, but regardless of that the Lasombra Antediluvian is not here. After all, he was killed over five hundred years ago.
"But what I find really interesting is how you seem to know so much about my kind all of the sudden. When we first met you mistook me for an abomination. And now you seem to think you're some kind of expert.
"The only one who actually seemed to know anything about Cainites here was your mother. I think you've been talking to her. Recently. I haven't bothered to keep an eye on you every moment of the day and it certainly wouldn't be hard for you to meet discreetly when you can both turn into birds."
Morrigan looked at bit nervous at that. "I did learn about Cainites from my mother before meeting you. But from what she told me you were a species that had long since passed into history. I did not make the connection when we first met."
"But you still do seem to know a bit more this subject then you would get from bedtime stories." Jack said. "And from what you and Flemeth have said then before I showed up, she considered Cainite lore to be nothing but historical trivia. Interesting, but not really relevant enough include in her child's education except for the basics."
Morrigan pursed her lips and looked rather sour. "You are not as stupid as you appear. I have indeed met with my mother a few times since we began this journey. She wanted to keep an eye on our progress. She also thought it would be prudent to teach me about vampires if I was going to traveling with one."
"You seem to be fairly calm to learn that Flemeth has been spying on us." Alistair said to Jack while glaring at Morrigan.
Jack shrugged. "I would have done the same in her place. If some mythical monster showed up on my doorstep back in New York I certainly wouldn't have let it go running around without supervision. I'd have been more surprised if she hadn't been spying on us."
"I am glad you see it that way." Morrigan said insincerely. "Though as long as you are aware of my mother's observation, you should know that she is quite interested in the recent history of your species. She asked me to find out about it from you if I could. I would be open to an exchange of information if you are interested."
"Be specific." Jack said. "What exactly does Flemeth want to know? And what exactly would I get in return?"
"She wishes to know the current status of the Antediluvians and of how you arrived in Thedas. In return I would tell you of the history of the Antediluvians in Thedas and what the Sabbat are doing in Orlais."
Jack had to admit it was an interesting offer. On one hand it was pretty much taboo to tell humans anything about Cainite history or culture. The things he'd already revealed were bad enough but talking about the Antediluvians to a human seemed almost sacrilegious.
On the other hand, Jack really did need to know what the Sabbat were up to, and he was very interested in Antediluvian history. Also, the Camarilla wasn't present to punish him for revealing Cainites secrets. Of course, he was still unwilling to reveal Gangrel secrets, but some other information wasn't out of the question.
"I admit, I'm interested." Jack said. "But first tell me about the Sabbat. Depending on what you tell me I might agree to the rest of this deal. You could refuse, but the only other source of what you want to know is the Sabbat, and if your mother could have gotten it out of them, she already would have done so."
Morrigan scowled in response. "Very well." She bit out. "What do you want to know?"
"Everything you know. But we can get to most of that later. For now, I'll settle for the Sabbat's war effort against Orlais is going and how they're governing their territory."
"Fine." Morrigan said. "But be aware that my mother's information is limited. She is powerful but not omniscient. And even then, she has not had the time to tell me everything.
"The Sabbat is so far stalemated in their conflict with Orlais. For the moment they seem more focused on insurgency than outright warfare, but they do govern a number of small settlements in the Dales. They mostly use human troops for combat and limit the embrace for commanders or elite forces."
"These villages they rule," Jack asked, "How do they govern them? And how do they get the blood for their Cainites?"
"They mostly leave the peasantry to govern themselves, though they have killed almost every noble and priest they could get their hands on. So far, they have careful to take only what blood and resources they can from the population without causing undue harm, at least for the moment."
That was certainly unusual. The Sabbat usually just took whatever they wanted and worried about consequences later. And they almost never used humans to fight their wars. They didn't even like using ghouls. A lot of their ideology was based on the idea of Cainite supremacy, the idea that Cainites were so far above humans that they didn't need to worry about their opinions.
Whatever person was leading these Orlesian Sabbat must be a very strange individual.
"Interesting." Jack muttered to himself. "Next question. Are the Sabbat spreading their ideology and theology to local humans under their rule or are they reserving that for their Cainite recruits?"
"They are spreading their ideas to the populace, though in a very limited form. Mother suspects this more due to lack of ability than lack of interest. There is only one of them who is actually from the Sabbat homeland, and he has to spend most of his time on warfare rather than instruction."
Now that was very interesting. If it was true that whatever Sabbat was running around in Orlais intended to teach the local humans about Sabbat ideas, it meant that most Cainite secrets would get out regardless of what Jack told Morrigan. Jack may as well get some benefit out of his people's secrets being revealed as long as it was going to happen anyway.
"Last question." Jack said. "Do you think the Sabbat can win?"
