Demons and The Great Sea

I have previously discussed the goddesses of The Moon, The Earth, and The Underworld in my post about the Moon World. In addition to this, I spoke of the basic structure of the worlds (resembling nested spheres) and the method through which creatures are reincarnated on these worlds though action. While I had before discussed only the world above the earth, I shall now discuss the world below the earth, and the earth itself.

Known Lands

In the South

The Earth, as known by the Church of Gaia, is dominated by The Great Sea, around which all civilization was formed. The known world is bounded on all sides by an immense desert, called the Dirge Lands, which is inhabited by all sorts of barbarians and cultists. The Dirge Lands' temperature ranges from intense heat to bitter cold, and all sorts of ruins can be found there. 

One of the more civilized residents of the Dirge Lands

On the western shores of the The Great Sea lies the many Elfin kingdoms and villages, whose wars with each other seem emphatic and arbitrary. Dwarfs find their native lands on the mountainous islands of the eastern bay. Humans find themselves confined to the arable area to the south; their Holy City, Cerulemen, where the Church of Gaia is centered, on the eastern end of their crescent territory. Other independent human settlements can be found in the arid north, as well as all around the Dirge Lands, for they have an unnatural aptitude for those inhospitable places.

One of the less civilized, subjugating a powerful demon

The human lands are rife with both demonic and angelic incursions, due to their communication with the heathen Dirge Lands; their association with the Liminal goddess, Gaia; and their multitude of gateways to the Lands Above and the Lands Below, including Muldhagha. Due to this, and their apparent barbarism, the elfin and dwarf lands fear the day when the human lands are cured of this affliction, when the Church of Gaia and the Barbars of the Dirge lands would wage war against them.

The Geograph of Cerulemen

The Lands Below and their Residents

The Underworld, known by wizards as Cthonus and by Poets as The Lands Below, is the source of all demons, devils, and their ilk. Just as The Land Above, the Lunar Sphere, the Land Below can be reached two ways: Reincarnation, where lifetimes are spent in suffering before becoming a demon; or Dungeoneering, as opposed to flight. Dungeons near The Great Sea and in the Dirge Lands occasionally naturally connect to the Underworld, though the transition is gradual. Even dungeon builders don't know if they will connect to the underworld, and it might change over time according to the alignments of cthonian stars.

The Goddess Cthon

She has been here for two aeons. She used to rule The Earth. She used to rule the Moon. Some believe she used to rule the whole thing, from the very highest sphere. Some people think she will rule the whole thing, from the very lowest sphere. Those people are heretics, for the Church teaches there is no highest sphere, nor lowest sphere. Whatever is may be, She's starting to enjoy it.

There is a pleasure in horror, at least if it is in someone else. There is a pleasure in trickery, as long as it is on someone else. There is a pleasure in pain, as long as it is with someone else. 

Messenger

Digression: Cults

Not all cults of the Dirge Lands worship Cthon. In fact, very few do. She is ruinous and self-serving, and anyone with passing contact with the church knows that. However, quite many serve her, and even more speak with her. 

There are three main categories of cults in the Dirge Lands: Cults of the New Aeon, Cults of the Dire Earth, and Cults of the Arcane Sky. Cults of the New Aeon wish to bring about a change in the divine power structure, whether to bring Cthon to be the earth goddess, to bring Gaia to be the moon goddess, or something of that sort. The Church of Gaia opposes a great majority of these movements, though a few priests support pushing Cthon to a further underworld, hopefully bringing a kinder goddess up. 

The Cults of the Dire Earth worship any one of the goddesses, not necessarily Gaia. Their distinctive characteristic is that they worship some aspect of that goddess that is not endorsed by the church. They are named as such because the largest of these cults worships Gaia in her Wrathful Form. Some leaders of the church, in times when the faith is wavering, endorse this cult, and they are occasionally employed as an inquisition or as crusaders.

The Cults of the Arcane Sky mainly study the movements of the skies on all three worlds and derive magic this. They occasionally worship the goddesses, especially Selene, but a majority are nuetral. Most of the wizards on the Great Sea are instructed in their monasteries, towers, and conclaves. Due to their neutrality, they are on friendly terms with most of the elfin and dwarf kingdoms, and the Church treats them with respect. (/digression)

Demons and Devils

Just as the angels are constructed to serve Selene and other heavenly rulers, the demons and devils (collectively fiends, or Daemons if you are a poet/wizard) are grown for Cthon and her vassals. I say grown because, unlike angels, fiends occur naturally in the underworld, but are cultivated by Cthon for certain purposes. Like a dog, Cthon has taken the archetypal fiend and created a multitude of types.

Due to the diversity of their kind, those who catalog them classify them by their traits, rather than their specific type. For instance, an imp is any fiend which is naturally very small, a lemure is any low level fiend which is naturally like an ooze, a kalke (from the tome of beasts) is any fiend which may produce a powerful magic only in a large group. These are not mutually exclusive: there may be an imp which is a kalke, or a lemure which is an imp.

These labels also can refer to a specific breed, like how "cat" can refer to a lion or tiger, but generally refers to a house cat. If speaking about the specific breed, the prefix "common" is used. For instance, the "common Imp" refers to a small, red, flying devil which hunts through temptation. Other fiends of a similar type can be named in the same way, adding descriptors as necessary.

The Common Greed Imp, also classified as a asura and daeva

Many church officials refuse to give such classification. These officials are generally found in areas that are devoid of fiendish incursion. In places where the land is more plagued, the churches will document much more, in an effort to outsmart them. These frontline churches often hire both Dire Earth cultists and Arcane Sky cultists, one to fight the fiends as they appear, the other to predict where their appearances will be.

Underworld Geography

Due to the machination of powerful infernal creatures, the underworld is unmappable on the large scale. The general appearance of explored areas in the small scale reveals a land of deep chasms containing dark forests, plateaus of  magma and dark rock, and constant rain which burns the skin (some speculate this is the comparatively holy water of the Great Sea). There are great cities where souls lie in torment, and ruling each of these cities is a dark lord. Some interesting places that seem permanent are the Abyss of the Lost, the Ocean of Leviathans, the Great City of the Palace of Cthon, and the Tower of Muldagha.

((I know you already have stats for demons and devils, stop being greedy))