Viandas

Viandas is a story by Nick The Swing, a troper here.

It is still in construction and development, and mostly it tells the story of Johnson Viandas, an exiled prince in the dim, gritty medieval world of Gaia.

Despite its narmy reputation, I am improving the quality of the horror in it.

The story goes that Johnson is exiled from his homeland following him killing a Duchess who sexually abused him, and earlier had found Frederick's darkest secret, and the thing that is propelling Frederick on the path of The Atoner in secret: A tower full of demons, created in a nauseating way. Johnson started as a male order The Ingenue, oblivious to the evils of the world, though he showed some darker traits such as trying to shank an evil cousin.

A few years later, though, what started as a naive little boy is now a Tall, Dark and Snarky mercenary known as The Black Knight of Acturia, a feared figure who is, according to Johnson himself and Frederick's lieutenants, is wrecking dad's Xanatos Gambit. They are all wrong. Johnson turning mercenary is in the plan after all.

Now absent from the political scene, Johnson is brought back in when Phoebonon, a rival empire, threatens invasion, but to lure Johnson in, Carlos, his brainy little brother, comes up with some BS story about evil pacifists causing big brother Richard trouble. Johnson is not amused.

Along the way, Johnson meets up with a few friends.

• Neira, a last name lacking young woman who was adopted by a paedophilic secretly-demon general of Kimeria, another country to the east, trained as a Tyke Bomb. She may well be more than she appears to be. She and Johnson have the first sex scene I have ever written.

• Carlos Viandas, The Smart Guy to Johnson's The Big Guy / The Hero. Not So Harmless describes him. At first, he is a cowardly wuss who runs away rather than fighting. He manages, though, to diffuse violence between Richard and Johnson, and shows some Magnificent Bastard abilities. I used Littlefinger as a template for him.

• Royden, The Lancer. An enigma who never gives his last name either, though he does seem to know more than he shows, and has Demon Slayer talents.

• Steelclaws, a domesticated bear. Everything's Worse with Bears does not apply here, this Team Pet is rather cutesy and nice...off the battlefield. On it, his time with the cruel demon slayer William is shown to have made this bear able to use the abilities of whatever demon it defeats.

• Jack, the Tagalong Kid, a Fox Demon who takes the form of a small child, but is also Not So Harmless in that Jack is the strongest fox demon of Kimeria. He wants vengeance on a guy named Samuel who works for Ein Woe.

Warning: do not read if you cannot handle copious blood and High Octane Nightmare Fuel. Now that pictures are starting to be drawn of some of this stuff, you might find what was once Narm is now pants wettingly horrifying.

Tropes applying to Viandas:

• All Men Are Perverts: The Viandas family tends to give out quite some perverts, some are even rapists. Even little Lawrence has shown to be fantasizing about his maid whenever she is nearby.
• The Atoner: Richard in and after the Phoebonon Arc. For a General, learning his ruthless, Complete Monster level tactics cannot work, and have essentially devastated him, and now Richard is "reinventing himself."
• Bastard Bastard: Richard before he starts trying to redeem himself.
• Bishonen: the sketches of Jewelled Dragon have Johnson as a pseudo-Bishonen. He is less of a feminine type, though.
• Body Horror: Jonhson's whole shoulder recently regrew, and it is very messed up sounding.
• Cruel and Unusual Death: Nosfiratu gets a doozy. Darric gets stabbed ten times, poisoned by the swords, hit by a Breath Weapon, cut in half, impaled by dozens of earthen spikes, and then decapitated. Zachaia, as payback for that last one? Impaled, left arm ripped in half, cut in half vertically, basically disintegrated, then she started regenerating, and got eaten quite gorily.
• Deader Than Dead: Demons die forever in this 'verse. Unless a Supremacie decides one needs to be brought back.
• Depraved Homosexual: Darric pre Character Development, and always a little bit afterwords.
• Mr. Fanservice: Johnson Viandas, and a strange case in Kall Vaalnicus according to one reader.
• Fallen Hero: Frederick, Conner, and Zachaia. ESPECIALLY that last one.