Demon

Note: The Way of the Saints considers this being and any knowledge surrounding it to be occult and therefore forbidden. Proceed with caution.

The nature of demons is disputed. Not all the stories agree and some are mutually exclusive. The only agreed point is that they are in some way connected with the gods and serve them.

Common Beliefs

The most common beliefs about what demons are include:

• They were servants of the gods who used to be human but were changed as reward for their loyalty to the gods.
• They were constructs created by the gods or their servants to serve the gods' purposes.
• They don't exist and are solely the creation of superstition or lies by the gods meant to scare people.

The most common beliefs about current demonic activity include:

• As products of the gods (and potentially their servants) they were also defeated by the saints and are eternally trapped in hell, powerless to reach beyond it.
• All or some of them are able to come through into the created world with the help of any who still serve the gods or engage in occult practise or knowledge.
• It is still possible to create certain kinds of demons through the use of occult knowledge.
• The gods are able to turn someone into a demon if that person actively works to allow their influence and power into the created world for that purpose.
• Demons are able to whisper across from hell to the created world, influencing people, and are the way in which the gods still try to have power in the created world. It is debated how aware someone has to be of what's happening in order for demons to influence them.

Many of these are believed in combination with one another, with some people believing that a number of types of demons exist, often in a hierarchy of power and/or influence. The official position of the Way of the Saints is, however, that demons are fully defeated along with the gods, and anything beyond that is considered at best superstition and at worst occult.
Interestingly, they seemed to be more feared than the gods by those who believe that demons still have some way to influence the created world.

Lifespan

Immortal (according to most)