Our Tale begins with an innocent Baker by the name of Claire and her childhood friend known as Jacob. These two had grown up together, far more likely as a brother and sister.
Jacob however, had grown to love Claire, even as a child, a young man, he had thought of her as more than just a friend for so long, even as their parents teased that they should wed in the future.
Though what fate did have in store for Claire.. The plague of ten years ago stole her mother and father from her. With the only family she's ever known ripped away from her, she had no one to care for her, nowhere to go.

That was her first tragedy.

However, a kindly old baker took her in, much to Jacob's chagrin, he would be able to see her every day, as he delivered his parent's flour after crushing their crop in the mill! What great luck he had!
Though, as it happened, Claire changed. She never opened her heart to others since the death of her parents, the only love she found had been in her apprenticeship to the kindly old Baker.
Every time that Jacob would see her, she would be immersed in kneading dough, mixing flour, water, and yeast in the right amounts, even watching it proof. She did not forget about him at first though, he'd get a smile, a laugh, a thank you for the flour.
She was his heart however, and it pained him as he faded out from her life, being just another tool in the bakery.

Claire's second tragedy had been once the Baker had died. Getting on in the years, it was no wonder that the man would eventually succumb to death.
She cried, she bayed, she soaked her dough with tears. Jacob was there to comfort her, and suddenly, she saw him again. That childhood friend, that brother that had always been there. And now, the only other person that was close to her.
How Jacob's heart did leap with this oppurtunity, he had her back, he had his Claire back!

Then the third tragedy did strike.
A late night of baking, of creating her love, she did begin to think of Jacob, the man that had always been there, even if she had her heart locked away. The man that had been there for her in her time of sorrow, and that had promised he always would be.. These thoughts had distracted her from the fact that a man had entered her shop after its close.
His eyes hungry, he did stare at her, and her bread.
Bidden to leave, he indeed did not, but closed in on our poor woman. A crude knife in hand, and madness in his mind with the chill of winter infecting his brain. He cut her, and cut her and cut her again, stealing away all the bread that he could carry, sobbing into the night for his deed had been done.
Yet those sobs would end as he tasted the last bread that Claire ever would make.

Jacob would attend the funeral with his family and other customers that had visited Claire's bakery every day. They would speak of what a good girl she was, the shame it was that she never even married, how they would miss her smile.. Jacob had been quiet however. He had nothing to say, nothing that could make the ache in his heart and body go away. Claire had been more to him than a friend, she had been his sole inspiration for so long, the reason why he'd work so hard upon his family's farm. To deliver flour to the young woman that he had looked at for so long. He would break out into tears away from everyone. And in the dead of night he would steal away, faint alcohol on his breath, upon the night of the New Year, a warmer night than most, though a rain that had been just as cold.

He drank by her grave, and would speak of his adoration for her, how he had loved her for so long, confessing all the things that he never had the chance to say. He would beg her to come back, to come back and hear these words, to be his, and him, hers. The sole wish of a young man, that had never loved another. And a Good Doctor would arrive to grant this wish.

“Why do you cry, my boy?” Said the Devil wearing the clothes of a healer.
“My heart, my heart has been torn from me good sir.. An ailment that no doctor can fix.” Said the gentle boy through his sobs.
“I believe that you underestimate me, who is it that has died? Simply tell me her name, and I will return her to you.” The Devil's voice had been gentle, and sincere.
“You, you could really? You could really bring her back?” In his despair, the young man had found an inkling of hope in this doctor.
“Why yes, Once more, I only need her name, from your lips, with all of the love in your heart.” A smile would form upon the mask of this plague-doctor, however the young man in his throes of despair was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
“Claire. Her name is Claire.”

And thus the deed was done.
Jacob knew not the horror that was to take place as the man drew forth a skeleton clad entirely of black-metal. The name of his love engraved upon her forehead. He was taken aback by the visage at first, yet then..

"What... What is this?" Were the first words out of the skeleton's mouth. Jacob's fear turned into joy as he recognized the voice.
"C-Claire? Is it... Really you? This man... he said that he could bring you back.. I called your name, I called your name and.." Jacob approached the skeleton, his mind churning as to whether he could accept it or not, whether it was truly Claire, and he had decided finally, that he no longer cared, he was reunited with his love, he could finally confess his feelings, the doctor would mend his broken heart.

And then she screamed. With all the hatred and all the pain that possibly could have been in her heart. Claire did scream at Jacob, as the doctor pulled out a small ticking contraption to check the time.

“Claire, if you would be so kind, wrap this up, I have an appointment for Tea with my family.” His tone had changed, still sweet, as before, yet.. callous. The Doctor had come to do what he had come to do, and now it was time to leave.

