Laue

Mark of the demon.

Maybe I've posted out of turn or whatever, but I just wanted to do this and have several of our characters meet. If needed, I can edit it if needed, though it's a kind of relief to pull this idea out of my mind into this wall of text.

Mark of the demon.

Nothing, absolutely nothing was written about her family's history that she did not already know - the origins of the 6 Great Houses are just speculations and legends warped far away from reality. It's as if everything that happened with the 6 great heroes was erased from written history. "Don't you think it's kinda of suspicious that anything related to that era is just missing. People like to record things, one way or another, and there is nothing about that particular time. As much as Nianxi would hate to agree, Xiandra was right. What exactly had happened back then, how were these weapons made, what did the heroes do? That is, if they were heroes to begin with. Nianxi had tons of questions, and no answers.

After spending some time at the bar, the person she was looking for still didn't show up, and it was getting late. Packing up her books, Nianxi left the bar for her personal tent - a perk she could still enjoy as a noble, even as one who lost everything. Rumors of her heritage spread like wildfire through gossip, coupled with her brooding, vengeful mood and a sword unlike any other, no one really dared to deny Nianxi her comforts. Eventually, she earned a fearful respect of her comrades-in-arms, as being unforgiving, but just. She shared her wealth this those who risked their lifes to help her - that earned a lot of "points" for her in the base camp. Not to mention her commanding presence - the very thing she was taught daily back in the day. Tone of voice, stance, the way you walk, the way you move - all this could be used to assert your authority, and sometimes you wouldn't even need to say a word. And as a delegate of House Serilya, Nianxi was a master of social interactions. However, her calm and calculated persona was long gone, killed in the attack on Velron - and only a shell of her former self remained, with only one thing on her mind - vengeance. A shell that was split in two...

Her personal tent was rather small, but it contained all the basic necessities: a bedroll, small pouches with various medical and food supplies, as well as a storage chest she carried from the nearby ruins. Putting her books in the chest and locking it, she finally decided to rest - this day was quite eventful. Also, it seemed that Xiandra respected Nianxi's need to focus or relax, and only speaks to her when she has something useful to say. Laying down, she drifted to sleep rather quickly, unnaturally so, even.

In her dream, she would herself in some kind of white space, everything was white - there was no floor, no sky, nothing, and yet she could feel something beneath her feet, allowing her to stand upright. "Well, this is awkward." a voice exclaimed, just like hers, behind Nianxi. And it was something that looked just like Nianxi, but with black eyes instead of red - without a doubt, that in this strange dream Xiandra and Nianxi are separate entities. "YOU! Nianxi shouted, raising her fist to try and punch her demonic, alter ego. "Your attention, please!" a familiar voice came out from a distance. As if under a spell, both Nianxi and Xiandra quickly turned towards it - it was the Demon Lord Menos! "Sorry to barge in your dreams like that, but... we need to talk." he said as he briefly disappeared and reappeared in front of them. "Your conditions is one of a kind, you know. Nothing even close to this has ever happened before. Though your demonic persona is a very, very bad liar." Xiandra's facial expression briefly turned to a frown. "But I'm not hear to discuss this. I'm here with both an announcement, and an offer you just won't be able to refuse."

Both Nianxi and Xiandra found themselves unable to talk, or to turn their gaze away from Menos, "In the coming days, you will meet some other, interesting individuals, and circumstances may arise for you to work together, or not, I don't really care about the others anymore.. I am in a need to find several things in your world, and one of them would be a great boon to your cause. Don't worry, if you find them, so will I - I have eyes everywhere. And I assure you, the knowledge you will gain is more than a fair "trade", if you find them first. Do not worry, if I am successful in my endeavors, you will not have to worry about demons anymore. But before that, tons of blood must be spilled, both yours and mine. The pieces are set, the gears swung in motion - and this grand game has just begun. The prize is either salvation, or damnation, and only time will tell which. Oh, and a fair warning - some other Demon Lords found two of your relic weapons, and they are currently in Velron. Good night!"

