Whew! Once again my apologies for my incredible tardiness, but this was a big one! It may just be the most extensive instalment of Project Realm yet, and for good reason! Demons played a fairly important role in the story I played with my friend, which first brought the Realm to life. One of them was actually the main catalyst behind the first major arc of the story and another the arc’s ‘final boss.’ Because of their importance in the story, I couldn’t just rush this part and, as you’ll see, I didn’t. I went all out, putting a lot of time and energy into figuring and ironing out most of the lore for the Demons during the past week and spending the last couple of days putting it on digital paper. The amount of information and level of depth that went into what was mostly meant as a general information piece really surprised me, but, in a good way. The result is something I’m quite proud of. You’ll notice it is a somewhat different in its setup (like I said it would), but considering how vastly different the Demons are compared to the other peoples of the Realm, that was to be expected. Now, though, I’m going to cut off this introduction, so you can finally get to the good part of today! I present to you, the Demons of the Realm!
Peoples of the Realm
18. The Demons
The Demons are widely considered to be the most terrifying creatures within the Realm. Most of them reside on the Dark Plains, in the centre of the Island of the Darkness, but a few have spread to other islands in the Realm, most notably the Western Island.
Physical Description
The Demons are a unique case in the Realm. They are one the few known species not created by the gods. Rather, they are the physical manifestation of evil and negative energy in the world. Their origins have been traced back to ancient times, following one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in history, in a land that is now known as the Island of Darkness.
For reasons yet to be unearthed, the various peoples of the land had been in a state of all-out war with each other. For centuries, with no end in sight, they would slaughter each other and lay waste to each other’s civilizations. The greed, malice, viciousness and fury with which they fought, killed and destroyed were unlike the world had ever seen. As the conflict raged on, these emotions grew so strong that they became almost tangible and mingled with the blood of the countless fallen. The blood, in turn, seeped into the stones of the land, imbuing them with the emotions the people had unleashed and turning them into a vessel in which the negative emotions could thrive. Undisturbed by the people, still consumed by war, the emotions eventually managed to achieve consciousness and even grew powerful enough to create a physical shape around the stones. As those shapes completed, the first Demons were born. Each stepped into the world and set out to spread the emotion that lied at their cores across the world.
The second striking aspect that sets the Demons apart from the other species of the Realm, is that no two Demons are the same. This is not just in the sense of each one being an individual, but rather that they possess no set physiological characteristics. Demons can take on any form when they are born or created, leading to a white variety of shapes, sizes and colours among them. However, each shape is made to represent and emanate the emotion from which the Demon, or their creator, was born. Most Demons take on a form clearly recognisable as a living being, albeit a twisted variation of it, generally anthropomorphic and bipedal. Other common physical features include horns and spikes on their heads and across their bodies, large wings, long, slender whip-like tails, or some combination of the three.
Despite their strong individual differences, there are several factors all Demons have in common. Each has, at their core, a soul stone, such as the stones from which the original Demons were born. These soul stones house a Demon’s very essence and are the source of their power. A Demon can only truly be killed by destroying its soul stone. Even if its body is destroyed, as long a the soul stone remains intact, the Demon will live on and grow a new body over time. Some soul stones can simply be shattered by most conventional means, but those belonging to particularly powerful Demons will require more effort, often through incredibly potent magic or enchanted items
Furthermore, from the moment they were created, all Demons have an unquenchable desire to spread hatred, fear, greed or any other emotion that gave them life and find great pleasure in it, as well as the subsequent suffering it brings about. Whenever such an emotion manifests itself and grows stronger, the Demon’s power will grow along with it. They will stop at nothing to achieve their desire, even turning on each other if their goals happen to diverge even the slightest bit, which is the case more often than not. Their tendency for infighting is the main reason why the Demons have, so-far, mostly been kept in check by the other peoples of the Realm
Finally, Demons do not procreate as other species do. Instead, they spread their numbers by creating more of their kind in a similar manner through which they were originally created. The will imbue a stone with blood and a small part of their own dark essence, creating a new soul stone, and then either create a body around it or place it within an existing body. In the latter case, the newly formed Demon soul will take possession of the body, morph it to its own liking and consume the original soul.
Groups
While each individual Demon is different from any other, two main groups can be distinguished among them.
Greater Demons
Greater Demons are the most intelligent, powerful and, in most cases, the largest of the Demons and the de facto rulers of their kind. Most of them have been around since the creation of their species and are responsible for the creation of the other Demons. This is something only they are capable of they and will leave no opportunity to do so, and in turn, grow their numbers and power, untouched. In addition to their unbridled desire to spread their dark influence, they are highly intelligent, unbelievably cruel and immensely powerful. Their power can manifest itself in many different ways and ranges from the use of dark magic, to directly or indirectly influencing the minds of others to do their bidding, to even controlling, warping and shaping parts of reality around them. They are, however, as arrogant and ambitious as they are powerful, and conflict, from small but violent shows of dominance to all-out power struggles and are incredibly common.
Lesser Demons
The servants of the Greater Demons, the majority of the Demons belong to this group. They can be anything from soldiers to labourers and from officers to expendable fodder. While capable of independent thought and action, and some, in fact, being fairly intelligent, most Lesser Demons only barely qualify as sapient and live their lives simply serve the Greater Demon who created them without question. Like with all Demons, their powers can vary greatly, but they depend completely on what their creators decided to grant them and are considerably weaker than those of the Greater Demons.. Lesser Demon who can survive long enough to grow stronger can eventually rise to become a Greater Demon, but this is an extremely rare occurrence.
Sources
Greater Demons
Leftmost Greater Demon
Lesser Demons
Leftmost Lesser Demon
Ever since a group of shoes held a birthday party a long, long time ago (though in a galaxy not that far away) a little boy’s appreciation for creation was born. And so, throughout the following years shoes partied, a dinosaur travelled through time, oddly shaped football players went on adventures, a young wanderer became a knight, a comedian rose to godhood, Jedi fought an evil empire, a war between cyborg warlords and human-insect hybrids engulfed the world… The boy had learned how with only words on paper (and from times to time a few pictures) he was able to bring people, places, even entire worlds to life. By now that little boy has reached almost the third decade of his life and his love for telling stories has not ceased. And finally, long after he had planned to, he has decided to share these stories with the world. Whether you are a new or already familiar face: welcome to this little archive of mine! This is a place where I will, finally, actually be sharing my writing with others. It will feature pretty much anything I feel like sharing, both old and new stories, fan-fiction and original content, and probably some non-fiction added in at times. So, if you like reading, writing, stories (or me ^_~), drop by, drop a comment (I can’t promise I’ll get back to you quickly, since I’m horrible at that, but I’ll do my best) and, drop it like it’s hot. … Sorry… ^_^; In any case, I hope you’ll enjoy yourself and I look forward to seeing you around!
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