He is tall and slender, his body toned and athletic, his skin lightly tanned. His short, thick hair seems black, but upon close inspection is revealed to be dark, dark green; his eyes are the same shade. His dress is uncharacteristic of an Amberite: like a college student from Shadow Earth, he sports jeans, tennis shoes, t-shirt, denim shirt, leather bomber jacket, and mirrorshades. His youthful features are clean-shaven, his eyelashes surprisingly long and fine, his eyes wide and compelling, his lips full and sensual. Often deep in thought, or otherwise withdrawn from the world around him, he seems unaware of his own charms ... rendering them all the more charming, particularly when one of his rare smiles lights up his face.
Slender and tall, tanned and athletic, he was caught with one of his rare smiles on his full and sensual lips. Dark waters moved through the darkness of his short hair, the thick strands tinged with emerald in the underwater mystery of Rebma, and his wide eyes reflected the muted light in the same shade of dark, liquid jade.
Jacob, is one of the twin sons of Celia of Amber and the Shroudling Madoc, the other being Thalion. While the twins are not identical, Jacob taking more after his father in appearance than his brother does despite the inherited build of the royal line of Rebma, they are still like all twins... seeking individual identities distinct from one another.
Although both sides of his heritage have played their part in forming Jacob, it is the Shroudling half that is dominant. He must feed on the flesh of humankind, and he revels in the cool, austere beauty of Paradox Logic, the equations which underlie the universe. He seems to keep an distance from everyone else, and rarely indicates what he is feeling. But beneath that calm exterior, his passions run deep.
"For the Unicorn's sake, I eat people! I am used to hard decisions and bad choices! Life has made me the ultimate realist."
Jacob is quiet and self-controlled; his feelings usually remain buried deep within him, where none can get at them. He is polite and deferential to others in the family, but nonetheless appears to be rather aloof. When confronted with a problem, he will look at it rationally, analyzing all the variables and possibilities before acting. Despite his outer calm, however, and his love of logic, he is a man of deep passions: loyal, dedicated, and honourable. He has even been known to spontaneously burst into song in public. Once an emotion has touched him meaningfully, be it anger or love, that emotion will affect him for a long, long time. But while his actions often spring from strong emotion, they are almost always tempered by his rational mind -- he is forever a realist.
| PSYCHE | 12 |
| STRENGTH | Amber |
| ENDURANCE | 11 |
| WARFARE | 79 |
Jacob often has responsibilities he doesn't want thrusted upon him. He is tired of being a piece in a struggle between two factions, and seeks to change the nature of the game itself. In this way, he may become the next major player in the games of Paradox, pushing his own agenda.
Not known to have any children yet, and not anticipating any soon given his wife's unwillingness to bear children for the time being, Jacob should eventually prove to be an excellent father, once given the chance. Despite his almost robotic demeanor with those he does not fully trust, Jacob can be playful and down-to-earth with those he loves, such as Raven, and surely with their children as well. He will give them the attention and affection they need, but also possesses the necessary distance and self-discipline to be sure that they are not over-indulged, and to direct them on the right path without being over-protective.
However, Jacob's experiments with Paradox may have caused an awkward situation that brings parenthood to the pair. Jade, a Paradox construct of Jacob's, is an unexpected child. The suddenness of her creation may strain Jacob and Raven's relationship, as Jade is fully self-aware and powerful, yet she is immature and untempered by a proper upbringing.
"If this is all just some symbolic and metaphorical chess game, I feel like I am in some strange conflict with the board itself. I don't choose a faction, but work against the game itself."
In the grand scheme of things, Jacob's loyalties are not simply to Amber or Rebma or Chaos, or any such centre of power; through the lens of the Cosmic Mathematics, he has a larger perspective in view whenever he makes a decision, and acts according to nothing less than the fundamental needs of the universe, and the maintenance of balance.
Raised in Rebma, close to his family, Jacob's primary loyalties are to Rebma and his family--to Madoc, Celia, Moire, Llewella, Vialle. His relationship with his twin brother Thalion, however, is strained at the best of times, although this may change following the revelation of the curse upon all twins, and the brothers' mutual agreement to strive to improve their relationship. But Jacob's first loyalty is to Raven, his wife and Familiar; as a Shroudling, his Familiar does in truth give meaning to his life, and without her he might be unable to cope. She keeps him firmly planted in reality, a necessary earthly counter to the abstract mental games of Paradox.
In Amber, while Jacob is respectful to most of his family, his only strong attachments are to Benedict, his former mentor, and to Deirdre.
