Hi there - long time lurker, first time poster... Not counting my intro...
Aaaanyway, this is the latest evolution of an idea I've had knocking around for at least a couple of years now (prolly longer), although there is very little resemblance to the original concept, much like how each step in the evolution from prehistoric proto-rodent to (say) Bangal Tiger makes sense, but there is only the most fundamental similarity between each end of the proccess....
Where was I?
Oh, yes. Well the original idea was heavily based on the Nexus RPG (If anyone wants to know more about that lemme know & I'll tell all in another topic - prolly over in General Chatter), giving plenty of opportunity for transdimensional fun & crossover hijinks whilst being very slightly less random than DW itself.
One of the things that mutated fastest was who and/or what the main character was. I'm ashamed to say that the inevitable dragon was involved - although I dropped that like a hot potato after reading one of Metroanime's fics. I forget which one now.
The most recent incarnation was inspired by a number of things: The Buffy YAHF "Provocation" - www.grandt.com/XanderZone...ation.html or www.fanfiction.net/s/1752013/1/
As well as www.kitsune.addr.com/Rift..._Demon.htm and www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/2270/ (Look in portfolio/Anime)
Obviously I'm talking about a Marilith (Class V Demon) here.
The final piece was coming across one too many HP fics where some mega-powerful wossname comes down & solves all the problems in one go...
(As a side note - it is fairly critical to most of the concepts that it should be clear that Marilith are not native to, nor usually found anywhere near the HP-verse. At all.)
So: Here's the pitch. (Advance warning - I'm very bad at original names. Any help appreciated.)
Somewhen within cannon HP continuity - not absolutely nailed down yet, but has to be at least OotP-ish: Mouldie needs a body, & the D.E's need to be out & about.
For whatever reason 'Ol Red Eyes decides it'd be a really good idea to summon some sort of snake-demon from this nifty book he 'acquired' - partly to bolster his forces, but largely to replace the ex-basilisk presumably still stinking up the CoS. (Oh yeah... Lucius? Crucio!)
Possible plot point: Where did the book come from? I'll be getting back to that.
So he gathers a bunch of mooks^Hminions^Hlackeys^HDeath Eaters ('Cos they need the extra power for the ritual, obviously...), presumably at Riddle Manor or some other unplottable location, gets the Designated Summoner to do his/her stuff & waits for a new servant - maybe one of those cute snake-women they have in India... What do they call them? Naga?
Oh dear.![[Image: frown.gif]](http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/frown.gif)
This next bit is quite visual and the single bit I have the clearest handle on - now I need to block this out: We have a large room, with a summoning circle in the middle, Death Munchers in a circle around it, the Designated Summoner in a sort of sub-circle on a mystically-significant point, and Voldie just outside - keeping an eye on him.
To a certain extent, the Death Nibblers lucked out here: Instead of a hacked-off Marilith armed to the teeth with Rune Weapons, they get one clad in water, soap-suds and a shower cap and armed with a loofah, sponge and back-brush.
(Some of following subject to revision - you get the gist though. Also not that this is more a description of the sequence of events than the actual story. Think of it as a sort of storyboard.)
After a certain amount of blinking and/or drooling, Tom 'Poster Child for Inbreeding' Riddle tries his luck, and orders the Marilith to kill "That Potter Brat".
She doesn't appear to be listening.
He rants some more, while she experimentally pushes against the boundries of the circle.
He starts waving a wizarding photo of Harry when she raps the boundry firmly in two places with the back of a knuckle - then drives her fist straight through it.
By overpowering the wards, enough energy is released to a) knock most of the D.E.s back a pace or two, and b) cause the Designated Summoner's head to literally explode. Messily. All over Tommy-Boy.
The next bit would be best viewed mostly in Bullet-Time.![[Image: wink.gif]](http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/wink.gif)
Basically, she beelines for the nearest melee weapon (McNair's Axe), relieves him of it, then in a complicate fast move, spins it 'round her torso in a move that could have used as few as one arm and as many as all six, before relieving McNair of his head (and optionally dicing the rest of him). Bonus points for 'accidentally' catching Malfoy Snr. hard enough in the groin with butt during this move to guarantee the Draco will remain an only child, no matter what.
At least one other "Name" D.E. should buy it during this confrontation (Not Bellatrix - she isn't nearly miserable enough yet at this point. Not Pettigrew, either.).
At this point I'd like to take an aside and ponder: What effects would any of the Unforgivables have on a Marilith. I tend to take the view that the best you could hope for would be to irritate it.
So, a few point-blank AKs later, and T.M.R is beginning to worry. At this point she stops, and takes a moment out to disparage the whole ensemble - easy when you're holding a big axe stained with the blood of its previous wielder, and another person is still in the foetal position.
Something like this: "You call yourselves scary? I've had my scales polished by scarier. You try to command ME? A General of Hell's army..." and so on.
Eventually she 'ports out (wards? what wards...)
Now for some behind-the-scenes stuff that I'm still working out how to explain in the text (If I ever do...)
