Demons: Difference between revisions

* [[Ascended Demons]]

Unlike angels, demons acquire rank purely based on their service to Hell and its inhabitants. All demons and other descended souls answer to Lucifer, the appointed ruler and lord of Hell, but serve under the Sin whose circle of Hell they inhabit.

=== Deadly Sins ===

'''Deadly Sins are the most powerful of their kind''', also known as the princes and princesses of Hell. Their '''mere presence causes immeasurable destruction''' wherever they influence, affecting entire populations with an appetite for vice. The Sins and their corresponding powers are '''Belial''' (Pride), '''Andras''' (Wrath), '''Leviathan''' (Envy), '''Mammon''' (Greed), '''Asmodeus''' (Gluttony), '''Belphegor''' (Sloth), and '''Lilith''' (Lust). Like Archangels, the '''Sins have gigantic true forms they can reveal to terrify and overcome their opponents'''.

 

 

Hell Knights, also known as '''Az-Zabaniya''', are '''Lucifer's personal lieutenants''': 19 [[Fallen Angels]] who fell from Heaven with their master. They are of equal rank as the Sins and '''take no orders from Hell's residents except for the Devil'''. They carry personal symbiotic weapons and '''can command any lesser demon to serve them''' even without using true names. The Knights are the only fallen angels to hold power over demons, leaving their younger counterparts to gain status like hellions do.

Overlords are higher-ranking demons that have been '''rewarded after proving their value to one of the Sins'''. They may own land, property, slaves, and any luxury Hell offers, forming the '''"upper class" among Hell's residents'''. Their disputes have destructive power, as the loser tends to end up dead and have all their possessions taken, including any lesser demons under their ownership.

Besides the abovementioned ranks, '''demons often adopt self-proclaimed titles''' of dukes, barons, patriarchs, and commanders. These titles hold little value besides their pretentious affixes and merely serve as an ego boost to their holder. Many demons prefer to be addressed by their pompous labels instead of their names, including the Sins and the Devil himself.

All demons are capable of basic telekinesis and moving small objects through the air. As they gain more experience using the ability, they can affect larger masses and less solid matter, even moving targets that may fight against the demon's will. While runts may only move objects the size of common household objects, overlords can fling modern cars across the air and damage building foundations. And if a Sin wants to move something… Well, that'll leave behind a crater.

Archdemons and Sins can design and create various curses, either within objects or inside designated locations. These curses have the power to curse the soul of anyone who triggers them—even weakened Archangels. Hard to negate and nigh impossible to remove, curses demand extensive knowledge of the arcane and a personal sacrifice from their creator to work. Once a curse is released, its extent may surprise even its original designer, its nature may turn out to be unforeseeably volatile, or it can affect its creator.

Only Sins, Hell Knights, and Archdemons are capable of creating their own human appearances. Lesser demons must possess a human, known as a "vessel," by forcefully entering a living body. Neither angels nor demons are allowed to show their true faces while on Earth, and therefore have to find a suitable human to inhabit. These "meat suits" are often treated as disposable and temporary, yet some demons grow fond of their appearances and avoid damaging their borrowed bodies at all costs.

All but human-originated demons have access to a true form: a monstrous version of themselves where they are at their most powerful. Every demon's true form is unique but recognizable of its family line, carrying a set of features that reveal its ancestors. Occasional mutations can still happen and create new, distinguishable traits, ranging from peculiar colors to anatomical curiosities. While demons are in their true form, their animalistic instincts are strengthened, and their feral side is intensified, making some demons lose themselves to their wild self.

Demons have no limits to their teleportation ability: they can travel around Earth in a matter of seconds. However, because buildings and landscapes change rapidly, it is considered reckless to travel such distances, as many demons have suffered critical injuries after overestimating their sense of place and teleporting inside a solid object. Large, flat, building-free areas are preferred as a primary destination, and only after the initial jump should one continue onward their actual point of interest. Hell Knights can also teleport near their kin, including the Devil himself.

Divine weapons can be classified as anything holy and pointy, ranging from angelic blades to blessed artifacts. Any object imbued with primordial material, like tears or blood, counts as divine, as does any weapon dipped in holy elements. Even a crude shank made from a dead pope's bone would qualify. Coming across weaponry created by God is incredibly rare, but if one did, one could wound even the Deadly Sins themselves.

Any demon possessing a human vessel can be sent back to Hell or, in the case of Sins and archdemons, disarmed and forced to return to their home realm to regain their powers. In general, magic is neither offensive nor defensive, yet it can also be used to repel and ward off evil or trap it into an enchanted object. All kinds of protective seals are dangerous to demons since they can hide powerful entrapment within them, thus enslaving the curious demon… Or worse.

A mortal who knows a demon's true name can perform a summoning ritual to force them onto Earth and bind the hellspawn to their will. While knowledge of these rituals is rare, its existence means the possibility of embarrassing slavery to a lesser being, should the summoner succeed in their binding. Only the Sins are completely immune to summoning, yet even their attention can be demanded with a potent enough ritual—and once it is gained, it's up for the summoner to contain the aftermath.

Primordials are far more powerful than demons and pose an extreme threat to them. Not even the Sins compare against a primordial, making them all but squeaky toys for the cosmic entities. No sane demon should try to square up against a creature of incomprehensible power imbalance, yet some have been known to meet their bloody end by barking at the wrong tree.