Nlo, Commander of the First Imperial Host
A Demon Lord, to Nlo's reasoning, is a monster in the shape of a person. A queen who seeks conquest for conquest's own sake, who turns lives into game pieces and plays with the world, incapable of love even for her own people. Nlo is neither a monster nor a queen, so she cannot be a Demon Lord, even if she inherited their signature gift. She took up arms for the Empire of Light and Dark to prove this truth to the world, defending the Doria from the inevitable invasion which would follow the final loss of Tsoshu at Bastionaria. For the sake of that world, she holds the line.
Reincarnation
Patron: SRTR
Gender: Female
Perks: Halfbreed[-2A][-2D], Adoption[-1D], Untimeskip (Maou)[Free from SRTR], Extra Mentor x3[-6A][-3D], Extra Companion x1[-1A][-2D], Outer Tide
Ancestry
Biological Parents: Vavara Noire, Fot
Adopted Father: Bernhard [-1D]
Fot was never more than a fun night on shore leave to Vavara, and I was not expected. Nevertheless, she made an honest attempt to take care of me. Fate, of course, had other plans. I had my first success spawning a temporary Majin barely a week out of the womb. Vavara was prepared to raise a Majin, but she was not prepared for a Demon Lord. Who would be? Panicking, she turned to her family for support. It's unclear who made the decision, but, ultimately, I was handed over to the Daemonhunt. Whoever did it probably assumed they would deal with the threat and never speak of it again, but, of course, that wasn't how it happened. Someone high in the secretariat caught wind of the matter and took it into her own hands. The Demonhunt have a number of secret weapons, and one of them already requires the attention of a father-like figure. Placing me in his care was obvious -- Bernhard was a skilled caretaker, and if I had proven to be a threat, Darina could have neutralized me.
Race: Majin/Northerner Hybrid [+3D][+1 Companion]
It's natural that my Majin half be the primary subject of discussion -- it's the thing that marks me as different from every other imperial soldier -- but I chose to be half-human because I intend to stay human, in spirit and meaning. I am as much of the people who showed feral demons mercy as I am of the people forced into a new role after theirs was usurped by a greater evil.
Languages and Location
Languages: Auburn, Greenspeech[-0D net], Benewhisper[+2D net], Simplified Duergar[+3A][-1D]
Quieted: Salian, Elven-Northerner[+2D]
Location: Bastionaria, Imperial Tsoshu [+1D]
Darina, for now, is stationed in Bastionaria to deal with Empyreans in the region, by the orders of the Archivarius-General. They tend not to make it back to their corpses if the dream realm they revive in happens to be her dungeon.
As far as languages go: Darina only speaks Auburn, so it's likely what dad speaks at home. It's also the only language shared by all three of my companions. Greenspeech is one of the local languages in Bastionaria, and it's also spoken by Maou. Benewhisepr and Simplified Duergar are Reks and Strokrad's languages, respectively. I only need to tutor one character with this set-up: Arsak. I don't need Palatiner for anything else, and it's more efficient to tutor him in Auburn than to lose my polyglot bonuses.
Inborn Gifts
Demonhost
Demon Lords terrorized the world for centuries with nothing more than this gift. This new era where Majin have been eclipsed as villains by the Ecumene offers a rare chance to change its Meaning. I will use it to make soldiers, because this is a war for the survival of both my tribes, but their lives are no less valuable than the soldiers who had parents and a childhood. Every person matters, and Majin are people.
Look of Chaos x2[-2A]
Autoantecedence[-5A]
God Hand x3[-3A]
Autoantecedence causes all blessings provided by God Hand (including the permanent self-blessing) to be threefold-blessings -- one for each Elder Goddess. This can increase the intensity of the generic blessings that this gift usually applies, but the main benefit is that it will apply more specific blessings described in the Devout Signature perk whenever applicable. Blessing a living being could help with mental ailments in addition to the physical and magical, a blessed sword or staff might grant the wielder greater might or magic, and a blessed musket will hit lucky shots outside its effective range more often than is natural. Importantly, YMRD's good-luck blessing applies to me personally, and it increases the chances of a good result when summoning Majin with a random template.
God Hand and Look of Chaos both counter magic in their own way, and the second Look of Chaos eye counters advanced technology. Together, these provide the backbone of my defensive strategy -- I simply say no to bullshit, forcing a more grounded fight where superior numbers and tactics will win. Look of Chaos can also be used offensively against high-tech fortifications and airships, which is good because the Ecumene uses both.
Stigmata[-1A]
Dream Passage[-1A]
Lucid dreams where I can talk to my patron goddess, and the ability to join my sort-of-sister in her hell-dungeon once I'm old enough to not be a burden
Seraphic Wings[-1A]
I'm fated to body-swap with Araith. This lets me get some flight practice in before that happens, and it means she doesn't lose the skies when it happens.
