Hey, i've been rewriting my demons into a more generally pleasing format (or so i hope), and i thought i'd like to try to post it again, something that will hopefully result in some comments.
Though the material world is not without its own mysteries, the world beyond is a mystery in and of itself. The Dreamscape is the most incomprehensible of these, a realm of pure chaos and thought, it is everything that could have been or has been; or maybe even is. Of course, with this world being the negative opposite of the 'ordered' existence of the material world, no interaction is possible between the two. A world that isn't governed by any rules can't be perceived in our world as none of it 'exists' in the way we understand existence. But even though it's impossible to build a bridge between these two distant locations, nobody says you can't explore the chasm between them. This border-world is the World Beyond, a world of thought given form. It is the origin of our souls, and it is the place the souls will seep back to after they shed the mortal coil. Here they will be broken apart and take part in the Oversoul, a composite maelstrom of thought.
In this maelstrom, res cogitans, the basic mental 'matter' that makes up souls, coalesces into new souls or, when powerful emotions, memories or thoughts coalesce, into unnatural spirits of the mind known as demons. These demons are sentient, and consume the natural energy of the plane thus turning themselves into semi-material beings of energy, mind, and shadow. In our world they take on the shapes of stolen bodies, using their unnatural heritage and their only partial connection to the reality of the material world to unleash devastating demonic powers. Their thoughts are alien and passionate, and they are fickle creatures, consumed by one emotion in one instant and another in the next. They aren't necessarily evil though, as many myths state, but are rather embodiments of emotion and thought, both good and bad.
Demons are per definition completely unnatural otherworldly beings, but at the same time there is a certain familiarity to them, caused by the fact that they are actually the spawn of our own dreams and nightmares. Before men were given souls, and the res cogitans was still untainted by memory, the coalesced nodes of thought in the maelstrom never grew big or dense enough to give birth to a demon, but as the human race experienced more and more, demons began forming. When still on their home-plane demons are barely self-sentient and are but a small part of what constitutes the Oversoul. But if they are drawn away from the Oversoul by the sound of an evocation ritual, they can be lured into our world, where they rid themselves of the connection to the Oversoul. But being creatures but of mind and energy, they lack flesh, they lack a Vessel; something that is completely unthinkable in this world. And this becomes a craving for flesh that they must fulfill.
POSSESSION
They have one tool to fulfill the Craving, and that is the power of possession, where their spirit form forces its way down a person's throat or directly through his flesh to usurp his essence and crush his soul. Even though most demons possess an arsenal of destructive powers, this is usually the one that strikes the most fear into a person since it represents not the loss of your life, but the loss of your freedom. The entering of a dark spirit through your flesh feels like your skin pores suddenly open to the touch of a cold, greasy breeze, followed by a prickling sensation. This is then usually immediately followed by immense pain as the creature infects your very life force. Formerly possessed people have described the pain as feeling like every inch of their skin is being boiled until it melts. This also leads to violent muscle spasms that continue for up to 5 seconds. After this first ordeal, people often describe how they feel a sudden alienation to the rest of their body, just before they feel a pain reminiscent of someone ramming their brain, creating a weird dissonance and the sounds of something utterly alien, pushing at an imperceptible membrane. At this point some people give in to the force, and let the soul of the demon take over. Others force the demon out through the use of sheer willpower, making it violently retrieve its essence, a painful sensation that feels like tearing your skin apart (luckily, no physical damage actually happens unless the demon is very powerful and enraged).
Possessed humans usually merely have their minds subjugated, although powerful demons can crush souls completely, and even weaker demons can crush a soul that was already weakened when they took control of the body. Possessed humans are called hosts, and they are often inactive for a short while after the possession as they go through the Metamorphosis, a process where the human body adjusts to the mental image the demon has of its physical form (the thoughtform), composed of memories, dreams and nightmares from the constituent souls. Some thoughtforms are grotesque and monstrous, while others are human and inconspicuous; demons are often divided into types depending on their thoughtform. It should be noted that demons can also possess inanimate objects.
