All Comments on 'Life as a New Hire Ch. 47'

Thats very enticing, thanks!

Wouldn't a female "intern" working w/ the top tier of the illuminati be much more emotionally adept if not better than cael at manipulation and understanding the motives of others?? Even if only an intern, I would have expected someone akin to a mini delilah, not another sidekick that cael woos, fucks with, and teases into becoming a better person.

This is someone chosen by an associate of his aunts, who have been portrayed as scary smart... Even if relatively young, someone who excels beyond cael in coercion and dealing with people sounds like something his aunts would value (seeing as the ones we've seen so far cant always keep up with cael plus his hormones).

Wait does an "intern" even fit their illuminati model? Even if one was at the peak of the lower structure, it would seem more likely for one to be brought up with the culture and have a mindset rivalling (well almost) cael's before an "internship" w the true illuminati would be possible. Plucking the "best candidate after thorough search" works for expecting all interns to fail (amazons) but the illuminati seem much more... conservative in their approaches.

Cael has grown immensely but I look forward to him being out of his league a bit w/ certain facets of the illuminati, even if he has found his inner zen and seems to always figure things out in the nick of time, its always rewarding to see cael reacting in situations he has no business being in... And lets be honest, his reputation is gonna get him into a LOT of trouble. Look forward to it!

Dave

... if his aunts stuck Cáel with a young FEMALE intern, no matter how talented, don't you think they would be simply fucking with his head?

If you recall, there are two ways to rise up within the Illuminati; you are noticed by senior members and worked into their operations, or you are part of one of the other secret societies which make up the Ruling Council. The O'Shea's are merely one faction represented there, not the entire body.

Different factions recruit in various ways. The O'Shea's preferred means of recruitment is from orphanages because their top leaders doesn't 'age out'. Other groups take into account the lack of immortality of their leadership which encourages a level of competition. The O'Shea's don't want that since they don't plan on going anywhere.

Therefore those closest to their family are selected at a young age and brought to family facilities where they are raised in a somewhat cult-like environment. They are lavished with care and attention and are expected to repay their debts with their lives without hesitation.

Those with the aptitude are allowed to attend outside prep schools and universities and live 'normal' lives in business, government, or even the military yet remained utterly devoted to the O'Shea's. If they think you are wavering, they dispose of you. They are using techniques Alal has perfected over millennia.

So, the maid at an O'Shea estate is as likely to whip out a knife and stab you, or throw themselves out a ten story window if commanded by one of Cáel's aunts as is an O'Shea bodyguard, assassin, or the mailman who has delivered your mail for the past twenty years.

What do you think Cáel's thought processes are going to be when he figures this out about his 'new intern', Dave? ;)

As for the Illuminati ...

The depth and breadth of the Council is one reason Alal removed the Condottieri from the Illuminati control all those centuries ago - so when he made his final play to take over, he had an army of killers to do his bidding who everyone would assume were enemies of the Illuminati, not tools of one of their Faction Heads.

When the Illuminati Council is planning out their strategy for crushing the Condottieri, an O'Shea is in the room, applying their advice and casting their vote. The results of those meetings end up with Alal who transits that information to his loyal pawns inside the Condottieri so that ONLY the forces inside the Condottieri opposing Alal end up destroyed.

When the Condottieri hit back, they don't seriously mangle anything critical to the O'Shea's ~ others are far less fortunate.

Mind you, a few intellects inside the Condottieri leadership are REALLY curious why everyone thinks they killed Ferko Nyilas. Not that they love the Amazons, but still ~ they are blamed for breaking the Protocals and ending the 30 year Truce ... and - surprise - surprise - everyone associated with that fiasco appears to have both actually worked for the Condottieri and are DEAD.

Initially they didn't care that much. After all, it appeared they had the Seven Pillars as somewhat allies vs. the Amazons ~ who tough could this be? Then Temujin turned up alive, the PRC got butt-reamed and the Amazons and 9 Clans seem to be in love with one another ... for no reasons which makes any God-damn sense to them. Oh yeah and there were a bunch of bullet-riddled corpses in London people were asking uncomfortable questions about.

Now the Condottieri are in some serious trouble, the 7P's aren't going to be helping anybody and everyone is getting really curious about which way the Egyptian Rite are going to jump.

James aka FinalStand

James, it is scenes like the Illuminati intern that show your creativity and make your stories so re-readable.

Were runners told about the second betrayal?

Katrina once mentioned that it was a closely guarded secret. Since the Amazons don't teach the OKH to runners, sharing such sensitive events doesn't make sense.

I asked this question beacuse in the 19 chapter, when cael explained the succession to the head of house ishara by being an Ash man to Esmeralda, he mentioned events of second betrayal ("it dates back to end of second betrayal" are the precise words). Now since Esmeralda was a runner, so using it to explain himself doesn't make sense unless he, himself was unaware of the fact that whether runner were told about it or not!

Silly question maybe, but why it is called second betrayal? Were the Amazons betrayed before by someone else?

Also, when cael became the head and asked Katrina to free Helena for house business, Katrina asked what's in it for her and cael "SACRIFICED" to visit aya. First I dont understand it being a sacrifice, cael absolutely adores and loves aya and of all people, Katrina should know better than that. She was also amazed! ('UNEXPECTED' was the word used by her). Was it like that because he was separating himself from amazon politics and was doing a favour to the council?

In the starting of 20 chapter when Charlotte was explaining to cael what really happened at his dad's house. She mentioned video feeds by the SD team which was evaluated for final conclusion of events. Now all four but one died in the fire exchange and the last one was concussed hence unable to extract herself from the scene and was later captured by the police. So how the Amazons got the video, didn't police get it before them?

Hey James,

Once again knocking it out of the park here, I've followed this since chapter 1 and have read it over and over, easily my favorite story here by a mile and I've been reading your work for years! Hope you are feeling better and things are going well, any chance we will have a new chapter before Xmas as an early present? I'm anxiously awaiting the Great Hunt and can't wait for how that plays out! Thanks again and be well!

Irish

{Btw, there are very rarely ‘silly questions’. More often there are inadequate answers.}

1) The First Betrayal:

[Much of this is the legend according to Life as a New Hire]

In the Trojan Wars, the Amazons were allies of Troy. When King Priam of Troy called on them for aid, they marched to his city’s defense. Ajax fought Queen Penthesilea, mocking her and then Achilles killed her. After taking off her helmet, Achilles grew very mournful over her death and wished her buried with honor. This moved the Amazons greatly. After traveling to the Amazon camp to praise the fallen Queen’s bravery he invited them to dine in the Greek camp in return. They agreed.

And then things went south.

Another Greek, Thersites, upon hearing about what Achilles had done, began mocking him. In response, Achilles killed Thersites ~ because he often did shit like that ~ killing people who annoyed him. The problem was Thersites was ‘Prince’ Thersites, son of King Agrius, the (usurper) King of Calydon {famous for the up and coming Calydonian Boar which in turn involves another mystical female warrior figure named Atalanta … but that is a tale for another time}. To avoid more bloodshed, Agamemnon exiled Achilles to his tent.

The Greeks still went along with the feast though yet with a very different intent. The Amazons showed up, but instead of being treated as honored guests, they were drugged, bound and raped. The few who had stood guard over the rest were slain.

While you might imagine this was a HUGE breach of Ancient World etiquette, it also had serious mystic world consequences. Otherwise incapacitated Amazons woke up and worked free of their bonds. They managed to free a few others. They could not save them all, or even most. They still managed to work vengeance upon a few of the ringleaders – like Ajax, before escaping.

Despite their acts of revenge, the numbers lost were not something the Host could replace. Without their warriors, other enemies closed in on their home territory and the survivors had to flee over the distant mountains to an uncertain fate.

It is called the First Betrayal because of the calamitous effect the Greek’s false promise of hospitality had upon them. Achilles (and his Myrmidons) had seemed so genuine in their respect and the Amazons survivors felt so foolish for letting their guards down around men ~ inviting such a disastrous result. The pity was Achilles was ignorant of the other Greek leaders’ plans and would most likely have tried to kill Ajax himself had the Amazons not tricked Ajax to his own suicide before the morning’s light revealed the scene.

2) The Second Betrayal:

When Runners were brought in to Havenstone (technically, until the advent of Cáel they were considered ‘recruits’), they were given the story of the Amazons’ 3000 year struggle against a male-dominated world. Of course, this was from the Amazon perspective.

Yes, that means ‘Runners’ know of the ‘Second Betrayal’. The Full-bloods tell these newbies that they trusted men as equals before the walls of Troy and were deceived by their false hospitality. The lesson: men will never treat women as equals no matter what words they preach.

By their own wits, they saved themselves though their Nation was crippled beyond repair so they had to flee their Homeland into the Pontic Steppes. The lesson: the only people you can trust are your fellow sisters.

Then, centuries later, they gave Men a second at redemption … and were BETRAYED again. The lesson: see, we forgave the male gender for their treachery once. That mistake almost led to the extermination of our female-elite society. They shall never have a THIRD CHANCE.

In the Amazon mindset, these lessons basically ‘forgives’ every atrocity the Amazons commit against everyone else because when they tried ‘playing nice’, male society repeatedly tried to destroy them. If the basic instinct of males wasn’t so monstrous, the Amazons wouldn’t have to be so brutal in dealing with them. This includes dealing with women who live with the ‘illusion’ that they matter in a male-dominated society because those women are nothing more than pawns.

What most Full-bloods and all ‘Runners’ were not told about was the fate of the Ash Men. It really hurts their ‘DON’T DARE TRUST MEN’ narrative if you add “but a few males risked everything to save our sisters and daughters, suffering gruesome tortures at the hands of our enemies and never wavered in their loyalty to us … only to be slaughtered at our own hands when we lost hope in them …”

The Amazon Host’s betrayal of the Ash Men is a crucial lie of omission and has haunted the Amazons since that day.

So ‘yes’, Esmerelda knows about the Second Betrayal, but she doesn’t know about the Ash Men. It should also be noted most Runners don’t really care what happened 3000, or 2600 years ago as much as the fabric of society those tales weave. It is much like US school kids being told about Washington crossing the Delaware then the battles of Trenton (you almost never hear of 2nd Trenton) and Princeton. They all sound vaguely patriotic from our future vantage point even though those nine days were critical to the survival of what became the United States.

3) Cáel’s Sacrifice ~ the interplay between Cáel and Katrina in her office when they discuss him going to Summer Camp was just that – play. It was definitely a maneuver by BOTH Cáel and Katrina to get Cáel away from the Council Chambers for a few days.

That way, if Daphne, Paula, or Violet was asked about the conversation they could honestly say Katrina sent Cáel Ishara away to deal with her niece for a few days to ‘repay’ a debt he owed Katrina ~ the debt being Helena temporarily doing House Ishara business instead of working for Executive Services. That would be an answer leaving a bunch of questioners shrugging in incomprehension, but some answers only beg more questions.

4) The video feed of the firefight at the Nyilas household:

The Security Detail group had head-mounted audio/video gear along with Blue-tooth devices to unlisted ‘burner’ accounts. The video feed was uploaded to the nearby vehicle they had arrived in. Their gear did have a limited memory capacity. The four feeds to the vehicle were in turn monitored from a Havenstone property in Chicago by a Runner.

While unable to retrieve the team, they were able to send a code to delete their personal device’s memory and then went after the vehicle to retrieve it before it was caught in the Police dragnet. Burnham PD has limited resources so it was a race between the Chicago PD coming to assist and the Havenstone-Chicago Amazons and the Amazons won. They were not authorized to start gunning it out with the Burnham PD to recover their sisters’ corpses and by the time they realized the last one was actually still alive, it was too late.

5) This week my wife is at a training seminar so it is just me and the kids. I haven’t gotten much done writing-wise. Monday, I saw my Primary Care Doc. Tuesday, I had a blood draw. Today, I had an MRI on my liver again because my Doc is worried – not because of the blood test. My feet still such big time.

Raising teenagers is its own reward …

As for a Merry Christmas … I’m still hoping.

James aka FinalStand

Just wanted to say I hope everything is going okay for you and the family, hope you have a Merry Christmas, and also keep up the good work that you do and don't over exert yourself for our benefit, your health comes first.

Thank you for the update and for sharing your talent. Merry Christmas!

Any gift for us reader? :p

Merry Christmas James

You have our best wishes. I know how strange having health issues around holidays can be. I have a form of Leukemia. At the moment my electrolytes are not degrading significantly so wife is in a good mood but we keep having concerned friends asking about progression. Gets a little wearing. Sigh. They care but it's like being hit by snowballs constantly. Just for awhile wish to ignore problems and have a good time. Anyway hope to see a continuation of this series, especially his trials. Hope you have a good holiday.

Thank you all for your well wishes and season's greetings. I've held off on replying in the hopes I would have positive news. I don't. Nothing seems to be working 'right' right now. I have been giving 'Christian College Sex Comedy' and 'The Other Child' a shot ... and nothing seems to be working correctly. I have several stories which are close ... but I either can't wrap up a satisfactory ending, or when I do a read-through, I find errors, or ways to re-write scenes which work better ... and other excuses.

I have written 7,300 words in a totally new story ~ "Her Open Marriage" ... which came about because I was bashing my head against 'Fighting for a Broken Trust' ~ which is totally nuts on my part.

I found a story idea I started on 18 months ago and added another 750 plus 85 more in story notes.

I have refined a Kriegsmarine fleet in a Alternative History 1942 ... along with trying to figure out if Belgium could be written off the map based on the political machinations of European Heads of State in 1830 and the economic hardships and racial tensions brought about by the Great Depression - oh, and being overrun by the Germans twice ... because ...

Does anyone care about the Polish Commonwealth's Constitution of 1791? I've got a story about that too that keeps screaming at me to be told.

If I do put out a story soon, I'm afraid it will be something 'new'. It isn't really new. It's been sitting around a while, but in recent weeks it has kept popping up in my mind so I've been polishing it up and adding to it. It is a comedy written in a anime/hentai style named "If this is a Harem Story ...". To a certain Brit who has promised to help me with my fight sequences - I have hesitated to send it your way for fear of insulting your intelligence. I haven't sent it to my editors yet as I'm still working on the epilogues plus they deserve Christmas with the kinfolk.

That's pretty much it from me for now. I hope the New Year will bring a return to the clarity I had this summer. Take care, Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, Joyous Kwanzaa and a Happy New Year.

James aka FinalStand

Interested in anything you put out, James.

What makes your writing good is not the topic, it's the mindset you have approaching the subject. So far, you're the best i've read, so kudos. You're inspiring just by putting stuff out there!

Let me see ... I leaned back in my brand new chair last night, the damn thing's rear legs (2 of 5) snapped, spilling me into a wedge between my mini-fridge and one of my bookshelves and ... after a momentary panic, I felt inspired to work on LNH 48 once more. I cranked out 3,700 words and polished off the ending so I guess that is progress.