1) IMPORTANT: The Marilith may or may not always have been one. She is either: (1) Some other entity that got turned into one - either individually as in "Provocation" or as part of a wider phenomena as in "Shadowrun"; (2) A genuine Marilith who has mellowed somewhat over time as with Dharka or (3) A genuine, genuinely evil Marilith engaged in a very long-term con-job.
Which is the case will depend slightly on whether I expand with stories in other 'verses, but I'm planning to leave it uncertain.
Also note I plan to have Snape hear all three possibilities (and possibly a couple others). This may just be part of her plan to see how - as at least a double agent - many contradictory concepts he can hold in his head before his brain starts dribbling out his ears...
2) The Marilith is not going to be offing Voldie, much as she would like to. Prophecy, right? Ditto Harry.
She doesn't know the phrasing, but she can 'see' the bonds between well enough to work it out.
3) She isn't leaving the potter-verse, either. A combination of prophecy conditions, the less-than-100%-perfect summoning and Voldemort's desires means that she can't leave the dimension while both are alive (however technical it may be in Tom's case). Both dead would work too.
4) She isn't going to give Tom the time of day, let alone do anything he tells her.
Leading to...
5) The only way she can go home is for either Potter to kill Riddle, Vice-versa or MAD. Since by this time she is utterly narked by Tommy, she is likely to put a bit of effort to make sure that at least Harry manages to off Riddle - even if he doesn't survive.
Therefore...
6) She is going to be putting in fairly minimal effort to try to ensure this happens.
Assuming all the above happened in the summer before OotP, I could see her 'borrowing' Harry for some training, during which she is almost suspiciously nice to him (see origin (1) above), and the Order has collective kittens. No, not literally. Not even Minerva.
Then once term starts, she become "Ms-not-really-appearing-in-this-fic-except-for-a-couple-cameos-until-the-end"
Well... I've gotta include an Umbridge encounter, right?![[Image: devil.gif]](http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/devil.gif)
Actually a Luna encounter could be interesting too, in an entirely different way...
But minor appearences aside, I wouldn't expect to see much of her once term starts except for reference via the latest Prophet/Quibbler (& wouldn't it be fun if the Quibbler was pretty much dead on the money...)
Maybe holidays or the occasional Hogsmeade weekend...
Now going back to an earlier point: Where did that book come from? Could it possibly have been a plant? Who by...?
It should of course also be clear here: Not gonna be a student, DADA teacher or anyone's snuggle-puppy.
For that matter, while she could technically shape-change into a human form & blend in, for the most part she ain't gonna - why should she put up with sore feet just to make them feel better...?![[Image: happy.gif]](http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/images/emoticons/happy.gif)
Anyway, I'll leave it there & then expand if I get any comments.
-crickets chirp-
Anyone?
Aaaanyway, this is the latest evolution of an idea I've had knocking around for at least a couple of years now (prolly longer), although there is very little resemblance to the original concept, much like how each step in the evolution from prehistoric proto-rodent to (say) Bangal Tiger makes sense, but there is only the most fundamental similarity between each end of the proccess....
Where was I?
Oh, yes. Well the original idea was heavily based on the Nexus RPG (If anyone wants to know more about that lemme know & I'll tell all in another topic - prolly over in General Chatter), giving plenty of opportunity for transdimensional fun & crossover hijinks whilst being very slightly less random than DW itself.
One of the things that mutated fastest was who and/or what the main character was. I'm ashamed to say that the inevitable dragon was involved - although I dropped that like a hot potato after reading one of Metroanime's fics. I forget which one now.
The most recent incarnation was inspired by a number of things: The Buffy YAHF "Provocation" - www.grandt.com/XanderZone...ation.html or www.fanfiction.net/s/1752013/1/
As well as www.kitsune.addr.com/Rift..._Demon.htm and www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/2270/ (Look in portfolio/Anime)
Obviously I'm talking about a Marilith (Class V Demon) here.
The final piece was coming across one too many HP fics where some mega-powerful wossname comes down & solves all the problems in one go...
(As a side note - it is fairly critical to most of the concepts that it should be clear that Marilith are not native to, nor usually found anywhere near the HP-verse. At all.)
So: Here's the pitch. (Advance warning - I'm very bad at original names. Any help appreciated.)
Somewhen within cannon HP continuity - not absolutely nailed down yet, but has to be at least OotP-ish: Mouldie needs a body, & the D.E's need to be out & about.
For whatever reason 'Ol Red Eyes decides it'd be a really good idea to summon some sort of snake-demon from this nifty book he 'acquired' - partly to bolster his forces, but largely to replace the ex-basilisk presumably still stinking up the CoS. (Oh yeah... Lucius? Crucio!)
Possible plot point: Where did the book come from? I'll be getting back to that.
So he gathers a bunch of mooks^Hminions^Hlackeys^HDeath Eaters ('Cos they need the extra power for the ritual, obviously...), presumably at Riddle Manor or some other unplottable location, gets the Designated Summoner to do his/her stuff & waits for a new servant - maybe one of those cute snake-women they have in India... What do they call them? Naga?
Oh dear.