Claire and Jacob shared an embrace, despite her wretched form, told her that she had always known his love for her. The man was at peace, right before the final moment as Claire's kiss turned into a ravenous consumption.

The two souls now locked within the murderous skeleton, A demon born in the night.


The Doctor proposed to this new demon that it kill a few people, or several, or dozens. It mattered not to him, and he shortly left.

Gears turning within the mind of this new creature, it stalks into the night. Setting a cheerful tavern in the slums aflame, murdering a boy hunting with his father, and hunting down the homeless scum that linger in the downtrodden parts of Temes.

This did not all go unnoticed however, and as the young demon increased the number of people it killed, other demons did begin to lurk outside of its walls.

Having purchased Claire's bakery with funds claimed through gambling, the demon did take up baking, the one craft that it loves through the depths of its black heart. There was one morning in which a girl that reeked of something foul set foot into the bakery, this girl was Ariel Godschild, an exorcist that loved people and could not bear to see them in pain or suffer sorrow.
The demon would kill her with a monster born from the huntsman's child.

This other demon shot bolts black as a moonless sky, and carried upon it a poisonous blight.
With it barely able to speak at first, the meeting between our dear demon and this monster would not be the last.

Returning to his dearest bakery, he found that it had been broken into, and he sought out the culprit, finding the man and burning him to death, along with what there was of the slums. Our dear demon gets a slew of delightfully malicious ideas

The Demon-baker disturbed once more within its personal haven, by a man that carries the same stench as Ariel..

Followed throughout the day by a man in white after the meeting, the pursuer changes place by evening.
Confronting the woman in the woods, the demon finds that she seeks to watch him in his despair. However, your wounds are carried from your tongue like the voice of the devil that made you. You convince the young woman, Teresa to call back her recently deceased sister.

Shortly after the good doctor worked his “magic.” Our dear baker howled for the other demon within the wood. Much to his surprise, More than one friend answered.

The One became a pack, and the pack sought blood. Our dear Baker-demon had a plan in mind. A sinister plan to burn down the entire town.

He infiltrated the city, and let out his blood-oil into the water used to extinguish fires. Caught in the act by an exorcist with command over the air, the demon knew that he had to act swiftly, upon escaping, the burning of Temes was set in motion.

Despite losing two of the newer demons, all of the exorcists fell, people screamed, burned, and died. From the ashes, the demon's form changed, no longer did it bear the form of a hound like its other simple kin, no. Its body became a furnace, its teeth Chainsaws, and its body, that of a swift and slender dragon.

One among his pack, Schwere dubbed him Faefnir from a book she had recalled. As Faefnir had no name other than his human alias, he gladly accepted then name among his kind.
The Demon-baker Dragon, Faefnir now walks upon England.

With two exorcists destroyed by fire and cunning, the good doctor returned to Temes, destroying their weapons of god to prevent others from taking them up. With their master gracing them with his presence, Schwere, Madeleine, Ivan, Armbrust, and Kama listen intently to his words, his wishes.

With their outstanding success of Temes, the pack is given instruction to seek out those of his Devil family! With only three standing members out of thirteen, it is imperative that the new inheritors of their memory are found before being slain again.
With that, he is gone, though not before a brief visit from Faefnir's ensuing actions...

Jacob had a family, a small one though. A loving mother, Mirabelle, a dreaming brother, Harry, a dutiful sister, Audrey, and the man of the house, Jack.
Faefnir personally killed the parents before slipping into the home in his human skin, convincing the children he knew of a doctor that could cure even death.
Two new demons were added to Faefnir's pack before leaving Temes, their demon are names later assigned as Kralle and Wendel.

The Pack soon bonds into a family along the road. Schwere and Madeleine teasing each other relentlessly, with one of them clearly winning.. Kama's psychotic tendencies are sated by her tender care of the young demons, Kralle and Wendel. Armbrust and Ivan bonding over a crossbow and shooting woodland creatures to death.
Upon the road, bandits attempt to rob them of what valuables they have, only to be hunted down like dogs by the fiendish family!

Upon arriving at Ruinebriar without a kill for days, the family's patience began to wear thin, primarily the younger ones. Faefnir made the call to camp outside of the trading crossroads and let the family kill those en route to the place beyond the bend in the south road.
Having his own restraint, he investigated Ruinebriar alone, seeking out an understanding of the witch in the stocks and soon finding himself in something of a bake-off for employment with a mister James Bool that made a shape of bread Faefnir had never seen before, what would be called a baguette!

Afterward our dear Faefnir found himself seeking out rumor and a seat at a gambling table in a tavern. With luck of a devil, he wins a few ridiculous bets and proposes that the man pay with his body, a promiscuous matter implied with one of the other demons, Madeleine.

