Rift Daemons are born from the last survivors of a pantheon of dying gods, known to Tyria as the Havoc Gods. Desperate to survive, these gods sought out followers from the lost and desperate, and offered them power in exchange for worship. Those who rejected these gods came to know them as Havoc Gods due to the zealotry of their followers and the unrest that they caused.
The Havoc Gods came to Tyria soon after Voidgates had been discovered. As mages and adventurers activated Voidgates throughout the land, the influence of Havoc began to spread. The Havoc Gods saw Tyria as a fascinating plane due to the diversity of its peoples, where they could find all sorts of different new followers.
Daemons were sent into Tyria by their gods, spreading throughout the plane. They sought out followers for their Gods, either through promises of power, or shows of force. They found followers throughout Tyria, whom they guided to conquer others. Treachery, war, and bloodshed became commonplace as the Havoc Wars began. Daemons were seen throughout the continent, fighting alone or alongside mortal allies, as they and their masters threatened to overrun the plane.
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.
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.
