Roltharus regains his memories.

When Roltharus was young he lived in a small village in the mountains. One day however he fell off one of those mountains. By all normal means that young boy should have been dead after that. However in a twist of fate that boy fell on an old and dying demon. Not just any demon but an ancient one. One of the demons that had been believed to have disappeared two thousand years ago. However this demon had survived until that day. That demon had been around five-thousand years old.

When the boy woke up weeks later he had not a single scratch on him. Somehow before the boy died the remaining part of his soul fused with a part of the demon's soul. This had saved his life. But he could not remember a single thing. All his memories had vanished. Eventually this boy grew up and became Roltharus. (Although not many people would consider him to have grown up much at all. :p )

This story is about what would happen to Roltharus if those memories were not gone forever. If somehow those memories were just buried deep in his mind and locked away. If he found some way to unlock them again.

Memories are inherently tied to your identity. With each new memory we change and grow. The person you were two weeks ago is not the same person you were today. The you from a year ago would not make the same decisions you would make today.
Nobody ever stays the same.

If Roltharus were to unlock those lost memories again he would change. The memories of his parents would influence him. The memories of his village would perhaps make him want to return.
The memories of his fall would maybe give him a fear of heights.

However he would still be Roltharus. That boy that fell off the mountain might have well died that day. When he lost his memories he was reborn as a new person.

Most people do not remember their childhood very well anyway. He would only gain a few years worth of memories. So the change would not be very drastic at all.
That is if it was only his own memories he would regain.

That boy is not the only one who died that day. His soul is not the only one in Rol's body.

Within Roltharus sleeps another soul. That of the ancient demon. If Rol were to regain his memories he would also gain those of the dead demon. All five-thousand years worth of memories. He would remember things that even the history books have forgotten.

He would remember that instead of manipulating the shadows, he once was the shadows.

He would remember a different childhood. A childhood in darkness and shadows. A life under the mother of all demons, Ashera. Living among his brothers and sisters. Back when they still ruled these lands. Before the war with the Angels.

He would remember the true form of the angels and how the war started. The cruelty both sides inflicted during that age long conflict.

He would remember seeing humanoids for the first time. The war had taken it's toll and food supplies were so low. He had no choice but to prey on these weaker creatures. At first he felt guilty but after a few hundred years that guilt had vanished. All that mattered was the war.

He would remember the elves hiding in their forest. The dwarves seeking safety in the mountains. The orcs being the only ones who could fight back long enough to escape. They weren't worth the chase. The humans however had no such defense.

He would remember the angels using human villages to lure him into an ambush. He knew it was a trap but he was too hungry to care. Unlike some of the weaker demons he was able to always escape with a full belly.

He would remember when the humans learned magic. They no longer were easy prey. But that didn't stop him. Eventually some of these humans made a deal with demons. Magic in return for protection. He scoffed at that.

He would remember hunting down an angel scout. The angel had come too close to one of the underground army camps. It needed to be killed before it could report the location to the other angels. He enjoyed that kill.

He would remember that fateful day. Him going back home only to find other demons fleeing. They told him there had been a great battle in their homeland. The angels attacked all at once. The demons and their allies were driving them away succesfully. But then there was a bright light and everything was gone.

He would remember rushing home to see what had happened. But once he got close he could feel that anyone who came too close to the giant light would die. His soul was in pain just being near it. He hoped there were some of his kind still alive in there.

He would remember the tears that came when he realized there weren't any.

He would remember joining up with a group of survivors seeking vengeance. They were lead by one demon. The strongest demon he had ever seen. He followed them into battle as they took down one of the angelic cities. They slaughtered many of the remaining angels that day.

He would remember this force of demons marching towards the angelic capital down south. He remembers the ambush. The panic. Their leader getting captured. He ran.
Later he felt guilty for abandoning his family.

He would remember three hundred years later. The first time the undead swarmed the land. The people living then called it the end of the world. But his world had already ended.

He would remember the thousand or so years after that. He spent most of those roaming the lands. Hidding among the shadows. Eventually he returned home. But it was all gone. Where his large cities once stood now there was only grey sands and skies. His homeland had become a wasteland. Only inhabited by a handful of savage creatures and beasts.

He would remember finding a cave in the mountains. He went to sleep there for hundreds of years. Only waking up to hunt for food every now and then.

He would remember waking up one day and feeling old. He had been alive for so long. Yet now he could feel he didn't have much time left. A hundred years at most. So he got on his feet and decided to travel back to the place he once called home.

He would remember the rumble from above.
He would remember seeing the rocks falling towards him.
He would remember the pain he felt when the rocks hit him.
He would remember the boy that landed in front of him. Both of them dying.
He would remember the feeling of his soul leaving his body and everything going dark.
He would remember his soul struggling not to disappear.
He would remember waking up and seeing his gigantic body fade before his eyes.
He would remember falling asleep again forever.
He would remember dreaming of being reunited with his family.


He would remember every single one of things and more.

Five thousand years is a very long time. The memories Roltharus would gain would overwhelm him. His own memories would drown in that sea of demon memories. He would no longer be Roltharus. Nor would he be the demon.

The human mind cannot handle a flood of that many memories coming in at once. Rol's mind has already cracked once before. He luckily survived that.
But his mind would not survive this time. It would shatter into so many pieces there would be nothing left but dust.

If Roltharus could ever regains his memories he would lose everything else.