Demons
Demons, sometimes called Fiends, or the Tartari, are a group of species from the Tartaria ancestry, and originate from the Plane of Tartarus. They can be identified by their monstrous, unnatural appearance, and their unceasing desire for violence and destruction.
Demons are beings of pure chaos, living instruments of oblivion that exist solely to destroy and bring all of creation to ruin, embodiments of rage and brutality that are barely contained by their monstrous forms. Demons lack almost all of the universal natural instincts found in other species, like a desire for food, survival, socialisation or reproduction, with their sole urge being that of violence and destruction.
Demons are the spawn of the Dark Deity Tartaros, the personification of violence and chaos, and are intimately tied to the Abyss, from who's depths they are endlessly spawned. The location of which is theorised to be Pandemonium, the lowest level of the Abyss, and where the Primordial Deity Tartaros is thought to reside.
It is said that Tartaros desires nothing more than to corrupt and bring about the end of all creation, and to bring about this end, Tartaros created its Demon spawn, a infinite horde of chaotic and violent creatures that destroy and corrupt everything in their path. Demons are speculated to either be the children of Tartaros, or a fragment of Tartaros itself.
While Fiend is a synonym for Demon, the term "Fiends", sometimes used as a collective term for both Devils and Demons. While there is much debate on whether the two ancestries are actually related, with Devils having a more humanoid appearance in comparison to the monstrous and bestial looking Demons, there is no comradery between the two, with both ancestries involved in an never ending conflict, known as the Immensus War.
Table of Contents
Shared Characteristics
Appearance
Demons tend to be bestial and monstrous in appearance, with almost no humanoid characteristics. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and often resemble a corrupted or chimeric versions of a pre-existing animal.
Demons share very little visual characteristics between each other, besides twisted and vile in appearance, like a perversion of life, unnatural and horrifying abominations.
Biology
Ageless. Demons do not age and are believed to be born fully formed, but they can be killed, their bodies usually melting into a pool of corrosive black ichor.
Bestial Intelligence. Outside of the Archdemons, Demons have a very primitive, animalistic intelligence, driven purely by their base instincts of violence and destruction.
Demonic Resilience. Demons are all resistant to the cold, fire and lighting, and are immune to the effects poisons.
Demonic Restoration. While unconfirmed, a popular theory is that when a Demon is killed, it's essence returns to the heart of the Abyss, where it is reformed and reconstituted into a new, "healthy" Demon, with no memory or connection to its previous form. Archdemons seem to be the exception to this rule, able to reform while maintaining their appearance and memories. It is widely believed that as long as the Abyss exists, Demons can never be permanently killed.
Magic Resistance. Most Demons are naturally resistance to Magic, with Spells and similar Magical effects having difficulty effecting them.
Reproduction. Demons are incapable of biological reproduction, but Archdemons seem to be capable of corrupting creatures into their non-demonic spawn, such as Gnolls and Myconid.
Sex & Gender. Demons are sexless creatures, with no notion of gender. They are often given the pronouns "It/Its" because of this.
Unchanging. Demons are unchanging beings, they do not posses Souls or Free Will, and are incapable of acting out of character or reinventing themselves.
Unnatural Nature. Demons don't need to eat, drink, sleep or breathe. While they don't need to eat to survive, Demons seem to still enjoy eating the flesh of their prey.
Ancient Origin
Demons first surged forth from the depths of Abyss during the early years of Creation, the vile agents of the "Lords of Chaos", the Dark Deities Apophis and Tartaros, intent on the total and utter destruction of the universe.
While the Gods and their newly created army of Devils, who would soon betray them, were successful in defeating and imprisoning the "Lords of Chaos", the infinite horde of Demons continued to burst forth from the Abyss, becoming a unceasing threat to creation. The only thing that stands between the endless horde of Demons and the rest of creation is the Immensus War, where the unending swarm of Demons are funnelled out of the Abyss, and onto the battlefield of Eremus, where they clashing in a never-ending conflict with the Devils of the Hells.
Hierarchy
There does not seem to be any rigid hierarchy present among Demons, with the only modicum of authority existing within the Abyss being imposed on weaker Demons by the more powerful ones, with all Demons being ultimately subservient to their creator, the Dark Deity Tartaros.
Outside of being united by a common goal of destruction, there is little to no loyalty between Demons that isn't enforced by fear or control. If there is no common enemy around, or an Archdemon to keep them in check, Demons will often resort to fighting each other over territory or spoils, sometimes even killing each other if neither backs down.
Archdemons
The most powerful Demons of the Abyss have been dubbed Archdemons, sometimes called Demon Lords, or the Nine. Archdemons are Quasi-Deities, and hold a position of dominance within the Abyss, often having hordes of Demons under their control. Archdemons are also the only Demons with any semblance of personality or intelligence, and many of them have a non-demonic species associated with them, usually one that has been corrupted or created by the Archdemon.
Archdemons seem to be incredibly rare, with there only being accounts of six in existence, but rumours suggest there may be nine in total. Due to the infinite nature of the Abyss, the true number of Archdemons is unknowable.
It is unknown how Archdemons are formed, the most popular theory is that Demons grow more powerful the longer they are alive, with the current Archdemons having been around for many millennia. But since Demons rarely survive for long due to their aggression and lack self preservation, there are very few long lived Demons, with it speculated that the Archdemons may kill potential Archdemons to limit competition.
Another prominent theory is that Archdemons are born as Archdemons, while another popular theory argues that Archdemons absorb other creatures, including other Demons, to empower themselves.
Archdemons are the only Demons that have names, but few dare to speak them, with the Archdemons are almost exclusively identified by epithets. The Archdemons are speculated to be embodiments of corrupting forces. The current recorded and theorised Archdemons are the following:
Confirmed
- Ilbaohz - Prince of Undeath
- Livath - The Writhing Horror
- Toz'akha - The Savage Dread
- Trokia - The Plaguebringer
- Vil'kitueh - Queen of Rot
- Zilkau - The Endless Hunger
Unconfirmed
Patron Deity
Tartarus - The Tormented One
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