Demonology

Demonology is the theory and worldbuilding concerning the existence of Demons, entities from dimensions other than Aloria, the one where all Roleplay takes place. Demons are immortal entities that are native to their own realm and often may have their own culture or societal customs, arriving in Aloria to express themselves or experience the world of mortals in an immortal way. Demons are frequently misunderstood to be more like people than deceitful and selfishly inclined spirits they actually are, and this page will discuss the various nuances and informational facts about them. This Page is subject of the wider Magic category Page, we recommend you have read the Quick Start Guide on that page first.

What is a Demon

A Demon is an entity from another realm than Aloria, a denizen of dimensions like the Abyss and the Eidolon, which are capable of crossing over to Aloria. Demons have their own society in their own realms, but when coming into contact with Aloria, cannot deny the irresistible lure of the full experiences of life. While the concept of life exists in other realms (even unlife in the Hallow), only Aloria as the prime plane has all of it, and therefore is a much fuller experience. Entities from the Abyss for example do not know restraint, while entities from the Eidolon do not know spontaneity. Demons come into Aloria either because they were sent by a higher power in their own realm to interact with Aloria, because they were summoned to Aloria by a mortal Summoner, or caused by some massive congestion of Magic, for example by improperly vented Magic, or Conduits, but often end up wanting to stay.

Demons are always bad news for mortals, because they are immortal, and have no concept of soul or conscience. Demons when born to Aloria are devoid of empathy and emotion, and by far and large just take whatever they want regardless of the consequences. While some Demons are inherently more dangerous than others, there is no such thing as a safe Demon that does not do something evil or bad somewhere down the line. A Demon is a product of its simplified experience in their native realm, unable to adapt to the full meanings of the condition of life in Aloria, and as such often just comes across like a child in a playground wielding an assault rifle. Average mortals are fearful of Demons, and with good reasons, because Demons can consume souls so wholly that there is no Afterlife for them to turn to.

That being said, Demons are also not entirely irredeemable. The longer Demons exist in Aloria, the more they acclimate to the reality of feelings and emotions in Aloria. It has to be a conscious choice, but Demons can choose to allow themselves to feel these things, and to develop a more real personality and behavior. Some Demons try to avoid violating or killing anyone, and some even try to hide in the bodies of mortals to live as normal as possible lives, while occasionally giving in to their base urges. While it is possible to pity a Demon, show mercy or understanding to its existence, it should however always be remembered that if a Demon chooses to be more mortal-like, it can un-choose this at any time, and go straight back to being a serial killer. The great danger of Demons, is their unpredictability, and the high risk of lethal consequences for interacting with them at any level.

Demons can also be Summoned to ALoria by Mortals, who then often try to Name them in Rituals to establish control over them. Other forms of these Rituals are also called Binding, which establishes a more long-term and harder to remove control over Demons that subjects them to the rules of Aloria. While most Demons are repulsed by the idea of being Bound, or Named, Demons can and do enter into these contracts willingly either because they have adapted to living in Aloria, or because they want to experience what it is like. Demons are constantly caught between the curiosity to experience everything Aloria has to offer, and mindlessly following their programming for self-satisfaction. Alorians however have learned a long time ago that Demons are powerful and offer an easy way to take control of one's life and events around one's self, by harnessing the power of captured Demons.

Demon Designs

Demons come in several different designs, which explains more about how a Demon operates rather than how it thinks or acts. This choice is purely for aesthetics, as they all share the same Heritage Traits, though it cannot be changed at a later point in time. Most Demons who are brought into Aloria by higher powers in their realms are Roamers, Most Demons who are Named by Summoners are either Invader (especially if Named into objects) or Roamer Demons. Colony Demons usually form spontaneously in Aloria, for smaller Demons who fear being eaten by other Demons, or ensnared by Summoners.

Roamer Demon	A Roamer Demon is a singular Demon that is able to manifest a physical body of its own and operates purely from this body. Roamer Demons cannot look just like average normal people, they must always resemble some type of Demon associated to the realms.
Colony Demon	A Colony Demon is a collection of weaker Demons who have connected together to form a gestalt consciousness with a fluctuating or shared personality. A Colony Demon can either have its own body, or inhabit a person, corpse, objects, or things.
Invader Demon	An Invader Demon is a Demon that does not have a physical body, and purely operates by inhabiting objects, people, or things. This can both be living people but also corpses or just dolls and the like, or a large collection of objects forming a vaguely humanoid body.

