World Codex

What is Purgatory?

The place where all Realms and Pocket Realms converge, sailing endlessly across black shimmering waters of the in-between. Every soul comes here eventually — some more than others. You can enter and reincarnate into any world from Purgatory, if you can find it. Or the dark creatures that stalk these waters will find you first, bringing you to Heaven or Hell.

Once a soul has been brought to one of the two Death Realms, there is no longer a chance to reincarnate into a new life realm creature. The soul will then begin the final process of its creation. A type of innocence only found in creatures of life 'Pure Souls', untouched by heaven or hell, will be lost during this process. And while some souls do not survive these excruciating and testing trials, those that do will reach their final soul's shape. Entering into Heaven or Hell a new creature, with no memories of its past existences; but utilizing those unique experiences for what they once were These Death Realms are where the Newling demon/angel shall exist for the remainder of their existence.

Enchantments

Types of Enchantment

Magic Compatibility

Two souls with magic can temporarily merge into one powerful magic entity. Magic compatibility is when two souls of intertwining magic strength work together to become one magic entity for a short moment — far more powerful than before. This is more often encountered within the Hell realm and Heaven realms, but is not limited to such.

Heaven — Space Exploration Attempts

The angels have tried to reach the "stars" of their realm by bringing space ships (stolen) from more advanced Life Realms through their Portal Gates. They learned the hard way that there is no "space" in a Death Realm. The closer up you get to the suns, the hotter it will become. It will be an endless journey upward, and eventually all ships — be them designed in Life Realms or Death Realms and protected by varying degrees of intense magics — will always burn up, and destroy any soul that gets too close.

Realm Convergence & The Old War

Occasionally — at a very rare 1% probability — when a Life Realm is passing closely by the planet, the two realms will converge. During convergence, anyone caught in the current will be thrown to and from Purgatory and both converging realms. Very hectic, and likely will kill or destroy a soul not strong enough to withstand it. The passing can last from a few seconds to days or months, depending how big the life realm is that's passing by the Death Realm.

Special Locations in Hell

The Fire Lords

Four creatures who came into existence shortly after, or at the same time as, the original Torture Demon. They are "Fire Magic Incarnate" — they ARE the fire, not just wielding it. Part of the Drak Mastre (the universe itself). They cannot truly die — only disperse or fragment.

Demon Creation Process

Angel Creation

Angels and demons are fundamentally the same thing at the soul level. Both are dead souls living in a death realm, shaped into their final form by a creator. The only difference between an angel and a demon is the name of the process used to warp or create them, and the realm they end up in. Heaven actively spreads propaganda across life realms and their own death realm to hide this truth, teaching its citizens that Purifiers "diminish evil in creatures' souls, that they purify the corrupted souls of demons and those that need saving with their divine hands" — but this is false. Purifiers create from mortal souls exactly as Torture Demons do. They simply call it purification rather than creation, because purification makes their propaganda sound better — though they have been known to call it creation as well. Soul core solidification magic, the same mechanism a Torture Demon uses to finalize a soul into its permanent state, is what both sides use. Angels call it purification. Torture Demons call it creation. It is the same thing.

The creation ability itself originates exclusively from Torture Demons, specifically from the power Grieve bestowed upon each Torture Demon he made. It is the same fundamental force a Torture Demon uses to finalize a soul, repackaged under a different name by Heaven's propaganda.

The creation ability itself originates exclusively from Torture Demons, specifically from the power Grieve bestowed upon each Torture Demon he made. It is the same fundamental force a Torture Demon uses to finalize a soul, repackaged under a different name by Heaven's propaganda machine

Angel Propaganda & Wings

The citadel of higher angels spreads propaganda everywhere — of their expectations of their death realm society, as well as to all different realms. This often leads to religion in life realms. Angels have silently spread the thought that they are the pure ones of heaven and hell. They want people to not fear them, so that when they come to whatever life realm for resources or the soul of someone, the lifer does not expect it to be a bad thing.

