The Jaeger’s eyebrows rose impressively, the darker green of the bushy hair peaking as though to express his doubts on the matter. Killing things was the way to go! It’s what Jaegers did best! It was what [i]he[/i] did best! Especially if said killing involved a great deal of mess and screaming. Only now, she wanted a story instead, a story that he only half remembered himself from his grandmother’s knee long before he even dreamed about becoming a Jaeger. The loyalty to House Heterodyne had always been there, of course. Those who didn’t put their faith in the masters of Castle Heterodyne usually didn’t live in Mechanicburg for very long, one way or another. The townsfolk of that key city were fanatically loyal to the Heterodynes, and becoming a Jaeger had only increased that loyalty. 

“Jake O’Blood,” he drawled eventually. Jötz paused again to dig at something caught in his one tooth, the singe talon neatly pulling clear a bit of gristle he had missed after his last meal. “He vas from someplace called Thule, but vas raised Englisch, hy knows dat much. Only he didn’t stay der. Ludd vast exiled, I tink, some scandal or sometink like dat. My granny mentioned that Ludd didn’t like de new leaving machines dat vere all da rage, vas convinced dat dey vas part of some plot to take over da vorld. Or at least England. Zo? He goes around mit a bunch oft other peoples und makes dem all go bang! De local big men didn’t like dat so much, so dey goes after him, only den it turns out dat he vast right all along, de schmart guy! But de Guilds, dey gots to save face. So he gets taken to de Queen und she ist told, ‘Hey, dis ist one baddy ve gots here, look at that he’s done!’ But de Queen isn’t schtupid. She knew vhat Ludd had done. Only she need them big bosses in der Guilds for her plans, zo she sends Ludd off with lots and lots of money.”
As the more he spoke and the more he thought on it, the more curious Jötz became himself. It had been several decades since he had heard any of the stories at all, and what details as weren’t lost over time were just as easily twisted by a five year old boy’s perceptions as he listened to his elders by the hearth. Jötz found himself scanning ahead mentally as he told Ivy what he knew. He became wrapped up in both the telling and the recollection of it all to the point where his sharp eyes became slightly distant; they were focused not on the room they shared now, but instead upon the images the yarns had spun in his head as a boy.

Unknown to him, distracted by his own thoughts, his thick accent began to slip into something softer and less harsh.

“Vhen Ludd gets to Europa, he uses all dat money to build a library. Greatest library ever, he wanted, somevhere in Belgium. Not only dat, but he wanted to have a Grand Index! So that if der was a book you wanted, and if he didn’t have it, you could look uo who might have it. He vanted to share knowledge mit everyone so dat everyone could prosper, or something like dat. The canals were built by him to do just dat, make it easier for folks to find stuff out und do research und to share ideas; the canals vere supposed to go to every major city dat had a library.

“The canals also allowed for better trade between cities. No trains yet, chou see? So de Bargefolks and Canallers were people hired by Ludd to transport goods and, more importantly, books. Big trade, lots of money for everyone, everyone happy, yes?

Jötz shook his head sadly. “Only de other schmart guys, they didn’t want to share. Dey hoarded der books and libraries like gold, und books dat Ludd’s libraries lent out didn’t come back to him most of de time. In fact, a bunch of dem gets ideas in der heads, and dey attack and sack Ludd’s library while he’s away doing something or other. When he gets back, he vast hopping mad. Ludd says something like, ‘If they don’t want to share, then I’ll have to steal.’ Und dat’s when Jacob Ludd became dis pirate guy, Jake O’Blood. He used the canals to raid cities and steal whatever wasn’t nailed down, killing anyone who got in his way until even de Heterodynes say, ‘Whoa, dat is too much!’ So de Storm King comes along und tries to stomp on Ludd. Only Ludd disappeared before the army de Strorm Kind sent could find him! They say dat Ludd made off with half the books of Europa, never to be seen again, not even at his library! Den again, dey say dat the Mongfishes got der first und looted whatever was left before burning it to de ground. So there’s no knowing how much of his treasure he took with him and how much the other families stole away.”

“Und dat’s it,” he finished apologetically. “Ludd vast a good guy mit great ideas on helpink everyone out, but in de end? Eh. He killed und stole und unleashed crazy, Spark mad ting on innocent pipples, same as any other Spark.”

The Jaeger brought his narrative to a close, looking at Ivy critically. “Ist you okay? Chou look like chou ist ready for sleepy-sleep.” He coughed as delicately as a constructed death-dealing monster could. “Und, ah, der is only de one bed. Dis floor? I don’t tink is so good for taking a nap on.”