Actually... reeling the ideas you guys had back a notch produces some interesting characters. Duskreaper, perhaps instead of an actual demonic demigod, your character has a demon as a great-great-great grandfather or something and is hell-bent on embracing and using his very dormant powers. Could be barely able to use them at the beginning, and his motivation for adventuring could be to try to find ways to increase his strength (and the knowledge required to use it).

Maria, what if your character will eventually be a wise dragon who lives in the ruins? For now though, it could be a baby dragon that escaped a wizard's shipment. Depending on how you want to play it, it could be very young, hardly bigger than a cat, or it could be a bit older, like the size of a small horse or the like. Still a dragon, but actually able to fit inside buildings without having to stop being a dragon :P