Re: The BATTLE of the CENTURY! [S!7] - Open to new players!
06-30-2012, 09:55 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Jacquerel.
Name: Lexicon
Sex: Demons tend to pick between the two to fit whatever's appropriate, as this one is shaped like a box it's largely irrelevant. Usually projects a scholarly male voice.
Race: Demon
Color: Pretty stereotypical, really.
Biography:
Description:
Items/Abilities:
Name: Lexicon
Sex: Demons tend to pick between the two to fit whatever's appropriate, as this one is shaped like a box it's largely irrelevant. Usually projects a scholarly male voice.
Race: Demon
Color: Pretty stereotypical, really.
Biography:
Show Content
SpoilerAs a demon Lexicon's main occupation was bartering with humans in exchange for their souls, used as currency, manual labour workers and supernatural fuel in the underworld. Demonic spell casting requires the consumption of souls and thus displays of power are the domain of the wealthy, only a demon who already has spirits to spare would dare use magic to impress a mortal and even then they would tend to focus on targets that rake in more metaphysical profit than they had to consume to get it. Some souls are more valuable than others; those that live most sinfully or had their own magical power becoming the most valuable and nourishing in the afterlife, those that were close to saints (though saints rarely trade their souls to demons) aren't worth much at all.
Lexicon's targets of choice were scholars, researchers and the occasional reckless wizard's apprentice, disguising his lack of much actual infernal power by bartering rare or forbidden knowledge where others might offer to grant wishes or provide carnal pleasure. It wasn't the quickest or most profitable racket in the world and Lexicon never became powerful or particularly well-respected by his peers, but by virtue of living forever he never really needed to be hasty about it. It was a fairly safe position with very little competition that raked in enough to keep him ticking over fairly comfortably, which left him basically content with his lot.
That all changed one evening when he found an apprentice mage he had been working on suddenly agreeing to deals with suspiciously little resistance, and he was forced to employ his wiles to discover why.
The consortium of elder magi, tired of their kind being driven into the clutches of darkness by the lure of power, had ceased their endless traditional bickering to work a joint spell the likes of which had never seen before; Sealing the whole of the underworld away behind an unbreakable metaphysical gate such that they could no longer interfere with the mortal world. Such a feat was beyond a single man, but the twelve most powerful mages working in confluence on a night of celestial alignment that occured only once a millennium might just scrape enough power to lock Lexicon and his brothers away forever!
Stepping easily out of the improperly scrawled pentacle he scuttled up the outer walls of the tower to the pinnacle, too late to stop the spell entirely but with enough seconds spare to tinker with it a little. Striking down the wizard (too caught up in chanting to notice until too late, the apprentice that was supposed to have been maintaining defensive wards preoccupied with instead busy trying to un-summon the monster he had unleashed) he stepped into the vacant spot in the inscriptions upon the floor and redirected the spell's focus point from a desolate rock far off in the ether to that very tower.
It was still a harsh blow for evil everywhere to be sure but Lexicon would make a far less stable and invincible prison than the one the wizards had chosen; It would take another thousand years for the same confluence of stars to roll around again, plenty of time for the tiny demon to blast the way back open and loose his masters to exact terrible vengeance before the wizard council could enact a repeat performance.
Returning to his infernal study and delving into the strangest of tomes in his collection, Lexicon devised a counter spell that would be enough to break open the gates and repopulate the cavernous depths that now felt so empty. However, removing such a potent enchantment would take an equally impressive amount of power. He was going to need a lot of souls.
Armed only with his encyclopaedic knowledge, a deep hatred for magicians and the voices of all the inhabitants of the nine hells ringing in his metaphorical ears he set out to amass the largest cult the world had ever seen.
Lexicon's targets of choice were scholars, researchers and the occasional reckless wizard's apprentice, disguising his lack of much actual infernal power by bartering rare or forbidden knowledge where others might offer to grant wishes or provide carnal pleasure. It wasn't the quickest or most profitable racket in the world and Lexicon never became powerful or particularly well-respected by his peers, but by virtue of living forever he never really needed to be hasty about it. It was a fairly safe position with very little competition that raked in enough to keep him ticking over fairly comfortably, which left him basically content with his lot.
