I was going to do this sooner, but my browser crashed on me after I had a few paragraphs typed up. Got annoyed and forgot about it. But I figure, need to get this up before I can post anything new. Let's try this again.
Technically you don't need to read all of the descriptions, but if you're wondering hopefully it will be a good reference.. they're not drawn to scale in comparison with each other. Don't have a skin tone yet either, so I just left normal skin white- many of the colors are not quite what I'd want due to limited markers, but it's good for a basic idea.
The color-outline thing was actually a mistake, though I don't mind too much how it looks. I was trying to put some blue in Auhelon's hair and I kind of failed at keeping within the lines. So I improvised and it was good.
Auhelon | Yellow eyes | Dark violet hair | Light bronze skin | 1st Origin Demon
lol demonz
I know it sounds stupid, but that's what he is. Not sure if I can get through this without going into a total backstory/history of demons, so rather than trying and failing let's just get this out of the way.
The world was 'created' in the sense that some higher, powerful entity designed and realized it. This Creator first worked on the Underworld, a world in a lower spectrum than the one we live in. This is basically Hell, only without the fire and the brimstone and the eternal torture and the what. The first being that he made was Auhelon, thus he's known as the First of the five Origin demons. The other four came along in time, that'll be covered in their own section, then eventually normal (and less powerful) demons were both born and Created.
The Underworld has no physical boundaries, as opposed to the Middleworld where humans live. The edges expand as the population grows, the outermost ten miles of it or so (at the time) consumed in a lifeless waste known as the Outlands. It's not all pain and death as many people like to see it. In fact, the majority of demons living there go through their lives in much the same way as humans, learning and reproducing as is natural instinct. Aside from the fact that there's all these tall, oddly colored
things with horns sprouting from their heads, yeah, it's pretty normal.
Really the only thing all those ancient authors and philosophers got correct was that people who had been 'bad' went there to be 'purified'. Actually it more works out like this: Humans are composed of a soul (personality, memories, pretty much anything that mentally differentiates you from everyone else) attached to energy (your body). Souls are discarded after death, sent to the Overworld where they drift fairly mindlessly through the afterlife. The energy is returned to the world, eventually reattached to a new soul in a little endless cycle. However, residue from one soul is left behind during transfers. Usually this is very emotional memories/trauma, and the unclean energy can and often will drive the soul it's attached to insane. The Underworld was tasked with purging the energy so that it could be safely used. However that job was sluffed off to a lesser class of demons, Monsters, which'll get explained later. Basically, yeah they are involved with the whole dead people business, but as it's kept wholly separate from normal society it really doesn't have much of an impact on their lives.
And yes, their names are modifications of the five rivers of hell: Acheron, Cocytus, Phlegethon, Lethe, and Styx. Back in the old days energy-cleaning techniques weren't quite as refined and successful as they are now.. certain Greek authors/etc received energy with fragmented memories, the names in particular. Thinking they had come up with the names themselves they worked them into their fiction as the five rivers of Hades. They didn't get the spelling completely correct, but it's fairly accurate phonetically. Or at least that's the explanation that fits with this world.
Finally, back to the topic... Auhelon. I mean you'd think for someone who's been around since the beginning of life itself he'd be pretty wise and all-knowing.. not true in his case. Though intellectually he's probably the smartest being alive, he's terrible at dealing with other people. After living so long his thought process has completely deviated from the way everyone else thinks, which makes it very hard for him to interact with society.. well, that is, in a way they'd want. He's controlling and persuasive, and doesn't much like when things don't go his way. Since yes, he is in fact more powerful and Why yes if he wanted to he could smash your face in, arguing outright with him isn't suggested.
