The Dead God
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To sub a dragon mount for Maliphant, because all Sith Lords need a dragon.
- Image Credit: Anato Finnstark
- Role: A war mount, alchemized to increase Maliphant's presence on the battlefield.
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Arkanian Dragon
- Age: 753 Galactic Standard Years
- Force Sensitivity: Force User
- Species: Alchemized Arkanian Dragon
- Appearance:
- Adorned with a crown of six horns, Belial is often considered the 'King' of Arkanian Dragons; covered in scales of midnight black, he garnered the name of 'The Black Dread' long before Maliphant had the pleasure of meeting him on Arkania. Belial was long known for these, as they fell into the blackness of the night sky - and helped to make him terrifying through smoke and smog of hearty flames he bellowed on bygone settlements. With two wings utilized as a means of walking on 'all fours', and two legs - he isn't a traditional 'dragon' in the sense of his distant cousins - like the Krayt Dragon, but rather a more flight founded beast of immaculate proportions.
After their fated meeting on Arkania, and the ashes of their fight were settled and buried - Maliphant began the arduous process of altering Belial to a more 'combative' and ascended form; crafted by his careful hand. Like an Artisan, he made sure every aspect of Belial was made into something greater; more symbiotic to Maliphant's needs, and to ensure that the dragon would never lose such a fight again. His size was nearly doubled, to a monstrous one hundred and sixty meters, with a wingspan twice that to ensure he could maintain his exceptional speeds. A larger chest, more integrity to his bones, everything he would need to survive the increase to size was given to him.
Yet, it was not the last of the boons. Belial was given another - a sickening black cloud that follows him whenever he flies into combat; thick and choking, dangerous to anyone who breathes it in, and masking Belial behind a debilitating miasma that only his eyes and fire would pierce. Because of this, Belial is considered ever more the dangerous than he once was; and all the more terrifying for his legendary status on Arkania, now spread throughout the Galaxy as Maliphant's personal pet - and blood-kin, from the alchemization of his body.
- Adorned with a crown of six horns, Belial is often considered the 'King' of Arkanian Dragons; covered in scales of midnight black, he garnered the name of 'The Black Dread' long before Maliphant had the pleasure of meeting him on Arkania. Belial was long known for these, as they fell into the blackness of the night sky - and helped to make him terrifying through smoke and smog of hearty flames he bellowed on bygone settlements. With two wings utilized as a means of walking on 'all fours', and two legs - he isn't a traditional 'dragon' in the sense of his distant cousins - like the Krayt Dragon, but rather a more flight founded beast of immaculate proportions.
- Name: Belial, The Black Dread
- Loyalties:
Darth Empyrean
- Notable Possessions:
- Belial owns nothing, per say, but has a notable possessiveness over the Nerf meat he eats, and an exceptionally large 'squeaky toy' named Perseus. Many have tried to take it from him, but few have lived to tell the tale.
- Personality:
- For all his age, Belial has grown somewhat lazy in his age; enjoying the life of lethargic meandering, and being tended to day and night by a long list of keepers and handlers - but after the alchemization, he has found an exhausting amount of energy, more akin to when he was but a young dragon. With this, he uses it to 'play' with his kills, the toys he is given, and the overall staff that come to tend to him; though due to his size, and slight disconnect with how large he is now, these can often end up in a fatality.
Sometimes they don't.
Outside of this, Belial is often aggressive - protective of Maliphant and those he shares a bond with to a hyper degree. It is not uncommon for the Black Dread to bear his monstrous teeth to newcomers, though rarely does this come to actual violence. For those he is more familiar with, but not quite friendly, he is often shy - an odd dichotomy to his seemingly imperviously large size. He will hideaway where able should Maliphant not be near, and turn aggressive if cornered.
Yet, for those he is friendly with - they will find him almost dog-like in his appreciation of them. If a dragon could be a lap dog, Belial has become one from his pampering; and for those carefully gracious to be close to Maliphant and his pet, they would find Belial gently nudging them for physical contact, enjoying the soft pressure of 'petting' he can appreciate, and the altogether closeness of a bond with others outside of Maliphant.
- For all his age, Belial has grown somewhat lazy in his age; enjoying the life of lethargic meandering, and being tended to day and night by a long list of keepers and handlers - but after the alchemization, he has found an exhausting amount of energy, more akin to when he was but a young dragon. With this, he uses it to 'play' with his kills, the toys he is given, and the overall staff that come to tend to him; though due to his size, and slight disconnect with how large he is now, these can often end up in a fatality.
- Training:
- Through hundreds of years, Belial has developed an apex predator mentality; and a terrifying disposition to things he considers prey. This has made him wild in many ways, but it has trained him for the difficulties of combat; and fighting other dragons, as he often struggled to maintain his position as the 'top dragon' on Arkania. There was a reason he was often referred to as 'The Black Dread' there, as most dragons would not live to the age he had been were they not capable of fighting well.
After the 'domestication' of the beast, it became more willing to the adjustments of 'mount' life. He was trained to fly with Maliphant on his back, though this was equal parts training for Belial as it was for Maliphant; and later listening to vocal commands, which took an equal amount of time. Eventually, there doesn't even need to be something said for such a thing - as Belial knows the ever so slight Force ques Maliphant has perfected over their years together.
The last of Belial's training was in the Force - though slight as it is. Belial can sense the Force, much as a Vornskr, and even manipulate it in small degrees to symbiotically amplify his hunting; though he is relatively meager compared to his more physical attributes, or his passive alchemic abilities Maliphant himself placed on him. In terms of boons, Belial is trained to utilize these various elements of his alterations and mix them into already established staccato and rhythms.
