The whole time I’ve been here, I’ve only seen people peeking through blinds, afraid to come out! But now these people don’t have to worry about the Ugly harassing them anymore! They don’t have to worry about the Coil robbing them!
Joy coursed through him, almost unbearable as it caught in his throat. He realized that he truly had done something to help the people of Pontius. All of his efforts, his suffering, his wounds, the blood of his dead friends – they had helped transform a city that everyone else had given up on.
I can do it, Wodan thought. I can change this world! I can…
I can make it better.
Wodan turned to Matthias with a warm, hard smile on his face.
And I’ll crush anyone who stands in my way.
To be continued in
Demonworld Book Four:
Shepherd of Wolves
Appendix 1: Cast of Characters
(Note that this list is arranged in alphabetical order by first name when given, as that is the name most often used.)
Alpha – A Coil Master Thief who wears a silk mask.
Anne Repetitio - A true daughter of Pontius. Jens claims she thinks of herself as a “hooker with a heart of gold.”
Arcturus - Foreman of the Most Holy Order of the Smiths.
Barkus - Former leader of the Right Arm of the Ugly who has gone into hiding. Middle child of an Ugly who was once Head of the Ugly, and who was killed by his three sons. Hacked off part of his lips and cheeks into the shape of a smile in order to gain his position. He is disappointed that he survived the Crusade against Haven, but also glad that he ran and left many of his clansmen behind, just as the scouting demon betrayed him when he first went to Haven.
Boris the Living Scar - Head of the Ugly and youngest child of an Ugly who was also once the Head. Carries a strange bundle under his robes. He is quite handsome. Busy consolidating his power in Pontius after the terrible defeat in the Crusade and subsequent loss of income now that the fragmented Right Arm and destroyed Left Arm cannot gather a regular supply of slaves.
Senior Detective “Gramps” DeSark - An older detective who took Virgil under his wing when he was a promising Lawman years ago. A good detective, but has been passed over for promotion many times because he either does not know how or simply refuses to “play the game” with his associates.
Dove Langley - A strange female being. Hates her first name.
Fachimundi - Accountant to Barkus. A wicked, black-hearted sadist who was present during the slave revolt which resulted in the discovery of Haven and the Crusade against it.
Filius Bilch - Spiteful merchant of Sunport, former owner of Maxil and the ship Hero of Old, both of which were stolen by Wodan. The Ugly, in exchange for his ironclad steamship, are legally bound to grant him three wishes.
Globulus - In his youth, none could match his wisdom. In his elder years, King Hargis had him exiled for unknown reasons.
The Hands - Awe inspiring dealers of death who protect the Head of the Ugly. Possibly the most dangerous individual humans in the entire world. Their training is intense; many who have tried have died, their skulls smashed to greasy bits or insides eaten through with acid. They cover their entire bodies in black so that no one will know who they are. One is a master of combat, the other is a master of poison, stealth, and assassination.
King Hargis - A descendent of Hargises who won a longstanding feud and became lords of their land. Was an expert soldier and sniper in the military. After exiling the court Philosopher Globulus, and the subsequent disappearance of his outstanding soldier Vito, he decided to have his sons trained as court Philosopher and Entertainer. Note that the Hargises of Haven are descendants of those that wanted to escape the violent feud.
Hari - An old primitive of the wasteland who survived by not being noticed. Was enslaved with Wodan by Barkus and the Right Arm of the Ugly.
Hunley - A Smith Scribe who refuses to directly take part in violence. He does not take his role as a Smith very seriously.
Director Janice – Lawman and Director of Precinct Zero. Has spent his life wading through the muck of Pontius, doing what he can and even what he must in order to stay one step ahead of the gangs.
Jared - A young Cognati mercenary trained in Srila, the holy land.
Jarl - A traveling Entertainer who met Wodan in Sunport just before he left for San Ktari.
Jens Hardonson - If life is a joke, he is its punch-line. Had a relationship with Anne years ago. He is the best storyteller at Floyd Street - but beware his lies!
