John Pritkin

**John Pritkin** is a character from the Cassandra Palmer series. He is a War Mage.

## Introduction

He was a War Mage—a member of the Corps, supernatural community's police force—with a specialization in demon killing. But then his bosses sent him on a new mission--to kill the upstart pretender to the Pythia's throne, one Cassie Palmer. They didn't want an unknown taking such a powerful position and possibly interfering in their affairs. And they didn't think a demon-hunting assassin would have a problem with a spot of political murder.

They thought wrong.

Now Pritkin is a former war mage and the Pythia's new bodyguard. So far, the move has brought him no pay, long hours, constant stress and has almost gotten him killed at least a dozen times. He's shown here about to embark on a demon hunt to get a little rest. ~ Take A Chance: Gallery

## About

### Species

* Human
* Incubus / Demon
* Green Fey / Alorestri
* Divine

### Other Names

* Emrys: The name given to him by his mother, Morgaine. It means "immortal."
* Myrddin: According to Rosier, this name means "Sea Fortress."
* Merlin
* John Pritkin: first name is revealed

### Powers & Abilities

* Magic
* Alchemy / Potions
* Wardsmith
* He warded with both **earth** and **water**, and they flowed out from him.

### Weaknesses

* For a liaison from the Silver Circle to the Senate, he is awfully ignorant about vampires—it seemed odd that they would send him.

### Weapons

* Floating daggers
* Belt arsenal of potions in vials
* Charm bracelet made of magically shrunken weapons—guns, rifles, grenade launcher, etc.
* T-shirt was crossed with enough ammunition to take out a platoon
* His tool belt slung low on his hips
* Wards

### Occupation

* War Mage for the Corps of the Silver Circle
* The Circle's chief assassin.
* Later: Self-chosen guardian-knight for Cassandra Palmer, Pythia

### Assassin Traits

* thousand kills to his credit
* he's the man the Circle turns to when they want to make absolutely certain someone ends up dead.
* famous for using unorthodox tactics to bring down his prey—like having one mark help him to locate another

### Tattoos

* Magic Tattoo of a sword—put on him by Mac

### Places of Origin

* Wales
* Demon realm of Zarr Alim: Rosier's capital city

### Character / Personality

* Pritkin’s idea of orderly living was roughly that of a fourteen-year-old boy.
* Hostile
* He seemed to see Demons everywhere.
* Very stubborn and a bit paranoid.

### Family & Other Connections

* **Father**: Rosier (Incubus demon)
* **Mother**: Morgaine (1/4 Fey, 3/4 human)
* **Uncle**: King Arthur (1/4 Fey, 3/4 human)
* **Grandmother**: Igraine (1/2 Fey, 1/2 human)
* **Grandfather**: Gorlois (human)
* **Great** **Grandmother**: Nimue (Green Fey Queen, 1/2 divine)
* **Former Corps Partner**: Mac

### Friends and Allies

* Cassandra Palmer
* Mac
* Caleb Carter
* Jonas Marsden
* Nick - ?

### Enemies / Enemy-to

* Cassandra Palmer (at the start)
* Rosier

### Other Details

* Has a Welsh accent
* In the beginning, he thinks that Cassie is a fallen sybil—one allied with the Black Circle. One who might be able to summon ghosts and dark witches to fight for her, to possess humans like a demon, and to command a dark weapon so easily.

## Physical Description

He has piercing green eyes, long blond eyelashes and short blond hair that seems to defy gravity. His eyebrows are so blond that they appear invisible. He has a large nose and a chiseled jaw and often has stubble.

## About Rosier

In his Rosier’s warped view, John had been "playing about on earth long enough. It was time for him to take up his birthright and help the family by whoring himself out to the highest bidders." It didn't matter to Rosier that it would be worse than death to Pritkin, who hated the demon half of himself and everything that went with it. Rodger had spent centuries trying to get a corporeal son that he could use as a bargaining chip, and he was unlikely to relinquish him easily.

