Lore: Demon Biology
By all intents and purposes, the biology of a Demon at first glance, seems to run on factors that display both a "mystical" sense of being that does not have too many reasons or “coherent answers” to explain why it is the way that it is, as well as a fully biological one that may oftentimes do, but may still be difficult to judge at first glance.
One such occurrence that often draws fascination, comes in the form of a natural phenomena known as a Burning Period.
On average, the Body temperature variation amongst Demon’s is similar to that of people and is often caused by a plethora of internal factors plus external factors such as activity level, time of day (circadian rhythm), diet, and environment as well as “species”, leading to a personalized "normal" temperature range rather than a single fixed point. Typically for Demons, height and weight variations can often have a huge effect on normal Body temperature.
Water Demons, as an example of a species variation, actually run considerably lower compared to typical Demons, and as such are prone to overheating. Regardless of species, Demons still can run significantly higher in body-temp than humans, but can run even HIGHER due to the Burning process.
The Burning Period Process, is typically a three step restoration phenomena that occurs when a Demon has sustained a substantial or significant amount of damage to it’s body.
Typically, Regeneration is the biological process through which organisms restore, repair, or replace damaged or lost cells, tissues, or body parts, often resulting in the restoration of their form and function. However, during the Burning Process, amplified regenerative capabilities are often displayed to a significant degree. With every break/ injury you experience as a Demon, your body naturally heats up.
However it is possible to “overload” this process, which in turn generates tremendous amounts of heat. This heat in turn speeds up the healing process, by putting the body essentially into overdrive. With every injury sustained, the body will continuously become hotter and hotter until it ultimately reaches the SECOND part of the process which is the Cool Down Period.
This period tends to typically be the second to FINAL stage of healing and acts as the shutdown period where the body goes into a "sleep mode". Here, the body enters a dormant state where it spends its time regaining its energy back while keeping the body slow and still, reducing the chance of potential overexertion and keeping the body as stable as possible. However it is possible to FORCE a Demon body to go into a cool-down period early, which can have drastic effects on the healing process because the body NEEDS heat to heal hence why the cooling process usually comes last.
If the body experiences too much trauma and re-healing at once, a Demon will become cold.
Naturally in many cases, the body WILL eventually warm itself up on its own. However if the body has been put through too much stress and doesn't get the beneficial heat it needs, healing can slow down or stop all together which can and HAS killed demons before in the past. Typically, warming a demon back up if it gets to this point can usually restart the process or at least aid in it, but depending on the situation, this can take a bit and doesn't always work.
This in turn leads to an instance of what would typically be considered “Hypothermia” in humans. Much like Hypothermia in humans, Hypothermia in demons displays much of the same symptoms; depressed reflexes, slow heartbeat, shallow breathing, hallucinations, delirium, complete confusion as well as other symptoms may be present. From then on two things might occur
1- The body, due to outside aid, may eventually start to warm up. If it does, the Healing process will once again start back slowly to heal any left over injuries the body may still have left over, and over time and care the Demon will make a full recovery with little to no deficits.
2- The body, due to lack of outside aid, may eventually start to fail. Failure in reflexes, very shallow breathing and a slow heart rate may occur as time goes on eventually leading to coma. This is where it gets tricky. By all forms of information known, the possibility of a Demon truthfully dying is a very rare occurrence. True death does not come easy for demons. But when it does; when they die with no chance of possible resurrection to follow, it can happen for many reasons. However, while it is often stated that a Demon CAN die from this process going awry, that is not true, in a sense.
A demon will suffer, but they won’t die.
What can happen however is a multitude of different endings each more tragic then the last.
If the Demon is part of a close-knit pack or tragically left on it’s own for whatever reason, eventually the individual, with no way to defend itself, may end up being cannibalized by others, who may use the opportunity to snatch a free snack (soul) if the demon is of low standing, or as an act of mercy to relieve the individual of it’s suffering. In some cases there have also been individuals who may also offer up the sickly demon to the Great Lord, though this often stated to be an extremely rare occurrence and is usually only done by those who do not have the heart to eat the soul of a loved one, or simply put, are looking to get on the great-lords side.
Regardless. . .a soul is not wasted
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