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# Demon

## Overview

Demons are living beings shaped by the abyssal plane and by mutable essence. In the old age, surface communities most often encountered them as raiders, mercenaries, bound servants, or territorial predators. In the reconstruction age, the truth is more complicated. The boundary between ELDRA and the abyssal plane is still dangerous, but it is no longer only a wound. In some regions it is managed by treaty, contract, custom, and force.

This does not make demons safe. Abyssal bodies change under pressure, demonic instincts often favor appetite and dominance, and many demons still see weakness as an invitation. But present ELDRA recognizes a difference between an unbound predator, a pact-bound citizen, a territorial lord, and a demon who treats agreement as sacred law.

## Appearance

Demons possess unstable and highly individual forms. Horns, claws, wings, scales, chitin, exposed bone, molten veins, ember-feathers, shadow-like flesh, or bioluminescent organs are all possible. A demon’s appearance reflects both inheritance and chosen evolution. Some can pass for humanoid with careful dress and restraint; others cannot enter a human doorway without negotiation.

## Age and Lifespan

Demonic lifespan varies more than that of any mortal people. A playable demon commonly lives 150–400 years if not destroyed by violence, failed evolution, pact punishment, or abyssal predation. More powerful demons can live far longer, but their lives become less comparable to mortal aging and more dependent on territory, essence, and the strength of their binding agreements.

## Culture and Religion

Demonic society is organized through strength, territory, and agreement. The most dangerous demons treat pacts as traps. The most respected demons treat pacts as identity: a promise made precisely, recorded clearly, and fulfilled completely.

For many demons, religion does not mean kneeling before a distant god. It means accepting that words, hunger, names, and bargains have sacred force. Pact-bound demons often treat a true agreement as a holy object: witnessed, sealed, remembered, and punished if broken. In abyssal territories, contract houses, oath-shrines, blood courts, and territorial altars may all serve religious functions.

Other demons follow abyssal patrons, ancestral horrors, local spirits, conquered gods, or no faith at all. Surface communities tend to judge demons by the agreements they keep, while demons tend to judge one another by whether their power is disciplined enough to become law.

Historical context: During the old age, most surface people encountered demons only through invasion, coercive service, or regions where abyssal boundaries had already failed. That limited contact shaped the old stereotype of demons as purely destructive. The reconstruction age has not erased that history, but formal pacts and managed crossings have made it possible for some demons to become neighbors, officials, soldiers, traders, or religious actors rather than only threats from beyond the border.

## People-Specific Traits

Demons are living beings. They must rest and consume sustenance. They possess Darkvision up to 20 meters.

Whenever a demon consumes the heart of a living, non-demon creature, it immediately recovers Physical Stress points equal to the creature’s Fortitude skill. If the demon’s Physical Stress Pool is already full, it may instead use that value to heal a Consequence (Mild = 2, Moderate = 4, Severe = 6). Fully recovering the Consequence still requires a number of hours equal to its severity value.

Present-era note: Heart consumption is treated as murder, battlefield predation, or abyssal ritual depending on context. Pact-bound demons living among other peoples usually avoid it except under formally defined conditions.

## Abyssal Evolution

Demons gain Abyssal Essence equal to: Abyssal Essence = n x (n + 1) / 2 where n is the Demonism skill level.

Abyssal Evolutions are permanent unless removed through extreme narrative consequences.

## Physical Evolutions

Bioluminescence (1 Point). You emit light in a 6-meter radius. You may suppress or reactivate this effect as a free action.

Beak (1 Point). You gain a Bite natural weapon. As an action, make a Fight roll; on a hit, deal Physical damage equal to your Demonism skill level.

Claws (1 Point). Your unarmed strikes deal additional Physical damage equal to your Demonism skill level.

Hooves (1 Point). Increase your movement speed by an amount equal to your Demonism skill level in meters.

Horn (1 Point). You gain a Horn attack. On a successful Fight roll, deal Physical damage equal to your Demonism skill level and gain +1 damage if you moved at least 4 meters this turn.

Infernal Coating (1 Point). Choose one:

- Exoskeleton: +ceil( n/2) Fortitude, -1 Reflex, -1 Lightning Defense.

- Feathers: +ceil( n/2) Reflex, -1 Stealth, -1 Cold Defense.

- Color-Changing Fur: +ceil( n/2) Stealth, -1 Fire Defense.