## Related Characters, Groups, Places, Objects etc

Characters, groups:

* Cassandra Palmer
* Mac
* Caleb Carter
* Jonas Marsden
* Agnes
* Rosier
* Dark Fey King
* Radella
* Augusta
* Pritkin's Golem
* Billy Joe
* Miranda
* Carlos Casanova
* Kit Marlowe
* Mircea Basarab
* Myra
* Tomas
* Apollo

Supes, Titles, Groups:

* Silver Circle
* Corps
* Dark Fey
* Graeae
* Demons
* Demon Council
* Incubus
* Dragons

Places, things:

* Codex Merlini
* Dante's Casino
* Magic Tattoos
* Mac's Tattoo Shop
* Duthracht Geis
* Shadowlands
* Golems
* M.A.G.I.C.
* Lyceum Theatre
* Time Travel
* Dark Enchanted Forest in Faerie

## Events Throughout the Series

This section may have **spoilers**. If you want to avoid spoilers, please think of the book title as a "Spoiler Warning".

### 1. Touch the Dark

Pritkin appears at the Senate Chamber meeting on Cassies fate. He claims that the Pythia sent him to get "the Rogue". The Consul says they can protecter better since the War Mages recently demanded her "dead or alive", preferably dead. Chaos breaks out due to an assassination attempt on Cassie. John set a Golem to protect her while he fight the bad guys.

During the Parking lot battle, John battles with Jimmy the Rat and his pack of were-rats along side Louis-Cesare and Tomas. When Cassie returns from her vision (saving Francoise, Pritkin is busy holding off the Jonathan the Dark Mage's magical attack with Shield Ward which are near to failing. Cassie uses a Word of Power and Billy Joe's help to reinforce Pritkin's ward—shocking Pritkin. The Dark Mage sends a dark mist to erode that ward. Cassie then has Billy bump her out of her body so she can possess the Dark Mage. Once inside the Dark Mage, Pritkin tells her to destroy the Dagger Bracelet—she gets it off his arm with a lot of struggle and the pressures falls off Pritkin.

Back in the suite at M.A.G.I.C., Pritkin accuses her of being a Lamia demon and tries to kill Cassie with floating daggers, vials, guns and grenades. Mircea and Tomas try to contain him while Louis deals with the Golem and Rafe corals all the vials. Cassie invites to give her a test—she drinks some stale holy-water straight down—nothing happens. He backtracks a bit. John explains somewhat about the Pythia powers and how they never believed they'd go to her, an untrained not-virgin (as he believes, though not true). He is exported out.

### 2. Claimed by Shadow

**John Pritkin** is sent back to London's Lyceum Theatre in 1888 with Cassie to prevent a murder by poison. He comes between Cassie and the War Mages that the Silver Circle sent to get Cassie.

He and Cassie meet at Mac's Tattoo Shop to talk while he gets a sword tattooed onto his aura his back by Mac for his planned trip to Faerie. The Circle mages seem to be after him, too because he declined to kill Myra untried. He asks Cassie to help him get Myra from Faerie. Cassie thinks he'll use her as bait to capture Myra, then he'll either use Myra to kill Cassie of do it himself—probably for some coup on the Circle's leadership since they thinks it's gone bad. The Pythia power urges him and Cassie to act on their attraction, but the Duthracht Geis sends them both into burning pain. He's shocked to learn that she's a virgin. In the desert, John casts **Dagaz**, one of the Runes of Langgarn to test what it does—he, Mac and Mac's Tattoo Shop vanish. They return a bit later and Cassie is freaked out. Pritkin thinks it's a "do-over" rune giving the caster a chance to redo the last twenty minutes. After talking with Billy Joe, Cassie tells him that they must rescue Tomas from the Senate, now, before the go to Faerie.

He helps rescue Cassie in Mac's Tattoo Shop and lands in Faerie with Mac, Kit Marlowe, Cassie, Billy Joe, Pritkin's Golem. John says they need Marlowe since they arrived without passes—which is a death sentence—the Fey will either kill them on sight or ransom them back to the Circle or Senate. The Senate will get passes then come for them. John goes off to the nearest town to find Marlowe's Dark Fey contacts with Billy and his Golem. Kit tells her that Pritkin is the Circle's chief assassin—Mac protests. Soon after, they are attacked by the forest and surrounded by the Dark Fey's guard led by Radella. Mac is killed by a tree root that formed into a sharp spear, then swallowed up by the roots.

