“ | Take our good friend Timothy back to his cell. Make sure that he stumbles on the way back as well, stumbles several times, perhaps down the stairs! | „ |
~ Madison after interrogating a prisoner |
Father Lance Madison is major antagonist in the Hyraaq Tobit series in the Creepypasta stories. Father Madison is a priest, originally from London in England. He was an atheist from birth, and rumour had it he was a bastard (i.e. a child from an unmarried woman). Father Madison shamed his family and his colleagues, and he had little to no friends. He preferred to think of himself as gifted rather than shameful. His boss, Frisk, was an outright bully who abused Lance all the time. Lance was at a socialite club in London, and he was an underdog. He aspired to rise to the top and have humanity at his feet.
History[]
Origin[]
Lance Madison was born in 1806, London. He was conceived from his father's affair with a woman he had met while travelling abroad, because of this, Lance was known as a bastard. Lance was not accepted in any society due to his birth origin, however his father was a wealthy businessman, and was able to strike deals with others in order to give Lance a life like any other child conceived from wedded parents, such as bringing him up in a high quality boarding school, which he completed and was given a promising position within the London social circles.
At around the age of 20, Madison had grown to be a handsome gentleman and felt ashamed for being born a bastard, but would often tell himself that he is "uniquely crafted", which his father kept a secret. He was given a job at an exclusive London elite club named the Fox's Den as an assistant overseer, which his father secured him a place in due to being close friends with the club's owner, as Madison did not have any experience in said field. After a year of working in the club, Madison's supervisor, Edwin Fritz, learned of his heritage and harassed Madison about it one evening as they were closing the club, threatening to harm him should he make any attempts of justifying his parentage, Madison retaliated by threatening to use his father's influence to get Fritz fired, which angered Fritz greatly.
Two weeks later, during one evening while working, an unaccompanied woman entered the den, which Madison took a liking to due to her beauty. Greeting the woman, Jennifer Standish, the two began a flirtatious conversation, striking a bond Madison learned that she recently inherited her father's business after passing away a few months prior, the Standish House of Curious Oddities, a shop that would discover and sell rare objects from across the globe.
After finishing up his shift, Lance walked Jennifer home, on the way he informed her of his parentage, which she accepted. Upon arriving at her home they agreed to meet in the den again and left. On his way home feeling happy, Madison was ambushed by several men (two of which referred each other as "Bertram" and "Peaty") who he interpreted to have been sent by Fritz after their constant use of calling him a bastard and mention of disrespecting his superior. Lance attempted to escape but was easily caught up to and was attacked by the three men.
Beaten and humiliated, the men left Lance to rot, which he began to build hatred against Fritz for enacting such an immature revenge plot over sarcasm they had made two weeks earlier. After almost an hour of laying on the ground, he finally built the strength to move and make his way home. Looking at himself in the mirror the next day, Lance found his face to be bruised heavily, fearing to see Jennifer with his face in the condition, he took several days off of work feeling miserable.
Two days later, Jennifer visited him, with the swelling gone down on his face, he invited her in and explained his absence at the den. Having lunch the two share a conversation and she offers him to visit her store some day, they share a kiss, making Lance happy for once in a long time.
Lance returned to work and began to have life back on track. One day he visited Jennifer's shop, where she showed him a peculiar looking statue of a man with a goat on his head with an inscription wrote on the base in a different language, which was sold to her father a year previous for an extremely paltry price, which was odd considering it came from the south, and items typically from there cost a lot of money, the vendor's reason for selling at a small price was for wanting rid of it, which her father kept and not wanting to rid it due to it being extremely rare. Ever since it was given to her father, she has always felt uneasy around it, having the feel that something would be watching her, but once her father's illness came into play she forgot about the statue. She then asks Lance to get rid of it for her, he agrees having no belief in spirits or religion and takes the statue home with the intention of selling it, storing it in the back of his closet.
Lance and Jennifer spent more and more time together and their relationship was improving rapidly. Their relationship caught the attention of Fritz, who grew disdain having a bad history of marriage after his wife Lilian Fritz left him after years of abuse.
