Messenger’s Legacy (15 page)

First appeared:
Mentioned in
The Warded Man
/
The Painted Man
, seen in
The Desert Spear

Description:
Water demons vary in size and are seldom seen. They are long and scaly, with webbed hands and feet, tipped with sharp talons. Some breeds have tentacles ending in sharp bone. They can only breathe under water, though they can surface for a short time. Water demons can swim very quickly, and delight in savaging fish, though they prefer warm-blooded mammals as their prey, especially those humans bold enough to dare to sail at night.

First appeared:
The Warded Man
/
The Painted Man

Description:
Wind demons stand about the height of a tall man at the shoulder, but with head fins that rise much higher, topping eight or nine feet. Their great long snouts are sharp-edged, like beaks, but hide rows of teeth, thick as a man’s finger. Their skin is a tough, flexible armour that can turn any spearpoint or arrowhead. That resilient substance stretches thin out from their sides and along the underside of their arm bones to form the tough membrane of their wings, which often span three times their height, jointed with wicked hooked talons that can cleanly sever a man’s head when they dive. Clumsy and slow on land, wind demons have tremendous power in the sky, and can dive, attack and reverse direction before hitting the ground, taking their prey away with them.

First appeared:
The Warded Man
/
The Painted Man

Description:
Wood demons are native to forests. Next to rock demons, they are the largest and most powerful demons, averaging from five to ten feet tall when standing on their hind legs. They have short, powerful hindquarters and long, sinewy arms, perfect for climbing trees and leaping from branch to branch. Their claws are short, hard points, designed for gripping through the bark of trees. Wood demons’ armour is barklike in colour and texture, and they have large black eyes. Wood demons cannot be harmed by normal fire, but will burn readily if brought into contact with hotter fires, such as magnesium or firespit. Wood demons will kill flame demons on sight, and often hunt in groups called copses.

Combat wards siphon magic from a demon, weakening its armour at the point of contact, and redirect that magic as offensive force. This force can manifest in many different ways. Some examples:

First appeared:
The Warded Man
/
The Painted Man

Description:
This ward turns coreling magic into concussive force. The stronger the original blow, the more power generated. It can be placed onto any blunt weapon.

First appeared:
The Warded Man
/
The Painted Man

Description:
This ward, when etched along the length of a blade, can enhance its sharpness, allowing the weapon to cut cleanly through even coreling armour and flesh.

First appeared:
The Warded Man
/
The Painted Man

Description:
Pressure wards exert a crushing force that builds in heat and intensity the longer they remain in contact with a demon. The Painted Man has one on each palm, and has been known to squeeze a demon’s head with them until it bursts.

Many recorded wards have no known use, their purpose lost to antiquity. Because testing requires bringing them into contact with a demon, volunteers to conduct the research are understandably scarce. Some examples:

The Painted Man

The Desert Spear

The Daylight War

The Great Bazaar
and
Brayan’s Gold

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