Wait this isn't Pottery Barn...

Now, who was this character?

Thana had been out in the wilds, hunting some beasts to pass the time and scouting out around the general area beyond the hidden entrance of the guild. The likeliness of intruders was low, considering that the guild members of Elysium were the only ones crazy enough to live in Sin. Sure there was the odd vagabond here and there, but most people were too terrified of the danger the wasteland provided to actually live there. As such, there were no known cities or major habitations, not even really any villages. There were a few makeshift docks along the coastlines that people had put up over the years, but only for the convenience of getting in and out of the country as quickly as possible. Thus, it was about as secure a location for a dark guild to hide… if not necessarily the safest option.

She’d killed a number of monsters during her stroll, and eaten her fill of a few of them. There were still splatters of blood and gore on her flesh and clothes that betrayed the level of violence she’d been engaged in. A black, sleeveless catsuit made of a durable but soft kevlar hugged her thin frame, the zippered front of it pulled down so low that almost the entirety of her cleavage was showing, leaving the pink tattoo of Elysium’s emblem visible on her breast. She wore thick leather boots that came up to her knees and had a heel to them that added a few inches to her otherwise rather short height. Long raven black hair hung loose and luxurious down her shoulders, and she carried no visible weapon.

The Ace of Destruction had been returning to the guild when she’d spotted the odd man in the middle of seemingly talking to himself. Amber colored eyes that seemed to burn like fire took him in from a nearby perch where she stood atop a large ribcage from a monstrous sized beast that had died long ago. Thana was currently cloaked by her spell of invisibility, rendering her completely unnoticeable to any without the ability to see through such spells. She watched and listened as he pulled a comically large book from the breast of his jacket and flipped it open, talking to himself about dark guilds and their stance with the Magic Council, tilting her head curiously. Was it some kind of encyclopedia?

You’re not far from the truth. Darius’ voice reached her ears, or at least her mind.

What do you have for me?

There was a slight pause, which surprised the Ace. Darius had never faltered with an answer before. The disembodied wizard had always been able to give her exactly what she wanted to know about… well, anything, and had always had such information readily available, sometimes even before she asked. Yet, he had paused like he wasn’t entirely sure how to respond. I don’t believe I’ve ever come across anything like this before. It must be some obscure form of psychosis…

Thana tilted her head curiously, keeping an eye on the man as he put the book away, even as Darius continued to analyze the man’s life and history from within the violet colored amethyst that hung from Thana’s neck. So, he’s like me, then? He’s got some fracture in his mind that causes him to hear other voices and speak to them?

Not quite. Only one voice, and it’s not really… a voice. It’s more like he seems to believe that he’s a literal character in a story, and the voice he hears is the narration of the one writing it.

Even Thana had no words for that. And I thought I was crazy, she finally thought after a moment, a smirk tugging up her lips. The expression of amusement only grew wider as she watched the man step dramatically a single foot closer into the graveyard like he expected some kind of immediate reception of some kind, only for his excitement to visibly dwindle when nothing happened. Alright, what else can you tell me about him? she asked as the man started yelling up at the sky about an apparent lack of booze, drugs, and hookers.

Darius took a moment to read the man further. His name is Crowlee, and he appears to be a demon of some kind. Specifically a dead one. His past is hazy at the moment, but it seems he is here to join the guild.

Well then, how fortunate for him that an Ace is here to greet him. Her mind made up, she dropped down from the ribcage to the barren dirt below, doing little to mask the sound of her fall. In a place as overrun with bones and debris as this, it would be almost impossible for someone to make out her exact location, and she was interested to see if she could frighten the demon or not. As she approached, he actively called out for the members of the guild to show themselves, stating his intention to join and his desire for them to bring hookers along. “Mmm, are you sure about that?” she asked, the source of her voice difficult to pinpoint as it echoed lightly off the bones around him. “Our services are quite expensive, and you don’t look like the type of man that can afford them.”

She walked a slow circle around the man, and at some point while she was at his back Thana released the invisibility that cloaked her, revealing herself to him as she continued her circuit back to his front. A devilish smirk adorned her face, and her amber eyes took their time to look him up and down, taking him in from up close. “I’m impressed. Not anyone can just stroll through Sin and wind up almost right on our front door. Normally, trespassing is grounds for torture.. A personal favorite of mine. But you’ve caught my interest and I’d like to hear you out. So tell me, Crowlee: Why the interest in joining our little guild? And how did you manage to get so close to finding our grounds?”

The strange, grotesque looking man was certainly taking all of this in stride. He chastised her playfully about not judging him by his appearances, following the comment up by quite literally opening up his chest and revealing his insides to her. Shortly after he took a book seemingly out from the organs, asking himself who he was talking to and looking to the book as though it would give him the answer. The book coughed. Trinity looked curiously over his shoulder while she was still invisible to see if she could read it but there was nothing on the page. Still, his eyes and fingers trailed the paper as though he could read it, and he cackled merrily as though pleased by the information.

He closed the book and put it away just in time for her to reveal herself, causing him to jump a little in surprise before he took the time to check her out rather heavily. He also kept looking over her shoulder as if there were something there, and she did glance back slowly out of curiosity, but saw nothing. Her gaze returned to him as he explained that he was looking for the guild because he was looking for a group of people to fit with that were of a like mindset, those who were looking to topple the patriarchy and throw a wrench into the machinations of modern society. He was supposedly all about undoing things, he said, particularly clothing. He was making it rather obvious that he was interested in getting into her pants, but apparently not just hers as he once again looked over her shoulder and started hitting on some unknown woman he referred to as “Tits”.

Any idea who he’s talking to?

I believe he is talking to the woman he believes to be your writer.

Well, that was fascinating. She continued to listen as he explained he was looking for a place to call home, although his idea of home was pretty fucked up. Granted, so was Thana’s. Really what he was describing sounded rather nice to her, even if she didn’t fully understand all of his references. She chuckled darkly when he started asking about currency, leaning in her face close to his. “Why settle for licks when it could be bites?” she asked, snapping her teeth together with a dangerous and sultry grin, the canines of her teeth sharpening into razor sharp fangs.

It was then that Janet joined them, thanking Trinity for greeting their guest and congratulating her on her recent feature in the popular Socerer’s Magazine, the first ever dark mage to be showcased by the public forum. “Thank you, mistress. I did my best to portray the guild and your vision to the public. And it’s my pleasure to be there to meet those who wander into our little home.” While she spoke to Janet, her eyes never removed themselves from Crowlee, eying him with a look that was mixed between mischievous and malicious until Janet approached. Then, she coolly took a few steps back and let the guildmaster greet the man, who reiterated his reasons for coming and what he was looking for before looking up to some unknown figure in the sky -- his own writer? -- and asking if he was doing well in his interview.

Thana giggled, a dark sound that was off putting to most people, at least those with a more solid grasp of morality than she had. “Personally I already like him. I think he’d fit in quite well with our wayward collection of outcasts.” Returning her attention to Crowlee, she asked, “Come, darling. Tell us a bit about yourself: Where you come from, what you have to offer… how you envision a perfect world to be. Help us to understand Crowlee.”