He and Marlowe attempt to convince the pixie, Radella, to let the others go. He promises to cast the Jera Rune—the fertility stone—she wants to get pregnant. They all have to go before the Dark Fey King first. When all are gathered to in front of the Portal, he's shocked that Cassie's aura has changed and she is now Pythia, he calls it a trick. John asks where Mac is—no one told him that Mac died. Radella answers him—

"The forest demanded a sacrifice before it would let us through. It went for the girl, but the mage offered himself instead.”
Pritkin then accuses Cassie of planning the whole thing, tricking them into rescuing Tomas to complete the Pythia ritual to gain the power. He follows Cassie into the portal close on her heels.Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; invalid names, e.g. too many Upon returning to Dante's through the portal, Marlowe had rendered him unconscious and locked him in the back room. A battle between the zombies and the War Mages develops while the Graeae create chaos. JP escapes and joins the fray, mainly coming at Cassie with a determined angry scowl. When Cassie shift out, he grabs hold and shifst with her. Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; invalid names, e.g. too many

He jumps Cassie from behind and the Geis zaps them both. Cassie slips into a window trying to escape **JP**. She encounters Augusta and quickly possesses her. She stops to comfort Billy Joe who is freaked out after having died a second time that day—he almost didn't come back as a ghost. JP jumps her again, threatens to stop her from giving the Codex Merlini to the Dark Fey King. She offers him first crack at it to remove the dangerous spells, if she can have for the counterspell to the Gies—she never promised the King not to gut the book. John and Cassie strike a tenuous deal to work together to get Myra.  Cassie/Augusta sensed a couple dozen vamps nearby. She wants to get Mircea and hide; he says that's not an option and tells her to deal witth the Rogue, he'll handle the vamps. Pritkin brought the fight to a group of vamps down the street.

✥

### 6. Tempt the Stars

Cassie shifts to his room at Dante's to get away from the uninvited witches in her suite. The room was the same chaotic mass as they left it when Rosier took John away. While there, Billy Joe tells her what he learned from Laura. Afterward, she falls asleep in his room waking up three weeks prior. John discovers the other Cassie is upstairs, then assumes she is an imposter.

Cassie is determined to rescue John from Rosier's demon realm, in his capital city of Zarr Alim in Hell. Her rescue team includes: Caleb Carter, Carlos Casanova and Rian. After a betrayal by Rian and a mad dash on a chariot led by camel-thingys through Rosier's city chased by guards, they find Pritkin in silks in an elegant suite. They all flee the guards and Rosier on flying carpets and the moment they arrived at Dante's Casino, Rosier appears followed by a storm created by the Demon Council's soldiers—Allu—who came for John who is in violation of an edict laid in him to not leave the Demons realm. There's a big battle in the lobby of Dante's Casino with the Allu.

After being summoned by the Demon Council to the Shadowland, he, Cassie, Casanova and Caleb sit in a raunchy demon bar waiting for the 's trial to begin. While waiting, he and Cassie go to a stand for food and talk. John comes close to telling his feelings for her (and she's clueless), when interrupted by Caleb with the trial summons.

After the trial, the Demon Council laid a spell on Pritkin that regressed the Incubus inside him—an "method of execution that sends the soul back through his or her lifetime, into previous versions of himself. When his soul reaches the beginning of its life journey, it will wink out of existence, and the body will die."

