Thread:AngryLance/@comment-37028137-20200128044919/@comment-37028137-20200207194225

Thank you for your thoughts Lance, they are most appreciated.

I am glad you liked it, and that it shows Vellantha’s powers while leaving enough mystery surrounding exactly what she is. You are correct she is certainly not a normal Lilim, but that will be uncovered as the novel goes along.

I do not particularly see Vels’ change as being into a ‘Primal Form’ but more as a shift in her psyche, and her Magic alters her physiology accordingly to reflect the transition. I actually took inspiration from two rather unlikely sources for Vellantha’s change. Those two being Druella, and the insofar unnamed Queen of Hearts. (Stay with me here alright?)

Both Druella and the Queen of Hearts have unique anatomical structures when compared to their sisters. Their forms reflect the mental state of each of the ladies. Druella’s is sharp and dark reflecting her more radical and overly aggressive approach to spreading her mother’s doctrine. (Something Vels comments on: “I fear you may have heard stories about my older sister Druella. She is…overly motivated to please our Mother.” I shook my head sadly “I love her but she’s crazy sometimes.”)

The Queen of Hearts on the other hand is more capricious and uninhibited by power, showing a childlike persona and having a childlike figure. (Again I do not like Lolis but this helps illustrate my point.)

Vellantha’s form reflects her nature as a warrior being seven foot tall and rather muscular in her build. While she is a bright, cheerful and an altogether brilliant woman she is a slight opposite of Nick who is thin and gauntly, and while still brilliant and caring is fairly dour when facing existential threats. (I wanted the two to complement each other in their aspects.)

Vellantha’s darker form is representative of her inner rage (which she does not realize is truly there. It ties in with why she hates the ‘false god’ so much.) While her outer appearance represents her sweeter, happier psychological state. She hides her more volatile emotions because they scare her, she fears her more powerful side and what she is becoming, as well as what others (mainly Nick) may think of her. Because she refuses to accept these harsher emotions as part of herself they start to bubble up during stress.

Nick has almost the opposite approach wherein he uses his pain as a strength and as a shield to the past. (Which ends badly for him…but we will get to that later.) He is used to change and has reserved himself to semi regular cycles of death and rebirth. Which is also a skewed way of seeing life as he believes nothing in his life can be fixed and it is his lot in life to shoulder the worst in the Omniverse. (At this point he is still stuck in his mire of self-hatred after Anathelia died.)

Hope this explains things a tad more.

By the by, what did you think of my references (in the excerpt) to the serum Nick uses and his body starting to fail? Were they too on the nose as to what is coming what with the bathroom scene where he is all emaciated and broken?

Ah and one more thought just niggled at my little grey cells. Was it obvious by the line ‘His body had begun  to luminesce a bright amber shade as energy gathered around him’ that Nick was starting to Regenerate?

Thank you for your thoughts my friend as always it is so helpful.

Cheers,

The Weary TimeLord.