Marlie Background (Patreon)

Do not read if you don't want major spoilers.

Basic Facts

Marlie, full name Marlissax Ashebarre is a Half-Demon, twenty-one years old. Became Silver-rank at the same time as Britni, a year and two months into her career. She was born in Perlshaw and spent nine years with each of her parents while growing up, leading to her being torn between two worlds. Her official class designation is 'Warmaster', a generic class assigned by the Guild to those who show advanced proficiency and arts mastery among just about every type of weapon they touch.

Family

Her father is a powerful Demon Prince of the Endless Hells, Argored of the Abyssal Armory. Her line goes back to the Demon Lord of Wrath, Kymeros the Red General. Argored rules over the titular Abyssal Armory, a gigantic castle made of demonic swords, which is one of the most well-defended holdfasts in all of the Endless Hells. Beyond that, his lands are composed of several large villages filled with smithing Demons who all toil to create presents for their Dark Lord and Master. Argored is a strange Demon Prince in that he does not care about conquest or expansion or even increasing his influence in the mortal realm all that much. He is truthfully a large softie who wants nothing more than to stay in his castle and play with his magical weapons, very far removed from the legacy of his ancestor wrathful ancestor. He puts on an act around most other demons, but amidst his most trusted servants and his daughter, he's just a big friendly goof. He loves Marlie more than anything else and would do anything for her happiness. His fearsome reputation protects his territories, but if push came to shove, Argored is every bit as powerful as his rivals fear and could defend himself and his people. Many other Demon Princes and Princesses ally with him rather than risk earning his ire, as Argored can outfit entire armies with a snap of his finger. It's crucial to know he cannot make weapons himself. He has tried many, many times.

Marlie's mother is a human woman by the name of Raelle Ashebarre, a blacksmith who lives in Perlshaw. Orphaned at a young age, Raelle was taken in by a blacksmith and his wife and raised as an apprentice due to her unnaturally muscular physique for a girl. As a grown woman, she's better grown into her assets and is something of a buff beauty. For most of her adolescent life, Raelle didn't show any promise as a smith, but she loved it more than anything and wouldn't stop trying. There was an untimely accident and her adopted father passed before her skills were considered up to par. She inherited the smith too soon and the business suffered as a result. Even so, Raelle worked her hardest until her hands were scarred and burned from how hard she was trying. One way or another, a shoddy blade that Raelle had forged wound up in the possession of one of Argored's cultists, who included it among a sacrifice of other weapons to the Armory Lord.

Marlie's grandmother is a woman named Beatrice Ashebarre. She is sharp and sarcastic, a balance to Raelle's laidback and at times goofy/cautionless behavior. Extremely doting with Marlie in contrast. Believes Argored to be a deadbeat.

Circumstances of Marlie's Birth

Argored received these sacrifices and after playing around with all his new toys, he singled out Raelle's blade and pressed his cultists for more information on its maker. At first, the cultists thought he was joking. Their Lord was very serious, however, and he tasked them with tracking the smith down and bringing him to their sabbath so that Argored might speak with them. What they didn't know is that the Demon Prince could feel the emotion of the sword, how it carried the passion and dedication of its maker despite its rough shape. He sensed great potential in its creator and wished to offer a contract to them, hoping they might develop into a master blacksmith who would provide excellent arms for his collection.

Instead, when his cultists brought Raelle, the Armory Lord fell in love. Very awkwardly, I might add. Not only was she beautiful in his eyes, but her love for blacksmithing was even greater than he expected. Raelle was blissfully ignorant of why she was brought to this bizarre weapons cult, but treated her situation like a lighthearted affair. One of the cultists asked Argored if he desired a maiden sacrifice because they could've gotten him someone prettier, and they were quickly made an example of through some comical death. This made Raelle more conscious of her circumstances, causing her to become fearful and try to escape. Argored instead demanded that all of his servants leave and allow him to speak to the woman alone.