A few do. Lethe and Locutos, two of the five, seem to enjoy it. In Lethe's case it's usually when he's instating some silly law or dealing with other political business, which Auhelon has little interest in.. Auhelon might argue half-heartedly for a while before dismissing it. Lethe usually takes this for weakness rather than disinterest. Locutos, on the other hand, argues because of her relationship with Auhelon. At one point in time they were very intimate, etc.. that kind of dropped off after the Underworld started to become more populated and the normal demons were splitting themselves into societal classifications based on their heritage. However, they are still on very friendly terms, just not on that particular level. Back to the point- she argues because she doesn't always agree with him, yet due to their close relationship she has the 'right' to. Just like a disagreement or debate between any close friends.
Auhelon is very much into natural science. On more than one occasion he has actually created his own species of creatures, the most notable being Tsyx, the Origin of the race of demons nicknamed Monsters by Lethe and his little brigade of politicians. He loves experimenting with all aspects of life... genetics, especially. One of his favorite puzzles is Halfbreeds, half human and half demon. More on those will be covered later, but he's always had hopes of finding the perfect compromise between the two species, as most have such an imbalance that they don't survive very long, if at all. One of his sons, Faust, actually has come the closest so far, which could be why took such a personal interest in him. Then again, it could also be that he failed Felgehon as a parent and was hoping to 'redeem' himself. It's not all that clear.
He loves playing mind games, both consciously and unconsciously. Though some people like to believe that he finds the personality that irks them the most and uses it around them on purpose, on some level it's habit. That's about all that's really important.. and yes, he doesn't wear shirts. I actually couldn't think of a shirt that would look good on him when I first drew him, and it just kind of stuck. It wouldn't
be Auhie if he didn't parade around shirtless. :< Damn, I hope I don't end up writing that much for everyone else.
Shindaeru 'Faust' Auhtzn | Tan/med. brown eyes | Brownish lilac hair | Normal to tanned skin | Direct Auhtzn Halfbreed
In his title, Direct refers to the generations by which he is separated from his class's Origin.. in his case, Auhelon. As Auhelon is his father, he is a direct descendant, which is something like being demon royalty, though to much a lesser degree.
Faust is, in the end, just another one of Auhelon's crazy little experiments. On one of his little escapades to the Middleworld, Auhelon got a bit too loose with a fairly young (early 20s) human female. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't sturdy enough to bear a not-quite-human child (not many are), and her pregnancy slowly killed her. In the end, the only thing keeping her alive was that little parasite growing in her womb, there's not a very concise explanation for it but it's thought that they are sustained by the abnormal amount of energy the child possesses. She died only a few minutes after giving birth.
Auhelon didn't care too much about the dead woman; Humans have such a short lifespan that it didn't seem all that important. However, the child fascinated him. Demons and humans don't have identical DNA, though they function similar on many levels. Whether a halfbreed will survive is a little game of Russian Roulette, only reversed: So many chances for death, and only one or two for life. Combinations that have a high survival rate usually are ones where they have mostly human traits or mostly demon. If they're lucky they just get off with one or two problems or deformities. There is a theoretical 'perfect balance' between the two species, but there has never been a case of a truly perfect mix. To date Faust has come the closest, but he certainly is not perfect.
This is mostly apparent concerning his stomach. Demons don't actually require food to live; They eat when they chose to, it's a very social activity much like drinking is. However, as I'm sure you know, humans can't survive without eating. An unlucky combination of genes has given Faust a stomach that rejects many different types of food, many of which make him physically sick, yet his body depends on food for energy. It makes life very inconvenient, I'm sure you can guess. Problems like these are very common among halfsies.
Faust is charismatic by nature. He's relatively smart, but since he's pretty naive about the Middleworld spiteful little Meph started making it a habit to insult his intelligence and point out every minute mistake he makes. Gosh, you're so
mean, Mephy. Aside from that, not much to say about Mr. Metrosexual.. yes, I know the clothes he's wearing are fugly and his hair makes him look like an emo kid. The first was because the design was retarded and BY JOVE I REDID IT and he looks better now. The second is because I don't color good with markers.
Anyway, he's one of the two main characters of the whole plot which I'm actually working on making into a comic. Which will be fun.
(cont. on additional submissions)
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