Grey Wandering x1
Letter of the Damned: Ot (rolled off-site)
Inherited from mom, and I really wish I could cash it in for points, because it's not worth 5. I'll be learning some summoning magic from Maou, and if I can pass that on to allies this might have an actual use use, but otherwise it's just an escape button that's quite dangerous to use against an aware enemy with access to summoning magic.
...is what I wrote before rolling my letter of the damned. Ot interacts with Grey Wandering to invert the effect, allowing me to banish others to a random location as if they were the one to use Grey Wandering. This is useful on its own for removing threats from a battlefield, but if supported by summoners it can be an effective way to capture an enemy alive, taking advantage of the summoning vulnerability that Grey Wandering applies.
Spiritual Feel[-2A]
Martial Instinct[-2A]
Caster Intuition
Standard spellblade package. I'm not taking any mage mentors, but my dad teaches some, and I didn't get isekai'd to a fantasy setting to skip out on magic entirely.
Ethereal Beauty[-1A]
Cognitive Speed[-2A]
Intelligence[-2A]
Noble Inclination
Boilerplate booster-spam in the military leadership and politics category
Longevity
Lifespan gift, nothing more
Wereplague x2[+4A]
Look, autoantecedence is expensive and this malady is manageable even if you can't cure it. I do expect to access a cure eventually, though. I'm going to be friends with the princess.
Uruk Encounters
A Hop, A Lean, A Hobgoblin[+1A][+1D] - I might be exhausted, but fresh summons won't be. I just need to hold a few temporary templates in reserve during the wear-me-down phase of the encounter, and the Hobgoblin part is simple. I'll need to take out the goblins without relying too much on Demonhost, but between Maou's untimeskipped tactical training and what I will have gained from the Youth section by now, I should be able to manage even if I haven't made progress with my other mentors yet.
A Band of Ogres[+1A][+2D] - I have no stealth, so I'm relying on social skills to get through the dad-won't-let-me-do-something-stupid part of the encounter. I'm counting on inborn gifts, Arsak's training, and Youth-section leadership to be enough. As far as the actual Ogre encounter goes, the objective is rescue not extermination, so sacrificing temporary summons to cover our escape should be a viable strategy.
A Bridge, A Toll, A Troll[+2A][+2D] - Demonhost just wins this one. Flying out of its reach and hitting it with bullets or spells until it dies is also an option. There's no civilians to protect, so I can just go all-out.
Mentors
Maou[-4D]
- Encounter: Remember about Death -- This feels somewhat appropriate to Maou, and I have to fit 7 characters into 9 legal encounters, so they're not all gonna be winners. The funeral is probably for one of her former minions who joined the Empire after being released from her service, or something.
- Mentorship: She's untimeskipped, so there's no actual mentorship period. Her tactics are the first that I'll learn, which is good because thy are the best-suited to fighting Uruks as a child with the Daemonhost gift.
- Personal Relationship: Maou is assigned Greater Yus, so our relationship is likely defined by the change she's experiencing. Maybe its her emotional walls coming down after forming a friendly-but-at-arms-length relationship with the party, or maybe it's growing patriotism after joining the Imperial military on paper but not in her heart. Whatever it is, she won't be static, so it's not really possible to guess at where things go without assuming a specific resolution for her letter.
- Party Role: She's unwilling to create permanent Majin, so she's not a source of troops, but she is a master of summoning magic and an elite tactician who fought the Ecumene successfully for decades. She's can act as an advisor, a field commander or a one-woman army as needed.
Arsak[-2D]
- Tutored: Auburn[-2D]
- Encounter: Ready, Aim, Thunder -- Given that Arsak is a mentor, this is likely my first real experience in war, and I'm probably not strictly speaking old enough to join the military. I'll be as prepared as possible, but this is going to be bad. Still, this encounter is basically mandatory for an imperial military character, and choosing Arsak for it should ensure that Arsak still has an army after the Exarchate civil war. This encounter is also particularly suited to forming a strong bond with him, which is good given the Exarchate's distrust of Majin his personal distrust towards Outsiders.
- Mentorship: Maou's untimeskipped mentorship gives some tactical knowledge, but that's not the focus, and her approach isn't particularly suited to defending a fortress-city. Arsak's, on the other hand, is. He's the best possible mentor for what I'm doing.
- Personal Relationship: Of all my mentors, he's the one I most admire. I'm putting in the effort to earn his trust. It's likely that we'll go our separate ways once I've learned what I am fated to learn -- he'll have his own battles to fight -- but fate will conspire to bring us back together for his final letter, at least.