"No." Morrigan said. "By which I mean that they are unlikely to conquer all of Orlais unless something drastic changes." At this she took a moment to glare at the pillar of shadow, which seemed to have grown slightly larger since it had first appeared.
"My mother believes that while the Sabbat will be unable to hold their captured territory against the might of the full Orlesian army, the Orlesians will be unable to fully destroy the Sabbat. She expects their insurgency to last for several decades. The ultimate outcome is impossible to guess."
"Alright, I agree to your proposal." Jack said. "You said you want to know what the Antediluvians are up to?"
"That is correct."
"Then you are in luck. The Camarilla tries to discourage learning about the Antediluvians and of ancient history in general. Fortunately for you my sire is a former member of the Sabbat and she thought that I should be educated in such matters."
"Wait," Alistair interjected, "you said that the Sabbat are a bunch of murderous psychopaths. How could your sire have been one of them?"
"Keep in mind that the Sabbat is a big organization with a lot of different factions, most of whom don't have much in common other than a hatred of the Antediluvians and the Camarilla." Jack answered.
"My sire, Caitlyn Murray, was a member of a group called the Harmonists. They believed that while Cainites are the superior race, it was beneath the Sabbat to treat humans with deliberate cruelty. Eventually the rest of the Sabbat eventually got tired of getting preached at and had them purged. The few survivors, such as my sire, fled to the Camarilla."
Jack snapped his fingers. "I almost forgot. Alistair, I want you to take Sten and patrol the area for any bandits or darkspawn."
"Wait, "Alistair said, "what about-"
"I only promised to tell Morrigan about the Antediluvians Alistair." Jack interrupted. "I never said anything about you or Sten. Now get going and don't come back for about an hour."
Alistair grumbled but still complied while Sten, as usual, said nothing. As they left Jack could hear Alistair complaining to himself that he thought that he was supposed to be the one in charge.
"Now," Morrigan said, "fulfill you end of the deal."
"Sure." Jack replied. "Saulot, the Eldest, Lasombra, and Cappadocius have been diablerised. Zapathasura was destroyed by other means fairly recently. Nothing has been heard of any of the others in almost two thousand years. I don't know much more."
"That's all you know?" Morrigan hissed. "What of Ennoia?"
"That's not something my clan really talks about much with outsiders. But I suppose . . . the Clan elders think she's still alive in some form but not active. That's all I can say."
"Fine then." She said. "How did you arrive in our world?"
"I don't know." Jack answered. "I remember being in New York City and then being here. I have sort of a vague recollection of things happening in between, but it is rather foggy."
"While that is not what I had hoped for, but if that is all you know than nothing else can be done. Shall I carry out my end of the bargain?"
Jack nodded.
"But be aware that this information is from so long ago that few records survive. Even my mother is not old enough to have lived through these events. My knowledge may not be entirely accurate."
"So how long ago did the Antediluvians show up here?" Jack asked.
"From what my mother said, about seven to ten thousand years ago. Anything more detailed than that would be impossible.
"In those days the Evanuris, the elven gods, ruled over the Empire of Elvhenan of which Arlathan was the capital. At the time the Empire had not yet reached its height, but it was still powerful. The elves were the only intelligent race in Thedas with no humans or dwarves to be found. At least until the Antediluvians arrived.
"Even the Evanuris did not know by what means they crossed the boundaries between your world and theirs. It must have been rather shocking for beings that considered themselves to be gods to be left clueless.
"The first Antediluvian to arrive was Saulot. He arrived in Arlathan with no warning and broke into a library belonging to Mythal. He devoured most of the staff, stole some of its most important texts, and left without a trace.
"This was not the last time Saulot came to Thedas, and he was soon followed by several of his brethren. For several centuries Saulot, Cappadocius, Lasombra, Ennoia and the Eldest intermittently travelled to Thedas, rarely at the same time and usually not for longer than a month. They seemed mostly interested in raiding the Evanuris's libraries and research facilities. With the exception of Ennoia who simply attacked elvish cities and the Evanuris themselves."
"Wait a second." Jack interrupted. "If these Evanuris were supposed to be gods, why would they need to do research? Wouldn't they already know everything? Not that I believe they actually were gods."
"Perhaps your understanding of godhood is limited." Morrigan replied. "Or more likely the Evanuris were never gods at all. I have never believed in such things myself.
"But returning to my point, while it probably didn't seem like much of a war from the perspective of the Antediluvians, the same cannot be said for the ancient elves. From what little evidence remains, it seems the Antediluvians were utterly unconcerned with collateral damage and tended to devour the population of any settlement they wandered into.
"They sometimes brought groups of their childer and human slaves with them on their excursions. When the Antediluvians left, they did not always bother to bring their human cattle back with them and the Evanuris did not see these abandoned humans as a threat and left them alone. These scattered groups were first humans in Thedas, the ancestors of the human tribes and kingdoms that later formed and eventually destroyed Arlathan.