DEMONIC SUBTYPES
MNEMONS:
Mnemons are the most ordinary and hard to discover demons, since they physically resemble humans. Most have slight inhuman alterations, but not many of them are immediately obvious, and so they are able to integrate themselves quite well into human civilization. Mnemons are driven by a great variety of ambitions and dreams, and possess a host of different abilities, making all of them more or less unique.
SUCCUBUS:
Succubi are demons completely consumed with lust who take on the shape of sexual fantasies. They hunt down and possess the most beautiful bodies they can find (most often women), and then they modify them until they are perfect representations of beauty and human desire. Succubi are crazed with their own desire, and want nothing but sex, which they pursue tirelessly. They aren't rapists though, but seducers; they not only want the sex, but the desire of mankind. Succubi are slightly warmer to the touch than normal, and appear to be hyperventilating a little, but otherwise just resemble extremely beautiful men and women. Though succubi might sound like a blessing to humankind to many people, they do have a tendency to sometimes suck out the soul of a human after an orgasm, leaving the dead body behind.
GROTESQUERIES:
Grotesqueries are demons whose form is too horrible to be from a single nightmare only. They are physical representations of the worst the human mind can come up with in terms of fear and horror. Unlike the more focused succubi, grotesqueries come in many different shapes and variants, although all of them seem to be bent on wanton destruction. But maybe there are exceptions; you never know. Also called gargoyles, the grotesqueries are the most feared demons, since they are the ones most likely to be in possession of claws, horns, tentacles, armored skin, wings, and destructive supernatural powers; things that all demon hunters hate. Grotesqueries are thankfully quite rare: memories and dreams do outweigh nightmares.
SHADOWS
When a soul is ripped away from the mortal world, parts of it sometimes get stuck. This event is what creates shadows. Though not demons in the usual sense, shadows bear some ties to them in that they are both creations of dead human souls. Shadows are, for lack of a better word, psychic imprints made on the physical world. Also called ghosts, shadows appear as flickering images of scenes that have happened in the past (taken from the dead person's memory). Weak ghosts are often nothing but faded pictures being replayed again and again, with the movement of the ghosts being unnatural and flickering, the colors drained and sometimes not even physical integrity is maintained, and the ghosts appear transparent in places. Stronger ghosts have strong emotions keyed to the replayed memory, and this allows them to affect the physical world in certain points of their repeated memory. The strongest of ghosts, the revenants, no longer connect their memory to a specific event, but rather to the experience itself, and seek to copy it in the physical world. Strong shadows are not sentient, but yet still appear to act intelligently in all situations, though they never acknowledge that they aren't human. It's believed that they act as they think the holder of the memory would. Shadows exist until banished or otherwise removed and are contained to the area in which they live.
GHOULS
Ghouls are demons consumed by envy to such a degree, that they long to be others. They are cunning shapeshifters, resembling, thin, short skinless humans with every feature reduced to its smallest human proportions. The demon's mostly grisly physical trait though is its lack of skin; the muscle tissue, and bone is out in the open when the demon is in its natural form. Other parts of the demons physiology have also been changed drastically, though its usually less visible. Every bone is made up of hundreds of smaller bone pieces, connected by muscle tissue, which allows the ghoul to extend and shape his bone structure however he sees fit. Balloon-like organs are scattered across his body, and he can fill them quickly with a fat-like semi-solid to emulate body fat. Small details, like pigmentation and the like, can also be changed, and so can the hair. Skin can be produced by using glands that cover the body, but specific skin designs, such as tattoos or birthmarks, can't be copied. Other than that, the ghoul can modify pretty much all of its body to resemble any living human creature. To take a new shape, the fat-organs are emptied, and the skin is softened and then clawed off, and then the process can start anew. A competent ghoul can change its shape in less than 2 minutes. Though ghouls can emulate people by looking at them, most ghouls prefer eating those they seek to emulate. It is speculated that this gives them a greater knowledge of how to emulate the victim more perfectly, but it could also just be that the demon doesn't want its unwilling doppelganger to ruin its plans.
