Are you a morning person, or more of a night owl?
Well, I do tend to have more fun at night, but in truth I prefer not to see the stars.
What’s the first thing you notice about a person when you meet them?
How powerful an opponent they may be to the raw torment and destruction that permeates what’s left of my essence. And their cheekbones.
You see a huge spider in your room, what do you do?
My current room can’t really abide such things. If it isn’t magical and it doesn’t appear to be a messenger, I suppose I’ll have to eat it before someone sees.
If you could go back and change one decision you made in the past, what would you change?
I have a nasty little theory that things would be very different if only I’d played a far longer game with one little batch of refugees in airships, many, many decades ago.
Tell me about your first kiss.
A girl in a tiny camp built in the ruins of a town in the desert far, far away from here, in the form of her boyfriend’s brother, where I knew the boyfriend would see it. He overreacted, hurt her, her father the camp leader exiled the boy, caused a schism. The camp fell to infighting and then fell to the ghouls. But I made sure there were survivors to spread the paranoia and the sickness to the next settlements they found. I lived that way for centuries, maybe millenia, in between summonings, even after the world lit up and the stars went out. But sooner or later, like everything else, I wound up in Palimpsest.
Do you give people second chances?
I don’t give them first ones.
Are you a cat person or a dog person?
There are dire cats and hyenas still alive in some parts of the Screaming Desert, or there were. I can appreciate the power and tenacity of both, but I prefer my own playthings a little more sapient.
Do you think you’re attractive?
Oh, baby, that’s all I am so long as I want to be.
What’s your worst habit?
From mortals’ point of view, I can only assume it’s tearing apart communities through physical and emotional rot. From my own point of view, it’s getting bound.
When was the last time you cried?
Oh, I went crying to the Emissary more than once before he became not worth the maintenance. He clearly had a thing for it. Liked to play the protector. Made him even easier to convince.
Are you a good liar?
Rather innately, yes.
What’s your biggest pet peeve?
Red. I can’t stand red, and I can’t ignore it, no matter how hard I try, like there’s a crack in my essence where the piece that processes that should be. After that, it’s strong minds, closely followed by strong immune systems.
Have you ever had your heart broken?
Shattered. Irrevocably. And everything I once was with it.
Are you more likely to use your fists or your words in an argument?
Words first. It’s more fun and more effective. The claws only come out when I’m in a rush.
What’s something you’re naturally good at?
Seduction. Corruption. Destruction. Deception. Also, apparently, survival. Oh, and bringing people to orgasm, of course, that also seems to come with the territory.
What’s something you had to work hard to be good at?
It took time to master all the little soft and tender bits that people like to dress up their carnal desires in. Small talk and massages and listening and singing.
Can you tell when someone is flirting with you?
It would be deeply embarrassing if I couldn’t, with this much experience.
Do you think money can buy happiness?
Money and happiness both aren’t real. People just insist on pretending to feel less out of control.
Do you believe in destiny?
I’ve lived through two apocalypses and it looks like they weren’t the first. I’ve also seen enough of desperate vicious cycles that people are too flawed to break out of to know the signs. Call it what you like; we’re all doomed by our failures on every level there is.
Are you a good cook?
If I have to be. I prefer my own food raw.
What do you think happens after you die?
Without a star to draw me back, everything I am rots back into the churning, fermenting filth that permeates every grain of sand on this plane, until someone else bubbles up out of it and what’s left of me lives on unknowingly in them.
Did you have to grow up fast?
I was born as an adult from the blazing, burning, torn essence of whoever I was before. If I ever had a childhood it was as someone else I cannot speak of.
Who do you look up to?
No-one. And I don’t intend to start.
When you go to a tavern, what do you order?
Depends what form I’m in. I am nothing if not a character actress.
What do you like most about yourself?
I’ve got enough wits and enough magic that no-one’s got me yet.
What do you like least about yourself?
I’m broken. I always have been. If I weren’t, I wouldn’t be me. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt.
Do you want kids someday?
Ha. No. But I’m open to offers. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Are you a planner or more spontaneous?
I tend to be more spontaneous than most, which I assume is why they put these bindings on me.
Can you keep a secret?
I can, but I can’t promise to keep yours.
Do you like being the centre of attention?
Just for long enough to tear things apart, and then I know when to slip away.
If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today?
See what damage I can do when there’s no reason to play it safe, I suppose.
Do you enjoy getting all dressed up for a special occasion?
I’m always happy to try out a new appearance for a while, although I do prefer them to be pretty.
Where do you feel safe?
I don’t. I imagine I had a star, once, but nowhere since.
Do you love or hate being alone?
I’d rather spend as little time as possible with nothing to prey on but my own thoughts.
What’s the last nightmare you remember having?
If you count other people’s, then it’s just lust and perversion, the same as always, although I try to have some fun with it these days; see what references I can pull in. On the rare occasions I have one myself, it’s usually just the apocalypse again: Salsabil dimming, the stars crackling, people erupting, bricks and stone crumbling, my own body swelling and burning with a searing emptiness and the roaring, hateful call of the Lord of all Divs blossoming into my essence every time it cracks further open. I don’t choose to sleep much.
Do you admit to mistakes when you make them?
To whom? Whoever’s currently summoned or bound me? Not if I can help it. Would you?
Do you want to grow up to be like your parents?
The nearest thing to a parent I had is the spirit whose fracturing I was born from. There’s no way to become like her again, as far as I or the scholars I’ve read can tell.
How do you deal with being sick? Are you stoic or super whiney?
After thousands of years, I have rather learned to live with it.
What did your parents expect from you when you were born?
I don’t think anyone expected me to exist until I did.
Do you have a strong sense of style?
Oh yes. As enslaved Divs go, I seem to be unusually creative and independent.
Would you rather camp outdoors or stay the night in an inn?
An inn tends to have more people to prey on and fewer opportunities to see the stars.
Is there a food that most people like but you absolutely hate?
Most mortal foods taste like varying varieties of ash to me. But ash can be palatable.
Are you more of a hoarder or a minimalist?
I’m a forward sort of girl in more ways than one. I don’t tend to keep mementos. I’m not here to look back.
Are you superstitious?
I think technically I’m a superstition.
Are you the kind of person who remembers people’s birthdays and pet’s names and stuff?
I can be, but I don’t tend to do so without purpose. I’ll remember the information that might hurt them, and the information that will help deceive. I don’t care about the rest of your life.
What do you do to feel better when you’re sad?
I spread it around.
Is it hard for you to trust someone?
I’ve never had cause or need to.
Are you susceptible to peer pressure?
No, I think that’s why they put me in these bindings.
If you decided to stop adventuring and settle down, what kind of job would you take?
Courtesan seems to be working for me.
As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
As I said, I was never a kid, or if I was, I don’t remember it. To my recollection, I’ve never believed I could be anything but me. Save one or two brief diversions.
