The Legend of Maledire

Many years ago there was a man named Maledire who sought great power and in his hubris came to be tricked by a great demon. What he had believed to be a gift of mastery over the shadows, allowing him direct manipulation, the ability to become incorporeal and phase through solid objects as well as pass from one shadow to the next, was instead a curse, for the beast gave him this power by planting a minor demon in his soul. This imp, if not appeased regularly through a special ritual, would devour the man’s soul and take possession of his body. To ensure that the man’s bloodline, and thus the curse, would continue through the ages, the imp was given the power to select a soulmate for its host. Once the soulmate was selected, the imp could twist its hosts’ emotions and desires until the thought of life without this soulmate became unthinkable. The imps did not always have their hosts’ best interests in mind when making their choice, as their goal was the propagation of the bloodline, not the happiness of the host. As such, sometimes the consequences could be disastrous for all involved. Now, centuries after the original curse, there remain only seven siblings left of the original bloodline. This is their story.