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.
Despoilers can feed off of any emotion, but most have a taste for one emotion or another. Often a creature of this type will feed off of complex emotions such as one's sense of self and revel in unraveling a person's mind in this way. Other tastes of note are sexuality, sense of order, feelings of control, sense of propriety, self worth, and really any other emotional state which can give rise to chaos and pain when disrupted.
A powerful enough demon of this type can actually corrupt the soul in such a way as to turn a ghost into an aberrant entity feeding off of the living and passing that energy back to their master. Granting continued existence as examples of the demons own power and corruption but little else beyond the fixation upon and hatred of the living.
Succubus / Incubus
The succubus and incubus are both well known types of the despoiler. Both creatures feed off of the sexual energy of humans through forcing humans deeper and deeper into debauchery and unravelling their sense of self as they pursue further and further heights of ecstasy. Such entities as these can (and often do) feed off of their chosen targets through vile acts such as rape or severe coercion. Evidence suggests that, as with any despoiler, they have a particular taste of one particular kind of sexual exploitation. Some have been documented as using their abilities to manipulate people into doing things from afar and simply feeding off of the situations they orchestrate without ever being seen.
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.