Reks[-1D]
- Encounter: Breaking and Entering -- It's thematically fitting that Reks be the one to open up a reliable line of retreat in the event that Bastionaria falls. Or maybe it will be the other way around. In either case, the portal allows for easier movement of troops and coordination of strategy between the two fronts of 0^0's war as long as both sides still fight. If we lose the portal from either side, we'll destroy it after finishing the retreat.
- Mentorship: It's widely believed is that the Empire cannot hold Bastionaria if the Ecumene fully commits to an attack. Outsiders are known for doing the impossible, but it'd be foolish to assume an impossible victory. Contingency planning is important, and Reks teaches it.
- Personal Relationship: First my teacher, then an allied general. We've both got our jobs to do, and those jobs are on different fronts, so we'll see each other only intermittently. He probably doesn't love the fact that I have a muddish sister-figure and will have a muddish companion, but former enemies setting aside old grudges in the face of a greater threat is just the way things are going these days, isn't it?
Strokrad Syn Berheaka[-3D]
- Encounter: Upward Spiral -- I just don't have a thematic encounter, so we're going for one of the boring-but-always-available ones.
- Encounter 2: Remember the Demon -- It's no surprise that the 100-year-old warrior who never backs down from a challenge has some history with the daemonhunt, nor is it surprising that he'd agree to this suicide mission.
- Mentorship: Binding myself with magical oaths is not just a path to strength -- it's a way to prove that I mean it when I say I'm not a demon lord. I intend for my big oath to be similar to that of the Funeral Beaureau, steadfast loyalty to the realm as a whole. While stationed at Bastionaria, I will make a smaller oath each day: the city will not fall today. If I believe that I cannot keep that oath, I will instead swear that if the city does fall, it will not be the end.
- Personal Relationship: It's hard to dislike an honest warrior defending his people, and that's particularly true when they're on your side. I hope he feels the same about me.
- Party Role: He's very strong. It doesn't need to be more complicated than that.
Companions
Kalliopa Aureole [-3D]
- Encounter: Digging for Trouble - It's anyone's guess why the crown princess will take a sudden interest in Archaeology, but it's probably part of her renown-gathering quest in some way. In any case, the actual mission is hunting Empyreans, which I've hopefully learned a bit about from my family, but if not this is probably my first opportunity to learn.
- Personal Relationship: She's the heir to the Empire that I'm fighting for, and unlike her mother and aunts she's actually worthy of the crown. I'm loyal to her. I understand that is something unprecedented, though, so a personal relationship is valuable politically -- if the Empress trusts me, others will follow. It goes without saying, but if she needs help with the brewing succession crisis, I'll do whatever I can to support her. I need to befriend her, but it helps that I genuinely like her. I'm a sucker for doomed heroes.
- Party Role: Kalliopa is the type to lead from the front, so she might spend less time in the capital than you'd expect of an Empress. But she'll have to spend some time there, and it's unlikely that she'll command me to follow her -- I'm not needed so far from the front lines. As a result, she won't be with the party at all times. When she is with us, though, she'll be an Icon of Icons user with a broad base of popular support, and, hopefully personal friends. She'll hold her own in combat.
Araith [-5D]
- Encounter: Wine is thicker than Water -- I just think waking up in bed with a dragon sounds neat. I didn't take True Love, so there's no chance of a drunken marriage, but having a lighthearted meeting for a change will be nice.
- Personal Relationship: We're both from designated-villain races, and we're both trying to be better. When we meet, Araith is aimless and alone, so she's happy just to have some company. Regarding her personal quest, I hope to resolve it by confronting Ratibor with words not violence, or if that's not possible, to give her some sort of closure by telling her what I know of his story. Revenge is clearly the bad ending, here.
- Party Role: Dragons counter airships, and dragons with nightmare-breath that are the size of an island can do a number on armies. When we inevitably need to travel, she can also double as transport -- she'll be big enough to carry anyone that needs go.
Dobrava[-1D]
- Special Encounters 1: Blood and Guts and Blood and Guts -- Perfect victory for me would be officially-recognized independence of Tenebrae and the Demon Empire, and moderate blue victory in the core of the Exarchate. Crown Outside victory seems like it just results in another civil war in the not-too-distant future, so it's to be avoided. Assuming no other Tiders get involved in the Exarchate civil war, Dobrava should be able to make it happen, which is good because I'm busy on holding the line on a different continent.
- Special Encounter 2: To Dream Bigger and Higher -- Anything that helps us understand Empyreans can help is learn to fight them, so she'll recover the notes here, or perhaps help another Outsider get their hands on the originals while ensuring she has time to make a copy for my team.
