Amduscias
Legacy Name: Amduscias

Rumour was, Ragnar-k was to happen in due time... For a millennia, peace reigned on Midgard, a result of a truce formed at the end of a long-forgotten war. But that millennia had ended-- monsters started attacking, cities went under sieges, and it was no longer safe to travel at night.
In some places, it wasn't safe to travel at all.

Ten years back, there was a stir in the supernatural world. Someone, somewhere, had summoned otherwordly entities into Rune-Midgard. Demons, powerful spirits, even gods and deities. The -sir intercepted this summoning, however, and placed a metaphysical barrier around Rune-Midgard: any and every being who intruded upon the realm would be deprived of much of their power, and the weaker ones were denied entry. All those who have been called were skewed from their course to rejoin their summoner, and were forced to seek refuge within the minds of mortals.

Almost nine years back, a man corrupted by madness and evil influence roamed about. He enticed many homeless and orphaned children to follow him. He trapped them all in a room and called forth malevolent spirits, so they may possess the children and attempt to destroy each other. He had even supplied the knives, eager to watch the bloodbath.

Out of the six he had kidnapped, only three were alive, and the third was mortally wounded.

He had taken one of the conscious survivors, Akio, and sliced a seal in the boy's stomach as he recited an incantation. As the last word escaped his lips, he dropped dead, stabbed in the back by the second survivor.

Amduscias had been called forth and was forced to remain within Rune-Midgard, due to the barrier; within Akio, as the seal was on the boy's body. Though he wasn't pleased to be weakened so, to the point where he had to live within the mind and body of a mortal, he did not complain. Something big was going to happen, where a great many people would die... and many souls would be up for the picking.

None in Heaven could rival Amduscias-s music. He had mastered any fair instrument the angels cared to name, or so they said. If he was not composing songs, then he was playing them. Many would then gather around and listen, and when it was ended they would not linger, for they quickly learned that he was a cold individual. While he was well-mannered and soft-spoken, it was clear to them he held no interest in anyone: he was wholly devoted to his art, and all who interacted with him were merely distractions.

Strife began one day, when Mankind was rising in prominence on earth. One of the Seraphs, the Originals who rebuilt and founded the world, was remorseful for what they had done and grew to hate their planet-wide -playground-. He spread the Truth of how the world below came to be and gathered followers, wishing to stop the folly of his kin.

Amduscias was one of those who was given knowledge of Atlantis, the War, and the true nature of the Seraphs. If they were hoping that it would enrage him and make him stand for their cause, however, their hopes were in vain. He was completely indifferent to the Rebellion and spared little thought to the many angels that had been expelled from Heaven when it failed.

Knowledge of the Truth was hazardous, however. The Seraphs did not take kindly to their secrets being revealed, and so the angels who knew but did not rebel were changed and removed from the majority who were still ignorant. That is how he came to be a Grim angel, those who were not trusted to remain silent, who were to fight on the front lines of unseen battles against those who had shared that perilous information.

Truthfully the change affected him very little: he still spent much of his time striving to become a better musician. While the Diviner he received- an ornate crystal lance encrusted with peridot- was capable of destructive lightning magic, he was seldom called to battle. It was plain to everyone that he hadn-t a warrior-s spirit, nor did he hold a grudge against the former angels- now referred to as demons- who had brought forth his present circumstances. If anything he welcomed it more, as there were far less conversations to distract him from his practice.

Then came a day where he grew frustrated. After countless years he had mastered the instruments themselves, but the music lacked something he could not name. By then Mankind had learned to craft the same instruments the angels used and more, and produced songs of their own. Curious, he assumed a mortal guise and slipped into human society to observe them. Only then did he learn what he lacked, that Man had in abundance: love, hate, pain, sorrow, joy; life, in essence. He was troubled, for an immortal being such as he could not hope to understand these feelings and convey them in song. He knew that; he tried to live among them, to become like them in order to feel, but in the end he could not forget his true nature.

Instead he did the unthinkable- he captured souls and placed them inside instruments. The effect was powerful: the melody was rich and enchanting, striking deep within the hearts of those who listened. He found he could sway men-s subconscious to his whim depending on what he played; to love, to hate, to forget, to calm, to anger, even to die. He soon perceived a problem, however. In many ways his music was bettered, yet it was haunting, tainted, underlaid with much suffering and madness: the souls within wailing and lamenting, asleep but awake, ill fit in their new vessels.

To this he was at a loss. He could not change the nature of a soul to adapt to their new bodies of wood and metal, and all his attempts to do so were in vain.

His efforts were noted among demons, and it amused them. Free of the high-minded restrictions of Heaven, they had long since learned how to break souls and reshape them to their liking. The promise of this knowledge was how they won Amduscias-s loyalty and changed him to a demon in turn, though a neutral one at that.

From beginning to end, his focus has never wavered from music.