After spending the night on a hillside and making love, Jennifer and Lance then shared their final kiss and departed after taking her home. The following morning, Jennifer's home was set on fire and she was killed in the flames, her body was found burned beyond recognition with a cameo of Lance's photograph. Many did not care to investigate her death further and simply believed the fire to be a mistake due to a woman living alone's sloppiness, further more, many property owners were rather pleased about her death as it meant that they could purchase her shop.
After hearing the news of her death, Lance grew into a spiralling depression, having grown to a path of self-destruction. He stopped attending his job which pleased Fritz, and would often storm the halls of his home and break things, crying and drinking. Nobody showed concern for him, his neighbours grew use to his attitude, his father took the quitting of his job that he had arranged for him an insult and refused to help him further.
One morning Lance left the home to get more food supplies and to purchase more alcohol to fuel his rage, when he arrived back he was unexpectedly greeted by a man in a blue stripped suit sat on his couch, with the statue that Jennifer gave him sitting on his lap. The man greeted himself as Mr. Pinkerton, who has become aware of Madison's situation and offers him a deal in the name of Hyraaq Tobit, which was the name of the creature represented on the statue he had from Jennifer. He reveals to Madison that Fritz was the one who started the fire, and offers him a chance for revenge should he accept a deal, which he would get him to fulfil later.
Pinkerton delivered Fritz to Madison, where he confessed to having murdered Jennifer and begged for his life, Madison gave him a slow death and avenged Jennifer. Pinkerton made arrangements and had Fritz's body disposed of and was never found by authorities.
Several months later, Pinkerton picked up on the deal and arranged for Madison to become a priest in the All Hallows' Church, where he would preach the gospel during the day, but at night, would preach a very different word; Delphia.
During the time, Madison continued to never believe in God, but did believe in the undeniable truth that Hyraaq Tobit existed, and learned the language of the Dawning. He gathered hundreds of followers for Tobit and would meet with them at night, where they would plot and plan, praise Tobit and sell their souls one night at a time.
20 years later, Madison and his followers were taken to the city of Delphia where he became the warden and high priest of the city. He had a cameo with Jennifer's face made, and placed the statue she gave him on top of his fireplace, having learned the language of the Dawning, he learned what the inscription on the base said:
“Loss born from Love,
Power born from Weakness,
Sight born from Blindness”.
The Demon Tobit of Delphia[]
Father Lance Madison, now leader of Tobit's cult, travels to Antarctica, where he joins the ranks of the citizens of Delphia. He ascends in power, conducting dark rituals by animating the dead through Tobit's magic, until he becomes High Priest. Madison is assigned to speak to Derrick Reynolds, a survivor of a ship from America which crashed on Antarctica, but Timothy, a survivor of another ship from 70 years ago, saves Derrick before this can happen, brings him to the Cathedral, and shows Derrick the dark rituals Lance conducts. Lance Madison is shown to be resurrecting Sergio, a man who travelled with Derrick, who watches in horror. Lance notices Derrick escaping and orders him killed. However, Derrick escapes.
Tobit: From Love Comes Damnation[]
Lance fell in love with a woman named Jennifer Standish, who appeared in his club one evening, and he successfully wooed her and became her friend, then her lover. He got the disdain of Frisk, who was of an unhappy love affair - the truth was that Frisk was a womanizer and misogynist, a woman-beater, and this was the reason Frisk's marriage was unhappy - and so a jealous Frisk got three thugs to beat Lance almost to death one night. Lance slowly recovered, and he was full of hate towards the assassins and Frisk. He now hated Frisk with a passion and vowed to get vengeance.
One day when recovering, Lance was approached by Jennifer, who heard his story of the attack and she took him to her house and showed him a collection of strange artifacts she had. It was her business selling them. They were statues of deities, both known and unknown, including one of Hyraaq Tobit, which made Jennifer feel ill just from looking at it. Jennifer had really called Lance there to dispose of the artifact, and he agreed by hiding it in his closet.
Jennifer and Lance then kissed and became lovers, and slept together. However, that night that Jennifer went back home, her house burned down overnight and killed her.
Distraught, angry and full of fury, Lance sought vengeance, because he knew Jennifer wasn't stupid and despite everyone accusing her of leaving flammable cotton out overnight, he knew that wouldn't have happened. Mr. Pinkerton arrived one night, confronting Lance, and telling him that Frisk had had Jennifer murdered. Pinkerton even summoned Frisk, and left him at the mercy of Lance. In the morning, Frisk's body was never found, as Lance had extracted his revenge and killed Frisk in the dark magic of Tobit gifted to him by Pinkerton.
