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Barbatorem, as named by Roselyn, is a mid-tier demon of the third choir, the Choir of Ruin, it is a demon that specializes in attacking other practitioners and can slip through their defenses. It does not kill, but leave the victims in a state where they cannot function without outside help of some kind. It is a feared demon within Jacob's Bell.

It ruins by way of reflections as well, cutting a person right down the middle, let them get filled in and shored up as vestiges are prone to do and divide things like friends, memories of school, abilities, trauma, repressed memories and so on. Where there’s overlap, there’s enough memories to spare, or the spirits are filling it in and things get exaggerated in vacuum, expanding to fill the empty spaces. The two halves will fight over one another until one-side is completely destroyed, leaving the other forever diminished.

History[]

Because it erases its name with every summoning, it does not have a single name. Rose Thorburn Sr. named it Barbatorem after the fact that in the Middle Ages barbers were surgeons. It was named after being summoned using burning hair, rotting boar carcasses with the name on it, and her infant firstborn (he was not harmed) and bound in the 1950s as one of Roselyn Thorburn's proudest achievements.

It ends up being freed by Faysal, only to be sealed within Johannes' eyes and then have them carved out, leaving him to be trapped within his body and bound to the Abyss. It is then retrieved by Mr. Levinn while inside Johannes' body and captures Faysal in order to use him to open portals to the demon world and have them flood the human realm. He is later kicked back into the Abyss.

Appearance[]

Barbatorem has no fixed shape. All previous forms only have death, mutilation and a lack of hair in common - and a bladed instrument. It currently has the form of an old, severely malnourished potbellied Middle-Eastern or Indian man. Balding with scraggly, sparse, long and uneven hair, brown skinned, and constantly emanating the smell of burning hair. Carries a pair of shears.

When freed from its confinement, it was revealed to be muscular, with scar tissue covering much of his body, suggesting lash marks. The rest of his skin was bruised and ulcerated. His head was covered.  An animal’s head, a horse’s or a mule’s head, pitch black, with teeth bared, the eyes pale. Blood leaked from the base, trailing down his muscular shoulder and arm, all the way down to a pair of shears as long as forearms.

Personality[]

The demon has shown no personality, save ignoring Blake due to the fact that it doesn't recognize him as a Thorburn. Even when it was trying to kill him it showed no emotion. However, it proved to not only be a clever combatant, but utilized its shears to devastating effect. Once it possesses Johannes it proves to act as a practitioner would to keep him tethered to his demesne while trying to inhibit the practitioners who try to hinder it.

Abilities[]

The demon itself was named for its abilities and its shears, as such it has medical knowledge as well as capabilities related to blades:

  • Supernaturally Sharpened Blades: For two cupped handfuls of flayed flesh from its practitioner, it can ensure that blades never go dull.
    • These blades become so sharp they can even cut out reflections and connections.
  • Medical Treatment: For enough blood that it would make the practitioner pass out, it can do medical treatments with skill beyond the current age. This does, however, leave the person open for Possession.
  • Life Extension: It can extend the lifespan of others at a cost of them always smelling blood, rot, and/or burning hair. They will either gain half again their natural lifespan or an extra twenty-five years, whichever is less.
  • Demesne Infiltration: Barbatorem is capable of infiltrating other practitioners' domains, but it cannot infiltrate the homes of non-practitioners.
  • Spiritual Mutilation: It cannot kill directly, but it can leave victims in a state where they cannot function without help permanently by mutilating the soul, which can also prevent practitioners from using their arts as well as potentially barring them from the afterlife.
    • It can also carve reflections of others, taking bits and pieces away, as well as carving them in a way that the duplicates will be loyal to him.
  • Reflection Traveling: It can move between reflective surfaces, such as glass and metal and as a result should not be looked upon directly lest it enters the eyes and never leave.

References[]

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