This next bit is quite visual and the single bit I have the clearest handle on - now I need to block this out: We have a large room, with a summoning circle in the middle, Death Munchers in a circle around it, the Designated Summoner in a sort of sub-circle on a mystically-significant point, and Voldie just outside - keeping an eye on him.
To a certain extent, the Death Nibblers lucked out here: Instead of a hacked-off Marilith armed to the teeth with Rune Weapons, they get one clad in water, soap-suds and a shower cap and armed with a loofah, sponge and back-brush.
(Some of following subject to revision - you get the gist though. Also not that this is more a description of the sequence of events than the actual story. Think of it as a sort of storyboard.)
After a certain amount of blinking and/or drooling, Tom 'Poster Child for Inbreeding' Riddle tries his luck, and orders the Marilith to kill "That Potter Brat".
She doesn't appear to be listening.
He rants some more, while she experimentally pushes against the boundries of the circle.
He starts waving a wizarding photo of Harry when she raps the boundry firmly in two places with the back of a knuckle - then drives her fist straight through it.
By overpowering the wards, enough energy is released to a) knock most of the D.E.s back a pace or two, and b) cause the Designated Summoner's head to literally explode. Messily. All over Tommy-Boy.
The next bit would be best viewed mostly in Bullet-Time.
Basically, she beelines for the nearest melee weapon (McNair's Axe), relieves him of it, then in a complicate fast move, spins it 'round her torso in a move that could have used as few as one arm and as many as all six, before relieving McNair of his head (and optionally dicing the rest of him). Bonus points for 'accidentally' catching Malfoy Snr. hard enough in the groin with butt during this move to guarantee the Draco will remain an only child, no matter what.
At least one other "Name" D.E. should buy it during this confrontation (Not Bellatrix - she isn't nearly miserable enough yet at this point. Not Pettigrew, either.).
At this point I'd like to take an aside and ponder: What effects would any of the Unforgivables have on a Marilith. I tend to take the view that the best you could hope for would be to irritate it.
So, a few point-blank AKs later, and T.M.R is beginning to worry. At this point she stops, and takes a moment out to disparage the whole ensemble - easy when you're holding a big axe stained with the blood of its previous wielder, and another person is still in the foetal position.
Something like this: "You call yourselves scary? I've had my scales polished by scarier. You try to command ME? A General of Hell's army..." and so on.
Eventually she 'ports out (wards? what wards...)
Now for some behind-the-scenes stuff that I'm still working out how to explain in the text (If I ever do...)
1) IMPORTANT: The Marilith may or may not always have been one. She is either: (1) Some other entity that got turned into one - either individually as in "Provocation" or as part of a wider phenomena as in "Shadowrun"; (2) A genuine Marilith who has mellowed somewhat over time as with Dharka or (3) A genuine, genuinely evil Marilith engaged in a very long-term con-job.
Which is the case will depend slightly on whether I expand with stories in other 'verses, but I'm planning to leave it uncertain.
Also note I plan to have Snape hear all three possibilities (and possibly a couple others). This may just be part of her plan to see how - as at least a double agent - many contradictory concepts he can hold in his head before his brain starts dribbling out his ears...
2) The Marilith is not going to be offing Voldie, much as she would like to. Prophecy, right? Ditto Harry.
She doesn't know the phrasing, but she can 'see' the bonds between well enough to work it out.
3) She isn't leaving the potter-verse, either. A combination of prophecy conditions, the less-than-100%-perfect summoning and Voldemort's desires means that she can't leave the dimension while both are alive (however technical it may be in Tom's case). Both dead would work too.
4) She isn't going to give Tom the time of day, let alone do anything he tells her.
Leading to...
5) The only way she can go home is for either Potter to kill Riddle, Vice-versa or MAD. Since by this time she is utterly narked by Tommy, she is likely to put a bit of effort to make sure that at least Harry manages to off Riddle - even if he doesn't survive.
Therefore...
6) She is going to be putting in fairly minimal effort to try to ensure this happens.
Assuming all the above happened in the summer before OotP, I could see her 'borrowing' Harry for some training, during which she is almost suspiciously nice to him (see origin (1) above), and the Order has collective kittens. No, not literally. Not even Minerva.
Then once term starts, she become "Ms-not-really-appearing-in-this-fic-except-for-a-couple-cameos-until-the-end"
Well... I've gotta include an Umbridge encounter, right?
Actually a Luna encounter could be interesting too, in an entirely different way...
But minor appearences aside, I wouldn't expect to see much of her once term starts except for reference via the latest Prophet/Quibbler (& wouldn't it be fun if the Quibbler was pretty much dead on the money...)
Maybe holidays or the occasional Hogsmeade weekend...
Now going back to an earlier point: Where did that book come from? Could it possibly have been a plant? Who by...?
It should of course also be clear here: Not gonna be a student, DADA teacher or anyone's snuggle-puppy.
For that matter, while she could technically shape-change into a human form & blend in, for the most part she ain't gonna - why should she put up with sore feet just to make them feel better...?
Anyway, I'll leave it there & then expand if I get any comments.
-crickets chirp-
Anyone?