Daemon

Introduction

Born from Gehenna’s swirling Ashes, Daemons are cunning and ruthless manipulators known for their thirst for power in all its forms. You begin with a Free Racial Merit for the Apparation of a Daemon when playing as one.

Fast Facts

• Population: 85,000,000+
• Lifespan: Indefinite
• Height: Between 3 ft and 12 ft.
• Weight: Between 40 lbs and 2,000lbs.
• Racial Merit: Daemons receive a Free Racial Merit for Apparation.

Racial Abilities:

Daemons may Apparate into Ash using the Metaphor of Anathema. They also have a predisposition for forming the Pact of Faust - doing so is easier for them.

Ash Fiend

Daemons are beings composed of compressed Soul Ash, a material native to Gehenna and Avernus. This is what they become when they Apparate their bodies, appearing to melt away like sand or roiling black smoke, or lowering their Frequency to that of a blackened stone akin to obsidian.

Daemons may incorporate Ash from their surroundings during a cast of Order from Apparation, mending their bodies and sculpting it however they wish. The functional and aesthetic power of this depends on their Sculpting skill for external features, and Medicine for internal ones. Their bodies can take on the consistency of stone, flesh, or sticky tar, and they commonly trade parts of themselves with Faust to then regrow later.

Spawn

Within Gehenna, Daemons are difficult to outright slay. Upon suffering a fatal wound, the soul of a Daemon departs and its body falls apart into clumps of ash. The Daemon’s soul then seeps deep into Gehenna, burying itself into a lake of ashen tar where the Daemon will slowly congeal over four to eight Gehennan years, about a season in Antarokian time.

When they rise again, they will have suffered a scar of gleaming bronze-colored stone related to the wound that felled them, and some Daemons possess so many scars as to appear like a being of shining bronze.

The only way to truly rend the soul of a Daemon beyond recovery is via an Athame equivalent to their Apparation.

As A People

Biology

Daemons’ coloration covers the spectrum of every color found in a flame, with red and orange skintones being the most common, but spanning towards blues, whites, charcoal black, and even gradients. One of the most common characteristic of a daemon is their horns. Where one daemon’s horns may be small, rounded nubs, another may have a veritable crown growing from their temples. Goat horns and ridged, sweeping horns are common, but the variations are limitless and have only little to do with how a Daemon was born. Various hooves, tails, and digitigrade, clawed feet are also found in the Daemon population. The majority of Daemons have fast growing, sturdy fingernails, which many sharpen into claws. Hair colors come in the same range as their skintones, and hairstyles vary. Many Daemons keep short hair for the purposes of combat, and still others may never cut it, instead choosing to tie it up in elaborate hairstyles.

Tegeza Daemons often carry a build similar to what they carried in life. Liji Daemons tend towards an aesthetic blend of their parents. Orijinali Daemons are the least humanoid of the three, and can take a range of monstrous forms. If a Liji Daemon is the product of an Orijinali, they will have a far more varied appearance than that from a union of a Tegeza Daemon or another Liji.

Tegeza and Liji Daemons formed from Dryads or the unions with Dryads almost universally keep their tauric body, and those from Hemidryads will have cloven hooves.

Aging & Reproduction

Daemons are entirely immortal, born in one of three ways:

• Orijinali - Daemons born of Anathema itself coalescing into a spirit of enough intelligence that the Aetherium confers to it a soul.
• Liji - Daemons born from the union of a Daemon and another race; this is always the result of a Faustian exchange.
• Tegeza - Daemons formed from the damned souls of other beings who have traded theirs away, and died.

Sex & Gender

Daemons possess genitalia - matching what they were in life, or else born of either sex.

Psychology

Old, jaded. Fair, but sadistic. Daemons live and breathe a survival of the fittest mindset. Kindness in Gehenna is rare if not entirely unheard of, and Daemons treat anything but neutrality, selfishness, or hostility as inherently suspicious. However, treachery and betrayal is almost as rare as kindness, as most Daemons would rather attack someone who can put up a fight. It is not to say that the Daemons are incapable of such thing, but such behavior is reserved for Faustian bargains and other underhanded dealings to get ahead in the endless war.

