Thar Shaddin

For those of you who know Dev and have talked to me about this subject in the past this is a mere carry-on from that conversation. As I'm driving back from VA today I was thinking of the concept. See as it stands right now Devon is here living a great wonderful life with no problems other than a potential scornful reaction from the Madame. Where's the Demon? What Demon? Read the profile.

Maybe the Demon is hungry.... Maybe he wants Devvo's soul? Maybe he wants the power? I was thinking about this and how it would relate to him becoming immortal.. Seeing how neither Jen or Bela are going to bite him and let him live through it, or even turn him... (Completely understand guys, no biggy)

What if, later down the road of course... The demon were to come for Devvo, and a battle ensued. Obviously this would HAVE to be later on, because lets face it... Lyl could prolly take Devvo as it stands...

So say Devon won the fight, maybe from help of some other guys, some GOOD guys, the ones with the good deities on thier side. What would happen to Devvo's family's souls that the demon had consumed over the generations? Would they go off to a better place bladidy blahdidy blah..or would they x-fer over to Devon? Lifetimes and lifetimes of souls, for Devon. His lifetime would be ofcourse longer than all regular humans, and even some of the magical blood.

Question for you immortal types:
Ways to die.... I can't get past Highlander...awesome movies/show btw...
Inner turmoils..... Jenica comes to mind...
I'm sure I'll think of some later.

Now as to what I'm seeing this becoming is not some God-Mod charrie... Same Devvo, longer lifespan... Maybe a few more litle demonic quarks here and there... horns, wings, ya know the like.... so if he got angry, really furious he may grow horns or something.... and if he wanted he could use wings... well that doesnt seem right does it... that he could just USE some wings when he wanted...

I dont know, like I said, just some ideas I had on the way home from my TAD.

Almost considered making the demon as a NPC... seeing how the girl that was half demon didnt end up playing here..... a shame.

Reading through this I had a few ideas for the after becoming immortal part.

Perhaps he becomes immortal in a different way than typical. For instance, maybe instead of his lifespan being simply lengthened, perhaps when he is killed (in a completely mortal way) his body can absorb some of the energy of one of the other souls to re-heal and return from the grave. Kinda like the cat's nine lives thing.

If you decide to go with the stereotypical immortal thing though, I have a a few ways for him to die. 1) Damage the body in such a way that it can not regenerate (by fire, crushing, shredding it in a giant paper shredder). 2) Separate the soul from the body (capture the soul in a gem or some such or remove the part of the body that is the "source" of the soul).

As far as inner turmoil, just go with the vampire thing. The constant questionings of one's nature (am I evil, will I go to hell when I die for something I didn't choose), seeing everyone you care about wither and die, and seeing all the things you love in the world disappear or change so much that you can no longer recognize them. All of that would have to provide some mind crushing effects.

The demon fueled powers provide a little trouble though. One thing I thought of though is that the remaining taint of the demon on the souls could give Dev some new interesting power every time he had to be "reborn." One time he'd get a some super agility the next time he'd be able to increase his body's mass for a little help in fights. The other idea I had was that he could summon up the demon's remaining essence to give him a little boost when he needs it, like adrenaline kicking in for a normal person.

I don't know that any of this will help or even give you some inspiration, but you can't say I didn't try.

Ya know Drake, I think those ideas are freakin awesome, the nine lives scenario definately piques my interest alot. One thing Lyle reminded me about from one of my conversations was....and i hate for not remembering since it was mine and an awesome idea..... that Devon becomes immortal to escape having his soul taken to begin with... Like "nah nah nahhh nahhhhh, you can't get my soul, cuz i'll never dieee.."

I liked the idea, any tips or tricks of workin in the 9 lives AND the immortality pre-demon fight... I see there being a fight if Devon becomes immortal, kinda makes it a level playing field to be honest, for me anyways.

