02-23-2016, 02:45 AM
(02-22-2016, 11:14 AM)PullipPrincess Wrote: I'm really interested in hearing more of her back story!
I can claim no credit for Nico's character- she's based entirely off a character from a novel series, Rachel Aaron's "Legend of Eli Monpress" novels. The setting is one where every object- trees, pebbles, buildings, swords, etc- has an individual, sentient spirit. Some people are spirit-deaf and cannot communicate with the spirits. Others, called wizards, can hear and communicate with the spirits, as well as exert their will over them to make them serve their desires (whether by force or by mutual cooperation).
Not a whole lot is given of Nico's backstory, as she has repressed her own memories, but at some point, Nico became host to a demonseed, a parasitic splinter of the soul of the demon who lives trapped under a mountain in their world. This has given her certain abilities- heightened senses, inhuman strength, the ability to teleport from shadow to shadow- which come in handy in her line of work as assistant to a world-renowned wizard thief. Hosting a demonseed also comes with steep consequences, however- the demon wants nothing save to devour the spirits of everything around it, and this includes Nico's own soul. Nico must live knowing that if at any point she loses her control over the demon within her, it can devour her and she will cease to exist. She wants nothing more than to rid herself of the demon and be merely human again, but the odds are not in her favor- nobody who has been forced to harbor a demonseed has ever survived after the demonseed is removed. In the meantime, she and her companions focus on protecting both Nico and the world around her from the destruction the demonseed can bring. She wears manacles (which I need to make for her) that prevent the demonseed from eating the spirits around it, and her coat hides her true nature from surrounding spirits, who would try to destroy her out of fear if they knew what she was.
I've personally always loved Nico as a character because of the inner strength she shows in regards to her struggle against the demon within her. Nico is presented as a fairly shy, timid girl who has a lot of insecurities about her usefulness to the team, but nonetheless she has an incredible amount of willpower, keeping the demonseed at bay and even returning past the apparent point of no return by sheer will. I admire that strength in her, and I feel like I can often relate to her anxieties, so she's become basically my favorite fictional character in existence, so much so that I've actually made two different custom dolls based on her: EAH Nico
(Sorry for the wall of text; I always feel like any less description just doesn't quite do her justice!)