Alter Aeon The Great Library

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Note - as with any topic, researchers should question the reliability
and veracity of these texts.  The library's aim is to preserve
documents, not verify accuracy.

AABN:  37374
Title: a book called 'Demons'

Popular belief holds that demons are beings of chaos and evil, filled with
malice towards the gods and mortals alike. Though groups of demons have
indeed worked havoc upon the world in times past, most demons are
indifferent towards the affairs of mortals.

Demons are a diverse class of highly magical beings of varying levels of
sentience, native to a distant plane known as the Demon Realm. There, they
have their own societies in which they cooperate and compete in a manner
very similar to mortals. Some build cities, have families and pursue
whatever pleasures or needs suit them. Others live in more primitive
tribes, or even as dumb beasts.

There are several groups of creatures that operate on the fringes of
demonic society, but generally not considered to be wholy demonic. Imps are
generally small, weak demons, with or without wings. They tend to be more
mischievious than evil. They prefer to associate with fairies and goblins,
though more powerful demons will recruit them as messengers and spies.
Similar to imps are mephits. These small humanoids have bat-like wings and
a strong affinity for one or more kinds of elemental magic. They are found
amongst elementals as often as with demons. Like imps, they are more prone
to petty tricks and larceny than outright acts of violence or cruelty. The
Fallen are angels that have defected from their Choirs and pledged
themselves to demonkind. They have abandoned both grace and glory. The
Fallen are without exception wicked and exceptionally dangerous.

Demons have a different system of morality from humans. Even the nature of
their gods differs significantly from ours. Lesser demons are ruled over 
by archdemons, which are in turn servants of the Demon Lords, the de facto
gods of the Demon Realm. Any demon can, with skill and time, amass enough
magic and influence to elevate themselves to a higher station. A
sufficiently ambitious and successful demon can even depose a Demon Lord
and take its place. Thus their pantheon is ever changing as demons rise and
fall in status.

Demons that ascend to a high rank typically have lied, cheated, stole and
murdered to get there. Thus, while most demons are no more dangerous than
the average human or elf, the Demon Lords have a well-deserved reputation
for cruelty, untrustworthiness and conflict.

This thirst for power is what drives the interactions between the Demon
Realms and other parts of the cosmos. Demons can infuse lifeforce energy
from soulstones into their bodies to increase their native strength. This
drove them to colonize the Worlds of Chaos, which led to the creation of
the Lords of Chaos. Seeking lifeforce, a group of Demon Lords conspired
with the Evil Immortals during the Great Wars. They set up operations in
the plane of shadow, spawning the creation of the plane of elemental
darkness. Power-hungry demons are attracted to war and death, seeking to
capture the essence of souls to devour.

After the Great Wars, the Unified Accords were drawn between the Demon
Pantheon and the High Pantheon of Dentin. They defined the nature of all
future interactions with demons, angels and mortals. This strictly
regulated and standardized the trade of soulstones. It also defined
summoning rituals and codes of conduct for the summoners and summoned,
setting the stage for the modern discipline of demonology. The greatest
stricture of the Unified Accords forbids any summoned demon from naming a
god of the Demon Pantheon. This prevents mortals from worshipping and
summoning the demonic gods.

Demons have their own language, called "Demoniac". It has many dialects,
but they all use the same runic alphabet. Demoniac characters have distinct
sharp points. They are very linear, as none of the letters are formed with
circles or curves. Demoniac runes are used in necromantic rites, as
substitutes for more tradition druidic glyphs, holy sigils or elemental
runes.