Demons (race)

Demons are the dominant race of non-humans in Obscenity, a neighboring country to Paraphilia. The term itself refers to beings of unnatural power and intelligence, both malevolent and benign, and is comprised of numerous types. Anything that is not a monster or a human is considered a demon.

Demons are a heavily stigmatized group, largely due to their parasitic nature. Most demons feed off of human beings in some way. In Obscenity, these beings are often referred to as "Voratians," in reference to their respective appetites.

Types
As a whole, demons tend to be more complex than singular titles. Unlike monsters, which fall into easily-identified categories, demons tend to share traits and features, varying in their powers and methods of feeding. In text, they can be broken up into general classes, which refer to beings with similar habits, but without typical names. Demons are not well understood, largely due to their predatory relationship with humans that may intend to study them. There are no doubt other classes; these are simply the most common.
 * Destroyer - anything that survives through pain and human death
 * Devourer - anything that survives by eating living flesh
 * Scavenger - anything that survives off specific human emotions
 * Siphoner - anything that survives off human life-force or energy

Outside of Obscenity, humans tend to generalize the types of demons they recognize under common folklore terms, such as "incubus," "vampire" and such. They often resort to the use of "demon" as a catch-all for anyone of a supernatural nature. This is an unfortunate form of prejudice, one that operates under the assumption that all demons are "the same." The lack of educational and research material on the topic only further adds to the problem.

Behavior
The major groups observe specific behaviors that earned them their classifications.

Individual
Devourers survive by eating people. In order for a devourer to gain anything from the act of eating, the subject must be alive, and thus a source of energy. Body-parts can be eaten one at a time, for the sake of moderation, but they must either still be attached to their host or very recently removed. A devourer gains nothing from eating a corpse, unless it is fresh and undrained. Offered the choice, most prefer their meal fresh. Due to their reliance on human bodies for survival and reproduction, the act of eating a person (or part of one) borders on a sex-act, with the line substantially blurred.

Destroyers are the ultimate sadists, deriving energy from the pain and death that takes place in their presence. They are drawn to sites of conflict and battle, where they can feed on the latent suffering left by the fallen, and of those being slain. Far from parasites, destroyers prefer to be proactive in their feeding, seeking out victims to torment or harm. They can feed from simple pain, but the taste of death is addictive to them. The more people die in their presence, the more they want to hunt, and the stronger they become. A destroyer will only end a hunt when it has exhausted itself.

Siphoners feed from human energy, which can be obtained in a number of ways. The majority of siphoners feed via blood, which is the most direct method, drawn either from willing victims or collected by force. The more personable of the species often elect to collect this energy through congress, coupling with unsuspecting humans to absorb their life-force via contact. Siphoners often utilize a glamour to appear less threatening or more appealing, using impression gleaned from their targets to tailor themselves to their tastes. When weakened, this can fail, revealing their true images.

Scavengers live off of gleaned human feelings--specifically, the energy freed by the feeling of a strong emotion--with most showing a preference for a certain one. They are the least violent and often most humanoid of the classes. While some subsist on things such as joy and amusement, the more malevolent of the group are drawn to stronger, darker emotions, like sadness and fear. These can be more predatory, with the worst intentionally bringing harm to the lives of their prey to feed from misery. A hungry scavenger can and will frighten a human to death.

Social
Being predators, demons do not generally "get along" with one another. They tend to be territorial, and respond to encroachment by others of their kind with extreme prejudice. The few that do interact often do so for pragmatic reasons, with members of the same species procreating as needed to assure their continued existence.

Physiology
Being creatures of a different nature, demons have no biological sex, with the concept of gender tenuous at best. Certain classes of demon choose to shift their sex, depending on their needs or whims, while others may simply choose whichever seems the most advantageous and stick to it. Few identify with any solid gender, the polite reference in demonic circles being a neutral "it."

Demons are exceptionally long-lived, with the median age for a full demon numbering in hundreds of years. Specimens younger than fifty are equivalent socially to the human age of fifteen, not being considered "adults" until after that point. Their full natural lifespan is unknown.

There is a lot of variants between demons in a particular class-type, with their appearances differing vastly from one another. Similarities exist within their respective groups, but no standard, universal features are observable.

Hunting
Unlike the various monsters of the land, demons are much harder to kill, requiring specialized hunter squadrons to put down a single one. The older the demon, the harder it is to slay, with the oldest of them being nigh invulnerable. They are laughably resistant to conventional weapons and materials, with the exception of silver. However, silver weapons rarely survive more than a single use against a demon, the virulent nature of their bodies reducing swords to nothing but the handle. This only applies to corporeal demons. Non-corporeal demons can only be banished by a magic-user, of which there are precious few in Paraphilia.

