Rahnon, the Fourth Demon Lord

Rahnon, the Fourth Demon Lord

The Envious Amalgamation, Lord of Ceaseless Yearning

Appearance

Original form is a small, green-skinned demon standing only a foot tall. Monkey like mannerisms, very wiry and always scowling. A good way to put it is that he looks like a stereotypical imp.

Combined form with Duke Kendrick Glorigold was his default appearance after a certain point in life. In this form, he kept the green skin and some of his other demon traits while taking on the build and facial features of the Duke. He wore extremely expensive Glorigold armor, albeit tainted with demonic malice and with altered colors.

Ultimate Form

When pushed to his limits, Rahnon transformed into a large, gangly, humanoid monster with six long arms hands. In the ribcage of this form, the original imp version of Rahnon sat within a cockpit of flesh and controlled the main body like a mech, applying all the different powers he absorbed through fusion via the six arms.

Powers

Swap Speak
A unique Chaos magic Rahnon was born with that allowed him to trick his enemy into switching bodies with the Demon, so long as he can get them to agree to it. Rahnon was a very clever and intelligent demon, able to use his words and break many victims without them even realizing what he was tricking them into saying.

Fusion
If Swap Speak doesn't work, Rahnon could subdue his foe by force and assimilate the enemy into his base form, gaining much of their power and the ability to transform into the fusion victim, as well as furthering his development as a demon. Rahnon never let his original body go, though, so if Swap Speak DID work he would fuse his new form with his weaker old form to ensure he still had all of his original powers. The fusion target dies, but Rahnon has access to their memories and abilities allowing him to usurp their life if he wished.

Salt Control
After Rahnon's fusion with Kendrick, he gained a preference towards salt magic. Not an inherent ability of his, but it's worth noting.

Weapon

Tear Drinker
What used to be House Glorigold ancestral sword became corrupted by great evil when Rahnon fused with Kendrick Glorigold. A dangerous sword which applies a powerful salt effect to anything it cuts, not merely causing irritation but severely drying out and absorbing the water of its victims. After becoming tainted, it gained the ability to send out blasts of red, demonic salt with a simple slash.

History

Rahnon was a Demon who came into being in the dark depths of the mountains of Lillance. He lived in darkness for some time, using his powers to fuse with monsters and other demons stronger than himself. His life began to stagnate by the time he had the powers of most monsters who lived in the mountains, until one day he came across miners. Rahnon realized there existed more to the world outside of his caves, and this fueled his envy.

He came up to a miner who was isolated, and managed to trick him into swapping bodies. He fused with his old self and the human's mind opened up new possibilities, as he now had wider knowledge of the outside world. He followed the miners home to the old Lillance capital (...), and saw a million different paths. There was a period of time where Rahnon experimented and took on different lives, learning things from each one but never finding the one which would make him feel satisfied with his current situation. He lived as a merchant, an adventurer, as well as several other lifestyles before the demon found himself working as a male bodyguard under the powerful Duke Kendrick Glorigold, who Rahnon set as his next step up.

Back during this era, Lillance was still very rich thanks to their salt monopoly, but their territory was much smaller than it is today. Duke Kendrick was a great man, beloved by his people, but in private he was spiteful and he cursed the crown for stifling his ambitions at every turn. Rahnon's disguised form became close to the Duke, to the point where the two became secret lovers.

The future Demon Lord became convinced during this time that he couldn't just absorb Kendrick like he did all his other victims, rather, he felt it'd be a waste and that they would rule better as a team. He wasn't sure if it was possible, but Rahnon had an idea. He revealed the truth about himself to the power-hungry Duke and explained what he wanted to do.

The Demon wanted to try fusing with the Duke while still keeping his soul alive, offering to work together to absorb the King of Karnalle.

For Kendrick, there was nothing to debate. If there was even a remote chance that he could gain the necessary power to fulfill his ambitions, then he would take it. This sheer willpower to take the world for himself is what ended up being the Duke's saving grace, as during the fusion he refused to become a memory. His ego was so powerful that his soul survived, now tied to Rahnon's as a two in one deal.

