Behold,the cunning and powerful Legatus Rahthvowr! The greatest general the Liatorian Empire has ever known! Fear is nothing to them! Hatchmate of the Empress herself, they will lead us to victory in the forthcoming Takeover and let no human stand in their way!
meet roxelana’s cranky human-hating sibling who i love very much
Empress Roxelana, ever honorable, may she watch over us all and rule a million years, is the leader of the Liatorian Empire. Like, the entire dimension. She is chief commander of all the Empire’s armies and her hatchmate is a high-ranking general.
She is absolutely fascinated with human history, and takes particular interest in powerful queens and woman warriors. Shortly before taking the seat of the Empire she declared she was a woman and picked the name Roxelana for herself. While some of her demon compatriots have had trouble conceptualizing this idea, they’ll just have to deal with it now won’t they
Liatores are captivated with the human race. When not working towards total takeover and enslavement of Earth, demons are watching humanity from afar, fascinated by our behaviors and ways of life. It is because of this fascination that demons began to pick out humans that particularly caught their interest and took them as a sort of pet, approaching them with promises of security in exchange for information about earth and its people. While in its early days this practice was seen as beneath the noble Liatorian Empire, it is now so common that there is a special place in demon culture for these bonded human “pets,” these Thralls.
The Bond of Demon and Thrall
It’s been recorded in the Liatorian Codexes that approximately 36 million people are currently Thralls, .5% of Earth’s population. Anyone can be chosen to be held in Thrall, but it is found that male and nonbinary individuals seem a smidgen more common in the records. As well, demons seem more drawn to “creative” types, though their their definitions of creativity span a vast spectrum, anything from clever military leaders to quiet artists and writers. A Liator only takes one Thrall in its entire lifetime, so it must choose wisely, picking just that right person that speaks to them. The bond with be lifelong, and (as is common) when a demon’s Thrall passes, the demon will mourn for quite some time.
To cement an Enthrallment a Liator merely needs to draw its human’s blood and combine it with its own, an action that marks the human as a Thrall and allows other demons to sense that this one is not for them to snatch up. As one might imagine, a lot of humans aren’t too keen on being the glorified pet of an ancient otherworldly monster, but they really don’t get that much of a say in the matter. The blood pact can be completed with or without the human’s total agreement. Demons don’t give a shit, they just want a cool human to talk to and show off to their friends.
Supposedly, quite a few famous people, from artists to filmmakers to classical heroes, were blessed with a demon companion.
Classifications of Enthrallment
There are four kinds of Thralldom and most all begin the same way. The demon approaches the human they are interested in, often (of course) in secrecy, and commits the blood pact immediately or tries to calm the likely frightened human and start a rudimentary form of friendship before cementing the Enthrallment. It’s all a matter of the demon’s personal views towards humanity.
Constructive Thralldom: the most successful of all Liator/Thrall bonds. Both demon and human have arrived at favorable views of each other, and are probably even friends. In exchange for providing whatever information the demon seeks, the human is protected for life, and their demon will do whatever they can to assist their Thrall in whatever endeavors they wish to go after. Successful/famous persons said to be Thralls are often in Constructive Thralldoms.
Detached Thralldom: for the demon more interested in the actual concept of Thralls than the follow-through. The Liator completes the pact and takes a Thrall, but never actually does much with their human, other than keeping an eye on them and protecting them sometimes. Often, the demon doesn’t even ask for anything in return or sometimes even talk to their humans for months in between, proving once again Liatores are the laziest beasts in the dimensional multiverse. (Chuck and Nate’s Thralldom is a slightly more positive Detached)
Insidious Thralldom: The demon completes the pact and uses their human largely as a pawn to complete their own plans. They will convince their Thrall to take part in illicit activities to harvest more and more important information to help in the Liatorian Takeover (or worse). and ensure them the idea was the human’s own. Thralls and Liatores in Insidious Thralldoms are often on good terms, as the human is unaware of just how much they’re being used. Insidious-Constructive relationships have also occurred, wherein the demon grows quite fond of their Thrall, or the human becomes aware of how their demon is using them, but is open to it and actually eager to help. (Stella and Trezarex is an example of this)
Destructive Thralldom: An unfortunately common class of Enthrallment. Demons who see humans as little more than a pathetic lesser species take a Thrall, almost always an unwilling one, and do everything in their power to make the person miserable in the name of sick entertainment. Protection is never provided, and Destructive Liatores often force information out of their humans. These Thralldoms frequently end with premature death of the Thrall, often at the hands (or claws, or teeth) of their own demon.
