A strange young girl that wanders through the world on her own, encountering all the strange wonders it holds.
Demons and beasts gather where she goes and even divine powers give in to their curiosity.
The Shadow Man:
A powerful demon skilled at necromancy. He invokes the spirits of the dead with mysterious rituals and turns them into his faithful Will-o-the-Wisps.
He seems to have a strange fascination for Echo and where the Will-o-the-Wisps are found, he isn't far behind...
The Carmozan King:
A cruel and loveless king, fascinated by clocks and the human heart.
He took out his own heart and fashioned it into a peculiar grandfather clock, that has long since stopped ticking.
Any creatures that fall into his hands will find their hearts stolen and replaced by his handiwork, although they do anything but tell time...
He has even modified the Queen, finding her an excellent specimen for his experiments.
Echo's heart however, he's yet to master..
The Carmozan Queen:
The 'unfortunate' consort of the Carmozan King, after realizing she shared the same practical approach to life, she willingly let him take out her heart, finding the burden of useless emotions such as love and compassion greater than she could bear.
Though she doesn't exactly have the same fascination with clocks as her husband, she loves nothing better than to help rid a poor soul of a heavy heart.
Sethurion:
A young gentlemanly demon who's working his way up by collecting as many souls as possible.
As he is not allowed to just take them at will by the powers that be, he has educated himself in the ways of etiquette and slyness, craftily wooing his victims into blissfully handing over their soul.
Only the most special spirits get grown into his luscious lilies, their owners often lucky enough to be taken on wonderful trips throughout the world, such as the Plains of Damnation on the S.S. Seth.
Ahzu:
A shy demon of the lowest ranks who's just learning the ropes of his trade.
Although he's being taught by the best he's having trouble accepting his place in the world and often runs off to think about the intricacies of life and death.
He so happens upon Echo, wandering through the forests and takes a liking to her seemingly non-caring nature and her taking things as they are.
He also loves bones of any kind and often uses them as decoration, finding them a perfect distraction from the things that trouble him.
The Hounds Of Smolder:
Creatures born from shadows and smoke, given shape by the wind.
As they do not have a true face they wear masks made out of the bones of their victims.
They have a preference for using the femurs.
Though very dangerous they do have a playful side and may even be petted if in a particularly good mood.
When hunting, they smooth into the shadow of their victims. It will grow to an unusual size and display strange shapes when stepping into darker areas.
Once the unlucky unfortunate notices these changes it's already too late.
Soon, the Hound will show itself to its victim and again appear at night, coming out of the shadows and lowering its mask.
It will consume not only the flesh, but also the shadow and darkness in the person's soul to sustain itself, as it cannot exist without.
If the Hound is still young and growing, it will take the bones, crush and mix them with other materials before making a mask out of them.
It has to make a new mask approximately every 4 months until it's fully grown.
The Necromian Birds:
These eerie beings appear seemingly at random.
They seldomly are alone and will just stand and stare at any creature in the vicinity, creating an unnerving atmosphere.
He Who Rides The Pale Horse:
Known by many other names, He works for Those Who Reside In The Stars, reaping souls and keeping the balance even.
He rides a skeletal horse and becomes extremely agitated when a soul slips past him, especially if it lands into demon hands.
For that reason He isn't fond of characters such as Sethurion and the Shadow Man, and although there is a mutual respect He will lash out if it means reaping a lost soul.
Despite His frequent presence around the dead and dying He's not often seen and in truth, not much is known about Him.
Where his chains come from and what is under His robes is a mystery.
The Harbringers:
A clan of strange creatures, each with it's unique set of horns
and growth, led by the individual with the most beautiful
adornments.
They roam through the larger forests throughout the lands and are
often found in the most reclusive areas.
The Harbringers have the ability of fore- and hindsight, though
they're very vague and selective in what they reveal, in fear of
angering Those Who Reside In The Stars and upsetting the balance
of nature.
In general they are neutral and will share their wisdom with
'good' and 'bad' alike.
Sometimes one might not even remember a visit to the Harbringers,
but they are always left a with token (though it may not always be
recognized as such), plucked from the horns of a Harbringer.
Vox:
A mysterious girl that bears an uncanny resemblance to Echo.
She has a cruel side that fuels her thirst for power and thinks nothing of slaying those in her way, using their souls to grow stronger.
She grew into a powerful necromancer, upsetting demons and the like, and she eventually fell by the hands of the Shadow Man.
As it turns out, Vox was the original 'Echo'; after the Shadow Man cast his spells on her and removed Vox's soul from her body, this empty shell eventually became Echo, with a new fragmented soul.
Though Vox has been defeated for now, her soul still exists, locked far away from her former body and every care must be taken to keep the two apart.
Those Who Reside In The Stars:
The strange beings that rule the path of souls, each tasked with a different aspect.
Their work is closely tied with that of He Who Rides The Pale Horse.
The Dreamweaver:
Kage no Ohimetachi:
These twin sisters are the royalty of dusk.
They disintegrate at will and envelop you in their velvet ribbons of darkness, whisking you off to the Court of Shadows.
The story goes that the eldest sister fell in love with a traveler.
He whispered sweet words in her ear, gave her expensive gifts and promised to marry her, but after several weeks he grew bored with the town and decided to move on.
The girl was devastated at the change of heart and on the morning of his departure, before dawn, she hung herself at the town gates with a ribbon of black silk that was given to her by the traveler.
She was found by her younger sister, who had come to look for her.
Enraged, she swore to avenge her sibling.
When the traveler went off on his journey, she set out in pursuit, carrying the ribbon of silk with her.
He became very afraid as he saw the young girl, whose face had contorted with fury.
He urged his horse to go quicker and rode three whole days and three whole nights until he lost the girl.
Eventually he came to a small town, where he decided to catch some rest at the local inn.
In the evening, he told his story to the innkeeper's daughter, who had been tending to his needs.
Having taken a liking to her, he invited her to his room and took her in his arms.
As she stroked his face he commented that it was too dark for him to admire her pretty face and so he lit the candles.
As he turned to look into the mirror he discovered to his horror that he had no reflection.
Flying into a panic he ran over to the girl, who seemed remarkably calm.
Stumbling over his words, he looked on as she slowly stroked her own face, wiping off all of her lovely features until a face wrung with anger was left.
As the traveler realized who was standing in front of him, the younger sibling wiped her face again until there was nothing left.
She took out the black silk ribbon, with which her sister took her life, and tied it around the traveler's neck, tighter and tighter, until his eyes bulged and he breathed no more.
From the shadows came forth her also faceless sister, who blew out the candles until darkness was all that was left.
It is said that she wiped off the traveler's face and the three of them departed to the realm of shadows, where the unfortunate man is now a servant of the two princesses.
No comments:
Post a Comment