Demon

File:Demon.jpg

Concept art of a rage demon

A demon is a malicious spirit from the Fade that feeds on the darker parts of the mortal psyche like rage, hunger, and desire. Rage is the simplest emotion to feed from so Rage Demons are often much lower on the power scale as compared to the Desire Demons or the Pride Demons. The demon hierarchy from least to greatest follows: rage, hunger, desire, sloth, and pride. The more complex the emotions, the more intelligent and powerful the demon who feeds on it. Demons do not have genders. Within the Fade, they are able to shapeshift and take the form of their choosing. As creatures from an alternate and malleable reality, a demon’s natural mindset can appear insane to a mortal.

Like all spirits, they cannot survive long in the mortal world and so must possess a host. The only known way to force a demon from its host is to enter the fade and confront it directly. There are 2 ways of accomplishing this. A Mage can enter the fade by using an excess amount of lyrium as well as mages. The 2nd way is by the way of forbidden Blood Magic where one must sacrifice another's life to do so. Mages, due to their ability to tap into the Fade, are always in the most danger of being possessed, but any creature that dreams might become the victim of demonic possession. If the host is killed, the demon returns to the Fade, unscathed.

Demons often cannot distinguish between a living being and a dead one and will readily take control of either. This is thought to be the cause for the Chantry's custom of burning the dead.

There are no demons within dwarven lands. The reason for this may be due to demon's inability to inhabit the bodies of dwarves, extending to an inability to inhabit their regions.

Types of Demons

• Hunger Demons inhabit dead bodies in want of existing in the normal world. They become Devouring Corpses, zombie-like abominations who live only to devour the lives of humans and races alike.
• Other Demons, who have wants that parallel with Hunger Demons, transform into Fanged Skeletons, horrific looking undead who cut down any who cross their path in both anger and spite.  
• Desire Demons feed on lust, avarice and envy. They can transform into beautiful men or women, whose sole purpose is to seek out and capture the victim's darkest side. They are about striking bargains and fulfilling desires, not unlike djinni from the Dungeons and Dragons universe.
• An Abomination is the result of a Hunger, Desire or Rage Demon possessing a living human or elf, most commonly a mage.
• The Arcane Horror is another case of demon possession, more specifically a Pride Demon possessing the corpse of a dead mage.
• A Sylvan comes into being as the result of  a demon possessing a tree.
• A Rage Demon feeds off of negative emotions of dreamers and can be found in The Fade.
• Perhaps the strongest Demon of all is the Sloth Demon which possessed a Mage in the Tower of the Circle.  This demon's strength was great enough that it could pull entire rooms of people into the Fade, and several Desire and Pride demons, powerful in their own right, willingly served it.
• Pride Demons are Powerful and Intelligent, they use fire and ice attacks and can dispel magic