Waylon's Crossing Forum

Welcome back, Richard! How was Florida? Back in school now?

I'll add you back into the line-up. (Let's talk Hogwarts in that forum, okay? but it sounds fine to me, just remember that Gwydion sucks at charms)

They whys of Kynan's parentage will come out, never fear. Here's some things I perhaps did not explain well.

Demons made vampires (around the same time as the beginning of the wars). Demons and vampires made werewolves (close to the end). Demons consider both species a complete waste and a mistake and wish they'd never been 'birthed.' The whys/wherefors of this is another demon-guarded secret, though has become more well-known over the years. Depending on the individual demon's internal prejudices, most either hate and want to exterminate all vamps/wolves or pretend they don't exist and that Demons never had anything to do with either one.

Incubi/Succubi were one of the nameless/faceless, magical creatures that only existed in stories until the Demons showed up and the Demon Wars began. Like the rest of our world's other magical/legendary beasts, they revealed themselves to the humans in order to fight ... sort of. Just like every other race, there are exceptions; however, the wars created a feast of emotions for incubi/succubi to feed off of and they were not inclined to see the wars end. They did everything in their power to keep the wars going. This would not have made them very popular.

Over the centuries since then, while Demons have become more accepted (and even welcomed!), especially in the Borderlands, Incubi/Succubi have sort of become scapegoats, one of the few races that was branded as 'evil' by both sides. Another of those 'evil' races would be dragons. Dragons are an ancient scourge of Demonkind, and were brought over in the merging of worlds just like Demons, only they (I picture them like the dinosaur pterodactyl) preyed on anything and anyone without prejudice. They are not extinct, but, for the most part, they've been driven far from inhabitated lands.

On the other end of the spectrum are Angels. They are extinct. They were feared by Demons in the same way that Demonkind cannot stand unicorns or holy water, but Angels were also respected as great and powerful warriors, the Lightworlders' equivalent to Hunters. Angels were partially immortal, children of the Ancients (supposed Gods) and humans. There are most likely many humans with a bit of angelic blood in them, though that would be pretty well diluted by now.

Angels are the only humanoid race to have feathered wings. Theirs were white.

Incubi/Succubi, as I have made them in this world, can manipulate people's emotions. The stronger the emotion, the better. Incubi/Succubi can change their appearance, most often appearing as somebody's lover to trick them into having sex. They eat emotions, that's how they sustain themselves. They still need food (meat, whatever), but without the emotional interaction, they will go mad. An Incubus/Succubus' chief skill is the ability to maximize their victim/target's emotional outburst to, literally, scare them to death. Or any other emotion. Enough joy or excitement can kill as well, though fear is easiest. Death by sex, not a bad way to go, neh? (LOL)

Incubi/Succubi also mature really, really fast. They are reach maturity in 10 years, looking like a human adult, and as soon as they lose the ability to attract lovers, they essentially starve to death. An average lifespan is somewhere around 50 years old. This makes Kynan positively ancient for one of his kind.

Kynan's abilities are a little of both. He gets the wings and the strength and healing from his demon ancestry. He gets the must-have-emotions and empathy from his incubus side. The dream-diving is unique, something only he can do. He cannot change his appearance, but he can convince his target that they're seeing something else. This is a talent he's had in a very minimal way (to make himself appear bigger/stronger/etc) all his life, he's just not known he was doing it. Having never been around another incubus/succubus, he has no idea what he is and has never had anyone to teach him how to control his powers. Remember from the beginning? Kynan's very good at 'convincing' his prey to give up, and that's why he mostly does live capture. In addition, his lifespan would have been about a quarter of a demon's normal lifespan, but, since that is now shared with Alan, that will be less. The flip-side, of course, is that Alan's life is extended.

Just an aside on half-demons. Demons have a long gestation period, eighteen months, like elephants. Demons are big. Their babies are big. They also have hooves, claws, and horns when they're born. Imagine how big a half-demon baby would end up (gestation for half-demons varies between what is normal for humans, 9 months, and that of demons). A human mother would not have an easy time, either in successfully carrying the baby to term, or in delivery. Not all half-demons have the horns and claws, fangs, and whatnot, but in the majority of cases, demon blood overrides that of human. Yet another reason why Kynan is considered to be a freak or of diluted blood (the less demon blood, the more human the person)

The demon queen could very well have easily hidden her pregnancy. Kynan would have been small and he would have been born early, way too early -- for who would believe the queen to have gotten pregnant with a halfling?

So I hope that clears up some things. As always, feel free to ask me questions, I'll tell you what I can! The rest, well, you'll just have to wait and see!