Scythe's Reference
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-- [A friend of a previous Host of the Chaos Dice]
-- [Scythe, in response to a past challenger]
A flirtatious and playful soul capable of causing havoc in pursuit of good times if tempted enough. Her height draws attention as she walks into a room. Her crimson mane drapes over her, reaching halfway down her back. When the wind blows through her hair, it can reveal ears that are more human-like than demon-like. Her bubblegum pink tail is often seen twirling as it sticks out from under her little black dress – though it’s hard to tell it’s out of amusement, plotting or both. This and her behavior can often distract from the dagger in a black and purple sheath strapped to her right thigh – but that’s one of the more minor things she hides.
Table of Contents
Backstory
Scythe was around thirteen years old when the cursed Chaos Dice found their way to her. She, a bit of an outcast amongst her village and a magical late bloomer, relished having a skill beyond her levitation, but her loving family knew better. They were aware of the rumors of how ruinous an existence and how often short the life of a host of the Chaos Dice was and tried to figure out how to free her of the curse – eventually wondering if there was any way that didn't involve killing her and if doing so would end up being best in the end – but a roll from young Scythe, overbearingly tempted by her new curse, would obliterate her family before they could “save” her, scarring her in more ways than one. With it helping form her Trigger, such scenes had become her greatest pain and her greatest happiness all at once.
Scythe would then end up wandering across her world and later into others – usually by accident. She would throw herself into various jobs and adventures, working for forces both good, evil, and in between, embracing “the level of chaos” she was then on. But if she was honest – and she never will be fully honest about it to just about anyone – she was coping with her tragedy with anything she could reach, losing herself in the euphoria in her blood that was now unlocked by the same kind of destruction and violence she was first exposed to. And of course, she was fine using the Dice, knowing it could be her end with each roll, but also adding to the then comforting thrill.
But along the way – between a few friends, a couple of lovers and lots of years, screwups and fallen enemies – she regained a conscience as well as getting empathy, a sense of responsibility, some wisdom and a better grip on her worst impulses. The Dice would likely remain a temptation for as long as she lived, but it would no longer fully steer her life.
One extra dimensional tourney going horribly wrong later, Scythe fell into a timeless void while escaping it and was eventually spat out into a new land. She attempted to lay down some roots for the first time in many years – while this was moderately successful and she has people who care for her and she cares for, she couldn’t help but think about her past wild freedom at times when she feels a bit…restricted. Then a letter arrives… Personality
Scythe, in short, is a Chaotic Good being tempted into going back to being Chaotic Neutral; while she's happy with her current life, she does sometimes think about her past fun despite knowing the consequences tied to it and what a danger she was back then. She can’t help it with how long she’s spent as a free spirit and the tragedy that made such events enjoyable. Still, while she wants to cut loose a bit, she's careful about not crossing lines despite what thoughts may come to mind. This also leads into her recent habit of making sure an opponent is sure before fighting her and offering chances to surrender.
Scythe unabashedly adores children – the more innocent, the better. With her own childhood a shambles, she will take the chance to dote on or treat ones she meets if it won’t cause further problems, helping their childhoods be a tiny bit more enjoyable.
While capable of having normal, pleasant conversations with just about anyone, Scythe is frequently a playful flirt and tease and will do so if they intrigue her enough – though even she knows some targets aren’t a good idea and refrains. Quite a bit of it is for the thrill, to see their reaction or boost their ego a bit; she isn’t going to pursue a relationship with just anyone. This amusement can randomly dip when she’s reminded too much of a bad or bittersweet memory and she’ll end up slowly disengaging. She doesn’t seek to enrage with her teasing (unless they are already an enemy of hers), but if it ends up bringing a better fight out of someone, then it’s a happy accident.
Scythe is the type to usually be smiling unless something has truly enraged her. She only addresses people by their name about a third of the time, usually calling them “sweetie” instead. She gives more personalized nicknames when they’ve become her friend or at least someone whose behavior or quirks amuse her/stays on her good side long enough. Such honors are not above being revoked though. |
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Appearance And Fashion
Armor? Proper combat gear? Pfft. My travels have made me more of an ‘anywhere, anytime’ kind of lady~”
She arrived wearing (what she hopes to be) her main outfit for the Cross Tournament: a black single-shoulder knee-length dress with the strap on her left side and the skirt being a bit off-kilter – a bit longer over her left leg – as well there being three clean tears across the chest. The dress is paired with matching ankle boots with two-inch heels. Her dagger's sheath, black with purple along the edges, is always strapped to her right thigh.
She also packed another outfit as backup: a black criss-cross halter crop top with pronounced cleavage and matching short shorts as well as a pair of pink and white sneakers.
