Chronicles of the Damned

**Chronicles of the Damned**is a Story Arc of the the Exteria Multiverse. It takes place in Interra and follows the perspective of four Chosen warriors. It is followed by Chronicles of the Damned II.

## Main Arc

### New Soldiers in the Army

The cold and introverted Dorothee MacDaniels, the reckless Ansam, the pragatic and elegant Layton and the brave but single-minded Henry Belmont are Chosen Ones, demon-bound individuals with supernatural powers. They have been harshly trained since birth in victorian-era Italy, in 1895, under the orders of cardinal Pietro de Valencia - the leader of a branch of the Church specialized in demon-hunting.

Gabrielo Sigreal, an elite Chosen One, trains them, teaching them to manipulate their demonic powers how to defeat and absorb demons. He puts them to the test and they succeed. Pietro then shows them one of the Church's greatest treasures : one of the seven Demon Gems imbued with the soul of a **Demon Lord**, Beelzebub's Emerald of Gluttony. Just as he shows them, a mysterious, chaotic figure known as Sigurd attacks the church, forcing Gabrielo to take the Gem and run away to protect it, leaving the four heroes along to fend off the madman. Sigurd defeated, the four heroes must quickly depart and find their weaponsmaster.

### England, Haunted by Demons

The four encounter Lord John Easthampton, a rich English nobleman and a Chosen One specialized in Summon Magic. The Lord quickly falls in love with Dorothee. While fighting maritime demons in southern Paris, Layton catches Gabrielo's trail. Meanwhile, Ansam learns of the mysterious organization known as Dein Umbra, masters of Black Magic with an unknown aim.

In London, John shows its visitors the **Amethyst of Envy**, Leviathan's last remnants. The group then splits : John with Dorothee go to Ireland where she was born to confront her past, Ansam discusses with scientist **Viktor Heinrich**, Henry chases a mysterious dark mage and Layton guards the gemstone; However, despite everything, Sigurd attacks Dorothee and mocks her, telling her that the Demonscent Curse killed her parents ; Viiktor Heinrich turns out to be in possession of the **Sapphire of Greed** ; the mage hunted by Henry escapes ; and the Amethyst is stolen.

The four's researches end up bringing them back together at a sinister mansion, duke Isa Norwind's mansion near London. This turns out to be Dein Umbra's headquarters, where they discover the mansion is in fact an orphanage of sorts for Chosen Ones, allowing them to live normal life instead of the dogmatic training of the church. The group ends up confronting dark mage Hannah ; as she is about to seemingly finish them, Gabrielo intervines and defeats her, before running away.

### Prussia, the Cursed Land

The group chases Gabrielo's trail towards Prussia, in what is now modern Germany. On their way, they meet a man named Abraham, a powerful Chosen One cursed with apathy and loneliness. They then find a town where Viktor has its laboratory. Layton and Ansam go and attempt to seize Viktor's Sapphire, but the latter's experiment find up to be more dangerous than expected, ressurecting temporarly Demon Lord Mammon. Layton reluctantly kills Viktor while Ansam barely defeats a half-ressurected Mammon, stabilizing the situation. Gabrielo briefly appears only to retrieve the gemstone.

Meanwhile, Dorothy and Henry enter a strange, haunted manor. Guided by a strange nobleman named Gaunt, they finally find out he is a powerful demon who killed all the mansion's inhabitants. Gaunts reveals himself as Malphas of the **Demonic Nobility**, and fights the pair, but is eventually defeated. He seemingly fades away, but when Henry distances himself, he reappears to Dorothee and offers her a pact, giving her intel and powers in exchange for a small service : "saving a lost soul and giving him the source of her torment".

The four reunite again to discuss Gabrielo's strange attitude and finally find him under the city hall. He has been corrupted by the Emerald and now posseses the Amethyst and the Sapphire as well. Corrupted by Gluttony and wrecked with madness, a possessed Gabrielo fights the protagonist, and is barely defeated, dying as himself with a last apology.

### Demons Awaken

Pietro, saddened with Gabrielo's death, offer the four a new superior : Serena, an emotionless but especially powerful fighter. Gaunt confirms she is the lost soul Dorothee must save. Meanwhile, a strange sect governed by Divine Mage Simon Occita grows in number and seeks to "eliminate" Chosen Ones by using holy seals to erase a Chosen One's powers in a soul-shattering process.

Serena is then kidnapped by Dein Umbra, and the four rush to her aid. They find out a ritual is being conducted to free her from her curse : she has the Ruby of Wrath within her. To free her from this pain, Dein Umbra's leader and Serena's husband, the melancholic Isa Norwind, has been using the **Aquamarine of Lust** to summon Asmodea's powers and break the seal.