Darthene and Andelia have managed a nigh-impossible feat -- they have made Jacob their enemy, through actions he perceives as treacherous to Amber and insulting to him. The ramifications of this antagonism remain to be seen, but Jacob has stated that they have made a serious misjudgement by deceiving him, and they will one day regret it.
"I am a happy lucky charms kinda fruitcake man!"
Driven to virtually complete insanity by the disruption of his familiar bond with his true love, Jacob is filled with desperate agony, his once brilliant mind lost to fear and despair as he struggles to renew his bond with reality through any means available to him.
Since he also has another bond through the dark mirror, he has maneuvered his cousin Andelia into despising him, finding solace in her contemptuous hate. Given the bitterly suspicious and stubbornly self-righteous nature of Andelia, this was extremely easy for him, though Morgan suffered greatly.
While in his youth he kept his passionate nature hidden from all but his closest relatives, his insanity manifests in sporadic outbursts of irrational passion and words which make no sense to anyone except him, and he is given to exploding at the slightest possible opportunity. Unfortunately, this simply makes his insanity worse.
Only his love for Raven offers him any hope of a peaceful future, and he clutches her to him like a drowning man hugging his liferaft. Simple contact with her slowly restores him, allowing him to think clearly.
Some people think that the Shroudling has more power than the familiar. With his very existence, Jacob has proved that false, for the two women who hold his bonds also hold his very sanity in their hands. Torn between them, he hangs in the balance.
| PSYCHE | 40 |
| STRENGTH | 20 |
| ENDURANCE | 20 |
| WARFARE | 120 |
Jacob is the fire twin of his pair, though many do not know it, while Thalion is the water twin. Jacob takes after the fiery side of his families temperament, bold and sometimes impulsive, while Thalion is more like their mother.
When sane, Jacob is calm and thoughtful, doing his best for those he loves. He is an extremely passionate man, yet hides that passion away quietly, which worried his mother and others for many years in his youth. He was a shy dreamer then, though recent events have caused him to abandon that pose and start to act, angered beyond measure by the fact that every time he turns around something else has harmed his loved ones. He is a superb musician with a remarkable singing voice, a trait shared by most of shroudling heritage, yet it is not known if he composes his own songs.
When insane, Jacob speaks at great length, diverging on tangents and repeating himself at times. His words often make no sense, and he attacks those closest to him, as when he exploded at his father for not knowing shroudling bonds could be subject to disruption. He displays enormous depths of paranoia, suspecting his parents of hiding secrets from him and treating him like a child, and only a very few people have any hope of reaching him. (Most notably his true familiar, Raven, whom he will listen to even when in the depths of shouting incoherently at Andelia.)
Jacob, when sane, should make an excellent father, since he is unlikely to distrust his own children. Since he is a very passionate and loving man, it is likely that he will treat his children with respect and care, teaching them and protecting them from the rest of the family. He already is a father through his art of paradox, having apparently created the young construct known as Jade from the mingled reflections of himself and his wife.
Simply put, Jacob hates the games. His sole desire is to end them, to change the rules. Unfortunately, his first major attempt at diverting the game seems to have been a failure, as his enemy rolled straight over him and he proved powerless to change the flow of history.
He has allies in both Amber and Rebma, among them his closest family, and his relationship with his twin is better than any other recorded relationship between twins save perhaps Sand and Delwin. His sole stated enemies are the princess Darthene of Amber and her daughter Andelia, whom he feels used his skills to achieve their own ends against his will.
And then there is his familiar, his wife, the woman he loves. Raven. She gives meaning to his existence, and without her he would probably kill himself. Or worse.
"Do you think you'll have any difficulty?"
Slowly recovering from his bout of insanity, Jacob has admitted that his true familiar is Andelia, but that he loves Raven. He has given an appology to his cousin, and patched things up between them.
| PSYCHE | 35 |
| STRENGTH | 20 |
| ENDURANCE | 20 |
| WARFARE | 100 |
Jacob is the fire twin of his pair, though many do not know it, while Thalion is the water twin. Jacob takes after the fiery side of his families temperament, bold and sometimes impulsive, while Thalion is more like their mother.
Usually, Jacob seems calm and thoughtful, doing his best for those he loves. He is an extremely passionate man, yet hides that passion away quietly, which worried his mother and others for many years in his youth. He was a shy dreamer then, though recent events have caused him to abandon that pose and start to act, angered beyond measure by the fact that every time he turns around something else has harmed his loved ones. He is a superb musician with a remarkable singing voice, a trait shared by most of Shroudling blood and heritage.
Jacob should make an excellent father, since he is unlikely to distrust his own children. Since he is a very passionate and loving man, it is likely that he will treat his children with respect and care, teaching them and protecting them from the rest of the family. He already is a father through his art of paradox, having apparently created the young construct known as Jade from the reflections of himself and his wife.
