Nil: Where the Demons Are by Uzriel
Runner-Up for January 2021
Nil: Where the Demons Are
a Child's Tale
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One day Vella put on her demon mask and raised Nil.
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Inked in black and white, a little viscanti girl is depicted in a demonic mask is shown chasing a mangy mutt within a well-to-do house that the beast clearly has no business within. Paintings in the background are askew and broken vases are scattered along the floor.
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"That is it, into the Box!" Her parents yelled.
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The mangy dog in the previous illustration is depicted with ears lowered slinking out of the house, as the little girl has her arms crossed across her chest, pouting up a storm beneath the demonic mask she wears.
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The Box is very small, and very dark, and very very boring.
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A side view of "The Box" is depicted with the little girl inside, banging on the lid to no avail, the illustration is eerily reminiscent of her being buried alive.
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But then a portal opened up, and Vella fell through it.
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The illustration on this page shows the girl still trapped within the box, however on the floor beneath her a dimensional rift is beginning to tear open, crackling with energy, demonic hands are reaching out to grab at the girl.
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She fell and fell for nearly forever.
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Illustrated upon this page, the young girl in the demonic mask is spinning through the air in a free-fall, swirls of energy indicate the transversal through a rift and disembodied arms are stretching out from the bottom of the page in an ominous grasp.
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Until she landed on Nil, surrounded by the scary imps and demons and fiends with their sharp teeth.
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Illustrated on this page, the little girl is sitting undignified on her rump, having just landed. Demons, fiends, and imps with sharp claws and even sharper teeth cackle as they close in on her menacingly.
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But Vella wasn't scared, she stomped her feet and said "Come here" and then smacked them on the head.
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The masked little girl is depicted standing, arms crossed and feet planted resolutely, glaring at the demon in the way only an unafraid child of noble birth certain she is going to get her way does. Before her one, of the demons - who standing would be thrice her height - is crouching, clutching his head begging for mercy, a hand-sized mark left on the side of its head.
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They groveled at Vella's feet and so she played her games with them, dancing through Nil where one can raise it as much as they want.
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The girl in her mask is depicted cavorting amongst the demons of Nil, who are likewise engaged in merriment stomping their feet and dancing with her. A few of the demons are shown crouched and whimpering as they rub their heads in pain from apparent slaps.
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And then the demons and fiends and imps decided she was ready to meet the Supreme Master.
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A throng of demons are illustrated holding up a chair upon which the young girl sits, they carry her through an angled hallway. A similar illustration has been drawn multiple times angled in different directions of the demonic horde carrying the girl through the labyrinthine hallways.
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And he taught her about patience and how to make the other Lords do what she wished and sent her to play with them too.
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The Supreme Master's throne is depicted on the page here, the handsome Lord Luciphage himself sitting upon it. He wields an ebony staff topped with a golden skull in one hand and in the other he is offering a gift to the little girl in the demonic mask. She is sitting upon his knee, hands outstretched for the gift while listening intently to the Lord as he speaks to her in a fatherly demeanor.
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First she went to Gorgulu and together they ate and ate and ate until she ate so much she could not move and took a nap.
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Empty plates filled with crumbs, fish bones, and chicken bones surround the little girl who is presently occupied with eating a dainty slice of cake. The grotesque mass of Lord Gorgulu is shown nearby, tentacles holding its own numerous meals to feed its maws - within its grasp are whole chickens, an entire cow, a full multi-tier wedding cake, and strangely enough a lone geomancer-shaped cookie.
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But she made sure not to get too close, she thought that one mouth looking at her was up to no good.
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The little girl in her mask is shown leaning back against the wall patting her belly in contentment. One eye is half-lidded with drowsiness, the other squinted suspiciously at Lord Gorgulu who is nearby with one maw hungrily salivating in the girl's direction. Animal bones, crumbs, and broken plates litter the ground around the two.
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Then she went to visit the Queen Nifilhema, who showed her the many toys she had and all about sharing.
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The beautiful Queen Nifilhema is illustrated running a hand lovingly across the iron maiden, her lips curled up into a cruel smile. A wide-eyed little girl is depicted holding up a pair of thumbscrews in examination, expression one of curiosity and wonder. A wide array of other torture devices fill the background, most with blades or barbs upon them, and no small amount of blood.
