Application (DDD)
Player nickname: Eon
Player LJ: astralwhirlwind
Way to contact you:
Email: hepatica [at] operamail [dot] com
Other: Through PMs or contact post.
Are you at least 15?: Yes.
Current Characters: N/A
Character: Xelloss
Fandom: Slayers
Character Notes:
History:
Not exactly 100% in chronological order.
Backstory
-Beastmaster Zelas Metallium created him about 1000 years ago to act as her priest during the War of the Monsters' Fall. One of his orders-- and the one he has the most renown for, earning him the name of "Dragon Slayer"-- was to kill dragons serving the gods. His reward was the Four Demons' Blood Talismans, which he requested from the Demon King of the North.
-In the intervening time between the war and his second adventure with Lina Inverse, his duty was to find and eliminate manuscripts of the Claire Bible. He did so to prevent humans from using the information against demons.
NEXT (Season 2), Episode 4+
-Hellmaster Phibrizzo put a new plan to return the world to chaos into effect. He borrowed Xelloss from Beastmaster Zelas and had him take Lina to the original Claire Bible, in order for her to learn the true nature of the Lord of Nightmares. She needed the knowledge to fully realise the power of spells drawing from the Lord of Nightmares (i.e. Giga Slave, Ragna Blade).
-Xelloss was to act as her guide and protector. He stood between her and Chaos Dragon Gaav, a traitor to the demons who wanted to disrupt Hellmaster's plans. Xelloss was also given orders to disrupt Gaav's. When Xelloss was incapacitated enough to flee, however, Hellmaster completed his own plans.
-He physically appeared at the scene of Hellmaster's failed attempt at returning the world to chaos. On the astral plane he bore witness to Lina summoning the Lord of Nightmares by casting Giga Slave. He also retrieved the Sword of Light and returned it to Gourry.
-On the sillier side of things: he led Lina's party around by the nose in search for the Claire Bible, befriended Martina, watched Lina and company slay a swamp lake dragon in the name of dragon cuisine, and dressed in drag.
TRY (Season 3)
-His superiors sent him to deal with Valgaav, a subordinate of Gaav intent on revenge for his master's demise. He initially used Lina and her friends as bait to draw Valgaav out into the open. Later on, when Valgaav proved to be quite formidable, he was told to make an overture in which he would kill Lina in exchange for Valgaav joining the demon race's ranks. He was less than enthusiastic about it because he had an inkling Valgaav would say "no".
-He met Filia. He and Fillia bickered. He and Fillia fused their demonic and holy magics respectively to aid the destruction of Dark Star.
-His instructions were to "save the world" so the demons "could destroy it [themselves] later". To that end he stole Galveira and had a stand-off against two gods from Dark Star's world, drawing things out long enough that the only choice all the parties were left with was to destroy Dark Star or be destroyed.
Revolution & Evolution-R (Season 4)
-Confirming whether the fragment of Dark Lord Shabranigdo in Rezo's soul survived were his marching orders.
-He allied himself with Gioconda and was indirectly responsible for the reappearance of the white beast, Zanaffar.
-He worked with Inspector Wizer Freyon of the Ruvinagald Police to capture Lina and her friends. Mostly Lina.
-He killed Zuuma.
-He attacked the revived Rezo with all the magic he could muster. Later, he protected Lina and her friends from Rezo-Shabranigdo so Lina could cast Giga Slave.
Personality:
Putting aside his wily disposition for a second, Xelloss believes in obeying authority figures. It might be more realistic to say it's an intrinsic part of the demon race's existence; the more powerful and pure the demon, the less likely they will disobey an even more powerful demon. Xelloss is both powerful and pure; his physical form is created from his own power and isn't merely attached to a pre-existing, physical body.
Loyalty is another issue altogether. He was "loyal" to Hellmaster to the extent that he followed through on his instructions, but his approach to completing them was sloppy. The work he did before and after Hellmaster is shades more efficient. Take his first adventure with Lina: he used a manuscript of the Claire Bible as a lure to get her and her friends to infiltrate a bandit camp. The bandits had been tipped off in advance (by him) that an infiltration would occur. They attacked. This caused Lina to fight back. The bandit leader raced to ensure the manuscript's safety, leading Xelloss right to it.