Jacob claims to hate the games. His sole desire is to end them, to change the rules. Unfortunately, his only known attempt at diverting the game seems to have been a failure, as his enemy rolled straight over him and he proved powerless to change the flow of history. And alas, he will never be able to reach his goal, for he accepts the game definitions.
He has allies in both Amber and Rebma, among them his closest family, and his relationship with his twin is sometimes better than any other recorded between twins save perhaps Sand and Delwin. He chose to marry Raven, yet his true familiar as a shroudling has been revealed as being Andelia, a woman he has previously hurt and seemed to despise. What transpires as a result of this has yet to be seen, though he has stated firmly that he loves his wife still and refuses to allow instinct to stand in his way.
I'll sing you of Jacob. Born of Madoc and Celia's bond, twin to Thalion Lirson. A man who despised himself enough to escape his heritage at first opportunity. Jacob was once the brilliant protege of, and obvious sucessor to, the Royal Line of the Shroudlings. He took well to the loneliness and beauty inherent to Paradox Logic, going far in a very short time. He labored also to find an alternative to Feeding, seeking solace within things he could predict and control.
I'll sing you of Jacob. There are those that say madness changed him; I say a mirror was held to his face and his reflection seen for the first time. That mad, Jacob ws a far better person. He is, and always shall be, the predator his heritage bequeathed him. Predators are typically arrogant and contemptuous. Lord Barimen is no exception.
I'll sing you of Jacob. A man caught in smoldering anger because he could not impose on reality an ultimate formula. That the Universe can not be relgated to easily controlled numbers; that HE has no real control over the Universe Itself. A man who time and again 'saves' all of reality because he KNOWS that only he can. This past NightSummer even his wife Raven lost patience with Jacob, admonishing him publicly and finally admitting that she can no longer contain him.
| PSYCHE | Amber |
| STRENGTH | 10 |
| ENDURANCE | 30 |
| WARFARE | 110 |
As his world changes so will Jacob's desire to control it, in at least equal measure. Since the incident with the Drake Jacob has evidenced deep seated paranoia, rage, resentment and arrogance; a definate martyr complex. At the same time he is completely and utterly emotionally fixated/dependent on his wife Raven, wilting at the first signs of her rarely seen temper. Jacob's own temper is sudden and caustic, a ready weapon he has no compunction about using.
When Vialle's spell returned the Eleven to Amber Raven was shattered into shards of obsidian. Desperate to regain her Jacob accepted Nikolas' offer of aid. He found out later that Nikolas somehow inseminated Raven with Jacob's sperm to render her pregnant to insure his own coming to be. Furious, Raven deposited the fetuses in an incubator and left Jacob to spend 18 lonely years in a fast time Shadow to raise his children.
The twins: Mabon and Cerise are as unlike each other as their father and his own twin Thalion. The boy, Mabon, takes after his father, whom he despises. It is interesting that Jacob could not stand the resemblance, but instead of learning from the experience he took his boy to see a Psychiatrist, essentially for reprogramming. A psychiatrist Jacob himself wound up a patient of.
And then there is the problem of Jade; the Paradox Construct who considers herself Jacob and Raven's child.
Jacob's highest priority is always to be in tight control of himself; after tasting the chaos within his soul during his brief period of madness/love for the Drake. This desired status quo shall be maintained despite any possible havoc this might wrought. Never was this better illustrated than during NightSummer last when he forever changed the balance of the powers by absorbing the Font of Power into himself, setting free the power of Negation. But it allowed Lord Barimen to rid himself of his Shroudling inconveniences and to decide to give them up. Thus was Jacob able to keep the control he so desperately needs. Even his dependence of Raven is a means of control; it holds her to him on some level and he can not even imagine that she would leave him. He fears it, but can never imagine it ever coming to truly pass.
Jacob is only truly loyal to himself. He is dependant on Raven, which is not nearly the same thing. He shares with Andelia the tendency to discount someone completely and never grant them a second chance. He has alienated a full half of his children, though the status of his current relationship with Jade is unknown. Shortly before NightSummer Jacob reconciled with his twin when Thalion came out to him and explained the tragedy of his past which had led him to keep his Shroudling nature a secret from his family for so long. Both have since been made Protector to the High King, Merlin.
Samara, daughter of Fiona and Kireyas, has recently shown her dislike of and contempt for Jacob. She has publicly berated him, something he will never suffer to forgive. Jacob has developed distrust and a contemptuous dislike of late for the Azi called Urda; specificly the White Urda. He recently demanded removal from the email system run and maintained by the little Construct and the Cable system inherent to it's functioning.