She’s very open to trying out some new fashions via Crossroads’ shops, even to walk into battle with; she has never gotten to choose an ideal combat outfit and lost armor pieces in the past so she will fight in absolutely anything if it comes down to it.
Her tag, a golden fox head because she liked the little familiar, is usually either around her neck or tied to her tail by red fabric.
Abilities
Chaos Demon Physiology
The…rush as you call it...it's beyond incredible. I guess. But that's probably also why my kind usually die young.”
Scythe’s body is harder to cut and damage, though her pain receptors still behave normally. In addition, a Chaos Demon’s adrenaline is more potent than with most humanoids, giving a sense of euphoria when in high enough levels. Getting to such levels is different for each Chaos Demon; what activity that will consistently start that rise and get them to that level is referred to as their Trigger and it’s something usually made in their formative years or after a major event; currently for Scythe, her Trigger is intense destruction or combat – seeing it or taking part.
Chaos Dice
I do not know how I keep surviving and keep holding this back, but I can figure out what your odds are a lot easier.”
Scythe was cursed to be the latest host to the Chaos Dice – a fractal of the natural chaotic energies of the universe currently taking the form of ten-sided dice with sides numbered 0-9. Each symbolizes a particular element or power; Red for Fire, Blue for Water, Green for Wind, Yellow for Lightning, Black for Explosion, Pink for Shield/Barrier and Purple for Warp/Teleportation. The numbers on the dice default to a silver engraving and glow on a rolled number. She usually summons them via her hands but has managed it on her tongue or her tail on rare occasions. She can temporarily allow a summoned die to be rolled by another, but it would have to be handed off carefully to avoid counting as a roll (she has only ever done this once before so the odds of doing so again are incredibly low). They can also be unsummoned if they haven’t been rolled yet.
When summoned and thrown, the number it finally comes to rest on is the level of power manifested that Scythe can then manipulate. Even when it rolls outside of her eyesight, she innately knows what numbers have been rolled once they triggered, but not where it physically is. For most of the dice, this effect starts from the area the dice physically stopped and manipulated from there on by who rolled it. For Barrier and Warp, the number means the strength of said shield or the max distance/how specific the teleportation can go respectively, and the effects don't have to manifest from the die location. Even at its highest roll, a single Warp die can't send anyone outside of the dimension it was rolled in.
For all dice besides Warp and Shield, Scythe has trouble fully controlling an 8 result and can just barely manipulate a 9 at all despite her practice.
A 0 result can be thought of as a “backfire” or “critical fail” and its effect are meant to target Scythe herself in a way she can't control and usually in a detrimental way at least tangentially related to the element of the die – though her turning it to her advantage in some way afterwards isn’t completely impossible. This and the aforementioned risks of 8 or 9 results is why she usually only throws one or two at any time with a self-imposed maximum of four.
No energy or mana is needed to summon and throw a die, but there's a background temptation for a host to use the dice Scythe has trained herself to ignore under normal circumstances. And the more one uses the dice within a certain time period, the greater a mental and magical compulsion to continue using them – this addiction is one of the bigger reasons all of the previous hosts are no more. That is something Scythe can't fully ignore at the best of times and can only resist until the urges pass. She also cannot use any other magic or power she didn't already have before she got the dice beyond workarounds like special kinds of enchanted objects. There is no currently known way to be free of the Dice that doesn’t involve the death of the holder.
Levitation
Look at you – trying to sweep me off my feet~”
A power Scythe's had since she was two (and the only power she was able to gain before the dice), she can defy gravity and float/fly about. It's just a bit faster than her typical running speed, but it won't be able to help her outmaneuver those with true flight in the air.
Trauma Dagger
It’s not the weapon I started this long road with, but I don’t hate it…”
An enchanted double-edged dagger made of steel and silver with a lime green pentagon-shaped gem in its hilt that Scythe has gotten relatively recently. The dagger has undergone a lot of different names, but the name Trauma Dagger has stuck for many because it seemed to respond most to those who have experienced a lot of trauma over their lifetime. Scythe has a long life of such trouble; this has managed to bind it to Scythe as a result despite the Chaos Dice blocking her from knowing other powers – perhaps because the powers aren't truly hers or maybe because it is the cause of most of the trauma that lets it react to Scythe in the first place.
Scythe is able to shift the dagger into other blade forms as well as create blade constructs of various sizes to attack opponents from a distance or to simply have a dual-wield option. Unlike the Dice, this does cost mana/energy to use; the bigger the moves, the more it'll cost her and risk tiring her out – something she’s been getting used to. And since it’s been bound to her, while anyone can use or take the dagger, activating its powers would require Scythe temporarily or permanently giving permission.
Items
I'm used to packing light. What can I say?”
Bracelets: A strange, believed to be enchanted, metal formed her tough bracelets that she rarely takes off as an emergency defense against attacks. While usually polished to a mirror shine, a keen eye will notice a bit of wear and tear – a clue that they aren’t indestructible. Either the enchantment has started to wear off or the metal is finally nearing its limit.
