Daimons

## Overview

Daimons are ethereal ephemerals who have been principal objects of worship in human religions since time immemorial. They have also been called spirits, totems, old gods, heathen gods, or pagan gods to differentiate them with the Monotheistic God of the Abrahamic religions.

## Overall Assessment

### Powers & Abilities

* **Mythical Physicality**: The majority of daimons possess the following abilities, though the exact levels may fluctuate or cease to function due to malnutrition or a lack of proper essential nutrients in their system.
	+ **Mythical Digestion**: Daimons require a diet of essence suitable to their unique essence makeup to survive. When properly nourished, the consumed "meal" is processed by their body and converted into ichor, which is required for replenishing their ichor reserves, sustaining their immortality, and channeling their essence. While some daimons do require some level of mundane sustenance, a diet composed of essence alone can sustain them, even if over-reliance on such a diet may result in them becoming increasingly disconnected and "inhuman".
	+ **Mythical Strength**: Daimons that have a physical form (whether their own or borrowed) are always exceedingly strong, with even the weakest daimon being able to casually overpower, maul, and lift full-grown humans or destroy concrete walls with their bare hands.
	+ **Mythical Durability**: Many daimons are more durable, resilient, and resistant than their physique would otherwise suggest. Most mundane weapons cannot pierce their skin, although bladed attacks from incredibly strong mortals may leave bruises or slight cuts on them, and repeated blows can weaken them over time as their body burns through its essence reservoir.
	+ **Mythical Stamina**: Many daimons are rarely exhausted by physical exertion; they can fight or work for days non-stop and would only take a break due to sleep deprivation and/or the mental strain of continuous working.
	+ **Mythical Speed**: Many daimons can move at incredible speeds with unnatural agility and reflexes, particularly messengers or gods of travel. Even a common daimon can dodge gunfire if they are aware of the attack and prepared to move.
	+ **Mythical Senses**: Many daimons possess one or more superhuman senses or can use magic to enhance their already impressive senses to greater degrees. This is especially the case for hunting gods and tutelary daimons.
	+ **Mythical Beauty**: Many daimons are regarded as being universally attractive, and were even worshiped for their beauty. This effect may be psionic in nature, as those who are resistant or immune to such effects or simply have higher mental disciplines usually report a diminished interest.
	+ **Spirit Vision**: As supernatural beings themselves, many daimons are more closely attuned to the esoteric, arcane, and mystical than mortals are. They can perceive and interact with unseen forces, such as invisible ghosts, intangible demons, unmanifested spirits, or astral projectiles, or even recognize invisible patterns at work in their environment.
* **Magic**: As beings of essence themselves, daimons are natural magic-users. Many possess incredible magical powers and knowledge, with some being truly god-like in their understanding of the occult; these daimons are known as gods of magic, wildcards capable of astonishing feats of reality manipulation. Daimons have traditionally been ethereal benefactors for witches since time immemorial, who often dutifully served as the heads of their cults or faithful devotees, though many heathen covens had been wiped out by the Church’s witch hunts in the medieval ages.
	+ **Cantrips (Varied by Sourced Environment)**: A daimon can absorb specific types of essence from their current environment. They can store this essence to engage in minor magical tricks at that time or at a later date. Essence not native to their current environment dissipates over time or otherwise becomes less potent.
	+ **Spells**: If a daimon has a greater affinity for a particular type of essence, they can accomplish more significant effects related to that essence type. Such essence does not dissipate when stored in their ichor.
	+ **Invocations**: If a daimon has a mastery over a particular essence, then they can wield that particular type of essence to achieve legendary feats of essence manipulation. Such essence does not need to be sourced from the environment as the daimon has become a source for this essence.
* **Disciplines**: Disciplines are magical abilities that a daimon may develop over time. A daimon’s mastery over their disciplines and how they apply their disciplines in certain situations can oftentimes be what differentiates a great god from a common spirit. The powers below are examples for some common disciplines.
	+ **Omnilingualism**: An ability soon developed by most supernatural beings. Almost all daimons have the instinctive ability to speak, understand, read, and write in any language used by mortals, though some daimons stand out for their power to communicate with animals or bestial primals.
	+ **Telekinesis**: Most daimons have the ability to move objects by exerting their will.
