Demons

The following is based on an excerpt from a tome attributed to an apprentice of Ferin of Felmonte. It is a text that has been condemned as heretical and dangerous. Though the Church claims that the text brings only misfortune to those who read it, its contents have proven valuable to Arcanists throughout the centuries. The veracity of its content is questionable, according to the devout, but it is the only text providing a dispassionate analysis on that rare field of esoterica, Demonology.

In the beginning, Aura floated alone in the Elemental Chaos. His nature was cold, solitary intellect. As he wandered for countless millenniums, he dreamed of order. He collected pieces of matter from the Chaos, and began to form a world out of them. He searched deep into the Chaos for the pieces needed to build the world.

Deep in the Chaos, it is said that Aura found a door. This was the first created thing that Aura had ever seen which he had not built. He chose to open the door. Why? It is truly unknowable.

From out of the door, flying screaming armies of elemental destruction poured forth and began to lay waste to the things that Aura had built. An entire world burned at the hands of these demons.

This is why Aura created the angels, to serve as his soldiers against these beings. The angels fought a war against the demons lasting 800,000 years. Finally, Aura forced the hordes back through the doorway into their black abyss. He chained the doors, so demons could never again tear down his creation.

The Abyss still exists behind a mighty locked door in the depths of the Elemental Chaos, and its denizens can be summoned and bound to service. The Devils of Hell were the first to perfect this art and teach it to their followers. It is a dangerous practice, not to be undertaken lightly.

The text goes on to describe several difficult and costly rituals for the summoning of demons.