[I couldn’t let my 666th post pass without some sort of evil outsider, could I? The name was the primary inspiration, as the word is used to mean “one obsessed with duels” in the book Gentlemen’s Blood: A History of Dueling. The book’s not great, and is the only Google search result for the name, so it might be completely spurious. The “redirect fire” ability is inspired by the legend of the Freischütz and the Tom Waits adaptation, The Black Rider]
Devil, Duelletomane This
fiend would appear almost human if not for their crown of horns and jet-black
hands. They wear a sword and pistol at their belt.
Also
known as “dueling devils”, duelletomanes are fiendish dandies that delight in
driving mortals to acts of ritualized violence. They excel in stoking the
flames of envy and pride, turning men into killers with their words. They
disguise themselves as friends or lovers of their targets, escalating petty
feuds into deep hatred and encouraging both sides to draw others into the
spiraling cycle of violence. The winner of these duels rarely matters to a
duelletomane, rather it is the escalating loathing that they savor, as it
pushes more and more souls closer to the clutches of Hell. Sometimes, however,
a duelletomane will champion a particular duelist, using them as a tool to
incite violence in others and carve a swath through high society.
In
combat, a duelletomane acts as an honorable warrior when circumstances would
benefit it to do so, but can be decidedly underhanded. Their magic gives them
quite an advantage in single combat, and they are sure to empower their weapons
with keen edge and named bullet if expecting a fight. They
excel at fighting a single target, but may become fatally distracted if engaged
with multiple opponents at once. One of their favorite tricks is to redirect
the fire of their enemies to each other, causing mistrust and dissent even if
the shots are non-fatal.
With the rise of the gun, and the increasing popularity of duels as a status symbol among Egdwen’s elite, duelling devils have begun to be sighted there more frequently. They are also common in Vedzeva, according to Frunsimite records.
Shores of Swords 