The Demon Prince
The last caste of Demons are the Demon Princes. These creatures are the apex of Demons, possessing the physical and martial capabilities of the Demon Knight, with the intellect and arcane abilities of the Demon Lord. Yet none of that makes them the most terrifying caste of Demons. It is their ability to reproduce that is far more insidious.
Creation
A Demon Prince is created in a special ritual, different than the previous three castes of Demons: the Soldiers, the Knights, and the Lords. As far as we know, the Demon King is the only creature which is able to create a Demon Prince.
What we do not know is whether or not the Demon Princes are able to cast this ritual. Some think it is possible. If it is, then the threat of new Princes exists.
Unlike the rituals for creating the lower castes, there is no documentation for the ritual to create a Demon Prince. Nor has any Demon Prince provided any details. All we know is that the Demon King performed this ritual, individually, on Emperor Arenth’s children.
Thus, we can only make speculations about the ritual based on what we know about the abilities of the Demon Princes, and how the rituals for the creation of the other castes work. Here are the best speculations I have been able to gather from various Demon scholars and Mages:
- Similar to a Demon Lord, it’s believed that a lifeless ebon shell must be created.
- The subject, in its human form, is transformed or corrupted by the essence of the Demon King. This corruption does several things to the human body:
- It renders the resulting gender to be male, regardless of the original.
- It creates a physical appearance akin to Ebnus.
- It grants the subject tremendous intelligence and arcane abilities.
- It imparts the will of the Demon King upon them, giving the him control over them.
- The newly transformed body is then joined in an arcane ritual to the shell. (Similar to the uplift ritual of the Demon Lord, but there is no transfer of essence, but rather a joining of the corrupted body and the ebon shell.)
It is unknown if the Demon Prince requires any recovery or time to adapt. One would expect there must be some, since each other caste has some kind of time to recover.
Features
The Princes possess the same ability to command the lower castes as seen in the Knights and Lords. A Prince often exerts its will upon a group of Lords, who then coordinate Knights and Soldiers to carry out its desire. This ability is present in either form.
As eluded to above, the Demon Prince has two forms: one Demonic and one Fiendish. It is able to transform between these two forms at will, without the need of any soul energy. To best understand the Princes, we will discuss each form:
Demonic Form
In this form, the Demon Princes resemble the other castes of Demons. They are the same size as the Demon Lords, but exhibit a more ornate set of horns around the head, reminiscent of a crown. Like all Demons, the Princes are tireless and lack any need for food, water, sleep, or air. They have an armored carapace in their Demonic form.
They are physically strong like the Demon Knights, and are as proficient in martial combat as the Knights. Demon Princes do not normally carry a weapon, and are able to use their arcane abilities to summon one if necessary. They have no standard weapon, each Prince has their own preferences.
The Princes are also highly intelligent, like the Demon Lords. Like the Lords, they also have the ability to wield arcane energies. They, too, need soul crystals in order to wield magic, in both their forms.
Fiendish Form
In this form, the Demon Princes look much like Ebnus did when he was initially discovered. They are humanoid, and comparable in size to a Kotkalan. They have ebon skin and glowing eyes. Their hair is white and each prince wears their’s differently.
In their Fiendish form, they do not require food, sleep, or air, but they can and do enjoy both eating and drinking. They are not armored, and can be injured in the same ways we would come to injury.
This form is best thought of as male, as they have the genitalia of a man, which is fully functioning and can be used to impregnate a human female. The resulting offspring is a Fiend.
In our next lecture we will look at the Fiends in the same way we have been discussing the Demons.
Personality
The Demon King can directly command the Princes through that same mental ability that allows them to command the lower castes. Thus, the Demon Princes are individuals, with desires, goals and plans, but aligned in purpose and direction through the will of the Demon King.
With the recent death of the Demon King, we see that the Princes have been able to be functional rulers, but their individuality has made them less cohesive than when they were ruled by the Demon King. That may be their undoing.
Role
The Demon Princes are the ruling caste of Demons. The Demon King used them to execute its will over large areas, like a kingdom. They have the intelligence and individuality to formulate strategy and can work with their Demon Lords to see that strategy carried out by the Knights and Soldiers.
The Princes are able to rule without direct contact and command from the Demon King, this allows the Demon King to control Elhal without direct intervention, thus freeing him to address other issues and plans.
We will talk about this in later discussions, but after the fall of the Demon King, the Demon Princes have been able to continue the war and hold the Demon Lands, without the Demon King.
Final Thoughts
The Demon Princes are a rare caste. Few meet a Demon Prince, as they tend to remain in their fortresses, called Enshos, surrounded by other Demons. From inside their Enshos they command their armies of Demons. In modern times, they are acting on their own, following their own desires and plans. That may be as terrifying as their ability to reproduce.
In our next lecture, we will talk about Fiends, the human variety as well as other forms. We will discuss the problems and dangers the Fiends possess.