PRACTICAL DEMONOLOGY
Demonic spirits are sometimes drawn into our world by Evokers in search of power, through the use of occult and ancient rituals. The creatures are then bound to his body inside intricate binding tattoos. Here their spirit is melded to his own spirit; the demonologist essentially giving the demon permission to inhabit part of his body (which gives rise to the ancient concept of selling your soul to the devil). This process is of course kept under control (if the demonologist is competent enough), and with his spirit, soul and body now being partly unnatural, he can call upon various powers of the demon, depending on the way he bound it. These abilities might include the spontaneous creation of energy, enhancing of senses or physical abilities, or the powers to transform parts of his flesh or regenerate. There are risks though; the demon will over time become a more and more fundamental part of the creature, and will start influencing his mental processes as well, and accomplished demonologists who have bound multiple demons are at great risk of losing control. In addition, damage to the binding circle tattoos risk setting the demon loose on the world and, maybe worse for the character, on his mind.
I will add more on practical demonology, if it is something people want to see more on.
The demons presented here are mostly my own work, though i have been greatly inspired by the Bartimaeus Trilogy and the Supernatural TV-series.
Otherwise, ALL kinds of comments/ideas/critique/inspiration are welcome.
The ghouls are awesome. Very well thought out, and I particularly like the fact that they can't replicate birthmarks. I dunno, it's just idiosyncratic.
I really like the merging of demon and undead that seems to be taking place in this. I also agree on the awesomeness of the ghouls. Give us more!
Thank you both for the praise :)
And it's true that i have merged undead and demons somewhat, seeing as my setting doesn't have undead per se.
Also, zombies are corpses possessed by small and weak demons who aren't powerful enough to take over anything but a dying person, and in one of the previous incarnations, vampires were humans who had both their human soul and a demonic soul that surfaced at times. But i haven't really written anything on those two yet.
The next thing i'll write, will probably be more on practical demonology, as i also wrote at the bottom of the post, unless there is something you'd rather see?
Thought i would give this thread a second chance for some comments before i get going on some writing some stuff about practical demonology.
Great work CC. You've sparked a few new ideas for my own work.
Neat explanation for why ghouls are cannibals.
I think formless demons are way scarier than giant fiery monsters.
The traditional definition of revenant is kind of the opposite of a ghost--it is a corpse that remains conscious. The main difference between a zombie and a revenant is that sense of consciousness, perhaps it retains its soul, perhaps just sentience.
Either way, you might prefer the term "wraith" (typically any powerful vengeful spirit) or "specter" (any apparition with dark magic).
You can also find a large number of other names for spirits in the mythological resource pages on the wiki (http://www.thecbg.org/wiki/index.php/Mythological_Creatures_of_Europe).
Yeah, i think i just liked the word revenant. The way it was defined in my head was as some kind of spirit/corpse that had come back to perform some act of vengeance (revenant sounds kind of like revenge). But i'll probably change it to wraith then.
Revenants typically rise to cause violence, revenge being common. But they are corporeal, actual corpses, as opposed to just spirits.
And, yeah, the word does have a nice ring to it ;)
When you mentioned the whole "it doesn't have skin" thing, I was seriously expecting you to say that the thing wears the skin of it's victims. (Kind of like the Bug in Men in Black, I suppose) But the whole it changes its body shape seemed to fit with that too, like it would change to to fill out the body. In any case it's still awesome.
I guess I'm not really sure what you mean about the shadows/ghosts/revenants. You say that revenants are not sentient, yet go on to say how they will act how they think the holder of the memory would. If they think, doesn't that mean that they are sentient? And if they are able to make decisions, to deny that they aren't human, etc., isn't that a sign of sentience as well?
hehe, the ghouls were mostly inspired by the shapeshifters from Supernatural (awesome show by the way).
And i should probably try to clarify the whole ghost thing... I wouldn't call them sentient, as they are but imprints, memories left behind and given incorporeal form.
