Rift Daemons

The Havoc Gods were on the verge of victory when they fell into a desperate trap set by their enemies. The most powerful mages of Tyria gave their lives in a ritual that managed to seal the Havoc Gods into the Orb of Fate. Suddenly severed from their creators, the forces of Havoc were defeated. The surviving Daemons fled and hid throughout Tyria, escaping wherever they could, while their foes enjoyed an era of peace and prosperity. 

This peace was brought to an abrupt end when, centuries later, the orb was broken by the heirs of the most powerful Human Empire in Tyria. The Havoc Gods were freed, and the power unleashed by the broken orb tore through the heart of Tyria, scarring the land and opening a massive fissure, cutting through much of the plane. This great scar became known as the Rift, and from it, the Daemons began to emerge once more into Tyria. 

The Rift Daemons are eager to return to their masters and avenge their defeat. They have already spread throughout many corners of Tyria, and their hordes grow steadily with each passing day. With their old foes complacent and divided, there are few who can stand against them while they are ready to once more bend Tyria to the will of their gods. 

How will you bring glory to your god?

History

Between Planes

For aeons, there were powerful beings which dwelt in the space between the planes, within the Voidgates themselves. Born of a more ancient species who transcended their physical forms to escape a galaxy ending catastrophe, they possessed powerful magic powers which allowed them to live without fear of pain or death, as they watched the outside world progress.

Death

This changed suddenly when one of their species died. This was the first time one of their kind had experienced death and the survivors reacted with curiosity, followed by horror. No one knew what had caused it, but it soon began to spread. More of these godlike beings died while others began to recognise the signs of entropy and decay in themselves.

Havoc Daemons

These Gods are able to manifest their will in their physical world through aspects, fragments of their power and minds, which most refer to their Daemons. Once manifested, these aspects are mortal; they are vulnerable to death and harm, need food, and even adapt and change with experience. Gods must sacrifice a portion of their power to create Daemons, with greater Daemons requiring more of their essence to be contributed. As such, each Havoc God can only manifest so many Daemons at once and must lose a portion of their power to do so.

Arrival in Tyria

The Havoc Gods noticed Tyria as Tyrian Mages began to rapidly reactivating Voidgates. They saw Tyria as a fascinating play thing due to the wide variety of species and factions dwelling there in. They soon sent Daemons into Tyria, hoping to claim new followers and spread into this unsuspecting plane.

The Sealing

At the height of their power in Tyria, the Havoc Gods were suddenly trapped and sealed in an orb. Cut off from their creators, Daemons fled. Most found their way into Voidgates, where they hid away, awaiting their masters’ return. Others hid in Tyria and other planes, hunted by their gods’ many enemies.

The Rift

When the Havoc gods were released, a Rift tore through Tyria. Daemons infest the crags and tunnels created by this disaster, springing up seemingly fully formed to terrorise the people above. The people of Tyria began to refer to them as Rift Daemons, as many believe the Daemons were created by the same force that tore open Rift itself.

Timeline

• ??? BRC - War of Fate Against Saurians
• 282 BR - Daemons Reappear in Tyria
• 211 BR - Defeat of the Desert Gods
• 205 BR - Alliance with Northland Tribes
• 174 BR - Daemons Scatter After Havoc Gods Sealed
• 0 - Havoc Gods Liberated‍

Society

Rift Daemons are fragments of ancient beings from a magical realm between planes, known to mortals as the Havoc Gods. They are cast out into our universe, tasked with finding a way to save the Gods from decay and death.

Based on a mix of arcane knowledge and superstitions, the Daemons try to help their God survive by living a certain way and holding ceremonies for them, something they sometimes call sending a tribute. Depending on the God, tributes might be religious ceremonies, impressive achievements or other displays of devotion. The idea is to transmit the magical energy they generate to their creator, almost like a blood transfusion. Daemons are constantly striving to find more ways to help, but they can never be sure whether their efforts are having a meaningful effect.

From the Rift

Though Daemons can be encountered all over the world, their main lair is the Rift, a gigantic chasm that stretches across Tyria. It was created by the energy shockwave released when the Havoc Gods were freed from the Orb. At some points it is an open wound into the ground, at others it disappears beneath it. Eternal waterfalls and other absurd phenomena take place when it meets the sea. Below ground, the Rift is filled with tunnels that stretch far away, and there are plenty of Voidgates that the Daemons can use to launch their raids and travels.