A lot of angels can have sharp fangs and cat eyes too — it depends on the soul's reincarnation origins before they were turned into angels, just like demons have. But the purifiers always try to make every angel they design have their aura crafted in the shape of wings. An angel's wings are simply their aura. This can appear as a shimmer of colour like a mirage in the air, a ripple along the horizon just behind their backs that looks like heat rising off the ground (not hot or fire — just the visual of a heatwave shimmer in the shape of wings), or like looking through warped glass or a water reflection. Many angel souls are also infused with an element — usually water or plants. Heaven has much access to these through their working portal gates and often likes to use external life realm elements within their creation process, to further define themselves as different from demons. Torture demons do not do such things — they only work with what the soul already contains within it based on its previous incarnations. Angels, however, enjoy imbuing their society and their angels with life realm elements. Not fire, though, for obvious reasons — fire magic cannot be utilized outside of the Fire Lords themselves.

An angel's aura is often expected to be shown gracefully, or used aggressively only in times of defense, great need, or intimidation. It is frowned upon to let your aura flow loosely within a crowded street — it's a bit like playing loud music on the bus, or in a quiet neighborhood. Rather rude. It can, however, be shown in a more modest and graceful way when in public. The larger the wings, the stronger the angel will be, as the wings and aura function the same way for both demons and angels. The general feel of an angel's aura-wings is slightly different from a demon's — if one were to equate them to smells, angels would carry a sort of fluid lavender or calming scent, whereas demons would have a sharp, spicy scent (not equated to fire or heat — that is for fire lords only).

Angel society often utilizes highly intricate mechanical or material wings as a sign of status or job rank. These physical wings are specifically designed to hold their shape magically around the angel's aura. Angels learn how to utilize and expand their aura-wings when they are with their purifier angel — just like in hell, the torture demon creator teaches the subject how to control their aura: bring it in, bring it out, hide it, or stretch it far to act intimidating or utilize power. All of this is in service of the aesthetic and appearance of pureness and grace that angels try to project around the realm and other realms. (Hell is not so convinced.)

a'Naskii & a'Naskaa

Auras

Auras are invisible forces around a demon (and sometimes other creatures/humans alike) that hold a considerable amount of strength and magic in their soul. There are those — typically Hunters and Slayers — that are trained in the art of "seeing" an aura, which allows the viewer to see how powerful or dangerous a demon may be.

Even without being able to "see" an aura, anyone will be able to feel the heavy, draining effects of a powerful aura just by standing in the presence of said demon. All demons have auras, but not all demons' auras are noticeable, even with trained sight — though if an aura is barely or not noticeable, it usually means the demon in question is pathetically weak.

There are some demons — powerful beings — that can control the size of their aura, confusing those around them into misjudging their initial power.

Death of a Hellspawn in a Life Realm

If a Hellspawn is killed while outside of a Death Realm, their physical body will begin disintegrating into particles within the air. This is soul energy being pulled back through a portal gate in the Hell Realm. Each portal gate is governed by a Fire Lord. Once the Hellspawn's carcass fully evaporates within the Life Realm, they emerge through one of the gates in Hell and are greeted by a very angry fire demon. Their punishment is at the discretion of the King, but often leads to the destruction of that demon's soul.

Demon Generation Classifications

Ghost / Lost Soul State

A ghost/lost soul is one that remains earthbound but hasn't moved to Purgatory. It is different from a Purgatory Soul that is traveling Purgatory's waters eventually reincarnating or encountering a Creator. These spirit souls are tied to a specific location within a life realm. Can remain at a specific location for centuries. Cannot move on — stuck in one place, be it an object, a moment in time, bounding to a place, or their once living body - now a corpse and bones or the location of their death or burial, or are drawn to a person or creature or thing they once knew and cared for, or despised etc..

Demons in Life Realms

In cases where a halfie's demon parent has strong visual features, those features may partially manifest. The human half tends to dilute them, however, so they will rarely match what a full demon of that same lineage would look like.

Half demons tend to look mostly like their lifer linage, or lifer parent (should a hellspawn parent be directly related), but carry subtle to moderate physical indicators of their demon parentage. Because lifer blood tempers demon traits, the demon features are usually present but weakened or modified compared to a full demon.