He does so, but instead of sacrificing himself, Hannah rushes to his side and dies instead. Asmodea resurrects, but the four alongside Isa fight her and defeat her. Asmodea is dispelled, but Hannah is dead and Serena is freed. Dorothee is contractually bound to use the Ruby of Wrath and summon Satan; only Layton's actions and use of Simon's holy seal disrupts the contract, at the price of Dorothee's personality.

### The Lord of the Light

While Ansam brings back the Aquamarine to Pietro, a half-summoned Satan wreaks havoc around europe. Ansam and Henry manage to awaken Abraham's combative spirit ; he reveals he defeated in the past the demon lord Belphegor and was cursed by his **Amber of Sloth**. Abraham fights a last battle against Satan and crumbles, gravely wounded, handing back the Ruby and the Amber fo Ansam.

During that time, Dorothee returns to her sense only to learn Easthampton gave up on his own soul to save her, a trade Simon accepted. Dorothee then cares for an amnesiac Easthampton, and with the aid of a strange man named **Omen**, uncovers the truth : Simon is not a Saint, but a false prophet led by the **Topaz of Pride** and the demon Lucifer. Dorothee, Omen and the three other protagonists go to Simon's headquarters in Spain and battle him, retrieving the Topaz.

### A Final Battle

All stones now in Pietro's possession, the church leader reveals he orchestrated everything ; everything a plan in order for him to cast a powerful Thaumaturge spell to bind Inferno itself to his will. He dives into Inferno and slowly begins to transform it into a vision of a mathematical perfection. Omen reveals himself as a resurrected Gabrielo, a pawn of Pietro from the beginning, and, sick of being manipulated, sacrifices himself in order to allow the others to enter Inferno as well.

Fighting demons, Golems and even Sigurd for one last time, the group ends up in the center of Hell, where Pietro reveals he saw humans lose countless wars against demons. By controlling Hell and becoming its new ruler, he would take control ov everything and prevent all wars, allowing mankind to prosper. The despotic point of view causes the four to oppose Pietro... but they barely manage to bring him down, only for him to rise again, empowered by the seven demon gems.

However, this time, Pietro's body can no longer bear the pure power and explodes in a shower of blood, revealing a little girl behind him. She introduces herself as Leanor Pandaemonium and asks the protagonists to play. As the barrier between Inferno and Interra grows weaker, Henry sacrifices himself to "keep her company" and buy the rest of the group time, allowing them to return to the surface. The danger is over, and close to Dorothee, Lord Easthampton's memories finally begin to return...

## Other Arcs

### Sigma's Tale

Sigma arrives in time to see Isa talking to Asmodea. The female Demon Lord acknowledges Sigma's potential usefulness and promises to help Isa for free if Sigma offers her a temporary body as well as her powers. Sigma accepts, and Asmodea binds herself to the young Anamnesis. They briefly discover the main intrigues and sides of the war between the Church and Dein Umbra before Sigurd attempts to strike Sigma down, empowered by Specters. Sigma defeats Sigurd and departs, Asmodea following her.

Later, when Pietro accomplishes his ritual, Asmodea is dragged and absorbed into the Aquamarine of Lust. Sigma then arrives and confronts Pietro alone, defeating him and wounding him enough for Asmodea to come out. Sigma then offers to help Pietro but it is too late ; he dies and Leanor rises. Sigma, both respectful and frightened due to the demonic influence within her, runs away.

### A Retelling : Dorothee's Story

Much later, Dorothee would be allowed by a mysterious man to revisit her past in order to fix what had gone wrong. Using her great knowledge, Dorothee, now devoted to Leviathan, quickly attempted to summon all Demon Lords, making an alliance with Vlad Nolovic and summoning allies Lucrece and Shax to help her and John in her quest. She quickly joined Dein Umbra as an ally.

Although at first driven to despair by her previous experiences and willing to feed the world to demons to have her way, Dorothee's encounter with Abraham allowed her to pause and reconsider her objectives, instead driving her to create a world where Inferno would no longer interfere with mankind. She ultimately succeeded in summoning all Demon Lords, despite Pietro's interference and summoning of Iscariot, and returned to the present time afterwards, leaving a better world behind her.

## Characters

* Dorothee MacDaniels
* Henry Belmont
* Layton
* Ansam
* Pietro de Valencia
* Gabrielo Sigreal
* Sigurd
* John Easthampton
* Kuri-ma Abraham
* Hannah
* Isa Norwind
* Serena Norwind
* Simon Occita
* Leanor Pandaemonium
* Gaunt
* Mammon
* Asmodea
* Lucifer
* Satan

## Trivia

* This is the first Storyline to be written with a roleplaying game-like narrative.