Jerry - A Captain of the Coil, and a successful businessman even before he became a gangster. His office is technically charged with keeping tabs on the Head of the Ugly, in tandem with a few other Coil offices. The fronts for the various offices he has managed include real estate appraisal services, money management advisory services, and the loaning of money for interest. Jerry usually takes his business fronts more seriously than his Coil-related duties.
Jessup Hargis - Older brother to Zach and next in line to rule. An Entertainer whose gifts in music are beyond compare. Is currently in an insane asylum crying over the girl who got away.
Justyn Daaz - A very strong being.
Matthias - A very fast and quick-witted being.
Mother – An old widow who bore Barkus, Boris, and the late Bartholomaias. She suffers from a humongous goiter on her neck.
Nobody - An orange robe of Srila.
Miss Oliver - An esteemed Businessman.
One – A Coil Master Thief who wears a valuable paper mask.
Paul “The Seer” - A commander of berserkers in the Right Leg of the Ugly. His sudden change of vocation from Lawman to Ugly is not so much proof that men can change as it is proof that men can become more of what they already are.
Pelethor - Successor to a long line of powerful businessmen and a high-ranking Captain in the Coil. Many people consider him standoffish and emotionally cold.
Pete Zentl - Son of a semi-wealthy family. An expert at chess even when blind drunk. Has a strong face but often avoids conflict.
Primus – A Coil Master Thief who wears a mask of gold.
Lieutenant Detective Rancis – Virgil’s superior who answers directly to Janice. Has a thin mustache that goes counter to the traditional bushy mustache usually worn by Lawmen.
Judge Rosebudd - A famous hard-nosed judge of Pontius. Has dedicated his life to cleaning up that which does not want to be clean.
Scorpio - Baby son of Pelethor. Named after the poisonous creature of the wasteland that was, long ago, the symbol of a noble family who once ruled the land on which Pontius was founded, even before the rulers of Vatica journeyed inland.
“Claws” Senki - Leader of the Left Leg of the Ugly. His violent tantrums are legendary.
Ullrich – A young man who works in a small pizza restaurant and has utter disdain for the gangs of Pontius.
Utrecht Sera - Leader of the Right Leg of the Ugly. His face is covered in horrible burn scars.
Detective Virgil - Lawman known for his upright moral sense and forthright demeanor. No one ever invites him to parties because of his tendency to make people feel guilty for telling lewd stories.
Vito – A great warrior of Hargis who loyally protected the kingdom against dogmen raiders and rebels. He came under the tutelage of Globulus and disappeared. Because of his hairiness, stocky features, great fighting ability, and questionable lineage, some call him Half Breed behind his back, the implication being that he is half-man and half-dogman.
Wodan - An exile of Haven who has been stripped of his family name and traditional name.
Zach Hargis - Son of a king. Is traveling the wasteland in order to learn and make his philosophies stronger through experience.
Appendix 2: Overview of the Gangs of Pontius
(This appendix was included in Demonworld Book 2: The Pig Devils, and is included here mostly unedited from the original.)
The Ugly. Possibly the most powerful force in Pontius. Their granite castle
is the largest structure in the city. Their troops, mostly young men marked with self-inflicted scars, roam the streets looking for trouble. (On the weekends, city jails are packed with screaming Ugly youths; Monday mornings are filled with bleary-eyed Ugly turned out into the streets.) Most of their income comes from the flesh trade: enslavement of debtors, the contracting of forced labor, and prostitution. There are many Laws in Pontius that regulate the treatment and care of slaves - however, since slavery itself is illegal in Pontius, the Lawmen can force their way into Ugly safehouses and records whenever they want, so city judges and Lawmen exact a heavy graft on Ugly profits whenever they can.