Abilities and Physical Strengths:

Half demons inherit a diluted version of demon capabilities. Their abilities are weaker across the board than a full demon, but meaningfully stronger than what a pure human could achieve, such as an accelerated capability of healing. Half demons, depending on their linage and how close they are to being directly related to the Hellspawn anscestor, will heal faster than regular living beings, not related to a demon- and can survive damage that would kill a normal person, but they heal slower than full demons and Hellspawn, and still require rest time after serious wounds. Small aura: All demons have an aura, an invisible magical extension of the soul. Half demons possess one, though it tends to be very small, especially so depending on the demon parents and the closeness of the generational hellspawn linage line.

A half demon does not age and die on the same timeline as a human or other living creatures. Their demon blood extends their natural lifespan significantly past normal expectations, though not indefinitely, the oldest known half demon lived to 200 years old, but this is not the normal and often times half demons don't live as long as that, though considerably more than a human, or most other living beings will.

The soul of a half demon is not a demon soul. A true demon soul is, by definition, a Hellspawn, a finished soul created through the Hell realm's torturing process. Half demons, and Realm Demons are genetically lifers, and most akin to their living equivelent parents, and to many hellspawn, demons in the life realm's - living demons, are only "demons in title", rather than by raw soul composition. It is technically not possible for a half demon to become a "real" demon, as being a hellspawn demon requires having a demon soul at one's core. What a halfie actually possesses is the genetic lineage that traces back, down the family tree, to a Hellspawn ancestor. That Hellspawn bloodline lies dormant within their human body, but does not affect their physical raw soul in any meaningful way. However, it is theoretically possible, through rigorous training and with external magical aid, to draw out and amplify that dormant Hellspawn bloodline. This would not make someone a true demon, but would functionally bring them far closer to one in terms of raw power. The risk is severe: a half human with that far removed a Hellspawn lineage may not be able to fully control such power, and could "go feral or mad, losing ability to think rationally" or become overwhelmed with power they cannot control, ultimately hurting themselves and/or others in the process, before they have a chance to finish the process of pulling out the abilities laying dormant in the bloodline. This is extremely taxing on the living body, and should the spells not be performed correctly and delicately, could lead to perminent damage of the body, or even death. Akin to a star burning too hot and too brightly, it burns out quicker than normal stars. Completing the spells successfully to draw out such dormant hellspawn lineage power, will often provide physical changes onto the body, drawing the living body closer to that of their original hellspawn anscestor or even realm demon's parent's genetics.

Societal Treatment and Legal Status

How a half demon is perceived and treated depends heavily on who they encounter. The three main groups with established policies regarding halfies are:

Demon Slayers consider half demons an absolute abomination. Mixing human blood with demon blood is treated as a sin against nature itself. That said, Slayer culture retains a grim mercy: because the halfie is still half human, Slayers will ensure the execution is swift and painless, framing the killing as a mercy to the human half, which had no choice in being born infected by demon blood.

Demon Hunters take a more structured, watchful approach. A half demon is placed on a Watchlist, particularly if they have not yet committed any actionable crimes. Their movement around the land is heavily restricted, requiring them to effectively ask permission from an appointed Watcher before leaving an area or taking significant actions. In exchange, they may live a relatively normal life and can even receive protection from the Watcher against human harassment. The Hunter philosophy can be summarized as: "Your half-demon-ness is excused because there's a human side to you... but you're on thin ice." Char's suspected half-demon offspring, Torru, Torche, and Core, are already documented on the Sekkra Watchlist at approximately 20 years of age.

General Human Population

The average peasant will either run in fear upon seeing something that reads as demon-adjacent, or call for a hunter or slayer. That said, there are people throughout the realm who simply do not care. A halfie who manages their appearance well and flies under the radar may pass through many human settlements entirely without incident.

Black Market and Exploitation

Those with darker intentions, including magic users of higher degrees, certain pirates, bandits, and mischief makers, may recognize a half demon for what they are and wish to use, sell, or exploit them. Half demons are known to have value on the black market within some cities, can be used in powerful dark spells, and are actively targeted by those who wish to control them for personal gain.

Half demons who are aware of their nature often grapple with a profound identity struggle. Because they are neither fully accepted by humans nor fully respected by demons, many develop strong psychological orientations around which half they identify with or reject.