Faefnir's Black Bread of sorrow is thrown at the bound witch before returning to camp and the family plans to collect more information before liberating the witch as a possible Noah!

However plans can have wrenches thrown in them.. Faefnir takes the family into town for some human-like festivities, and everyone rowdies it up within The Staggering Stag! Only for Faefnir to investigate a suspicious looking man within the tavern, pushing his buttons and finding out that he's seeking some sort of payment for the good doctor. And with an armored woman watching, his curiosity is piqued of the risky damsel and went out of his way to pester her!

A few dirty puns about bread later, the woman, Rosalin Thurgood of the Crimson Cross Covenant(Or rather, the crimson order) loses her patience with you, and members of the family take notice to intervene.

Schwere stands,, her robes bearing the mark of the order, and she requests Rosalin to pardon you, only to be questioned herself as to why she's not yet reported to the Crimson.
A few words of explanation later and the woman makes off into the night to bring news of Temes to her commander. However, the family can not simply let such a woman off the hook.

Faefnir, Armbrust, and Ivan pursued her, only for the woman to demonstrate clear confidence in her accusations of you three as the demons you are. Playing down her suspicions proves fruitless and Faefnir flees with his entourage, prodding Rosalin to give chase only for her to meet her fate at the receiving end of Ivan's accurate bolts.
With her life near its end, she makes a last-ditch gamble to end your life along with hers, however your power over flame saves you from the gambit and ensures her demise... However your entanglement with the crimson order will not end there...

That night, the family finds that their camp had been rooted through and their horses killed along with their dear gambler friend, Mr. Stumpy.

After dealing with the trespass of another demon, and Madeleine nearly dying as a result, the family has a third demon evolve to its second state.

The next day, Faefnir is taken in for questioning in the middle of the day as he tries to work in the bakery. The secret of the baguette is recorded, however that would be the last he'd see of James Bool.

After a series of questions and Faefnir letting compromising information slip, the Crimson Order detains him in their prison lined with talismans under suspicion of being a demon himself.

Down there, he once more meets the witch, Morgan La Fey, and the exorcist, Byran Asher. After some heckling of both and an apology to the former, Byran trades shifts with the scumbag, Rickton Asher. After pushing the man's buttons, Faefnir manages to get him to use the talismans for torture to the point of burning them out. With Faefnir feigning unconsciousness, he prepares to sully Morgan. However with a single thrust of a weapon procured from the non-family demon, Faefnir slays the scoundrel and frees the fair witch, Morgan Le Fey. Almost. Seeing that she is still bound by their mage-stocks, he seeks a key, only to find that it is Byron Asher that holds her key.

Upon devouring the new corpse, Faefnir assumes a new disguise, nearly getting the key, however with his report of the late Rickton Asher's abuse of power and authority, he is stuck among enemies instead of freeing the witch.

Seeing the danger that has become imminent, Faefnir resolves to kill everyone around him to see that the witch has a clear way to freedom.
Lashing out, he is surprised to find that these humans, even without a weapon of god, can do grievous damage to his demon body. Pushed back, and blasted out of the building by a clash of his power vs theirs, he is moments away from a death-blow only for Madeleine to rush to his aid, blocking the shining sword of the Guard-commander and pushing him back.
After a laughable moment in which the mage-knight, Ser Jarvis and the Guard-commander complain about being covered in oil by Faefnir.
With her stocks undone, Morgan frees herself with explosions of flame magic and finishes off the two haughty, oil-covered adversaries.

Despite his immediate damage, Faefnir offers her your back and flee to rally the rest of the family, setting Ruinebriar aflame as they have nothing left to gain from the place.

However, one major adversary had been left unchecked. Faefnir rushes to the battlefield after healing to find four members of the family pinned down by the man of metal, Byron Asher. Upon seeing you and your power, the man is consumed by rage, causing his Holy weapon to react to his will, and changing into something far deadlier.

After just barely escaping intact, Ivan harries him to allow the rest of the family to escape. However this is his undoing, as he incurs hit after hit from the metal man despite his camouflage. The last strike he takes, is to defend a limping Armbrust, that was the last to escape the burning trade-village.

With a salute, Ivan thanks you for being the greatest comrade that a man could have, right before he is pulled to his demise by the man, The Asher.

Fleeing to the west, the family puts distance between themselves and the berserk exorcist, resting and sharing words over Ivan's demise before setting off upriver to Florin.

Spending the night at a fishing village and picking up new clothes for a recently awakened Morgan, Faefnir finds that he dreams that night, much to his surprise... A dream of two beings of light, with a circlet of black crosses upon their heads among a dismal wood with spinning stars. The two beings fall into a pond and become one, looking back to Faefnir right before he falls into a void and snaps awake.

