Daemon history

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Daemons are not native to Mellus. They came to Mellus through a rift gate much like that of The StormNexus system. They came in search of a special mineral which was used to create their floating Sky Cities. They found it in Mellus and established a colony to mine the mineral and ship it back.

As workers for the colony and mines, the Daemons brought their slaves, the Humans. But the mining operation did not last too long. Long unstable, the mountains being mined erupted in twin volcanoes and destroyed much of the mines, many of the workers, and worse it covered the rift area in layers of lava. Going home was no longer possible for any in the Daemon colony. Fortunately sufficient amounts of the mineral had been already mined that the Daemons were able to build a roughly two dozen of their Sky Cities as they set about making their home on Mellus.

The Sky Cities for the most part were set upon a well-defined travel pattern that covered several hundred miles in roughly a large circle. The different Sky City circuits would intersect in at least one or two points to provide for communication way-stations on the ground. Also on the ground along the Sky City circuit were established many farming communities or villages to raise the crops or herds that sustained the Sky Cities. One problem that faced the Daemons was that of population control. Daemons had long spawning cycles that required very specific environmental tolerances. Until these conditions could be replicated, Daemon numbers on Mellus would be fairly limited.

The opposite was true however for the Daemon’s slaves, the Humans. The Humans suffered from no breeding problems and were able to quickly provide the Daemons with large numbers of both City Slaves and Village Slaves. City Slaves were bred for intelligence, dexterity, appearance and good taste literally since the Daemons frequently dined on Humans as well as food produced in the villages below. City Slaves were craftsmen and body servants, tending to the needs of the Daemons in the Sky Cities. Village Slaves were bred for strength, stamina, common sense and strong sense of family loyalty. The Daemons used this sense of family or herd mentality to keep the Humans in control. The herd mentality kept the Humans from thinking of themselves as individuals and ever creating the danger of thinking for themselves.

A brief experiment was tried to breed Human hunters, but soon these Humans began to show signs of individuality and independent thinking. The experiment was terminated and all Human hunters eaten. Likewise an experiment was also made with breeding Daemons with Humans. The first several hundred failed and died at birth or soon after. But eventually the experiment worked and a moderate number of half-Daemons were bred to help manage the Village Slaves. With their Human features, leathery wings, and usually able to breathe fire, the half-Daemons were perfect for instilling fear into Humans just by their presence. However, due to their somewhat Human appearance, the half-Daemons were excluded from most Sky City activities by the pure blood Daemons. This stigma would exist even through the darkest days of the Daemons conflict with the Katarious Empire.

Not only are Humans in danger of being physically killed and eaten by the Daemons, but there is a certain Daemonic rite that allows the Daemons to work dark magic and rip the soul from their victim and feast on that as well. The fear of having one’s soul devoured as well as the bred-in herd instinct served to keep the Human slaves in check for thousands of years.

The Daemons are ruled by an informal council of Princes, who are the heads of various extended families. Each family is built around a sacred bloodstone statue, which is the “soul” of the family. When Daemon families are in conflict with one another, the most grievous blow that can fall is to capture or destroy the family bloodstone. For the slaves however, it was simpler. They served the bloodstone. Whichever Daemon family had the bloodstone did not matter; the Humans were bound to the bloodstone, not the Daemons. The reason for this was that upon birth, all Humans were given an organic collar that fastens around their neck. This collar was linked to the bloodstone and some suspect the bloodstone drew energy from the Humans that served it; energy which Daemons used to help power the Sky City mineral. The collar also helped the Daemons identify and recognize who individual Humans were since Daemonic vision is in a different spectrum than normal. Any Human found without a collar was killed immediately and usually eaten.

City slaves really had no organization and were part of the Daemon households in each Sky City. However on the surface, the Village Humans were left on their own for the most part. There were a few higher level Daemons that routinely visited to check on the village, but in the same manner as an owner checking on his kennel to ensure the dogs were not injured and were eating well. The villages were overseen by lesser Daemons and half-Daemons, who usually allowed some form of inform council of elder Humans for local matters. Humans young were brought up with the mantra to always “obey their elders”. This was encouraged by the Daemons since it subordinated youthful hormones to older fears of loss and death. The herd mentality was re-enforced and stressed by the Daemon masters who set the daily tasks of their Human chattel. Even religious ceremonies were allowed as it increased the importance of the soul to the Humans and made the fear of having it torn apart and eaten even more horrific and controlling.

The Daemons ruled their wide area without serious threat or challenge for several hundreds of years until the arrival of the Katarious. In the days before the Empire, the Katarious were a fierce rival, but unable to defeat the Daemons ability to attack from above and equal magical powers. However the organization of the Katarious into an Empire changed all that. Better tactics and Illiadian sorcery helped the Katarious fare better against the Daemons, but the earlier wars still ended in defeat for the Empire. As the Katarious gathered more slave races to serve them, they began to add slaves to their Legions and soon massive numbers were arrayed against the Daemon forces. This forced the Daemons into considering using the Humans.

