Johannes Cabal

[Jareth]

Johannes Cabal has never pretended to be a hero of any kind. There is, after all, little heroic about robbing graves, stealing occult volumes, and being on nodding terms with demons.

His purpose, however is noble. His researches are all directed to raising the dead. Not as monstrosities but as people, just as they were when they lived: physically, mentally, and spiritually. For such a prize, some sacrifices are necessary. One such sacrifice was his own soul, but now he sees that was a mistake - it's not just that he needs it for his research to have validity, but now he realizes he needs it to be himself.

Unfortunately, his soul now rests within the festering bureaucracy of Hell. Satan may be cruel and capricious but, most dangerously, he is bored. It is Cabal's unhappy lot to provide him with amusement.
In short, a wager: in return for his own soul, Cabal must gather one hundred others. Placed in control of a diabolical carnival - created to tempt to contentiousness, to blasphemy, argumentation and murder, but one may also win coconuts - and armed only with his intelligence, a very large handgun, and a total absence of whimsy, Cabal has one year.
Johannes Cabal the Necromancer is the first novel written for Jonathan L. Howard's Johannes Cabal series. Before the novel, Howard has written several short stories in the Cabalverse. JC the Necromancer is followed by Johannes Cabal the Detective. Which will be followed shortly by Fear Institute.


Cabal’s full history has not been yet revealed in the stories, but some little is known. Johannes Cabal was born in Hessen, Germany, the younger of two brothers. When still a child, his father moved the family to England. Here the intention was for the Cabal brothers to integrate with English society. Their father Gottfried gave the elder son Horst a lot of latitude to find his own way, but the more serious Johannes had his future planned out and imposed upon him; he would read law at university and then join a local firm of solicitors.

A traumatic death changed all that, tipping Johannes into a kind of highly rational madness. He abandoned the life that had been planned for him and set himself on the path of necromancy.

First becoming a necrothologist (a theoretical necromancer, but lacking the deep knowledge), Cabal tried to gather the data he needed by investigating sites of reputed supernatural occurrences, such as the Grimpen Burial Ground, or the Alhambra Theatre (“Exeunt Demon King”). Horst, concerned by his brother’s mental state, accompanied him on some of these expeditions, only to die while examining a crypt with a dangerous history.

The disappearance and presumed death of Horst—Johannes never told anyone of the circumstances—caused a collapse of their father’s health. He died, and was buried in an English churchyard, just as he had always wanted. Mourning Horst and her husband, and unable to forgive Johannes, his mother Liese Cabal returned to Germany.

Disowned and isolated, Johannes Cabal’s obsession with perfect resurrection became all-consuming. He sold his soul to become a full necromancer—a sale he would later come to regret (as detailed in Johannes Cabal the Necromancer)—and gave up all pretence of common morality. Now even murder, should he deem it necessary, was not beyond him

Cabal is in his late twenties, a little over six feet tall, is lean, blond, blue-eyed, and pale.

He wears black and white almost invariably; a black suit, cravat and shoes, with a white shirt. The only colourful items he ever wears by choice are red tartan slippers at home. He usually wears a hat, either a broad-brimmed fedora or a short top hat in the coachman style. He does not care for bowlers. He wears his coats long and often carries two pairs of gloves; a black pair in kid leather and a pair of surgical gloves for impromptu work in the field.

Cabal goes around with a brown Gladstone bag in which he carries much of his equipment. In it will always be found a roll of heavy cloth containing his surgical instruments, and a padded flip top case (something like a small binoculars case) that contains test tubes of the current batch of experimental fluid upon which he is working. These fluids, injected into corpses, have the effect of raising the dead with greater or lesser degrees of success.

Cabal habitually carries three weapons. In his jacket pocket he carries a switchblade; his cane—a black affair with a tarnished silver skull at its head—conceals a 3 ft. blade with which he is quite a proficient fencer; and his Gladstone holds his Webley .577 revolver, a “weapon of egregious aspect” chosen for its effectiveness rather than its elegance.

[Jareth]

[Jareth]

Also he can match wits with Nyarlathotep

[Mister Teal]

Big fan of suits and revolvers. Sounds interesting with all the occult stuff too.

Maybe HBO can Game-of-Thrones the book for me and the other lazies.

[Jareth]

I love these stories...I would love a movie series or maybe a show....

[Commander Cross]

I love these stories...I would love a movie series or maybe a show....

@Lord Jareth

Not too shabby at all!
I think he could use a match or two, maybe partner him up with Nico Di Angelo of CHB at some point, even, as soon as he gets a proper intro and survives from his 3rd match if he gets intro'd?

[Jareth]

I am thinking of making a feat thread for him.....he out smarts lovecraftian gods......even satan himself.....creates hair dye, a chemical that can bring the dead back to life, and highly powerful bombs...just by going to a local drug store...lol

[Commander Cross]

I am thinking of making a feat thread for him.....he out smarts lovecraftian gods......even satan himself.....creates hair dye, a chemical that can bring the dead back to life, and highly powerful bombs...just by going to a local drug store...lol

@Lord Jareth

Do it, please?
Maybe at some point, he can go and be introduced alongside Nico Di Angelo of CHB(whose weapons DO steal enemy souls if necessary), if that will be of help, right?

[Commander Cross]

It has been two months since Lord Jareth bred this creature, you may arise once more!

[Skull Kid]

Necro this dank ass shit eeeeeeyyyyuuuup.