Valac is an ancient demon, and just as the word упир has changed over the centuries of human history, so has his name. He answers to Volac, Valax and Valu, the latter pronounced with a nice French-sounding u at the end. Sometimes he can be even summoned as Moloch whenever Moloch himself is out of reach.
Humans have created their own classification systems for demons over the last few millennia. Byzantine writer and politician Michael Psellos dreamt up one of the most fantastically elaborate systems back in the eleventh century. He wrote (and many others copied) that there were demons of the Empyreal (the atmosphere), the Aerial (the air), the Subterranean (underground), Aqueous (all bodies of water), Terrene (land) and Lucifugi (exclusively nocturnal). Mr. Psellos wasn’t so much wrong as he was overcomplicating something fairly simple, like inventing categories for pencils based upon their length after they’ve been sharpened for the first time.
There are only two categories of demon as recognized by angels: the older and stronger demons, known as the Apokomistai (Ἀποκομισταί, singular Ἀποκομιστής), and the young and weak demons, known as Nekudaimones (Νεκυδαίμωνες, singular Nεκυδαίμων), commonly shortened to Nekus. Whereas a Neku must possess a human or animal in order to have a corporeal form, an Apokomistis is capable of taking whatever corporeal or non-corporeal form he or she wishes. Of course, if any demon were to choose to inhabit a cloud in the upper atmosphere, he or she could, but as humans have firmly established themselves as ceaseless forms of entertainment to demonkind, most demons opt for human forms.
Valac is an Apokomistis. He only answers to a handful of other Apokomistai and generally keeps to himself, unlike most of the other most powerful demons, who are typically accompanied by an entourage of Nekus. He is frequently sighted and summoned by humans, and he has a reputation for appearing as a child who uses his seeming innocence to lure willing victims to terrible ends. In fact, you’ve probably heard about some of Valac’s greatest crimes and never knew it. Have you ever heard of the Children’s Crusade? Or the Pied Piper of Hamelin? Those were both Valac, leading children away to certain death. Some of his lesser-known but more ghastly feats took place in France, not long after the Revolution.
In the months before the Bastille fell on July 14, 1789, a clutch of Apokomistai and supporting Nekus had been irresistibly attracted to the streets of Paris by the kind of turmoil that eventually leads to bloodshed. The demons dug in and transformed the French Revolution into a ruthless affair that would usher in almost eighty years of intermittent unrest, conquest and, at its worst, horrific civil war.
Valac arrived in France in May of 1789, at the invitation of the Apokomistai Astaroth and Mammon. Over the next fifty years, he showed up wherever he felt he could do the most damage to the French. Valac, Belial and a squadron of Nekus participated in the Reign of Terror from June 1793 to July 1794 that saw the deaths of tens of thousands of humans (although Kimeries himself rightfully claims the responsibility for having caused it).
On occasion, Valac would find himself bored with the warring factions and preening Nekus, and he would set off on his own to satisfy his need for human flesh and blood. He was on his way to find a battle or even a minor skirmish to occupy his time when he accidentally discovered a whole new opportunity.
Fontainebleau is a town to the south and east of Paris. It had been a popular retreat for the French monarchy over the prior centuries, and so it was no stranger to the violence of the Revolution. On the 23rd of Fructidor, Year 1, in the newly adopted and quickly discarded French Republican Calendar (more commonly recognized as September 9, 1793), Valac was passing through Fontainebleau disguised as a young boy of about eight years of age, when he came across a group of six idle teenaged boys. The eldest of the boys was fifteen, the youngest was barely eleven, and they were all from peasant families.
Valac, like most demons, has a sincere appreciation for money and everything its appearance affords them. As he passed the group of boys, they couldn’t help but notice his wealthy-looking attire, even though he was curiously unaccompanied and travelling with purpose in his step. The boys had all heard plenty from their non-landed families about how miserable life had been under the King and before the Revolution, and they couldn’t pass up the chance to take it out on what appeared to be a weak child with money.
The eldest of the boys initiated the torment with a vile taunt. He was soon joined by the younger boys, and they all took, very unwisely, to throwing stones at the disguised demon.
(To be continued later. Dominus tecum.)