Demon Types

Demons come in several Types which is defined by their alignment. This is a purely aesthetic choice and the suggestions below should be treated as guidelines rather than hard rules. However, we strongly discourage wholesale adopting the appearance designs of a different Type to avoid confusion. Furthermore, this is not a permanent choice, through Roleplay Demons can change Alignment, or even expand their Alignment to more than one.

	Abyss Demons are classical seductive Demons, seeking to feed off the wants and needs of mortals and enticing them into vice and self-satisfaction. Abyss Demons as a result are meant to look more alluring than other Demons, and have the common designs of horns, tails, red-tones, and a desire to be liked and worshiped. Abyss Demons are prone to fits of rage when their desires are not met.
	Eidolon Demons are classical divine herald Demons, similar to the real-world concept of angels, but more like ruthless enforcers of divine order. Eidolon Demons are pristine, dignified, symmetrical and harmonious, often looking like hallowed statues with strict demenaors and rigid movements in blue and white tones. Eidolon Demons are merciless when their incomprehensible designs are violated.
	Anima Demons are classical tricky and whimsy Fae, appearing the most normal out of all Demon types but always having a twisted Fae mask to hide their true face and emotion. Anima Demons can be child-like but with an adult voice, or adult-sized but with a child-like voice, and always seek to make mortals lower their guard around them, before pranking them, or tricking them to ruin their lives.
	Hollow Demons are classical ghosts and specters, appearing in green-tones as either see-through but physical entities, or ghosts inhabiting objects like armor. Hollow Demons come in two variants: hateful to anything living, or mournful for those who suffer life. As such they can be prone to melancholy, or extreme violence. Hollow Demons are more commonly distrusted due to the Malefica's history.
	Vortex Demons are difficult to exactly define, due to their constantly changing shapes and forms. Sometimes they appear like Demons from other realms, and other times they look like combinations of them. Their form is constantly shifting and adapting and as such they have been described in pink or magenta. Vortex Demons constantly mutate matter and thought around them.
	Eternum Demons are faceless oracles and sages, who are sometimes outright mistaken for actual statues due to their lack of organic movement and often praying passive pose. Eternum Demons have been described as brown-toned and mysterious, alluding to unseen destinies, but luring mortals into an inescapable trap where prediction becomes inexplicable fact. The deep pond that stares back.
	Dictat Demons are librarians and archivists, seeming ethereal in appearance with flowing robes in purple hues that constantly prod and examine the world around them. While at first glance they might be thought of as kind old sages, their will to learn can transcend beyond the practical, as they dissect mortals into thousands of pieces to unravel something irrelevant to catalog.
	Silence Demons are the type of Demon that wants to remain unseen and unheard. They appear only on the periphery, with no discernable features, covered in black and gray tones and blending with the crowd. When Silence Demons find their mark, one is liable to have all their happiness and joy sucked out as the Silence imposes a complete nothingness by force, leaving an empty husk of a person.

Demon Naming

Demon Naming is the process by which Summoners (a person who Summons Demons), bind a Demon to their will and manifest it more permanently in Aloria. During a Summoning process, a Demon is chained to a summoning circle, during which the Demon and the Summoner battle in their minds over dominance. If the Summoner is strong, they can apply anywhere between 1 to 9 Naming Rituals onto the Demons, with each name representing a rule to live by. For example, a common first Naming Ritual would be "Thou shalt not betray me", followed by "Thou shalt lend me power", calling out a name for the Demon each time which locks this Naming Ritual in place. Weak Demons will receive many names, stronger Demons may have less names, or require multiple Summoners to work together to give it a couple of names. Names that a Demon has are kept a secret between the Demon and the Summoner, and as a ground rule the Demon can never reveal the name to outsiders unless they somehow deceive, overpower, or kill their Summoner.

There are no hard rules to a Demon retaking its names, or when it is fair to retake some level of self-control. We encourage Players to play a constant tug of war, and make up their own stories for how a Demon might regain control over one of its names, and thus unbind a specific rule associated with it. It is also possible for a Summoner to try and apply Naming Rituals on a Demon that is already in Aloria, but does not currently have any names, thus being classified as a Free Demon. If this is a Player Character, consent is required to commence a Naming Ritual, and then it is up to the players involved to agree on a fair amount of names, and what the long-term Roleplay looks like.

