Demaro Jun

> "*In the moment, I do think I deserve their pence. I did something for them that they couldn't do for themselves. It's a transaction. But I do care about myself...after I've accepted their payment. I hate myself when that happens. And I don't think I want that.*"
> ― Demaro Jun
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Demaro Jun is one of the main characters of *Origin Stories,* introduced in Killerjoy. A half-knotter from an influential Lord family, Jun moves to Carver after earning his rank of Third Decadent.

There, he has to deal with deadly monsters, corrupt lords, dangerous masques, numerous revivalists, and an old friend in a suit.

## Appearance

Thanks to his mother's knotter blood, Jun has a darker complexion than most Genith or Dirthe-borns. He makes a point of having his appearance be pristine. He wants to look as lord-like as possible with clean clothes and coiffed hair.

## History

### Early Life

Demaro Jun grew up in Sepperlin with his father and sister. His mother was a knotter, but whatever happened to her is a bit of a mystery.

At some point, Attle Bowman came to Sepperlin to live and train with the Demaros. He and Jun became close friends, but often found themselves at odds with each other as often as not.

Jun's Gage mettle is a very dangerous sort of mettle. His, a bit more so. His icy mettle often threatens to overcome him and this had been evident when he was just a child. The Foundry had intended to shackle Jun and turn him into a hellion or something worse. Artem Gero learned of this and sought to help. He created capacitors for Jun that helped him control his mettle better. If it weren't for Gero, Jun never would've become a lord at all.

Shortly before the start of Killerjoy, Jun was promoted to the rank of Third Decadent, a patrician no more. He went on to Carver shortly thereafter.

### Killerjoy

After Vermon attacked at Mayor's Manor, Jun was sent in to the scene to decide what to do with the gargoyle. Before going, however, he requested that Attle be brought on as a Collateral Investigator to validate his decision.

Attle arrived at the investigation at the Manor with Griffin Marsh in tow. Jun met both and told Attle why he was really there. Attle convinced the lord to let him actually do some investigating and go over to the gargoyle. Jun had no reason to argue and allowed it. Attle then went over to the gargoyle and removed the seal placed on it by Cody, Proctor Allen's imp. Attle then revealed to all of Carver that Vermon was actually a gargoyle.

Jun devised a plan to find Vermon by looking for Silver One. He allowed Silver One to leave Carver in order to have him lead Jun directly to Vermon. He found both at Eckle Lake and after failing to arrest Silver One peacefully, a fight broke out. Jun used his ethic mettle to bring a cyclops in from the Whirle to fight Vermon while he took on Silver One. Vermon killed the cyclops and Silver One leapt onto his back. Both flew off not to be followed.

Jun held a summit a week later at the Paramount with mediums coming from all over Dirthe, not just within Carver. At the summit, the and the lords painted Silver One a criminal. During the question and answer part of the summit, a wicker attacked. Jun and Lord Prime Rove Austra leapt into battle, but were not going to win the fight any time soon. Silver One appeared out of nowhere and helped them fight off the monster, saving Jun's life even. Once the beast was dealt with, Silver One's energy was spent and he was promptly arrested.

After having his injuries from the fight mended, he was sent with Black Ox to the sight of the summoning to see what clues they could find. There, Jun found Griffin hiding from proxies. After telling Ox to go find clues elsewhere, Griffin revealed to the lord that Attle was actually Silver One. He told Griffin to not tell anyone any of this. Not even Austra.

While Jun and Ox were gone, Silver One had escaped Center Stage, so they were to search the colony city for him. But they had found nothing. Upon returning to the Sky Hall, Jun was summoned to the Side Room to meet with Austra. Already there were lords Lovis, Black Ox, and Blite. Lovis and Jun bickered until Austra and his Lord Adjunct, Thena Mar, arrived. Lovis was demoted after letting Silver one slip away. Austra then announced that with Commandris's imminent departure for the Parcel Exams, a new Lord Adjunct would need to be chosen. Whichever lord contributes the most to their search for the masques will claim her place.

After the attack on Gentina Mildren, Jun was informed of Wren Absalom's rebellion in Joal. It caused some riots and outbursts among the Joalish within Carver.

While in his dorm catching a breather from all his lordly duties, Commandris came and found him. She insinuated that he was only there to catch a break, as if that was a bad thing. It is here that she calls him Penguin, the first to ever do it, if only in jest. Thena brings him down to Center Stage as "backup" to interrogate a joalishwoman named Gema found conspiring with rebels. Gema revealed to them that they will be using the proxie cell that they stole at the Crossway and soon they'll all be dead.

Jun and Commandris left for the Crossway only to find Silver One battling a number of revivalists. They came in and took out the majority of the revivalists left. Commandris took the device they were using up into the air before using her parce strength to destroy it. She fell back to the surface only missing an arm. She instructed Jun to kill Silver One who was basically incapacitated. Before he could, Silver One fell off the Crossway and disappeared.