## Quotes

"Only the Circle can protect her, and protect others from her." — John Pritkin at the Senate meeting referring to Cassie ~ Touch the Dark
"Haven't you ever wondered why your mother named you Cassandra? It is our term for a fallen sybil, one who uses her power for ill instead of good. One allied with the Black Circle. One who might be able to summon ghosts and dark witches to fight for her, to possess humans like a demon, and to command a dark weapon so easily. The power will not be allowed to pass to someone like you!"
"He's He's a War Mage," Mircea said flatly. "He's never unarmed."; "Until he's dead," Tomas added. — Mircea & Tomas about Pritkin
"I'm too old for a lamia to take an interest. I tracked the one I killed over the bodies of twenty children it used to sustain its abomination of a life. I won't let that happen again." — John Pritkin
"You might think to ask them why they sent you, their best-known demon hunter, after Cassie. You have something of a reputation for being—how shall I put it?—extremely single-minded? If I were the suspicious type, I might almost believe that they wanted you to mistake what she was, and remove a possible rival from contention." — Mircea to John Pritkin about the Silver Circle
Pritkin wrinkled his brow as if trying to get his mind around a difficult concept. "You're saying that you are still a virgin?" he asked bluntly. His voice held the same level of incredulity anyone else would use if told that a spaceship had landed on the White House lawn. Like something barely possible but highly unlikely. ... I stopped looking at the wall to glare at him. "Not that it's any of your business, but yes!” ... He shook his head in disbelief. "I would never have considered that.” — Pritkin & Cassie
"What geis? You're under a geis?" Mac asked. ... "Her vampire master put her under a Duthracht Geis. It is conflicting with the Pythian Rites, which have yet to be completed," Pritkin said curtly. ... "Oh, bloody hell." Mac sat down on his stool, looking shell-shocked. — Mac and Pritkin
"You know, it takes a real lunatic to risk bleeding to death just so I'd believe you.” — Cassie to JP
Pritkin ran his hands through his hair with the air of a man trying not to wrap mem around my neck. "I am not working with the Circle," he said slowly, as if talking to a four-year-old. "And I have only one agenda, as you call it.” ... I eyed him suspiciously. "And that would be?” ... "**That whoever holds the position be someone with intelligence, ability and experience**!" he replied savagely. " — JP and Cassie
"The principle is the same," he repeated, wrenching the heavy lamppost I'd ruined out of the ground, then shoving it back into the hole, hard. The gas main underneath the street ruptured and caught fire with a whoosh, sending a bright plume skyward. I jumped back, Augusta's instinctive terror running through me. But a vamp I hadn't even noticed caught fire and ran screaming into another. Pritkin grinned viciously. "Never be what they expect.” — JP
## Note

Source for Images and Into: Author's site. The Artist is not credited or I would name the artist.

## Book References

1. ↑ *Ride the Storm, p. 552.*
2. ↑ Ibid.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 5
4. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 9
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 *Touch the Dark*, ch. 10
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 8
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 10
8. ↑ *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 15
9. ↑ *Tempt the Stars*, ch. 4, p. 44
10. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 11
11. ↑ *Tempt the Stars*, ch. 4, p. 49
12. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 3–4
13. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 7
14. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 8
15. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 10–11
16. ↑ *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 2
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 6
18. ↑ *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 9
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 13
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 14
21. ↑ *Tempt the Stars*, ch. 4
22. ↑ *Tempt the Stars*, ch. 5
23. ↑ *Tempt the Stars*, ch. 6
24. ↑ *Tempt the Stars*, ch. 14–15
25. ↑ *Tempt the Stars*, ch. 16–17
26. ↑ *Tempt the Stars*, ch. 17–18, p211-226
27. ↑ *Tempt the Stars*, ch. 19
28. ↑ *Tempt the Stars*, ch. 32, p. 382-6
29. ↑ *Tempt the Stars*, ch. 33, p. 397-99
30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 *Touch the Dark*, ch. 3
31. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 11
32. ↑ *Touch the Dark*, ch. 10

## External Links

**Specific Links**

* Karen Chance's Ramblings Q&A: Rosier, Pritkin...
* John Pritkin | Karen Chance's Ramblings
* Character profile for John Pritkin from Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer, #1)
* Take A Chance: Gallery

**General Links**:

* Take A Chance: Gallery
* Cassandra Palmer series - Urban Fantasy Wiki
* Cassandra Palmer Series ~ Shelfari
* The Cassandra Palmer series - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia