▶First of all, I will mention that my
intention is not at all to suggest "Good Demons", I like "Dark
Demons" (not necessarily "evil") but to suggest a more complex
Lore than "Devourers of souls and destruction to mankind" to avoid
them looking like the main antagonists, being a playable race.
▶Feel free to disagree with little to
everything you will read.
▶In writing this I've based myself on
the Constantine comics, the Diablo games, the Daedra from Elder Scrolls, and
the lore of Darksiders.
▶Why? Because they have many
similarities, and I liked how they knew how to give the "demonic
creatures" a complex relationship with their universe.
▶First, I will give the reasons, so you don’t have to read all the context if you don’t want, and then I will bring the context as a suggestion for the Demons Lore.
Infernal Demons being Paladins, Druids and Priests. (The Playable Race)
▶In the Dwarf Lore section, it
mentions that when the Humans found the Dwarves, they also found “The Light”
and learned to use it, they also taught it to the Dwarves. What stops the
Infernal Demons, capable of handling dangerous magic, from learning to use “The
Light”?
▶Interesting stories and gameplays
arise when you don't treat things as totally good or totally evil.
▶If Paladins, Druids and Priests
"Don't fit with Infernal Demons”, you can make that using the abilities of
these classes in public in some Infernal Demon city, being an Infernal Demon a
crime, and that causes guards to attack you, put a bounty on your head, make
you have to pay and/or cause other players to hunt you down, etc.
▶Light has no morality, it is a
primordial energy, Demons can use it if they learn how to, and even if it
aligns with their purposes/plans.
▶Demons can be Druids to preserve the
natural balance of their realm, or world, if that aligns with their plans, or
if they see nature as a more powerful force than other Demons and choose to
serve it.
▶Infernal Demons were once mortal and
may have learned their abilities before they were transformed.
▶Light as well as Darkness, Chaos and
Order are found throughout the universe and its inhabitants, to a greater or
lesser extent. The 4 Primordials cannot
destroy or permanently control the other as light and order cannot exist
without darkness and chaos.
▶The opposing forces are
interconnected and interdependent in the universe, therefore, any creature has
light and darkness, chaos and order within them, if it is within them, they
have a connection.
▶The Infernal Demons were able to
make the decision to renounce the Infernal Fire to serve Elvyn, therefore, they
can decide to be Paladins, Druids or Priests.
▶Being Demons did not prevent them
from accepting Elvyn's blessing and powers.
▶Light, darkness, chaos, order,
elemental energies and so on are just energies, they have no morals, you just
need to learn how to manipulate them, no matter your race.
▶If it is that "you need
connection to light or nature", being born with the connection is not the
only way to have a connection, you can forge it through some ritual, someone
can train you, some deity or entity can grant it to you.
▶The Infernal Demons being masters of
the "Dark Arts" can surely contact some spirit, entity or whatever,
to grant them these powers.
▶Salomon mentions many demons, and
they can grant the ability to control the elements, animals, weather, among
other things, so....
A lore suggestion about Demons in
general (not just Infernal Demons)
Types of Demons
▶Infernal Demons are not the only
race of demons.
▶Demons come in many forms; their
infinite diversity makes talking about them generally difficult.
▶It is often impossible to label them
accurately as "good" or "evil"; but one thing is certain, demons
are beyond the comprehension of mortals, just as mortals seem to be beyond the
comprehension of demons.
▶Demons do not see themselves as
”good” or “evil”, neither have the mortal sense of "good" and
"evil", but they tend to have incredibly extremist tendencies, which
is why the Aragonian mortal races fear them so much and think of them as evil.
▶However, several demon races seem to
take real pleasure in acts of devastation, murder, enslavement, and soul
harvesting.
▶All demons have their own plans that
might not be aligned with those of other demon races, Gods, or leaders.
Greater Demons
▶There are Greater Demons such as
demonic Gods or demigods, like Griefthor, are the ones who create more troops
or new species of demons from purely their essence and/or essences of beings or
things from other worlds.
▶They also transform other races or
objects into their demonic versions, which is an entirely different process.
Pure demons
▶Minor but highly intelligent demons.
They consider themselves above other demonic creatures, who are seen as
unthinking and impure animals, due to their mixed "essence". Most of
them were the first "pure" creations of the Greater Demons.
Transformed demons (such as the
Infernal Demons).
▶Once mortal, they are lethal, this
is because, now as immortal creatures, most of them do not fear death, but are
inexperienced and often treated poorly by Greater Demons.
▶They commonly reproduce through
sexual union between them, though there are strange cases where this union
occurs between Created Demons and even between Pure Demons for reasons beyond
mortal comprehension.
Created Demons
▶Only the most powerful beings can
create demons. They vary in power and intelligence according to the desires of
the creator. Often, they only play the role for which they were born or
created.
Demonic Realms
▶The Demonic realms are parallel and
connected to the different worlds, each world is like an onion, it has several
layers which are the different realms that constitute that world, and all
layers are connected between them, time and space is different in each realm.
