Aarvachi
'MINE!!!!' thundered the demon as he caught site of the chests of gold coins. With a gesture of his hand the chests rose, sundering the enchantments which held them down and drew them towards him.
'MINE!!!!' thundered the demon as he caught site of the chests of gold coins. With a gesture of his hand the chests rose, sundering the enchantments which held them down and drew them towards him. As they flew, other enchantments placed to prevent this very thing from happening failed and dissipated. The trice ensorceled locks vanished into vapour and the chests opened. The coins flew out like a geyser of water, and the chests dropped to the floor. The gold continued on to arc into the vile creature's open treasure sack.
The Diabolist stood there in shock. That gold represented a sum sufficient to save thousands from starvation, or field an army, and now it was gone before a price could be settled. What did he have left to offer a Demon?
Full Description
In his full demonic form, Aarvachi appears to be a scarlet-skinned ogre with a disproportionaly large head, dinner plate eyes, and great, grasping hands. From his mouth protrude irregular, partly rotten fangs. Over his shoulder he carries an unbelievably large,over-full sack with many chests as well as diminutive humanoid figures chained to the outside of it. The figures appear to be struggling fruitlessly to escape the bonds.
In his human form, he appears generally as a cadaverously thin merchant dressed according to local culture, but in slightly ragged clothing which looks like grave-goods.
Again, the eyes are overlarge, but not beyond normal human variation.
If an animal form is necessary, he will assume the form of a large raven or crow.
Aarvachi's sole driving factor is Greed, even over spreading evil for evil's sake.
Given a choice between devouring the good or grabbing some copper, he will always choose wealth.
It is this pursuit that makes this Demon more useful to Diabolists then others. He can be paid for tasks, though the price is always much more then would be considered fair.
The Demon is very old and has a great deal of knowledge in many areas, including history, economics, magic and about his fellow demons. He enjoys tasks which provide the ability to obtain plunder (wealth & souls), the darker the better. If summoned for manual labor or item construction (it does happen - demons are spectacularly strong and many are quite good craftsmen), his price will be even more extreme.
He is ruled by greed and so when summoned, the summoner must take care not to have the payment visible to the demon before a deal is struck. Otherwise, the demon is likely to help himself to the payment before discussing terms, leaving the unfortunate Diabolist with little to offer. In addition to material wealth (subject to the location and culture where the Demon has been summoned - he will find anything valuable if mortals think so...) he will accept Souls as payment for tasks. He will not defer collection - payment must be made immediately upon the completion of the deal. He will usually hold to the terms of the agreement, twisting the words of the deal to suit himself if possible.
Additional Information
In combat, the demon uses the sack as a weapon -it is capable of inflicting terrible damage.
He also has a brutally strong telekinesis ability that also has a powerful anti-magic effect, doubly so against defensive or warding magic.
His eyes have the power to see wealth through all but the most powerful magics and materials, making it difficult to hide treasure from him.
He is also an accomplished spellcaster, with knowledge in the areas of Elemental Earth and Fire, always with a dark taint to them.
Like most demons, fire, poison and acid do not harm him.
His sack is magical and can contain much more then it's volume would suggest. If the demon is slain, the chest will remain only a short interval before disappearing with all of its contents. As it starts to fade, any looting it may have their willpower challenged to let go. Those who either choose not to let go, or fail to be able to, are drawn with the sack back to the nether regions that spawned him.
Any contents separated from the sack are exempt from the effect. The sack itself is virtually indestructible and unlikely to be severely damaged in the interval between Aarvachi's demise/defeat and its own disappearance.
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? Responses (16)
Updated: Quotes messed up
Why is this a lifeform rather than an NPC? It should have the freetext of 'demon' to link it to the other demons.
Other than that, it is good servicable submission.
Well, for two reasons:
1. It simply did not occur to me that it was an NPC :)
2. Was trying to enter the Quest for Unique Lifeforms. What is the dividing line between an NPC (A fae Dog was an NPC) and a Unique lifeform? Seriously I would like to know to avoid that type of problem in the future.
Its not really unique. He is a demon. Ok, nothing new there. He is greedy, albeit different typ of greed, nothing new there. All demons want something for little. Death, souls, virgins, etc... this one just wants money. So it is different and unique but not shatteringly so. But thats just me.
It is a little difficult to make a Demon that is not completely psycotic and still have it be a demon. I've seen a couple (I remember a heartbreaker demon some time ago - I'll add the exact citation later). Personally, I've always viewed these creatures as unredeemable evil in all cases.
Not to toot my own horn but I did a group of half demons called the Taur, while some were what you would think of when dealing with a demon, others were not.
Heh-heh. Now this is a demon that makes sense, unlike those stupid Evil(tm) cardboard types. Potentially useful, but you will know soon why one should not summon demons. Neat.
While I agree that this really doesn't fit into the lifeform challenge it is a very good rendition of a nastly little demon. I love the idea of a demon compelled by something other than hate, rage, hate, and death. makes for interesting dealings when one is summoned and it shows up indtead. Good job valadaar.
My only complaint is a littl more informtion on the demon itself and possibly a hint at what he has contained in the sack. What does he do with the coins and treasure he finds and loots? Holds them in his sack or does he ever pull them out to count them?
Actually, he does (count his treasure that is..) :) Not all of what I had in my head made it into the submission. He even has his own little piece of Hell/Abyss whatever you prefer. I'll be adding to this guy soon :)
Can you explain what is different from a NPC and Unique lifeform? Does it have to be unique and unintelligant? Otherwise any unique lifeform with intellance could be viewed as an NPC.
That is a tough question to ask me as I view thing different. That is like asking me what my definition of a sentient being is. Some say all conscious creatures are sentient, but my view of that is sentient creatures can evolve, usually talk to some degree that is understandable, and create. A dog can do none of those that are understandable by others outside magic. Hence a dog is not sentient.
The same thing applies here for me. An NPC is an individual creature with a personality. If you put it in an adventure there would be only one, being unique as NPC's are. A life form is a community, a race, a group of creatures that adhere to the same rules. Dogs for instance, cats, sheep, and rust monsters are all life forms. But that's my view, NPC's are unique and life forms are a community of the same race that is not sentient.
In this situation a unique life form, in my opinion would not be sentient. A dog with a cat head for instance, but only one left.
I like him-a Demon of Greed.
An archetype of greed. Good description, for some reason it evokes images of Japanese demons (maybe it's just me). Nothing n ere, true, but it was done all right enough.
what manfred said.
As Dozus said, this reminds me of Japanese Oni.
I really like these kinds of demons. They fit into the broad category of evil and monstrous, yet they also represent a specific archetype.