__________________QUICK STATSName: He has many. Dantalian, the Seventy-First Spirit. Agaliarept, the taker of secrets. Bifronze, the keeper of doors. Morgain Straggen, the merchant of miracles
Age: It would take an entire division of mathematicians to calculate it in human years
Gender: Usually male. He can shapeshift into a variety of bodies of any gender, and has done so over the ages.
Species: Demon
Ethnicity: Hellish
Height: Hard to determine in a shapeshifter. Most of the time, he determines it based on the target's psychology, to either tower over an easily intimidated mortal, or to appear smaller in order to lure them into a false sense of security.
Occupation: Demonic Prince of the Seventh Circle, former General of the Fifth Legion, currently a passionate pact maker
Residence: A small pocket realm of Nehemoth, serving as his personal abode
__________________IN-DEPTH STUFFPhysical Description:As a shapeshifter, he is capable of assuming pretty much any form he is capable of imagining and shaping into existence. Most of the time, he takes an appearance of a creature similar in species to the mortal he is bargaining with, out of courtesy as much as in order to better manipulate them. However, living for so long taught him that mortals place undue emphasis on the visual aspect, and therefore it would be convenient for them if he had one 'usual' form he would utilize in most of his deals. For this purpose, he prepared himself the shape later called Rainwashed Twilight.
The Rainwashed Twilight looks downright drab in the multi-spectral eyes of other demonkind, but works well when communicating with mortals who have trouble taking a brighter-dressed demons seriously. Pale skin, grayish blue eyes and hair (superfluous, really, but he's willing to keep up appearances for the sake of etiquette and comfort of his customers), even two pairs of horns to better match the mortals' image of what he should look like. They were quite cumbersome, though - by now he's had enough time to get used to them and not ruin his cultivated image with a low-placed door frame. The black armour is actually purely decorative. Considering his power, there is few things that can truly harm him - and armour wouldn't defend him from most of those.
musicPersonality: For a demon, he is surprisingly civil and polite. While he has no aversion to pain and violence to speak of - and is quite adept at doling it out - he considers it to be a resort of those too foolish to find a better way. For him, stooping to the physical level is like an admission of defeat - if one cannot best an opponent by wits or words, they may as well be the loser. This is, however, closer to a personal taste than any moral code - should a deal or situation require him to dirty his hands, he wouldn't lose sleep over it.
He is a connoisseur of fine arts and culture, but also mortal psychology. His interest in deals and bargains stems from it - rather than aim to gain greater power, he is far more interested in seeing what mortals do with the power he's given them. This led to a quite personalised approach when handling them - he orders his minions to extensively spy on his 'customers' in order to find our their weaknesses and figure out the best deal to give them.
Magic/Abilities: - Usual demonic powers, including but not limited to: shapeshifting, transportation and magic
- He's in possession of a powerful magical artifact, called the Leyeght. It allows him to spy on one person at a time, offering both real-time surveillance and selective view of their past. He uses it to investigate customers and later watch the effects of the deal they made.
- His main specialty and most favoured ability is to weave the strands of fate into a bargain for a mortal to benefit from. Only a mortal can enter such a contract - fates of the immortals and demons are too tangled for even him to work.
He sees the flow of karma and balance of the universe and manipulates it in order to create a blessing and a curse. The equilibrium between those two elements makes it so that the balance of the world is not disturbed, making it very efficient for him to use. Other demons use their own power to create the effect they promised their contractors rather than play accountant with the force of the universe - in comparison, he retains most of his personal power.
This style of deal-making is not something a lot of people are familiar with, and most of his customers believe that their curse is a part of the deal. However, he is more interested in seeing new outcomes than creating a perfectly balanced bargain - should a need arise, he's willing to use his power to compensate in order to produce the desired result. He watches a mortal contracted to him, and would intervene if they were in mortal peril. This clause is not something he ever tells them - the last thing he wants is for them to just rely on his power rather than the bargain they purchased.
Relationships: - His fellow demons. Most of the time, he treats them the same way he treats mortals and prefers to deal with them through contracts and pacts. His attitude provides them with a measure of certainty, comfortable knowledge that any favour he would demand would be repaid.
- Chayyliel, former Angel of Fortitude whom he's defeated and whose power he's absorbed
- The people with whom he's made pacts.
History: His ascent to his current position was mostly owed to the great general of Hell, Berith. Berith was more than a master of war, he was almost War itself, as close to embodying the ideal as one can possibly get. It was the only thing he was ever interested in - any other way of interacting with others was just a chore. In order not to have to lower himself to such level, he created a servant to do it in his stead.
Dantalian fulfilled the role he was created to play perfectly. He spoke with Berith's allies, inspired the troops and reached out to valuable mortals to recruit them. This last duty was one he enjoyed most. While his fellow demons were creatures of cold calculus and math, always choosing the path of greatest benefit, each mortal was plagued with a different bouquet of flaws and failings, things that prevented them from choosing the 'best' path. Some would pursue revenge at the cost of their own lives. Some were willing to cripple themselves for short term gain. It had become almost a game to him, trying to predict what terribly misguided decisions they'd make, what they were willing to sacrifice.
Demons have more enemies than just each other, and at some point, Berith's machinations have grown dangerous enough to draw the attention of angels. Dissatisfied with this obstacle to his conquest, the hellish general dispatched his forces to handle the threat. Dantalian's unit was caught in an ambush by Chayyliel, Angel of Fortitude. The demon fought him in a duel and somehow prevailed, killing his opponent. The angel's power sought the closest compatible vessel to rest within, and it so just happened to be the enemy who's brought him down. While those circumstances made Berith and his officers suspicious of potential corruption, the power itself could not choose how it was expressed, and was subject to whomever held it. In a demon, it manifested as a fascination with mortal endurance, and a desire to bring it to its very limits - something Dantalian would soon have a chance to make his life's work.
Berith's warlike nature ended up being his undoing, and his arrogance led him to throw himself into a battle even he couldn't win. His generals have either fallen or went into hiding. Dantalian saw it as his chance, taking some of the remains of Berith's power base, and assisting other demons in taking the rest in exchange for temporary nonaggression pact. Finally, he would be his own master.
From that time on, he kept himself rather separate from the affairs of his fellow demons. His specific way of making deals left him with plenty of personal power, which was enough of an incentive for others to leave him alone and not take risks. It was for the best - he far preferred the unpredictable company of mortals and watching their struggles.
Character Limitations: The usual - please don't act/think for him, and I will reciprocate.
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