Day 4

Almost half a week has passed and my nightmare is not over. For a short while, I entertained the idea that the first day was merely an unfortunate aberration that I summoned from a dream, a terrible fantasy dreamt up by an overactive imagination. And yet, as each morning dawns, as I awaken again, I find that I am still the demon I saw myself become.

However, I am beginning to become more comfortable in my new flesh. It is unclear how much of me remains human (how would one even test for this?), but if nothing else I still seem to bear my own consciousness and mind. If anything, even that has improved- I've found my wit and focus growing even sharper. Perhaps even my brain has undergone the same dark change as the rest of me?

I am beginning to learn that I have developed... powers. My skin is tough and hardened, and I find myself entirely undeterred by heat or flame. In fact, I find myself craving it more often than ever, though I always feel a bit warm under the collar. (I fear testing myself with a thermometer and discovering my temperature easily exceeds the low hundreds.) When I find myself angry, either at my current state of affairs or over some passing trifle, I've seen my frame accompanied by small wisps of black, drifting flames. And last night, over the peaks of Maghelm's buildings, I spread my dark wings and flew.

So the most easily summoned conclusion to draw is that I am, indeed, one of the Empowered that seems to be populating Maghelm of late, though it is truly impossible to tell. For me to be so similar to the demons and devils of lore, to be a creature out of a child's nightmare, I almost feel as if I am different, somehow. Perhaps, my body has truly been seized by some supernatural, devilish being that has some grander design for my fate than I can currently perceive.

I've met some others, some people who seem to know what struggles an Empowered faces. However, my fear of their (our? my?) ostracization bears heavily on me. There is a populace of normal, unaffected humans that may very well fear these people (myself previously being one of them). And with the whispers and rumors I've heard, the arrests that have already been made? This is certainly the case.

[Note: I will not be posting details about any of the Empowered that I encountered or will encounter, aside from perhaps my interactions with them. This is to product their identities in what is to be considered mostly a highly stratified world state.]

With a kind heart's help, I've found a neighborhood to live in. The landlord was hesitant at first, but I met double rent and he stopped asking any questions fairly promptly. Assuming I can do small jobs around the neighborhood, rent should be fairly manageable for a few months, at least until I am able to figure out more. (Cash reserves, save me now.)

For now, I am passively researching the conditions of the Empowered and trying to network with more. Some seem intent on becoming heroes, others villains. I don't have much ambition towards either, at the moment; the well-being of the Empowered should be the first (only?) priority. Then we (they?) can start discussing how to best use our powers.

Posts will be irregular, I was forced to type this from an internet cafe. I have my laptop and tablet, thankfully, but evidently my building is having a networking issue. I'm probably going to try to find the building router and force myself in to fix it.

No one stops the IT guy, especially if he's also evidently the devil.

-Az