The Wings / The Cage - Marrow

Art by Az

Double-feature concept art for two of Nox's states- and a little of the story behind them. 

Also - crunchy bird man with big ol bird feets

#nox backstory #birdman #this is maybe 40% monster mode #he was the og phoenix after all 

The Wings

Nox's wings never burned away when the angels fell. In the Marrow universe, angel wings are inter-dimensional appendages. They exist everywhere and nowhere at once, allowing angels to travel planes of existence by being directly connected to "the whole." The inter-connectedness of all things.
In other words, they always have a 'foot in the door.' Or a wing.

Nox is a demon now, of course, and the rest of his being is no longer compatible. He may also be the only fallen angel who still has his wings at all, and he does not want to find out what new hell Lucifer or Michael would have in store for him if they knew.

So Nox hides his wings, or keeps them "folded"- in a space-time sense. That is also how his sword "disappears" behind his back when he sheaths it. It's folded up in his wings.

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The Cage

When Nox defected from Hell, he was punished by Michael- again, who took advantage of Nox’s unique physiology to keep him from escaping his ‘penance.’ When Nox is summoned by a human, he has to complete whatever task the summoner sets for him. The silver cuffs on Nox’s wrists begin to burn hotter, the longer he takes.
If he takes too long, the cuffs burn right through him until there’s only the righteous holy fire of Michael left to complete the task. And after the terms of the deal are fulfilled, all that’s left of Nox is ash- from which he is reborn in a matter of days. Naked except for his scar and his cuffs.

If he tries to remove the cuffs, he burns. They are mottled and unformed from the cycle of melting and cooling, but like Nox’s wings, they never melt away.

Nox has gone to great lengths over the centuries to keep the knowledge to summon him out of human hands, including killing those who summon him once their deal is over and done, when they fail to add clause against that in their deals.
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The summonings aren’t nearly as frequent as they were a few centuries ago. Now Nox mostly tries to lay low and kill time. He’s got a lot of it.