ROSEN QUEEN JOURNAL #4 (Patreon)

So I’ve been spending some time in the Rosen Queen Library (don’t ask how big it is—like, it shouldn’t even fit in the building, but it does, and honestly, I’ve stopped questioning most things here). Anyway, while I was there “doing research” (aka, looking for stuff I can turn into boss fights for the game), I stumbled across some info about Slayers. And, uh… they’re not really human.

I mean, okay, technically they’re human. But only in the same way vampires are human, except Slayers are still alive, so they’re more human by default. Except they’re not, because they’ve got this insane demon essence crammed into them. It’s like someone took all the rage, bloodlust, and “kill first, ask later” energy from a demon and concentrated it into a regular person.

Except they don’t die from it. Not unless something really big or really stabby gets them first. Which, apparently, doesn’t happen much.

Reading about it, I kind of get why vampires avoid Slayers like the plague. It’s not just the whole “expert vampire killer” thing (though, yeah, that’s a problem). It’s that they’re fast. And strong. Like, stupid strong. Like on the same level as a Blood Prince strong, and only get stronger the longer they live and the stronger demons they put down.The books didn’t even try to pretend otherwise. They basically said, “A Slayer could rip your head off before you could blink, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Great motivational reading, 10/10.

I guess Slayers and vampires have a lot in common, though. We’re both powered by demons, just in different ways. For us, it’s not like the demon’s driving—more like the demon instincts took over the GPS and started shouting directions we can’t ignore. Add that to all the raw power that comes with being undead, and it’s no wonder we get high off it and start acting like we’re invincible. That’s the real bitch of it, though: the more you lean into it, the more you lose whatever empathy you had left.

It’s like trading your soul for a shiny new engine.

For Slayers, it’s like they’re driving the car, but the demon essence is riding shotgun and telling them when to hit the gas. They still get to steer, but you can tell it’s not all them behind the wheel.

Side note: whoever stocked this library had issues. There are whole shelves dedicated to “Ways Vampires Can Die” and “How to Kill Your Undead Friends.” I found three different diagrams of vampires being staked, and one was annotated. Like, who sat down and thought, “You know what this needs? Labels.”

So, yeah. Slayers.

Not human, not demons, but somehow both.

Kind of wish they weren’t so good at their job. At least I got some ideas for the game, though. I’m giving the Slayer character a roundhouse kick because that’s objectively cool. Maybe I’ll add an ability that lets her stake vampires from, like, 20 feet away.

Lissy and Greg probably wouldn’t care about any of this. They’re not really into the whole “being a real vampire” thing either—guess that’s why the three of us are the ones in charge of keeping the other twelve interns in line. If anything, they’d probably laugh and tell me to make the Slayer even stronger, just to mess with everyone else.

Anyway, back to work. The Slayer boss fight isn’t gonna design itself.