Demons, with a capital D, are beings created by the entity who is known in the Christian world as Satan for the purposes of carrying out his will. They are, so far as anyone knows, as old as time itself. The information I, the Dreamseer, am putting down here is the result of quizzing a helpful Demon of my acquaintance and is not strictly guaranteed to be accurate.

Demons are controlled by means of rings, which were forged by Satan at the beginning of time, one to a Demon. These rings are held in reserve by Satan himself, or have been given out to humans as Satan's whims dictate; the holder of a Demon's ring has total control over that Demon, wherever the Demon is in the multiverse. However, while the Demon must follow orders, he must only follow the stated orders -- one must be careful when dictating to a Demon what they must do. There is a standard pact that varies only slightly from language to language including the basic Do No Harm Unto Your Master, Obey All Edicts, The Ring May Not Be Claimed and so forth. If the owner of a ring dies, the ring's Demon is freed; if the owner willingly gives up the ring, the Demon passes to the new owner; if the ring is lost, the Demon is freed until the ring finds a new owner; and if in the rare case a Demon is given or foolishly allowed to take back his own ring, the Demon is free forever, and subject only to the strong suggestions made by Satan, and no longer to his direct will.

Demons cannot lie if asked a direct question, but some are better at skirting the truth than others. The same applies to disobeying orders; a Demon may stay silent if asked a question, and may do things other than those specifically ordered, but attempting to contradict either of these rules will result in great pain to a being who really cannot otherwise be hurt, culminating in possible destruction -- this has happened only rarely, however, being somewhat equivalent to a human managing to strangle himself to death with his bare hands.

Demons are capable of siring/bearing half-Demon offspring. Generally when this happens, it is the result of carelessness on the Demon's part or of deliberate torture of a former lover; these children will often have varying degrees of Demon powers, ranging from simple magic to the whole nine yards of telekinesis, shape-shifting, dimension-hopping and reality-bending. (One important thing to remember is that Demons are not telepathic; it is one of the few tricks they cannot accomplish. Any Demon who claims to be is either using an artifact or lying and using observation and guesses to portray the feat.) These offspring might demonstrate powers from birth on or awaken at any time thereafter. They are considered especially dangerous as these demi-Demons are not created by Satan and therefore have no forged rings, unless they are tricked into entering a pact with the Demons' creator and given one.

Many worlds are aware of the existence of Demons, if only peripherally, and particularly on the ones where Christianity or some variant thereof exists, the churches or other places of worship are warded against the entry of Demons. As this is collective cultural magic, erected upon specific sites and built up by generations of followers, the wards are very strong and truly Demon-proof; any Demon who ignores the pain so far as to enter a place of worship without permission will find that his powers will not work and he feels a compulsion to get out as soon as possible. The greater the power range of the Demon the greater the compulsion; this affects demi-Demons as well. There is an exception to this rule: if the Demon is specifically invited in by a priest or other man of whatever religion is involved, the Demon is allowed to enter with full powers and can from inside disrupt the ward and any consecration involved. Also, if a Demon is both free of Satan (i.e., is in possession of his own ring) and free of any evil intentions, he may enter a Church without feeling the compulsion to leave, though his powers will still be inoperable.

Demons may also be banished from a place by means of an exorcism, of either the religious or the scientific-magical variety. Religious exorcisms generally involve priests or whatever the local equivalents are, armed with books and incense and firm beliefs in their church; scientific-magical exorcisms cover those developed by either old-school magical systems (i.e., Japan's onmyoujitsu) or new sorcerer colleges (i.e., Councils of Mages or the like). In either case, the length of time the Demon is banished for is dependent on the will of the victim or (in the case of exorcising a specific room) the strength of the practitioner. Demi-Demons can be exorcised as well, though the effects vary depending on how strong the offspring is. Those with full Demon powers will either be sent to Hell with other Demons, or the spell will fail and send the demi-Demon away to a random place in the multiverse, though not for long should the demi-Demon be able to D-hop.

Demons, while capable of feeling pain, generally ignore it. There is no way to kill one short of deliberately giving him a paradoxical set or orders or petitioning Satan to have him destroyed. Being run through, run over, clobbered with a calculus book or otherwise mangled doesn't phaze your average Demon; they simply pop out and reform no worse for the wear. Demons are also notorious for drinking unsuspecting humans under the table, as alcohol also does not affect them unless they make a conscious effort to let it; it then follows that it's impossible to poison a Demon. Asphixiation, dismembering and general not-niceties are similarly impossble to make stick. Demons do not sleep, but are capable of entering into a sort of relaxed trance state; they also cannot dream. They are capable of shifting into any shape imaginable, and many of them are exceedingly vain about their human shapes (or the equivalent thereof on a given world) and take great pains to make them attractive; many Demons also have preferred shapes that they use whenever possible. When in human form, Demons generally take the time to simulate a heartbeat, body heat, breathing, etc, as a matter of verisimilitude, though it is not necessary. Demons also do not need to eat or drink to stay alive, though many of them are cheerful gluttons anyway.

Demons, after this many aeons of existence, have by and large discarded all moral values, having seen them change an infinite number of times and seen it all come to naught. A few of them are still reluctant to kill, but living that long doesn't normally predispose one to be gentle with the fragile mortals. Demons are also said to not be able to love, being merely tools of their creator and constructs without a heart, though there has been the odd case of a Demon devoting himself to a human to the point of handing over their ring; demi-Demons have no such rules. Demons are quite capable of hating and being spiteful, though most are apathetically bitter.

Demons are housed in a dimension designated, for the purposes of this article, as Hell, though it is known by many different names. Each Demon has his own little subsection of Hell to be made into a domicile for said Demon, though many keep small 'pocket dimensions' handy for future expansion. Should a Demon be banished, exorcised or otherwise sent back 'home', this is where the Demon will land; being a Demon and having such a fixed place to rest ensures one a certain status in Hell. Demi-Demons, if an exorcism is successful in sending them to Hell, will normally be dumped in a random location all alone; being part Demon, they can usually survive in the environment, but not being full Demon they have no status at all, not even having an administrative place in things as the damned souls do. Demi-Demons can and have been destroyed by Satan at will. Guests of Demons in Hell have no restrictions on their movements, though they might wish to be careful as living souls are prime targets for Satan and his constructs.

Back to Death's Child Notes

Back to Death's Child Main Page