- Scales: +ceil( n/2) Physical and Elemental Defense.

where n is your Demonism skill level.

Prehensile Tongue (1 Point). You can grapple with your tongue by spending 1 AP, or gain Advantage on a grapple action using it. You gain +1 on sensory tasks using your tongue. You may also use the tongue as an additional limb. Range: 4 meters.

Tail (1 Point). Gain +1 Stride. Once per round, you may draw or stow an item as a free action. You may also make a Tail attack for 1 AP, dealing Physical damage equal to your Fortitude skill.

Elasticity (2 Points). You may move through gaps as small as 30 cm. Movement through such spaces counts as difficult terrain.

Multiple Eyes (2 Points). Gain +ceil( n/2) Perception, where n is your Demonism skill level.

Spikes or Barbs (2 Points). Whenever a creature hits you with a melee attack or grapples you, it takes Physical damage equal to your Demonism skill level (1 Armor Pierce).

Ossified Frame (2 Points). Gain Physical Defense equal to +ceil( n/2), where n is your Demonism skill level, but suffer -floor( n/2) Stealth.

Grasping Flesh (3 Points). Once per round, when a creature enters melee range, you may attempt a free Grapple using Fight vs Reflex.

Multiple Arms (3 Points). You may wield one additional weapon or hold extra items. You may take one additional action involving arms for 0 AP per round.

Multiple Legs (4 Points). Increase movement speed by your Demonism skill level. Gain Advantage on checks to resist being knocked prone. You may take one additional action involving legs for 0 AP per round.

Regeneration (4 Points). When you consume a heart, you immediately regenerate lost limbs and clear all Consequences.

Wings (5 Points). You gain a flying speed of 10 meters.

## Supernatural Evolutions

Demon Senses (1 Point). You automatically sense other demons within 20 meters.

Pact Maker (1 Point). You may form binding pacts. Breaking a pact imposes a GM-defined consequence immediately.

Persuasive Charm (1 Point). Gain a bonus equal to ceil( n/2) on Influence rolls, where n is your Demonism skill level.

Psychic Abilities (1 Point). You gain telepathy within 10 meters. Gain +1 on Influence rolls relying on emotional insight.

Whispering Tongues (1 Point). You understand and speak all spoken languages.

Aura of Corruption (2 Points). Mortals within 10 meters must make a Fortitude defend roll against your Demonism skill. On failure, their Physical Stress Pool maximum is reduced by an amount equal to your Demonism skill until their next turn. You can activate or deactivate this ability as you wish.

Curse Dispelling (2 Points). As an action, remove one curse or magical affliction with a successful Demonism vs Magic contest.

Shadow Teleportation (2 Points). Once per short rest, teleport between shadows within 30 meters.

Terrifying Presence (2 Points). Creatures seeing you for the first time must contest Resolve vs Demonism or become Frightened for 1 round.

Dark Magic (3 Points). All elemental spell damage gains bonus damage equal to +ceil( n/2), where n is your Demonism skill level.

Elemental Resistance (3 Points). Gain bonus defense to all elemental damage types equal to your Demonism skill.

Infernal Whispering (3 Points). Demons may communicate telepathically across any distance within the same plane.

Phasing (3 Points). Once per long rest, spending 3 AP, you become intangible for up to 1 minute. Moving through objects counts as difficult terrain. The effect ends if you attack or cast a spell. During Phasing, you resist all damage types.

Soul Drain (3 Points). Spending 1 AP, contest Demonism vs Fortitude. On success, deal stress points equal to Demonism skill and recover the same amount of stress points.

Enhanced Senses (4 Points). Gain a bonus to Perception equal to your Demonism skill and immunity to surprise.

Invisibility (4 Points). Spending 3 AP, become invisible for 1 minute or until you attack. You can perform this action up to your Demonism skill level per long rest.

Shape-Shifting (4 Points). Transform into another creature of similar size. Stats remain unchanged. You can also hide your demonic presence from Demon Senses if you have equal or higher Demonism skill than the sensing demon. You can perform this action up to your Demonism skill level per long rest.

Soul Consuming (5 Points). When you consume a creature’s heart, gain one of its highest skills as a +1 bonus until your next long rest.

Sovereign of Flesh (5 Points). Once per long rest, you may reassign up to 5 Abyssal Evolution points.

## Resting and Regeneration

Demons recover their Physical Stress Pool normally through rest. Full regeneration requires consuming a living heart.