**

(Note: yes, I have 'deleted' the key countries and numbers in this insert. If you figure out my mad master plan, please don't broadcast it. E-mail me instead, please.)

For the first time in my life I sent word to my ‘Brother’, the Great Khan. My Spirit and Mind were joined on the liberation of ******* ~ I wanted this done. Screw it all, after sitting through the British briefing from ‘suppressed’ sources inside the Portuguese government, I wanted to free all ** million ********, but that wasn’t going to happen, so I was going to save the roughly *** hundred thousand ********* if I had to go see to it in person and make sure the **** hundred thousand living in exile could return home.

So, my Brother began calling people starting with the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Damodardas Modi, and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyễn Phú Trọng – personally. Those calls cascaded. The PM of India, after head-butting with some cabinet members, called his counter-part in … Brazil. Brazil was the largest Portuguese-speaking country on the planet and right across the Atlantic from ******* (aka their bases might come in handy if ****** became pugnacious).

The GS Trọng, after some brief consultations, began making his diplomatic overtures. Why? Imagine for a second being any small, relatively poor country in the United Nations who wasn’t a Permanent Member of the Security Council and doesn’t have veto-power.

And you have lived with this ‘inequality’ for 70 years.

And you woke up a month ago and suddenly you WERE a PERMANENT COUNCIL MEMBER of a New Global Body which valued your input and opinions.

The Great Khan couldn’t tell the General Secretary precisely what was going on, but he promised to have a team fly down to him within 48 hours to explain everything in person because unwelcome people were ‘listening in’ which was the damn truth. So, GS Trọng began reaching out to every Marxist, Communist and Socialist in Europe, Africa and South America who would listen. The top country on his list? Cuba.

No, he wasn’t asking for Cuba to become involved in ****** again as the Soviets had done back in the 1970’s. That would be … awkward. Instead, GS Trọng was asking his “Old Buddy”, Raúl Castro, President and 1st Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba to put in his good offices with …

- The Players -

{Nguyễn Phú Trọng, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam}

{Raúl Castro, President and 1st Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba}

[GOOD MORNING, HAVANA]

Raúl: “Comrade Nguyễn, long time, no see. (In fact, I can’t ever recall seeing you) Precisely why are you calling me at … 3 a.m. your time? The current retrograde revisionist direction of our inevitable victory got you down?”

Nguyễn: “Quite the contrary, Comrade Raúl. In fact, an opportunity has arisen to strike a blow against the Old World Order, Comrade. Can I count on you?”

Raúl: “Oh … ummmm … if you take into account I’ve heard this ugly rumor you are about to kick our fellow ‘Brothers in the Struggle’ in the testes in collusion with these jumped-up autocratic, religious fundamentalist fanatic Reactionaries from Central Asia and the always doctrinally-dicey Indians … what do you have in mind?”

Nguyễn: “All I need you to do is lend the gravitas of your leadership to a bit of backroom diplomacy, Comrade. I understand you are on speaking terms with those presently in charge of Brazil, despite their questionable adherence to Marxist-Leninist purity.”

Raúl: “Hmmm … beyond the linguistic reality Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese are not mutually intelligible … something could be arranged. Please continue.”

Nguyễn: “I need you to contact the President of Brazil and request her agreement for diplomatic and logistic intervention to a freedom-fighting victory we are about to experience on the African continent.”

Raúl: “A victory? Really? Where?”

Nguyễn: “Sorry. We both know the USA’s CIA and the NSA are crawling all over your communications networks like the smoke wafting off of one of your Havana’s Finest.”

Raúl: “Ain’t that the truth. Still, what do you want me to ask her for?”

Nguyễn: “Just to be prepared to back India’s play, no matter how bizarre it might at first appear. Also, let her know we’ve got her back militarily if it comes to a confrontation with the forces of Global Imperialism and post-colonial aggression.”

Raúl: “Wow … that sounds … ugly. What’s in it for us?”

Nguyễn: {pause} “WORKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE!”

Raúl: {looks at his phone suspiciously} “No really – what’s going on?”

Nguyễn: “I already said I can’t tell you the details right now. I guarantee this will help advance the struggle of World Communism.”

Raúl: “Nice to know. And?”

Nguyễn: “Has your fervor for the Cause dampened, Comrade?”

Raúl: “I know for a fact you get your suits from Brookes Brothers, Comrade. I just found out my nephew’s yacht needs an extensive engine overhaul and the Venezuelan outfit which used to do the work closed up shop last year …”

Nguyễn: “Ah … we’ll, given two years my economic experts have informed me we, as in the hard-working people of Vietnam …”

Raúl: “Get on with it.”

Nguyễn: “Upwards of ten MILLION Central Asians A YEAR will start visiting our burgeoning tourist industry …”

Raúl: “Been there – done that during the Cold War.”

Nguyễn: “NO! These people will have MONEY! The Reactionary Khanate will be paying their workers Free Market salaries! We are talking real currency too – not those crappy, Soviet-era rubles you couldn’t wipe your ass with.”

Raúl: “Great Lenin’s Ghost! You had better not be lying to me, Comrade Nguyễn. If you could send five …”

Nguyễn: “Two!”

Raúl: “Three!” (I just DOUBLED my tourism industry!!!!!!)

Nguyễn: “Fine {grumble} three million, but you had better not leave me looking like Leon Trotsky in desperate need of a raincoat in Mexican City when all of this comes out.”

Raúl: “Perish the thought. If this works out ~ positively ~ I won’t forget this.”

Nguyễn: “You will be advancing goodwill toward the Cuban people in the corridors of power …”

Raúl: “I’ll take the hard, cold currency, thank you very much.”

Nguyễn: “How the struggle has been … transformed.”

Raúl: “Such is life. I’ll get right on this.”

Nguyễn: “I appreciate it. I really do.”

Raúl: “Well …”

Nguyễn: {uh oh}

Raúl: “Are your violently reactionary allies in Central Asia … sending any … economic aid your way? Things you might not need?”

Nguyễn: “Like?”

Raúl: “Like … anything. Have you seen the state of my economy? We’ve been hurting over here.”

Nguyễn: “Comrade Raúl, you get the President of Brazil in a cooperative mood so that this blossoms into a victory for the Freedom Loving Peoples of the World and I’ll hand your Wish List to the Great Khan personally.”

Raúl: “And if it … is a partial victory … for the Freedom Loving Peoples of the World?”

Nguyễn: “Eh … won’t be my people dying … nor yours. I’ll let my allies know you did your best and let New Delhi and Astana figure out how they wish to respond.”

Raúl: “Oh well … it isn’t like President Obama is going to get a 3rd term. What do I have to lose at this point?”

Nguyễn: “On the bright side, the Great Khan has … what’s the term you Latin American’s use?”

Raúl: “Machismo?”

Nguyễn: “That sounds about right. “Machismo to face down the Americans and just about everyone else. As one valiant member of the proletariat to another – I’ve met him face-to-face and he kind of scares the shit out of me.”

Raúl: “Really?”

Nguyễn: “Yes … he has the eyes of … those old-timers – the ones who ordered human wave after human wave of soldiers to clear the minefields and throw their bodies over the barbed wire so the next wave could grapple with the enemy … and would do it all over again in a heartbeat.”

Raúl: “And this is the man you chose to ally with?”

Nguyễn: “I’d rather sell my granddaughters to a Jakarta brothel than help the Chinese after the way they’ve treated us the past 50 years. Besides, he went to Tibet and left then went to Thailand and left. He is the best kind of ally there is – the one who remembers to go home when the war is done.”

Raúl: “Good point (I hope for your sake) … best of luck with that. I have some calls to make. I will be in touch.”

Nguyễn: “You do that. Good luck, Comrade.”

Raúl: “Comrade.”

**

Best wishes for the New Year,

James aka FinalStand

And spoke with Ishara! Outstanding!!! We will be here when you are ready.

Wishing you health and prosperity in the New Year.

~S.W.

Is ebb tide ready? Its been a while since you said you just have to furnish the sex scenes.

Progress is slow, but is progress. I admit much of what I've done over the past few days is research, but that still amounts to 2,900 pages which I hope will make the final cut.

Yes, it is stuff away from the MC, but I think at times actions created by Cáel should be explored. In this case, his actions send a series of Khanate Air Force Reservists into action: 46 to 67 years old ~ in the antiquated equipment they trained with. The Great Khan Temüjin needs every bit of front line equipment possible yet his 'Brother' Cáel "demands" action.

With every bit of 'front-line' material heading off to their next mission (the invasion of western Iraq, Lebanon and Syria), these well-maintained, antiquated war machines are all he can spare. The biggest advantages are 1) no one will know what to make of such an air fleet ~ I mean, who invades with such an old aircraft when more modern planes are available, 2) though ancient, the 'rebel' Air Force will utterly dominate the region because of a combination of training & equipment maintenance and 3) Soviet, Russian and Chinese aircraft are all over the region and, while the Khanate flies 'Russian' planes, they pilot far more modern aircraft ~ no one has seen the Khanate fly anything this 'crappy'.

34 combat aircraft;

14 Mig-21's {1959} = 12 Air Superiority models + 2 twin-seat/trainer/recon models

14 Su-22's {1970} = 12 Close Ground Support models + 2 twin-seat/trainer/recon models

6 Su-24's {1974} = 6 multi-role fighters {used as a 'Bomber Force'}

Backed up by 6 non-combat fixed-wing aircraft;

4 An-26's {1969} = 2 transports + 2 specialized ELINT models

2 An-72's {1977} = modified to be AEW&C planes similar to the An-71

Plus 10 helicopters;

3 Mil Mi-8 {1967} = capable of transporting troops and cargo

1 Mil Mi -17 {1981} = hospital variant - technically based on 1967's Mil Mi-8}

6 Mil Mi-24 {1972} attack helicopters with the ability to carry some troops

50 aircraft to protect a tiny county fighting to be free. 50 aircraft over a decade older than the average person in the country flown and nurtured by people who could be their grandparents.

Yeah, I know it is off the beaten path, but ...

James aka FinalStand

Happy New Year! Welcome to 2017! I hope that this year proves better for your health than the last, and that your life becomes easier

Sidenote: 2,900 pages?! I assume you meant words, but for a second when I saw your comment, I was extremely shocked and impressed. Anyways.

Best of luck with your health and writing, and I hope to see new work soon!

good to hear you are still progressing James, hope you stay well and may 2017 be better for you and your loved ones

Any news on nanonites next book? And glad to hear that the research is going well.

First, I love this story. Despite some spelling/grammatical errors ( a couple per chapter) I reread it at least once per month, lately it has been on a weekly basis.

Second, in chapter 19, Cael and Pamela mention "Double Word score" after Pamela says "...repository of nefariousness..." and again in chapter 33 Cael thinks "Triple Word Score" after thinking "sussurated".

The only game with word scores I know is Scrabble but in Scrabble the double and triple word scores are awarded for placing a word so it crosses a specific double or triple word scores tile.

What constitutes a double or triple word score to Cael and Pamela?

P.S. I wish there was a way to look up all comments by a person in lit as I find your comments very helpful in fleshing out the laanh universe in my mind but I have only been reading them since chapter 40 and I am too lazy go back to every chapter, go to the last page, click read all comments and find all of them. You should consider compiling then into an extra chapter like you have done with the cast and notes chapters.

Keep writing and stay healthy

Yes, Scrabble, Words with Friends etc, need tiles. However, they're making that point value up. It is something people do. Kinda like driving down the road and seeing an old lady or man walking and saying they're worth 50 points if you hit them, but less dark and mean.

James, I hope you're doing well. So glad you've found inspiration. Can't wait to read more of your works.

... thanks J_Comic_Reader. ;) I was holding off on a reply to this for a day, or two, as I was working on the suggestion at the end of the second to last post ~ organizing all the 'comment's' I've made in LNH up until now. Whoops.

Yes, it is only 2,900 words, not pages. I WISH I was that productive (the 2,900 pages).

Thank you for your kind blessings and back at ya!

Word score:

Yes, the reference is to Scrabble and, sadly, I both don't own a game and haven't played in almost 30 years ... so I made up the scenarios with Cáel and Pamela.

Still, I like to imagine they talk during the day and play a game of Scrabble in their minds ~ memorizing what one another have said (Pamela is that damn good and honed those types of skills as a sniper ~ Kimberly trained Cáel to think that way [creating a constant visualization in his mind, not the Scrabble game itself; he would have learned Scrabble from his Father]) and playing Mind-Scrabble as yet another tool in training their minds in multi-tasking.

When you want to apply a word, a simple bit of eye contact would suffice. When you have said it while standing, or walking it goes in as vertical. Sitting, driving, ect. ~ it goes in horizontal. The game isn't about beating one another, but scoring enough points. If they total enough points in the game before 'Quitting Time' they allow themselves small treats.

FYI, though it has not come up, Daphne and Brielle can do this too: their Grandmother taught them when they were little as a 'game'. They aren't nearly as good at it as those two Mental Asylum Escapees, not being quite as bright, or telepathically linked, or soul-bound.

James aka FinalStand

I like your reasoning better! I like the idea of them applying their mental bond, and their abilities to something so lighthearted.

Please provide weekly update!

... after ten long days of writing NOTHING and a night-long binge of Cthulhu porn, Mezcal and running from the Morality Police ... I wrote 1080 words on the night of the 14th ... actually at 4:00 am in the morning.

Still struggling on.

James aka FinalStand

Just glad to hear from you, James. I can't REALLY be impatient with you when I can just start from the beginning and enjoy it all over again... ;)

Stay safe!

You've inspired me so many times you don't even know. You're literally my favorite author, on this site and in real life. I honestly can't say how many hours of fun and escape of real life Cael (I've always pronounced him 'Kai - el'), Israel and Vance has provided for me.

I've been struggling to write for years. I'm twenty five and have been an avid reader since I was young and started 'writing' around sixteen. The thing with me though is I can't ever seem to go past ten to twenty pages before I get bored/uninspired to continue. Usually most of the time it's because I've already moved onto another story.

Like you, I always have these ideas floating around in my head but I just can't seem to really get started a good amount on them. Whenever I get stuck or have writers block, I go back to one of your stories and just read through them again. Most of the time I feel the urge to write again.

I always find excuses for myself to not write, like 'i can just do it later, ' or 'i can't think of anything'. I'd sit there and stare at a blank page for half an hour, fiddling with the font and size, only to quit and start up another game of Legend of Legends. But when I am able to write, it feels so amazing and satisfying how your imagination is transferred onto paper. I think you know how it feels.

What is your writing process if you don't mind me asking? I've read articles that say chronological order works for some and others like to skip around, writing scenes that interest then at that moment. I know you said you also do this (with Cael meeting Selena and Miyako scene) when you wanted to introduce another secret society.