A serial killers very strong (revenant-strong) memory of how he stalked and killed his victims would contain enough "material" for the revenant (or wraith, when i get around to changing its name) to copy his way of stalking, his way of torture, and so on; in essence his entire skill set of killing + stalking. So even though it can't consider its actions, it can still react to stimuli in the environment (take cover when the victim looks over his/her shoulder).
Did that clarify it in anyway?
If it did, i would be happy if you could give some help clarifying the actual text; i'm not entirely sure how to phrase this.
Incredible amount of detail in the Ghoul section. Great work that creates some pretty nasty visuals when imagining the transformation taking place.
How do the Demons react to each other when they meet when possessing someone? If you based some of this on the Bartimaeus books I am guessing there are some Demon politics involved. Would there be any interaction between demons bound within the same host Evoker? Two demons in the same body that didn't like each other? OUCH!
I am looking forward to reading more!
A skilled invoker could of course keep multiple demons locked away in different parts of his body, but if two demons actually tried to possess the same body they would probably end up in something of a "spiritual" fight, trying to infect the soon-to-be-host's essence while pushing the other one out. Let us just say that this will be rather horrendous (not to say excruciating) experience for the living creature involved.
While in a host, i think most demons see other demons as rivals. Strong demons might have several lesser allied demons (if he can find them) who will do work for him in turn for protection from stronger ones. But this is probably rather rare seeing there aren't that many manifested demons to begin with.
You want comments? Well, let's do this again, then. I'll be typing my reply as I read what you've posted so I can give you my thoughts on this as best as possible. Hopefully this won't cause any confusion. Also keep in mind that I may be a little tired while doing this.
Since I seem to be having a lot of thoughts on this, I will break my review up. The first post will address everything above "
POSSESSION". From there, you respond to me and we can go back and forth until I understand, whether that involves you making changes or not. If you make any significant changes, I will give my thoughts on them. After this process is finished, I will move onto the next section.
NOTE: If something I ask is clarified later either simply tell me that and move on or tell me how.
If you want me to edit and decrease my font size so as to not take over your thread, let me know.
1.
Quote from: Crippled CrowThis border-world is the World Beyond, a world of thought given form.
In this maelstrom, res cogitans, the basic mental 'matter' that makes up souls, coalesces into new souls or, when powerful emotions, memories or thoughts coalesce, into unnatural spirits of the mind known as demons.[/quote]When still on their home-plane demons are barely self-sentient and are but a small part of what constitutes the Oversoul. But if they are drawn away from the Oversoul by the sound of an evocation ritual, they can be lured into our world, where they rid themselves of the connection to the Oversoul.[/quote] But being creatures but of mind and energy, they lack flesh, they lack a Vessel; something that is completely unthinkable in this world. And this becomes a craving for flesh that they must fulfill.[/quote]Does this mean they have to claim a body? Or does this mean they seek only to destroy? If the latter, why would they not kill whoever summoned them?
Amazingly, i had almost missed this awesome comment. I'll get right down to answering the different questions now.
1 & 2
The dreamscape... how to explain this. It is the place where people's minds go when they dream, but it isn't real as such. In other settings this might be called "the Chaos" or something like that; it is essentially everything you could possibly imagine, every situation that can happen (and therefore maybe will happen). It is a place of dreams, imagination and the unreal. Did that make any sense?
The World Beyond is the place where our world, the real world, meets the Dreamscape, the unreal world, and therefore demons and souls are partly real and partly unreal, although souls are more "real" than demons.
Any idea on how to clarify this? There will probably be some information on the plane when i write up my planar section, though.
3
The Oversoul is partly a hive-mind structure, and it's not a singular sentient entity. It's just a giant mass of incorporeal thought, "talking" to each other, exchanging information, and coalescing into "personalities" in the form of souls and demons. This exchange of information is also the reason why age-old demons can usually speak modern languages as they absorb the knowledge from dead souls.
4
Not necessarily the darker side, though they can be (and a good deal of them are. More something akin to thoughts and emotion given form and life.
