The Venetian Chronicles: Emma Durkan

The Venetian Chronicles: Emma Durkan
Yuuko: (fumbling with the camera before mounting it on a tripod. Before adjusting the focus on the camera and Clearing her throat) this is Council envoy Yuuko Shirakawa, agent of the dragon, and historian for the archives in Dublin Ireland. As part of the Chronicles initiative, I am interviewing active agents from the 21st century so that future generations may better understand the context in which events are taking place. This session is being recorded on December 18th 2016 in Greenfield Ireland, at the Green residence. (Across from Yuuko sits an elderly woman in a blue Christmas sweater, sipping tea and wearing an oxygen hose.)
Yuuko: Could you please state your full name, date of birth, affiliation and rank.
Emma Durkan:(Clearing her throat) My name is Emma Maria Durkan, I was born on April 4th 1916, and before I retired, I use to work for the Dragon and was called the lady of entropy.
Yukko: Can you tell us about your family?
Emma Durkan:I was born in Mayo county Ireland to Amanda and Christopher Adhmaid. My Father was a farmer, and mother was a midwife, or at least that is what we told everyone. In truth she referred to herself as a Druidess but given her training she was little more than a woods witch. They both died in a Templar raid during the war for independence when I was 5. I spent most of my childhood and adolescence with an agent of the Dragon by the name of Connar Green and when I was 21 I met man named Michael Durkan whom I would marry 3 years later. We had 3 children Connor, Adam, and Ann and I currently have one grandson, Edward.
Yuuko: Where did you grow up?
Emma Durkan:I was born in Mayo and spent the first part of my life there. After the raid, I grew up in Dublin before becoming something of nomad as a young lady.
Yuuko: How would you describe your childhood?
Emma Durkan:We were not a rich family, but we made due. I remember my parents very fondly, I was an only child so it was lonely sometimes, but also got on well with the other little girls in the village so I was not friendless. After the raid things were….chaotic. Connar did the best he could, but you tell he had no idea how to be a little girls daddy, and that made somethings awkward.
Yuuko: Such as?
Emma Durkan: It was a little strange having a man explain to you the things every girl needs to know.
Yuuko: And what would those be?.....Waite! I didn't mean to ask about!
Emma Durkan: You know, how to disappear in a crowd, how to question the poor and homeless for intelligence, how to slit a man's throat and make it look like suicide and of course magic. All of the things girls usually learn from their mothers, I had to learn from Connar.
Yuuko:.....Moving on, how were you first introduced to the secret world?
Emma Durkan:...my powers first awakened shortly after my 5th birthday. Unlike the bee’s, a witch's powers come slowly, it started with me hearing things that I thought weren't there and then seeing things that I had been told weren't real. When I told my mother about this, she only smiled and said that I was old enough to begin helping her with her work, a few days later she began teaching me a few simple blood spells and then some herbal medicine, I was her student for a summer before they came. When the war for independence started, the Templar weren't concerned about losing “assets”, they had seen uprisings before and seen them put down, but they had never had the dragon interfere with one either. As the english lost more and more ground, more and more agents and cryptids rallied to the dragons cause, near the end they began relocating artifacts and magi they didn't want to fall into the dragons hands. Temple Hall had given Nicodemus command of the Templar forces in Ireland and early on he had ordered a “no prisoner” policy, any cryptid that was found collaborating with the dragon was executed on the spot and anyone who refused to be relocated to London was assumed to be a collaborator. He took an interest in my mother because she was the last of long line of druidess's, even though her own power was limited, they insisted we come with them…(taking a moment to collect herself)... when my mother refused to leave, they attempted to force her into an armored car, when my father tried to stop them...they shot him….my mother through a anima charge at them and ran to his side. He then ordered our home put to the torch and gave my mother once last chance to come peacefully...she told him to go to hell and he brought his hammer down on her head….
Yuuko: Do you need a moment
Emma Durkan: (wiping her eyes)...I am fine dear, it just still hurts to think about. I can still remember him clear as day, towering over me in front of my burning home and ordering me to get in the car…. he looked like the devil himself….but before I knew what was happening I heard gunshots and saw him stumble back, I felt myself being pulled into the air onto a horse. Connar’s squad was nearby, had seen the fire, and had come to help...he was one part knight in shining armor, one part american cowboy, and one part angel. I would have to say that day was the day I was formally introduced to the Secret World.
Yuuko: Did you have any contact (either directly or indirectly) with your society before your powers awakened?
Emma Durkan: My mother was a Druid in name only, prior to the fire, I had no contact with the Dragon.
Yuuko: Would you mind if I asked you about your religion, Isn't it blasphemous to worship both Jesus Christ and whatever those other gods are?
Emma Durkan:Rome might look down on it, but my family’s coven had always kept the old ways. Chief among them a transactional relationship with the gods, it's true the Jesus Christ is my lord and savior but I also have a working relationship with the beings in the thousand hells, as well as the old gods, Gaia and even the dreaming ones.
Yuuko: How did you know about the wolves and what's your relationship to them?
Emma Durkan:Long before many of those involved in the Third Sunday affair were born, I helped Mai Tuk (the wolf that hangs around Connar) purge himself of the zero point pathogen. To do this I took him to the other world and traveled deep within the labyrinth of his mind, there I saw his past, knew his sorrows, his fears and his hopes for the future. I saw the daemon queen devour his pups and learned the method by which they may be freed. One day, while I was meditating I had a vision of a wolf pack surrounding the bird of the zero point pathogen and the death of Nicodemus and a castle falling out of the sky. Weeks later I felt a disruption in the anima, the daemon queen had been sealed and I knew they were free. I searched the other world for their anima forms and called them to me, the rest as they say is history.
Yuuko: Can you tell us what a normal day looks like for you?
Emma Durkan:My day is not terribly interesting since I have retired. I wake up around 8:00am, have breakfast and then watch a little telly primarily the news but only on RTÉ, I can’t stand the BBC’s news. I then tidy up a bit, get dressed and go to teach coven in the village. After that some days, Edward comes by and takes me to the doctor in Dublin and helps me get my medication. I then come home and read a bit and then fix supper, watch a little more telly before retiring to bed for the evening.
Yuuko: Has your work for your society ever brought you into contact with anyone who would be considered historically significant (world leaders, celebrities, scientist and engineers.)
Emma Durkan: Many, I meet just about every colonial leader in from 1934 on, none of them lasted. More recently,  I met Pope Francis when I was in Rome on holiday. My grandson Edward had a show on the RTÉ for a while called the Hardy Bucks but I really don’t want to talk about that.
Yuuko: Have you ever seen an event reported in the media and known that it was a lie and if so can you tell us what really happened?
Emma Durkan:Yes, the BBC coverage of the troubles completely removed the Templar from the entire mess. No one who was there will admit it, but they were there and they gave just as good as they got.
Yuuko: What was the last event you can remember that shook both the secret world and the mundane equally?
Emma Durkan:The bomb in Tokyo is the most recent one, the one that stands out in my mind though would be the Good Friday accords.
Yuuko: Have you ever participated in an event considered historically important to the mundane world and if so was it on behalf of your society
Emma Durkan:Yes, I was the dragon envoy for the Indian independence movement, I was one of the factors that help bring about the Wind of change in Africa, I help negotiate the return of Hong Kong to the Chinese and the Good Friday accords.
Yuuko: Will you share your banoffee recipe with us?
Emma Durkan: No I will not. You will have to wait for your’s  like everyone else.
Yuuko: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us Mrs. Durkan.
Emma Durkan: Always a pleasure dear.
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