But Humans had never been trained for war. They were skilled in the use of the spear and bow for protecting flocks from local predators, but never had they been exposed to war other than when Katarious raiders attacked Human crop villages. During these attacks, the vulnerable Humans tried to resist with just their spears. Thus the Daemons armed the Humans with longer spears effective weapons against the Orcs and Elves of the Katarious, but useless against any aerial attack of which the Daemons were capable. Massed mobs of Human pikes were used mainly in defensive positions to act as holding places to break Orc and Elvish charges so that Daemon magics or aerial attacks could decimate the Katarious slave legions. It is rumored that after some of the larger battles, a few Humans who had been wounded and left for dead, gathered together and crept away to create hidden communities secret from all since everyone they knew of were regarded as dangerous and to be feared.

With the alliance of the Marchane in service to the Empire, parity on the battlefield changed again. The Marchane were able to devise devices that helped fight against the Daemons aerial attacks, but not enough to overcome that advantage and the war of 1606 was a draw, but the Daemons were forced to acknowledge the supremacy of the Empire. However the Marchane perfected their devices and in the war of 1748, the Daemons were finally defeated and three of their Sky Cities were destroyed and brought crashing to the ground. Not willing to risk the rest of their Sky Cities and the survival of their race, the Daemons surrendered.

Having to surrender severely humbled the Daemons, as did forcing them to submit to service in Katarious Empire. As part of their service to the Empire outlined in the surrender, Daemon princes were assigned to the Royal Katarious families as “advisors”. But in a pique of victorious elation, the Emperor also decided that the Daemon princes were forbidden from ever entering any Imperial areas. This decision highly angered the Daemon princes, who swore they would be avenged for the insult. The opportunity for revenge came in 2394, when the Illiadians approached the Daemon princes with a plan to destroy the Empire and they accepted.

The rebellion did not fare well for the Daemons despite initial successes. The Katarious struck back with a vengeance and destroyed a couple of Sky Cities before the Daemons decided to abandon the rebellion to the slave races that had risen up to join the Daemons and Illiadians against the Katarious. The severe losses of Daemonkind were regarded with horror by the remaining Daemon princes who realized they could not match the numbers of the Katarious and their slave armies. So in a few secure strongholds, the Daemons intensified their half-Daemons breeding program. The process was highly successful, although usually fatal for the birth mother, but considering the high number of available Human females, this was not considered to be a problem. However insufficient numbers were made available for training and maturing in the time needed. So the Daemons began capturing females of every race and using them for their breeding attempts. Like before, most mothers failed to survive, except the Orc females who proved extremely hardy. However, for the Daemon cause it was too little, too late. For the rest of Mellus, it was a sudden influx of half-Daemons with considerable power and little to constrain them as they went out into the world.

After retreating back from the vengeful Katarious who sought to destroy every Sky City, the Daemons hid in mists and mountain heights or in hidden strongholds far away from where the vengeful Katarious could get at them. Human slaves were either collected and taken away with the fleeing Sky Cities or sent off to secret valleys with half-Daemon guards to continue raising crops until the Daemons would return for them.

The Daemons ventured out from hiding only once following the mauling they suffered from the Katarious. They believed an opportunity existed to exploit the stripped down defenses of the Mal-Grey Dwarves who were fielding two powerful armies against the Katarious. Unfortunately the Daemons’ beliefs were wrong and the Mal-Grey Dwarves severely hammered the attacking Sky City. In revenge, one of the Dwarven armies attacked and conquered a Daemon stronghold in the EverFire Mountains, which was thought to have been secure. Every Daemon and half-Daemon was killed and the several hundreds of Human slaves kept there were set free by the victorious Dwarves.

With the success of the rebellion, life for the Humans became one of fantastic opportunity and terrifying confusion. On one hand, they were no longer subject to the whims and desires of the Daemons. They were free to choose to do what they wanted without any fear of punishment, being eaten, or having their souls ripped apart. However, the world of Mellus without the skills and protection of the Daemons is a very harsh and cruel place. There are monsters and creatures willing to feast on Humans which are far more numerous than the Daemons, and the open violence and combat with the other humanoid races produce more deaths than the Daemons ever inflicted. And yet, the ability to fight back and create a world of their own has inspired the Humans to spread out across the face of Mellus. Not skilled in many talents, lacking any true background in warfare, never having risen higher than supervised rural villages raising crops and stock animals, and having few allies (mostly Dwarven), the Humans face a challenge unlike any they have ever encountered upon Mellus. But somewhere in their souls they know that they can succeed. Somehow, somewhere they have risen from the depths before and now on Mellus they can succeed once more.

Meanwhile, since that last defeat the Daemons have retreated back from the world and remain in hiding floating safe in their surviving Sky Cities. Many Daemons still roam loose in the world, but as a consolidated racial power, the Daemons have been severely crippled. Only one thing remains the same; the Daemons still feel themselves as being at the top of the food chain. It’s true that they have suffered some reverses of power, but that just means that their prey has gotten a little more dangerous. That’s all. And they can deal with that. They did before. They will again.

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