HellSpawn Demons

Straight out of Hell. Their soul is raw power, not held back by the weight of life. A Hellspawn demon in a Life Realm will not age or die as a naturally born creature would — living on until physically killed or pulled back to Hell via some other methods.

Fae Queens & Breeding

Fae mature very much like the phenomenon called neoteny — creatures retain juvenile characteristics depending on their environment, and will quickly mature given certain conditions. The Queen Fae of a swarm is the one that births new Fae. She gets heat cycles every couple dozen years. The Fae queen lays eggs — sometimes multiple over the course of many months, with no need to procreate after the initial affair is completed. The eggs will just keep growing one after the other for about a year at the latest.

Though that fae childling isn't actually her child unless it's a queen egg. Only the queen egg will produce an heir to the fae queen.

Fae Reproduction Mechanics

A queen of fae doesn't need to mate with a prince fae or even a male fae — female fae can switch gender in order to breed with the queen. The queen can only conceive during her heat cycle. Outside of her heat cycle it is impossible to conceive an egg even through intercourse.

Pocket Realms & Portal Gates

Pocket Realms can detach from the host realm and reattach upon encountering another realm. Once detached from a host realm, a pocket realm will drift through purgatory much like a regular realm does. One of two differences separates a pocket realm from a normal realm: its ability to reattach and de-attach itself upon passing another realm. The second difference allows the occupants of the pocket realm to jump into other realms as they pass by.

How Pocket Realms Are Formed: When Heaven and Hell were at war long ago, Heaven designed a machine/creature that would essentially flatten a realm to the ground — annihilating all life as it is known, allowing it to form anew with time. However during these instances, small pieces of the life realm are chipped away. Breaking off the mother realm and floating into the waters of Purgatory forever more — thus becoming a pocket realm.

Portal Gates

Massive doorways located in both Death Realms (Heaven and Hell), that lead to various Realms of Life (as well as each other). A Fire Lord portal (that opens when the fire lord activates the gates within Hell with their magic) would open up a portal in the closest realm (or their chosen realm that they know of/have a piece of something from as an anchor). The portal that opens up in the specified realm will remain open for as long as the fire lord's portal gate remains active to that realm. They have full control of their gates and the portals that open up on either side.

Portal Stones

Rare magical objects — one time use per stone. Can open portals without a Fire Lord's fire magic and portal gate. To create one requires at least one lifer soul (broken upon creation), a skilled builder/crafter, magic, and — with the use of purgatory water — acquired items from the realm it opens to (should the desired location be specified — otherwise the portal stone opens up to the closest available realm, or if not done correctly, purgatory itself).

The portal stone portals that open up in the realms or purgatory vary in time they remain open. The stronger and more well-done the stone is created (usually means more souls and more magic use), the longer the portal remains open.

Sentience Level Classifications (Nasgu'e System)

Increased numbers = lower cognitive function. Level 1 is highest cognitive function and understanding of the universe. Level 6 is akin to something like a primitive species, like apes (humans). 10+ is much like hive minds, insects, single cell organisms etc. Used to determine location and placement within the Nasgu'e accord.

Increased levels (level sentience 4+) may have limited speech or autonomy due to the difficulty of communication between the levels, 3, 2, and 1.

Soul Core

The essential essence/heart of a being — the innermost part of the soul. The most fragile part of a soul. Can be devoured by the fire lords (they are able to reach into an individual's soul through their outer soul body — without harming them — and then touch the soul core, which feels violating and vulnerable). They can essentially "lick" or "bite" the soul core for a tasty treat. Damage can destroy the being instantly.

A fire lord can sear/mark souls with fire magic at core level. The soul core is the most potent part of an individual's soul and magic — essentially THE essence of that individual's soul. When a soul core is broken, this is essentially what defines a "broken soul."