From their eternal cycle of life, war, and death, Daemons regard death much as one thinks of breathing. It is rare, but not unheard of, for Daemons to seek a life outside of Gehenna, and they are widely regarded by other Daemons as weak-willed. Other Daemons may live a dual life, especially those who rule the territory of a Stairwell, getting ahead in their endless war with extensive tariffs, taxes, and fees to anyone who may wish to use it.

History

Overview

Daemons are largely considered to be timeless– like all Cambion and their respective planes, they originated from raw Anathema upon Gehenna’s inception. Over their millennia-spanning history, they have built a reputation to be feared, both as litigious weavers of Faustian bargains and for their martial ferocity.

Society

Technology

Because spell reserves regenerate slowly, Daemons tend to dedicate their efforts– and ample time– into Practices and the study of Theorems. Despite natural resources being scarce, they still flourish from resources that are pillaged, swindled or traded for. Almost every Daemon becomes proficient enough in one or many to be considered useful, lest they be relegated to the dregs of society.

As a result of the value put on Practices, many Daemon cities are bastions of twisted magitech and all manner of Artificed creation.

Magic

The use of magic that requires spell reserves is rare because it takes so long to regenerate. While all possess their native Faust and the potential for what Poetics are innate to being Cambion, many Daemons don’t tend to seek out other forms of Personal Arcana. Still, Pacts of other Godheads, mercurial as they are, are wont to make manifest and individuals are free to seek out whatever else interests them at their own risk.

Syphon is considered a crucial skill to master, as it is the primary method utilized to replenish Spell Reserves for those who wish to wield them. For this reason, most are not picky about where from, whether it be Alkahest, objects, or sentient beings– living, undead, or souls themselves.

Language

The primary language spoken is Daemonic. Newly risen Tegeza Daemons recall their original language, while Orijinali Daemons may go entire lifetimes without learning anything except Daemonic. Liji Daemons speak the languages of their parents.

Daemonic is based on the Amharic language.

Naming Convention & Titles

*Daemonic is based on the Amharic language. Their names and titles are transliterated into and derived from such.
*Daemons earn their names, or they name themselves based on their identity. They do so in their own language, which is then translated into Daemonic.
*Daemons have a name, a title, and a titular name describing them. They might be known by a certain name to some, or another to others - a purposeful deception by Faustians seeking to distance themselves from a specific reputation.
*Common titular names include nouns, adjectives, and especially summarized notable events or trades.

Formal Titles:

Serifi - A Lone Daemon.

Negash - Subjugator of many Daemons.

Nagast - Subjugator of many Negash.

Examples:

Aiklilu the Hammerer - A Daemon known for hammering.

Aberash, Dweller of the Stairs - A Daemon who lurks in a Stairwell to Gehenna

Ajani'Serifi, Lost-Stalker - A lone Daemon who preys upon those separated from a place of security.

Eshe'Nagast, Seducer of Men - A Daemon who has subjugated many Daemons and preys upon men.

Ephrem’Nagast, Lord of Ash - A Daemon who rules many Daemons and has potent Ash Apparation.

Notable Settlements

Ibaleth

Seat of the Arche-Daemon, Naloch, the Ash Citadel of Ibaleth sits at the very heart of Gehenna. Daemons loyal to Naloch maintain order in the chaos, standing guard against the tides of challengers throwing themselves hopelessly at Naloch's brutish dominion. Beyond the Blood Marches rises its walls of black obsidian, sheltering a tiered, ringed city with many districts separated by one's value and demonstrated loyalties. Daemons who prefer to collect than play in the ash come to dwell here where they offer such strange things as artifacts, or flesh, even rarities like food which are wholly scarce elsewhere.

Related Articles

• Anathema
• Gehenna
• Spirit
• Apparation

Antarok Handbook

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