Quick Facts About Thralls and Enthrallment
Thralls are symbolized in the Liatorian written language as a black diamond inside another diamond, the Thrall’s life engulfed and protected by the demon. The four sides of the shape represent the four classifications.
Demons currently serving in the Liatorian Army are banned from taking a Thrall, as it is seen as fraternizing with the enemy.
To get around this rule, some demons perform an “informal” bonding with their Thrall that skips over the blood pact (thus rendering the relationship invisible to other demons, but leaves the human vulnerable to being held in Thrall by another interested Liator)
The first Thralls were taken way way back in the Bronze Age, they’ve been at this for a while.
Humans are expected to provide information and occasionally companionship (when their demon is visiting Earth; many Thrallholders spend the bulk of their time back in the home dimension) as a Thrall, but they are also expected to provide secrecy. A human that goes blabbing about how they’ve befriended a demon does not sit well with the Empire at all
Thralls can’t be taken over to the Liatorian home dimension for very long stretches of time, because slightly different chemistries in the air there kill humans if they are exposed to them for too long. Also, it’s a scary place for a weak fleshy monkey.
The concept of “a Deal with the Devil” possibly arose from Thralldoms.
Demons can create a special one-on-one telepathic link with their Thrall to speak to them privately, even over great distances.
Supposedly, if the Liatorian Invasion is ever completed correctly, Thralls are the only humans who won’t be enslaved and will actually be pretty damn well cared for.
yes i love how chuck and trezarex have contrasting designs, and i was wondering if means anything, like it it corresponds to their personalities or something like that?
AAAAA THANK YOU THIS IS A NEAT QUESTION! ;u;
First, lemme map out Chuck and Trezarex's various design contrasts:
Chuck is smaller, Trezarex is larger
Chuck is red, Trezarex is blue
Chuck is a mix of mainly mammalian and insectian attributes, while Treza is mostly a mix of reptilian and piscine/aquatic attributes
Chuck is rather clunky and clumsy, Trezarex is sleek and graceful
Now, I actually didn't even really recognize the parallels and contrasts between them until way after they'd both been designed! Thinking it over now though especially, the real significance of these designs comes mostly in their place in Liatorian society and their place in the Suburban Thrall plot.
Chuck is a textbook common Lesser Demon. They're typically animal-like in appearance, and ruddy reds/browns are by far the most common color of Liator (think the classic red devil design). He served his mandatory time in the Liatorian army and was discharged afterwards. Chuck is a common run-of-the-mill demon who just happened to get summoned by humans. In Liatorian standards, he's boring.
Trezarez, meanwhile, is a Greater Demon and an absolute oddball one at that. Blue is a rare color for demons, and generally Greaters are more humanoid in appearance. Treza is a massively intelligent sea monster that could do great things for her Empire, but she's a rogue soldier. She ditched the military while stationed on Earth to take a Thrall and begin working to kickstart the Liatorian Invasion in her own terms.
So, generally, their conflicting designs serve to help highlight the clash of their places among their kind, and well as their clashing motivational levels (Chuck is passive; Treza is very, very active).
some tidbits on the Shift and Human Cloaks of Liatores:
The Cloak is an adaptation developed to assist demonkind in their eventual takeover of our realm. By taking on a human form they can easily infiltrate governments and other societal circles and rely information back to the home dimension
It really is a long, painful process, because demons are literally shifting and transforming their vastly different body parts into ones that better suit a human body. They prefer to do it in privacy, and it's very gross to watch.
The Shift time differences from Liator to Liator. Chuck's Shift takes about 3 hours, but Treza's takes almost 7 because she's so big.
Shifting back to demon form is generally as easier task and takes a much shorter amount of time
Due to a great deal of Liatores not interacting much with humans, their Cloaks can sometimes look a bit... off. Arms a bit too long, unnatural eye colors, and other little anatomy quirks are common "Cloak errors"
Cloaks are 100% the demon's original design. Demons who do have contact or have seen humans often will use whatever people they've interacted with most to base their cloaks off of.
Chuck's piercings in his human form aren't real piercings but hard extensions of his skin.
