Demons

Demons are formed from a soul that has been thoroughly tainted by evil in life that when they die, instead of being drawn to the Paths of the Dead, the soul instead rips open a tear in the fabric of the Astral Plane, creating a personal hell for that newly formed demon, a place of torment that inflicts on them punishments their shattered morality believes they deserve. However, while this personal hell is torture for the demon, in their twisted state, they will also use it as a place of torment against those unlucky enough to fall into their grasps.

Each demon has a unique personal hell. One may have a sea of acid. Another may have a blazing desert where each grain of sand is searing-hot iron. Another may have a cavern where every rock is as sharp as a razor blade. And so on, and so forth. The size of a demon's personal hell depends on the demon's power. A weak imp has a hell the size of a small house, while the greatest demon princes control realms the size of entire countries.

Demons are, by their nature, drawn to sin and vice, and encourage its proliferation among mortals. They become the heralds and harbingers of evil to the other realms, and each demon is unique in their particular method of tempting other souls towards wicked ends. Some are masters of seduction, encouraging mortals to ignore their conscience and embrace their hedonistic desires. Others are murderers and madmen who spread chaos and violence in the hopes of inspiring humans to follow in their path. Others still will offer mortals their deepest desires in return for their soul.

Demons like this particular arrangement, because while the mortal is alive, the demon gets to tap into that soul's magical potential and use it to boost their own powers. And after death, well, the demon gets to take that soul back to their own personal Hell. A demon may spend months or even years torturing the poor souls before they finally break, and are transformed into a demon themselves, with their own personal hell. This hell usually forms near their former captor's lair, and is often connected to it in some way. While it is possible to find a lone hell, or a small cluster, out in the darkest reaches of the Astral, over the millenia, many demons' hells have become woven together in a great nexus the size of a continent--one of the largest astral realms known. After all, the most powerful demon lords have transformed thousands of humans over the eons into legions of dark servants. This vast domain of spiritual decay and sin is known as the Abyss, and it is the source of more suffering and torment than any other realm known to mortal scholars.

One of the more infamous bargains a mortal can make with a demon is trading their soul in exchange for magical power. This is the most common way a mortal can become a warlock. Warlocks with demonic patrons can tap into the power of sin and evil, and use dark magics beyond the ken of most wizards and mediums. Both demons and their loyal warlocks can draw power from the evil in the souls of mankind, which is why many of them seek to create cults, whose wicked acts and thoughts help make their masters all the more powerful.

A powerful enough warlock or demon begins to twist the world around them, bringing forth aspects of the astral hells into the mortal realm. In most cases, this is a spiritual degradation, where those who enter the area will begin to feel the lingering effects of evil weighing down their souls and tempting their thoughts towards darkness. However, in particularly dramatic cases, the personal hell of a demon seeps forth physically, tainting the world and corrupting plant and animal life. The particular effects depend on the demon whose hell is leaking through, but it can be anything from unearthly cold and rains of blood, to black ooze bubbling forth and coating everything in a vile sheen, to the ground becoming so unhallowed the dead can no longer rest peacefully.

Now, most demons used to be humans who damned their souls during their mortal life. However, some ancient demons, such as Asmodeus, Baalzebub, and Dolores claim to have once been angels, though we have only their word to go upon. Yet their power, and their influence over the mortal realm cannot be ignored. Indeed, it is largely because of the might of these demon princes that a crusade hasn't been launched to wipe the stain of the Abyss from existence entirely. So instead, that cosmic wound of sin and corruption continues to fester and grow, spreading its taint throughout the Astral and into the Supernal and the Mortal realms.

Normally, demons are trapped in the Abyss, unable to escape that gaping wound in reality by the metaphysical gravity of their own sins. However, there are ways out for these wicked beings.

Most commonly, demons are called forth by humans, who wish to bind the demon to their service or somehow obtain that demon's power. Usually the demon agrees, in exchange for the human's soul. Not only is the soul powerful in its own regards, but if a demon has collected enough souls, it also allows the demon to climb out of the Pit and make their way into the mortal realm at will.

But souls aren't the only way out. Sometimes a summoning goes wrong, and the demon is brought into the mortal world without any restrictions. In that case, there's nothing stopping the demon from stepping fully through into Earth and wrecking whatever havoc they desire.

There are also thin places in reality, places of great evil where the natural malice of the Abyss seeps through into the mortal world. Demons who find the corresponding thin spots in the Abyss can slide on through--but they are often restricted to acting only within a limited area around the bleed. Why such a demon likely seeks to deepen the corruption of the area, allowing them to travel forth even further.

There's also demonic possession, where a demon can step into the body of and assume direct control. Usually, this is the case of a human interacting with a tainted artifact or location, leaving the taint of the Abyss on the human, and allowing a demon to thus treat that body as an extension of the Abyss without being drawn back. Some demons willingly cast their souls from the Abyss and onto Earth in the form of such items, in hopes of finding humans they can corrupt and possess.

And these are just a couple of the more common ways that demons can enter the world. Other options include acts of great evil or depravity opening up a temporary wound in reality that allows demons to stride forth, depraved cultists opening up hellgates that allow the legions of the Abyss to march forth, mad science ripping open the barriers between realities, and certain sinister rituals opening one's soul to the damnable forces of the Abyss.

There are so many ways for the forces of corruption to venture in to the mortal realm. It is only through the constant vigilance of the Earth's protectors that we remain blissfully unaware of the vile menace that seethes at the edges of creation, desiring to transform our Earth into a living hell.