In comparison, when he later travelled with Lina under Hellmaster's orders, there were a lot of bogus leads and no results. Xelloss had been searching for copies of the Claire Bible for at least several hundred years. He ought to know the difference between what was bogus and what wasn't. Yet he happily pointed Lina's party towards diversion after diversion and eventually walked them into a trap.
What he accomplished by doing so-- the destruction of a temple containing a coded copy of the Claire Bible-- seemed to be more inline with his orders under Beastmaster. In other words, he fulfilled old orders while working on a new assignment, one where destroying the temple wouldn't benefit it. This means loyalty to his creator comes first. What Beastmaster wants done is his business, what Hellmaster wants done is Hellmaster's business.
The Lord of Nightmares, (also known as the Great Mother / Golden Lord / Sea of Chaos / maker of the universe / we could go on till lunch) is a being he considers obeying the will of the natural order of things. To do otherwise would be akin to a rebellious act. Demons are supposed to cause chaos and oppose the gods; that's what they were born for. Seemingly contradicting this is his sentiment that the demon race wants to accomplish world destruction through their own "free will and strength". So he works to destroy the world because he wants to and is entitled to it.
It's safe to say demons don't consider humans their equals, humans being a source of the negative emotions on which they feed. Xelloss seems to treat humans well because of his polite manners and inclination to talk before employing other means. But his "niceness" is probably more a function of the sheer amount of power he possesses. Survival isn't something he has to really worry about -- most everything he deals with on a regular basis can't even hurt him. In other words, obeying human authority figures is completely arbitrary. He'll do what they say if it advances his agenda or in some way benefits him. If he's in the mood, he might even do it because it in no way harms his plans. Of course, the above doesn't only apply to humans as he treats other races similarly.
In his downtime he's the type to stand idly by rather than meddle. He might help you out if you asked, otherwise he's happy to let things take their course without his involvement. Xelloss will also humour people and watch them come to sticky ends. Generally these seem "nicer" than the usual fare dished out by other demons. But then he keeps humouring. And watching. And snickering. Repeating the process indefinitely while absolving himself of all responsibility. Which in itself might be called a form of torture. On occasion he conforms to stereotype by causing someone (e.g. Valgaav) physical torment while savouring every moment.
His persona is affable to a fault and sometimes comes off as a bit awkward. In the face of resistance he can be ruthless but no less polite. From a non-demonic standpoint he looks like a scholarly priest. He has an appreciation for intelligence, knowledge and pragmatism. While ultimately he may be on the side of those plotting world destruction, he isn't a stranger to poking around to satisfy his curiosity. As a demon he's got a big ego, despite his shows of modesty and lack of flourish. Go and disrespect him too much, chances are he'll merely get tetchy -- if you're fortunate. He has to believe in his own importance or he makes himself weaker. In the worst case scenario he'll cease to be. Having existential crises over one's purpose in life is something he'll never understand.
His acts of deception are rooted in what he says and what he doesn't. He might change the subject or talk around a piece of information, but he never lies outright if he can help it. When he doesn't want to reveal something after having been backed into a corner where lying would be inevitable, he'll tell you it's classified info a secret.
Other:
-He has to be in the physical vicinity of the person he's annoying to feed on their negative emotions. He can also be affected by their positive emotions, if they get the idea to focus them in his direction.
-His true, astral form is that of a whirlwind or cone.
-He's the most powerful demonic entity in the world Slayers takes place in outside of Ruby-Eye's retainers, one of whom is his creator, Beastmaster Zelas.
Additional Links:
Slayers is one of those series where there are a couple dozen ways to spell a name. I'm sorry about this. OTL
QP Diana's - http://homepage3.nifty.com/QPHOUSE/slayers_e.html (Reports, FAQ and Novel Summary sections, mostly)
KanzakaDex - Xelloss: http://kanzaka.wikia.com/wiki/Xelloss, Demons: http://kanzaka.wikia.com/wiki/Mazoku
YouTube - Xelloss interacting with Lina (and later, Filia): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC-52q3e49A, flashback of him dealing with a swarm of dragons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huiv0IAAj-s, Xelloss getting bombarded with positive emotions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkAgbJYKRgE
First Person (entry type):
Today I saw a set of cauldrons for sale at half price. The shopkeeper was so persistent, I was put in quite a tight position! I would say 'no' and he would insist that I say 'yes'.