Fire Lord Death / Destruction

Fire Lords are "Fire Magic Incarnate" turned into souls by a mistake of the universe in this breath cycle of the Drak Mastre. Likely due to something like a snag in the cogs of the existence of the universe. The fire lords are not supposed to be literal physical souls/beings of individuality — but instead literal fire magic, dispersed across the realms and the universe so that everyone can utilize fire magic. Instead, they are physical beings in Hell — just 4 — but contain all the fire magic in the universe. If someone were to try to use fire magic, the magic would not happen, for it would just return to the fire lord that it was pulled from. The one exception is the soul piece - known as the human 'Zerek' located with the Tera realm on Edin, who is the lost piece of Zathura's Fragmented soul in Hell, come to reincarnate into life in the life realm as a human — only this individual has the power to use fire magic beyond the fire lords themselves, due to this.

Soul Manipulation & Magic

Soul Binding

Magical process to bind souls together, creating a life-link. Soul Binding Bands are physical bands worn by the controller that essentially seers itself into the user, and reciever's soul cores. Upon recieving the band and seal magic durring a spell, the reciever's soul is bound to the wearer, a link between both their bands — allows wearer to use the reciever's powers as their own, or ensure the reciever feels imense agony should their soul stray too far from the user, or can be a simple way to inflict pain onto the reciever, regardless. This soul band artifact and spell associated with applying it, creates permanent connection between the two souls wearing the bands specfically designed for the two of them. If the user of the band dies, whoever's reciever's souls are bound to it, are also destroyed alongside the user's. Physically painful to be far from the band. Cannot escape or leave. Effects of the band can vary, depending on what methods of creation and how much effort went in to crafting the band and its specific benefits. A band may allow the user to control whether the receiever moves, or breaths, or speaks etc. Though bands of such high calibar are not common, as they are incredibly difficult to aquire and create as well as place on the individuals. Soul Bands and banding is generally not easy to do in any sense as the costs are significant and the necissary money strength, crafting and magical ability to "install" on indivuidals is extremely difficult to do and much harder to perfect. A soul band is a permanent effect once created and placed succesfully. For example, should the arm be physically removed and then regenerate, the soul band will still regenerate with it, as it is essentially a hook attached to the user's soul at their soul core's surface. Often a Seal's Expert is hired to create one of these bands for a pair of demons and the seal's expert may or may not be the one to apply it with the spell needed to make it attach.

Magic Sealing

Function: Lock magic or power inside a soul, and make it unable to be accessed by the user who wields it.

A significant instance of this occuring: being the Fire magic sealed inside the Fire Lord Zathura, grafted with a soul seered tattoo on his arm — the seal prevents him from using fire magic, used to trap him in his own form, containing his magic that is the fundimental part of his being. The tattoo acts as seal — magic locked inside making any of the magic contained under the seal, essentially unusable. In Zathura's case, his own soul and power was used to imprison him. This is an extremely painful occurance for a soul that is built entirely up of magic, such as a fire lord.

Other instances outside of the specifically unique fire magic sealing, can still occure at much less grandure results. The result is essentially the same: sealing something within an item or individual. Containing the magic that lies within, incapable of being used without external help or allowance. This may or may not cause imense pain to the individual with the seal cast upon them. Essentially blocking their 'magic' veins from producing the magic they naturally contain within them.

In the Fire Lord Zathura's case, his seal: The Seal Itself

Takes the form of a red circular mark on Zathura's arm, described as a tattoo-like seal.

It was created using fire lord magic, the same type of magic that Zathura himself is made of. This is a critical factor: the seal only functions through the use of the same fire magic it contains, which is exclusively a Fire Lord capability. An outside entity attempting to replicate this seal would not achieve the same permanence.

Mechanically, the seal functions like a cap placed over his soul core, locking his fire magic inside his own body, unable to be released, directed, or used in any way.

His fire magic is described using the analogy of a volcano with a cap that will not pop off, lava that is stuck inside with nowhere to go.

With Fire magic being the functional essence of a Fire Lord's soul. Their portal gates require fire magic to activate, their physical abilities require it, and their aura is an extension of it. By sealing the fire magic inside, the brothers effectively disabled Zathura at the most fundamental level of his being. He could not activate his circular portal gate, which requires fire magic to open

The sealing is described as excruciating in the Fire Lord's case. Fire magic that has no outlet builds within Zathura continuously, like a sealed pressure system. Over the many, many years of this individual's sealing, the accumulated pressure and abuse inflicted significant and cumulative damage to the fire lord's soul core, causing it to chip and thus, create individual known as Zerek.