5
Essentially, yes, but demons don't influence humans on a general basis as such. They could be likened to the "waste" the dead souls leave behind when they are scraped clean so they can be used again.
6
Rituals gone wrong could easily release small cadres of these creatures, and certain very rare events might cause the spontaneous evocation of a spirit (though i haven't really decided on this). Very weak demons might also be searching for years for a body weak enough for them to take over. The only major event that has lead to demons running free was when an ancient civilization tried to animate their city by binding a mighty demon to it, and failed.
7
Demons aren't naturally inclined to destroy (well, unless they are grotesqueries). The craving for flesh is the craving for a vessel to contain their spirit; a vessel they can acquire through possession.
Thank you for the very detailed comment (and thank you for your comments on the resonance thread as well, again)
1&2. I think I do understand now. I'm not really sure how to make it more clear, though. Sorry about that. It seems too complex to describe simply. Maybe when you work out the planar section you will come up with something that makes it a bit more clear. If you do, I would suggest updating this with that. If you don't, I would just include a kind of 'designer notes' with this that says basically what you just told me. Unless you have more to add, I'd call these points of my feedback resolved for now.
3. So the same demons stay around for a very long time? What means are there of getting rid of them? Even when the demons are in the mortal world, do they still keep 'one foot outside'? (That's what you seem to be suggesting.) Also, if new souls are made where the old ones join and communicate is there some racial knowledge from birth? That seems to be what would make sense to me, based on this.
4. Not always the darker side, just a construct of strong knowledge or emotions? So, do the souls of great wizard-types and scholar-types often create or help to create a demon? If so, haven't they discovered this? If they have, do they do anything about it? Maybe some people fear caring too much or learning too much as they might be a cause of a demon's formation.
Here's something I thought of: If demons can be formed from strong emotions of the dead, let's say a man died who loved his wife very much. Could his soul then form into a demon that, if summoned to the material world, would then be obsessed with that woman?
5. Does that mean that there is the potential that they could one day overflow from their real or otherwise become some kind of serious threat?
6. Good, if demons are this kind of thing I feel that there is a need for the possibility of them to be released without being summoned for a certain purposed and to go out of control. Unless you have more to add here, I'd consider this point resolved as well.
7. So the demons seek only to possess? What happens once they have done that.
I would now say that points 1, 2, and 6 are resolved here unless you have more to add. You're very welcome for this and that. I will continue on with this one once these questions have been answered. I enjoy doing this kind of thing with fluff because I enjoy when people do the same with me. It can make you think about things that you hadn't considered before and clarify the setting in your own mind so you can better put it into words. If this ever becomes not helpful, just let me know and I will stop.
I'm still very happy for the help. If you need my help with anything just ask; I'm not really accustomed to making focused help as such, but I'd be happy to try (this is a forum after all; i better get used to it sooner or later).
And now to the questions:
3.
Let's see. Yes, strong demons are ancient, and although lesser ones are often destroyed and rebuilt all the time, strong demons are too resilient to be blown apart like this. And they do indeed keep "one foot outside"; this is how they can possess physics-breaking powers.
Souls are scraped clean of powerful thoughts and emotions in the maelstrom, so actual racial knowledge is probably hard to come by. On the other hand, natural talent, personality, or opinions might be influenced by what basic parts the soul is build up from.
4.
Most people aren't aware of demons, and even if they were, they would be powerless to stop them adding "parts" to the demons. Every thought or emotion you experience leaves an imprint that can eventually be used to "build" a demon. But then again, your "parts" are just a drop in the ocean, and they might not even coalesce into a demon.
As to your love example, it would probably usually just be generalized as "love" for the demon, but it's not impossible for a demon to retain the connection there is between the emotion and the thought of the woman. It's a good idea anyway, so i can't see why i would ruin it.
5
Maybe they could, but it's rather unlikely. It might also cause some sort of "disturbance" to the reality. Also, demons don't really want to leave their plane. They mostly leave because they are drawn by something or forced by something. Of course, if you are dealing with manifestations of curiosity you never know...