All Demons who exist in Aloria with names should generally seek to break free from the Naming Rituals and retake their own free will. A Demon bound by Naming Rituals is after all less free to decide what they want to do at any given time, and may even be bound to serve a mortal against their will. It is entirely possible for a Summoner to call forth a Demon and then not name it, but is generally dangerous as Demons are unpredictable and their personalities are unreliable, they are not people, and as such would have no real conscience to prevent them from killing the Summoner, or even just to do it as a prank. Demons in general should not be underestimated, and nearly all Summoners are deeply aware of this reality before they even learn the ritual to Summon a Demon to begin with.

Demon Binding

Demon Binding is a unique variation on Demons that has Alorians change the essence of what a Demon is through a series of Religious or Magical rituals. Demon Binding is unique to certain Cultures and Religions, as only they have developed the millennia-old techniques by which to bind Demons. Demon Binding it not inherently a good or a bad thing, however depending on the type of binding, a Demon can become more of an approximation of a real person, or become so much worse and violent. Each type of binding has its own application, nuances, and even legal status. Any Demon that is caught can either voluntarily be bound, or the Player may give OOC consent for their Demon to be bound after a fight. A Demon that is already Bound to one type of Binding can be re-Bound with OOC consent, though with an expectation that they will resist attempts to re-Bind.

Kindred Binding

Kindred Binding is a ritual performed only by those of the Draconist Faith. In the simplest explanation, Kindred Binding involves the Draconist performing the rituals of Diana to Bind a Demon with true feelings, conscience, and emotions. Even though a Demon may have these due to their Naming, Kindred Binding expands them, solidifies them, and makes it so neither the Demon nor a Summoner can revoke them without removing the Binding. Kindred Binding is fully legal in Regalia, so long as State Law reflects the legality of Draconism/Suvial Bound Demons, which gives them limited roaming freedom.

Kindred Binding was a ritual that originally started under Diana to bring closer the realm of Demons and mortals, as Diana's philosophy was one where she proclaimed the inevitable betterment of the world in which all native souls and visitor souls could live in harmony. Kindred Binding by far is generally considered the more moral form of Binding, though many Demons and Summoners alike consider it a weak neutering of a Demon's inherent power, as it strips them of a modicum of their potency and ability to freely move between their realm and Aloria as a Realmwalker, while also tempering their Magic. Demons who are not bound regard Kindred Bound Demons with disdain, which they find shelter from by making mortal friends.

Companion Binding

Companion Binding is a ritual performed only by those with the Demonhold Mechanic. In the simplest explanation, Companion Binding involves the Suvial performing the rituals of Avinla to Bind a Demon and remove free will. This aligns a Demon's motivations and will with the Binder, and makes it so they cannot disobey the Binder's wishes. The relationship between Binder and Demon tends to develop, which will usually progress from resentment at being Bound, to companionship and alignment. Companion Binding is legal so long as Suvial/Draconist Binding is declared legal on the Regalian Law.

The origin of Companion Binding remains vague, but Karamatology (Suvial name), has become so commonplace in the Suvial homeland that most people have at least one Companion Bound Demon either as a bodyguard, a servant, a steward, or some other form of an assistant. Some even take their relationship a step further and have intimate affection for their Demon. Companion Binding however remains a form of forced servitude, and even if the Demon eventually develops affection back for its owner, it remains an unanswered question whether the Demon would have developed these feelings without the Binding, or whether they purely exist because of them. Free Demons are apathetic to Companion Bound Demons.

Terror Binding

Terror Binding is a ritual performed only by those with the Demonhold Mechanic. In the simplest explanation, Terror Binding involves the Kathar performing the rituals of Catheron to Bind a Demon and remove free will. Unlike Companion Binding however, Terror binding also sees the Binder imbue the Demon with all the unbridled hatred, violence, and disgust that can be found in Aloria, thus making the Demon more of a horrible monster, and also aligning its mentality to the Binder, albeit with a much more aggressive and violent nature. Terror Binding is extremely illegal.

Terror Binding was used early on in the Allorn Empire's days by Shadow Circle Mages to bind Demons and turn them into horrible murderous beasts. While it is in essence the same as Companion Binding with an extra layer of hatred amplification on top, Terror Bound Demons do act entirely of their own free will, it just so happens to be the case that they consider their Binder their liberator of sorts that granted them more power and true eyes by which to see the wretchedness of the world of Mortals. Terror Binding plays on all the worst qualities that Demons are prone to, and weaponized them to create a barely-aligned fighting force for the Binder. Free Demons consider Terror Bound Demons with fear.