Jun attended Griffin's ascension with Allen. They were the only two to show up. Allen revealed to Jun at the ascension that Attle had been living with Myrt's in a halfhouse in one of the rougher parts of town. Jun left to try and find Attle. When he got to the halfhouse, Attle was long gone. But Myrt Calvia was still there. She told Jun about the round that Attle had left and how no one was supposed to touch it. Not listening to that warning, Jun touched it and found himself seemingly drawn to Pen Marten, though he had no idea who she was. Instead, he was actually drawn to Brandishier where he faced Illum Nairo if only through a screen.

Jun put together that Nairo was leader of the masques. Nairo made no attempt to hide this, even complimenting Jun for having figured it out. The round began to inflict pain on Jun and he realized it was intended to kill Attle. If Jun left it in the room, he'd survive. But Nairo admitted to not wanting a lord flying around knowing their secrets. Jun managed to break out of the office, leave the round behind, and flee. But since he can't fly without a flit, he nearly died. If it weren't for Artem Gero catching him, he would have.

Gero and Jun found Attle later on using a technique developed by Tres. They brought Attle to the Perogian where they met with Madus Delmont. Attle was told he was going to the Parcel Exams to become the second Parcel of the Millenius himself. When Gero left for a time, Attle convinced Jun to leave the Perogian to help him find out what happened to Vermon. To do that, they needed Cody's help.

They flew to Brandishier on Jun's flit and found out that the revivalists were trying to bring something through the Whirle. There, they put together that Nairo was using Vermon to influence the Joalish people and to find out where Nairo was, they need only speak to someone from Joal. Jun knew just who.

Attle and Jun went to the Sky Hall to get information out of Gema. The plan was for Attle, under the name Sympath, to find Gema and break her out under the guise of being a masque. Instead, Gema turned up dead and Jun found out the information he needed from the remaining lords of Carver (since Commandris and Austra were both gone). Jun now knew where to find the masques. He sent Lovis, Blite, Ox, and a batallion of proxies to their destination before heading there with Attle.

Attle snuck into the hideout from above leaving Jun and the other lords to deal with the masques and revivalists below. Jun fought and killed Dreadlam just as Lovis and the other lords and proxies arrived. Before reaching Nairo, however, a barrier was raised to keep them out. Attle appeared not long after fighting with Ember Spin. He deactivated the barrier using his gloves allowing the lords through to finish things.

Three Hands revealed himself to be on Nairo's side and took on all the lords singlehandedly. He cut off Jun's arm at the shoulder, killed Ox and Blite, and would've killed Lovis if it hadn't been for Attle. Attle distracted the old man long enough to spare Lovis and end whatever skirmish she was having otherwise. Nairo and Three Hands gave Attle a choice: Kill Jun and be pardoned, or die with the rest of them.

Attle chose to unshackle Jun, releasing all of the lords restrained gage mettle on Three Hands. The power punched a hole through Three Hands and knocked Jun unconscious. Pen, having had a change of heart, gave Jun a pill to revive his strength. Jun's strength came back quickly, but soon the device Nairo used was backfiring. They needed to get out of there and fast. Jun grabbed Lovis and entered one of the pipes used to send objects around in the hideout. There was only enough room for one more. Pen attempted to send Attle thinking herself unworthy of going on, but Attle took the choice away from her. He pushed her inside and sent the pillar off, staying behind to be consumed by Vermon's light.

After the fight, Austra promoted Jun to First Decadent, a jump in rank but an earned on. Jun lied about Attle's involvement altogether and about Pen surviving. He wished to not stay any longer, but he allowed Austra to convince him out of it and he became Carver's new Lord Adjunct.

Afterward, he met with Pen to discuss what will happen next. She revealed her intent to stay in Carver and pick up where Attle had left off, something Jun isn't entirely sure her meaning of. She was the last masque in Carver, but he didn't much care about that anymore. If Nairo was correct and another Annihilation really was coming, he had bigger things to worry about.

## Skills and Abilities

Being a lord, Jun has been trained in the Foundry in both hand to hand combat and how to use his mettle more effectively.

### Gage Mettle

Jun's gage mettle takes on an icy form. With it he's able to accomplish several different feats. He can conjure up whole snowstorms; he used this ability combined with a technique from Tres to find Attle after the revivalist attack at the Crossway. He can raise giant ice walls or shoot ice out of his hands.

This mettle, however, constantly threatens to overtake the lord. He can feel the icy mettle at all times in his bod and using it at full force is incredibly painful.

### Ethic Mettle

Jun is able to make a connection with the Whirle and summon creatures from within it. His connection with a cyclops is what earned him the rank of Third Decadent. Just the combination of Ethic and Gage mettle is rare to begin with, but to be able to summon a cyclops was something the Foundry felt deserved more recognition.

After Jun's battle with Attle at Eckle Lake, the cyclops is killed by Vermon. This seemingly severs Jun's connection to his Ethic mettle and for the rest of Killerjoy, he relies solely on his Gage mettle.

## Quotes

> "*Your presumed rights end where that gaudy mask on your face begins.*"
> ― Demaro Jun
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> "*Who'd have thought...I suppose...that we'd be on the same side, now? That's all Griffin ever wanted, you know. That's why she told me your secret. She thought I could help you. And here we are.*"
> ― Demaro Jun
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> "*Gargoyles are flesh and scale and little else.*"
> ― Demaro Jun
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