Zylas Vh'alyir

## MAGIC CLASSIFICATION

Demon Magic

**Zylas Vh'alyir** is Robin Page's illegally contracted demon and partner. He is of the Vh'alyir bloodline, and a *Dīnen* of the 12th House.

## Appearance

Similar to all demonkind, Zylas has a variation of the average red-toned complexion: his skin is reddish-toffee in color. Those of the Vh'alyir demon line have a keen resemblance to humans, and several people have noted Zylas's disconcerting likeness. However similar his facial features, Zylas is also equipped with sharp canines. He has crimson eyes with narrow, vertical pupils that take on a soft glow in the dark. When Zylas is severely weak or dying, the fiery red in his eyes darkens to coal.

Zylas's wild, unkempt hair is short in the back and longer in the front, with two small horns poking out above each temple. The sharp line of his jaw belies the softer slope of his cheeks, and the tips of his ears are pointed. Zylas also has dark nails tipping each finger—not particularly large or sharp in their retracted form.

A few inches below six feet, Zylas is of average human male height—though he makes up for his stature with his lithe, yet powerful build; his lean figure is packed with defined muscle. Trailing behind him is a long, thin tail tipped with two curving barbs.

Zylas's appearance is of someone in their early twenties, but although he looks young, it is impossible to determine his real age by any human standards.

### Clothing and Armor

Zylas perpetually dons a pair of shorts made of dark fabric and a thick leather belt. Similar clothing runs from his ankles up over his knees, and more fabric wraps the arches of his feet.

Zylas's armor includes a metal armor plate—his demonic artifact—held in place over the left side of his chest by worn leather straps crisscrossing his right shoulder and side; overlapping metal plating protecting only his left shoulder and an armguard covering his left forearm. A fitted sleeve runs up to his bicep beneath the armguard. The rest of his skin is left bare.

#### In Disguise

Zylas is swallowed by a baggy, black sweater. His tail is looped around his waist beneath the clothing. The hood is pulled up over Zylas's face, shadowing his features and hiding his four small horns. As a precaution, he wears reflective sunglasses to conceal his demonic, crimson eyes.

## Skills, Abilities and Weapons

### Physical Capabilities

Zylas is adept at close range combat. His leaner build and smaller stature—by demon standards—lend him an extreme speed atop his demonically-heightened strength and enhanced senses. When he sprints, he can surpass a cars streak—unhindered even with Robin's extra weight—a feat he can easily leave in the dust with a demonic spell. Abnormally flexible, he can press both palms to the floor and bend his spine over completely backwards.

Zylas moves with fluid grace—his tail an additional measure for balance. He can leap abnormally high and he knows how to swim.

All his fingers are tipped with short, dark nails. They later elongate into claws doubled their initial length. Their limit is six-inches long.
In general, Zylas automatically has a stronger endurance and a larger arsenal of physical capability than any human. In relation to his kin, Zylas is considered a "runt" and relatively weak.

### Ingrained

Equipped with an exceptional memory, Zylas has the ability to memorize and intake information at an abnormal rate. It is insinuated that he has never forgotten anything—and that his memory is even better than the average demon. Zylas knows advanced demon magic and spellwork that are on par with a *payashē*. He took the time and energy to study healing, one of the most complicated and elaborate branches of demon magic—and one most demons aren't knowledgable of.

Zylas is exceedingly intelligent. He is always calculatingly observing his surroundings, and often underestimated.

Like all demons, Zylas has enhanced senses: better vision—infrared thermal heat sensing that allows him to see in the dark, enhanced hearing and a sense of smell so tuned he can catch and track someone's trail in the midst of a teeming crowd. He can scent the shifts in emotion—fear, desire, grief, pain—and the remnants of magic.

Zylas's magnified perception also allows him the ability to detect lies. Demons do not lie, for any attempt would be ultimately futile. Zylas cannot sense intruths within the infernus, filtered past Robin's head or through the speaker of a phone.

### Weaknesses

Zylas's susceptibilities as a demon are limited. He has phenomenal endurance, but if rendered severely weak or injured, cold could—at best—knock him unconscious. At worst, it could be fatal. All demons garner energy and recuperate their magic from the sun's heat, and cold has the opposite effect. Of course, though, like any other demon or being, he has a limit to how long he can live and last without water and heat, like when in the summoning circle.

Zylas is particularly vulnerable to vampire venom, like all demons. The impact on them is significantly worse than on a human.

### Revival

The sun's heat isn't the only way Zylas builds back his strength. Sunlight and food also supply energy—though food isn't as effective. After a physically-harrowing situation, Zylas drifts around Robin's apartment and takes frequent cat naps.

