By the summer of 1852, the nation was a powder keg of political and social unrest, ready to explode at a moment's notice. The Secessionists in the largely agricultural southern states had formed into something more dangerous than simple rebels. Galvanized by the notion that the wealthier and more powerful northern states were slowly eroding their right to state sovereignty, and with the rapid expansion of the abolitionist movement, the Secessionist ideas grew quickly.

The outrage of the southerners at what they saw as an effort to undermine their economy, moral beliefs, rights and, in some cases, their very lives was barely assuaged by a series of acts passed by the Federal government (acts which also served to enrage the abolitionists by giving the appearance of ceding the validity of slavery). So, that summer, it only took a realtively minor spark to ignite the flames of war.

William Cavanaugh, a Secessionist organizer, stood accused of bombing a church (and known meeting point for abolitionists) in New York. In the South, he was regarded as a hero. In the North, reviled as a terrorist and murderer.

On April 7th, New York's 12th Militia Unit was transporting the high profile prisoner to a secure location to await trial. It is widely believed that the attack they suffered en route was the action of Secessionists attempting to free him. Whatever their true identity, the ensuing firefight resulted in Cavanaugh's death.

Overnight, the nation exploded into war. The Secessionists accused the New York militia of carrying out a staged attack as an excuse to execute Cavanaugh. New York's state government dismissed the accusation. The resulting back and forth culminated with 10 Southern states decalring their independence from the Union and forming armed infantry units along their perceived border.

The Federal government responded quickly, attempting to quell the insurrection by dispatching their small standing army to the Virginia border. They were soundly defeated and were only barely able to keep the Southern forces from pursuing them all the way to the Capital.

By 1854, the Federal government knew it was fighting a losing battle. Despite their superior numbers, firepower and training, the Northern armies were repeatedly beaten back. The Secessionists attempted several times to foray into the northern territories in an effort to take the Capital and throw the Union into disarray, believing that this would give them time to fortify their own positions further and garner foreign support and recognition as a sovereign nation. Rumor had it that their successes were fueled by the aid of Cherokee shamans.

Although sorcery had been viewed with disdain for over a century and was soundly condemned by all major religions, it was not technically illegal and no absolute proof had ever been shown that the South was in fact in league with Native shamans. Their ability to stand against the Union armies was undeniable, however.

In an act of desperation, President Abelman formed a secret agency to investigate the use of sorcery and find some way to counter it. He tasked four agents with discovering if the Secessionists were in fact using sorcery, and if so to find a way to summon something that could fight against it.

The agency took his orders a bit too literally. Working tirelessly (and with their own agenda), they uncovered a long forgotten summoning and binding ritual that would allow them to call forth a denizen of the Infernal Realm. Such a creature would be able to defeat the shamanistic magicks of the Secessionists' native allies and could be controlled by means of the spell.

In the early days of the winter, the four agents performed the ritual in secret, not waiting for the approval of the President. In a terrifying display of fire and blood, the Demon Lord Krechevskoy appeared in the form of a Siberian Tiger.

His fury at having been wrenched from his home realm and bound to the whims of his four captors resulted in the partial destruction of the town of Pottsdam before they were able to bring him under control. Krechevskoy seethed against his imprisonment, but was unable to act against the four agents who had been branded painfully with the mark of the L'harl (the controlling rune that allowed them to bend the Demon Lord's will).

Fearing reprisal for their questionable ethics, the agency presented Krechevskoy to President Abelman as a simple soldier that had been imbued with the powers that resulted from the efforts of their research. Accepting their explanations, Abelman placed the demon in command of an infantry unit and allowed his captors to travel as his "aides".

In battle after battle, Krechevskoy repeatedly carried his unit to victory, completely annihilating the Secessionist 25th and 27th artillery unit in an amazing battle at Willow Township, Virginia and single-handedly defeating a company of 62 Secessionist soldiers at Meargham Hill. The Demon Lord was quickly promoted to the rank of General despite the reports of atrocities commited by him and his troops (earning him the nickname "The Dark General").

Over the course of two years, two of his captors died in freak accidents. The remaining agents attempted to come up with a plan to somehow assure their own safety, but during a battle in the forest outside the town of Mandrake the Secessionist infantry broke through the Union lines and rushed for the command point. Their goal was to assassinate General Krechevskoy, but, along with his personal guard, he fought them back in an intense and bloody gun battle. During the fighting, the remaining two agents that bound the Demon Lord to this realm were killed.

Freed from his enslavement, Krechevskoy let out a terrifying cry of victory that was heard miles away. No one survived to tell of exactly what happened next, but witnesses on the outskirts of Mandrake described a gargantuan ball of flame exploding into the sky and searing the fields of the farms outside of town. The heat from the explosion was felt as far away as the center of Mandrake, 20 miles from the battleground.

The next morning, investigators from the town were dispatched and returned with fantastic and terrifying tales. Mandrake forest had been entirely leveled and scorched, a smouldering crater nearly a quarter mile across at its center. The only sign of the armies of either side were the flayed bodies that lay where the edges of the forest had been, the skin ripped from their bodies and piled in burning, putrescent heaps.

Popularly dismissed as the rantings of ignorant locals, the offical story was that the explosion had been the result of a munitions accident, the soldiers at the edge of the blast were said to have been flayed by the force of the shock wave.

President Abelman, meanwhile, uncovered the truth of Krechevskoy's origins from records which he unsealed after the deaths of his agents, revealing their deceit. Fearing the Demon Lord might still live, he formed a second secret agency (the National Supernatural Investigations Unit). Their singular task was to discover if Krechevskoy had survived, and, if so, to "send him back to whatever hell he came from."

The original character and fursona of Krechevskoy is copyright to and wholly owned by  krechevskoy

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The second panel in the Old west series that I did once upon a time. God, I can't believe how much I used to suck... lol....

These drawings are actually a bit painful to me now. Hopefully, they are not so to others. The stories and drawings were done during a time when several of the couples involved were.... well, couples. As they no longer are. I have preserved the stories as they originally stood, though. I doubt I will be continuing the series for that reason...