"As time went on the Antediluvians visited less and less, and eventually they stopped coming at all. That was the last anyone in Thedas had seen of your kind until you appeared."
"This is all that I know. If you want to learn more, you shall have to find it from my mother or some other source."
"I have to admit, that's an interesting story." Jack said. "There are some noddist scholars who would walk over hot coals to hear this. But your story has a few holes in it."
Morrigan raised an eyebrow in response. Jack took that as an invitation to continue.
"Flemeth obviously knows something about Cainites, after all, she did recognize me and knows about the Antediluvians. But I'm skeptical that she learned all this from some ancient records or some other secondhand source.
"When she saw me for the first time, she was absolutely livid. I could see hate, disgust, and even a bit of fear in her eyes. You don't get that kind of visceral reaction without some kind of personal connection."
Morrigan kept a straight face, but Jack thought she looked a little unsure. "You do not need to have seen a volcano in person to know that a mountain that produces smoke is a worrying sign. Intellectual knowledge of something is more than enough to create fear."
"That is true to a certain extent," Jack answered, "but not the degree that I saw."
"My mother has ample reason to be worried. As far as we know the only way to enter Thedas from your world is through the Antediluvians. You simply appeared, with no knowledge of how you arrived or even of how you speak our language just at the right place and time for you to manipulate events. And as far as my mother can tell, the same goes for the leader of the Sabbat in Orlais."
"I admit that this is pretty suspicious." Jack said. "In fact, it is fairly obvious that someone or something sent me and that Sabbat guy here on purpose. But there's no way that one of the Antediluvians is responsible. It could be a Methuselah. There were several of those active in New York when I was last there."
"What is a Methuselah?" Morrigan asked.
"Right, I suppose if your latest information dates back as far as you say you wouldn't know that." Jack said. "Depending on context, a Methuselah can either be in the fourth of fifth generations, or over a thousand years old.
Granted, a Methuselah being behind my appearance here would still be horrible for me and everyone else, it just wouldn't be apocalypse level bad."
"Does this truly have to be the work of one of these Methuselah?" Morrigan asked. "Are you so sure the Antediluvians I mentioned are truly dead? You mentioned that four of them had suffered diablerie. So did your late Prince Roy, but he is still with us. Could not the Antediluvians too live on through these fools who have devoured them?"
"That's a fair point." The Gangrel responded. "But if the Antediluvians had possessed those guys I think everybody would know about it by now. The unstoppable rampaging monsters would be hard to miss.
"Hell, as far as I know the guys who ate the Eldest and Lasombra, Lugoj Blood-Breaker and Gratiano de Veronese, haven't done anything but sit on their butts for the last five hundred years. There's no way they wouldn't have used that kind of power by now if they had it."
"That could be true. But do you have an explanation for that?" Morrigan glanced at the mass of darkness off on the horizon.
"Nope." Jack said. "But if you or your mother are feeling particularly suicidal, you could always try asking the head of the Sabbat over in Orlais. Lasombra are experts on magical blobs of shadow."
Morrigan glared but didn't answer back. Jack took this to mean that their conversation was over.
The pillar of shadow, whatever it was, did not disappear until around midnight.
And though Jack may have pretended to not to be worried when talking to Morrigan he was absolutely terrified.
He had spent three years fighting against the Sabbat in New York and he knew what the shadow powers used by the Lasombra looked like when he saw them.
This thing on the horizon was definitely created by Obtenebration.
And with the Lasombra Antediluvian dead, the Gangrel was certain that such a feat could only be the doing of a very powerful Methuselah. Probably one the Lasombra Antediluvian's childer.
Jack Tanner had faced long odds before, but he knew that he would die for certain if he faced such a creature.
So, he wouldn't.
The Gangrel had already put together the outlines of a plan.
Even a Methuselah couldn't survive forever against humanity as a whole, or else the Masquerade wouldn't be necessary.
The moment the blight was stopped and Flemeth cured his condition, Jack would fake his death in a fire and flee to the Brecilian Forest. There he would wait until the Methuselah was killed or sent into torpor. At that point, he would make his triumphant return, either forming a new Camarilla to oppose the Sabbat or seizing control of the Sabbat remnants as their new leader and reforming them into a more rational organization.
And if the Methuselah and his cronies somehow managed to win their ridiculous war with Orlais then Jack would just hide in the woods forever.
It was unfortunate that his traveling companions would probably be killed by the Sabbat before his plans could come to fruition, as Jack had, with the exception of Morrigan, become somewhat fond of them.
But sacrifices had to be made for the greater good.
No matter what happened, Jack Tanner would make the best of it and live on with no regrets.