Creature

Demons

CanonOfficial lore from the booksBoDp. 79-83

The demons of the Abyss are among the most malevolent and destructive beings in all of creation. Their very existence is a threat to the balance of the multiverse, and their power is nearly unmatched.¹

Demons have erratic souls, and they hate to be contained.²

Binding demons

The binding of demons is counted among the most dangerous and powerful magical practices on any plane of existence. Those who attempt it face unimaginable dangers, both physical and spiritual. With the right tools and techniques a demon can be bound to a particular place or object, left powerless and at the mercy of its binder, but the work demands extensive knowledge of demonology, mastery of powerful magic and a willingness to risk everything.¹

Demonic bindings require blood sacrifice.³

Seal of Gordion

The Seal of Gordion is a relatively easy way to bind low-ranking demons to a place. The binder draws six magic circles, writes the demon's true name in the outermost, and hangs ropes soaked in holy water or in innocent blood above them. The demon is summoned into the innermost circle; if it resists, some unfortunate soul must enter the circle and tie the ropes around the angry demon by hand. Blood is then spilled over the circles and the true name is spoken three times, each time provoking the demon to try to break free. If the seal holds, the demon stays bound for 666 years, and repeating the final step renews the count; if it fails twice, the circles break and the demon goes free. The rite is regarded as the safest way to examine and experiment on demons.³

Host of Sins

Host of Sins is an infamous ritual used in dire situations to bind a relatively strong demon into a living host, and performing it is considered an evil act. Forced into a host, the demon loses all of its demonic powers but keeps its personality and memories, and it wages a constant battle of wills with the host. Once the demon understands what has happened, it begins to attack its host from within; if the host dies, the demon is released into the world in its true form. The host, drawing sustenance from the demon's eternal essence, gains an unwanted kind of immortality.²

The rite can create powerful demonic advisors, forced to contain their destructive nature so that they can be consulted, and a powerful evil cleric may use it to gain a risky form of immortality. Arcane sigils and wards are carved into the skin of the host, who must stay conscious while they are cut. A demon may be summoned into the host by magic or, in the darker alternative, by murdering innocents. A host who wears the demonic amulet of the demon within holds absolute power over their own body.²

The mightiest of their kind, the Greater Demons and Demon Princes, are entities of immense power whose binding calls for still more dangerous rites.⁴

Notes

↑BookBook of Dead, p. 79
↑BookBook of Dead, p. 81
↑BookBook of Dead, p. 80
↑BookBook of Dead, pp. 82, 83

Sources

This article draws on:

BoDBook of Dead(Bad Badger Games, 2024), pp. 79-83

RegionAbyssThe layered otherworldly realm of the demons, counted among the most malevolent and destructive beings in creation, whose forces conjurers and priests call forth and banish back.CharacterAquaThe fey spirit of the forest of Sınır Sapı in the Zincirsiz campaign, born of water and dwelling mostly beneath it, whose heart is tied to the region's plenty and who lent that heart to the mage Jonathan River against a common enemy.CreatureDark silhouette of the clearingA lightless being in human shape seen in a forest clearing in the Yeni Dünya campaign, which seems cut out of reality itself and draws the shadows of the dead into itself; it is known as the Voidborn.CharacterMind flayer of Sınır SapıA nameless mind flayer of the Zincirsiz campaign who worked from a cave beneath the forests of Sınır Sapı with drow at its side, sought a buried object tied to the town's plenty, and bargained with the mage Jonathan River.CharacterSpirit of the buried roomsA smoky, half-formed warrior spirit in heavy armour and chains in the Zincirsiz campaign, which barred the way out of buried rooms near the mountain of the orc Azbo and tested whether intruders were worthy to leave.ConceptThe ArchitectA mysterious being of the Sürgün Günlükleri campaign to whom O.C. credits some fifty volumes recording the fated events in the lives of unusually lucky people; what the Architect is remains unknown.CharacterTurşuThe owl-shaped summoned spirit of the mage Katherine in the Sürgün Günlükleri campaign, a dark brown bird with honey-coloured eyes that scouts for her and lets her see through its eyes.

CreatureDrought ManifestationA Voidborn manifestation of drought, a colossal being with a bloated belly and a parched body whose endless thirst withers plants, empties water sources and kills animals for a mile around it.

CreatureFer’ekhThe Great Worm, an ever-hungry entity of entropy that grants power to those who make a pact with it and expects them to feed it in return.

CreatureSinful AngelA grotesque abomination born when an attempt to summon an angel goes wrong and the angelic essence fuses with an impure human vessel. It wails in anguish, spreads dread, and perishes within a day of its emergence.