That all changed one evening when he found an apprentice mage he had been working on suddenly agreeing to deals with suspiciously little resistance, and he was forced to employ his wiles to discover why.
The consortium of elder magi, tired of their kind being driven into the clutches of darkness by the lure of power, had ceased their endless traditional bickering to work a joint spell the likes of which had never seen before; Sealing the whole of the underworld away behind an unbreakable metaphysical gate such that they could no longer interfere with the mortal world. Such a feat was beyond a single man, but the twelve most powerful mages working in confluence on a night of celestial alignment that occured only once a millennium might just scrape enough power to lock Lexicon and his brothers away forever!
Stepping easily out of the improperly scrawled pentacle he scuttled up the outer walls of the tower to the pinnacle, too late to stop the spell entirely but with enough seconds spare to tinker with it a little. Striking down the wizard (too caught up in chanting to notice until too late, the apprentice that was supposed to have been maintaining defensive wards preoccupied with instead busy trying to un-summon the monster he had unleashed) he stepped into the vacant spot in the inscriptions upon the floor and redirected the spell's focus point from a desolate rock far off in the ether to that very tower.
It was still a harsh blow for evil everywhere to be sure but Lexicon would make a far less stable and invincible prison than the one the wizards had chosen; It would take another thousand years for the same confluence of stars to roll around again, plenty of time for the tiny demon to blast the way back open and loose his masters to exact terrible vengeance before the wizard council could enact a repeat performance.
Returning to his infernal study and delving into the strangest of tomes in his collection, Lexicon devised a counter spell that would be enough to break open the gates and repopulate the cavernous depths that now felt so empty. However, removing such a potent enchantment would take an equally impressive amount of power. He was going to need a lot of souls.
Armed only with his encyclopaedic knowledge, a deep hatred for magicians and the voices of all the inhabitants of the nine hells ringing in his metaphorical ears he set out to amass the largest cult the world had ever seen.
Description:
Show Content
Spoiler
When summoned to the plane of mortals, Lexicon manifests as a 15x15x15 centimetre cube carved from some mysterious grey mineral. Each face is carved with a star pattern, marked with a dome at each point and one in the centre.
Despite having no visible seams each dome can split itself open in the manner of an eyelid to reveal either a shining red eye or a long chain made of the same material, extending for up to three meters in length. These chains can be tipped with a single sharp spike or a three-fingered grasping hand with razor tips on the end of each "finger". These chains can be moved about by magical means and are used as legs, arms or other limbs as the circumstance demands.
Whether one of the apertures previously opened to reveal an eye or a limb does not seem to have any bearing on what it will contain when it opens next, an eye could blink closed to immediately become a hand or vice versa (the only limitation being that the chain has to have fully retracted first).
As he was never able to grant people's wishes or impress them with pyroclastic displays of magical power, Lexicon relies mostly on charisma and manipulation to accomplish his goals. As a demon he is physically incapable of lying and is equally unable to break the terms of any formal deal that he has made, though he gets around this with a lawyer's mastery of half-truths and implication. If he never explicitly states that what he's offering is part of a contract or a promise, he won't feel bound by it.
Lexicon is ultimately self-serving and though his goal seems a little noble (in that he is trying to free his relations from magical imprisonment) it is more out of the comfort that the rigid demonic hierarchy provided. With no other demons around, there's nobody to actually trade his amassed collection of souls with and very little to do. That said, it never helps to demonstrate the fact that you are ultimately evil to those you wish to devote themselves to your cause. When speaking to others Lexicon is always polite and subservient right up until he is absolutely certain that they are in his power, at which point they are usually beneath his notice.
He will do much to bring others within his power, but will offer almost nothing to anyone for free. While he will accompany people on errands with apparent enthusiasm in order to worm his way into their affections his ultimate devotion is always to the greater mission.
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Spoiler![[Image: Evilcube.png]](https://dl.dropbox.com/u/51926430/MSPAFF/Evilcube.png)
Despite having no visible seams each dome can split itself open in the manner of an eyelid to reveal either a shining red eye or a long chain made of the same material, extending for up to three meters in length. These chains can be tipped with a single sharp spike or a three-fingered grasping hand with razor tips on the end of each "finger". These chains can be moved about by magical means and are used as legs, arms or other limbs as the circumstance demands.
