Demons

Demons (демоны) supernatural creatures that are present in Moskova's lore. Many folk stories feature them, and there are a lot of depictions and other artistic representations of these beings in very varied ways. Some supernatural creatures that can be considered similar to demons are the Messengers of the Stars/ Dæmons .
In the novel, them are mentioned several times and many of them are antagonists.

Description

What's known as "Demons" in Moskova are ethereal beings that can have an influence on people, which means that they're actually not material creatures. As other non material beings like Stars, they're native of the Supernatural plane but as Zvezdarska states, they're creatures of a lesser "energy level" than them so they can interact more often with people and live in the Material plane.
While many named demons behave kinda tricky and are solitary, Alchnos't, which is mentioned as "perhaps the worst of them" got almost infinite nameless minions he uses for his own benefit. By the date, he's the only one that had tried to seduce and possess a star by himself and could reach his goal.
The actual amount of demons is unknown, but the most recognizable and some of the most powerfull are the ones that got a name while the others are they unnamed minions (like the dogs of The Dark Army ). The named ones that are known to be mentioned In folk tales are Alchnos't, Vodíanoi, Badzula, Domovoi.
The most mentioned demons are the evil ones, which usually got a role in fairy tales antagonists or a trial to the hero. However there are still some neutral or even helper demons like Domovoi, that are considered house guardians.
Demons usually are invisible for people but many of them can shapeshift taking any appearance possible for example an animal, a human or another magical creature. For getting materialized (as having a visible shape doesn't always mean to be actually material beings), it is needed more "energy " than they usually have. They can get into that level when the most powerful ones possesses a creature from a higher level, for example a Star. The best known example of this is the case of Dubhe and Alchnos't.

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Attack method

Demons usually make people's minds play tricks on themselves as them take advantage of the victim's feelings and can manipulate them. They represent the darkest places of human mind.
Feelings like insecurity, greed, despair, grief or vanity are their main weapon as them can exaggerate them to the point of causing external troubles to the person or very bad decisions that could end being harmful.
Demons that can shapeshift and become material can also do physical attacks on their prey as biting, hitting, kicking, burning among others.
There's also some speculation about their involvement with the phenomenon of the Perturbing Voices that happens in the tundra branch of the Sentinel Mountains but no one could confirm it yet.

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Origin

The origin of the concept of "demons" and how them ended having that weight in Moskova's mythology is still not too clear, but in The Lost Northern Stars it is stated that at least Alchnos't and other demons had been released from Pandora's box, which again, represents another conflict regarding when and who added this element to the story. Some people say that this is the way Moskovar people interpreted the "negative things" from the original Hellenistic myth, while other consider that these are original Moskovar creatures and when the legend incorporated elements from the Hellenistic myth their conception got modified to fitting the newer concepts.
However, about those creatures considered demons (both evil or not) that are featured in legends and tales without mentions about Hellenistic concepts, them are considered to be "born from the chaos and nature" but it is unsure to tell when they began to be part of Moskova 's folklore.

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Demons' Howling and Northern Lights

"They could attack at any time, but during the nights, when the aurora illuminates the sky, their howls are heard, like dying wolves that cause nightmares, as well as other evils like greed and envy among men."

— Anonymous ,The Tale of The Lost Northern Stars

The Aurora borealis is a natural phenomenon that had always fascinated humankind and fed many legends around them . The association between demons and the Aurora borealis can be traced down to The Lost Northern Stars legend.
As it can be seen in the excerpt quoted above, the appearance of Northern Lights followed by a threatening, disturbing and distorted howl is an indication of the near presence of demons and is also considered a bad presage. However,the Northern Lights are a pretty common phenomena in Northern Moskova and other places located in high latitudes and the natural appearance of the aurora is enjoyed by the people who is able of seeing it so, the mention of the Aurora can be just another thing to indicate that their attacks mostly happen at night. The Auroras that actually worries people are the ones that happen in unnatural places such as in the steppe, the savannah, the capital or the desert as them are always followed by the howling.

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Lifespan

Unknown, but some people believe them are immortal until destroyed

Related Organizations

• Krovalov Clan

Dubhe bewitched by Alchnos't by Geraldine Escriva (Gege16)

Howling of the Night by Geraldine Escriva (Gege16)

The auroras that are usually associated with demons got a color scheme composed by purple and green with some blue tones. Contrasting to the natural auroras that are present in the sky the whole night, these ones disappear in a jiffy like if they never existed after demons attack.

" We've been seeing what you wanted, got us cornered right now

Fallen asleep from our vanity, might cost us our lives

I hear they're getting closer

Their howls are sending chills down my spine
And time is running out now
They're coming down the hills from behind"

— Within Temptation, The Howling