Soul Searing / Marking

Fire Lords can sear or mark a soul with fire magic — binds soul to user. Can summon that soul afterward. Mark is permanent on soul level. Fire magic creates binding at core. Can be used to control over marked souls — can call them regardless of location. Creates loyalty/slavery through magic. Used to "use" individuals for supernatural goals. Can sear or mark a soul with fire magic Binds a soul to the user without the use of a band. Can summon that soul afterwards at any time, or harm the individual from a far within their soul. Mark permanent on soul core level Fire magic can create binding at the core - the reciever has the fire lord's fire literally hooked into their soul, ensuring there is a connection between the two, like a leash or a chain hidden within the soul but very much real and pghusical within them.

Soul Possession — Favurn's Makeshift Human Form

Temporary spell allows possession of a corpse or living human body. Demon possesses human skin. Grotesque, brute force method. Body literally falls apart after a few days of prolonged use — beast form explodes out of body (blood everywhere). Process: Demon enters human body, wears it like skin. Features of beast slowly overtake humanoid form (tail appears after few days, ears become pointy, too many teeth). Looks like creepy guy with features eerily stretched. Different appearance each time (depends on body possessed). Only lasts few days. Extremely disturbing to witness. Requires finding corpse or living victim.

Soul Containment

A soul is bound to an object/within an object — like a gem, or a scroll. Item acts as container/prison. Purpose: keep soul from going to purgatory or leaving the realm or user's possession; keep as trophy/collection piece; prevent soul from moving on; utilize magic from within that soul for various purposes; transportation of that soul from one place to another easily. Can remove soul from object and place within something else or release it entirely via breaking. Can create enchantment on item to do something specific — for example, a soul can be placed in a gem necklace, and when worn, the soul can live through the individual wearing it.

Seal Magic & Enchanted Items

Seal magic creates permanent or semi-permanent magical effects on objects, locations, or beings. Various individuals across the realms specialise in this craft. Each realm may have their own unique type of seal magic, based on the way it's written or what it's written on, or how it's spoken — but there are some universal seals as well.

The Book of Magic

Originally belonged to and was created by an ancient mage, Alton thousands of years prior in a living realm. This book has changed hands many times since, and has the capability of all known magics of the universe, one just needs to know how to search for such pages, and read the multitudes of foriegn texts and ancient long dead languages that exist within its continuosly self updating contents.

Soul Origin System

Soul Origin is the complete record of all past lives/incarnations of a soul through reincarnation cycles. Souls reincarnate across different forms — creature, Fae, human, alien, or (realm) demon across lives. Past life experiences influence the current soul form when entering purgatory. Additionally will influence the final form of an angel or demon, depending on the creation and the type of reincarnations they've been in their lives.

Death: Regeneration Mechanics

When you "die" in a death realm, your body slowly regenerates back to its base form. You come back to "life" after regeneration completes. As does your body pieces, should they ever be separated from your body — your soul reforms them anew after an extended period of time (like a severed arm or a brain). This process of Regeneration depends on the healing speed of each individual. Strong demons may not be fast healers — it does not determine strength, so much as it is determined by the soul's ability to return to its original form quickly or not. Too much death/regeneration without adequate rest puts strain on the soul — the soul can bend to a breaking point (permanent death/soul destruction).

Parental Lineage in Hell: "Kin"

In Hell, inhabitants technically don't have parents. Death Realms cannot produce children or life (outside of exceptionally rare and unique circumstances utilizing outside death realm influences) Hellspawn were all created by Torture Demons from lifer/living souls sought after in Purgatory, and then crafted into demons and sent into Hell to live the rest of their existence in the death realm. Hellspawn and many Angelspawn do not have much concept — or any concept — of what parental lineage or true family of blood means.

Kin means something in Hell and Heaven realms that differs from the meaning within the life realms. Kin is the term used for demons/angels that share the same torture demon/purifier — referring to each other as Kin, as they share the same experience of the same torture demon/purifier during their creation, even though they are not related. The Fire Lords call each other kin/brothers, but it is not because they are blood related — they are part of the same whole (fire incarnate). This is the only true instance of such a familial connection born from no parents.