The Ugly are divided into a body. The multi-segmented Left and Right Arms sweep out of the city and into demon-controlled territory to capture fresh slaves. The Left and Right Legs are made of the most battle-hardened troops, who run to fight wherever battles occur; their berserker elite fight against Lawmen, the Coil, business mercenaries, slave uprisings, and dogmen, even if outnumbered. The Body is composed of the Ugly youth, young men ready to give up their lives as worthless individuals and live with meaning - meaning as handed out by the Head of the Ugly, who is the ideological master of the Ugly and is guarded by the terrible Hands.
They follow the tenets recorded in a sacred book called the Red Book, the Book of the Red, the Leather Book, or simply The Book, of which there are as many versions as there are handmade copies. The Pontius court registry lists the Ugly as a tax-exempt religious organization.
Their flag is a scarred skull-and-bones on a purple background.
The Coil. Sworn enemies of the Ugly. Masters of subversion, invisibility, and exploitation. They have no visible quarters and no public figurehead; they rule from the shadowy niches of society. Their finances are difficult to track, but they may be the wealthiest gang in Pontius. A lot of their income comes from protection racketeering. They quietly demand money from businesses and wealthy individuals, and those that don’t pay have their homes and stores burned to the ground. They are a parasite on society - but even the city government pays them protection money, for the Coil has shown itself willing to burn the very foundations of society into ashes. They also make and distribute most of the illegal recreational drugs in Pontius, and run many speakeasies.
Some say they have no headquarters and that the majority of businesses in Pontius operate as Coil safehouses. Still others believe that three aged Master Thieves govern the Coil and its businesses from a bunker thousands of feet underground.
The Coil sometimes use their economic influence to employ a group of mercenaries called Cognati. The gangs of Pontius fear these southlanders greatly, for they are said to be wizards who can read minds and kill with a thought.
Coilmen in the field wear either plain clothes or the garb of whichever group they’ve infiltrated. In their secret meetings, they wear fine black suits tinged with strips of dark green or gray. Their flag is a gray four-legged serpent eating its own tail on a background of either black or green.
The Smiths. Their power is their monopoly on technology. They preserve the blueprints and techniques for the creation of steel, engines, guns, radios, paper, medicines and poisons, etc. They sell their products and warranties to businessmen and gangsters alike. They are treated with much honor; crossing a Smith means missing out on necessary technology. They are led by men who understand the techniques of statecraft, and can ensure the welfare of the Smiths who do the actual work of studying and creating the technology of the Ancients. It is rumored that they have vast underground vaults full of advanced technology, the make and use of which has been gone from the knowledge of mankind for thousands of years.
Since the Smiths power is monopoly, and since that monopoly rests on adherence to absolute secrecy, no true Smith would hesitate to kill one of his own should he be suspected of revealing clan secrets. “Without ownership of the Secrets,” say the Smiths, “we are no different from any other starving wretch.” Overall, their monopoly is not resented; the logic of their clients being that the technology in use has kept the powers of Pontius in balance, and to use forbidden technology, which the Smiths are said to keep in their vaults, could arouse the curiosity of the demon. The gamble of the new is not worth the risk.
The Smiths wear skullcaps or bandannas of red or white, and black aprons, cloaks, or robes. Their flag is a golden gear on a black background.
The Law. Their power is the power of invulnerability. Without the power of the Law, the gangs of Pontius would drown the entire city in blood. The Law collects great amounts of money from every Law-abiding citizen and business. Though their income is regular, it is far less than the Coil fortunes. Lawmen regulate drug traffic, slave traffic, public disturbances, and enforce non-Ugly religious traditions. Farmers outside of Pontius city walls can pay for the Law’s protection from demons and human raiders.
Their main headquarters is Precinct Zero, a giant, square structure built above a dungeon that houses the city’s worst psychopaths, and is situated near Cathedralia, where the city’s elected rulers make decisions concerning the Law. While less in number than the Ugly, each Lawman is better trained than the Body of the Ugly. Regular Lawmen wear traditional denim while high-ranking Lawmen and detectives wear suits. Black and blue are the colors of the Law.