Rather than revealing his true personality to Raelle, Argored continued on with the powerful demon routine and tried to play it cool, conversing with her through his alter. They talked of her life and how she ended up as a blacksmith and he offered to grant Raelle the power to make the most of her talents. Raelle was skeptical, believing he was offering a shortcut. Argored instead insisted that it would be more like clearing Raelle of the doubt inside her which plagued her talents and stopped her from achieving her best. This was tempting, and she wanted to know what the Demon Prince wanted in return for such a generous offer. He meekly asked for nothing more than for her to remain in contact with the cult and offer him some of her creations from time to time. The best ones.

Raelle was seriously underwhelmed, thinking it was way, way too good a deal. This made Argored panic and to compensate, he came up with the most over the top Demon thing he could think of. He made a big theatrical show about how she must also carry his child so that he might greater spread his influence throughout Karnalle. Raelle was now more impressed, oddly, believing the Demon to be more genuine now since it seemed like he was actually getting something out of the ordeal. She gave it some thought and ultimately treated it like 'sure, why not?' because she's too busy to go on dates anyway and her adopted mother is always pestering her to go out and meet men so that she can have a grandchild before too long.

Argored is completely stunned that she would treat the so casually on top of it actually working. He has her leave for the night so that he can prepare himself, and orders her to do the same. The next time she is brought to his altar, the terms are explained in greater detail now that he's had time to think about them. Raelle is to carry his child and the two will raise her separately for nine years each, after which point the child will decide what she wants to do with her life. Comical moment where Raelle threatens him for trying to get out of child support, but he assures her that his cult is going to be taking good care of her from now on. Indeed, they're already referring to her as their new Mistress. Raelle laughs that off but jokingly says she can get used to it. She's ready for however this is supposed to work.

The room is cleared and a sacrifice of five cultists is performed. This sacrifice allows Argored to manifest a temporary physical form in Karnalle for the night. Raelle feels bad about those guys getting killed, but he reassures her that they would gladly die for him and now they will feast in his halls in the Endless Hells as they always wished. Raelle finds Argored's form pleasing and they spend the night together, conceiving Marlie.

As promised, Raelle goes home to her adopted mother and finds that her awakened potential allows her to create amazing weapons. She's still not the greatest blacksmith in all of Karnalle, however, but it was never about that. His help allowed her to work past her insecurities and utilize the talent that was already there. The shop starts to thrive, at first to the glee of her mother and then her suspicion. Marlie's grandmother was not blind to the mysterious cultists lurking about the place and then Raelle's pregnancy starts showing. Her demonic pregnancy.

Raelle confesses to everything like it was no big deal and grandma just kind of accepts it because that's the sort of stupid shit she's come to expect of Raelle. The grandmother chastises her for not making this Demon Prince take responsibility, which Raelle laughs off, believing this was a one time thing and that Argored isn't interested in her that way and just wanted to expand his influence in Karnalle. She does think he was pretty nice, though, and cute even though it wasn't his real form.

Marlie's parents have had sporadic contact in the years since, mostly playing telephone through the cult unless something major happened and she needed to speak to him through the altar. Argored still wishes to be with her, and if he'd actually take a shot he would find it would work almost immediately. The comedy is that he can't bring himself to do it despite already having had sex with her. Maybe someday, depending on how they're utilized in the story.

Life with Mother

Despite how rough a demonic pregnancy can prove for some women, Raelle gave birth to Marlie without any complications. Any reservations her grandmother Beatrice had went out the window as soon as she saw her new grandchild's adorable demon little horns, tail, fangs and forked tongue. As agreed upon, Argored named the child. Marlissax, a word in the demonic script meaning 'my greatest weapon'. Raelle instantly starts calling her Marlie and Argored is like fine that's really cute, too.

Marlie was a quiet child who faced minor harassment in town on account of her Half-Demon status. Though racism against her kind is much less common than it used to be, people still stared and children could be cruel. Granted, most people who gave Marlie a hard time were often accosted and harassed by men in red robes, who basically crawled out of the woodwork whenever she needed help. Her father's cultists all loved her and spoiled her with presents, though. Young Marlie just assumed she had lots of really, really nice uncles. Their presence can still occasionally be seen in her adult life.