Communicator: Shaped like a compact mirror but just slightly larger, this dull silver piece of RuneTech is for making video contact with others with a similar device or those able to match its particular magical frequency to communicate with it. Scythe will mostly use it to contact and receive calls from her roommates as long as the God Eater allows these extra-dimensional chats…and if Scythe feels like chatting at all.
Strengths
Scythe has been heavily trained in swordplay and with almost all known melee weapons, so she doesn't need just her dagger and dice to fight as she can grab almost anything to hit others with. This was something she was very insistent on learning to decrease her reliance on her curse. Scythe is also a bit stronger than most humanoids her size due to her demonic nature and the aforementioned extensive melee weapon training. She has a surprisingly clever mind, but it’s especially noticeable in a mathematical affinity – helping her calculate the odds of certain decisions working out. It's usually for any tactics involving the Chaos Dice or gambling reasons, but she can apply it to other areas like standard battle.
She also has plenty of combat experience in general due to being alive for so long and all the trouble she's gotten into and gotten out of in various degrees.
Weaknesses/Limitations
Scythe isn't great fighting barehanded; while knowing the basics, she was never that great in martial arts compared to her extensive weapons training, so her efficiency slightly dips if temporarily disarmed of her weapon and can't grab another in that moment. She is even worse with firearms/blasters due to it being something she has rarely had to ever use (and a lot of realms she’s visited not having them at all). So, grabbing one from an enemy isn't going to do as much for her as much despite her accuracy in other uses not being terrible.
As mentioned previously, Scythe cannot cast magic that isn’t her Dice or a special arcane loophole locked to certain aspects like her dagger – even magic that even children could do is beyond her while she’s cursed and most focus items (wands, staves, tomes, etc) do nothing to subvert this.
While having a bit of a brain and capable of making tactics and theories, she has little confidence in any plans or battle strategies that even slightly qualify as long term that she comes up with for herself or include her direct involvement. At most, Scythe is barely thinking half a step ahead when it comes to acting on her own (¾ of a step on her best day) and just avoids doing things with a low chance of working out. And she doubts many plans will even work due to her bad luck, her past track record or just the Dice getting in her way.
Scythe is just as vulnerable to collateral damage from her Chaos Dice as anyone else even without rolling a 0; it's a curse after all and it could care less if she couldn't manage to escape the various manifestations and will do her no favors. This can be from a massive blast from a high roll or the dice being knocked away before it settles and activates too close to Scythe before she can react or manipulate it away.
Others can roll the dice if carefully taken from her before the roll officially starts. To add to this, a 0 roll would still only affect Scythe even if someone else is rolling it.
While the Chaos Dice cannot be sealed and she can always summon them at will, if they land and attempt to activate in some kind of anti-magic zone, they’ll evaporate into smoke instead of activating.
When Scythe's adrenaline gets too high, usually via her Trigger, the euphoria is paired with a further lack of impulse control. She will gradually become more reckless with her tactics and make more mistakes the more intense a fight gets if she can't calm herself down.
Scythe also has moderately intense phasmophobia that she tries to conceal and work past over the years; she's unsettled being too close to (or gods forbid, touched by) ghosts and spirits or at least those she believes are that. Zombies and the undead are included to a lesser extent, but in general, she tries to deal with each encounter on an individual basis, usually focusing on other aspects of the situation or convincing herself otherwise.
Gallery
More pictures to come when able.
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| Scythe's primary outfit | [item description] | [item description] |
Author's Notes/Extras
Scythe having human shaped ears is considered a genetic mutation; she’s not part human in any part of her bloodline. Also, what separates Chaos Demons from regular demons has nothing to do with the Dice themselves.
The Chaos Dice has jumped from individuals of many different species, including humans. They have changed shape and number of sides over the eons mirroring the evolution of regular dice, but they have never gone past their current ten-sided forms for some reason.
While she isn't a demon of any faith, Scythe sometimes references Eris, a goddess of chaos in a realm she's spent time in. It seems to have stuck with her out of habit after mentioning it enough during that time.
While some may consider Scythe young for standard demons, not many Chaos Demons nor any previous Chaos Dice holders haven’t lived to be even close to her age.
I tend to actually roll dice/use RNG as I write any use of the Chaos Dice in Scythe’s stories. It’s not a requirement for anyone, especially if that’ll complicate anyone’s writing/creative process.
Some songs to help you think about Scythe:
"Infinity" - Against The Current
"The Enemy You Need" - Blameshift
"Courtesy Call" (w/ intro) - Thousand Foot Krutch
Cupidz – “Sheet”
Feel free to reach out if there are any questions or things left unaddressed.