▶All worlds are connected, though
these paths aren't visible and most of them are dangerous.
Nature
▶When the time and space began, with
the “The First Wave”, the event caused by the interaction between the 4
Primordials and “The Void”.
▶The greater, older and pure Demons
were created along with other Greater, Older, Cosmic and Divine worlds,
entities and beings, like Aragon, Griefthor, Elvyn, Graz’modan and The Old
Gods.
▶It is the nature of the less
powerful Demons to serve those who show a stronger will and power, such as
Gods, Pure Demons, Entities or powerful Witches or Mages (evil or good), and by
serving such entities, the Demons gain status, glory, and reward between their
clans.
▶In the case of those who serve a
specific purpose for a powerful entity, they exist to serve that purpose.
▶Demons are great imitators, and they
aren't aware of it, it's in their nature. Their creations are a "mimicked"
version of things found on other worlds and realms, in a weird or even
corrupted way.
▶The Pure Demons have also created their own species of Demons that resemble species found on other worlds and realms, like Demonic beasts, birds, fishes, buildings, technology, etc.
Society
▶Demonic society is a clan-based
system that upholds the values of oaths, pride, honor, loyalty, and mainly
power, all for the clan, for themselves, and for the entity or being they
serve, which they often revere as a god.
▶Demonic society can be a kind of
violent meritocracy, in which one's position is determined by the level of
power one possesses.
▶Demons take pride in their
hierarchies. Order is wrested from chaos by extreme force of will. Rank and
order mean glory to the Demons, as maintaining such things in their chaotic
realms exhibits enormous willpower and power.
▶This is because superior Demons
always seek power and status and are constantly at war with each other in an
attempt to control other worlds and realms.
▶Unique and skilled individuals have
the potential for a leadership position.
▶They can work together if they are
under a powerful leader.
▶They are usually interested in their
mortal worshippers, this is due to the obvious ego gratification and being
someone’s God and the glory, it brings them among Demon society, this is
because most mortals fear them and having mortals worship them is seen as a
sign of power, and because Demons like to keep an eye on potential future
subjects.
▶Although it is in their nature to serve more powerful beings or purposes, some Demons may remain unaligned for a long time if they find no being or purpose worthy of their servitude or aligned with their own purposes.
Immortality
▶The physical form of Demons can be “destroyed”
but cannot be killed; the soul of a slain Demon returns to the spirit realm of
its respective world until it manages to merge into a physical form again.
▶Dead Demons are said to have been
"banished" or "purged" rather than "killed" to
reflect this.
▶No one knows what happens to a dead
Demon in the spirit realm, but some people think this may be the only way to
permanently kill a Demon.
▶One way to permanently incapacitate
a Demon (even powerful ones) can be done by binding a part of the Demon's soul,
to an object such as a weapon, a gem or a skull, etc.
▶They cannot
"reform/return" unless someone releases that portion of the Demon's
soul. The success of the binding depends on the difference between the Demon's power,
the size of the soul portion, and the power of the user performing the process.
Infernal Demons
Origin
▶The Lore section mentions that they
were created by the ancient gods and then Griefthor taught them the dark arts
and gave them the gift of infernal fire.
▶Which leads me to believe that the
Infernal Demons were another race before they transformed. Elves come from the
Infernal Demons thanks to Elvyn, but the Infernal Demons come from another
race, they were transformed by Griefthor.
▶And that fire is a creation of
Griefthor, probably his twisted version of the fire found in Aragon or some
other world.
▶Applying some of this style, they
can also introduce this ancient race as a playable race in some future
expansion, survivors of the siege of Griefthor's demonic forces.
Goal
▶Instead of making the Infernal
Demons just want to eradicate life, humanity and soul eaters, they could be
given a more complex approach, to their purposes no longer aligning with
Griefthor's, half of them deciding to serve Elvyn in exchange for freeing them
from their slavery and appearance.
▶But at what cost? The story of the
Elves might revolve around finding out, perhaps only the Elven leaders in the
highest ranks know, and the relationship with Elvyn is not what they have been
told.
▶And the story of the remaining half
Infernal Demons may revolve around their new purpose being to seek their origins,
before they were transformed into Demons and the obstacles they must face
because this doesn't align with Griefthor's purposes, such as the Sacred Order
seeing them as a threat regardless of their intentions and has tried to
eliminate them at all cost.
▶The Domination sees them as
potential strong allies because they value honor, oaths and power (in their own
way) to their abilities and their seemingly "honorable" intentions,
which of course may change in the future.
▶Infernal Demons may perceive
"Domination" and their leaders as an exhibit of power and will, to
get races of such "different" and "problematic" nature,
with high chances of chaos and fighting each other, to work together and
organized for so long, and this is something admirable in demonic societies, a
show of true strength and that may help them to reach their goal.
▶They
can feed on food, flesh, blood, bones, but are especially attracted to beings
and objects that resonate with energy, and emotions. Contrary to the belief
that Demons eat souls, most of them prefer to capture and torture them to use
the energy they release for their creations and purposes beyond mortal
comprehension