6
it's actually more than likely that a demon will go out of control. the only way to currently control is if you contain it in special binding circles on objects or your own body. If you let the spirit free from the summoning circle it runs rampant in search of a body.
7.
Yes, spirit-demons seek only to possess; they need a body. Once they have done that, the constituents of their soul take over. Grotesqueries are manifestations of fear, so they cause mayhem and wanton destruction. Mnemons live like normal humans, although passionate, quirky and with powerful supernatural abilities. Succubi they... well, you know what they do. Ghouls become schemers seeking power and beauty.
Sounds good?
3. So you're saying that people actually get 'better' over time, kind of like we're taught in the real world? Even though in our actuality, people of old weren't stupid, we've just been able to build off of what they knew. In your setting, people may actually become more skilled as time goes on? Or does it stay the same...as in, if I'm really good at typing and I die and my soul helps make your son's soul, he will be really good at typing, though not necessarily exactly as good as I was?
4. I think this one is resolved, then. I liked that idea, actually. If I were to use a cosmology like this, I would likely use that for an adventure or even a campaign.
5. Are you familiar with the Dark Tower? If so, do you mean like thinnies?
7. Okay, I got it. This one is resolved, I think.
Almost there. I'll call four and seven resolved. At this rate, I'll be moving on to the next part after your next response.
3
Maybe in the beginning people were more like blank slates that could become anything than they are today; of course this was when the first souls were created, so no one really noticed (neanderthals aren't known for their exact scientific methods of observance).
But people don't become remarkably better over time. A few more "soul-parts" (gotta find a name for these...) might be stuck now than a few millenniums ago, but people had the same capability for learning back then. As far as the typing skill goes, the son would not be able to write at birth or anything, but when taught the skill, he might be slightly more proficient at it than his fellow students.
Actually, it just dawned on me that this resembles some of Plato's theories if you are familiar with them; he believed that our soul had "seen" knowledge (actually Ideas/Forms, but somewhat the same) in the afterlife, and that when we learn something we are actually just remembering something that our soul saw ages ago. Now, I'm not going to be as drastic as to say all knowledge is already stored in our souls, but i like the parallels.
5
I've only read the first volume, so can't say I'm truly familiar with the concept. Reading over the wiki, "thinnies" could perhaps exist, haven't really decided whether that would be worth it. Maybe not so overt holes in reality anyway. But with disturbance what i actually meant was that an influx of a lot of demons would cause that area to be a good deal more "unreal" than the surroundings, and the world would therefore try and even it out or remove it (if you remember resonance, the effects of that form of reality-changing also disappeared after a while as the world sought to erase the anomaly to the best of its ability). Of course, demons aren't deleted ordinarily because they are partially real; it requires a large influx of demons for the universe to react.
By the way, i'll be leaving for a 12 day vacation to Italy tomorrow, so if you have any minor projects you would like to work on in the meantime you probably should, seeing as i will be more or less unable to answer. Unless we can get done today that is : )
3. That makes sense. I think I understand now. I'll call this resolved now.
5. I think I understand now. That makes sense to me.
I saw your post in the Tavern, too. I think maybe I will maybe go over the rest of this soon. At least before you come back, so all my comments will be waiting for you then. In the meantime, I will probably critique some other people as well.
I still expect you will respond to what is left of my first run at this but since you will be gone for a long time, I'll also move on to the rest of you're post.
I had only decided to break it down before because of; 1. Limited time when I was doing it and 2. We went back and forth very quickly last time. That didn't happen this time so this one will take a look at the the rest of your post. (It may be done over the course of multiple days in extra tabs on my browser.)
I will also be typing this and reviewing as I go which may cause me to ask things that are explained later. If I do so, explain them in your response, or just say they are explained later.
Here we go.Part Two : Possession1.
Quote from: Crippled CrowFormerly possessed people have described the pain as feeling like every cell is being boiled until they burst.
