Requiem of a Black Sun Volume I: The Ebony Shogunate

Chapter VII: A Test of Courage

It always seemed odd to me how aging worked in the rich lore of fantasy worlds. To me, and apparently to the creators of fantasy works, it would just ruin the whole gist of an imaginary realm if the girls in it were not always young and beautiful (I suppose guys too for those female readers out there) and Kveljastheim was no exception to this trend.

Demons are perhaps the most unique out of any of the five races in terms of this because they technically do possess the capability to be immortal given the right circumstances. According to the History of Daemonkind, demons, as part of their inherent Blood Rage ability utilize a system known as the Sanguine Scholarship as a way of aging.

For normal citizens not born of a noble or special warrior status, aging is completely normal until they become a person of importance as aforementioned. If a person is, or becomes a person of stature, their aging can stop at the age of 18 when they reach adulthood for as long as they maintain that position. If a person loses that position, obviously, they continue to age regularly and will die at a normal human age.

However, if a demon wishes to become a position further up in the demonic hierarchy such as moving from a general to a lord, they must exit the age-lock for as long as it takes to acquire the blood power necessary to hold such a position. The further apart the current position and the desired position are, the more aging that occurs for said demon.

Despite the ability to technically be immortal, most demons are held back by what is known as The Folly of Lucifer, which is an innate desire of their blood to cease life due to a buildup of Lust. Most demons of great stature in warrior backgrounds die in great feats of courage in foolhardy battles like the majority of the bloodlines of the Houses of Power. On the other hand, non-combatant famous demons will generally commit suicide or accidentally die by non-natural causes such as alcohol poisoning, overdoses, or reckless feats of strength or skill.

Now, to combat lust, demons engage in various Mortal Sins to calm their blood in a way and prolong their life, the most common of which are killing people in combat and committing sexual acts. However, others include but are not limited to: drinking, gambling, stealing, overindulgence, assault, infidelity, or any sort of action considered criminal by contemporary justice systems.

If you ask me, the Demons are the greatest people ever to have lived, which is why I chose to become one.

The Drachenherz line, and the Imperial bloodline in general which runs in all the Houses of Power in the Northern Empire, thank heavens, is special in that they hold the power to mature their blood before 18 and, hence, become adults before then at whatever age they are able to. Lisette managed to mature her blood at age 13, advancing her power to become a general and, later, emperor for the cost of 12 years, leaving her at a very young age of 25...bless my soul whoever served with her must have been lucky as hell.

Anyways, Victoria was a little bit of a late bloomer at age 17, but she has the benefit of not having advanced her rank so she remains 17 for as long as she wants.

Elves are somewhat practical in terms of aging although they generally live to be around 160, not looking a day off of their twenties until they reach around the 80-year mark.

The Descended are practically immortal, much like the Banished Ones, and live to a nice age of about one millennium while the Banished Ones are said to live for as long as they are not killed by meddling ground dwellers.

As for the Seraphim and the Lycanids, they are given the short end of the stick and only live to be about 60 due to their rapid breeding patterns, in vitro laboratory birthing in the case of the Seraphim.

Here I am, sitting in front of my bathroom mirror looking at the dark bags growing under my eyes and wondering when the daily amount of caffeine I take in would give me a premature death.