Nereleth

This article is rated T due to Moderate Violence, Frequent Light Violence, and Frequent Light Horror Themes.

A monster created by a twisted god, Nereleth has gone above and beyond her intended duties. Without even realizing it, Nereleth has devoted her entire life and destroyed thousands of others in the singular goal of her master: an attempt to learn the forbidden knowledge of the world through the path of destruction.

Looks
In the triad of realms that Nereleth was designed to enter, she appeared as a humanoid dragon (namely, one roughly human in shape, but with scales, claws, wings, a long tail, an extended snout, and a slightly convex torso shape). Physical characteristics included being far taller and somewhat slimmer than the norm, as well as having pale chartreuse scales; none of this would be seen much due to the all-black covering that her master, Seltherenn, had equipped her with to allow her to remain unseen if she wished, but these traits remained to distinguish her from other dragons.

In the realms that she would later call home, namely Amaranth City and those realms connecting to it, Nereleth retained some of her characteristics while losing many others. While she became completely human in form (the general fate of those dragons who ventured into these realms), she remained extremely tall (around 6'6"), also keeping her slim build and her pale chartreuse skin, as well as the black covering, which became a few feet of straight black hair. Retaining her interest in stealth, Nereleth also began wearing all-black clothing, usually of canvas; this clothing almost always would consist of a full shirt, pants, long boots, gloves, and a hooded cloak to disguise her identity.

In any realm, one consistent trademark of Nereleth's appearance is that she would never be seen without an all-black, lustreless, two-handed sickle.

Personality
Nereleth's two defining mental traits that she held since her creation are an intense hunger for knowledge and a complete lack of thought for the pain of others. When first created, the former trait overshadowed the latter, leading her to prefer more peaceful areas where she could learn more without fear of damage to herself or the items that she used to learn from. However, after a series of escapades during which her apathy towards pain caused her to become increasingly hunted due to the repeated deaths that she would cause, Nereleth's love of peaceful areas eventually became obliterated, leading her into the mindset of her creator: that any knowledge worth knowing comes at the cost of the pain of others. Thus, leaving the places that she once loved for any highly populated areas where she was not known, and hiding herself from those who would pursue her, Nereleth devoted herself entirely to leading a group that would perform experiments—often lethal or nearly so—on anyone hapless enough to cross their path, all in a twisted attempt to gain as much knowledge as possible. This is the ultimate personality that Nereleth holds fast to, even to this day.

Strengths and Powers
Nereleth's main physical power lies within her sickle, which she is capable of using to bring about grievous wounds, sometimes lethal, in one or more opponents. On a higher and more mental level, Nereleth's greatest power is her utter ruthlessness in pursuing a goal, with a secondary one being a certain level of charisma that allows her to convince those inclined in her direction that they should join with her and to provide reasons why. As such, beyond her physical prowess, Nereleth is quite capable of leading her entire group through its goals.

History
In the year 270 SY, when the items that blocked the corridors between Seltherenn's realm and the two realms adjacent to it (Induran and Alaron) were removed, Seltherenn created and sent out a being to find out what had become of the outside world. This being was created to long for information and to collect as much as possible, but also not to shirk from the sight of pain, for Seltherenn knew that pain would be abundant and wanted only learning to come from it. Seltherenn named the being Nereleth and sent her into the world.

Nereleth travelled first to Induran, where she beheld that the realm was far less destructive than Seltherenn's own. Seeing far more potential in the realm of Induran and particularly in the messenger of Induran's deity (a young man named Airud), Nereleth opted not to return to Seltherenn. However, Seltherenn grew suspicious of Nereleth's long absence and sent a more loyal being, Thell, after her. Nereleth, wanting to have full freedom to do what she desired, brutally killed Thell and went on her way, leaving the shocked Airud behind in search of new freedom.

Airud, shocked, revived Thell, and the two conversed. Airud realized that Thell's loyalty was a virtue, and, not wanting to leave him to his own devices in reporting back to Seltherenn, aided Thell in doing so. Seltherenn, realizing that he had unleashed a being upon the world that would cause great pain, felt that he had done a service to it, as it would learn from harsh experience; however, he sent Airud and Thell back to Induran, asking that they keep a close eye on Nereleth to see what she would do.

Meanwhile, Nereleth had begun researching many facets of the enormous world that she found herself in, as well as a few realms near to her. Her curiosity was piqued, but she quickly realized that she would not be able to discover all of its intricacies in one lifetime; not that she would grow old too quickly, but rather that, given the violent nature of the discoveries that she wanted to make, the risks of death from aggrieved targets and their families would, added together, make it infeasible for Nereleth to believe that she could survive through all of them. As such, Nereleth began making a few of her discoveries in search of others who would help her in her ruthless pursuit of knowledge; knowing that many others would seek knowledge, but that few would, like her, be willing to cast aside any morals in order to obtain such knowledge.

Nereleth's exploits, though intended to be subversive, were just obvious enough for Airud and Thell to discover her whereabouts. Unfortunately for them, Nereleth discovered theirs in return and promptly dispatched them. This was the last straw for her, the point at which she realized that she could not live in whatever peace she had thought she had. Breaking out into the open, Nereleth announced her goals of knowledge above all else, asking for any to join her who would. However, as Nereleth would have realized in a more logical state of mind, the odds were heavily against her; within days, this public knowledge of her presence, combined with her ruthless deeds, placed a bounty on her head so high that Nereleth realized that she could not remain in Induran and live. Thus, she left the realm behind.

Making her way into the realm of Alaron and then into Rainbow Mist Lake, Nereleth was fascinated with something new that she found: within Rainbow Mist Lake, the draconic form that she had had in the realms of Seltherenn, Induran, and Alaron was now replaced with a more human form, and thus, no one would recognize her in these new realms. This offered her a new chance to make her discoveries, provided that she stayed in the shadows, and she took it.

Determined not to make the same mistake twice, Nereleth began building up an organization of those like her who were dedicated to knowledge even if through pain, keeping the organization secret from prying eyes. She called this new organization the Gone, symbolizing the fact that those who joined had, like her, left everything behind; what they were was now no more, instead being tools of what was, in her eyes, the greater good: knowledge, unfettered by any morals.

The Gone managed to stay secret for a year or two, spreading its reach throughout Rainbow Mist Lake's adjoining realms of Trine Locis, Amaranth City, and some of Amaranth City's adjoining realms, such as Greater Steam City and Lesser Steam City. However, after some mishaps within Greater Steam City revolving around an attempt to explode a power plant, people began to hear the name of the Gone, and certain minds began to look into their existence. Nereleth would have none of this, and she ordered said people captured if possible in order to study them, but not left on the loose, as she wanted to continue her deeds without interruption from those opposed to her. The outcome of this order is still a mystery…

Fun Facts

 * Nereleth's history was the earliest known fact about her when nothing else was known. In fact, I considered simply posting it as its own page until, three months after the history's creation, it suddenly dawned on me that, knowing her history, I could create the rest of a page for her, which I proceeded to do in short order before posting the page almost immediately afterwards.