	+ **Telepathy**: Most daimons have the ability to read the thoughts of other beings to a variety of degrees.
	+ **Possession**: Most common among daimons without a physical form of their own. Daimons with this ability can usurp control of the body of a mortal creature or a corpse or inhabit an inanimate object; however, to wield their power to its full extent would require the willing vessel to possess some basic similarities to the daimons, often a common background or personality, and some mystical properties of their own, such as being born on a specific date, being the seventh child of the seventh child, or simply descended from a particular bloodline.
	+ **Esoteric Links**: Some daimons have the ability to form esoteric links to certain locations or groups of people, effectively becoming what’s known as patron gods, guardian spirits, or tutelary daimons. By becoming ethereal patrons, they can source essence more effectively from their domain and become the first to receive the psychic energy generated by their beneficiaries. However, becoming a patron also means taking on certain responsibilities, such as protecting their domain from destruction or upholding the morals of your beneficiaries.
	+ **Power Granting**: Some daimons have the ability to give powers to mortals or otherwise share their powers with certain mortals. If these are temporary abilities, they are called "blessings". If they are permanent, they are called "boons" or "gifts".
	+ **Teleportation**: Some daimons have the ability to instantaneously move their bodies from one location to another, sometimes relocating various properties and taking other people with them or even between different planes of reality. Almost all tutelary daimons can teleport to their domain or to whatever places are most associated with their beneficiaries (hospitals, schools, battlefields, etc.).
	+ **Illusion Casting**: Some daimons have the ability to conjure realistic illusions for purposes of misdirection, deception, or their own amusement. Some can create trappings, magical disguises that would allow them to blend in seamlessly with mortals, provided they don't something overtly unusual that would make people question the validity of their trapping.
	+ **Conjuration**: Some daimons have the ability to create inanimate objects or mundane animals from nothing but essence. Usually, what is created is something the daimon is an expert on or related to something the daimon is intrinsically connected to. The use of conjuring requires a lot of essence, so it’s rarely seen used among daimons in this modern world saved for the most powerful of gods; otherwise, any shown instance of conjuration is most likely illusions woven by the daimon so that they may appear as having the power of conjuration.
	+ **Shapeshifting**: Some daimons have the ability to alter their physical appearance into a variety of different forms, ranging from other people to mundane animals to human-animal hybrids.
	+ **Geomancy**: Some daimons have the ability to move, shift, or control the earth.
	+ **Chloromancy**: Some daimons have the ability to create, modify, or control plant life. They usually have a passive influence over an area’s vegetation (especially within their domain) and can accelerate their growth, cause them to wither, or return them from the dead.
	+ **Pyromancy**: Some daimons have the ability to create and control fire.
	+ **Hydromancy**: Some daimons have the ability to create, shape, and control water or any non-magical liquid.
	+ **Cryomancy**: Some daimons have the ability to reduce the temperature of a particular area and create, shape, or otherwise control ice and snow.
	+ **Aeromancy**: Some daimons have the ability to create and control air and gas.
	+ **Electromancy**: Some daimons have the ability to create and control electricity. While relatively rare in the ancient world, this ability has become increasingly more common in the modern world, though none can hold a candle compared to the thunder-gods of old.
	+ **Meteoromancy**: Some daimons, particularly the weather gods, can influence the weather directly. Many rural daimons also developed some limited version of this to protect their domain from harsh weathers, provide a climate well-suited for farming, or simply to create an idyllic atmosphere.
	+ **Biomancy**: Some daimons have the ability to control a person’s biology, which allows them to cure the target of potentially terminal illnesses, cause them serious harm, or even resurrect the recently deceased.
	+ **Animancy**: Some daimons have the ability to modify and control souls, fettered and (more often) unfettered.
	+ **Necromancy**: Some daimons, particularly chthonic gods, have the ability to control wraiths or unfettered souls or raise undead beings.
* **Immortality**: Daimons can live indefinitely so long as they can maintain a proper diet of essence. When properly nourished, they are immune to aging and mundane illnesses and can heal from any non-lethal injury within the span of hours.
	+ **Invulnerability**: While properly nourished, daimons are unharmed by conventional weaponry and are immune to pain and common physical ailments. They can, however, be harmed and killed by magic, enchanted weaponry, or other supernatural beings.

