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Coconut Circles
f9400c
>well first off what exactly can you do?
I am a pride-aligned shadow daemon, and one of the best of the lot, if I do say so myself. Being the moderately high ranking fiend that I am, I have a wealth of souls at my disposal for power and status, which sounds like bragging - and it is, of course - but it is a key point to note that the power a daemon possesses and is able to manifest is at least partially dependent on the number of souls they possess. This lair of mine, including this dark throne room and harvesting chamber, is an extradimensional space within the underworld. Most daemons without sufficient power backing cannot make their own demiplane. However, I assume the question was directed in regards to abilities relevant to my stay in the mortal world.
Shadow is a complex element, and not as easily classified as the basic four, and even among simple elements like fire there is a large amount of variation. The aspects of shadow that I mainly embody are corruption and mockery. This can be a difficult concept for mortals to grasp, but the gemstones I offer mortals make them more of what they already are, in essence bolstering their own shadow to be more like a metaphysical duplicate of themselves, with the extra power generated from this mockery of self bolstering their own. The natural side effect of using this gift, of course, is the gradual corruption of their soul, which is eventually dragged down under the weight of its own sin into the underworld, guided to my realm by the gemstone. Harvesting this accumulated sin provides me with a more purified form of it than most other daemons can manage to acquire, and this is part of the reason why I am so comparatively wealthy. That is not actually very useful in a direct confrontation, however, and more of a long term tool unique to myself.
I am capable of shapechanging, but I prefer not to drastically alter my form too much, because diminishing my perfection too far is terrible. Usually if I am trying to 'blend in', I conceal my wings, gems, and second set of ears, then conjure a cloak to cover the rest. My combat magic primarily revolves around the manipulation of shadows. I can create illusions from shadows, manipulate the shape and form of them, and make them solid if need be. Though it is particularly taxing, I can also create a short-lived duplicate of someone with their own shadow, which mimics their own abilities within certain limitations - such as holy magic - and can be used to fight against their originators.
One other thing I feel should be brought up is I can subvert the shadow of someone who has been using my crystal gift long enough, making it possess and overtake their body. This renders them into an obedient minion, but also removes most of their intelligence and initiative, making them good for little more than being a basic soldier. I have not yet decided if I wish to do this to Manarr once I have what I need from him. It would be easier to keep him contained and out of trouble, but he would not be able to offer much else other than staying put somewhere and maintaining my summoning.
>>740377
That plan sounds nice, but it would involve paying a couple of moderately high-ranked daemons to stay on the mortal world for me for years, at least. That's not in my budget.
>>740379
Well, given these suggestions, and the unfortunate fact that few low-level daemons are non-specialized, and none of them are accepting contracts, I found a few minions that fit them as best as possible, and will list these in roughly ascending order of power and pricing.
Squiggit - One of the most minor forms of imp, Squiggit is the bottom rung among daemonic entities, and can barely be called one by only the most vague technicality. Squiggit does not have the strength to perform daemon magic, the metaphysical mass to have an elemental attunement, or the status to have a particular sin alignment. Their only ability is is being able to shapeshift into a variety of small animals, and in a pinch, to become a formless puddle of slime that is particularly difficult to kill and moderately useful for escaping. Fortunately, being a variety of small, innocuous animals is useful for spying purposes, and they are about as cheap a rate as one can get, and he was so happy that an amazing daemon like myself wanted him that he even agreed to forfeit the doubling clause after I stepped on him a few times.
Rate: 1 sin per day. (no doubling clause)
Fith - Schlussel imps are not common in the underworld, and while they are not particularly powerful enough to be considered more than major imps, they have enough distinct uses on the mortal plane that I decided to form a contract with Fith. Like many imps, schlussel imps can fly and turn invisible, but Fith's variety of imp has an attunement with keys rather than a particular element. They can 'smell' keys, are capable of disabling any keys they find and duplicating any key they have already seen. They can also open and seal any unwarded lock using their magical claws. The claws are moderately dangerous in combat, but like most of his kind, Fith finds far more enjoyment in rendering keys inoperable and watching their owners struggle to open the accompanying locks. I believe they are mildly wrath-aligned because of this.