What interest me most is how you figure out your stories? Caels story is so big and vast that it boggles my mind how you could have even started it. When you first started LoaNH, where were you? Did you have a good amount of the story fleshed out in your mind or on paper? Or did you write as you go?

After reading LoaNH for the sixth(?) time, I got inspired and started on a story again and actually wrote down the most I've ever had (38 pages) over the course of a month. I stopped and started so many times, taking a week of break before going back to it, but I'm so tired of half assing all my stories. They want to be told but I just lack.. something. I don't know. If anyone has some input please feel free to share.

Thanks for reading James

Best regards,

Chris.

hoping 2017 is a better year for you

enjoyed your writing very much & wish you all the best in dealing with your demons

xxxhugsxxx

Weekly update!

Basically I feel as if my head is in a inverted fishbowl full of Jello and my router keeps crashing so doing any research is a case-iron bitch.

I've also been reacquainted with the concept of a 'brigade' and a 'battalion' having no relevance to a units actual size.

A snippet:

{Cáel meets his office-mates and new boss, the Executive Assistant to the President, who turns out to be Beyoncé Vincennes, Head of House Hanwasuit. If you recall, she was introduced way back in Chapter One as being on the Board of Directors, and, since Cáel dealt with the phone calls about her sick daughter and local pediatrician, a NYC native. Unlike the Regents (and Queen Aya), Beyoncé knows how Havenstone functions as a global financial entity thus can keep them abreast of what the Amazon Host can, and cannot afford, fiscally, to do as well as what other factions and Nation-States can do to hurt Havenstone legally.}

**

“Actually, Buffy Ishara recommended you both to Shawnee,” Beyoncé corrected their misconceptions. I knew the score. I’d be working intimately with the tight community around the President (Shawnee) and Vice Presidents (Buffy & Rhada). Buffy wanted me to be surrounded by women who hated my guts … so I wouldn’t end up boinking them. It rarely worked that way. All too often ladies who hated me end up punishing me with sex. I’m not precisely sure why that happened, but it did.

“Beyoncé, didn’t the Chief Diplomat of the Host have her own office? I’m pretty sure Troika had one before her unfortunate collision with St. Marie,” I felt entitled to inquire.

“Do you feel you’ve earned that office space?” she asked.

“Oh, fuck no,” I waved my hands to accentuate my denial. “I was just wondering where I could stick Juanita while I’m hanging around … here.”

“She has the desk right outside the door, Cáel,” Beyoncé smiled knowingly. “No way you can sneak past her.”

“Oh,” I grunted. “Buffy again?”

“No. Pamela Pile put in the request.”

“Oh, Sweet Mother of God … now she is conspiring with you too?”

“Yes. Some of us realize the greatest hazard to your health is yourself, Ishara,” Beyoncé chided me. “We’d like to keep you around so we listen to those charged with that’s nigh impossible task.”

**

Take care all,

James aka FinalStand

Laughed so hard it brought tears to my eyes. Keep up thy noble fight James. Look forward to reading the next installment when it comes.

I bought all eight books of LaaNH from Amazon to encourage James but mainly so I can add my own notes and highlights.

I book mark the sections that made me laugh out loud.

I had intended to wait until they were all published but what the hell it was Christmas

Looking forward to buying the other volumes when they are released.

The one thing that this site gives that the books don't is the comments that finalstand chips in with which is a shame. Jame's explanations of his universe and it's mythology and some of the questions he responds to are part of the joy of this site.

Happy Chinese New Year

Jon

I have been encouraged to go through all the comments sections and publish the compilation both here and with the last book on-line for all the extra information it provides. I just need to get off my ass and do it. I'm up to Chapter 29, but I need to do some serious organizing.

Right now, I'm fighting a winter cold while reviewing 'What My Brother Left Me'. Ugh.

James aka FinalStand

Incredible enjoyable tale although I will say the highlight for me is the first 16 or so chapters. After that it becomes too much of an epic for my liking although it was still a very enjoyable ride and I look forward to the end of saga 1 with chapter 48 if that is still the plan. I immensely enjoy the simplicity and system you built in the first 16 chapters, had you continued in that more insular direction, it would've also been a phenomenal story. I've read the first 16 or so chapters 4 or 5 times while going through the rest of the story because of how much I enjoyed them.

The Pamela, Rachel, Cael interactions in their chapters are also incredibly fun.

I think it's incredibly impressive that you took the lessons from One in Ten to create this story. I haven't read the recently released chapter but I always felt you had boxed yourself in with how you wrote one in ten and while the ending was perfectly acceptable if you went with a fuck it, almost everyone is going to die ending, given the characters perspective

Do you ever say anywhere what eventually got Brian relocated, we know from Cael's thought process that it was obviously going to happen but I'd be curious if you'd ever provided background.

I'd also be very intrigued to see a small piece on Felix being read in, he'd have to be for his role in Cael's kidnapping to make any real sense to him.

Thank you for the wonderful experience.

My guess and it is a definitely a guess would be that Katrina would do it. Remember Katrina is always the smartest person in the room.

She would have his psychology down to a T. See chapter 44

She would tell him that

It was dangerous

It showed he was better & braver than Caél

She would play on his self-image

He was the only person who could do this successfully

She would tell him he could earn full status no longer being an intern

And he would be able to play in Wyoming.

I don't know how much of the Amazon story she would reveal. Enough before the kidnap to be believable to the kidnappers and enough afterwards so that he didn't get creamed (destroyed) by the Epona house guard.

I might be a bit leery of trusting Felix because Felix has to be and be seen to be a winner. Would that make him want to beat Caél in the Great Hunt?

Just guessing don't know any spoiers

I've spent the last day reflecting on my 1-16 comment and I think that was somewhat unfair. I enjoyed most of the secret society stuff, as well as the diplomatic endeavours involved in that and the general mysticism. I also enjoyed the Ajax saga quite a bit. I think for me it dragged a bit during the JIKIT section due to the lack of focus on Amazon politics and the Amazon people as well as all the characters we've come to love. I think the way it went full circle in the last 3 chapters is what lead me to feeling this way.

One thing I hate doing is making lame emotional encounters. I like to build up relationships. Among other things, I want to have the first meeting between Cáel and Temujin to be deeply personal (just not in the upcoming chapter). He knows his spiritual Blood-brother has gone through a great deal for a people he barely knows and had no earthly reason to risk and suffer so much for - the people of the Khanate.

Temujin may be a hard, brutal man, but he also cares for Cáel because it was Cáel's hand and heart which saved his life. Since then, time and again, Cáel has acted in the best interest of the Khanate instinctively ... and Temujin understands this was not a life Cáel was prepared for, or wanted.

Put it this way:

There is precisely one person in the Earth & Sky who is not of Temujin, or his sons', or his Mongol clan's bloodline - Cáel.

There is precisely one person who Cáel bows to first in the Earth & Sky - Temujin. EVERYONE else bows to him (Cáel) first. EVERYONE who doesn't want their head chopped off because the E&S don't fuck around were Temujin's decrees are concerned. When asked why (and his underlings do feel free to question him) he responded "he risked his life to save mine when no one else could." To the E&S, that is enough. They honor Cáel's actions even though they are not privy to the specifics of those actions.

More so, Operation Fun House saved tens of thousands of Khanate soldiers and airmen's lives and pretty much insured their victory in the first round of the Reunification War with the People's Republic of China.

The Liberation of Tibet would have been much more difficult without Cáel and through him, JIKIT.

Thailand would have been a nightmare class of the Super Powers and forced the US into the PRC's camp. Instead, thanks to Cáel's intervention, both the US and Khanate came out looking great both militarily and diplomatically.

So, the upper echelons of the Khanate know how critical Cáel has been to their successes. Whatever resentment they may have harbored has faded because Temujin's faith in his brother have proven to be well founded.

None of the respect mentioned above would make sense had you not read through much of the 'filler' in the mid-chapters.

And while we definitely concentrate on Cáel's female entanglements, he is also loved by three men ~ as a son by Alal, as a brother by Temujin and as a friend, by Timothy.

And if you don't think Alal loves him ... then why is Cáel still walking around considering Alal could have snatched Cáel up at least twice - Mindszent and again in Rome?

James aka FinalStand

You make a very good point on developing the trust relationship between Cael and Temujin and I certainly understand why you did the things you did, it just wasn't as interesting to me as the in house Amazon and Havenstone situation(I would certainly never call it filler though). I'd guess the first time they meet will be at Cael's wedding as that seems logical and is only a few months away and I'm sure that will be quite interesting, especially considering it will also be a meeting between Temujin and Queen Aya who is technically his non blood niece(if i have the relationship setup correct). A meeting in which Temujin owes quite a bit to Aya and the Amazons given how much damage they did in various battles and the whole stealing a modern Aircraft Carrier thing.

I have to admit I'm very curious about the direction you intend to take the Amazon's in Saga 2, they are now fully exposed to the US and UK governments in a way the Amazon's as a whole had never intended although Katrina was clearly willing to allow given that she didn't squash Cael's approach to the two governments. This is also combined with Aya's words on the subject.

I have to guess that Katrina will be very old when she finally goes to the cliffs given how insanely capable she is in a job that requires virtually no physical ability.

I could probably make these comments on the individual chapters but since I'm already here. One of my favourite scenes was the battle that ended the female line of house Ishara, so incredibly well written and developed. On the flipside, I found the gulch part of the summer camp battle quite dull and a bit confusing although I admit it could've been my mood at the time.

Very much looking forward to the Great Hunt and Saga 2 whenever the inspiration hits you.

Weekly update please! Hopefully not annoying you :p

James,

I've read LaaNH twice!! I think that this is a great story and that you're a great writer!

I'm really looking forward to the Great Hunt and the next epic adventure! I'm very interested in the development of relationships between Cael and Buffy, how will House Ishara progress? Are you planning a new series after the wedding? Cael is no longer a new hire and his role in Havenstone and JIKIT, are ripe for expansion. Looking forward to whatever you have planned, because you've proven to be a great storyteller

Hey James big fan of your work....just one thing ,please confirm if the song death of a bachelor will be featured at Cael's wedding....

Okay ~ the bad news: Death of a Bachelor was released in September of 2015 and Cáel and Hana are marrying on January 1st, 2015.

The not so bad news ~ [Wikipedia] "In an interview with Pure Fresh on September 23, 2014, Brendon Urie stated that he had already thought about ideas on the fifth studio album," so ... in theory, he could have been inspired by Cáel’s wedding.

Now, during the 'TOO WEIRD TO LIVE, TOO RARE TO DIE!' tour, Panic! At the Disco appeared at Boston's House of Blues on 1/30/14, Montreal's Metropolis on the 31st and Toronto's Sound Academy on February 1st while Cáel was at Bolingbrook ... so he could have gone to see them. They certainly play his kind of eclectic music and I wouldn't put it past him, or Odette, to be seen wearing one of their t-shirts which could get the ball rolling.

So, perhaps, they could play it for the first time at Cáel's Bachelor Party.

Update: I finally have gotten to writing the Great Hunt. Actually, the night before the Great Hunt, but I suppose that is progress, right?

Good to see the humour start to show again. Also great to know that the words are started to flow again. If the ever want to read a story that has good laughs and a good plot look up three square meals by Tefler here on the site . It has a lot of good action and has good laughs just warning first couple chaptera are kinda slow. I lost count how many times I have have read life of a new hire and I have bought all 8 books plus all 3 naninites book as well. Can't wait for more of either story

Thalt992000(Larry hopper) thalt992000@gmail.com

I agree with thalt, it is great to see the humor coming out again. Hopefully a sign of happiness. I await patiently the next chapter. Have been curious since chapter 40 as to what happens to cause Cáel to be dealing with consequences. So many different possibilities. Thank You for keeping us abreast of how you are doing James. Well wishes!

James, Just as Cael has made huge progress during the internship, Aya has grown by leaps and bounds. It's amazing for her to go from a girl having temper tantrums to the girl holding a weapon on politicians after getting back from the kidnaping Is she now able to hold a bow and shoot? Is she progressing physically enough to pass her 12th year trial? Or is the trial more about brains than brawn?

Aya and her Bow

Yes and no. Aya is still as physically underdeveloped as she was when we first met her. The difference is her confidence had greatly increased and the Amazon 'stillness' many seek out their entire lives, she has found.

She is regularly hitting her 'closer' target and scoring well. She still uses her lighter arrows. Because of her size and weakness, St. Marie is considering the great step of allowing a member of the Black Hand to train her in their 'Anything Style' {picking up any random object in a room and turning it into a lethal weapon} .

It would be overly-simplistic to say gaining a Father-figure turned her life around. As Cáel often said, inside her was Greatness ~ and it was, just below the surface. Even then, the pivotal moment is with the 7 Pillars and their torture. In that moment, she had to truly face her physical frailty ... and it DID NOT MATTER. Any Amazon, no matter how strong, could break under that torture given time. What mattered was how they dealt with it.

In the Amazon racial psyche (taught through their extensive oral traditions) is the memory of the Amazons who, raped and battered by the Greeks, escaped ... then came back for the others. All Amazons are descended from those who initially failed and were taken captive. What mattered was they didn't give up. Even in defeat, they kept their wits about them and when the opportunity presented itself, they struck back.

Every Amazon is a descendant of a loser; a failed warrior, a woman raped and taken captive by men who did not defeat them on the battlefield, but who took them by treachery ~ outsmarted them. True, with the vast infusion of new blood over the millennia, most Full-blooded Amazons today have no direct connection to those original few ... but mystically, they are all daughters of those few.

And IT DID NOT MATTER because that wasn't the end of the Amazon story. They freed themselves, rescued the others and survived. They have outlasted all others by never forgetting one loss is not the end, only a setback.

When Aya's finger was seared by that blowtorch and she passed out, she confronted her weakness ... and then all those childhood tales came rushing in to remind her in the same way they buoyed another pre-12th Year, Zola of House Hylonome, as she made her escape to warn Cáel and the others of the destruction of her camp.

In that moment, physical discomfort did not matter. Her small size did not matter. What the world thought of her did not matter. What mattered was she was an Amazon with a problem and Amazons always overcame their problems using the tools on hand and not whining about the tools they didn't have.

From that point forward, when Aya shot her bow, she wasn't aiming at the target to make her Mother happy, or Aunt Katrina, or anyone else. She was aiming at the target for herself. Because one day in the future this was a skill she might need so she needed to do it ~ not for anyone else, but herself.

Aya is not going to out-shooting Desiree anytime soon ... or in this lifetime. By the time she's 18, she will be good enough to make the Amazons proud, but not the best by any stretch of the imagination. After all, the Amazons need her to be a Great leader, not a Great archer.

