Demons
Overview
The Beauty of the Monad is the Demonic philosophy in Hell. It is here where they worship Life above all other things including the Monad. This differs from Heaven where the Monad is what they worship over all things. Aeons were the First Children created by the Monad. Long ago, many of the Aeons fled to the Diamond Realm because they wanted to experience Life more than once. Because of this, the Womb Realm was split into Heaven and Hell and Horizon came into existence creating the Trailokya, the Three Eternal Planes.
The Womb Realm was split to accommodate the Aeons that wished to eventually reincarnate into Life in a new vessel. The Aeons that remained in Eternity became Angels, while the Demons desired reincarnation above all else. Both Angels and Demons are essentially Aeons though Demons are the only ones that can be sent into vessels by becoming Souls. Angels do not need vessels as they can walk freely in Life and return as long as they have their wings. They cannot feel as Demons can but they also have no desire to. For this reason, they see themselves as the true Aeons.
For centuries the original Aeons that fled to the Diamond Realm have endured in Life. Most would hide in caves and darker places because of an aversion to sunlight. Some of these Aeons have changed forms to accommodate Living and became supernatural beings, some beautiful and some with misshapen forms. Whatever the case, these beings could never return to the Womb realm as they could not reach Horizon if they were killed. Only through a vessel can a Soul reach Horizon. These Aeons became known as Spirits among the living with some making names for themselves and becoming supernatural entities. The beautiful and mysterious ones were regarded as benevolent Spirits while the malformed were feared as evil and cursed beings. Goelin Theyuwa turns out to be one such aeon that became a malevolent Spirit.
Eventually, people began to develop ways to combat what they presumed were malevolent, Dark Spirits. These Dark Spirits were considered demons by the living but were not true Demons. The Apocrypha of Terra and The Stars of Ahva were two such groups that falsely saw demons as a threat. In addition to guarding the secrets of the Ouroboros Gate, these groups used sending prayers, hymns, and exorcisms to dispel, Demons and Dark Spirits to the Afterife.
What they did not realize was that they were actually destroying the Spirits forever, not sending them to the Afterlife. Since the Spirits had no vessels, they could not die in the conventional sense. If an exorcism is performed on a Spirit or Demon without a vessel, it would be obliterated from existence. The Mandala of Two Realms, unlike the others, were a group that believed these supernatural beings were just misunderstood and sought to help even the Dark Spirits. They had created prayers and invocations to make Spirits and true Demons immune to exorcisms. They have also removed their aversion to sunlight. The process however is long and painful and has the possibility of destroying the Demon outright. Still, this practice was adopted by a few religious orders such as the Desert Mothers. They were the ones to help strengthen Anahita upon her return to life.
Eternal Corrupted
Demons are looked down upon by the Angels as inferior. The Angels believe themselves to be the true Aeons because of their devotion to the Monad. Angels follow the Will of the Monad and as such are also upholders of the Law in Eternity. Demons only wish to return to Life and very few are willing to jeopardize their reincarnation. However, there are some that do for various reasons and those that break the Law are punished by the Angels.
Crimes in Hell are rare but common broken rules are of trespassing in Heaven and interacting with Angels. Harming another Demons is also a punishable offense. Stricter laws prohibit the use of any Divine Items and Devices including the Chinvat Compass and Akashic Record, two things Anahita and Hyte do in the story. Anything that the Monad deems a criminal offense can be enforced by an Angel and breaking the law consecutively means harsher punishments. A Demon that has committed a punishable crime becomes Corrupt and their form is twisted until their next reincarnation.
The worst offense, however, is attempting to escape Eternity and results in the worst punishments for a Demon. The two most severe punishments for Demons are Dememorization and adding Ecliptic Cycles. Dememorization will wipe a single memory that the Demon has and is considered to be very harsh. This is because memories of their previous Life are what drive most Demons while they await their next Reincarnation. Adding Ecliptic Cycles for the Demon prolongs their next reincarnation and is considered extremely cruel. Many Demons begin to lose faith completely after this. Many lose the motivation to return to Life at all, the most important thing to a Demon. This was Hyte's punishment for trying to escape long before the story begins. It is the reason his Soul looks like it does as well as his initial uneasiness around Angels.
Notable Demons
An aspect of Demons that will be portrayed within the story will be that in Hell all beings will be depicted as black and white. When the Demon's are depicted in Life, the most notable ones will be portrayed as a color with a corresponding gemstone. The reason behind this is to actually differentiate them apart from their design. They will represent the heraldry themes that are featured throughout the story. The colors are Or (gold), argent (silver), azure (blue), gules (red), sable (black), vert (green), and purpure (purple).
There will be 7 prominent Demons within the story
Anahita - Crimson Empress, will be defined by the Ruby. Her most notable alias becomes the Empress of Gules. (Red, Gules)
Hyte - The Gold Demon is an Amber color and will represent the Topaz. (Orange, Or)
Jade Demon is currently unnamed but represented with an Emerald (Green, Vert)
Azure Demon represented with a Sapphire. The Azure Demon will be featured prominently throughout Ardashir's story arc, first as an antagonist, then a compatriot to Ardashir and William. It will come to show Ardashir that demons are not to be feared, changing Ardashir's perspective. It will be killed by Anahita as a demonstration of her ability to resist exorcisms. (Blue, Azure)
Violet Demon currently unnamed but represented with an Amethyst (Purple, Purpure)
Donofrey - The Black Jester becomes The Pale Demon represented with a Diamond. (Silver, Argent)
Abraxas will be featured somewhat in the story and will be portrayed as the Sable and represented by the Onyx (Black, Sable)
All other demons will be depicted as grayish smoky figures that have a malleable shape. This represents their fragility and the reason many have opted to join Anahita's Tengus where she provides a temporary, albeit reliable vessel for them.