You have undoubtedly been in a similar situation, no? First you enter a shop intent on buying a specific item. Which was, in my case, a ladle. Secondly, you go chat up the man owning the shop. When the time to pay came he would try to get you to purchase additional merchandise.
It was a sparring match that took an entire noon to resolve. I'm here to report there were no casualties, apart from the man's good mood. It's not my fault I don't need a cauldron, why couldn't he understand?
Later in the day I stopped by a commemorative statue of the local war hero. My, it certainly brings back memories! It was here the last time I visited, though back then it wasn't missing its head. I wonder where it went?
That marks the end of today's travelogue. Thank you for reading! You will hear from me again later.
Third Person:
Fending off bandits was tiresome, but it was all a part of the act. True, he could wipe them off the face of the earth with a figurative snap of his fingers. So many courses of action were available to him that he was spoilt for choice. He could appeal to their greedy natures, he could lead them on a chase that led to their deaths, he could cause their deaths directly. Sometimes it did strike his fancy to play with his prey a little.
He didn't indulge himself too often; Lord Beastmaster gave him free reign on a lot things and how he kept himself fed was his affair. He reserved his servings of excess cruelty for situations that really merited it. As far as he was concerned, you only teased out as much miasma as you needed on any given day. Or night. He wasn't picky. Make too much noise among the creatures bound to the physical plane and you would be blacklisted for years to come. He couldn't very well allow such a thing to happen! Under normal circumstances. It would make covert work more difficult and extra demanding.
Luckily, the lives of most physical creatures were short. Take humans, for instance. The average human lived a hundred years; the average human magic user, a couple hundred. A special case was currently over a thousand, true. It was special, as previously stated. The average human bandit's lifespan wasn't recorded anywhere as far as he knew, but their lifestyle didn't seem conducive to an especially long one. As he will now elaborate.
Bandits were outcasts to society. They lived in social limbo, preferring to brave the anarchic wilderness on the off-chance some wretched priest with coin in his pocket might come along and become easy prey. Weren't they simply a delightfully sensible bunch?
Oh, dear. That laugh offended them.
Xelloss dusted off his hands and glanced back to admire his handiwork. He took up his staff again and walked away at a leisurely pace, a slight smugness infecting his benign smile.
Player LJ: astralwhirlwind
Way to contact you:
Email: hepatica [at] operamail [dot] com
Other: Through PMs or contact post.
Are you at least 15?: Yes.
Current Characters: N/A
Character: Xelloss
Fandom: Slayers
Character Notes:
History:
Not exactly 100% in chronological order.
Backstory
-Beastmaster Zelas Metallium created him about 1000 years ago to act as her priest during the War of the Monsters' Fall. One of his orders-- and the one he has the most renown for, earning him the name of "Dragon Slayer"-- was to kill dragons serving the gods. His reward was the Four Demons' Blood Talismans, which he requested from the Demon King of the North.
-In the intervening time between the war and his second adventure with Lina Inverse, his duty was to find and eliminate manuscripts of the Claire Bible. He did so to prevent humans from using the information against demons.
NEXT (Season 2), Episode 4+
-Hellmaster Phibrizzo put a new plan to return the world to chaos into effect. He borrowed Xelloss from Beastmaster Zelas and had him take Lina to the original Claire Bible, in order for her to learn the true nature of the Lord of Nightmares. She needed the knowledge to fully realise the power of spells drawing from the Lord of Nightmares (i.e. Giga Slave, Ragna Blade).
-Xelloss was to act as her guide and protector. He stood between her and Chaos Dragon Gaav, a traitor to the demons who wanted to disrupt Hellmaster's plans. Xelloss was also given orders to disrupt Gaav's. When Xelloss was incapacitated enough to flee, however, Hellmaster completed his own plans.
-He physically appeared at the scene of Hellmaster's failed attempt at returning the world to chaos. On the astral plane he bore witness to Lina summoning the Lord of Nightmares by casting Giga Slave. He also retrieved the Sword of Light and returned it to Gourry.
-On the sillier side of things: he led Lina's party around by the nose in search for the Claire Bible, befriended Martina, watched Lina and company slay a swamp lake dragon in the name of dragon cuisine, and dressed in drag.