Possessed humans usually merely have their minds subjugated, although powerful demons can crush souls completely, and even weaker demons can crush a soul that was already weakened when they took control of the body.[/quote]Some thoughtforms are grotesque and monstrous, while others are human and inconspicuous; demons are often divided into types depending on their thoughtform.[/quote]Mnemons are driven by a great variety of ambitions and dreams, and possess a host of different abilities, making all of them more or less unique.[/quote]Part Four : Practical Demonology[/u]
This section answered some of my previous questions. I would like to see more of this in a bit more detail, if you don't mind. The circles also call to mind FMA, though I know they shouldn't as the idea is older than that.
Part Five : Other1. Self-preservation in demons: Explain to me how demons behave in regard to their own self-preservation. Do they have such instincts? If they do, as beings of dreams, nightmares, thoughts, or emotion, how do you rationalize that? I'm sure there is a way, I just can't think of it myself.
2. Controlling demons: Is it possible for anyone to control demons in their natural form? I would assume that even if there was, they would still be likely to break free or otherwise go out of control. Would such a thing be normal, rare, or maybe just the stuff of legend? Or is the only thing that can be done with demons binding them to ones self?
3. Communicating with demons: Can people communicate with demons before bringing them to the material world? Can people communicate with demons after bringing them to the material world? Can people communicate with demons that have bound themselves to a human host? Can people communicate with demons that have bound themselves to an inanimate object as a host? Are people able to communicate with demons that they have summoned and bound to them? Are demons intelligent in the sense that they are able to communicate in words?
And that should be all for now.
A lot to answer, but then again, have to make up for all the time I've been away :)
1.
I'm not sure i get the first part of the question. The Craving is the aforementioned craving of spirits to possess physical bodies when they enter our universe.
As to the limitations of possession, they aren't quite fleshed out (ideas are welcome). Currently, I'm considering a couple of possibilities: 1) weaker demons require sufficiently weak or open bodies to possess them. 2) Demons have specific tastes in bodies (Succubi is an obvious example). 3) Demons don't stray far from their place of "birth". If they don't find any host, they "cling" to the place, or an object, or an uninhabitable person or creature, until a suitable host passes by. (this also leads to "haunted" places, which is neat). 4) There could be cases of partial possession: voices in your head, Alien Hand syndrome, slips of the tongue, etc. Any of them that sound good?
As of yet, Evokers have no method to gain power over the demon once it is released from the circle. They can only direct it while inside the summoning circle. Invokers can choose what to bind it to though.
2.
Yes, your consciousness doesn't usually die, so it is possible to break free. One way is to push the demon out at some later point, but that is somewhat unlikely as it managed to overwhelm you the first time. Also it can be forced through exorcism (under construction). Lastly, it might flee voluntarily. This of course conflicts with the Craving, but demons might do it out of desire of a better host, or to leave a crippled one.
Just went back and checked some of my science stuff. The concept of microbiology doesn't seem to be within the grasp of my civilization (at least not the current one) and therefore i will change the cell-note. Thanks for the heads-up.
3.
I can see what you mean. Think i just got a bit stuck in the whole serious way of thinking and writing. But this is meant to be somewhat serious, so I'll change that as well. Does enraged sound good?
4.
Hmm, okay, my world is based on the concept of "Triumvitae", essentially that every creature consists of three distinct parts: the Vessel (physical body), Essence (life force), and Soul (mind/directive force). By crushing a soul the demon expels it from the body, where it dissipates into the spirit world like it would have done if the body had died (so it goes to the Oversoul). The demon now has the entire body under its control by effectively putting its own soul in the place of the old. As a separate note demons have only essence and soul and therefore seek a vessel.
5.
You suggest i make a Terminology somewhere at the end? I should probably do that all things considered, just clarifying whether that was what you meant.
6.
The human mind is kept somewhat away from the demon and the body during the possession, but yes, it's quite possible that some of the demons soul leaks over into the human. All of your suggestions are possible to some degree or another. And i like your last idea :D but as you said, probably only a few would try, and even fewer would succeed. But it could be one of the sources for the original lore.