Marlie knew from a young age how different she was from the other children. She didn't fit in and she didn't like playing with them in the first place, preferring knives and hand-axes to teddy bears or dolls. One way she attempted to better blend in was her face mask, which hides her sharp teeth and forked tongue, but after a certain point she stopped trying to get along with other children. Instead, she liked hanging out with her mom and watching the process of making weapons. This fascination inherited from her father proved a difficult trait for Raelle to manage, as whenever Marlie saw a fancy weapon she compulsively looked for opportunities to steal it and add it to her growing collection. She grew out of this for the most part

The rest of Marlie's time with her human family passed by mainly without incident. Raelle did try teaching Marlie how to forge a sword, but it was discovered she had just as little talent for the craft as her father.

Life with Father

Argored was basically helpless for those first nine years. He watched his daughter from afar, possessing the eyes of his cultists to see her. Almost nothing of value was accomplished on his end, aside from counting down the days till they would first meet.

Raelle and Beatrice never told Marlie a thing about her father, leading Marlie to assume he was dead. On her ninth birthday, the truth was revealed. She was brought to her father's altar and he spoke. Marlie was very deadpan even back then, believing her father was a disembodied voice at first. Adding to the confusion is that Marlie thought people had children when they love each other, asking the awkward question about what their relationship was like. Raelle casually admits it was transactional, leaving Argored heartbroken but forced to agree so as not to look weak.

Rather than being afraid of being taken away from her mother, Marlie was okay with the idea of living in the Endless Hells for nine years. She felt she didn't entirely belong in Karnalle and decided she would make the most of it and try to find out if she felt like she belonged in the Endless Hells. One ritual sacrifice later, and a portal to the Abyssal Armory was opened. She was escorted by servants to meet with her father.

He was a large, imposing figure sitting on a demonic throne, yet Marlie wasn't scared. When questioned why, she revealed that her mother can be kind of stupid sometimes but she's a good judge of character and she probably wouldn't have had her with him if she didn't think Argored be trusted. The Demon Prince is overly excited about this news, asking Marlie really? Which Marlie replies no, but she figures out that he's in love with her mom, though so he probably can't be that bad.

Her time spent in the Endless Hells was much more fun than the human realm. Marlie loved it there. Everyone was nice to her, she was basically a princess of the castle- a castle made of swords. She had a dad who gave her everything she wanted and who spent nearly all day every day showing her millions of different magic weapons and teaching her how to fight as well as use unique demon magic in her bloodline(talking to weapon's souls and summoning from her own arsenal). Still, the Endless Hells wasn't really doing it for her, either. Not fully. She missed her mother and the potential of Karnalle. Everything in the Endless Hells was repetitive, no matter where she went it would all be more or less the same. Demons, suffering, the souls of the damned. That was all well and good, but she desired more out of life then that.

That, and there seemed to be expectations for her if she stayed here. Her father's servants were ecstatic that he finally had an heir who could rule in his stead if anything happened to him, not to mention all the suitors who started showing up as she grew older. Argored did his best to put down as many of them as he could, but they still seeped in like cockroaches. Marlie wanted neither to rule or to marry. When the nine years were up, she knew what she had to do.

Marlie's Choice

Marlie was returned safe and sound on the day of her eighteenth birthday. She was happy to return and see her mother and grandmother again, but it did hurt to leave Argored and all her demonic friends behind. Marlie was given a choice shortly after reuniting with her family. When asked what she wanted to do with herself from now on, there wasn't any hesitation.

Marlie wanted to find her own place in the world and asked her father for freedom. Given that he couldn't deny her anything, she was granted this. Raelle also expected this to happen, it was revealed that they had prepared a gift for her in the event it did. They gave her a pair of swords, one filled with her mother's love and another with her father's. One looks normal, if a bit shoddy, but the others a full on demonic blade. These are her signature weapons, the ones that she uses when her back is to the wall. Because of her power to call on a weapons soul and talk to them, she's able to get much, much more mileage out of them then out of any weapon she isn't close to.

