Ceiliesheven
Name: Ceiliesheven, Angel of Lost Songs
Concept: Demon Bard
History
The elven queen Euviel, a potent sorceress and keeper of arcane lore, was also a lover of fine arts. However, she did not wish to leave her arts merely to elven craft; such a thing could be accomplished by any noble. So she searched, far and wide, across her kingdom and that of the human client realms, for musicians that moved her in ways she could not imagine. Few succeeded, and none for very long; eventually, she turned to other realms in her quest. She and her apprentices, scouring ancient sources of lore, searched through the names of demons known for their mastery of music. After exhaustive search, she began the ritual, summoning a fiend from the depths to her court. When the sweet-smelling incense cleared, a tall, fiercely lithe woman stood, with fiery red hair and dusky skin. Yet she had gleaming water-like eyes, silver claws and fangs, feathered wings, and long, serpentine tail made of brass.
The demon was Ceiliesheven, a succubus who hails from the demonic realm of Sarosong. Deep within this realm of sapphire forests lay the gleaming crystal stronghold of the Angels of Music, a demonic faith of bards who believe in the power of song to awaken creation. Dubbed 'the Angel of Lost Songs', Ceiliesheven, or 'Ceilie', had a love for secrets, that she brought with her to the elven court.
The demon was a hit in Euviel's party, her songs bringing groups to laughter and to tears. These soirees always evoked the proper reaction, and she was intrigued and delighted to find that the demon tended to bring out the true feelings in others, giving her candid looks into her courtiers' minds. The demon was provided with the best attire and lodging, and all she desired – which mostly consisted of blood and alcohol. When not performing, she would recline on her cushions, tail twitching playfully, or entertain the attentions of those that piqued her interest.
Euviel adored her servant, and began to dote on her, to keep her happy. Ceilie, for her part, seemed content with her master's affections and with being a beautiful jewel for her treasury. However, this began to change, when the son of a duke, Ulthel, arrived as a permanent member of the court. On his first day, the boy stood up boldy as Ceilie began her performance, grabbed a flute, and broke into a riotous solo. The court hushed, terrified of the reprecussions – but the demon, a cat-like grin on her face, joined in, matching the song perfectly and quickly turning the court into a cavorting party. Afterwards, she sat with him at his sofa, chatting and drinking.
Euviel was furious. Over the weeks, her demon spent more and more time with Ulthel, often singling him out at parties. The queen's jealousy grew, and she increased her doting on Ceilie, even going as far as to provide her own daughters for the demon's entertainment. Ceilie accepted graciously, but continued to see the boy. The Queen's demeanor grew more wild and bitter, and her court began to fear her.
Finally, just when the queen was at her breaking point, Ceilie came to her. The demon acted strangely demure; she confided that she had a request of her master, in spite of all her gifts. What the queen heard startled her: “my queen, I have but one desire: Ulthel calls to me. If you will take possession of him, so that he is yours, that desire will be complete.”
Euriel devised a plot immediately. She would, when Ceilie took Ulthel to keep her company, unleash a powerful spell that would ensnare his soul, making him her servant. His father and the court would be none the wiser, but he would be hers, and her demon would be happy. She had her best wizards waiting, as Ceilie led the elven minstrel into her chambers.
The magic wrapped around him from the walls as he lay down, covering in him spirit-binding light. As it set, the mages came out, intent on finishing the enchantment, as Ceilie retreated back. The first looked over the elf, as he suddenly pulled a dagger and stabbed the magus in the eye.
The queen's throne room soon burst open, Ulthel standing there with a bloody sword. With a grin, he told the incredulous queen of what he had done – how he had managed to worm the plot out of Ceilie, and even got her to aid him with a musical barrier against his charm. He spoke of his intent to slay her and expose her treachery, and use Ceilie's music to placate the nobles and her family; he would even marry one of her daughters to save her from scandal and maintain the line. With a laugh, he lunged at her, magic flaring at his hands.
Euriel and Ulthel's battle destroyed most of the throne room and summoned the entire palace. When the first guards arrived, they found both dead from stab wounds and magic blasts. The Queen lay in her throne, a sword through her heart; Ulthel was sprawled at her feet, his back punctured and his face burned. The justicars decreed that it was an assassination attempt gone wrong – no action was taken against the duke, and the eldest daughter succeeded her mother. The greatest loss, however, was not in the throne room; Ceilie was nowhere to be found, not for lack of searching. It was presumed she was unbound by the Queen's death, and returned to her realm; the guards never noticed a woman leaping through the trees, slipping out of elven territory while singing to herself.