It would be nice to get away from the stereotypicalness of pretty much anything. And those nine lives are an amazing way to do that. I would have to figure out which one of Devon's powers are HIS and which is just the demonic taints. I would like to have him keep his two powers, or atleast one of them as his own, and each time be able to get a new one. It would be dramatic and I would think it would also be interesting to the reader as to how Devon would have to struggle against the wave of a new power.

everyone feel free to post your ideas...
No idea is too irrelevant or wierd.
I will be deployed for like 3-4 months, it would be nice to toy around with new ideas.
Please... if you feel wierd about posting it in a thread... PM me.
If you feel wierd about sending me a PM, don't be...
If it's because you don't know me or my plans for Devon... I would especially appreciate your opinions as a fresh set of eyes on the subject.

Anyone have any of those times where ...

"I would really like to see an immortal be like this..."

or

"They show demons or demonic traits horribly wrong... I think it would be cool if it were like this.."

Devvo had been thought up as an idea for a book... so any ideas would be awesome.
If I like them and I do write the book, all thanks will be given ofcourse.

Well I'm glad you liked the ideas, and after reading your last two posts I've come up with some more.

As for becoming immortal before meeting the demon: Perhaps he starts to have dreams (or to be a little less cliche, he random lapses into trances and has visions) of himself running from the demon or some unknown evil. These dreams or vision prompt him to look for ways to avoid being soul-raped. He somehow comes across knowledge of some way to near-permanently bind the soul to the body, thus giving a semi-immortal state.

Now, how to work the nine lives idea in: In the battle with the demon Devvo's soul is somehow sheared away by a desperate final attack by the dying demon. This forced rupture of the magical binding of body and soul creates a strange aftereffect, a bubble of magical energies preventing the souls from leaving. And, following what one would think of spirits that are free yet can not "move one," they seek out a living host and hone their sights in on the barely living Dev, their energies patching together the remaining traces of his soul and allowing him a respite from death.

Some more ideas on that: Along with immortality and demon granted powers the souls could, perhaps, drag some of their own memories in with them. This would be slightly unoriginal, but it would also allow for more options for Devon's future path. He could have to pause his going after some goal in order to right some wrong done by one of the spirits in order to end their plaguing him with the memories.

If I come up with anything else I think might be of interest, I will be back.

Edit: Also, I would like to see a demon that isn't some big towering humanoid thing with wings like you normally read about. A nice mutated, twisted oddity with terrible strength and a few extra or misplaced limbs and body parts would be pretty cool.

Ok, thought of something right after you left the chat, so I thought I'd throw it out on here. Some stuff you might read a summary or some such on for further inspiration on all things demonic and immortal related.

The Divine Comedy (a.k.a. Dante's Inferno) especially Inferno-that one would give you some more classical view of the world demons come from.

The Slayer series (from Warhammer/Black Library; Manslayer, Daemonslayer, etc.)-that series has some pretty cool alternative inspiration for demons and their toadies.

The Malus Darkblade series (also Warhammer/Black Library; Lord of Ruin, Warpsword, etc.)-more cool demon ideas and a slightly different take on demonic possession.

Bleach (yes, the manga/anime jackass)-it centers around the killing of soul consuming demon-like entities, so I thought it might provide some ideas.

Pish, he's no hollow man.
He don't even have a mask.

Anyways, I'm at work and since I've done all my work but can't leave for a few more hours I think I'll spin some ideas.
Because you know.
Spins!