The 12th Year Test

The 12th Year Test is mostly mental with a physical component in that it is a survival test. They drop you in the wilderness with a knife. In 7 days you have to cross X amount of distance to the Qualification Circle. It includes endurance, stamina, knowledge of how to navigate by Sun and Stars plus how to make other tools in order to help you get by.

Along the way you will have to find water and shelter to some degree. You will have to tell time (to help you navigate). Smarts are clearly very important. Big, strong yet stupid Amazon children will get lost thus fail.

Note, 99% of Amazons girls succeed at this test. It isn't meant to kill them. It is more of a bonding ritual. It can be a little scary, but the children are monitored from a safe distance by very skilled huntresses (who stay out of sight and only intervene if a child clearly cannot carry on).

Also, informally, Amazons place great significance on what place you finish in. Being first is lauded and important things are expected of you in the future. The last one to qualify is considered to be touched by Destiny and lauded because they kept going despite the lengthening odds (and lengthening shadows of the setting of the 7th Day Sun). Never Give Up!

Three examples:

#1 Despite growing up with Childhood Asthma, Pamela pushed herself to excel at whatever she attempted. While she was expected to do well in her 12th Year Test, no one expected her to finish first, or so rapidly. Other Amazons sought to honor her for this feat. She scoffed at her Elders instead, saying that the 12th Year Test 'was nothing and meant nothing'. While most were insulted, her independent attitude drew the notice of the head of the "Executive Services" [Author's note: I'm considering having it been called 'the International Travel Bureau'] of the day and to Pamela's career as Amazons assassin.

#2 Katrina was actually predicted to be first to finish in her 12th Year Test. She wasn't. On the final day, when she was in the lead, she looked back across a canyon and saw another girl with a broken leg struggling on. Katrina realized the other girl was moving too slow to finish on her own so she went back across the canyon and helped that girl finish instead of gaining the glory of being first herself. Her actions still drew much praise and led to the first meeting of Katrina and Hayden and to Katrina becoming Hayden's protege.

#3 Hayden herself finished tied for last place ... a decade and a half before Katrina would do something similar (though Hayden wasn't expected to finish first). Hayden went back when she heard another girl cry out in desperation (unaware of the hunter close by). The girl in trouble had slipped down the side of a cliff and was barely hanging on before finishing her plunge to certain serve injury, if not death.

Hayden spent hours cutting up a sapling so she could lower to the trapped girl. She also convinced another girl to help because Hayden knew she alone wasn't strong enough to pull the trapped girl to safety. The three barely made it into the Qualifying Circle in time. Needless to say, her willingness to risk her status to save another and ability to convince a third girl to help were major factors in the Council eventually deciding to elevate her to High Priestess ~ none of which Hayden was even remotely aware of when she acted the way she did.

Failing the Test

So, what happens to the girl who doesn't make it to the Circle in time? They are 'women'. They will never have another chance to be 'Amazons'. They will never be taught any of the martial crafts (bowyer, weapons-crafting, armorer), or allowed to have children of their own.

The serve in numerous other functions and are treated well (aka not like outsiders, or males), but they will never vote in their Houses' councils, or gain glory by fighting by their sisters' sides. They are allowed to bear arms and use them in defense of their herds, freeholds and homes. They just aren't allowed to got to war with the other, true Amazons.

When they die, they do go to the Halls of their Ancestors.

A few do commit suicide in shame. It is a tough existence yet most understand their very presence encourages the young girls to study harder and practice with greater diligence because you don't want to end up 'like them'. In this way too, they still serve the Host. As I have said before, these are some hard ass bitches.

A 12th Year Test may be 'voided' by a Head of House, or High Priestess ~ meaning under certain circumstances an Amazon girl in her 12th year can be considered to have participated in a level of hardship which would make such a test irrelevant, or other 'special circumstances'.

A good example of this is Cáel and the rest of House Ishara. 12th Year Test ... making him do it when he's 22 wouldn't make much sense. As House Head, he voids the requirement of the test for himself ... and all the other Runners-turned-Sisters. All of the candidates have already proven themselves to be excellent Amazons after all.

I hope this helps.

James aka FinalStand

it seems a bit odd to have Pamela describe her 12 year test as barely making it and then saying she finished first and very rapidly

Not the first time, or the last, Pamela has lied/exaggerated the truth to Cáel. In this case, not totally a lie. Pamela worked through some severe childhood disadvantages ~ asthma plus being very difficult to deal with. Teaching her was a 'chore'. She really did secretly bet other students she could get her instructor's knife then proceeded to get the woman so furious with her, she threw it at her (Pamela). Pamela caught it, thus winning the bet.

Though I've never specifically the mechanics of it - I have mentioned it a few times; Amazons are given gold jewelry to commemorate acts which advance the Amazon cause, or exemplify Amazon virtues ~ Honor Gold. Pamela never accepted any, even going so far as to ignoring the person offering it to her as a studied insult insinuating she didn't give a damn what other Amazons thought of her, or her actions.

Even when her superiors knew of her predilections, they felt compelled to offer her such rewards. Her constant refusal was somewhat legendary in and of itself. It also explains why Daphne thought her Grandmother had an 'unspectacular' career in pre-Havenstone because she had seen her Grans at House gatherings never wearing any Honor Gold (when she should have) so she assumed she'd never earned any. Whoops.

Of course, it never occurred to Brielle, or Daphne, that the other House members pretty much ignored Pamela out of fear, not because she was 'unspectacular', thus a disappointment to the House. I say 'fear' not because she ever hurt any of them (badly), but because her behavior and actions were so utterly abnormal and Amazons are so much into conformity.

Dial that back to her pre-Test childhood and you know other members of her House's (older) children tried to 'correct' her ... and, knowing Pamela, you can bet eventually all those lessons failed. She'd poison her tormentors with diarrhetics then ambushing them (as a group ~ attacking them one-on-one wouldn't have been a challenge to young Pamela) in the toilets, or 'overly drowsy' in their beds sleeping, or in the baths with their soap turned into some nasty skin and eye irritant. She could be endlessly creative in striking back to the point the adults realized their children's actions were spiraling towards someone's death and put a stop to it.

So Pamela wasn't totally lying when she said she barely made it through her 12th Year Test. Looking back at her 'antics' she is occasionally amazed her siblings didn't kill her for all the shit she put them through. In fact, the Pamela you see in the story has 'mellowed' over the years. She was once much, much more snarky ... than she is now in her 'Golden Years' with her Granddaughters and Grandsons keeping her company.

As another example of Amazons not telling the truth ~ Daphne lied about Summer Camp, suggesting to Cáel it constantly moved around when later it was shown it did not. Why would she lie about it? Habit: Cáel wasn't 'one of them' so the inherent desire to be evasive around non-Amazons kicked in.

James aka FinalStand

I have to say that's what makes this story so fascinating. Cael is not an unreliable narrator but because he's such an outsider and we only have his point of view for everything, his assumptions are sometimes wildly inaccurate. The most notable one would be the assumption that within house Epona, only Aya, Desiree and Caitlyn were fertile. Obviously given that house Epona is probably over 100 members, that number would be more than problematic, it would already be a death sentence. One can also guess that Arwen is fertile although it never comes up because all of the apprentices seem to be, that we know of(Gale, Rhada and Oneida). One can assume that most of the heads of house are fertile and have daughters based on how the culture values that attribute. The exception being stone cold badasses like Katrina who seized power for other reasons.

This actually leads to a question I've had. Why is Oneida so closely guarded compared to most of the rest. Sure she is the apprentice of a first house but that doesn't seem enough for her to be followed by bodyguards at all times. Rhada doesn't seem to have guards, there is no mention of any for Gale. Oneida is very much a girly girl but that hardly seems like reason enough.

Another question I have that is more a guess on my part is that Katrina had first choice and selected Cael? It seems logical looking at everything we know now, including that it was her plan in the first place and she is essentially the third most powerful person in the host(second at the moment).

Katrina did not have the first choice though Cáel was the one she wanted. Bizarrely, the 'Conservatives' didn't want Katrina and Tessa putting a 'ringer' in so they insisted on the first two choices. The picks were Felix, Khalid, Cáel, Brian then Trent. A little serendipity helped here.

Felix has actually had the 'toughest' time. Khalid was set up for failure. Brian would be insulted to know he was picked fourth. Trent wouldn't believe he was the least favorable choice.

Yes. Yes, Oneida is special for reasons which go beyond her 'girlie' nature. It has mentioned in Chapter 12 "Oneida is precious to the Host" to Cáel by a member of the Security Detail ~ not just to House Arinniti. Again, in Chapter 16, some Council members 'wanted Oneida's head because it would be a more terrible lesson for her house' which hinted to Oneida being more than just a rare breeding female.

This also tells you how much Constanza must hate Cáel to risk upsetting her People.

As is the case with Pamela and 'a life for a life' prophecy not being clear and actually misconstrued, the augur's prophecy concerning Oneida's birth had long haunted her life, suggesting she would herald great changes for both House Arinniti and the Amazon Host. Has this been fulfilled by her actions saving Cáel's life which, in turn, brought about the resurrection of House Ishara? Is yet more expected of her?

After all, it turned out, we now suspect [or, I'm currently letting my readers suspect] Pamela's 'life for a life' most likely meant the cascading effects of Pamela taking Alal's life leading to the restoration of the Amazon Royal House and not Pamela giving her life for Cáel's.

James aka FinalStand

See James, this is why your fans keep hanging around. You're so talented, and the detail you go into, whether you give it to us or not, is first rate. It also makes us starve for your works, but that you routinely talk to us keeps us from losing our cool. I am curious though, could Alal's new body be fertile since it isnt his own and he isnt immortal ... or would all 3 soul shards be infertile if if werent for Ishara wanting kids, hence Feryko being able to impregnate Sybil?

I think the curse was directed on the soul rather than the body so no, alal isn't fertile. As far as the body is concerned James has mentioned about making bodies from spirit like the butterfly lady(forgot her name). Alal's new body is like that of butterfly lady but since she was immortal so I assume alal is as well though his body can be destroyed.

About the 3 shards, James once answered in a comment about the weave being able to see the future and that's how she wanted sarrat irrakli to do what she did with alal's soul. Cael was essential part of her plan for the stability of the world. Ishara's desperation is said to be the reason of Ceal's existence.

Hopefully it helps though James will explain better.

Now I want to ask some questions of my own,

1) If there were to be a fight between ishara and sarrat who will win?

As you said earlier sarrat was the queen of the underworld and I think she is much older and experienced than ishara. When the sarrat's dagger took on butterfly lady, the power of the knife nearly killed her. Like butterfly lady, ishara has amazon followers( 'many') who worships her and has been doing it for a long time compared to sarrat who hasn't been worshipped for nearly 5k years!

The reason behind this question is, I 'think' sarrat is more powerful than ishara and the desperation of ishara to have her bloodline secured was just a logical excuse for the weave to interfere hence the birth of cael despite the fact that he wasn't supposed to born due to sarrat's curse.

2) Can you please state the datewise occurrence of the events from ripple in the weave due to interference by the augur sisters to the night when uncle lumpy paid cael a visit to make a hole in his head?

I asked above question because of two reasons, first I don't know how and where uncle lumpy got the iinstructions to do the memory installation in Cael's head. Second I don't understand why he need cael's body to have all those memory. He is in a spirit body but I'm sure he remembers everything. So..when he destroys cael's soul and replaces his own won't he have all his memory with him? I don't know the exact procedure to make spirit body but I think(hopefully) alal's new body didn't go through the hole in the head procedure so all of his memory was within his soul!

These snippets really are insightful, James. Thank you.

I know Cael attributes much of who he has become (pre LNH) as a direct result of rejection & used this as fuel to find success early on (college). Aside from his mentors (Ferko & Kimberly), what allowed him to turn over a new leaf and create such a fulfilling life?

I hope I am not out of line, but the obvious reason Alal had Cael get that download is because he has never had a family. Cael, In Alal's opinion, needed to spend a day, month, years in Alal's shoes. Alal had no one to share his life with. He wanted someone on par with himself that could become a nemesis. Someone his equal. He hoped for a family, a son, progeny. If he could not have that he wanted someone that could play a game of Chess with, so to speak. Cael only had the Amazon's view of Alal. Alal was going to make sure he got his own unadulterated knowledge of Alal. Remember Cael only came to be, because Alal died. Alal planed the last 30 plus years of history. Put everything in place so that Cael would be born, the Earth and Sky would have the military equipment they needed to form the Khanate, Pretended to allow the Condotteiri to be its own organization instead of Alal's pet wolf. Alal even let Cael think he would take his body. ( I personally don't think it will happen.) After waiting 5000 years to hear someone call him Grandfather,snuffing Cael anytime soon would be shortsighted. Alal has always taken the long view.

My Thoughts

I think you are right. This may be the possible explanation for those events but after the first meeting with alal, cael was quite confident that alal will kill his soul to fulfill his motives. I don't know how he reached to that conclusion though.

Thanks!

I've been working on your answers and a time line of events ... and have broken 4,500 words [rough a page and a half on Lit.] ... almost done. I think I may just submit the damn thing it has gotten so big. The time line alone is 1,445 words.

It does explain how events unfolded leading up some of Alal's plans and motivations and why a few things worked out, behind the scenes, the way they did.

Really nice questions by all of you too.

James aka FinalStand

{Bit of trivia: Cáel Nyilas barely beat out ending up in a dog cage in Chapter 16 by becoming Cáel Ishara. It was Day 19 on the job and he started on June 16th. That made it ... Friday, July 4th ... Independence Day here in the US of A. My first thought was ~ 'Hmmm ... I guess New Hires don't get regular holidays'. Woot!}

Could she be high priestess oneida soon?

No, it is not fertile. Though he used the ritual he stole from the Cult of the Jaguar, he doesn't have the mystic might to make it durable, or create offspring with it. They are divinities and he is not. Effectively it is a body made from corpse energy ~ 298 people who died in one incident along with the death of their 'murderer' and the 'body which walked away' ~ which would be Alal ~ for a total of 300 dead.

Alal returned to the Sunlit Realm on July 17th, 2014.

James aka FinalStand

Oneida could not NORMALLY be the next High Priestess. She would be too old. The current crop of candidates was ten to twelve years of age because of Hayden's life expectancy.

All of that has changed with the revelation of Aya as Queen. Technically she can and should appoint a new High Priestess. In the days of the Royal House, the High Priestess was the chief among the priestesses of the Amazon deities. In the modern set up, the High Priestesses took over most of the royal duties while some of the religious duties devolved to the relatively unimportant office of Keeper of Records.

As mysticism has declined in the world, most of Amazon magic now resides in the augurs who are under the care of the Keeper of Records.

Why would Aya, Katrina, Krasimira, or St. Marie want to rock the boat? The Dead are walking around and mystical forces seem to be on the rise so a mystic guru would seem prudent. But who would they choose?

