Daemons; A General Consensus

The Daemonheim, or simply 'Daemons' are believed to be the next step in the homo-novus evolution of humanoid beings. They bare similar qualities to those of their human cousins, as well as elven ancestors, though they differentiate in some cases. These particular humanoids appear to have in some way 'evolved' from regular humans, to something other. This comes from an ancient curse that was bestowed upon a tribe of Morlein elves who found themselves breeding with humans. These half-elves now live in seclusion in the desert known as the Badlands.

Daemons have notable qualities about them to distinguish them from humans. Firstly, Daemons have horns atop their head, similar to the horns you would see in a Biblical representation of a devil. From childbirth, they acquire various markings to distinguish one from another marked across their body. They're represented through simple lines to complex geometrical shapes. The horns are a way to distinguish their progress through puberty. There are physical signs in both human men and women to represent puberty, while the horns are the visualization for Daemons. While this does not exclude them from developing facial and body hair, it's simply the more prominent way of displaying it. A daemon's horns will be finished growing by the time they reach the age of twenty-five. We'll also note that the Daemonheim are an emotionally potent race, meaning their emotions are felt almost twice as strongly as that of a human's. Sadness, anger and the like are all very volatile to Daemons.

Daemons do not feed as one would expect them to. They require multiple forms of sustenance to remain 'satiated'. Food being the prominent source, but not the only one. Daemons feed off of others emotions, thoughts and feelings. Similar to a vampire requiring blood to survive, Daemons can sense and feel other sentient beings' emotions, and are required to do so if they wish to continue their existence. The third source is a relatively rare occurrence, though it's still there. Certain Daemons require physical contact to keep their bodies from slowing down causing them to grow physically weak.

Age works differently to that of a human's for these creatures. While being approximately fifty is their technical 'mature age', it's far from the ending of their lives. The average lifespan for a Daemon is almost three times that of a humans. While the average human lives to be seventy or eighty years of age, it's not uncommon for Daemons to live as long as three-hundred to three-hundred and fifty years of age.



Some would expect those living in a desert to be accultured to rocks and stone. With the Daemons, this is not the case. For as far back as their ancestry goes, technology has been present throughout the ages. Some of their scholars believe that their ancestors populated their world. Though they have advanced with modern technology, the Daemons very rarely leave their home-land as it supports the lifestyle that they're accustomed to. On such a note, there's also the fact that with most Daemons lacking understanding of the way the world works outside of their land, they would find themselves needing to make large social adjustments in order to successfully migrate.

The Daemon social structure is somewhat complex, though it maintains simplicity when put into it's basic forms. The general consensus goes along the lines of the following;

i) Scamps are the lowest tier of Daemon society. They live on the streets and struggle to survive. They're considered a minority by many, and are treated as such. Most despise those who belong to this cast, and quite literally nothing can be done to advance their place in society other than emerging the victor of Marchosias' Crucible and becoming a member of Ruling cast. Marriage can be considered another way to escape this lifestyle, though one may count on one hand the number of Scamps who marry upper-class Daemons per century. Most Scamps wind up dying as either fighters or soldiers, if the harsh lifestyle doesn't swallow them beforehand.

ii) Curs are similar to scamps in many ways. Curs however, have the ability to become a member of a Pack. A Pack is what a Cur would consider family. Becoming a member of a Pack is one of the few liberties a Cur can look forward to. It's what divides them from Scamps. Curs are often found doing odd-jobs for Workers, or even occasionally Ruling-Cast members if it's kept quiet enough. Curs share the majority title of the Daemon population with Workers. Similarly to Scamps, Curs can only advance in society by emerging the victor of Marchosias' Crucible or through marriage. Curs also occasionally find themselves as fighters or soldiers.

iii) Workers are tradesmen and professionals, even skilled tradesmen. They're considered to be the 'middle to upper-middle class' members of society. Most workers don't partake in the Crucible as they generally tend to live a relatively comfortable lifestyle as they profit from selling goods, or working for Ruling-Cast folk. Some wind up serving as fighters or soldiers, and some -do- find themselves in the Crucible, but most don't. Oftentimes the most level-headed Daemons are a part of the Workers cast, as it's the closest to your 'average citizen' sort of lifestyle, as Curs and Scamps rarely work, unless it's under-the-table sorts.

iv) Last but not least, we have the Ruling-Cast. The Ruling-Cast is essentially something similar to nobility in Daemon society. It's almost unheard of for Daemons of Ruling-Cast to enter the Crucible, as they're already Ruling-Cast and have nothing to advance to should they win. There are very few Ruling-Cast members to have formally joined the Daemon armies to become fighters or soldiers. Those that do join are often respected officers, their right to rule being carried over - only if they show legitimate and adequate leadership skills necessary to do their duty, however.

Daemons, though they are cursed, can still use Magics rather proficiently. The general social structure of the Daemon culture derives heavily from how proficient your family's bloodline is in the use of the Magics.  For instance, if you're a member of the Ruling-Cast, then you were born into a family line that's heavily proficient in the Magics. Where-as a Scamp will never use any form of power. Curs have extremely low capabilities, while Workers are in-between around the novice to adept stages. All members of Ruling-Cast, though a minority in number compared to the rest of society, often find themselves to be much more advanced than the average human in terms of magical potential. This may or may not be a side-effect of these cursed creatures.


The Crucible

The first of the popular traditions that the Daemons follow is the Crucible of Marchosias. The Crucible is something that happens only once per generation, meaning millions of competitors fight in it in an attempt to make something of themselves. As previously stated, the sole victor of the Crucible of Marchosias is the one given the opportunity to merge their bloodline with that of either Marchosias himself, or another Ruling-Caste bloodline of their choosing. To date there are no female victors, and the amount of female Ruling-Caste contenders can be counted on one hand.

The Crucible itself is very similar to ancient roman gladiatorial combat. The only permitted weapons are either a Daemon's teeth and claws, or weapons of a melee variant, i.e swords, axes, etc. The use of magic or any form of ranged weapons are not permitted to be used by the fighters. Throwing weapons are an exception. Many fighters will wear heavier metal armors to compensate for not having magical penetration to worry about.



The Crucible Arena can be found in the middle of the bazaar located in the center of The City. How it works is relatively simple; Two contestants who're still alive, regardless of injuries are picked at random and are given a week's notice before their fight. Once on-scene, the two will draw blood and then step into a ring made out of salt-lines. Each man or woman will allow their blood to drop inside of the circle. This represents the fighters taking a blood oath. The only breathing fighter may leave the circle. There are no forfeits mid-fight, it is strictly to the death. The only way one may forfeit is to forfeit before a match. Once the fighters have taken their oaths, a bubble of psionic energy is put up to incarcerate the two until only one remains. Surely, you can figure out what happens until then.