Demonmark

MAL 14

 * Aler asked Barris and Jon about being demonmarked. He and Jon provided the information that only a fairly powerful demon lord can "mark" a mortal, and that other demons therefore avoid killing such a person on Malachi, even if it means their deaths, because dying on Malachi does not permanently kill them and may inconvenience them less than risking the anger of a more powerful demon. Obviously, this means there would be exceptions to the rule, such as if a group of demons has already been made aware that the demonmark comes from a demon lord their own master is at war with or some such eventuality. Also, demons encountered on the Abyss itself tend to protect their own lives much more aggressively since being killed there truly destroys them.

MAL 18 & 19

 * During the attack, an arm shot out from the eye sigil on Khirg's back as he maneuvered past Aler, phasing through his ribcage, causing him to fall unconscious, and teleporting him somewhere. He regained consciousness in a black-tiled room with a fiend who demanded to know who had demonmarked Aler and tortured him with hellfire and a deepsteel blade when he refused to answer. An illithid rescued him by shooting the fiend in the back with a holy blaster, revealing herself as a tiefling planeblazer named Tisha Lake with a shapeshifting amulet. She also told Aler some information about his family, in particular that he could have inherited the demonmark from his mother because demonmarks follow bloodlines and that Aler's father had killed Tisha's mother.

MAL 23

 * While still mulling this over, Aler got a letter back from Lady Aldrayeth, delivered by white dove. The letter read "Well, the good news is I was able to identify the identity of your demonic patron much more quickly than I’d been expecting. The bad news is that’s because it’s Orcus. I’m going to have to ask you to stay out of the Mages’ Guild from now on. Best of luck, you may need it."