### Weaknesses

* **The Axiom**: Daimons are subject to the ancient laws of the Axiom and also have intrinsic compulsions to abide by other rules put upon cosmic beings. Breaking the rules of the Axiom can have a variety of consequences, ranging from magical backlash, severe weakening, loss of entitlements, induced madness, eternal imprisonment, forced reincarnation, or even permanent death.
* **Essential Nutrients**: Daimons survive on a diet of essence. The more powerful daimons often feed on the psychic essence directed to them in the form of worship or stories; the essence shapes them according to their legend, though many pantheons circumvent this problem by processing the worship they receive to create an essence-rich substance known as Ambrosia. Said pantheons are also the few pantheons who survive in this modern world, relying on their celestial orchards and farms for sustenance, while other equally or even more ancient gods faded into oblivion in the wake of monotheism.
* **Vulnerability to Magic**: As beings made of ethereal energy, magic, which can affect such energy, can also affect daimons. In particular, powerful supernal and infernal energy can easily contaminate a daimon’s internal essence.
* **Vulnerability to Adamantine**: Daimons are vulnerable to an esoteric metal known as adamantine. Weapons forged from this metal, known as adamant weapons, can contaminate a daimon’s internal essence, causing them great pain and weakening them if such weapons pierce their flesh. While not always fatal, due to their poisoned ichor, wounds caused by adamant weapons do not regenerate as fast, and a critical blow can kill even a fully-nourished god. While many daimons can wield adamant weapons, others find the mere touch of adamantine uncomfortable or painful.
	+ **Vulnerability to Mythril**: Similarly, daimons are vulnerable to a derivative of adamantine known as mythril. Appropriately named "magic-killer", mythril has the ability to sap essence from magical beings; a deep cut from a mythril weapon can make it difficult for daimons to properly channel magic, while being bound by mythril chains can leave them powerless and exceptionally vulnerable.

## Daimonic Templates

### Primordials

Primordials are ancient daimons born from the raw creative energies of reality. They are often the creators or parents of the Titanians, as well as the ancestral figures of their respective pantheons, and can range from the ultra-powerful to the above-average. Unlike their lesser brethren, Primordials are not dependent on worship to survive; instead, their existence is intrinsically connected to Earth, and they can live indefinitely as long as the planet remains.

### Titanians

Titanians are the progeny of the Primordials. They are cosmic entities born of potent and volatile eldritch essence, often embodying a particular concept related to their purviews, and are completely driven by said concept. While not particularly malevolent in nature, the Titanians are completely inhuman and have little to no sympathy toward mortals, with a terrible habit of causing mass destruction in their wake often without being conscious about it.

### Elder Gods

Elder Gods are more advanced successors to the Titanians, initially having sprang from Titanian parents by pure chance before breeding with one another to create new generations of their kind. While just as powerful as the Titanians, Elder Gods are have significantly more stability and potential, allowing them to refine their essence manipulation to levels beyond the Titanians' capability.

### Chieftains

Chieftains, also called Chief Gods or Godheads, are the daimons that are (or at least were) the leaders and rulers of their own pantheon. Due to this, they are usually the most powerful of daimons as they once got the lion's share of worship.

### Tricksters

Tricksters are a special type of daimon who thrive on creating mischief and mayhem. They are infamous for always being cunning, calculating, and naturally opposed to authority. Many scholars believe Tricksters were designed to keep the rest of the gods in order. They possess a unique ability to bend (though not break) the ancient laws and utilize the loopholes of the Axiom with a much reduced risk of consequences.

### Godlings

Godlings are lesser daimons, sometimes born of Titanians or Elder Gods, but the majority are ephemerals formed from the wild energies of the Void. While they are still ethereal beings of considerable power, they lack the potency needed to develop their own purview, much less attain godhood or claim divine entitlements, a symptom many attribute to their diluted ichor. While many Godlings managed to find employment as guards, servants, or minor officials in the courts of ancient pantheons, others departed for Earth and its various subsidiary realities.

### Demigods

Demigods are ephemeral daimons who usually manifest into existence without a parent birthing them. Instead, they simply come into being due to elemental essence condensing near potent magical nexuses. They vary wildly in power, from minor nature spirits to lesser gods of the wilderness to beings capable of challenging fully-fledged gods.

### New Gods

New Gods are unique "artificial daimons", often the half-human offspring of the gods from ancient legends. While they were born mortal beings, thanks to their heroic deeds, they are deemed worthy of godhood and are chosen to undergo a process known as exaltation in which their soul is infused with raw daimonic essence before being placed into a new body created from condensed and purified essence. The exact process of exaltation is known only to a handful of ethereal beings, often the chief gods of the world's most powerful pantheons.