Malcolm Démoniste

Malcolm Démoniste, also known as Elias Abott, Landon Dallaire, and then Harrison and Arthur Axford, is an antagonist to and father of Josephine Axford and Leah Vash.

## Biography

### Early Life

Malcolm was born in Étaples, France, on March 8th, 1905. He suffered from insomnia from a young age. He was always rhythmically gifted, tapping out syncopated melodies on his bedframe. His family was not very wealthy, and his father was a sailor, so he was not home often.

#### Encounter with Ios

The date is November 2, 1918. A small home sits near the port in Étaples, France. A boy wakes up in the middle of the night. The moon, barely a sliver in the sky, fails to light the streets. The young Malcolm looks around, his family is nowhere to be found. He walks out of his home. The streets are empty, but an awful smell floats through the air. The smell of rotting, burning flesh. Malcolm walks through the street, towards the inky black water in the harbor. A boat sits in the water. Illuminated by the faint moonlight, a mist flows from below deck. The boy climbs into the vessel, and then descends below deck.

Suddenly, he is completely submerged. No boat protects him from the liquid, thick and black, that surrounds him. The tar-like substance fills Malcolm's lungs. He struggles against the viscous sludge for breath to no avail. Through the inky black, he sees the murky yellow glow of a set of eyes. The eyes spoke to him, promising him eternity as long as it may spend the eternity with him. Malcolm, being young and ambitious, took up the offer. He would age to maturity, and then no more.

### As Elias Abott

In 1938, Malcolm was forced to change identities for the first time. He moved to England, going by the alias Elias Abott. He was conscripted into the English army during WWII. After the war he joined an orchestra, playing the french horn. He managed to continue his con as Elias for quite a long time, living almost to his 60s before he had no excuses left as to why he appeared so young,

### As Landon Dallaire

It was 1969 when Malcolm moved to the US. He changed his name again, adopting a new identity among the hippies of the late 60s. He played synthesizer in a stoner metal band named BUCKS. This was when he first married, the person in question being a young woman named Susan Hersch. They had no children, and the marriage was short lived. Following the divorce, he isolated himself. He became an electrician, and began tinkering with small electrical instruments.

### As Harrison Axford

1983 was when he next changed his identity. He took on the image of a bearded homebody with a charming personality and an unmatched musical talent. He courted and then married Helen Wheeler. They had 2 children together, twin brothers. Malcolm, knowing he would need to escape soon, hatched a plan. He disappeared into the woods near the Wheeler household. In this forest, he encountered an ancient stone altar that emanated a similar feeling to his encounter with Ios 70 years prior. He made a deal with the mysterious deity, gaining the power to change his own body alongside his previous unaging. Several months later, he returned to the altar with one of his two infant sons, payment. He hid away in the woods, meditating and theorizing, for almost 15 years. This is when he transformed himself and let himself be found by his previous family.

### As Arthur Axford

#### Youth

In March of 2003, Malcolm returned to his previous family. He impersonated the family's lost son, Arthur Axford. He refused to explain how he lived or what he had been doing for the past 15 years. Despite this, it was clear that he had spent quite a long time in the woods. Soon after, he fall head over heels for a girl named Oren Hobbes Glenswood. The two were almost made for each other. They married as soon as Oren turned 18, and had a child together at 19. Sadly, Oren died of an apparently incurable disease soon after childbirth, leaving only their daughter, Josephine Axford, behind.

#### Grey Institute

With the birth of his daughter and the loss of his wife, Malcolm became obsessive with the beings he had dealt with, He knew that any obvious movements to interact with them and test things would be stopped by Electroni Labs, so he made a smaller company as a distraction. This company, known as the Grey Club, was a front for a more extensive research operation, known as the Grey Institute. They tested on many people, including Malcolm's own daughter. After the catastrophic failure of his final experiment, the 2037 Death Contact Experiment, he exiled himself. He spent just under 100 years searching, trying to contact Ios yet again. When he finally met the Plague King again, he asked to be allowed to die, to end their deal. Ios agreed, ending Malcolm's life and releasing himself into the world in his entirety.

## Personality

Malcolm, on the surface, is very homely and caring. He devotes his time to his hobbies and is passionate about his interests and those close to him. A skilled actor, Malcolm's many, many years of experience allow him to devote himself entirely to his character. Internally, Malcolm is very selfishly motivated and is willing to harm others to great lengths to preserve his own wellbeing.