James aka FinalStand

didn't you say in the story somewhere that the current crop would be 15-18 right now as Hayden was expected to live another 8 years or so and the candidates should be in the 22-26 range?

James, I'm sorry to bother you with more questions but I / we your fans really appreciate your interaction with us.

When Cael left his seed with obisdian he told Ishara that she could now track or keep track of her. Does that mean Obisdian is now pregnant, or is it just Cael's DNA she can track? How much control does Dot have over Cael's ability to impregnate, could Dot prevent a little demigod from forming.

Thanks again for all your sharing and brilliant writing

Interesting question. I remember when cael and zhen were on plane and he was hitting on her, dot said that he will have a son if he impregnated her so I think dot has control over offspring. Your thoughts James?

First off, I apologize. The past day and a half haven't been great.

I) Yes, Dot does have control over Cáel and the birthing of his offspring. Before he was an acknowledged Amazons, her influence was limited. Since then ... he's 'fucked' as you might say. Rhada ... they've had sex multiple time, but only once without protection ~ knocked up. The one time he had sex with Gale he wore a condom ... and it failed. Hana was on birth control - fail. Miyako ... okay, that was his fault. Deidre ... supposedly infertile ~ now with child. Oneida - they have had sex ONE TIME. Estere more than one time, but only during one night - and he wore a condom every time ... fail. Zhen - one unprotected time - pregnant. With Sikia and Tadêfi ~ Cáel knew the fix was in that time ... and still double-pumped ... cause he's an idiot.

If this happened at a gambling joint, the crowd would riot.

On the flip side, Libra, Brooke and Odette remain baby-free ... for now.

Before you get to angry at Dot for her mass maternity frenzy ... please understand she has watched the Vranus bloodline wither down to just a handful over the past few generations until there was just one ... Cáel. While he remained free of the Secret Societies and mysticism in general, it was difficult for her to interfere in the lives of him and his ancestors. 2600 years of waiting all boiling down to one lone young man as the sole survivor of her mortal legacy and thus her hopes to restore the Amazon Host.

Why did she not act as SzélAnya? Ishara is still part of the Amazon pantheon and her actions and the resulting backlash would fall upon them. All SzélAnya has is her dwindling mortal relations so all her actions echo back on her alone. Besides, someone is using supernatural means to exterminate her bloodline, so the flow of good and bad karma is harder to judge ~ aka how much direct action she can get away with before something horrible happens.

Ishara has to think about all Amazons and Amazon deities. If she acted as rashly as SzélAnya has, Amazons elsewhere could suffer for it and that hasn't been a risk she has been willing to take.

Mind you, SzélAnya and her willingness to interact with the mortal world is a matter for the Amazons to consider before they allow her to have a house within the Host (again). Her actions could affect them all. Is the Goddess willing to hold back for the sake of the others? Would she agree to such a thing?

II) Yes, Obsidian has his viable sperm and can, if she wishes, start the long, arduous process of creating a hybrid child. Please remember though, the Weave does not like her and her activities so it would be quite difficult. Plus, the offspring would be susceptible to the influence of Dot Ishara (due to the child's Amazon heritage) and Sarrat Irkalli (due to all things Alal).

Also understand that while divinities have a great deal of knowledge and access to various sources of information, they are not necessarily smarter than humanity. As legends tell us, they can be tricked by 'mere mortals'. If you consider Humanities creation of nuclear, biological and chemical weaponry, we can be just as, if not more, destructive as they have ever been.

Illyankamunus though ... and creatures like him which exited before ... what they know, think and feel is unknown, at least to the current players. In the last battle, he was defeated metaphysically. Precisely how you physically defeat a Primordial Dragon of Water is unknown. He draws his essence from the streams, rivers, seas and oceans ...

III) Still looking for the passage on how old the next round of candidates for High Priestess would be. Ugh.

James aka FinalStand

Hmm, wow James thank you for that insight. Makes you wonder about Lady Yum Yum, who has had sex with him on two separate occassions, Riki, and Javiera who were part of the four-way second time. Dude is going to wind up with 50 kids lol.

took some google fu but I found where you mentioned the age of the next high priestess.

It's midway through page 4 of chapter 37

"You may note that this process ASSUMED that the old High Priestess would live out her normal lifespan and not willingly pass on until the decision process was upon the Council. I didn't give Hayden that luxury, so roughly SEVEN YEARS before Hayden was supposed to pass, she died. That meant all the candidates instead of being from 22 ~ 25 were more like 15 ~ 18."

Also isn't it Imogen that is having Cael's kid from the O'Shea contingent and not Deidre?

That it was only ever said he had sex with Kelly and Deidre, I just never thought of it till I just got done rereading for the like the 20th time all the way through. But was Imogen even on the plane there was Kelly Deidre bar...The one that sees dead people, Matilda, can't remember the last one.

It was Kelly, Baibre, Matilda, Deidre,& Imogen on the plane just went back and found the info at the end of chapter 30 and the beginning of 31 is when it mentioneds sex with only Kelly&Deidre. Which makes me wonder why dot only aloud one a child when he screwed 2 of them lol. Unless she feels like she could only interfere so much with that curse and not piss off the creepy Dagger chick SI.

I was operating off these two quote from chapter 44

""I'm pregnant," Imogen studied my reaction. Yeah ... I had banged her after Deidre, but before Baibre because I am a fucking reprehensible human being and sometimes, I feel I am utterly irredeemable."

""For the same reason I'm going to take care of our child, Imogen, I have to go to this meeting. People are counting on me to do the right thing without telling me what the right thing to do is.""

Imogen is the one who goes to Havenstone to be tested and monitored as well

I've been meaning to ask but for some reason keep forgetting, what house is Tessa head of?

James whilst we all have fun trying to work who did what with which and to whom, if you every make a continuity error I recommend the Bradbury defence.

Jaybee99

I overlooked that part than haven't read the last 4 or 5 chapters as many times. OK that still doesn't explain why there is only one preggers. unless it is like I was figuring can't interfere with the curse too much.? Either that or she choose the one most likely to produce the strongest in body and mind out of the aunts lol. Still leaves me wondering how much dot is screwing with càel just to torment him considering the only outsider that is not part of a secret Society is Hana. So makes me wonder how many more amazons are gonna be pregnant after the hunt. It's just a thought.

Yes ... it is Imogen who is the pregnant Aunt, not Deidre. Whoops. My bad. As stated previously, every time any divinity pokes around in our reality, there is the risk of some level of backlash. Making an infertile women have a child would definitely count. Why would Dot Ishara make a daughter of Alal within the Illuminati pregnant? Consider the solid family dynamic established over the past 30 years ... and how one pregnancy within their ranks would alter all of that and in a direction NONE of them, or Alal, could have anticipated. You win wars by unsettling your opposition. Would Dot Ishara sacrifice one child to achieve victory? Is that even a serious question?

Inevitable_, thank you for finding the quotation. In my notes, thru e-mail communications with various readers, I had discussed the possibilities of the next High Priestess being Vaski, or Zarana of House Inara who Cáel met at Summer Camp which led to that entry in the story (even though they are right below the lower limit at 14). Their youth compensating by the significance of them being twins.

Other candidates we considered - and yes, I gladly take and bounce ideas off of all of you - was Lorraine, Oneida and Daphne as possible HP candidates. Lorraine is clearly in the age group and it was casually noted the 'identified age' and actual age of Amazons working in Havenstone were two separate things. After all, a gradate of Executive Services would need to appear to be 21, or older, in certain legal circumstances so Havenstone lies. Also, you can start 'casted' training as young as 15 so Daphne and Oneida could easily be 18, or 19.

We have discussed whether such a person would even be someone he has interacted with in the past before, or someone entirely new.

J_Reader_Comics ~ actually too many children would be too much of a distraction for Cáel so Ishara would know when to 'hold back' and among the JIKIT team, he normally uses protection so we are still looking at minimal odds.

Okay. Today was another crappy day, but tomorrow afternoon the wife has promised to take me to see John Wick Vol. 2 to help me get my mind on straight! Woot.

Take care,

James aka FinalStand

Is important it may retain to the sons returning to the Host. What about the middle sister the one càel says he understands the most she would still be out the lower range but who is to say exactly went Hayden would have took her self to the cliffs it could have been a few years later than most high priestess. I have a feeling that Oneida will want to go with càel when he goes to Brazil to find the list sons. She would feel it maybe her destiny to be the one to bring them back into the fold. But at the same time it will increase the danger with her being preggy and adding more soldiers with her house guards going with her pluses Rachel's team+ càel Brazilian hotty the I can't recall the name right now not too mention Chaz, Virginia, Saku. I wonder who of the 9 clans will go with. But some of that is just theorys running around in my head

... except Amazons don't carry babies to full term normally anymore as has been noted numerous times. They have 'surrogates' though the precise process has never been brought up before. This means, while Oneida has a 'due date' of March 13th (the completion of Week 40), she won't be the one doing the birthing.

Normally Amazons keep the fetus within themselves for the first four months until it is safe enough to remove and the have a surrogate prepared for the task.

The Amazons will not be using a surrogate for Tadêfi because they don't have the time to create a similar situation in the womb the fetus would have grown up in thus the shock would kill it ... so Tadêfi has to soldier on and do things the old-fashioned way. Her projected delivery date ... the start of Week 35 ... I swear I did not make this up ... the week starting March 11th, 2015. Technically, Cáel's first born could enter this world on the Ides of March (the 15th).

James aka FinalStand

James. We know that Cael believes the other 3 new hires are over seas as essentially breeders and are in prison for the rest of their lives. Does Cael have the correct perception or do the other 3 new hires just work overseas in a facade and are manipulated into being breeders with out their knowledge. After all, they work for some real bitches... I ask because even the most isolated person would still have family wondering what happened to them. How could Havenstone avoid investigation from these rich families if Trent and the gang weren't updating them from time to time

There is a confusing(to me) part:

"A boy born in hatred with a heart which heals if he ..." the vision appeared to confuse Tadêfi ... which was ugly to contemplate. That would most likely mean others fucking with the Weave as well. "Borne in safety by a ghost and a name - Hana."

So, this part starts off as though the child will be a boy, but ends as a daughter? Or it will be a daughter as a ghost that saves the boy? Or?

I think finalstands comment/reply 9/9/16 to another question may answer this for you.

And no I don't obsessively read and remember comments that would be just sad.

It happens I was being smug about correctly calling the ghost as being Trần Hưng Đạo from chapter 44 extra and such triumphs are few and far between

Disclaimer

My opinions are not authorised by Finalstands especially if they are wrong in which case they aren't my opinions either.

JayBee99

I keep forgetting to reread 44 extra when i read this story.

Just want to take the time to say thanks for all the effort you've put forth and even if you never publish another chapter of this tale, I've enjoyed all the time I've invested into it and am immensely happy that I found this story. You've made my life richer.

"A boy born in hatred with a heart which heals if he ..." the vision appeared to confuse Tadêfi ... which was ugly to contemplate. That would most likely mean others fucking with the Weave as well. "Borne in safety by a ghost and a name - Hana."

So, this part starts off as though the child will be a boy, but ends as a daughter? Or it will be a daughter as a ghost that saves the boy? Or?

** "... born in hatred ..." references Zhen giving birth to the son of an enemy such as Cáel.

"... with a heart which heals ..."

References his possible future as someone who unites the 7 Pillars with a larger, Amazon-led Global Union.

'The vision appeared to confuse Tadêfi ... which was ugly to contemplate. That would most likely mean others fucking with the Weave as well.'

Is caused by the current and future efforts of the Gong-tau sorcerers to kill Father, Mother and child via mystic means thus making studying the Weave harder.

"Borne in safety by a ghost ..."

Well, the 'ghost' ~ as in the person who ought to be dead ~ is Trần Hưng Đạo. During his escape from the Seven Pillars, a key element of his plan involves one word - "Hana". This would imply Zhen will be making her escape along with him and with his aid.

It is easy for the Han Chinese nobles of the 7P's to look down on non- Han bloodlines. A Child of Cáel Nyilas and Zhen Duan would trace his lineage back to the first Emperor of China on her side and to Alal, the 5,000 year old founder of the Illuminati, on Cáel's side. The Son would have Temujin, Great Khan of the Khanate, as an Uncle and Aya, Queen of the Amazons, as an Aunt plus some other 'Half-Mommies' within the 9 Clans ~ all who might not appreciate such things. Insult him at your own risk.

Zhen and Zhen's branch of the Duan family, founding members of the Seven Pillars of Heaven so very long ago, consider themselves part of the Imperial dynasty because their heritage comes from a daughter of the First Emperor of China - Qin Shi Huang. Among the 7P's, there is no established Laws of Succession (to prevent the obvious bloodletting as various factions removed obstacles between their candidate and the 'top spot') so things are a bit cloudy concerning consanguinity primogeniture yet all acknowledge the Duan lineage is one of the 'most pristine'.

The fact is, Prince Yǒuyì Duan Nyilas Ishara [by the time he is born, his Father, Cáel, will be an Honest to God Prince plus Cáel will 'recognize' his birth], is somebody with a hard road ahead of him.

Back to the struggle ...

James aka FinalStand

We are behind you

Hi James,

I am glad you are feeling well enough to be writing again. Given your answer about Cael and Zhen's son I believe this story is a living breathing Mandelbrot set! No matter which corner of the story you look at, the inspection only reveals a deeper, further entwined plot thread. I too have read start to finish multiple times and keep coming back and finding new insights. Thank you again for such a wonderful, entertaining story.

In an earlier comment James rhetorically asked this question, but i have an idea floating around in my head(and that is always a bad thing).

Right before asking the question the possible reasons for them actually 'rocking the boat' were stated as; 'The Dead are walking around and mystical forces seem to be on the rise so a mystic guru would seem prudent.'. Earlier in the same comment it is stated that; 'In the days of the Royal House, the High Priestess was the chief among the priestesses of the Amazon deities.', and the Amazon's now have a queen.

It is very possible, in my opinion, that if Cáel pulls off the 'miracle' that he wants to that Tadêfi would more than likely end up as High Priestess. I mean she is an augur and most Amazon magic resides in them, she will have given birth to the first daughter carrying the Isharan genetics in a couple and change thousands of years, and survived the birth against all odds.

There, now the thought is out!

Thanks for all you do James!

I'll give it a try

What do we know or guess?

We know that Amazon society is very conservative and that they don't change behaviour easily.

We know that the shortlist of candidates was chosen long before Caél joined so his behaviour would have no influence on shortlisting but might eventually have on the final choice.

Hayden is our only example of a High Priestess

Hayden was First House and could have children.

Lorraine and Europa are Epona and not First House and there is an implication that they are unable to have children

Daphne and Brielle Cottyttia are similarly not First House

The summer camp twins are First House so may be eligible as is Oneida

Marilyn might have been shortlisted but we can hope that her behaviour would make her ineligible.