Magic is a powerful weapon against demons, being one of the few things that affects all layers of existence--including theirs. Arcane means are some of the only ones that are guaranteed to have an effect. Using spells, a demon can be temporarily bound, or banished, allowing potential victims time to escape. This runs the risk of marking the sorcerer responsible in the demon's eyes, and their memories are very long.

A strong enough sorcerer can trap a demon entirely, binding it to an object or place until it can be dispatched, or until it starves to death.

Withering
Being parasitic beings, demons require sustenance in the form of human material in order to survive. Depending on their diet, it is possible for a demon to starve to death, either due to scarcity or self-inflicted situations. How long such a process takes would depend on the age of the demon and the nature of their needs. A trapped devourer might fade away after a number of years, while a scavenger could easily get by for decades on just the presence of mortals.

The effects of starving on a demon vary from type to type. Most demons facing starvation degrade biologically until they enter a defensive survival-state, referred to as "withering." The onset of withering is characterized by the loss of human form, with the demon in question appearing more monstrous as time goes on. Most become savage or erratic, their more primal natures taking over in the name of survival.

A withered demon can reduce a village to a ghost town in its maddened search for food. A devourer can depopulate a city in a single night, a destroyer level a town without even stopping to absorb what it needs before seeking another target. Siphoners who use casual sex for survival may resort to draining their victims entirely, leaving fields empty corpses in their wake. Even the non-violent scavengers can resort to extreme acts, trapping and terrorizing congregations just to gain their fear.

Hunters seeking to starve a demon out do so at a very real risk of death, as a withered demon is weakened, but twice as dangerous in its resulting savagery. If such a method is suspected by a village in proximity to a demon, it's not uncommon for the civilians to interfere, offering sacrifices to avoid more destructive outcomes.

Relationship with Humans
Physical contact is a simple and popular way to gain much-needed energy, so interaction is common enough between humans and demons--both consensually and otherwise. As with all things in Obscenity, demons regularly have sex with humans, both for their own amusement and for reasons of nourishment.

Their interactions, however, are not limited to simple necessity, often extending to convenience and even entertainment. Humans are sometimes hunted by demons for sport, to be captured and made use of in whatever way is most amusing. In cases of masochism, humans of a certain persuasion or taste may seek out demons themselves, entering into contracts with them in return for craved fulfillment, and a promise of exclusivity. These people tend to be better off than their neighbors, as relation to a demon invariably implies protection from the other hazards in the land. A contracted human cannot be preyed upon by other demons without invoking the wrath of their master.

Humans are often kept on-hand in demon-owned villages, acting as a form of semi-intelligent cattle. In settlements aware of their overlords, sacrifices are sometimes made to prevent random choosing from the populace. Young girls are a favorite offering. In more masochistic villages, competitions are held to decide who gets the honor. These settlements are often warded against the intrusion of other Obscenian monsters, who tend to give the demons a wider birth. They are some of the safest places to live in Obscenity, for as long as the residents survive.

A handful of demons--particularly in the independent state of Vorare--enjoy fully consensual arrangements with humans. This can be as simple as a demon keeping a human as a pet, for repeated utilization, or as complex as a fully romantic relationship. The latter is looked on with some humor in demonic circles, the act socially considered similar to taking part in romantic bestiality.

Relationships between the races are limited to Obscenity, as non-humans are generally barred from entry to Paraphilia.

Cambions
A person born of a demon and human parent, through whatever means, is called a cambion.

Human beings and demons are often not biologically compatible, in the traditional sense. However, the fact remains that half of the population of Obscenity is human, and most of the non-humans have found ways of replicating themselves through one method or another. As a result, cambions, or "halflings", are common among the more powerful demon-types.

Creation
Cambions are made in a number of ways, most of them fatal to the human involved.

Devourers duplicate by the stronger of the pair swallowing the other to absorb them, with the mixed energy creating a third. Applied to human beings, a devourer couples with a powerful (and virile) enough human, then swallows them whole and alive. The devourer then slowly renders the victim's life-force and residual anatomy into an amalgam of demonic and human tissue that is born as a halfling. This obviously kills the victim, and often strains the devourer beyond any gain from the process. A half-devourer is never an accident; the power and precision required of the process makes planning and readiness necessary.

Intimacy with a fully-powered Siphoner is often enough to cause a pregnancy. The nature of the developing child requires the draining of the human life supporting it in order to survive. A human parent strong enough to resist the draining may in turn starve the child before it can finish forming. However, a parent too weak to survive the constant energy-loss simply dies. The latter is the most common outcome.

The creation methods of other halflings are a mystery, with half-destroyers never having been recorded and the methods of creating half-scavengers difficult to grasp.

Biology
A half-demon rarely appears completely human, with their features often skewed in the direction of their demonic parent. As a result, deformities are common among cambions, with the severity seeming to vary. Certain deformities trend between types, such as half-devourers missing digits due to their parents' three-clawed hands.

