Lore 1

To say it had taken ages to get a proper audience with Deldemos was an understatement. You had done everything from following old sacrificial practices (minus the killing of a child and drinking their blood) to getting on your hands and knees and asking for at least one, one twenty-minute window in his schedule to ask questions.

After a while he accepted, and whether it was out of annoyance, boredom, or curiosity was beyond you. So soon you found yourself being escorted down the hallway of a large, foreboding fortress in the middle of the Blank Realm, guided by a large spindly creature that you came to know as an Obscuracle.

You saw Deldemos lounging on a large throne made of obsidian, his legs dangling over one of the legs lazily. He was in his Alaagasi disguise, probably in an attempt to seem less intimidating.

“Took you long enough.” He huffed, sitting up straight. “You wanted to ask questions?” You confirmed this, to which he waved a hand and nodded. “Ask away.”

Where do you feel most at home? If it’s not the place you were born, why? Or, is there a certain somebody that makes you feel at home, wherever they may be? What does home mean to you?

He furrowed his brow in thought, leaning back. “Where do I feel most at home? Well…” He lifted up two fingers. “There are two places.

“The first is, of course, here. This is the home I made for myself. Okay, well, I didn’t make the Blank Realm, I’m just making the most of it. Unfortunately, I can only do so much when it comes to making this place look habitable so this fortress is the most I can do. But all-in-all, this place is my home, and I’m very comfortable here.

“As for the second place, I have to say it’s within the forest of Ariuth.” After you expressed confusion he clarified. “Okay, you know that giant forest on the eastern side of the Gal’Hurian continent? The Alaagasi live there. Yeah that one, that’s the forest of Ariuth. I like it there, it’s closed off from the watchful eyes of other Daizan, and the ones that I do come across are usually people like Mesmin. So it’s calm, somewhere I can walk amongst my old creations and feel at peace.”

You seemed satisfied with his answer, but before you could do anything he spoke up again. “Well, three places actually. This last one is gonna sound really sappy so get ready.” He smiled, leaning forward a little.

“I feel at home with Alicia. If you don’t know who that is, are you familiar with Thasvan? Blond, one eye, yeah him. That’s his mom. Okay before you say anything, I knew her for a while before she met Lattimer. We were… Close. Very close. Letting her get away was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made, and allowing myself to give in and… Well, that’s beside the point.

“Bringing this entire rant together, I feel at home here in my fortress, in the forest of Ariuth, and with Alicia. As for what home means to me? It’s somewhere I can relax, somewhere I can be at peace. Somewhere I can forget about my role in Gal’Huria I suppose. Anyway, next question.”

Have you ever gotten sheer joy out of hurting someone else (physically or mentally)? If so, who and why? Did it scare you, or just make you feel power?

He couldn’t help but laugh at the question. “You’re asking me if I’ve gotten physical and mental joy out of hurting someone? Of course I have, it’s why I do it. It makes me feel powerful, it makes me feel like I’m above others, it’s pleasurable even. Nor do I believe there’s someone I felt the most joy in hurting. There are a lot of people that I’ve hurt, Thsavan, Annomen, Caspian. However, it all felt the same. It brought me joy and pleasure, I had different reasons for all of them, yet in the end, there was no difference. I think a better question for me would be have I not gotten sheer joy from hurting someone else. In that case, I haven’t once.

“A thing you must realize is that I am not the one who brings death, I simply oversee it. If a Dastotan woman dies of a disease I wasn’t the one who came down and reaped her soul or whatever. Though I still have the ability to kill and destroy at the snap of my fingers if I so please. I’m just not responsible for all the death on Gal’Huria.

“So with that out of the way, I would say the person I didn’t get sheer joy from hurting would be Alicia. I’m sure you can tell why, I liked her a lot, I loved her even. Why I decided to do what I did is beyond me, I suppose I was being impulsive…” He grimaced a little, you could tell he was uncomfortable. “My thoughts weren’t my own, it was if someone forced me to do what I did. In the end, I was left horrified and unsatisfied. Mad at myself, mad at Lattimer, and mad at The Rose.”