1- Possession is 9/10ths of the Law.
So this Demon who made a blood pact with Grandaddy Devlin or whoever, I imagine he was hardcore and I mean seriously hardcore. I don't know what he looks like or anything but he probably wears sunglasses. But while he may be the top cat of evil demon world he can't directly affect anything in the real world, which is frustrating! So he thinks up this plan to get into the real world by possessing some goon, Grandaddy Devlin! Presumably there's something vaguely special about clan Dev which makes them good candidates for possession, maybe they're all jerks or something, but regardless it didn't work. He tried again with Grandaddy Devlin son (Devlar?) but he sucked as well. Then there was Devon and so far that's working out well enough. Of course the Demon can't just go for it and possess him now, no he has to gradually get Devon's accustomed to super demons power so he starts it off slow with like shadow fire and regular power. The more Devon uses the powers the more power he gets but it's all just a precursor to getting taken o'er.
So eventually a time will come when the Demon tries to take over and then there's like a mind battle between himself and Devon. Demon probably thinks he'll win cause he's a DEMON and humans suck but it doesn't pan out.
So Devon remains Devon but now he has some aspect of the demon.
Maybe the demon is still there in his head though, coming to the forefront whenever he... um... gets angry? Or something less Hulk.
He'd also live longer... cause Demons do that.

2- Working in the phylactery.
Take a hint from your Lich forebears and have your soul put in your very own bauble. How can Devon be killed if his soul is in...like... a jar someplace. According to popular mythos he so can't. Unless someone breaks the jar or gem or whatever.
Maybe he did it to keep his soul for the demon or maybe it was some kinda accident.
I don't know man.

3- Have your severed arm attached to some guy
Admittedly I'm not crystal clear on the specifics but I assume that way you could live on.
Through that arm.

Now I'm dizzy.
I'm not good at spinning...

Good starting point. What is a demon?

How about the embodiment of absolute evil? Everything wrong with the world taking form right in front of you. Being near a demon should be an intensely traumatic experience, because of the sheer amount of personal malice and ill-will they bear for you as an individual. Imagine someone you have never met, who has never even heard of you, and still bears a grudge more intense than any a psychotic ex.

Demons are Bad News, and the reader should never be able to forget that. Make that show in any powers gained, or in the form of immortality. "Demonic" = thrives on the destruction and despoiling of beauty and life. These should be abilities more suitable for doing Bad Things. Think of how a necromancer may raise an army of undead creatures, yet is unable to aid the growth of a flower or ease a sick child.

Explore the angle of all that power, suitable for little other than making the world worse. This should do wonders for inner turmoil.

My version of demons are the Incarnations of Sin. One phrase I like to use is "blasphemy made flesh". Inverting a code of honour is a starting point, and build a foundation of Core Vices such as Spite (opposite of Largesse), Cowardice (opposes Courage), Treachery (opposes Loyalty), stuff like that. THEN, consider what combinations of 2 or more Vices make.

You can even build an infernal heirarchy that way.

Perhaps torturing souls is a pastime for the demon - a future threat or blackmail device. With the pact in place, the demon has an advantage of being able to torture the poor mortal invested with powers, and so uses this to terrorise the mortal into submission.

Not sure about the souls. However, if good higher powers get involved, their intervention might be a factor.

Momentary hijack of thread

Rail has too much sage like wisdom for a human....if you catch my drift, r-o-b-o-t-m-a-n....

Hijack completed..........................

(Ha, provided you with more soldiers)

Shall I take it people like my suggestions?

I do.

I was really kidding there, but if you want to explore those ideas further I would be interested in discussing them.

PS: Absent 25-29th February.

I have a couple of suggestion about demonic immortality. This is sort of based on an anime called Yu Yu Hakusho in which demon age until they are in their twenties and then simply live until someone or something kills them. As a half demon or someone with a blood pact I suspect there might be a little more ageing physically and at some point you might actually die from old age, but not after a few hundred years or so (200-1000 years it’s really up to you).

As for staying immortal (again based on Yu Yu Hakusho) you could, maybe, separate your own soul and attach it to someone else’s body and then live on in it (in the show it’s usually an unborn child). You could them keep some (or all if you chose) of your powers when you transfer your soul in to the new body, but it might take a couple of years for them to develop back to their regular strength (in the show it took him 10 years for his powers to come back, I don’t know if you want to wait that long).

This is only a suggestion; you don’t have to use it if you don’t like it. Everyone’s ideas were actually really cool and this might not be what you’re looking for.