He can also absorb heat from his surroundings, turning everything to sub-zero, if he really needs power. A few times, he created an explosion and fire then absorbed the heat and flames to recover. Robin also lets Zylas soak in a hot water tub to absorb the heat when she's trying to help him recover.

### Nuances to Being Contracted

Immediately after being summoned to Earth, his summoners imposed the language rite on him. He can speak english, but he can't read or write it.

Zylas can hear the bulk of Robin's thoughts, and at some point they can mutually communicate telepathically. As a result, they harness their newfound ability to amalgamate Zylas's demon magic and Robin's Arcana—but only once their minds are open and linked to each other's.

### Magic

The effects of Zylas's demon magic usage result in a sudden wintry chill, and oftentimes, depending on its power, frost is seen sparkling over surfaces in the vicinity of the spell.

Zylas understands the nuances of demonic healing and has hundreds of intricate demon spells memorized in detail. Demonic spellwork must be seen perfectly in the minds eye before it's cast, or the consequences could be disastrous. Zylas usually needs a few moments to gather his bearings beforehand, especially in close-combat.

Zylas has a series of spells that mend, clean and repair his clothing along with his assortment of armor.

### Items

Zylas's crimson demon magic can form six-inch talons past his fingertips, but no longer than that.

He has a metal chest plate slung over the left side of his chest, held in place by worn leather straps. The protective armor is imbued with spells that strengthen the metal, input by Zylas himself.
As a *Dīnen* of Vh'alyir, Zylas has immediate ownership over The Amulet of Vh'alyir, a mysterious artifact spelled with the ability to temporarily sever contracts.

## History

Zylas became *Dīnen* at a very young age. Like all demon males, he was nursed and raised by his mother. She is described by him as "young and *zh’ūltis*".

His mother taught him everything he knew about defense. He learned to become *drādah ahktallis* from her. When his magic developed, he was no longer permitted to live with her. His father came and took him away.

The Vh'alyir demon line is reviled by the other Houses. They are at the bottom of the House heirarchy, and systematically hunted. They are never safe. It is insinuated that Zylas and his father were nomadic. They travelled across the expanse of male territory, and in that time, his father taught him about *dh’ērrenith*. In the early days, Zylas's magic was weak. He knew very little spellwork, and he wasn't an adept fighter. Zylas spent many years with him, and Zylas's father had always been there to protect him.

One day, his father went dangerously close to a marsh—a place no demon of any house would reasonably venture. He was killed by an *Īnkav*.

After his death, Zylas was left alone. He could not return to his mother, and he was still a relatively inadequate fighter. All the skills he later learned, all the magic and demonic spellwork and sufficient combat ability—he learnt in response to a life in perpetual peril. He had no allies from other Houses, and the other Vh'alyir demons all hated him.

Instead of succumbing to his fate, Zylas learned. He bid his time, watched, and waited for weakness to unveil itself. The *Naventis* ten years prior to his summoning, Zylas crashed the gathering with an obliteration spell—when no Vh'alyir demon had attended in centuries—and challenged the *Dīnen* of the upper ranks. A year later, he killed all four *Dīnen* in the rank above him. Zylas was reviled and named *nailēris*, but the other houses no longer laughed. They feared him.

When he was summoned, Zylas remained in the summoning circle for nearly ten weeks before initiating a contract with Robin.

## Relationships

### Robin

*Main Article: Robin and Zylas*

Robin is Zylas's contractor, his ally and his lover. Their contract entails Zylas protect her in exchange for baked goods. Its magic allows them the ability to communicate telepathically, and within the infernus, Zylas can hear her thoughts. Together, they can create an amalgamation of his demon magic and Robin's Arcana.

## Trivia

* Zylas's tail moves in accordance to his mood: if he's impatient his tail will lash; if he's angry, thoughtful, agitated, annoyed.

* In the beginning, his English is slightly stilted, his sentences short and choppy. As he becomes more accustomed to Earth, his diction changes. He even occasionally utilizes contractions (I'm, she's, he'll).

* Before killing Tahēsh, the highest *Dīnen* he'd killed was from the Fifth House.

* He has a habit of dropping everything once he's done with it.

* Zylas is deeply fascinated by human food.

* Zylas tends to not chew at all when he's eating—though that is more a result of his demonic anatomy than a private quirk.

* He hates screens. The frame rates that appear smooth to humans appear severely choppy to demons.

* He has a distaste for meat.

* Zylas is pronounced in three syllables—*zuh-yee-las*; though humans pronounce his name in two: *zyee-las*.

* Zylas is only a couple inches taller than Tori and shorter than Kai, but he towers over Robin.

* His skin is at least two degrees higher in temperature than a human.

* Zylas's small horns are distinctive of his age. He's younger than the *Dīnen* of the other houses.

* Despite its tangled, disheveled appearance, Zylas's hair is quite soft.