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The Changeling: Byzantium 1203
Part III: The Entity Inside
Midday, 19th July 1203, Sea Walls overlooking the Golden Horn, Constantinople, Empire of the Romans
Isaac, or rather the entity within the one that was called Isaac looked down from the sea walls. He had already ordered them to be raised higher and the assembly of materials to enable it were under-way as he knew there was no time to waste. He had also ordered that a programme be initiated to rebuild the much neglected Imperial Navy, which Isaac himself had run down in the past due to cost concerns. In the history he had observed, the Venetians would use platforms connected to ships' masts to take control of the walls. Should the Doge and the Crusaders fail to take the payment, then it was only prudent to make sure the walls ended up higher than the masts and that avenue of taking the city be denied to them.
Pausing his walk, he glanced around him and noted that his guards were far enough away to allow him some privacy. He spoke quietly to himself, no one realising that his words were being picked up by the energiser on his finger.
"Study Note: The Venetian Doge, despite being blind and aged, indeed casts a most impressive and formidable figure stood upon the deck of his flagship. The chronicles do not exaggerate his strength of presence. If this city's walls were able to collapse from the willpower alone directed upon them, then he would be the one to wield such. It would of course be possible to absorb him and take over the expedition, yet that would not be so interesting. Besides, I am rather enjoying my time thus far within the present host body. Consequently, change will arrive in a way that is fascinating and is of interest to me.".
He stopped talking into the awesome device that wasn't just a glorified recorder, but was possessed of other useful functions. His former masters would not be happy with what he was doing here as their calling was less trivial than this, but he had become a renegade long ago and travelled throughout the cosmos and dimensions finding worlds and situations that interested him. He had been a respected and admired protector of people once, even going against his masters to do so, but he had been forced to undergo a rather nasty ordeal by Cold Flame within the nether world of his own people which was meant to purge him of his "faults". It had worked too well, changed his personality for the worse and he had turned against those he had sworn to protect, thus forcing him to attempt to carry out the original judgement of his masters which he had previously decided against and had resulted in his casting out. In the end a battle with one of his own blood had seen their energiser energy pulses mistakenly merged together in a freak occurrence and had led him to retreat inside a mountain as an intangible being, his physical form having been erased by the feedback in his energiser.
Much had happened since then and he had visited many other areas of history and initiated new lines within the flux - this was merely the latest stop. Ever since the process of reversing the intangibility had started all that time ago, it had resulted in some of his former personality returning, but with added quirks, and the loss or modification of some abilities. He was still mostly intangible and not restored to full physical form, so the usage of a host body was necessary, yet he was able to repair certain amounts of physical or mental damage in such hosts and even handle some objects in his almost intangible form by itself with a bit of effort. His energiser had also had some issues affect it as a result of that past battle, so a number of functions were now unavailable. It had come with him, carried in his ether, and as always came in the form of a ring resembling a stylised skull on his finger whether he was in intangible form or manifested as such on his host. A perception filter made it look like a ring appropriate to the individual and surroundings he happened to be in, thus the skull design would draw no notice. In this time he was currently in, it would appear odd that a Christian would wear such an item of course, so it was most fortunate this facility was a part of the ring's features that still operated.
In time perhaps he could restore himself and repair the energiser to full utility and mayhap put things right in his own time, but for now his present character dictated otherwise and the urge to interfere in history had been a new personality flaw too great to resist. It had been going on for quite some time now in different dimensions and eras, yet the passage of time was of little concern as he was not limited to short lifespans such as these humans.
And so it was that the entity residing within Isaac II looked down upon Enrico Dandolo. He knew about this period of history, and he knew that this man may yet still have the guile to cause trouble. Dandolo however would find that Isaac II would have some surprises in him besides the restoration of his sight.
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