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Together they shared her toys and played with some cherubs who came to visit, and Vella learned how fun art and cruelty can be, especially when it is shared..
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The young girl is squealing with delight as she pulls a lever attached to the rack, which is currently occupied by a shackled cherub. The Queen stands upon the other side of the rack, holding a wickedly sharp blade in her hands as she watches the girl approvingly.
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Next Vella skipped to Lord Baalphegar and he taught her all about Truth and Lies and how to make one look like the other.
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A light spring in her step atop a platform of threads, the girl in the demon mask is just in the process of opening a black tome that is reverently resting atop a pedestal. The cover of the book has an inverted pentagram upon it, and from within the pages arises a dark wind, ruffling her hair as it billows forth.
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They ensnared some imps in the Webs of Despair and laughed as the imps blamed each other and fought not knowing any better.
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Four imps are depicted in a circle in the midst of a fight, claws and teeth gleaming in their battle. Strangely, they are not supported by their own weight, rather they dangle from spindly strands of thread that stretch upward to where the little masked girl is. She holds the web to a pair of the imps as if they were marionettes, one in each hand, the other pair is being held by a dark shadow looming beside her.
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Finally she went to see Lord Ashtorath who showed her how to throw a tantrum and screamed obscenities that Vella thought were very interesting and would have to remember for later.
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Lord Ashtorath, the Duke of Inescapable Damnation has been drawn upon this page in the midst of one of his infamous rages. The imposing demon lord has every muscle flexed in tension as he beats his chest, stomps his feet, and is snarling out what must be a string of obscenities. The little girl in her mask is standing nearby, tittering in delight as she watches the spectacle.
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She pretended one of the bells was that gross i'Xiia boy she never much cared for and punched it so hard it cracked!
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The little girl in the mask is all business in this sketch as she delivers a fierce blow with her tiny fist towards a carillon bell. A very crude face was drawn on the bell, as if by a child, and a crack is running down the bell from where her blow is making contact. The Duke himself, apparently no longer in a rage, is standing nearby watching with a stern look of approval.
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But finally after all the fun she had on Nil, Vella was ready to go home. But the imps and demons and fiends came to stop her so they could play forever.
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A horde of demons, imps, and fiends of all shapes and sizes are all drawn surrounding the little girl. Some have their hands held up in protest to block her progress forward, others are tugging at her to remain, all of them are frowning and upset - a few are even shedding tears, hands held up in protest to block her departure. A crackling rift stands on the opposite side of the page, access blocked from the girl by her admirers.
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"No!" Vella proclaimed, "I had so much fun and learned so much here, but now it is time for me to go back home and raise Nil on the Basin again!"
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One demon is illustrated crouched on all fours, and the little girl is standing on its back as if it were a dais. She has one finger pointed forward as she scolds the demonic rabble who listen with a sheepish look on their faces.
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And so she fell back through the portal once again, and while she fell she heard a chuckling voice echo after her, "You wish to leave so soon, Vella? Very well, we shall meet again. I am, after all, a patient Master."
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The girl is once again shown in free-fall through the rift, far below at the bottom of the page can be seen the box where she started her journey, while at the top of the page distant demonic forms are waving their goodbyes at the departing girl.
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When Vella got back home, the box was open, and she saw she had a new friend who came back with her.
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The young girl is shown standing up emerging from the opened box as it sits in her room, decorated with the toys and furnishings one might expect a noble's child to have. A small hunched over imp lurks by the feet of the girl, long tail flicking behind it and small wings aflutter at its back.
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The End.
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The final illustration of the book depicts the incorrigible Vella still wearing her demonic mask within Magnagora's zoo. She is holding up a dead mangy mutt, that looks suspiciously similar to the one inked upon the first page, towards a carnivorous rabbit with sharp teeth, ignoring a conspicuously placed sign that says "Do not feed the animals." An imp is hovering in the air behind the girl at shoulder height cupping a hand around its mouth as it whispers to her, "Do it."
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