I don't know who else from a First House would be eligible nor if we don't know the character yet. There is no particular reason that they would be in North America or that Caél would have met them. In any event Caél is often wrong about stuff.

Of course the Keeper of Records at the time of shortlisting and any Augur might have had an inkling from the weave of what was about to happen so candidates might not have to be First House.

As I have said in earlier posts, just guessing

JayBee99

Just finished my 5th reread of this amazing story. And given the hiatus from the latest chapter I felt like giving some encouragement. I have no idea what you have been going through in these past years, but I applaud you all the same for doing what you do, writing stories that make people happy. Ever since I first found this story so long ago I have never gone at least a few weeks without checking Literotica to see if it was updated or if you mentioned or commented anything new. Sure I haven't loved every moment of the story (sometimes the other worldly news lost me) but even the parts I got lost in I still read over and over again to just get a better glimpse of the world you have created. I love this story, I love Càel (even if I mispronounce his name 85% of the time I read it), and I adore you and all the seriously hard work you have put into this. Thank you so much for the time, effort and stress you have put in and lost to this story, I can not describe how grateful I am to have learned of this story. Keep doing what make you happy (assuming doing this does in fact make you happy) And know that someone, somewhere is getting another snicker out of Càel's misfortunes.

Keep Well,

Doug

Tau_Ceti - I had to look that up ... I wish I was that clever. Truly, I do. I repeat, so many readers have contributed to the development and direction of this story. Sure, I had some basic ideas, but so much has been altered by suggestions of others.

As for the High Priestess ... I would roll you back to the first political lesson Pamela gave Cáel ~ you gain nothing by playing nice with Bitches.

Aya is Queen ~ Nasusara. Sure, she's 9 going on 10 in a month, but events have thrust her into command of the Host. She had been recognized as an Amazon – no longer a child. The Queen of the Amazons is an autocrat. By Sacred Tradition, there is only one check on her power ~ to be challenged by a daughter over her competence to lead. There is no such person.

For nearly 3,000 years, the High Priestess has ruled as a placeholder for the absent Royal House much in the manner of the Stewards of Gondor in Lord of the Rings. In reality, the only person who could condemn Kwenhamai for her transgressions was Kwenhamai.

Yes, this is bizarre. This also suggests for the history of the Amazons before Troy you had a succession of rather exceptional ladies leading the Host. Those who deemed themselves to be unfit would step down, or at least faced a challenge. Technically, just like a House Head, they could refuse any such challenge yet no Amazon Queen used that means to cling to power.

Wise Queens listened to their advisers ~ the Golden Mare, the Spear of Night and the High Priestess ~ as well as regularly gathered the Elders (now the Heads of Houses) to hear their grievances and settle disputes. Back in the day, this wasn't too difficult. There weren't a lot of Amazons and a swift runner could traverse the length of the Queendom in a day. Still, the final decision was always the Queen’s.

Since the death of the last member of the Royal House the Amazon Council and High Priestesses have done nothing to alter these ancient laws and traditions. Kind of like leaving the order of inheritance of House Head being ‘… the eldest’ instead of ‘… the eldest female’. FYI, they still haven’t changed that clause.

Now, if you are thinking: ‘But, come on now! This is the 21st century and the Host is modern, tech savvy and up with the times. Surely these ladies won’t trust their fates to a 9 year old.’

Dial back a few dozen chapters and think about all those House Heads who, instead of defying Hayden’s decree ~ knowing their ironclad convictions on how the Amazon Host should face its future were about to be crushed ~ showed up to the Council meeting to have their names read out as TRAITORS FOR ALL TIME … then cut off a lock of their hair … and were walked out of the chamber … and were executed … KNOWING they were going to end up in the Endless Black Sands until their souls were destroyed by the agony of that existence … instead of going to the Paradise they most certainly thought they deserved. Every … last … one.

That was EIGHTEEN of them, by the way ~ a third of the Council. Can you imagine a third of your Congress/Parliament/What-have-you simply resigning for the good of your Nation’s political health? Hayden didn’t only take out the die-hards like Ursula of House Marda; she removed the ones who ‘might’ be a problem for St. Marie and whomever followed after. Hard – ass – bitches …

Recall St. Marie blowing Troika’s brains out to defend Cáel less than a minute after she wanted to blow his brains out? She didn’t even hesitate. A quick-draw to a fatal shot inside of one second.

Recall at the previous meeting Krasimira was actually going to slit her throat if that was what it took to get Cáel to lift the Curse of Ishara (though she as the only one)? Cáel had to stop her.

Think about that level of fanaticism. It – is – not – rational. The Guiding Light for the Amazons is NOT the Scientific Method. It is not Liberalism. It is not Humanism. It is far, far closer to the Stone Age than the Age of Enlightenment. Yes, all those wacky broads absolutely believe Aya is their monarch by Divine Right.

As you probably know, Aya is very conscious of this devotion – thankfully. If she told a member of the Security Detail to throw herself off the roof of Havenstone, the only ‘talk back’ she’d get would be ~ “Should I take the stairs, or will the elevator be fast enough, my Queen?”

Mindful of this, Aya will only press so far because the only form of protest open to the Amazons is to sheer a lock of their hair and, since suicide is forbidden in this time of war, become houseless ~ which is a horrible fate for any Amazon. No House = No Paradise. There are no ancestors to guide then and not goddess to prepare such a place. All they are doing by not ‘taking themselves to the cliffs’ is postponing their date with oblivion. Hard ass bitches.

Aya will still press to do things she believes are in the best interest of the Host. Of course she will access the far more experienced Amazons around her yet the final decision is hers. She will not balk. She has found her ‘stillness’ ~ her center ~ and she knows if she feels strongly about something she must do what she must do.

Now, to the matter of the next High Priestess. In the beginning the position was the agreed head of all the temples to of all the Amazon goddesses. Back in the day, the chief priestesses of each faith would jockey for the slot and the group would present the winner to the Queen as the High Priestess. The Queen could refuse and dismiss a High Priestess if she desired yet did so very rarely. The High Priestess was the intermediary between herself and the various deities … who took a rather active hand in things.

In the 21st century, that isn’t how it works. It takes the divinities 20 to 25 years simply for them to put forth the signs & portents and set up the challenges for the various High Priestess candidates. All Amazon mysticism resides in their handful of augurs [at this time I’m working on the theory there are only 11 left; the loss of five was nearly crippling yet it has turned out to have been a critical gift those five paid for with their lives. If they lose Tadêfi …].

Because of this new reality, Aya is considering naming an augur the new High Priestess. Also, in quiet connivance of Krasimira, she considering offering Runners the chance to become augurs.

A horrible fate? Sure. The initiative has three purposes.

First off, the Host needs more augurs. If the goddesses select a Runner, it will send shockwaves through the Full-bloods ~ ANOTHER clear sign the goddesses embrace Runners.

Secondly, the Runners are divorced from Amazon religion and mysticism and Aya wishes to change that. In her mind, the Runners need to know the whole deal ~ the nature of the world and magic, the reality of the goddesses and the true promise of the Afterlife.

In turn, she hopes to inspire the Houses to seek out Runners who share qualities of their goddesses at the same time Runners are finally given the opportunity to understand they are fighting not only for success in this life, but an eternity of companionship, or the end of all their possibilities. Aya will not perpetuate what she sees as the vile crime of leaving the Runners ignorant of their fates.

Third, though she doesn’t yet know how, Aya is trying to find a way to beseech the Goddesses to create a Paradise for the Runners. With an augur as High Priestess, she hopes to contact her ancestors – the dead of the Royal House and commune with them. Hopefully she can convince them to help her. How she can coerce these entities, or is it even possible for the goddesses to do … but she must try as she is the Queen of ALL Amazons; Full-Bloods and Runners.

Can you imagine the faces of Shawnee, Buffy, Rhada, St. Marie, Katrina and Krasimira when she informs them of her intentions and, barring knowledge why her plan won’t work, that this is what the Host will do. Doing this in the middle of a war? Precisely! Runners will be dying! Her Runners.

The Winter Solstice meeting could go something like this:

The Council: “Shouldn’t we talk about this? Revealing some of our deepest secrets?”

Aya: “No.”

Council: “Ah … Have you received good advice on this matter?”

Aya: “‘Them’ dying and their souls wandering aimlessly isn’t your business – it is mine. Until you embrace them, you have no voice in their affairs in this life, or their Afterlife. This is not a trick to shame you. In the purist form of duty, I must care for them because no ancestor, or goddess will. I am not asking you to do this. It isn’t a burden I can, or will assign to any of you. The Runners are my Amazons. I do not have the luxury of considering any of my Amazons more precious than any others.”

Elsa: {whispers} “Ouch.”

[***]

{For the curious, the Amazon homeland was bordered by the Say Deresi (a mountain stream which reaches the Black Sea) in the east, was centered on the Terme (Thermōdōn) and Yeşilırmak (Green) River Valleys and stretched west to a north-south running ridge line with the notable summit which is now called Bayrak Tepe (Flag Hill). To the north was the Black Sea and it was nestled tightly against the Anatolian Alps along the entirety of its southern border.

That's roughly 45 miles wide by 40 miles deep with a mixture of coastal agricultural lands surrounded by rugged highlands covered with Euxinic deciduous forests. Today that is all of Çarşamba, Terme and Salıpazarı districts plus most of Tekkeköy and Ayvacık districts all in Samsun province, Turkey.}

1) Oneida: her possession of two bodyguards was indeed unusual and on multiple occasions it has been referenced she is ‘precious to the Host’. She is not a candidate for High Priestess – because her ‘special’ status would not have been revealed. Yes, there is a mystic prophecy of sufficient vagueness around her.

Oneida has lived with the knowledge of this for a long time – since childhood. She has lived with the weight of others expectations. Unlike Aya, people have always been confident Oneida would do ‘great things’ without any pressure to perform … which is its own kind of pressure on her.

Oneida doesn’t feel special, or didn’t until she met Cáel. Being mother of one of a dozen new Isharans doesn’t bother her. In a way, though she doesn’t want to share the Head of House Ishara, she takes comfort in being one of five other Amazons resurrecting the line of Ishara and Vranus. Oh yeah … and those other, outsider women.

Mind you, it was the actions of Oneida which set forth the discovery that Cáel was of a Dead First House Reborn, led to the death of Ferko Nyilas and the current Secret War and the Reunification War in Asia. Through her confrontation with Constanza, she set forth the return of both the other Lost First House ~ House Anat ~ and the Royal House of the Amazons too.

Without her, the Seven Pillars would have hunted down and killed Temujin. Instead, the entire diplomacy and war-planning of the Amazon Host has been transformed. The Host has active allies she fights side by side in battle with which has never happened before.

And yet there is this sense her destiny hasn’t come to fruition yet.

2) In the matter of Queen Aya and the next High Priestess – I addressed that in the above post.

3) The return of House Anat is pretty much assured with the return of Queen Aya. Aya can honestly claim Sakunyias fought for her safety on that first night at Summer Camp. Had Saku not saved Cáel, the Seven Pillars would have secured the bridge and their column would have entered the main camp … and kidnapped the children … including Aya.

Sērkuēn lived and died under a Sentence of Death. She walked through Hell for 2,200 years. As far as Aya is concerned, she fulfilled her sentence and Krasimira can support her decision – Sērkuēn did DIE and was denied Paradise.

Sakunyias will be recognized by the Goddess Anat. By Amazon law, she automatically becomes House Head. She will then induct Runners who survive a certain number of combat missions (which will certainly include a proscribed amount of atrocities, skull collections and basic horrific battlefield behavior). No one can accuse her of mellowing with age.

4) It has been suggested I give some flashbacks of a younger Pamela to continue to explain how she developed her quirky behavior and interacted with her fellow Amazons. Also, her epiphany when she took herself to the cliffs … then returned. At that point she knew she would have to face Alal again.

As for Pamela growing old, or dying … I’m not planning on it. In a way, I see Pamela and Aya as part of Cáel’s soul. Pamela has kept in peak condition because she has known she would have to face the greatest foe of the Amazons again. She wondered ‘who’ gave her the warning when she desecrated Alal’s corpse ~ as in who spoke to her in the Amazon tongue to tell her ‘a life for a life’?

Right now … I figure Pamela will hang around until she’s 95 … or 100. Perhaps when Cáel can finally pluck that pebble out of her hand … 105 … or more.

5) What is the success rate of the New Hires? Technically, there are three ways to look at it:

I. Either NO males made it – Cáel wasn’t retained by Katrina after all. (0%)

II. Cáel stayed a part of Havenstone the entire 84 days. (20%)

III. Cáel and Felix both survived the piranha tank without being relocated. (40%)

So, if you have four New Hire classes a year and the current class is 20 … you could expect (since option I would mean a failed program) either 4, or 8 successes for the next class. To add to the success rate there is the fact both Felix and Cáel will be offering some mentoring for the newcomers and the Section and Department Heads will no longer be out to trip up the guys (though they will still make things difficult). That suggests a success rate by December 30th should be 6 to 9 guys, depending.

6) A reader discussed with me the probably fates of the other three first wave New Hires and it looks like you will be hearing from one of them again.

James aka FinalStand

professional tribalism, it almost seems like a throwaway comment when it is mentioned as the thought process of John Rios but it's actually fundamental to understanding the amazon culture. If Cael gave Rachel an order she'd follow it regardless of how insanely stupid it was. Hence her frustration during the hallway fight in the morgue. However 99.9% of the time, no amazon in her care would overrule her because it's her job and her understanding is what matters. In a similar sense, that is how the entire amazon culture is ruled. It's autocratic in the vast majority of situations. The one exception to this seems to be the house structure, which has it's first means of deciding a leader as a vote. Even then we get plenty of indications that the apprentice is selected by the house leader and the vast vast majority of the time, it's respected by the house as it is.

It's a very democratic society in the sense that there is no real infighting or political shifting sands because everyone knows exactly where they fit in the hierarchy and respects it. This allows for the free flow of ideas and the ability for up and down respect because nobody is threatened by political maneuvering or appearing powerful, it is already known where they stand, something that is also seen in the car ride discussion between Esmeralda and Rachel.

In a similar sense, you notice this in the discussions surrounding Aya becoming Queen, the Golden Mare counsels but never commands her in any way, even her comments towards Cael's suggestion is given as nothing more than advice. Even the head of house Bendis' comments aren't a critcism of Aya directly but a statement of the fear that putting a 9 year old in absolute control of the Amazon host might be unwise, something which St Marie quickly quashes. Although FS may want to correct me on this if I'm wrong, this is just how i took it.

This is also seen in the implementation of the ideas. Her regency suggestion is immediately accepted and while the rest are delegated to the regency, it is also accepted that she is Queen and therefore it will happen and it is their responsibility to implement and do it. As she is still a 9 year old girl and therefore can't reasonably, to the outside world, be President of Havenstone.