The Entertainers. More a cult than a gang. The nature of their power is as mysterious as the nature of their secret beliefs. Whatever the case, the fact is that some people - artists, philosophers, dreamers - disappear from the routines of “real life” all the time. Sometimes they come back, hollow and strange and unreceptive to the things we hold dear. Sometimes they never come back at all.
These are the pillars that uphold and feed off the body of Pontius: Religion, business, science, law, art.
Appendix 3: Hierarchy of the Coil
Soldiers – Grunts who distribute drugs to local dealers, run protection rackets on businesses, attack rival gang members, or even infiltrate rival gangs.
Lieutenants - Young, capable leaders of Soldier teams who, in descending order of frequency, 1) make the rounds to businesses caught in the protection racket of the Coil, 2) lead raids on businesses and rival gang storehouses, or 3) lead attacks against rival gangs. High-ranking Lieutenants are in charge of protecting Coil speakeasies.
Captains - Older men who either work within the Coil organization and direct Lieutenants, or manage businesses dealing in legal and illegal goods and bring money into the organization. The amount of money a Captain brings in, and the weight of his social connections, determines his standing among other Captains.
Master Thieves - Three legendary figures who oversee the entire organization and send orders down to their chosen Captains. The Master Thieves might not even exist; the most powerful Captains keep counsels of their own, and cooperate in directing many enterprises. The Captains who claim to communicate with Master Thieves seem to have no idea about their true identities.
The Cognati - A team of mercenaries who have been in the employ of the Coil for generations. They are trained by the mountain-dwelling monks in Srila, far to the south. They are said to be wizards and are greatly feared.
Appendix 4: Most Holy Order of the Smiths: Hierarchy and Beliefs
Magi - The Smiths have their own army of hoodlums who pay lip-service to the sanctity of the Machine but, by their actions, are no different from the thugs in any other gang. These brawlers are called Magi, and almost all of them carry radios and guns of very fine make.
Scribe – Smiths that copy ancient blueprints or makes devices based on ancient designs.
Copywright - Smiths contracted to work in businesses, and sometimes with other gangs, to repair machines and guard the knowledge of their construction.
Zealot - One who oversees and trains other Smiths. These Smiths are also expected to spy on their charges and, if their apprentices should fall short of Smith codes of secrecy, they are expected to kill them.
Foreman - Leader of the Order of the Smiths. Election of a new Foreman is d
ecided by the former Foreman, but his decision must be agreed upon by an informal council of Zealots. The elected Foreman remains such until death. The Smith Foreman has the power to declare fatwa on someone, usually on one who has given away Smith secrets or who does Smith work (that is, creating technology) outside of Smith supervision. Edwar Bruner, inventor of the zeppelin, has a fatwa on his life.
Smith Religious Mythology
Smiths worship the god Epimetheus who stole ice from the old gods and brought the knowledge of how to produce it to the scalding hot wasteland. The designs for refrigeration and cooling machines have been copied ever since, so that food and life can be preserved against the elements. This technology is the first technology; guns are the second technology in order of importance, for they were made, it is said, to protect the first technology.
Note that Smith religious beliefs are not a popular religion, as are the beliefs of the Ugly. The beliefs of the Smiths are inclusive and elitist. They do not seek the conversion of outsiders. (Most churches in Pontius are sects of the same root religion out of which came the Ugly, and many of their religious texts are similar in nature. Even Haven’s own Holy Series of texts comes from the root-religion that produced the Ugly and the Book of the Red.
Hierarchy of Smith Deities
Smiths worship Epimetheus but also pray to his Gears, which are like angels or powers, each with their own dominion and quality. For example, one Gear has dominion over the nature of preservation; another, dominion over rational thought; another, luck in finding lost technology and in divining its proper use. Lower than the Gears are Cogs, who are great Smiths of the past that are enshrined in their history.
Smiths believe in a heaven called Machine, which can be here and now, if one’s life is copied properly from the holy texts just as, in one’s work, one endeavors to copy technology properly from the holy blueprints.
[Demonworld 3] The Floyd Street Massacre Page 33