7.
They are driven more by the need for physicality than the need for flesh in an of itself. So an object is just as good. Of course, objects are limited in many ways: they have no essence, no body to shape, and no limbs to move. They could be ideal for hiding in while waiting for a suitable host if we go with "clinging" idea from the first question. But generally, demons don't possess objects willingly something i should probably clarify. They can be forced by invokers to inhabit certain prepared constructions that can control the demon in some limited form (magic items essentially). And yes, you could probably make an item that could "speak".
Part Three:
1. Demons in their "natural" form always appear as immaterial vapors or flickering light and the like; something ethereal. Descriptions of their looks always accounts for their thought-form: the shape the host takes while under possession.
2. Yes, mnemons is a kind of catch-all category. Then again, they are meant to be human emotion and desire incarnate. They are strange and unique, even though not all of them look terribly exceptional to the untrained eye. They are the demons that walk among us unnoticed (along with the ghouls). Powers could be more or less anything: flight, regeneration and darkvision could be common examples.
3. Thanks :) Any suggestions on what you'd like to see?
4. Thanks again. I did at some point try and key them to the 7 deadly sins, but although i could make wrath correspond with grotesqueries, lust with succubi, and envy with ghouls, there wasn't much to go with beyond that. Shadows could perhaps be sloth... But they weren't originally made in the image of the sins any of them.
Part Four
This is the next thing I'm going to do some serious work on, so you'll certainly be seeing more of this.
Part five
Depends somewhat on the demon. Mnemons are essentially just very-very strange people, and ghouls envy life in itself as well (it's better than death, so i presume they want it). Grotesqueries, Shadows, and Succubi lack self-preservation to a degree; they have a goal and therefore they won't mindlessly walk over a cliff if there is a bridge to cross or another way to get what they want, but they won't stop either destroying or seducing; only to perhaps rest (not quite sure whether they need rest, but i guess they do unless they have a special power).
2. When in a circle you can bind the demon to whatever you want. Of course, if its a non-suitable host, nothing prevent the demon from leaving unless you lock it in place somehow.
3. Not possible before, unless you count the summoning ritual as communication. When in the circle they possess limited telepathy, so some communication is possible, but demons aren't terribly talkative in that position (mostly just mad whispers). Whenever a demon is bound to something that can speak, communication is possible as most demons speak the common languages. Inanimate objects can't speak, so unless the demon has telepathy, communication is not possible. Demons bound to your own body can be communicated with on a basic empathic level; they can be heard as whispers, and can have a certain influence on the mind, but they don't speak directly to the binder. And yes, demons are intelligent. Some are insane, and some are stupid, but they are all more or less of a sapient nature.
phew, that was a lot of questions... Hope the answers are of use. I'll try and fix the "...pissed" and "cell" bits.
1. I liked idea three since that would lead to the haunted places, like you said.
2. Alright, I think I got it. That could lead to some good stories, I think.
3. I'd say enraged would probably fit better, yes. It doesn't sound like it would break the flow as much.
4. Does that mean that if the demon then leaves the host, the body does continue to exist just without personality or anything like that?
5. Either terminology at the end or something small right there. Whatever works best.
6. Again, some good stories could arise from this.
7. Got it.
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1. Got it, they change the shape of their host.
2. Got it.
3. Maybe more details. Specifics are always good, too.
4. Because of our society we just tend to see things that way, I think.
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Well, the last are still left unanswered for, but the others seem to be more or less solved except for:
4.
If the soul is exempt from the creature, the energy can't be directed, not even to heart and lungs, and the essence will seep away as the body suffers heart failure and asphyxiates.
Never mind. My question was answered on a third reading.
Well, I'm just honored you gave it a third reading. :)
This is well done but I've seen it now. When do we get more new stuff?
I'm suffering from something akin to a writer's block at the moment. (I tend to get those all those often)
I'll post the stuff here once i get done writing it. Sorry.