Kendrick was an absurdly powerful knight and magic user, and this gave Rahnon the single biggest boost in power he'd ever experienced. They were so strong, in fact, that they couldn't contain it. After the fusion, demonic energy spilled out of their body which warped the castle and the city, transforming it into a dungeon while the inhabitants, including most of House Glorigold, became a host of demons who shared Rahnon's fusion powers. From here on, Rahnon would lead these newborn demons to go out and fuse with stronger and stronger enemies as his envy bled into them.

If it weren't for that tremendous strike in power that warped the world around Rahnon, things might have gone very differently. Instead, the newly-minted Demon Lord painted a target on their own back inadvertently and went on an explosive spree. Until then, he had always been a very sneaky sort, but he became intoxicated with his own power and wanted to show off, immediately marching on the wider Realm.

Defeat

As Rahnon focused his gaze forward, a threat would develop behind him.

One of the young remaining heirs of House Glorigold, Eduard Glorigold, rose up. Eduard was the first son of Kendrick's younger brother, and considering the fate of most of their family, he was the next Duke by default. Unlike the typical Glorigold, Eduard was a good lad with proper morals. He mobilized the remnants of his House's allies, going on a quest to remove the evil of his family from Karnalle. Along the way, he discovered he was the Hero of Light and was granted a magical falchion by the Goddess Above.

He fought from within the heart of Lillance, chipping away at the Demon Lord's forces until miraculously cornering him back at the old capital. Eduard's small host invaded the city and fought back the demons, until the young hero faced Rahnon one on one in the throne room.

The battle was long, but eventually, Rahnon came out on top. He would have won if he was able to suppress his nature, but the Demon saw in the boy a hero even stronger than Kendrick. As he always did in situations like this, Rahnon became obsessed with the boy and wanted to become him. He tried to trick Eduard to swap bodies using his power, but he faced an unlikely setback he wasn't expecting- Kendrick himself.

Kendrick immediately knew what he was trying to do, and while the two typically worked in unison toward their goals, this tested their dynamic and led to their downfall. Rahnon was envious of Eduard's power, while Kendrick was bitter with jealousy that Rahnon could just throw him away like that for a 'younger model'. This led to a minute of bickering that Eduard took advantage of, spurring them to fight with each other.

His manipulation worked like a charm, and it earned him the time to stand and strike down his opponent once and for all. Eduard cut Rahnon in half, and the Demon Lord died as both halves tried to kill each other in their last moments.

Legacy

One of the ultimate ironies is that for his service to the Realm, Eduard was married to the Crown Princess of Karnalle and became the next King. His reign focused mainly on the reconstruction of the Lillance province, building it back even stronger than it was before. As Karnalle's King, he made the controversial decision to not relinquish the lands which Rahnon had annexed into Lillance back to Arrark and Bragos.

The Dukes of these provinces were furious, but there was little they could do considering Eduard argued that he lost a large chunk of his family and his population and it would help Lillance grow back. Eventually the Dukes were compensated for the land after Lillance recovered, but this move is still seen unfavorably and it started the trend of the Glorigolds continually trying to expand their territory.

Rahnon's fusion with Kendrick laid waste to an entire section of Lillance, which to this day is still tainted with his demonic energy. The former castle is now a dungeon known as the Palace of the Old Salt Lord, which is a luxurious display of Glorigold decadence and demonic architecture where magical treasures continually spawn even after being cleared out.

Because of the this land becoming ruined, Bourgeaux was selected as Lillance's new capital.

House Glorigold was never well-loved in the first place, but one of their own technically being a Demon Lord gave them an even worse name. It's seen as just another reason not to trust them. Unfortunately, Eduard's attempt to salvage his family's name and their reputation didn't stick and they would return to their vindictive and greedy ways within a few generations.