New Found Strength

When the Havoc Gods first noticed Tyria, they sent their Daemons there. Under the leadership of their gods, the Daemons came close to conquering the whole plane, in a period culminating with the massive conflict known as the Havoc Wars. The end of this war was a devastating defeat, where the Gods themselves were trapped in a magical orb. For a long time, the remaining Daemons went into hiding, some of them unsuccessfully attempting to rescue their masters. When the Orb finally broke and the Rift opened, the Daemons rejoiced. Now their masters are back, their numbers are growing, but little is known about their long-term plans.

Fragments

Daemons are reabsorbed by their God when they die, but at the cost of their individuality. A fresh daemon is a pure incarnation of his God’s emotions and will to live. The longer a daemon lives, the more it will be attached to its current incarnation and develop its own personality, shaped by the trials and successes it encountered.

Strangers to our World

Daemons see the physical world as a shadow of real existence, a strange realm where they are trying to find answers to save their god. They will often speak in riddles and analogies, and look at things with a disconcerting perspective. From their point of view, they are like heroes sent on a quest in a land of monsters and strange creatures.

The Great Silence

Because Rift Daemons are but splinters of an incomprehensibly larger being, and because they have been fundamentally changed to adapt to another dimension, Daemons cannot communicate easily with their Gods. They can receive the god’s thoughts, but these often take a lot of work to be interpreted in any kind of understandable way. They can try to send messages and updates but can never know how much of that is actually understood by the God: it might sound like the buzzing of flies to these immense beings.

Promises Kept

Daemons have the reputation of sticking to their word to the letter in their dealings with mortals. It is not always easy to make a pact with them, but they will usually risk their lives to uphold any oath they take. They are, however, very smart and often able to find loopholes in contracts that they agree to; those who try to trick them often regret it.

Voidgate Experts

The nature of the Rift Daemons' Gods is connected to the way Voidgates work. Some of them are able to summon new Voidgates with far greater ease than any other species. They also have the most extensive knowledge of where to find Voidgates, often using ones that are unknown or forgotten, sometimes deep into enemy territory.

Language

Daemonic language derives from the divine language of their gods and is generally considered particularly unpronounceable by most other species. Daemons also consider this a sacred tongue possessing some modicum of inherent psychic power. As such, they generally prefer to speak in the language of whoever they are communicating with, reserving their language only for use among their own kind.

In this same vein, Daemons have adopted use-names; self-appointed monikers reflecting an aspect of their personality or role which are usually a compound of two words. These will often vary according to the god which the individual Daemon was born from. 

Daemons will tend to introduce themselves by their use names, while keeping their true names secret, as there are a number of superstitions and beliefs surrounding the use and knowledge of “true” names.

Example Names

[True Name], [Use-name] - Dobarorchagakos, Archanarch

This Daemon would introduce himself as Archanarch, revealing his true name, Dobarorchagakos, only as a sign of extreme trust or compulsion.

Change Daemon Example Names

Blarzahpobarem, Bleakrime

Oororpsseqizya, Erroreye 

Rinivipwozirod, Gravemurk

Lust Daemon Example Names

Layoftr’thvat’rn, Idlebarb

Lolons’stucot’ne, Mournsong

Bebartl’lohazng, Yesteryearn

Plague Daemon Example Names

Bumolrndrirkop, Aciddrip

Emzirtychwidck, Hollowpox

Jotawnyougakch, Rotnerve

War Daemon Example Names

Ikfugormavatce, Bloodmaul

Nawidiljomitvi, Hammercrush

Banuvckslehryr, Spinedoom

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Note that use names are in italic and are the names which Daemons use and are known by, with their true names being a closely guarded secret.

Proverbs

Notable Characters

• Ironpride (The Last Tear) – An ambitious Champion of Warwilling to use ruses and trickery to find the key to power hiding on the Orphan Plane.
• Cleaverfang (The Last Tear) - A proud Tri-Hound Champion with the gift of speech who leads his pack on hunts along the Western Steppe.
• Chainrend (A Study in Treachery) - A Fury Champion of War captured by an Imperial University who seeks to turn the weapon of his former captors against them.
• Lithenote (A Study in Treachery) - An Infernal Siren captured by an Imperial University who seeks to turn the tables on her captors through her enchanting music.

Trivia

• You pray to your Gods for help. We are fragments of ours. We are not the same.
• Trying to resist the Gods of Havoc is like trying to stop a flood.
• This world is a mere shadow in which we search for a hidden truth.
• Strike us down in the plains and we’ll come back from the mountains!
• The more this world resists us, the more we shall break it apart.

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