TRY (Season 3)
-His superiors sent him to deal with Valgaav, a subordinate of Gaav intent on revenge for his master's demise. He initially used Lina and her friends as bait to draw Valgaav out into the open. Later on, when Valgaav proved to be quite formidable, he was told to make an overture in which he would kill Lina in exchange for Valgaav joining the demon race's ranks. He was less than enthusiastic about it because he had an inkling Valgaav would say "no".
-He met Filia. He and Fillia bickered. He and Fillia fused their demonic and holy magics respectively to aid the destruction of Dark Star.
-His instructions were to "save the world" so the demons "could destroy it [themselves] later". To that end he stole Galveira and had a stand-off against two gods from Dark Star's world, drawing things out long enough that the only choice all the parties were left with was to destroy Dark Star or be destroyed.
Revolution & Evolution-R (Season 4)
-Confirming whether the fragment of Dark Lord Shabranigdo in Rezo's soul survived were his marching orders.
-He allied himself with Gioconda and was indirectly responsible for the reappearance of the white beast, Zanaffar.
-He worked with Inspector Wizer Freyon of the Ruvinagald Police to capture Lina and her friends. Mostly Lina.
-He killed Zuuma.
-He attacked the revived Rezo with all the magic he could muster. Later, he protected Lina and her friends from Rezo-Shabranigdo so Lina could cast Giga Slave.
Personality:
Putting aside his wily disposition for a second, Xelloss believes in obeying authority figures. It might be more realistic to say it's an intrinsic part of the demon race's existence; the more powerful and pure the demon, the less likely they will disobey an even more powerful demon. Xelloss is both powerful and pure; his physical form is created from his own power and isn't merely attached to a pre-existing, physical body.
Loyalty is another issue altogether. He was "loyal" to Hellmaster to the extent that he followed through on his instructions, but his approach to completing them was sloppy. The work he did before and after Hellmaster is shades more efficient. Take his first adventure with Lina: he used a manuscript of the Claire Bible as a lure to get her and her friends to infiltrate a bandit camp. The bandits had been tipped off in advance (by him) that an infiltration would occur. They attacked. This caused Lina to fight back. The bandit leader raced to ensure the manuscript's safety, leading Xelloss right to it.
In comparison, when he later travelled with Lina under Hellmaster's orders, there were a lot of bogus leads and no results. Xelloss had been searching for copies of the Claire Bible for at least several hundred years. He ought to know the difference between what was bogus and what wasn't. Yet he happily pointed Lina's party towards diversion after diversion and eventually walked them into a trap.
What he accomplished by doing so-- the destruction of a temple containing a coded copy of the Claire Bible-- seemed to be more inline with his orders under Beastmaster. In other words, he fulfilled old orders while working on a new assignment, one where destroying the temple wouldn't benefit it. This means loyalty to his creator comes first. What Beastmaster wants done is his business, what Hellmaster wants done is Hellmaster's business.
The Lord of Nightmares, (also known as the Great Mother / Golden Lord / Sea of Chaos / maker of the universe / we could go on till lunch) is a being he considers obeying the will of the natural order of things. To do otherwise would be akin to a rebellious act. Demons are supposed to cause chaos and oppose the gods; that's what they were born for. Seemingly contradicting this is his sentiment that the demon race wants to accomplish world destruction through their own "free will and strength". So he works to destroy the world because he wants to and is entitled to it.
It's safe to say demons don't consider humans their equals, humans being a source of the negative emotions on which they feed. Xelloss seems to treat humans well because of his polite manners and inclination to talk before employing other means. But his "niceness" is probably more a function of the sheer amount of power he possesses. Survival isn't something he has to really worry about -- most everything he deals with on a regular basis can't even hurt him. In other words, obeying human authority figures is completely arbitrary. He'll do what they say if it advances his agenda or in some way benefits him. If he's in the mood, he might even do it because it in no way harms his plans. Of course, the above doesn't only apply to humans as he treats other races similarly.
In his downtime he's the type to stand idly by rather than meddle. He might help you out if you asked, otherwise he's happy to let things take their course without his involvement. Xelloss will also humour people and watch them come to sticky ends. Generally these seem "nicer" than the usual fare dished out by other demons. But then he keeps humouring. And watching. And snickering. Repeating the process indefinitely while absolving himself of all responsibility. Which in itself might be called a form of torture. On occasion he conforms to stereotype by causing someone (e.g. Valgaav) physical torment while savouring every moment.
