Demons

Demons are, along with Devils, one of the denizens of the Fiendish Realm. They are Chaotic Evil in alignment, cruel, vicious, and ferocious. They recognize another demons' authority only through the constant threat of violence. There are many Demon Lords or Demon Princes, powerful god-like Demons who have grown so strong and so evil that they were able to shape pockets of the Demonic Realm to their whims, and gather large armies of demons to them through promise of battle, torture, and violence to come.

There are many related races of Demons, some created through procreation, some generated by the will of a Demon Lord, some generated from the very fabric of the Demonic Realm itself. Demons are constantly shifting creatures; a demon might change forms many times over it's lifetime, representing it's rise and fall in the violent fortunes of the Demonic Realm. This can happen spontaneously, or, more usually, through the wills of a Demon Lord.

**Types of Demons**

While there are countless types of demons, several common or notable races dominate. Balors are amongst the most powerful non-Lord demons, huge, winged, and horned. Dretches are some of the weakest, and least intelligent, demons in existence, stronger only then the Manes, who are barely more than animals. Hezrou are the foot-soldiers of the demons' constant warring, barely kept in line by the Nalfeshnee and Marilith captains. The powerful Glabrezu are more subtle demons, more interested in corruption than destruction. Quasits are tiny trouble-making demons, often summoned by evil mages, or used as messengers or spies by other demons.Other common demons are the Vrock vulture-demons, the Goristro, a living siege engine, the sadistic Chasme fly-demon, and the Barlgura, a tribal monkey-demon.

**Known Demon Lords**

There are too many Demon Lords to count, but the most powerful of them have been constant for millennia, their realms often the size of entire continents.

Baphomet the Horned King, the Prince of Beasts, seeks to destroy civilization and reduce everyone to animal savagery. He appears normally as a giant deformed minotaur. Many minotaurs worship him.

Dagon, the Prince of the Depths, is one of the oldest demons in existence. He rules an aquatic realm known as the Shadowsea, and it is said to merely look upon him is to go mad. He is worshiped by insane aquatic creatures such as the Kuo-toa.

Demogorgon the Sibilant Beast, the Prince of Demons, is a mad demon lord who seeks to end all creation.

Graz'zt, the Dark Prince, likes to surround himself with finery and luxury, and generally appears as a handsome tall humanoid.

Juiblex, the Faceless Lord, is the lord of slimes and oozes, and seeks to reduce all to a bubbling shapeless mass like itself.

Lolth the Spider Queen, the goddess of the Drow, resides in the Demonweb Pits. She tends to manifest in the other realms more than other Demon Lords. She is the only Demon Lord able to control or create the Yochlol shapeshifting demons.

Orcus the Blood Lord, the Demon Prince of Undeath, appears as a giant undead satyr, with great black wings. He seeks to turn the entire multiverse into an unchanging realm of death and darkness, with only his will able to change things.

**Demons outside of the Demonic Realm**

Demons always seek the opportunity to bring destruction to peaceful lands, or to taste in the destruction of already torn lands. When they do escape the Demonic Realm, whether summoned, as part of some Demon Lord's plot, or through happenstance, they can act with impunity, knowing that, if slain, they will not die, but will reform in the Demonic Realm. If they are somehow prevented from returning, they may turn into a Shadow Demon, an incorporeal spirit. The only way to truly kill a demon is in the Demonic Realm itself. If the demon is particularly powerful, there are ways of avoiding even death in the Demonic Realm, the most common the creation of a demonic amulet, which acts as a phylactery around which a slain demon can recoalesce. Controlling such an amulet, however, gives one great power over a demon, forcing it to your will and torturing it if it does resist.

Demons are sometimes worshipped by humans seeking the power they can give, or summoned by mages looking for a boon. While these cultists are often humoured by demons, they are just as often discarded when they are no longer amusing. Powerful mages can bind demons into objects, but this risks the demons' ire should they escape, and they may even possess the mage to steal their magic.