Horned Reapers

## The Walking Calamity

Horned Reapers are High Ranking True Demons of the Circle of "Wrath". They are immensely powerful beings and are considered some of the strongest fighters in The World.

Horned Reapers can vary in shape and size but are usually humanoid, around 3 meters tall, covered in hard red skin and possess fiercely shaped horns which are their namesake.

## The Paragons of Wrath

Horned Reapers are infamous for their short temper and their bottomless wrath. They are immensely easy to anger, or rather, they live in a constant state of rage with a few moments of mild irritation in between.

It is in a Horned Reaper's nature to feel this way. This frustration will build up with the passage of time and the Horned Reaper will only feel relief should it unleash its fury on its surroundings. The methods tend to differ between Reaper's, some preferring to slaughter creatures much weaker then themselves and others seeking the thrill of combat of a foe who is their equal or their greater (or some other means entirely). When employed in battle, they never care about details such as strategy, tactics or collateral damage. Cases of Horned Reaper killing more allies than enemies on the same battlefield are not unheard of.

The most effective method to keep Horned Reapers from going on a rampage though is to allow them to pray. Worshipping their Dark God at an altar and basking in his presence fills the demons with an energy and euphoria that distracts them from their other desires momentarily. It is speculated that the act nourishes them with their creator's energy.

Still Horned Reapers so hard to placate in fact that the very action of successfully controlling a Horned Reaper, even for a very brief period, and surviving is treated as an incredible status symbol within The Underworld.

## Fire and Strength

Despite their infamy Horned Reapers actually possess less raw mana than most other High Ranking Demons (their total mana putting them somewhere around the lower point of that classification). Horned Reapers, as a general rule, lack the patience or the fine control to use elaborate or finely tuned spells.

Magic that Horned Reapers are known to use includes spells that grant them dominion and resistance over fire, as well as extremely powerful body strengthening magic.

Their magic however, is not what the Horned Reapers are feared for. Their immense physical strength, unnatural speed and sheer limitless stamina (literally limitless under certain circumstances if one factors in their Scythe) puts most monsters several times their size to shame. Any person who has born witness to a Reaper on the battlefield will speak of their unbelievable "sense for combat". Their bodies, created for battle, move with a kind of natural instinct which can pale even that of the most veteran of warriors, seemingly able to predict the flow of a fight and to confidently capitalize on it in such a way that Wizards, for a very long time, suspected them of possessing some form of precognitive magic.

As such Horned Reapers are known for being able to win engagements against opponents that, even by a solid margin, outclass them (though these beings are few and far between in The World).

## The Scythe of the Reaper

A Horned Reapers second greatest weapon, second only to their instincts, is their **Cursed Reaper Scythe**.

These scythes are special, even among high class magical weapons, for they are inseparable from their wielder on a very fundamental level. Each Horned Reaper possesses their own unique scythe that they can call to their hand with but a thought. In addition to this transportation ability the scythes can easily cleave trough steel and stone. Wounds caused by them are often mired with a vile curses which will prevent all forms of healing. Thus even minor cuts can lead to death through bloodloss if no priest is available who can remove the curse first.

In addition many Reapers rely on their scythes as magical foci for spellcasting and would be unable to cast their devastating fireball spells without them. Unfortunately for their foes, separating them from their weapon is a near impossible task.

But their greatest ability is the reason why Horned Reapers are dreaded on the surface of Zyreema by the forces of Good as well as by the servants of Evil that called upon them. It is the ability to "Reap" mana from their surroundings on an immense level.

This Reaping ability passively increases the radius from which a Horned Reaper can take in mana from its environment, making them capable of recovering their energy very quickly if they are within an area with abundant mana. This ability can be used directly as well, any creature harmed or felled by the scythe will have a portion of its energy absorbed by the Horned Reaper.

This ability is so potent are these two abilities that, thanks to the fact that a Horned Reaper requires less mana then other Demons of its rank, a Horned Reaper is capable of acting freely in areas of low mana for a certain period of time, even without a supply of mana that would usually be required such beings.

This grants Horned Reapers immense freedom when compared to other powerful Demons and makes them extremely hard to control. So difficult in fact that the very action of successfully controlling a Horned Reaper, even for a very brief period, and surviving is treated as an incredible status symbol within The Underworld.

## Known Horned Reapers

* "**Red**", former minion of Jarlwick, currently in the service of Dungeon Keeper Merlin. For some reason despises being called "Horny".
* **Shredder**, an infamous Horned Reaper on Zyreema, Shredder has been in the service of Dungeon Keeper Aphel for a surprisingly long period of time. Even among Horned Reapers he is famed for his blood thirst and lust for battle.