The cowardice of Hayden runs contrary to the above because when the host is in dire need, she needs to rule absolutely and didn't have the courage to do so, she defaulted to the comfortable standard situation that the host operates in rather than the brutality that was necessary. Aya makes the statement about ruling with compassion and cruelty. Hayden did well with the compassion in all areas, but failed when the ultimate cruelty was necessary.

Ok I've been reskimming the book (4th time) and I just gotta say, first things first, If Tolkien and Sherrilyn Kenyon, through some unholy necromatic ritual, made a child, that child will still have a lot of work to catch up to you.

You are literally one of three authors on this site, that I know that if I come back and read, I'ma have a good time (and the other two authors haven't updated in upwards of a year and a half).

Nextly, I know you probably wrote this somewhere already, But I'm confused; Illy the Magic Dragon, has a house in the Host if I'm not mistaken, and fathered Anya, who was also a member of the host.

If I'm not mistaken Vranus' line eventually came to Cael, Bolu's to Alkonyka and the t

3 Arriniti to Brazil? Am I right or wrong?

How can House Illy not know the plans their patron god. Also why do the amazons follow a male dragon god?

Also why is Anya so keen on bringing about the end off all things?

FS please correct me if I'm mistaken in this.

You are correct in the progression of the 5 men who were sent on that last mission, as far as we know in the story anyway.

The distinction seems to be that House Illy knew that their patron was actually SzelAnya and not Illy becuase Illy was killed, they also knew that their true line went through their male children, hence their protests during the second betrayal and their statements about being gone quite quickly.

A few people in the council knew the secret and basically moved members ashamed with the host or their house into that house to stop them from committing suicide in shame. Thus house Illy still exists. This is mentioned somewhere in chapter 40 or 41 iirc.

Anya is not a member of the host, she is a diety like Dot Ishara, her father is another level of diety above those, a more primal force of the weave compared to their more grounded and restricted elements. Anya is the daughter of Illy and she wants to bring him back because she wants her father back, this is echoed in the rules for her line in which the males carry the genes for the warrior daughters, she recreated her father daughter relationship within the host.

Regarding why their is a male diety as the patron of a house, my guess is that Anya had her followers name it after her father in honour of him and as a reminder of how the bloodlines are drawn, from the male side.

I have been working on the legendary reason why this is so, but I've had some personal issues ...

#1 The five males who escaped the 2nd Betrayal were from three separate Houses: the younger adult was Vranus of House Ishara who is the ancestor of Cáel. The veteran adult was Bolu of House Illuyankamunus. There were also three boys (assume ages 9 ~ 11) were from House Arinniti. Had they been older, they might have been missed. The Arinniti elders would have picked the oldest 'pre-test' boys they had to give the group the highest odds of survival possible.

The descendants of Vranus remained in Transylvania, the place the group had originally fled to then in late 1944 fled West and ended up in Chicago. Bolu's eventually dispersed over the rest of the Balkans with a few eventually returning to Transylvania. Now they handful survivors are under Havenstone protection in the US. The Arinniti Sons' descendants also remained in Transylvania until late 1944 then fled West before getting passports to Brazil.

#2 The souls of the members of House Illuyankamunus for the past 2,600 years have gone back to their birth Houses. The intercession between them and the High Priestess allows them to restore their honor and clear their grievances with their Houses and ancestors.

The souls of the final few 'True' members of House Illuyankamunus right after 2,600 years ago ... were lost. They failed their Goddess and their ancestors. Unlike every other Amazon, those ladies should have gone down swinging for their males. Unlike every other Amazon House, they knew one of the prime purposes was to protect the males of their line, both adults and children. They lived. Their males died.

#3 Yes, when the Amazon Host fled after the First Betrayal and formed the First Twenty Houses they knew House Illuyankamunus's matron deity was, in fact, SzélAnya. The Goddess wished her House to bear her Father's name. This dates back to the events which led up to the death/dismemberment of Illuyankamunus and how his slayer, the Thunder God, Teššub.

Much of what follows I have mangled from actual Hittite mythology and gets its start in the fact the one of the two major centers of Arinniti worship was the city of Nerik (Nerikka) on the Halys River in northern Anatolia (Turkey), adjacent to the Amazon homeland. It is at the city of Nerik the Hittite religious and noble hierarchy once celebrated the slaying of Illuyankamunus by the Thunder God, Teshub. The ‘truth’ is somewhat different than what was carved in stone.

The Divine Players:

Anu – Son of the Primordial Heavens. First God of Heaven.

Kumarbi – Son of Anu. Once upon a time, supreme God of the Hatti. Led a prehistoric rebellion against the First Gods and stole his Father, Anu's, power by symbolically ripping off and devouring the testicles. In turn, he was later overthrown, bound and murdered by his three sons, Teššub, Tašmišu and Aranzaḫ.

Teššub – Son of Kumarbi; Hatti Thunder God and later Supreme God of the Hatti. He married Arinniti … and later had an illicit affair with Hannahannah (Ḫepat) and was father of the Goddess Inara and the semi-divine Šarruma ... among others.

Tašmišu and Aranzaḫ – The brothers of Teššub. They are recorded in the history of the Hatti. Their true fates was a bit more … gruesome.

Inara – Daughter of Teššub and Arinniti and Goddess of the Hunt and the Wild Places.

Šarruma – Son of Teššub and Hannahannah and semi-divine hero and champion of the Hill Peoples, the Poor and the Unjustly Wronged.

Illuyankamunus – the Dragon of the Primordial Oceans and father of SzélAnya.

SzélAnya – Daughter of Illuyankamunus and Dragon of Storms and later Champion of the Unjustly Wrong [it will make sense].

Arinniti – Daughter of Anu; Hatti Sun Goddess and the Goddess of Heaven, Supreme Goddess of All the Goddesses of the Hittite Pantheon. In the Sunlit Realm (our reality) her cult was so important it was most often led by a Princess of the Hittite Royal House, or the King’s Wife herself. She was the wife of Teššub and mother of Inara.

Hannahannah – Mother Goddess of the Hurrian and Hittite and mother of Šarruma.

[***]

Among the divine as in human society, patricide is a horrible crime. When a divinity commits such a crime, the retribution is both mystical and echoes throughout time. After Teššub and his brothers overthrew Kumarbi, they broke custom and murdered him, their Father. Though the imprisoned Anu had given them the knowledge to defeat Kumarbi under the promise to be released, they only partially honored their pledge. They re-imprisoned him in the night sky – forevermore.

This did not sit well with the other gods and goddesses. It really didn’t sit well with the other primordial beings, chief among them Illuyankamunus. He and his ilk refused to do him any honor, or homage. So … haven already taken out their Father and Grandfather, the three brothers thought they could take out Illuyankamunus too.

Ooooohhhh … as you might imagine, that went badly. Teššub got off the luckiest. Aranzaḫ was shattered forever and his name erased from legend. He is now known as Tigris … the river. Tašmišu was turned into a vegetable [a fruit actually … something called wheat]. Next time you have a slice of bread, thank Illuyankamunus. Forever useful and forever an object lesson on why to not mess with dragons.

Teššub had his heart ripped from his chest and his eyes plucked out yet managed to escape a final fate. The light of Arinniti shown so bright, he cast no shadow thus Illuyankamunus and his brood could not find the wounded Thunder God. Eventually they gave up the hunt. While the other deities tried to heal his wounds, Teššub plotted revenge.

While he was so wounded, Arinniti rallies the divinities to resist the host of monsters grown savage in the world and eventually make peace and promising an end to the killings. Illuyankamunus agreed and Arinniti agrees in Teššub’s name. Meanwhile, in the sacred Mount Zaliyanu (near what becomes the city of Nerik) Teššub knocked up the attentive Hannahannah and they beget Šarruma. Wary of his own family history, Teššub stole half of Šarruma’s divine might so that he when he was born, he was robbed of his immortality.

Roll forward an appropriate amount of time. Teššub wandered the world, looking for a way to heal his wounds (get his eyes and heart back). Hannahannah put a bee hive in his chest so the stings of bees would alert him to anyone sneaking up on him as well as keep the two in touch. {Ouch … love hurts?}

Šarruma grew up in the rough hill lands around the mountain of his birth. Soon he became somewhat of a celebrity defying bad kings, slaying monsters and bandits and helping travelers and families in need. He attracted the attention of the goddesses Inara (monster killing was sort of her thing though there was this ‘truce’ with Illuyankamunus so some monsters are off limits) and SzélAnya (those were some of her lesser family he had slain).

After several encounters, games and challenges, the three formed a friendship and the two goddesses fell secretly in love with Šarruma (he was the Cáel of his time?). Each decided to marry him. Both knew it would be difficult to get their fathers to accept them marrying a mortal man.

Inara found Hannahannah and asks for her advice. Upon seeing the ‘man’ in question, the other goddess said she needs to ‘think on the matter’. Hannahannah contacted Teššub and he comes back … with a plan.

Teššub has sought out the advice of the twin goddesses Istustaya & Papaya who told him he could gain his revenge if he could get Illuyankamunus to freely return his heart & eyes then poison him at a feast with his own tears. The love triangle between the three was his perfect opportunity.

Illuyankamunus, not wanting the mortal to marry his divine daughter put an impossible task before Šarruma. "I demand you bring the God Teššub before me," he growled.

"I will," the mortal laughed, "if you agree to host my family at our wedding feast."

"If you produce Teššub, I will do so," Illuyankamunus pledged. Šarruma returned to his Mother and asked her to send for his Father then went to tell SzélAnya the good news.

Before that, Teššub, knowing of the situation, heard Inara's appeal.

"Father, let me marry a mortal man and a land to call our own and I will do whatever task you put before me," the Huntress boasted.

"Bring me back my eyes and heart, or forfeit your own and his," he challenged her. Inara's heart sank because she knew this task was impossible. Knowing this and fearing her father's threats, she went to find Šarruma and warn him and SzélAnya to go far, far away.

The three met and set about their own plan. Sadly for Inara, Šarruma announced his love for SzélAnya, but SzélAnya, in order to save Inara from her father's (Teššub's), wrath decided to sneak into her own Father's lair and steal the heart & eyes of Teššub and give them to her.

Thus Teššub was restored and Šarruma was able to present his Father at this wedding festivities hosted by a dubious Illuyankamunus. After the ceremony, drinking and feasting, whereas everyone else was pretty drunk, Teššub bided his time ... then struck. With the help of 'unnamed' others, he overwhelmed Illuyankamunus. Šarruma, seeing his Father's treachery to his Father-in-law, threw himself between the two, demanding his Father stop ... and that if he didn't stop, he would have to take his own son's life first.

Well, Šarruma ended up dead and Illuyankamunus was dismembered.

Afterwards, a furious Inara came to Teššub and demanded the body of Šarruma and the land of her own as he had promised. Not being totally lost in grief, she brought an equally angry Arinniti ~ where to begin? Teššub had broken the Peace she had engineered with Illuyankamunus and his brood, had violated the sanctity of a host and their guest, and he'd slept with another goddess creating an offspring who he'd then murdered ...

... and a grieving Hannahannah, who wished to bury her son.

So they buried his body near Mount Zaliyanu and the Land of Inara ... became in time the Homeland of the Amazons ... and the bond of love and shared grief between Inara and SzélAnya remains to this day.

During the days of the Hittites, the Cult of Illuyankamunus (SzélAnya really) was subversive and hunted except in Amazon lands. The Amazons didn't like the men within the cult, but the cult wasn't pernicious in Amazon lands and the Amazons wouldn't comply with Hittite efforts to exterminate them.

During the days of the First Betrayal, the cult decided to try its luck with the fleeing Amazons. The cult never confided 'why' they had men in their ranks, or their true purpose ~ bring Daddy back. That would have gotten the all killed ... much sooner.

#4 Why is SzélAnya so determined to bring Illuyankamunus back?

Imagine knowing a beloved parent of yours is being constantly tortured. You can hear them inside this mansion you find yourself in. You keep hearing their screams coming from another room ... another floor. Do you get tired and stop looking?

Does she know he might bring about a Global Cataclysm if he returns? Yes. She often questions if a reality which has inflicted this upon her Father should continue to exist.

[***]

And if you think SzélAnya sees 'something about Cáel', you might be right.

The Scion of Vranus and Ishara has come through all of these centuries to tell her, after so many years of dwindling hope, that he will help her return her Father to life and correct this great injustice.

I hope this mini-essay has helped.

James aka FinalStand

I am in awe of your background and research skills.

I don't know if you already had that information to hand or created it just for the answer to the previous comments.

If I can throw in a question then

Who are the Brotherhood of the Wolf and will we get to meet them someday? You told us they operate in parts of North America although they acknowledge the rule (?) of the Clan of the Jaguar

Please let us know if these sort of questions are distracting you in a bad way from writing. None of your fans will take it amis.

Jaybee99

The Brotherhood of the Wolf is part of the Blackhand. And seem to have small 'chapters' all over the globe. Cáel mentions them when speaking with the Vizsla in chapter 32 to plant the seeds of one of Alal's 'fuck ups'(I use quotes because who knows if it was truly a mistake on his part, or part of a plan): "On January 26th, 1847, the Black Hand Chapter House of the Wolf in Verona was wiped out - there were no survivors."

I would think that once their leadership start talking about that comment Cáel will be getting a visit, as they will want to know how he knows this. Because the Blackhand are similar to the Amazon's in that they avenge/take care of their own.

Thanks Riverwolf222

I had forgotten about the Black Hand and Alal's involvement

I was thinking about the reference in the previous chapter 46 when Cael is discussing the Cult of the Jaguar's supremacy in North and South America

"As a final note: technically the Cult of the Jaguar controlled all 9 Clans' territory in North and South America. In actuality: in Canada, they let the Brotherhood of the Wolf establish bases. In the US east of the Mississippi and north of the Gulf, they allowed the Black Hand and Brotherhood to work. In Brazil and the Caribbean, they allowed the Coils of the Serpent to set up shop. All three did so knowing they operated under sufferance of the Cult and the Cult didn't fuck around."

I thought the Black Hand and the Brotherhood of the Wolf were separate parts of the 9 clans and that Alal's attack you referred to was an attack on a particular chapter of the Black Hand.

Oh well I was kinda hoping that seeing as Caél was going to cheat to win the Great Hunt he was somehow going to get help from the Brotherhood of the Wolf but I suppose to do that he would need to know in advance the location of the Hunt and only the Keeper of Records knows that.

Never mind. I just liked the name as they sounded cool and I was hoping they had some sort of wolf spirit to lead them.

Hang on: Riverwolf - House of the Wolf. Is this not just you trying to disguise your involvement?

Thanks guys. You are correct. Here is a bit more clarification.