- Special Encounter 3: Dread the Wyrm -- The ideal result here is one which secures the Empire against the threat of the DKMDR without crippling the Realm's own ability to fight against the Ecumene. If such a solution is possible, Dobrava will find it, and if it's not, she'll at least find the least-bad outcome in a high-stakes situation. I don't know how this ends, but assigning Dobrava here is worth it regardless.
- Normal Encounter: Nothing Ever Happens -- It's this, the Malakuth politics encounter that was definitely labeled Any Location by accident, or a plotline about the Dungeoneer's guild that's completely out of place in my military story. So I guess it's this.
- Personal Relationship: We don't have a ton in common, but that's okay. Leadership wouldn't be a skill if everyone already agreed on everything. Her commitment to justice and righteousness should be compatible with my commitment to the survival in the face of genocide, and her ability to calculate paths forward with certainty is a tactician's dream. I hope we'll become friends, but if we don't, I expect we can at least become reliable partners.
Other (not selected but likely to meet)
Darina
- I'm being raised by the man responsible for keeping her safe while she sleeps, so we'll have plenty of opportunity to interact. I'm hoping to befriend her during childhood, and gain some combat experience by dream passage-ing my way into her dungeon.
- She has her own job to do, so I'm not counting on her sticking around after childhood, but I hope that a positive relationship with her and Bernhard leads to a positive relationship with the Demonhunt, where I can call on them to hunt problematic Empyreans that I will inevitably come into conflict with. They have a history of working alongside militaries during wars against demon lords, and since 0^0 is a demon lord, we have cause to cooperate.
Deaths
Kalliopa: Zelo + Zhivete - Death in battle, but she survives - Without a letter, she'd probably still die in a Zelo-appropriate manner, so this just ensures she survives her first brush with death.
Araith: Fiert - Bodyswap - If Araith is to forswear drakonic pride, it's only fitting that she cease to be a dragon in the end. And I get to be a dragon! I hope to delay this for as long as possible, of course -- it will be rather disruptive to my military campaign -- but this is a difficult fate for 0^0 to arrange, so it should ensure both our survival for a good while, and there's a decent chance we'll survive to keep fighting afterwards.
Dobrava: Yat + Zemlya[-1D] - Suicide, then Undeath - I trust that Dobrava can turn this one to her advantage.
Maou: Greater Yus - Pretend so hard it becomes real - The sad old lady gets a character development opportunity.
Arsak: Shta + Yee[-1D] - I suspect that this becomes a bit like Galggoli, with him teaching the lesson that sometimes relying on the person standing next to you means trusting them to finish the job. In any case, I can't death-dodge everyone, and Arsak is my only Schta-able mentor. He gets my Yee because I feel bad about doing this. Hope the next life is good to you, friend.
Reks: Iotated Lesser Yus - Split into two lesser beings - He's survived worse than this.
Storkrad Yest' - Death by wildlife - Wildlife dangerous enough to kill Strokrad should be rare, so it's unlikely that fate will have have too many opportunities to trigger this. That hopefully translates to a long life, and he'll probably die doing what he loves -- taking on a challenge that will probably kill him.
Bernhard: Iotated Ouk - Spirit Devoured - My hope is that the entity he's devoured by is Darina's Bal-dungeon, so he can stay alive it inside with her. Then it might be possible to get him out. It's the best I can do with the letters that I have, unfortunately.
Vavara: Lesser Yus - Consciousness Divided in two - Who knows what this does to Vavara, but it's the only nonlethal letter that I have available.
Fot: Iotated Greater Yus - Consciousness Merge - Maybe it'll fix him? There's theoretically potential to intentionally trigger this by summoning a capable Majin in order to get him on my team, but I don't intend to look for him, and even if he finds me I don't think it's likely that I could do this honorably. So it probably isn't happening. It's a nonlethal letter, though, so there's that.
Youth and Quest
Youth: Martial Training, Magical Training, Leadership Training, Power Testing
Not taking Military might seem off, but the text of it seems like it's mostly physical conditioning and discipline training, which are covered by multiple mentors. The other skills above are all things I will need as well, but have less support for otherwise. Martial and Magical training cover my ability to fight as an individual, and Leadership Training covers not just command, but also the politics that I expect to be drawn into. Power Testing is primarily for improving my skill with Daemonhost and attuning myself to the power, but using Dream Passage to join Darina in her solo dungeon also falls under this.
Quest: Vanitas
I have no plans to bring JNPL back to life, and honestly I don't know if an Outsider should be the one to fix this. Maybe this should be a story about how the people born of this world rebelled against an evil self-styled goddess from another. Instead, I'll fight for the freedom of the north and the survival of its peoples. Each day will be a victory, and if the day should come when Light and Dark is no more, let none say that the Majin gave less than everything.