In addition to ranging deformity, a cambion can be easily identified by a number of traits that bridge the various types. "Spiked" or pointed ears are a universal symbol of demonic heritage, along with sharp teeth or fangs. Slitted pupils are universal among those with predatory heritage. Their coloring is often exaggerated, hair and eyes presenting in colors that do not occur naturally.

Unlike demons, most cambions are formed with a biological sex, though its presentation may vary from full humans. Variance or deformity of the sex organs is common, but often subtle enough to allow its use. What influences the sex of the child is unknown. A cambion with exposure to only their demonic parent may have little if any concept of gender, and most who do have little concern for it, presenting as they choose.

The full lifespan of a cambion is difficult to pinpoint. It is assumed that being partly mortal would render the halfling prone to semi-normal aging. However, cambions have been observed to reach adulthood in regular time, only for their aging to slow to a crawl, with those approaching the end of human lifespan still appearing in their prime.

Childrearing and Complications
Very few cambion children meet their human parents, the violent and often fatal methods of their birth usually robbing them of the chance. How much they relate to or interact with their surviving parent depends entirely on the demon. Those who required little effort to create may never know their parent, while those who took work may be raised by them among their kind.

In demonic social circles, cambions are viewed with relative indifference. They are generally expected to behave like demons, or otherwise subject themselves to the same treatment as humans. This polarizing stance often leaves the child in question uncertain where they belong, with most choosing one side or the other by the time they reach adulthood.

The rare few humans who survive the creation process may choose to raise their child as human, assuming the allowance of their demonic partner. These cambions tend to be more human in behavior and nature as a result, with some even passing as human fully, when able. Life for a halfling raised by a human can be extremely difficult, with the lack of guidance in feeding resulting in those of predatory heritage at risk of starving.

While able to live off of mortal foods, inability or refusal to feed from the sources they need can result in partial withering. Though this is seldom fatal, prolonged withering can have catastrophic effects on the mind.

Virility
Cambions tend to be more genetically compatible with human beings, with their resulting progeny posing much less of a threat to their mortal parent. Even then, the chances of successful coupling between a halfling and a human are incredibly low, with very few cases recorded.

Most cambions are, however, compatible with each other, no matter their parentage. The results of mixed cambion parentage can be muddled and unpredictable, with the child ending up half-human, and a quarter of each parents' demonic race. With races that have deformities, the resulting child can look a bit uncanny. Those who are lucky may lean to one side or the other, with the result washed out by the human aspect, resulting in a more "normal" appearance.

Same-race cambions are able to reproduce naturally, resulting in yet another half-demon.

Known Demons

 * "The Dark King" - A rare and widely feared Voratian devourer, and ruler of the independent province of Vorare. It presents with three-clawed hands--a feature that causes deformity in its offspring--and rows upon rows of razor-teeth. Its eyes are black and hypnotic, enslaving any who gaze upon it. It moves in a way more akin to floating than walking, even in so-called "human" form, its non-corporeal state allowing it to appear and vanish at will.
 * Jack Spectre (Jekyll) - A half-devourer by the Dark King. Presenting with ectrodactyly, a prehensile tongue and a fanged smile, Jack is a rare neutral example of a devourer, preferring to feed more like a scavenger. His tall, gaunt appearance is off-putting to most, but he passes relatively well as human. Jack is at the forefront of attempts by Vorare to make peace with Paraphilia.
 * Eddy Spectre (Hyde) - A young half-devourer by the Dark King, and Jack's brother. Eddy is less well-formed, appearing stumped and disproportionate, though featuring similar deformities. He abuses his ability to vanish, using it to scare people for his amusement. He lacks much of the empathy of his brother, finding humor in fear and anger.
 * Eric Luminaire (Phantom) - A half-scavenger who feeds by mass-presence. Long-limbed and pale with with burning eyes, his presence causes immediate disquiet. The result of a terrorized human mother, Eric is withdrawn, preferring to exist as a satellite, in order to spare others the suffering of his powers.
 * Karmen Arma (Carmilla) - A vampiric half-siphoner, who targets only female partners. Presenting as a "floating" girl with no feet and a miasma of wind-blown hair, Carmilla is in fact biologically male--a fact which means nothing to her as a demon. Her urge to feed is low, allowing her the pickiness.
 * Drake Chandler (Drakul) - A cambion of mixed parentage, passing as a siphoner. Drake appears largely human under glamour, presenting as tall and pale, but lacking the deformities common among his kind. As a second-generation cambion, he has the abilities of both his parents.
 * Chester Crepsley (Junior) - A partly-humanoid cambion of mixed heritage. He looks somewhere between a scavenger and a devourer, and as such, hardly passes as human, being exceptionally gaunt and toothy. Chester compulsively bites at people, misunderstanding proper interaction.

Trivia

 * The term "Voratian" stems from the word vorare, meaning "to eat." This term is considered more polite than the superstitious use of "demon." As such, the province of Vorare was named for its residents, in a nod to their practices.