"We ride at midnight! Rise fateful devotees of the True King! In a fortnight, the Angelic Realm shall fall and we, the creatures of the night, shall inherit the world!" Grand Alchemist Zoran Lazarectus shouted, his booming voice engulfing the grand hall of the Demon King's underground castle. Mecanzhined underlings cheered in unison below him, their gears whizzing as steam poured out and enveloped the room in a hazy white afterglow.
Zoran grinned. It was his duty to care for those under the King's dominion, and he was close to finding the elixir that would ensure their victory over the pesky angels that blocked their path to total domination. He was highly favored, had access to the best alchemical records in the realm, and lived in the lap of luxury as the King's second-hand henchman. So why, he thought, his expression glum, do I feel so unfulfilled?
"Step aside my fateful Grand Magician! I come to address my kingdom! I come to declare war against all angels!" Zoran huffed, doing as he was told as the King came forward to address the crowd. He wanted to correct him, seeing as he was a Grand Alchemist, not a mere magician. But, he decided against it as the crowd's cheering grew deafeningly loud. It was at that moment Zoran realized the crowd was cheering so loudly because their King was coming, not because they cared about what he was saying.
Typical, he mused with a groan. His shoulders slumped and he backed into the shadows so Arhtonious could take center stage. In Arthonious Falcon III's right hand was a large red staff tipped with a bright white gem, his back covered in a white cape lined with crimson-colored furs, the pattern akin to the Demonic Realm's flag. The King was dressed in the finest furs and tanned skins in the realm, his black knee-high boots giving him a militaristic aura. His floor-length blood-red hair seemed to glow against white haze, pale skin blending in. And, in his left palm, Arthonious cupped the buttock of a giggling maid. Her voluptuous frame jiggled all over, as Arthonious basically repeated Zoran's speech with a more diabolical tone, and his disciples ate it up without hesitation. It ate the alchemist up inside how he could speak and then be spoken over, cast into the shadows, deemed irrelevant until someone needed some sort of potion or answers about a beast not found in the Common Bestiary.
"Zoran." Snapped out of his thoughts, Zoran's body snapped into a rigid straight line.
"Yes, Your Highness!" Zoran grimaced as Arthonious cast the unnamed maid over the side of the balcony, having no use for her anymore now that the viewing-bats were no longer looking. They'd carry the crystalized recording of his speech across the realm, and if Zoran was lucky, a portion of his speech as well. It was an archaic method of communication, but his King had eccentric tastes.
"You don't seem yourself these nights. What bothers you? Are you in need of more ingredients for your concoctions?" the King asked, the corners of his lips pulling upward in a concerned smile. His steel-gray eyes, however, told a different story. It was a test, Zoran mused. If he complained, he may meet his wrath. If he stayed silent, he would be followed, deemed a potential spy.
So I must speak and tell a lie most convincing, Zoran decided, smiling meekly in return.
"It is the newest recruit, your Highness. She is awful at her job but dedicated to perfecting her craft. She has kept me busy day and night, therefore I am a little weary as of late." The King seemed to accept the explanation, however contrived.
"...I see. She is a strange one, that little succubus wench. To think she came to our door naked with a letter from my own brother asking for refuge. Now that I think about it, I've yet to lay eyes on this girl. Bring her to me, Grand Magician, so I may see for myself why my brother sent her to me." The King tutted, though his eyes flashed with something like lust tinged with curiosity.
Shit. The last time the King took a liking to a maid, Zoran thought woefully, he ended up sentencing her to death when she admitted to harboring affection for her childhood friend. Zoran barely knew {player name}, but he felt connected to her in a strange way. He'd gone out of his way to make her a recovery potion when she came down with a fever shortly after her arrival. He still remembered the feeling of her thick silver curls against his skin, her earthy smell, dainty eyelashes, pint-sized wings, silky tail, and pleasantly purple skin as he caught her mid-fall. But it was her eyes that still captivated him, deep pools of liquid amber...
"Yes. Very strange indeed. But like I said, she's absolutely terrible at her job and she has a foul mouth at that! I wouldn't want to burden you with her presence..." Zoran drifted off, gulping as the King glared, his shadow turning into a menacing ghoul-like figure on the wall behind him.
"I must have misspoken. Bring her to me or else! This is an order!" He sneered down at Zoran who stood well over six feet.
"Yes, Your Highness! Right away!" Without another word, Zoran went to search for the succubus in question.
***
"Miss Ophelia. Miss Charlotte. I carry news from the King. Where is the new recruit, Miss {player name}? He demands her presence urgently." Zoran looked down at the twins, their large beady black eyes staring back up at him absently, huge hook noses nearly bumping against each other as they turned to face one another.
"We do not know, Grand Alchemist. We assigned her to the kitchen because she has failed to cultivate any other skillset. You may find her there, but she tends to wander," they replied as one being.
Typical, Zoran huffed internally. Like Zoran himself, the goblin sisters had taken a liking to {player name} for some odd reason, and always found a way to cover for her. New recruits weren't supposed to be in the kitchen anyway; they'd be too close to the King's subsistence.
"I see. I will go and fetch her myself." Hurrying past their tiny bodies, it wasn't missed on Zoran how Ophelia stared at him with longing as he walked away. They were never going to be a couple, no matter how many failed love spells she tried to direct his way Zoran reasoned. Not that he was opposed to interspecies dating. He just couldn't imagine making it work with a creature that barely reached his knees.
As he turned the corner towards the kitchen, Zoran paused. He backtracked until he was near the hallway where his chamber was. The door was propped open. Zoran never left his door open. Marching forward, he threw open the door completely, ready to attack whoever dared to defile his precious laboratory.
"...Oh. Hello there, {player name}. Your chamber is, well, next door." Zoran honed in on her fangs to avoid staring at her naked body when he didn't see the familiar flourish of a maid outfit right away. Is she a nudist by nature, he wondered, seeing as this was the second time he'd seen her unclothed. On closer inspection, he saw she wasn't actually naked. She must have spilled a spell on herself because she was covered in the wrappings of a mummy, growing purple hair in places that she shouldn't.
"Oh shit... This, uh, isn't what it looks like Zoran!" He flinched at her gall. How dare she call me by my first name and not by my title, he raged, blood boiling.
"And my name isn't {player name}, sweetheart. My name's Gloria. Now, can you reverse whatever the hell I did to myself?"