- Through hundreds of years, Belial has developed an apex predator mentality; and a terrifying disposition to things he considers prey. This has made him wild in many ways, but it has trained him for the difficulties of combat; and fighting other dragons, as he often struggled to maintain his position as the 'top dragon' on Arkania. There was a reason he was often referred to as 'The Black Dread' there, as most dragons would not live to the age he had been were they not capable of fighting well.
- Combat Function:
- Belial exists as a monster - from tail to teeth, a massive, alchemized dragon wrought from the teeth of Maliphant’s forge to serve as little more than a symbol of power. His greatest strength is exactly that - to spread absolute fear wherever he goes. Even trailed by a mythical black smog that shrouds his form, he appears in a battle more a nightmare than anything tangible; but even a nightmare can kill when they’re as dangerous as Belial.
Being so massive, Belial serves as a siege weapon - able to destroy swaths of land, spread his miasma to entire urban areas, and crush whatever it is he wishes to. This extends to his ability to strike down atmospheric starfighters, walkers, and even other Dragons that stray too close to his territory. All these things speak to his massive strength.
Where Belial suffers, however, is directly a result of his size. While he may be able to fight things relatively his size, or even large areas, he often can not handle solo engagements with smaller opponents - especially when ‘care’ of surroundings is a consideration. Speed is often not in his favor despite his sith spawn status, and while he may be the ‘King’ of Dragons, he is also just that - a large, angry beast, that while intelligent can be lured into traps not otherwise doable by more intelligent beings.
- Belial exists as a monster - from tail to teeth, a massive, alchemized dragon wrought from the teeth of Maliphant’s forge to serve as little more than a symbol of power. His greatest strength is exactly that - to spread absolute fear wherever he goes. Even trailed by a mythical black smog that shrouds his form, he appears in a battle more a nightmare than anything tangible; but even a nightmare can kill when they’re as dangerous as Belial.
- Father of Dragons -
- Between Belial's size and reputation, the Dragon serves its purpose as a demoralizer. Massive and intimidating, anyone who witnesses Belial on a battlefield is often filled with sudden fear - apprehension, and a serious strike to their moral; if for nothing else but his sheer presence in the heart of battle.
- Black Miasma -
- Where Belial goes, a black cloud follows. In it, a harsh toxin that can choke and confuse, to shroud entire areas in a sensor-nullifying fog that does little but incite mass panic. While it is not lethal, its effects on moral and hiding entire swaths of the battlefield have extreme utility when Maliphant needs to confront someone in a very specific area of an invasion.
- Heavy Weighs the Crown -
- Due to Belial's size, he lacks the speed many smaller dragons have; and while he can keep up with them in the air, often on the ground he suffers. For this reason, Belial requires others to protect him when taken on by multiple small, fast targets - lest he be killed by a death of a thousand cuts.
- Matter over Mind -
- Despite his intelligence being above a dog, Belial does not compare to tacticians - and is often focused entirely on destruction. For this, he is often able to be lured into traps, out witted, or even escaped from with a little forethought into it. He is a powerful beast, but more a hammer than a scalpel.
- The Light Reveals -
- While the clouds that Belial creates are thick and toxic, even the Light can strike within it. When exposed to large ysalamiri fields, Belial will be unable to perform to his highest degree - and all his toxic smoke will fade, nor will he be able to breath fire as normal. Additionally, while he can take a strong hit from Force Light, it is often a mortal wound he would not be able to continue fighting for - or even survive if not medically attended to quickly.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
Born on Arkania, Belial was one of the ‘last’ Arkanian dragons born after their ‘exctinction’ in 4000BBY. Living his early life in the confines of a diamond mine long abandoned, his adolescence was simple and unconfusing - changing only when he grew, and continued to grow, past his peers. When a now defunct mining company came to lair to restart the mining operation abandoned millenia before, it was the first time Belial would ever come into contact with sentients.
And it was a poor experience.
Firing on Belial, the mining operators tried everything they could to kill him - from shooting him with small arms fire, to even attempting to collapse the cave on him. All failed, and Belial took his first sentient life at a young; only to continue his rampage on small outlying towns. This began the legend that would become Belial - and while he was large, he was even more known for his monstrous aggression.
For many hundreds of years, cities across Arkania would burn, other dragons would be consumed, and Belial would slowly transition from rationale threat, to a bed time story parents would tell their children to make them behave. It was about this time that Belial would collect many names - from King of Dragons, to ‘The Black Dread’ for the color of his scales. The planet would raise him to a nigh mythical status, where many considered him little more than a myth.
However, during the Dark Ages, his infamy would transcend the backwater stories of Arkania, and eventually find their home in half the taverns in the outer rim. At just one place, Maliphant heard word of such a deal - and after having studied the Telos Holocron for many years, he thought it only rational he put himself to a righteous test, and take the dragons name for himself.
Travelling to the planet, Maliphant hunted Belial down to his home - and the two carried into a long battle that went on for many days and nights; though not continuously. Many times one would injure the other and drive them back, only for the tables to turn once more - but when all was said and done, and Belial carried lightsaber scars across his body, Maliphant was the victor.
Yet, instead of killing Belial - he decided it only right to give him a chance to live a better life. Taking him with on the Acerbitas, Maliphant brought the dragon to his own personal hide away; and through the next few months both healed Belial, and changed the beast into something far worse. Slowly, he was made into little more than a war machine that bled smoke, and breathed blackened fire enhanced by the Force.
And it is there that Belial remains, a massive figure Maliphant cares for constantly, and only brings out when he has a point to prove. Intimidation and a status symbol, Belial as half trophy dragon, half siege engine - but entirely the Black Dread.
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