A demon is an otherworldly malevolent entity, originating from the lower planes of existence (colloquially Hell). These foul creatures are powerful, deceitful, and embody the worst of the supernatural world.
Fallen
Angels no longer committed to the cause. Put through a gauntlet of trials and never fully trusted. Never accepted back to the Host, and rarely trusted by the Horde.
Reasons
- High accumulation of dissonance
- A violation of one's own nature creates dissonance
- Infiltration of the baser emotions
- Doubt, Jealousy, etc..
Risen
Demons desiring to redeem themselves and be accepted into the Host. Put through trials and then judged based on results. Never fully accepted. Very difficult to live up to demands placed on them. Most fall back where they're either destroyed or jeered at for all eternity, passed over for advancement, assuring they remain pissed off and unable to ascend again.
Reasons
- High accumulation of dissonance
- Allows words of 'Truth' to penetrate his existence
- Infiltration of the baser emotions
- Hope, Love, etc..
Despoilers
Demons who have gone outside of Hell's boundaries and have broken the codex. Powerful enough to have escaped the watchers, the Horde does not openly hunt them lest the act spill to the streets and further damage the codex.
They live outside the rules, drawing their energies from the suffering and corruption of humanity (in a pinch torturing the lesser creatures will do) and the occasional celestial or demon. A jolting high is experienced when, and immediately following, a creature under its influence suddenly realizes its own debasement and is either broken in spirit, driven mad, or kills itself. Experience is gained when such goals are achieved, either for amusement or power gain.
Soul Eaters
There are other things after your soul than Horde and Host. These creatures are truly fallen (from either order) and devour souls to gain power. The challenge is that the soul must be harvested before death (the result being fatal, or in some instances, the soulless).
Each attempt to gain a soul places the eater at risk by using its strength to battle the individual's will into relinquishing the soul. The soul eater gains power only through the consumption, no longer able to pull from the subject's emotions or pain.
Sin Eaters
Living outside both boundaries, these abominations are hated and hunted by both Host and Horde. There are very few of them and they tend not to advertise themselves to the ethereal. Their master is power and their services do not come cheap.
A sin eater does just what its title implies. It is summoned before death to extract (through ritual) a being's sins and take them into himself, freeing the host for admission to the Gates. The process is painful and unpleasant to the eater, but with it comes knowledge...and knowledge, as we know, is power.