His persona is affable to a fault and sometimes comes off as a bit awkward. In the face of resistance he can be ruthless but no less polite. From a non-demonic standpoint he looks like a scholarly priest. He has an appreciation for intelligence, knowledge and pragmatism. While ultimately he may be on the side of those plotting world destruction, he isn't a stranger to poking around to satisfy his curiosity. As a demon he's got a big ego, despite his shows of modesty and lack of flourish. Go and disrespect him too much, chances are he'll merely get tetchy -- if you're fortunate. He has to believe in his own importance or he makes himself weaker. In the worst case scenario he'll cease to be. Having existential crises over one's purpose in life is something he'll never understand.
His acts of deception are rooted in what he says and what he doesn't. He might change the subject or talk around a piece of information, but he never lies outright if he can help it. When he doesn't want to reveal something after having been backed into a corner where lying would be inevitable, he'll tell you it's classified info a secret.
Other:
-He has to be in the physical vicinity of the person he's annoying to feed on their negative emotions. He can also be affected by their positive emotions, if they get the idea to focus them in his direction.
-His true, astral form is that of a whirlwind or cone.
-He's the most powerful demonic entity in the world Slayers takes place in outside of Ruby-Eye's retainers, one of whom is his creator, Beastmaster Zelas.
Additional Links:
Slayers is one of those series where there are a couple dozen ways to spell a name. I'm sorry about this. OTL
QP Diana's - http://homepage3.nifty.com/QPHOUSE/slayers_e.html (Reports, FAQ and Novel Summary sections, mostly)
KanzakaDex - Xelloss: http://kanzaka.wikia.com/wiki/Xelloss, Demons: http://kanzaka.wikia.com/wiki/Mazoku
YouTube - Xelloss interacting with Lina (and later, Filia): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC-52q3e49A, flashback of him dealing with a swarm of dragons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huiv0IAAj-s, Xelloss getting bombarded with positive emotions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkAgbJYKRgE
First Person (entry type):
Today I saw a set of cauldrons for sale at half price. The shopkeeper was so persistent, I was put in quite a tight position! I would say 'no' and he would insist that I say 'yes'.
You have undoubtedly been in a similar situation, no? First you enter a shop intent on buying a specific item. Which was, in my case, a ladle. Secondly, you go chat up the man owning the shop. When the time to pay came he would try to get you to purchase additional merchandise.
It was a sparring match that took an entire noon to resolve. I'm here to report there were no casualties, apart from the man's good mood. It's not my fault I don't need a cauldron, why couldn't he understand?
Later in the day I stopped by a commemorative statue of the local war hero. My, it certainly brings back memories! It was here the last time I visited, though back then it wasn't missing its head. I wonder where it went?
That marks the end of today's travelogue. Thank you for reading! You will hear from me again later.
Third Person:
Fending off bandits was tiresome, but it was all a part of the act. True, he could wipe them off the face of the earth with a figurative snap of his fingers. So many courses of action were available to him that he was spoilt for choice. He could appeal to their greedy natures, he could lead them on a chase that led to their deaths, he could cause their deaths directly. Sometimes it did strike his fancy to play with his prey a little.
He didn't indulge himself too often; Lord Beastmaster gave him free reign on a lot things and how he kept himself fed was his affair. He reserved his servings of excess cruelty for situations that really merited it. As far as he was concerned, you only teased out as much miasma as you needed on any given day. Or night. He wasn't picky. Make too much noise among the creatures bound to the physical plane and you would be blacklisted for years to come. He couldn't very well allow such a thing to happen! Under normal circumstances. It would make covert work more difficult and extra demanding.
Luckily, the lives of most physical creatures were short. Take humans, for instance. The average human lived a hundred years; the average human magic user, a couple hundred. A special case was currently over a thousand, true. It was special, as previously stated. The average human bandit's lifespan wasn't recorded anywhere as far as he knew, but their lifestyle didn't seem conducive to an especially long one. As he will now elaborate.
Bandits were outcasts to society. They lived in social limbo, preferring to brave the anarchic wilderness on the off-chance some wretched priest with coin in his pocket might come along and become easy prey. Weren't they simply a delightfully sensible bunch?
Oh, dear. That laugh offended them.
Xelloss dusted off his hands and glanced back to admire his handiwork. He took up his staff again and walked away at a leisurely pace, a slight smugness infecting his benign smile.