Making it to Florin the morning of the next day, the family splits up and finds employment to blend into the town.
Morgan introduces herself as a member of the doctor's family, the incarnation of Maitora, and deems that she would like to spend time in this place to perform... experiments.

In seeking a suitable lab for the dear Lady, Faefnir and she stumble upon a graveyard and church, first finding Edward Tucker as a possible candidate to become a demon.
Morgan and Faefnir wait outside of the church after hearing the Gravekeeper's story, resolving to find out more about the priest. Sharing words, Faefnir finds out the goal of the Doctor: To destroy God itself and free humanity from their devotion to such an estranged force.
Though of course, this means the slaughter of those that would worship and fight for such a deity.

Promising to aid Morgan and the Doctor in their combined wish in earnest, the two find themselves with a crowd that thinks that he is proposing to the woman. They play out the joke to an extent before being invited inside by Priest James, only to find that this man of God plays for the other side.

Once more, Faefnir lays his eyes upon the good doctor.

>>25839750
So, I guess this is where the summary finishes, huh?

>Missed the word Recap
>Think "Jesus fuck this quest has long updates"
>See Recap
>feel dumb

And that should bring everything up to speed!

I hope that this was a good summary of the events that have happened thus far...

If there are any questions I would be pleased to answer them...

>>25839770
Indeed. There are some details left out I believe, though that's been the general course of the story so far.

This is my first time doing something of this sort.. I hope I did well..

>>25839809
Yeah, it's fine. You could have expounded a little on a couple of parts, but the ideas are clear enough.

So, you taking a breather before you launch the quest thread or ARE THERE NO BREAKS ON THIS QUEST TRAIN!?!

File: 1373070002887.png-(106 KB, 1024x768, 1370912215984.png)

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This is a gentleman's rendering of Faefnir's Level 1 form.

All demons in this story begin as mechanical hounds, however their first weapon, or kill method changes depending upon how they choose to dispatch their loved one from the start.

Faefnir's happened to be teeth, and thus gained a moving jaw with rows of teeth.

All demons, being mechanical have oil for blood that's toxic to living things, giving them an awful affliction that slowly breaks down their bodies while spreading pentacles across the skin.

Demons are powered by the suffering of the souls within them as they are forced to witness the demon's slaughter of innocent souls.

Once they've gained enough power through suffering, they evolve into a new form.

File: 1373070215999.png-(583 KB, 3444x1737, L2 Faefnir.png)

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>>25839846

Ten-twenty minutes for refreshments. I really could go for some tea. Also breaking down some other things...

Where could I have expanded upon? I did get a bit more objective as I went on with it... heh..


Next, Faefnir's Level 2 form, partially rendered.

Through his devotion to agility, and flame his evolutionary path has taken him to become a dragon with a long slender body and wings with flame jets at each "finger."
This form has a chainsaw maw, an oven in the chest, and the terrible face that you see here..

>>25839951
Well, the transition from "our camp getting messed up" to "us dealing with the Akuma trespasser" could have been improved.

>>25840000
>Dear Quads...

True, though the demon was more of a minor encounter, it did bring up an important point of the family facing a dispute.. Schwere saving Madeleine, yet requesting the core of the demon for herself... Yes, yes..

It'd be best to make this into pastebin for interested people to peruse at their leisure rather than an archived thread. Unless you plan on this being a Q&A.

Also mind those pronouns good Duke. Lines like 'Faefnir offers her your back' sound awkward. Though I understand how the habit forms due to the nature of your writing.

>>25840161

Ah, thank you for noticing, it does indeed become habit. I caught myself a few times there, however I couldn't filter it all out.. Oh darn.

And yes, I'll let this be a Q&A. Though one that may be a touch slow.

>>25840187
Well then.

I noticed in the pastebin that Chemistry still has a price. Didn't you say you replaced that with all the other stuff?

Also. Did you change your mind about the "Body of Mouths" (name in progress?) unlocking at Level 3?

Speaking of Level 3, I remember you mentioning in the quest thread general last weekend that our stats would "lock" in. Would that mean our Abilities would still be able to progress?

Ah yes, a note. I'd rather this sink to the bottom of the threads, if you choose to post.

Please Sage. Thank you.

>>25840265
Yes, abilities would still be able to progress, though to a finite extent. And I'll allow body of mouths to be unlocked with the last upgrade to Chainsaw Maw.

And I just removed Chemistry for being useless drivel that's been explained by the other options for blood upgrades. Thank you for bringing that to my attention.

>>25840194
Thread is up.

Once more, please let this thread sink. I feel awful about using two threads.. I will still be replying to questions though.

I will also take up the suggestion for a pastebin. I'll be able to update that a bit every thread, so it should prove much easier, thank you.