Powers
-Demon Music: Ceilie's music has power of the minds and souls of others, calling to them in strange ways. She can hypontize onlookers, call out certain emotions or suppress them, and even draw thoughts from their mind. She can also call spirits and bind them in treble and bass; exorcism is well within her power. Finally, her music can animate the dead, or inanimate objects, filling them with life. She can conjure any instrument by singing a mimickry of its tune, though she prefers a demonic harp with cold, resonant tones.
-Natural traits. Ceilie, as a demon, has several natural abilities. Her claws and fangs are razor-sharp, and are magical in nature, and her tail is like a whip. Used to leaping from tree-branch to tree-branch, she is incredibly agile and flexible, and a potent dancer (which she adds to her music). Her wings are functional, and she can fly at a bird's speed. Of course, she has an impossibly beautiful voice, which sounds almost like an instrument of brass and glass. Her tongue is long and serpentine, when she chooses to extend it, and has a literal silver streak on it. She is quite strong, and her flesh resists injury from most things (except silver and blessed weapons).
-Shapeshifting: Ceilie can alter her appearance, taking any skin, eye or hair colour she wants. She can alter her build, and even her sex; she can even remove her demonic traits (wings, tail, fangs, claws), though creating other esoteric natural parts like tentacles or pincers are beyond her. She must maintain a humanoid form, as well, though elves, humans, and dwarves or even hobbits are within her grasp.
-Weaknesses: Ceilie has a series of demonic weaknesses that can be exploited. Like many demons, she will not lie, though she ccan twist the truth; lying is a precursor to mental illness to her. In addition, Ceilie cannot resist playing music when asked, and also cannot resist listening to music that's playing (bad or good). She is terrified of magical silence, panicking if forced into a region that muffles sound. She can be harmed by magic directed at demons, as well as wounds caused by silver. Garlic nauseates her and weapons coated in it are poisonous to her.
-Diet: Ceilie is vampiric, feeding on blood; she can eat normal food and drink alcohol, and likes the taste, but gets sick and hungry without ample fresh blood. Her favorite meals are blood and wine, ale, or beer.
The Angels of Music
The demonic sect known as the Angels of Music live in the sapphire-pine forests of Sarosong, in a great tower of silver and diamond that reaches the sky and deep into the ground. Their city surrounds the structure, a series of tree huts and rope bridges built from the gemstone wood, and singing in the winds that come in from the ashen plains to the east. The demons of the city all pay tribute to the Angels, who are the primary landowners and the highest lords.
The Angels follow the teaches of the Red Birth Song, a long and impossibly complex piece of music that is played constantly throughout the structure by countless clockwork instruments, all composed of sapphire or crystal. The song – impossibly dense but musical to the untrained ear – awakens thoughts in the listener, causing them to imagine scenes and events recorded in it, like many holy books. The Song's legend was that it was composed by three angels at creation, who enlisted a great demon to be their instrument in order to create a currently-forgotten world. The angels, rather than binding the demon, instead rewarded it with the power of the song, telling it to use it the power to unlock the true potential of their creation. The demon, however, vanished when the song proved to reshape it into something else – 'a world of crystalline complexity' is the only clear concept that comes from this portion of the song. Various other tales are in varying states of completion, and the Angels constantly create new machines to try and capture lost stanzas. A common interpretation is that their tower is the body of the demon itself, but this has not been confirmed.
The Angels are all bards of some degree, capable of music. Their nature is suffused with music, coaxing and molding their being into something else. They believe that music is the key to gaining the power of Creation – something denied them – and reshaping and creating worlds. Music is practically a requirement in Sarosong.
The Angels are led by the Archangels, demons well-versed in the Song and in music and magic. Every Angel has a title given to them at orientation, which represents their motivations and specialties (Ceiliesheven, for example, is the Angel of Lost Songs because of her love of secrets; the Archangel Yethen is the Archangel of Broken Temperance, representing his love of engendering hedonism is otherwise reserved individuals).