Is Jack Daw getting the short end of the stick?

[Crooked Grin]

I really like Jack Daw as a model and as a character and was really excited when he became a master. But other than his fluff in Crossroads he isn't featured at all in the fluff (Before Jack my favorite was Seamus and there is no shortage of fluff on him).

I guess a character who doesn't speak makes it tough to build a story around but I do wish there was more fluff with god ol' JD.

thoughts?

[Cinnamon Bear]

I like Jack Daw, but his character really does end up being more of a force of nature than a proper character. The TTB Penny Dreadful, Northern Aggression, features Jack Daw as one of the possible antagonists, but its more that someone else is doing something to draw his attention to a place than Jack Daw has plans.

There should be a vignette with Jack Daw in the newest book, Ripples of Fate, but I won't have that for another month or two

[admiralvorkraft]

He has been really treated poorly by the fluff, which kept me from playing him for a long time. Which was a pity because his mechanics are so much fun.

[AverageBoss]

There is some new Jack stuff in Ripples. Apparently The Burning Man (the essence of the Governor Generals ascension speculated to have merged with Cherufe) is drawn to him.

[Kalkris]

double post - see below

~Lil Kalki

[Kalkris]

To be honest, I am actually glad that there is a drought of fluff regarding Daw. Why, you might ask? Simply put, the less a canon is established regarding a character(s and their interactions), setting, or concept/nuance, the more viable headcanon becomes - until of course the canon is established further.

To me, this means Jack Daw can be anything we want him to be, within the confines of the canon that's established, for now.

My headcanon of Daw is fairly simple, albiet rather napoleonic in a social sense: Jack Daw, the Condemned Man, forced to be restrained up in the tallest branch of the Hanging Tree, has been set free (through whatever means - be it The Event, or whatever), and is now enacting vengeance indiscriminately upon the tormented and their tormentors alike. The undead in such a position have been following Daw in an entourage of sorts. This is all confirmed, as is the existence of living Tormented, who are inclined to do the same.

What is not confirmed is that Jack Daw is the Messiah of Malifaux.

Sure, Hamelin has his own religious Tyrant worshippers, as does December (and by extension Rasputina), but Jack Daw likely has the highest count of followers, if you are to count the undead in his ranks (and yes, you should be doing that - it's Malifaux, folks). Oh, and rats don't count as people. XD

See, I view Daw's final hanging in life as a crucifixion scene. I think it's dramatic enough to work, and was, as canon dictates, during the first opening of the Breach. That's relevant because Jack never leaves Malifaux (as of current). We see the Breach mysteriously (miraculously?!) open again 100 years after its first closing, and Jack is still there.

Jack being unconfined from the Hanging Tree is a pseudo-ascension, as most everything must be twisted in this lore, honestly, and his acts as an unconfined "force of nature" are remarkably Old Testament-godlike in modus operandi. Jack is drawn to injustice, he rights the wrong, and everyone is satisfied enough with his handiwork afterwards that they join him (living or otherwise).

There are nursery rhymes about Jack Daw. In those days in our own timeline, such things were generally limited to religious school nursery rhymes and Mother Goose, which was often allegorical. Jack Daw is a true mockery of allegory. His followers are also a mockery of those who follow religion - in Daw's case at least, they're either mindless or insane. In real life, not to trash talk religion but a lot of people see the same in some religious sects. While that sucks and is something I'd rather not go further into, it's what it is.

 

But yeah, tl:dr: Jack Daw is the Messiah. Takest from that what thou wilt.

 

~Lil Kalki

Edited August 20, 2016 by Kalkris
Rats are not people. They can't do people things and they don't wear pants.

[Rathnard]

I quite like Jack Daw, and what we know of his story gives a real sense of tragedy about him. But at this point I feel like Jack Daw's story is already finished - his part to play in the story of Malifaux already done. He was the "wedge", as Zoraida describes it, that sealed away the aether tear (closed the Breach?). I think that'd be an awesome story for Wyrd to tell one day, and it'd really give a better sense of who Jack Daw was before he was tricked by Zoraida into this fate.

But in terms of the current story line, that's all literally ancient history. Nowadays Jack Daw mainly just seems to either hang out on the Hanging Tree or gather similarly tormented individuals around him to menace the locals. If there's a purpose or motive to his actions, it's not entirely clear to me. 

That said, Jack's vignette does hint at a deeper purpose related to his kinship (?) with the former-Governer-General-now-Burning-Man. There's clearly some serious, world-shattering magic wrapped up between the two of them. I'm not yet sure what that all means, but I at least hope it means that Jack's story is going to go somewhere in the future. 

 

[SoylentRobot]

9 hours ago, AverageBoss said:

There is some new Jack stuff in Ripples. Apparently The Burning Man (the essence of the Governor Generals ascension speculated to have merged with Cherufe) is drawn to him.

Waitaminute this sounds like Metal Gear Solid 5. Young Psycho Mantis is a floating weirdo who is drawn to places and people consumed by revenge, and he's followed around by a giant flaming corpse ghost.

[AverageBoss]

5 hours ago, SoylentRobot said:

Waitaminute this sounds like Metal Gear Solid 5. Young Psycho Mantis is a floating weirdo who is drawn to places and people consumed by revenge, and he's followed around by a giant flaming corpse ghost.

Is that ghost Volgan? Have not played 5 yet, but that looks alot like Volgan.

[apes-ma]

On 20/08/2016 at 0:24 PM, SoylentRobot said:

Waitaminute this sounds like Metal Gear Solid 5. Young Psycho Mantis is a floating weirdo who is drawn to places and people consumed by revenge, and he's followed around by a giant flaming corpse ghost.

Waitaminute this sounds a lot like The Stars My Destination. Gully Foyle is a tormented nutter who teleports around the galaxy driven by revenge and pursued by visions of a flaming man.