Tobit: Blood and Obligations[]
Soon afterwards, where Robert Peel has just started the modern police force. Inspector Brandon Leary has just had his father murdered and been informed of the rituals of Tobit. He visits a church in London to confront Lance about the murders, and the visions, but Lance deliberately tells him nothing.
Tobit: The Grim Sorority of Tabitha Shaw[]
Father Lance Madison returns in this segment, as he has been mulling over the escape of Derrick and the catastrophic shift in power that followed. Fearing the worst when the evil Tabitha Shaw appears in his room, Father Lance Madison prepares to be executed. He prays to Jennifer before Tabitha enters, saying that he believes in God but not in Hyraaq Tobit. Tabitha says she is willing to forgive Father Madison if he sends out the assassin squad named the Sisters of Tobit to kill Clair, Derrick and any other survivors of Delphia. Desperate to save his own position, Father Madison agrees. He orders Tabitha to travel to New Orleans, where Derrick and Clair were last seen.
Tobit: Brothers and Sisters[]
Now with Tabitha out of the way and burning with humiliation, Father Madison makes a last ditch attempt at saving his own life: He approaches a man named Gregory Leary, by teleporting himself into New Orleans. Father Madison promises to teach Gregory in the dark arts if he accepts his offer to personally kill the Sisters of Tobit before they can kill anyone else. Father Madison freezes Gregory's brother Trevor and he hypnotizes Gregory into obeying him. Gregory takes a magical amulet Father Madison used to teleport, and Gregory ends up in Derrick's bedroom, saving him by shooting Lacy Suzino before she can kill them both. Gregory yells for Derrick to flee, and he uses the amulet again, suddenly being returned to Delphia itself for the first time.
Tobit: The Champion Rises[]
Father Lance Madison returns for the final time in this instalment, the ninth story in the series. When Father Madison realizes he messed up real bad because Gregory's amulet will return him to Father Madison's own bedroom in Delphia, a leader of Delphia named Mr. Pinkerton is there to induct Gregory into the cult. During the evening Mass, Father Madison prays to Jennifer one last time, saying he is a foolish man doing stupid things that are beyond him just to save his skin. Father Madison is about to have his hated captive Timothy VanBuren be cannibalized by the citizens of Delphia, and he is conducting a good ritual, when he asks if Timothy will repent. To his anger, Timothy mocks Tobit in front of his worshipers and dares him to arrive and kill Timothy himself. When nothing happens, Timothy proudly calls Father Madison a lying trickster. Angered, the Grand Magnus is about to resume his ritual when Timothy asks if there will be any objections. Gregory says yes, and asks Timothy if the Grand Magnus killed Gregory's father. Timothy confirms this. Without thinking, Gregory recklessly shoots three bullets at Father Lance Madison who recoils in shock but the third bullet finds his heart as the others strike his shoulder and throat. Father Lance Madison dies an ironic death, slumping against the altar and dragging down the sheet covering the altar which wraps itself round him. Gregory remarks Father Madison was good enough to arrange his own funeral.
Personality[]
Lance does not permit any "unauthorized items" in Delphia, forbidding electricity, and as such computers are forbidden. Lance is a strict ruler, but this seems to fail him when Tobit reconsiders his status. Lance is informed that Tobit considers killing him for his failure in letting Derrick escape, but Lance is given another chance if he lets those who know of Delphia be executed by the Sisters of Tobit. Lance Madison agrees and orders their execution.
Powers and Abilities[]
Lance Madison is a highly powerful dark magician, able to control the dead (a Necromancer). He inspires fear and awe throughout his followers in Delphia and he is very militaristic, ruling like a Russian czar. Lance is an elitist, and very arrogant. He has brute strength, and is very strong for a man his age. He has complete mastery of dark magic, and is learned in ancient spells and rituals. He is awaiting the day he can reveal Delphia to humanity so he can conquer the world.
Trivia[]
- Lance Madison is one of the two main antagonists of the Hyraaq Tobit series, one being Mr. Pinkerton and the other, of course, being Tobit himself.