Demons

Demons are Fiends of the Abyss, usually - but not always - spawned directly from the substance of the Abyss in one of the corrupted Pits surrounding the bodies of fallen Colossi. They are creatures of almost pure id, hunger and rage given brutal, often bestial form. While some can be cunning, even intelligent, but overwhelmingly they are proud, wrathful, capricious and cruel, and while they do crave power, their primary drive is to destruction; to tear the world down around them so that they can say they were the ones who destroyed it.
In this wanton quest for destruction, they are opposed by the tryants of the Nine Hells, the Devils. The conflict known as the Deep War has persisted since the end of the Colossus War, as endless hordes of demons hurl their might against the fortresses known as the Nine Hells in their efforts to bring down the nine Pillars of Aiaos which support the material world.

Demonic Names and Power

Demons are not like devils, their names are not things of power which enable them to make pacts and gather more power unto themselves, because they do not live by law and obligation. Nevertheless, they do collect names, because names stand between them and destruction. The powers that demons wield are drawn directly from the Void and their submission to the hunger of The Abyss and the Colossi. Since they are, at a base level, creatures of the World, this power is inherently destructive to their own being.
In order to preserve themselves, demons use their names as a shield. They constantly adopt new syllables into their names, not by invention but by purchasing, extorting or plundering them from other beings, along with fragments of their souls. The process of sealing a soul to a name is called blighting. After a time, these names and the soul fragments associated with them are destroyed, and the demon will seek others to replace them. As a result, the same demon will, over time, lose the names it has and take on new ones until it goes by a completely different moniker. This also makes it hard for demonologists to be precise in their summoning and binding spells, since any record of demonic names is by definition already out of date.
The paradox of a demon's existence, however, is that the names which insulate them from the Void also constrain their power. The more names a demon possesses, the weaker it becomes, and so a truly ambitious demon will aim to possess only a single name. To balance power and survival requires a long and complicated name with many qualifiers and associated titles, which can be replaced, piece by piece, as it degrades. In addition, a longer name better defines the demon, granting it superior control over its power and form. The trade-off is that all the fragments used to create a single name must be in some way of a type, so powerful demons will always have a favoured type of prey that they must consume to rebuild their one name. Such names will also consist of strings of similar-sounding syllables.
In order to stave off destruction, a powerful demon may also dispense names to its subordinates. These names and the fragments that form them must be related to the master's name, but do not need to be formed of quite such similar souls. This is a common fate for soul fragments which do not quite fit the demon's schema. The demons so patronised by a superior become anchors to their master's being, bound in service but also prone to destruction in place of the master's name.

Wretched Demons

Wretched demons are nameless. They are held together by unblighted and largely derogatory designators granted to them by their masters, which can be withdrawn at any time. Their physical forms are ill-defined, their minds crude and simplistic, largely governed by destructive impulses.

Lesser Demons

Lesser demons have clusters of short, often derisive names, each blighting no more than the merest scintilla of a soul.

Greater Demons

Greater demons either shed their small names while finding new, longer ones, or find a way to combine a number of their smaller names into one. By either method, they end up with at least one polysyllabic name.

Higher Demons

Higher demons have a single, ever shifting name, and at most two or three shorter, disposable names. A higher demon who controls a Pit can claim a title associated with that Pit and become a Demon Prince. These titles, also known as principal names, are unique among demonic names in that they will never degrade, at least until the Demon Prince loses their throne. During the overthrow of a Demon Prince, the new holder of the Pit takes their own principal name, while that of the defeated becomes just another name, a burden on its holder.