TheJackdawReport

The Jackdaw Report

This might have happened at one point in HarmlessFreeRadicals (I'm not sure how much of it will be cannon):

The Jackdaw Report
as recorded and edited by Lloyd, the Seagull

the short version

After FenmereTheWorm left him, BoneJackdaw fumed and spat and talked to himself a lot. He revieled much of his plans to Lloyd. Turns out that Jackdaw knows what Fenmere is doing, but not why. He thinks that Fenmere is trying to thwart Jackdaw's plans simply out of pure paranoia. He's really bothered that he doesn't know Fenmere's motives, because usually he does know these things, or at least usually has enough clues throughout history to figure them out, but something about Fairport and the way that Fenmere operates is obfuscating things. So Jackdaw is assuming the worst.

However, he does see potential in what Fenmere is doing. He does see how he can use Fenmere's plans to further his own goals, and he sets out to start making contacts within the city.

One of the things he notices right off the bat is that a phenominally large number of DragonPeople are collecting in Fairport, in the guise of Children of Akailea. The Harmless Free Radicals, for instance, are all Dragon People, but act as if they aren't even aware of this fact (in fact, they aren't).

After some prodding, Jackdaw finds that his bretherin all seem to be suffering from amnesia. This frustrates and worries him, so to understand further what is happening, he goes about trying to wake one up.

See, he understands that with the Harmless Free Radicals, Fenmere seems to be trying to put together a Special Ops task force. What is confusing is that the members are all artists. Secondly, with the publication, it seems clear that Fenmere is trying to manipulate the magic of the Children of Akailea. By creating a new imaginary realm where the Dragon People can interact with the real world through publication but still act autonymously, Fenmere seems to be creating a new myth.

Up until this point, the Dragon People have existed purely in nature, not even populating standard human myth. They left that to the Outsiders, because it became increasingly clear that human myths were becoming dead, purely fantasy.

The problem is that this new myth that Fenmere is creating is too dependant on the belief and therefor the extistance of the Children of Akailea to keep the Dragon People alive. On the other hand, he sees this amazing opportunity that is just too good to be true. By encapsulating the entirity of the Dragon People into one collection of stories, a publication, stored electronically and transmitted through code, Jackdaw could transform Fenmere's myth into an escape capsule. All it would require is a transmittal method on the outside end. Somehow, the magic of the Children of Akailea would have to be preserved and used to transform the Dragon People back into their true forms once the escape is made. Jackdaw begins making plans to utilize this, and starts some side projects that will down the line take advantage of this opportunity, then proceeds with plan A, which is to learn more.

And so, he proceeds to try to free one of the Dragon People, someone he considers perhaps to be a possible ally. This makes the bulk of the current story arc. After some great effort, he awakens the individual, who recognizes Jackdaw as a friend but is confused by where he is and why. When the individual asks Jackdaw, Jackdaw reveals that he made this move on this new beachfront because Jade Crow is currently distracted by current events in the rest of the world, but that in short order she will turn her attention on Fairport, and if Jackdaw doesn't make his moves now, she will take decisive action to utilize Fairport for her own means.

Fenmere's response to all this is, "I know it's a seriously over-used cliche, but I've got them right where they want me, and I love it when a plan comes together. The next few moves are going to be really tricky. Your responsiblity, dear reader, is to keep reading and keep believing. The fate of the world hinges on you."