You asked him what The Rose was, to which he shrugged and shook his head. “Dunno, I think that’s what it was? If I’m being honest the words just came out right there. But bringing it all together with a nice little bow, the only time I didn’t get sheer joy from hurting someone was when I hurt Alicia. A lot of my lowest moments and regrets are related to her as I’ve noticed.” He chuckled grimly. “I felt no power, I felt no joy, all I felt was emptiness and horror.” You nodded, satisfied, then continued on to the next question.

What is your greatest accomplishment so far? Are you unsatisfied with where you are in life right now and feel like something's missing, or do you feel you're following the right track?

“My greatest accomplishment so far? That would be hard to answer, I’ve done so much. But I suppose I’ll take the easy way out. My greatest accomplishment was creating the lands of Gal’Huria.” He leaned back smiling.

You seemed confused, repeating what he said. “Yes, that’s what I said.”

You requested for him to clarify. “Well, a while ago I was different. I wasn’t a deity of death or anything. In fact, I created life. All that time I suppose I had the capacity to cause death, but I didn’t utilize it. I simply created what I felt was good. I came to realize that I could use death to my advantage (he seemed a little confused at that, weirdly enough). Yet I found myself becoming corrupted. It’s… A Daizan thing. There are tomes about it somewhere I think.

“But yes, my greatest accomplishment was creating the life on Gal’Huria, especially the Alaagasi. As for whether I’m satisfied with my life or not? I suppose I am. Things could be better, I could have more, but in the end, I’m very satisfied with my situation. I’m following the right track, I believe. Alright, done with that one. Next.”

Hypothetically, you've been given $1000 and told you to spend it in an hour, or you can't keep any of it. What store do you go to? What type of things do you buy? Only things for yourself, or anything for others?

“Oh if you asked me this back during the First Age I would have laughed at you. Back then I had a lot more when it came to Daizanic abilities, I could make anything appear if I willed it. Unfortunately, I don’t have that much of an ability anymore. It’s limited to very few resources now. I’m getting off track. If I had $1000… I don’t have very many wants, but I would buy lots and lots of jerky, fancy rings, and maybe a new outfit. A man can’t create his own outfits every time.”

You asked him to elaborate, to which he did with a huff. “Okay, the jerky. I just like the experience. I don’t need to eat, but the taste and texture are amazing. Quit giving me that look, we all have favorite foods, don’t we? My favorite just happens to be jerky. As for my favorite type? Spicy elk jerky.

“Why I’d get fancy rings? I dunno, they look nice. I can, thankfully, make my own outfits and rings appear at will (you decided that clothing was one of the things he could still create for himself) but sometimes I just get tired of designing all my own stuff, y’know? They start looking clunky and gross after a while, so I’d go have someone else do it for me. I have the same sentiment with the clothes. Why design them myself when I can have someone else do it for me?”

You ask him what the mechanism for him creating new outfits would be. “Oh I just think about it and it just appears on my body. After the first time, it’s a more unconscious switch if I want to return to that look.”

You nod, then sit up straight as you ask the last question you have lined up.

What is your idea of a utopia? What about a dystopia?

He furrowed his brow in thought. “Mmm… A utopia… Well. For me, it would be somewhere I can be alone. Completely and totally alone. See, here it used to be very lonely. I enjoyed it. But now I have Obscuracles and Keliir and his weird prophet in the basement. So it’s not really a utopia to me. Gal’Huria itself isn’t lonely, there are plenty of people still wandering around. That and I’m practically bound to the thing because I was one of the three creators. I’ll only be able to leave it behind once the thing gets blown up by space rocks whenever that’ll be.” He waved a hand.

“So, a utopia for me is somewhere where I can be truly alone and at peace. A dystopia is noisy and irritating and kind of how things are now. I’ve never been one for the apocalyptic ideas of a dystopia if you can’t tell. So yeah. The Blank Realm and Gal’Huria as of now are dystopian and annoying.”

You wrote this all down, then told him the interview was complete.

“Already? Alright. Well, this was fun! We should do this again sometime!” He waved at you. You were escorted away by what looked like the same Obscuracle as last time (who were you kidding, they all looked the same), satisfied with the outcome. He wanted another interview sometime anyway, that was good right?