The Black had was formed from the disbanded elements of a Roman Imperial espionage agency in the Late Roman Empire and had Branches and Chapter Houses across the Mediterranean World and Europe. Over time, due to invasions, religious conflicts and wars, many ‘offices’ fell out of use, or migrated geographically, becoming more associated with a given successor state, religion, or ethnic group until you ended up with the group you have today.

Their loss of most of Western Europe was due to the decline of commerce and trade there in the Dark Ages. The loss of much of the Middle East and Africa was due to the Islamic invasions and resulting turmoil and displacements of power centers. In the Renaissance the group recouped and began to expand back into some lost territory. Between them and the Hashashin slowly ground down a pro-Ottoman secret society though that absorbed much of their energy.

In the West, the Illuminati stomped out Black Hand efforts to infiltrate beyond the Alps, but was unable to keep them from returning to the Iberian Peninsula. In the late 19th century, the Black Hand was able to regain a toehold in North Africa though their influence remains minimal today.

In contrast, the Brotherhood of the Wolf grew up out of the numerous religious and peasant rebellions of the 17th century. Amid the slaughter at the hands of various different Christian fanatics, a handful of desperate souls tapped into some primeval, savage spiritualism which gave them a means of evade capture and strike back.

It also clued them into the subliminal Illuminati power players behind the scenes. The Brotherhood became a microscopic yet persistent threat to the established order. Officially, they were portrayed as a rag-tag, gypsy-ish mob while in reality they turned their new occult talents and zealotry into weapons which allowed them to slash and burn the worst abusers of legal and moral authority.

By the time the Illuminati realized they had a problem on their hands, the Brotherhood had spread out of their Vosges Mountain birthplace and across the surrounding countryside in all directions. Their first serious attempt to exterminate the Brotherhood of the Wolf ran afoul of another Illuminati enemy, the Egyptian Rite, who ‘outed’ their old foes in Germany in the late 18th century.

The Catholic Church launched a witch hunt against the ‘Bavarian Illuminati’, highlighting how their byzantine nature could be turned against them. This confusion went on long enough for history to take a hand ~ in the form of the French Revolution and the resulting social upheavals which seized Europe.

As the Old Regime was swept away and was replaced by equally brutal ‘democratic’ forces, the Brotherhood was transformed. They became involved from the beginning as allies with the ‘reformers’ only to become disenchanted with the Reign of Terror which followed. Before long, their new allies began turning on them only to learn how terribly dangerous that was.

By the time the Black Hand began attempting to take advantage of the chaos to move back into Western and Northern Europe, they ran smack into the Brotherhood. The Black Hand also initially mistook the nature of the Brotherhood and blood was spilled on both sides. The Brotherhood proved to be far more brutal and durable than expected.

The ‘cell’-like structure of the Brotherhood proved impossible to break. Either you wiped out the local pack, or they came back in a few years, stronger and more determined than ever. Eventually, as the Napoleonic Wars came to an end, the Black Hand and the larger ‘9 Clans’ decided their efforts were better served inviting the Brotherhood into their fold.

With the coming of peace, the Illuminati would definitely come gunning for both outfits yet the Brotherhood refused because, in their hearts, they didn’t seem themselves as heartless assassins, killing whomever for the almighty (name your currency). It would take the tumults and repressions after 1848 to change their minds ~ they couldn’t go it alone and survive. Thus Brotherhood became the 8th of the 9 Clans.

The Brotherhood of the Wolf operates in packs with a priest, or priestess and pack leader plus 3, or more members. Rarely is any pack larger than twelve. Beyond that, each pack is individualistic, with a wide variety of differing talents per pack. Even their attitudes can be different ~ with one pack being backwoods, feral hunters while the next are urbane, sophisticated professionals.

One a year, if possible, all the pack leaders and religious heads gather in the Vosges during the dead of winter to discuss Brotherhood business, handle internal disputes and … get back to their primal natures. This powerful bonding ritual allows their leadership to indoctrinate members with a fanaticism which has been, to date, unbreakable.

Unlike other groups, the Brotherhood doesn’t have families, or support networks which feed them new recruits. They select promising outsiders from all walks of life. You are invited to join ~ the manner of which differs from pack to pack. If you refuse, that is it. They respect your freedom to go your own way. They rarely ask anyone twice. If you join, it is to the death. Beyond that … well, no outsider knows.

The Black Hand:

[House Head Name] – Black Hand House Name (geographic area of responsibility) – traditional Roman Imperial Head Name {normally the same as the province they were stationed in} – list of provinces responsible for if beyond one.

Lynx – Bulgaria (Bulgaria, European Turkey and Istanbul as an ‘Open City’) –Thracia

Chamois (a mountain goat) – Albania (Albania, Southern & Central Bosnia) – Dalmatia

Goat – Hellas (Greece) – Achaia – Achaia & Epirus

Magyar Vizsla {was Hound} – Hungary (Hungary, Northern Bosnia, Eastern Croatia & Eastern Slovenia) – Raetia – Raetia & Noricum

Son/Daughter of the Moon – Transylvania (Northern Romania & Slovakia) – Dacia

Wolf – Italia (Italy, Western Croatia, Western Slovenia and Monaco as an ‘Open City’) – Italia, Alpes Graiae, Alpes Cottiae & Alpes Maritimae

Wallachia (Southern and Eastern Romania & Moldovia) – Brown Bear – Moesia – Moesia Superior & Inferior

Lanner Falcon – Serbia (Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro & Eastern Bosnia) – Pannonia – Pannonia Superior & Inferior

Bull – Hispania (Spain & Portugal) – Hispania – Hispania Baetica, Hispania Lusitania & Hispania Tarraconnensis

Pine Martin – Sicily (Sicily & Sardinia) – Sicily – Sicily & Corsica et Sardinia

Striped Hyena – North Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia & Libya) – Africa Proconsularis

Currently defunct Branches:

Cornish chough {Chough} – Britannia – England

Gallic rooster {Rooster} – Gallia – Gallia Aquitania, Gallia Lugdunensis & Gallia Belgica – France (most of)

Bee/Beehive – Gallia Maritimae – Gallia Narbonensis & Western Mediterranean Sea – Southern France

Central European Boar {Boar} – Germania – Germania Superior & Inferior – Belgium & Luxembourg

North African Elephant {Elephant} / Loxodonta africana pharaoensis {now extinct} – Maurentania – Maurentania Caesariensis & Mauretania Tingitana – North-western Africa

Horse – Macedonia – Northern and Central Greece & Western Bulgaria

Swordfish – Asia – Asia & Bythinia et Pontus – Western Turkey

Platanus – Cyrenaica – Cyrenaica, Cyprus & Crete – Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Faun [mythical] – Asia orientalis – Lycia et Pamphylia, Galatia & Cilicia – Central Turkey

Caucasian leopard {Leopard} /Panthera pardus ciscaucasica – Cappadocian – Cappadocia, Armenia, Colchis & Regnum Bospori – Eastern Turkey

Asiatic lion {Lion} / Panthera leo persica – Oriens – Syria, Judaea & Arabia Petraea – Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan & Sinai

Egyptian vulture {Vulture} / Neophron percnopterusippo – Egypt – Aegyptus

***

James aka FinalStand

Thanks for that.

In my many re-reads of LAANH I had neglected the casts and notes chapters.

I had forgotten how useful and insightful they are and well worth reading.

Maybe Nutranch would be able to give us an updated version with comments attached?

Jon

Horrible week. I've been looking into, among other things, the nature of 30x192mm ammunition ... which is actually 30x210mmB, or 30x210mmR though definitely not the 30x210mmCz ... so I'm calling the manufacturer, in Serbia, Monday to see if they still produce that brand and if the have perfected a special APDS round last heard about in the 1990's.

The phone call can't go any worse than the one to the Burnham Police Department talking about how they would handle a murder involving multiple parties using fully automatic rifles and grenades.

I am not even sure if the scene involving this will make the final draft of the Chapter, or perhaps in a separate submission as it involves a FUCK-lot of politics. Why is it important? A hodgepodge allied force resisting vastly superior forces where lightly armored IFV's will be confronted with some T-55 main battle tanks. Having expended their anti-tank missiles, the IFV's only option is to race/sneak behind the tanks and engage them from behind ~ thus the need to know if their 30mm autocannons have a hope of penetrating that rear armor.

Yeah ... sometimes I obsess over stuff.

James aka FinalStand

odds are the FBI and ATF would end up running the investigation into a gunfight involving people that don't exist or are legally dead using military grade weaponry on US soil. That would be my thought process anyway.

... inevitably, yes, but I was asking how the investigation would start from the moment the reports of gunshots was received, to Burnham assigning an investigator, to them bringing in an investigator and forensic team from Chicago to the ATF and FBI being brought in. In the story, I wanted to know what Cáel would face from the authorities and how soon he would face it: the time table.

The tipping point from a Burnham/Chicago investigation to an ATF/FBI investigation was the number of weapons involved in the crime, not the fact automatic weaponry was used. Unlike CSI shows, it takes time to identify bodies to the point you 'know' they are really bad folk.

The biggest hurdle for Burnham was the murder of Ferko Nyilas made NO SENSE. Since the firefight and murder happened late in the evening, all the surrounding neighbors were home. There were plenty of witnesses.

{Within 2 hours they would know ...}

I) From the neighbors they were told he was a quiet guy who rarely, if ever, had company over.

II) He had a son who was a recent college graduate, alive and half way across the country.

[This established few people would come to the residence looking for anyone else.]

III) Neither had criminal records of any kind. Easy enough. The charge of Bestiality against Cáel in Canada had already been rescinded.

IV) None of the other bodies were recognized by anyone in that neighborhood.

V) It was a low-crime neighborhood.

VI) A preliminary search of the house revealed nothing out of the ordinary. He didn't own a bunch of stuff a guy with his supposed lifestyle could not have afforded, or to have sold off things which would have suggested desperate debt of some kind.

VII) From a preliminary check, neither Ferko nor anyone he was close to had any strong religious, political, or radical affiliations. As the whole house was a crime scene, the police could go everywhere.

VIII) The amount of firepower was absolute overkill.

From the early forensic investigation {6 hours}:

I) This was a military encounter. When looking at the amount of bullets fired, the use of grenades and the fire discipline used, this was clearly not a gang-style spasmodic violent eruption.

II) All the weapons recovered, while capable of fully automatic fire, were on either 3-round burst, or single shot => which only makes the sheer number of rounds fired all the more terrifying. This implied people being shot at were returning fire. Gangs don't do that. Military people do.

III) Then there was the absence of the regular culprits ~ your standard AK-47 and older AR-15 clones. All of these were 21st century bang-bangs.

IV) Every body save one (the homeowner) had either a PDW, carbine, or rifle PLUS at least one pistol and at least one knife on, or associated with, their body.

V) Every body save one (the homeowner) was wearing light, concealable body armor.

VI) The presence of grenades, both used and unused - both lethal and 'less-lethal'/non-combat.

VII) The four women had tactical communication gear, night-vision goggles and kits suggestive of a covert military operation.

From my perspective as an author, I wanted to know how long it would take before the Federal authorities took over and in what form it would take. Mind you, the murder of Ferko remains a Burnham matter and will be persecuted by the Cooke County District Attorney's Office unless it is wrapped up in a larger Federal criminal trial.

*The sad fact is everyone involved in ordering, or carrying out, the murder of Ferko Nyilas is now dead. Not only all the people who pulled the triggers, but the people who set those killers in motion. No loose ends. Blaming Alal would be hellishly impossible as technically, he too was deceased when Uncle Carrig gave the orders. Technically, he remains deceased as he is not in his own body thus not truly resurrected.*

** Sabina of the SD, who actually ended Ferko's life, is still alive. She is not being charged with his death. She could be as she was carrying an illegal arsenal around his yard that night ~ in the US, any death which happens while in the commission of a felony is felony murder ~ but Javiera has wrangled the understanding the Amazons were acting as an 'Undeclared Nation-State' as opposed to a criminal conspiracy. This means what the Amazons did was still wrong, but it was wrong in a diplomatic context as opposed to a strictly criminal one. In other words, an Amazons 'diplomat' saw a crime in progress against an American citizen and responded to it ~ a laudable action. The 'diplomat' had an unregistered firearm - a separate offense ~ which warrants expulsion.**

As for the firearms and immigration violations: they are a separate legal matter to be pursued by the Federal task force which has morphed into JIKIT. Also, at the this time, it can be assumed the criminal conspiracy has crossed both State and international boundaries, making this a matter for the FBI, CIA and US State Department.

There was that point where Investigator Brewster and Detective Capella decided they had to go beyond calling the ATF in the morning and saying "we found a bunch of automatic weapons at a crime scene ~ could look at some serial numbers for us?" and knowing they had to call the FBI and say "we have had two groups of military personnel duke it out down here and we need help." In the former, they remain in charge of the investigation. In the latter, they risk having the FBI, or some other branch of Homeland Security, coming in and taking over.

Brewster makes the call to Cáel before bringing in the FBI because he's talked to many of his neighbors and is worried they will talk to Cáel first. He wants Cáel's reaction. While it is bizarre, it is not of of guilt. He and Det. Capella still run down various leads as the Feds step in, but all they really learn is Cáel appears to have a solid alibi (the TSA in New York records him boarding his flight to Chicago) and little motive ~ bank statements kept at home showed he only kept up his Union Life Insurance policy and, while it suggested Ferko owned the house and Cáel might be his rightful heir, it wasn't so valuable you would normally associate murdering one's father over. Various written correspondences over the years (Ferko didn't like e-mail much) also suggested a strong, loving relationship between the two.

Yes, Brewster called Havenstone and talked to his boss (Katrina) about Cáel and his work status ~ was he upset ~ did he need money? Stunningly, she told the Investigator Cáel was doing a fantastic job, was getting paid gobs of money, showed no signs of job stress and was well-liked around the office ... and 'yes, she believed he and his father were very close.' Yeah, Katrina lied.

After all, had she said "we put an arrow in him two weekends ago during a failed assassination attempt, regularly stab and beat him up, and last Friday morning nearly gave him a life sentence inside a Dog Cage before putting him on our Board of Directors" ... she would have had some explaining to do ... about Cáel ... Cáel's precarious state of mind ... and what the FUCK was going on inside of Havenstone ... now wouldn't she?

James aka FinalStand

Having no experience of ammo and less of T55 tanks I did what any sensible ignoramus would do and looked on Wikipedia. From that I suppose the answer is it depends whether or not the tanks are stock or if they have been up armoured.

I also know that most of your fans will believe you if you say that the IFV will be able to stop the T55 or if they know better will spend disbelief. They also know that sending an IFV up against a tank voids the manufacturers warranty.

The Israeli and the old Iraqi army may be able to tell you as they have both fought against T55s

I will also assume that if we do not hear from you for a while it is because the ATF are having a serious chat with the guy who is in contact with a Serbian arms manufacturer about 30 mm armor piercing ammo.

Jon