Demons
Demons have been present throughout the galaxy in different ways whether it be an invading force, a frightful boogeyman or an ancient mythological foe, with them all having the common trait of hating life and wanting to see it’s destruction.
What is it?:
Demons are a terrifying monstrous race that are mindlessly sadistic as they take pleasure in killing and torturing their prey, will most often consume their prey while they are still alive and will often in their preys life in a manner so painful even the most hardened of soldier would scream out of pure insanity, but while Demons are mindless, they are not stupid as they sometimes collect trophies from a significant kill, construct and place twist traps that wound their prey, and some have even claimed they cut off a small town from the outside world. In terms of appearance, Demons are bipedals with rock-like skin, dagger like claws and most often some type of flame protruding from their body, adding to their sadistic nature Demons will most often have a massive row of razor sharp teeth that they can twist into a large toothy grin while they mangle their prey into mulch. Finally while Demons appear as mindless beasts to the wider galactic public there does seem to be some kind of power system and level of authority with their race, for example the bigger and stronger Demons are often feared by less powerful ones and therefore they hold positions of power over them, this is why the leaders of demonic armies are often one of 2 things, either a 30ft Demons that can punch holds in entire planets, or some twist individual that gave up their spirit in order to become an Avatar of Hal.
Where does it live?:
All Demons originate from a plain called “Hal”. In brief, Hal is a multi-continent plain with 8 known lands that are each separated by a vast sea of heavy black water known as “The Dead Sea”, in addition each of the continents of Hal are ruled over by a Demon Duke that embodies the very meaning of what it is to be a demon. Each Continent of Hal is completely different from one another and because of this there are many different types of Demons that roam throughout Hal each with there own unique abilities, however it doesn’t seem that Demons were directly created by The Demon Dukes. Aside from Hal, Demons who find themselves in our realm will often try and kill the first thing they see, however once they are finished with that they will try and look for shelter be that in the form a cave, mine, factory, graveyard or volcano just to name a few. Finally it is note worthy to mention that despite the hostility and unsuitability of Hal for most forms of life, Demons don’t have a problem with simply adjusting to their surrounds no matter where they end up be it an icy wilderness, an underwater terror or even the vacuum of space.
What does it do?:
Typically Demons either spend their days ripping and tearing apart whichever helpless victims they managed to capture, drinking a disgusting amount of blood or engaging in lust filled activities, however when they aren’t doing that they are almost always knee deep in some kind of demonic war being utilised by Avatars of Hal to carry out the will of The Demon Dukes. Similar to Vampires Demons have a love for blood, but unlike vampires that feed on blood due to an inner urge that they need to fill, Demons seem to regard blood in the same way most forms of life regard water. Finally one of the most notable aspects of a Demon is their ability to bite and infect those who they do not kill and turn them into a Demon, more often then not a Demon would have killed their victim outright, however if they are interrupted during an attack or the victim manages to escape, the demons bite will cause a dramatic change within the victims body and over the course of a day to a week they will completely transform into a Demon.
How to kill it?:
Despite their rock hard skin, Demons are actually quite easy to kill with both ranged weapons like shotguns, assault rifles and even pistols, in addition a highly skilled swordsmen, axe wielder or barbarian wouldn’t find it particularly hard to bury their weapons deep within a demonic skull, but the problem here is are you in fact quick enough to kill a demon before it kills you? If you aren’t skilled with a melee weapon or ranged weapon, then you could use salt to weaken a demon just enough so you can make a daring escape, but once you expose a demon to salt you had better run away fast. Additionally most magic based attacks will serve to injure a demon like cryomancy, hydromancy and electromancy just to name a few, actually many people believe that all demons are immune to pyromancy and other flame magics, this is false a well documented case saw when one demon killed another by “drowning them” in a Lake of Halfire.
Different Types of Demons:
1. Unshackled Reapers- are Demons that eternally serve, protect and worship The Demon Duke Keiler, The Acidic Flame and are given a fraction of her power. In terms of appearance, Unshackled Reapers are equipped with black spiked armour with a black hood that compliments the acid flame that constantly emits from their body, in addition they all wield a “Hal Scythe” which also comes with a number of abilities ranging from collecting Demonic spirits, summoning Avatars of Hal and others. Now Unshackled Reapers are both extremely rare and powerful demons, so much so that there have only been a hand full of documented accounts of them since The Collective Age, because of this there isn’t a lot of information of these particular demons.
2. Eyeless Growls- are Hal Hounds created by and serve The Demon Duke Keiler, The Acidic Flame. In terms of appearance, these Hal Hounds have brownish chard skin which differs slightly from regular demonic skin as it is smooth instead of rock hard, this essentially makes Eyeless Growls slightly more vulnerable to attacks but also makes them faster, quieter and more flexible when they attack and kill their prey. One of their most famous abilities is their “Acidic Glow” which doubles as both, a blinding light that can distract their enemies and as an extremely hazardous substance that is capable of melting through the strongest of metals with “Deusium” being the only one that can withstand it’s power. Additionally it is said that Acidic Glow can melt spirits along with flesh, meaning that if one is killed by an Eyeless Growl then no afterlife awaits them upon death.
3. Archdemons- are dragons of all types that have been infected by demons and have been transformed to fight for Hal and it’s Demon Dukes. In terms of appearance, Archdemons appear much like how they die when they were once dragons, apart from their skin being painfully turned into a rock-like material, their body and spirit undergoing horrific mutations and their minds going back to a much more “primitive” way of thinking. Additionally once an Ancient Dragon, Great Dragon or even a Dragon Earl is transformed into an Archdemon their connect to the galaxy is cut, this means they are permanently depowered and now rely on their newly formed demonic powers as well as the energy of Hal itself to fuel their existence. Finally Archdemons were the reason that The Collective nearly lost various Demonic Wars as they proved to be extremely power and annoying hard to keep dead.
4. Devastators- are massive hulking demons that serve and worship The Demon Duke Belrowl, Eater of Flames. For their Demon Duke, Devastators will unleash untold amounts of destruction upon their enemies as they utilise their incredible strength, immeasurably hot Halfire breath and their terrifyingly fearful roars that are said to shake the barriers between plains. In terms of appearance, Devastators are red and black skinned monsters with hind legs, a sharp tail and a large amount of spikes present all over their body, in addition some have been known to mount trophies upon their spikes either, to show off a particularly significant kill to try and gain favour with other demons, or possibly to simply scar others be showing them what they have managed to kill already.