Rate: 3 sin per day.
Kl'exis - The first non-imp in this list, Kl'exis is a traumknabber daemon, which is a form of minor daemon that does not properly exist on the material plane - outside of the underworld, they are incorporeal and nearly invisible to normal sight beyond a faint shimmer. They are, however, fairly useful because they can latch onto a sleeping mortal and force them to experience nightmares for several hours, while they feed on their terror and prevent them from waking up. They can also consume some of the mortals recent memories if directed, which makes them useful for removing witnesses of something awkward without leaving a corpse. While utterly useless in combat, they can detect most unshielded minds through solid walls and move through objects at will, along with being able to make already exhausted or sleepy mortals fall asleep. Kl'exis is always hungry due to rarely being summoned by mortals, and agreed to a stipulation that he will waive the doubling clause if calling him results in him getting to feed on a new mortal at least once every other day.
Rate: 12 sin per day. (special doubling clause)
Sathitrix - A full daemon this time, if only a basic one, Sathitrix is a yo'qqa daemon, a form of daemon attuned to insanity more than an actual element. A yo'qqa can teleport short distances, and has many eyes, that can see in all directions. More importantly, each eye can cause mortals who look into them to experience intense, kaleidoscopic visions that make it difficult for them to keep their bearings on their surroundings, understand direction, or focus on more mentally taxing tasks than clawing at their face and screaming. Yo'qqa daemons can render large numbers of weak-minded opponents incapacitated, and though they are physically weak, they still possess teeth and claws, and can tear apart victims rendered helpless by their separation from reality. Unfortunately, yo'qqa daemons cannot be mentioned without bringing up their issues with roses. Yes, as in the flowers. Roses are toxic to Yo'qqa daemons, causing them to become sick from the smell, and burn at their touch. The scent of roses breaks the insanity spell on their victims, too. This rather silly weakness somewhat undercuts their tactical utility, but as long as we use them nowhere near a garden, it should be fine.
Rate: 10 sin per hour.
Lyquaccik - Lyquaccik could be called somewhat a story of tragedy, if daemons could be said to feel sorry for each other. He is a powerful wrath daemon with both attunement to shadow and fire, but has never achieved a status of high daemon like myself due to his lack of patience and hair-trigger temper causing him to murder almost every mortal that summons him before he can make an actual compact with them for their soul. He has less than a hundred souls, and almost all of them were gained in situations like this, where another, more proficient daemon sold the soul to him in exchange for a calling contract. This has caused many daemons to laugh at him behind his back, a viewpoint that he is keenly aware of, and only serves to feed his own unsupportable rage. However, awful business sense with gaining souls aside, Lyquaccik is extremely potent in combat, both physically and magically, and capable of growing temporarily stronger the more opponents he defeats in a short time. He is expensive, but in a battle he can outmatch all of the other minions and myself combined.
Rate: 25 sin per hour.
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Upon returning, I also noticed that Manarr was no longer in my demesne, and had returned to the mortal world. Now that he is inhabiting his body again, he will summon me shortly. This is a good time to plan my angle of attack. I chose subtle influence over him, rather than overt control, so I need a battle plan. That in mind, I will give you some basic information about the situation I am going into.
Manarr lives in a small mansion with his wife and single young adult son, along with a handful of servants (including, last I bothered to check, a cook, a butler, a gardener, two maids, and a tutor). They are not nobles, but more along the line of particularly wealthy merchants, in part due to my influence. At this time, Manarr trusts me implicitly as an advisor and benefactor, and his son follows his lead, but his wife does not care for me. She has seen no reason yet to openly accuse me of betrayal, but will more easily seize upon signs of it than her husband or child. The servants do not know I am a daemon, as I have thus far always concealed my nature from them when walking around the mansion, and I believe they think me a particularly spooky mage ally of their master. If you have further questions, ask, but I do not have forever to exposit, and my knowledge is somewhat limited, as I have only ever left the mansion once during a summoning - Manarr may trust me, but he does not want anyone knowing he is trafficking with me.
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