Whether one of the apertures previously opened to reveal an eye or a limb does not seem to have any bearing on what it will contain when it opens next, an eye could blink closed to immediately become a hand or vice versa (the only limitation being that the chain has to have fully retracted first).
As he was never able to grant people's wishes or impress them with pyroclastic displays of magical power, Lexicon relies mostly on charisma and manipulation to accomplish his goals. As a demon he is physically incapable of lying and is equally unable to break the terms of any formal deal that he has made, though he gets around this with a lawyer's mastery of half-truths and implication. If he never explicitly states that what he's offering is part of a contract or a promise, he won't feel bound by it.
Lexicon is ultimately self-serving and though his goal seems a little noble (in that he is trying to free his relations from magical imprisonment) it is more out of the comfort that the rigid demonic hierarchy provided. With no other demons around, there's nobody to actually trade his amassed collection of souls with and very little to do. That said, it never helps to demonstrate the fact that you are ultimately evil to those you wish to devote themselves to your cause. When speaking to others Lexicon is always polite and subservient right up until he is absolutely certain that they are in his power, at which point they are usually beneath his notice.
He will do much to bring others within his power, but will offer almost nothing to anyone for free. While he will accompany people on errands with apparent enthusiasm in order to worm his way into their affections his ultimate devotion is always to the greater mission.
Items/Abilities:
Show Content
SpoilerWhile he had already amassed a staggering amount of history, geography, secrets and hidden lore as relating to the world from which he came (stored with a limitless and photographic memory, Lexicon has never forgotten anything), almost none of it is any use in an entirely new environment. Fortunately, one of Lexicon's few magical traits (it initially cost him a small fortune but has earned him back what he paid more than a hundred times over) allows him to physically drain knowledge from any non-living medium he comes into contact with. Simply touching a book and concentrating will allow him to memorise every word within it in seconds... and turn the book in question into a useless block of rust. He has never encountered computers before but it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that they would fit the same criteria, you should probably hope that he never does.
Ownership of a soul does not actually impart any immediate benefit to the owner or detriment to the person who it used to belong to (they might not even notice it missing). Lexicon is only able to "cash in" upon the debtors death, at which point instead of ascending to whatever afterlife they were destined they instead pass into his own metaphysical plane as his servants, utterly unable to disobey his command (but also utterly incapable of influencing the planes of the living in any way).
Lexicon has an immortal's patience, but is also on a time limit. Once he has ownership of someone's soul and has blackened it as much as he thinks he can manage it is in his best interests to get them killed fairly quickly.
Lexicon is both unable to break any promise he makes and unable to force anyone who has made a promise to him to break that promise, however this compulsion does not extend to anyone who promises him anything. Fortunately, if a person intentionally refuses to fulfil their side of a deal with the devil, the demon who brokered it earns possession of their soul anyway even if that wasn't what they had originally offered as their side of the exchange.
Someone who breaks their promise by exploiting a loophole in the agreed terms of the bargain can of course get out of it scott free. They should probably aim for this, as it's exactly what he'll be trying to do.
Ownership of a soul does not actually impart any immediate benefit to the owner or detriment to the person who it used to belong to (they might not even notice it missing). Lexicon is only able to "cash in" upon the debtors death, at which point instead of ascending to whatever afterlife they were destined they instead pass into his own metaphysical plane as his servants, utterly unable to disobey his command (but also utterly incapable of influencing the planes of the living in any way).
Lexicon has an immortal's patience, but is also on a time limit. Once he has ownership of someone's soul and has blackened it as much as he thinks he can manage it is in his best interests to get them killed fairly quickly.
Lexicon is both unable to break any promise he makes and unable to force anyone who has made a promise to him to break that promise, however this compulsion does not extend to anyone who promises him anything. Fortunately, if a person intentionally refuses to fulfil their side of a deal with the devil, the demon who brokered it earns possession of their soul anyway even if that wasn't what they had originally offered as their side of the exchange.
Someone who breaks their promise by exploiting a loophole in the agreed terms of the bargain can of course get out of it scott free. They should probably aim for this, as it's exactly what he'll be trying to do.