Some demons breathe themselves forwards as surging tides of fog.
   Demon Lords are wary of promoting their subordinates or of progeny who grow too powerful. Most find it expedient to impress upon them that Elder Progeny is the highest station they can attain to retain a monopoly on power, and make sure that this rak is hard enough to accomplish. However once in a while through extraordinary guile circumstance and luck a progeny manages to attain some degree of power over his lord and simultaneously prevent himself from being deposed. Tales are told of rulers who have slowly become little more than figureheads because of the rise of a cunning and consummately manipulative underling. As a result demons are very cautious when dealing with powerful underlings. Yes they're very useful but they're also potentially very dangerous. The mighty owe their preeminence largely to those beneath them but the more powerful those beneath them become the more in danger they are of being overthrown. Sometimes an entire collective of progeny fall on their master. When the succeed they often set up a form of group rulership. Often this dissolves sooner or later as it's members turn on eachother. This is often the result of one of their number declaring their superiority, which often happens immediately after the coup usually by the one who slew their former master. Demons have to contend with not only their superiors and lessers but also their peers. Such an act is extremely riky as short sighted conspirators have learned. Demon Princes do not take their subsidiary souls being slain lightly and often fall on the offenders who discover they have angered a being far more powerful than the one they overthrew. Occasionaly the winner of an internecine conflict among a group of conspirators is offered the chance to be transformed into the Demon Prince's soul. Such an enticement is also used to fragment such a group of renegades, being held out as a reward for selling out their peers. Often all the usurpers perish in such a conflict which is what the Demon Prince sometimes wants.
   Having a subsidiary soul overthrown in a significant embarrassment to a Demon Prince and could incite attack from all quarters. However if one of the rebels prove to show particular promise they may think they're better off with them instead as they will be a more effective weapon to use against their rivals.

The Descending Hierarchy

Essence 2  Serf    You live and act  at your master's command
Essence 3    Greater Serf   You have lived long enough to gain some experience. A fraction of the absolute terror you experience has started to be replaced by an inkling of ambition.
    Under-breeds. Dross to be used at your master's will

Essence 4    Progeny    You have attained full demonhood and are powerful enough your patron is not ashamed to recognise you as one of their offspring. They have actually addressed you by name.
Essence 5   Elder Progeny   The highest most First Circle demons can aspire to. Elder Erymanthoi are captains of battle lines. Other Elder First Circle demons occupy similar positions.


Essence 6   Demon Lord   You have crossed the watershed. You are either a novice Second Circle demon or a First Circle demon who has had the extraordinary luck to achieve a rank belonging to your betters. Such Progeny are still under the heel of their master but are given lofty positions such as advisor or personal chamberlain. Some have been mystically transformed to assume the powers (and responsibilities) of Second Circle demons by their master. A Demon Lord the replace might have fallen from favour or fallen afoul in dubious circumstances. If you are a true Second Circle demon you have just entered a world of devious and unforgiving politics. At this level you are no longer ordered to assassinate someone. You get someone to do it for you.


Possible sources of inspiration for demon lore: the world of Cthulhu and H.P.Lovecraft; Hellboy.


This didn't turn out in it's nice and neat new post layout due to the incompetence of the people who wrote the program for putting up blogs. They can't even make it handle a simple table as if using computers wasn't annoying enough as it is. I have total contempt for everyone who writes computer programs are they are all incompetent. Didn't it occur to them to make the editing page match the format of the page presented of the website? Obviously not. What the fuck do they pay you for?

Gods and Essence

    The motes of Essence in a god's possession are it's very life force. When a god spends motes it feels weary and when it has a full Essence pool feels lively and energetic. If a god spent all it's Essence it would no longer exist as an Essence pattern and fade away. When a god (or another spirit) does when it spends Essence is spend itself. Gods have peripheral Essence pools which they can spend with obvious effect. They can also spend Essence from their Personal Essence pool but it's not something a god does lightly. They are spending the Essence that makes up the core of their being. By spending Peripheral Essence they're also spending part of themselves but less important outer layers that can be more easily spent and recovered. Worship is so important to gods because people are spending their valuable motes dedicated to the god itself so that Essence becomes part of the god's form. For every day of dedicated worship to the god they recover a number of motes equal to the Magnitude of the group praying to them. This is why Creation often holds day-long festivals. If a group taking part in dedicated worship has an Essence greater than one multiply it's magnitude by their Essence. Enlightened human priests are often separated into different castes according to their spiritual advancement. Such priests spend virtually every day of their lives in devotion and directing the worship of the masses.
   Demons often promote just enough of their servants to induce hopes of betterment to keep their underlings loyal.