There was a stipulation for those present, however Argored revealed that Marlie can't have any of the weapons her father spoiled her with over the years. She could normally summon them from her room in the armory, but he cleared it out and added them back to his own. She is very annoyed about this to this day, and frequently thinks about all the presents he gave her that he took back. It was something of an act of pettiness for not choosing to remain within, on top of serving as motivation for her to go out into the realm and start her own collection. As the story continues there is the potential for her father to start giving some of these magical weapons back.

Given that her mother lives in Perlshaw, Marlie decided to make use of the new Guild that had been constructed while she was gone. She would live with her mother and grandmother whenever she wasn't adventuring, but much to Argored's dismay she hasn't visited him in the years since she left. This is because she's always growing stronger and thus the number of cultists required to make a portal for her keeps increasing. One of her goals is to find a method of travel between Karnalle and the Endless Hells so that she can better visit her father, preferably in the form of some sort of artifact(with a drawback that would prevent her from spamming it or using it to avoid damage).

Adventuring Career

As has been stated in the main story already, Marlie befriended Britni against her own will. Britni wouldn't stop bothering her and going on quests with her until they were friends, and the arrangement has worked well for both of them. The name 'Baddest Bitches' was originally a sarcastic comment made by Marlie to refer to herself and Britni, and to her embarrassment, Britni stuck with it and wouldn't let it go.

She is deeply grateful to Britni, even if she is not capable of admitting it. She would've kept to herself if not for her.

Marlie's main motivation in adventuring is the acquisition of new magical weapons to add to her collection. Although she gives Tiph a lot of shit over how long her ingredient trips take, she is just as bad whenever she hears about a new weapon. Even if it's some piece of junk with shitty ability, Marlie will still go to great lengths to acquire it.

Even the weapons of her Guildmates aren't safe around her. Though she moved on from stealing them like she did when she was a child, if Marlie sees one that she really, really wants, she will find some way to get it off of them(might make for a good Coye plot if he finds a weapon useless to him? Maybe asks out on date?). Back in Perlshaw she has challenged other adventurers multiple times and claim their weapons after the fact. She hasn't done this much in Cransmere, given how it's backwater town with primarily low-level adventurers who don't have much worth coveting. She's always had an eye on Coye's sword, though.

Unlike Tiph, she has not slept with Britni or Coco. Not against the idea in the future when they're altogether with Coye, but for now I'm just specifying. She doesn't have much of a sex drive until Coye awakens that part of her, turning her into a sadistic demon with an affinity for leather and chains in the sheets.

Cransmere and Coye

Marlie has mixed feelings about the town of Cransmere. On one hand, she rather likes the demonic energy found in the woods, as it reminds her of the Endless Hells. On the other hand, no one cares much for her there. Anti-demon sentiment is strong within the little logging town, and there have been several incidents during her short year there. Marlie is above responding to any attempts to rile her up. Britni has savaged a few people on her friend's behalf, though.

I'll skip over her initial thoughts on Coye as they've already been explored. Doesn't think much of him at first.

Her eyes towards him are opened after his fight with Auguris, where she gets the chance to hold on to Coye sword for a while where behind the scenes she will have had a long talk with it and learned all about Coye and his secrets. Hearing about everything he's gone through and about the depths of his relationships ends up interesting her much more than she's comfortable admitting.

She tries to keep a respectful distance because of Britni, but she develops a very out of character crush on him somewhat akin to the way her father feels about her mother. It's hopeless, and it tears her part as things get worse. By the time Coye has already won over Tiph and Coco to his side, Marlie is all that Britni has left.

Her arc will center around personal issues such as the anti-demon sentiment in Cransmere, possibly introducing a faction of Luxist Inquisitors as arc villains, as well as her crumbling relationship with Britni who is barely herself at this point. Marlie will have to choose between her own mental health and supporting Britni, and the answer won't be pretty. It will have to be very tasteful. She won't just up and go over to Coye because Britni is crazy now. It needs to be natural and in a way that makes sense.

For now, I'm trusting future me to handle that as it's too early for me to make any speculations on how that will go down. I likely won't know until I have a much greater insight into Tiph and Coco's arcs.