And with that, Nianxi once again felt exhaustion overcoming her, finally drifting to dreamless sleep.

Mark of the demon.

Sorry, I made the assumption that most of our characters are in a relatively similar area, with a "base camp" so to speak. To that end, I was thinking about making a post where Nianxi ventures out and finds Susanna, Seth and Manthan, after some brief dialogue some imps attack and overwhelm them, and then Nianxi more or less accidentally learns her first sword skill (and passes out briefly after that).

Our characters get to meet, and those two could witness the potential of those relic weapons, and may even chose to search for the remaining 5! Also, Seth could make some remark about the sword "So these are their weapons..." (Because that first skill would do something that swords normally don't do.)

Mark of the demon.

If you don't mind megarandom, that "exotic individual" that Nianxi is looking for would be Ulrisk, hoping he could translate those books. This could also be a minor intro for the 6 Relic weapons.

And if Susanna returns to the bar in a relatively short amount of time, there could be an interesting interaction between her and Nianxi/Xiandra, as Nianxi's armor starts emitting black smoke when demons are nearby, and she has her newly acquired, though not fully developed, 6th sense. Feel free to make up a dialog for my character in your post if needed, and write me a PM if you have any questions.

Mark of the demon.

Nianxi returned back to the mercenary camp, with the books in her bag, while happy mercenaries, through shaken by the attack their mind felt, were happy about their loot, going straight to the local merchant. The camp was rather simple, though large. Large wooden logs, sharpened on the upper end constituted for walls, with platforms and towers for towers. Flimsy wooden gates covered the entrances, and some men started digging a moat, aiming to fill it with spikes. The smell of sweat and vomit permeated the camp, centered around the bar, nearly the only structure in the camp. Well, it was more like the camp was built around that bar. The bar owners welcomed this many customers, especially when they protect you, and the customers welcomed a place to get drunk and rowdy. And it was Nianxi's next destination.

"Can you feel it? We share our senses, our feelings, our emotions. You and I are different sides of the same coin, Nianxi, you CANNOT ignore me. And after all, I am trying to help you. Our soul is fractured, my side is demonic, and that comes with a few perks, as you just recently witnessed. Now, stop trying to ignore me, and FEEL IT." It was no use, she could not ignore Xiandra's voice in the back of her head. What does she want Nianxi to feel? And then, she realized. Without eve looking, Nianxi just knew how many people were around, and where. Each of them gave of an unique "feeling", yet she could not yet discern them, nor she could not explain it. Nianxi just felt, she KNEW. Is this the infamous 6th sense of the demons? "See? Not that hard. You are not very proficient at it, and I don't blame you, but I'm sure it will come in handy. Of course, it will be much more effective when I'm using it. See, that's the second perk! We can work together, "sis"!" Sister? The demonic piece of her soul was no sister to her. "No way... Nianxi muttered under her breath, and entered the bar. She took a seat, and put down her books, and started looking around. Nianxi remembers seeing some rather "exotic" individuals, and they were her best bet to translating those books, but neither of them were here.. All she could do at this point could wait, and read the only book that was in a language she could understand - "The History of House Serilya".

Mark of the demon.

I'm pretty sure it is.

Mark of the demon.

Speaking of which, there could be also a special interaction between Nianxi/Xiandra and Lilith. While the personality shift is very inconsistent, the Xiandra personality is sensed as a demon (by other demons anyway), and Nianxi as human. Obviously, Lilith could be extremely confused, as they don't exist at the same time, they just.... switch, unlike her case. Also, Xiandra, would taunt Lilith to no end, as she's kinda the evil dominatrix kind to other demons. And tormenting a trapped demon lord would be quite priceless to her. Nianxi, however, would want to kill Lilith. Neither one would care what happens to Susanna though.

Mark of the demon.

I still need Halvtand to reply to my PM!

Mark of the demon.

Yours is not bad in any shape or form, don't worry. Just because others are good at describing the environment, it doesn't mean everyone is!

Mark of the demon.

Speaking of which, I've sent you a new PM Halvtand.