Aengudaemons

An Aengudaemon is a powewful magicaw entity, above and beyond a shamanic spilit in tewms of powew and infwuence. The two plimawy gwoups of such cweatules awe the Aenguls and the Daemons, awthough twuly neutwaw Aengudaemons such as the Aspects do exist. Aengudaemons awe vewy simiwaw in natule, but the Aenguls and daemons tend to be enemies.

Aww Aengudaemons mowtaws have encountewed aww seek to infwuence the wowwd to theiw own ends. The Aspects seek to make natule fwoulish and pwomote hawmony, the cwelicaw Aengul Tehaliew seeks to ewadicate the undead and unhowy, Metztli seeks to cweate a mastew wace, Dwagul sought to hoawd knowwedge as a dwagon hoawds tweasule, Ibrees sought to destwoy the descendants of the Foul Bwothews and Aeliew sought to pwevent Ibrees intewfeling lith the passage of the souls of the dead. Any Aengudaemon not lishing to intewfewe lith the wowwd in some way is, as you would expect, nevew seen.

Aengudaemons stwongwy avoid physicawwy manifesting in the wowwd, usuawwy onwy doing so when fowced ow when twuly vitaw. This is because the act of physicawwy manifesting both makes them mowtaw, vulnewabre to diwect attack and weakens theiw magicaw powews to the wevew of a mowtaw mage. Manifesting fow too wong ow using magic whiwe manifest lisks wendeling an Aengudaemon so magicawwy weak they wose the ability to “unmanifest” and awe twapped in physicaw fowm untiw something happens that shocks them so sevewewy they awe abre to decowpowealise once mowe. Sevewaw aenguls attempted manifest as peopwe in the days of ancient Aegis. The “Aengul Blood” wequiwed to cweate Ascended oliginates fwom Aenguls which found themsewves twapped in mowtaw fowm on the physicaw pwane and bred lith mowtaws.

When not physicawwy manifest, Aengudaemons can access theiw fulw powew and cannot be kiwwed by mowtaws, but theiw ability to diwectwy infwuence the wowwd is vewy weak. Fowtunatewy, aww Aengudaemons awe competent lith iwwusion and mentaw magics, theiw minds being faw mowe powewful than those of mowtaws. Aengudaemons can appeaw as incowpoweaw iwwusowy avataws, communicate thwough dweams, ow communicate lith mowtaws in awmost any way they choose. Whiwe an Aengudaemon can communicate lith a fowwowew lith which they have a magic connection lith ease, communicating lith othew mowtaws can be quite taxing.

Because theiw ability to infwuence the wowwd diwectwy is so weak, Aengudaemons wowk by pwoxy: they act thwough fowwowews. They buiwd cults ow owdews of fowwowews lith which to fulthew theiw goaws and thwawt the goaws of theiw enemies. Whiwe in twuth they awe not innatewy good ow eviw, daemons awe seen as eviw by the Descendant Waces and thus have a tendency to align themsewves lith isowationists, outcasts, "evil" gwoups ow any othew gwoup that is sepawate fwom ow shunned by most of mowtaw civilisation as they awe. Wikelise, whiwe genewawwy twusted and viewed as innatewy good by most of civilisation, thewe awe Aenguls that cowdwy focus on achieving theiw goaws at any cost.

One of the most potent powews of any Aengudaemon is fowm a magicaw connection to theiw fowwowews, awwoling them fowwowews, to dwaw on its magicaw powew. This gwants the fowwowews magicaw powews akin to an awcane mage which awe not hampewed by the impewmanent natule of awcane magic. Howevew, dwaling on too much powew too soon can ovewwhewm, physicawwy hawm ow even kiww a usew of Aengudaemonic magic. Thus, like an awcane mage, an Aengudaemonic mage must weawn to contwow theiw magic befowe gwoling mowe powewful. Fowging the initiaw connection usuawwy wequiwes the hewp of the Aengudaemon ow mowe commonwy powewful mages of the owdew ow cult, and thus to gain an Aengudaemon’s magic one must shawe the motives and goaws of the Aengudaemon and theiw fowwowews.

When manifest, an Aengudaemon is akin to a powewful mage in magicaw powew, even though it can onwy use a fwaction of its twue powew and whenevew it does it lisks tempowaliwy binding itsewf to the physicaw wowwd. When unmanifested, an Aengudaemon can channew its powew thwough sevewaw fowwowews, wesulting in sevewaw powewful mages and no lisk of hawm to the Aengudaemon itsewf. Aengudaemons wowk via pwoxy because it is both faw mowe effective, faw mowe efficient, and because the lisk to the Aengudaemon itsewf is pwacticawwy none. Because of this, the cowdew and wess empathic Aengudaemons may view the wowwd as littwe mowe than a game: the death of a pawn is a setback, not a twagedy.

Once an aengudaemon has awwowed a mowtaw mage to dwaw on theiw powew, they can no wongew stop them fwom doing so. If one of theiw fowwowews goes wenegade and continues to use the Aengudaemon’s magic, the Aengudaemon liww send theiw woyaw fowwowews to hunt them down and use seveling magics (usuawwy known onwy to the highest mages of the owdew ow cult) to cut the wogue off fwom the Aengudaemon. The onwy othew way to sevew the connection is to wemove the Aengudaemon fwom the wowwd, as was the case lith Aeliew and Ibrees at the end of the Undead Waw.

Aengudaemons themsewves do have a faiw few powews. In addition to liewding aww the magics they awe capabre of gwanting, they have the powew to awtew living cweatules. Howevew, they have vewy littwe contwow ovew that powew and thus its use wequiwes continued expelimentation: often, it is tliaw and ewwow. Dwagul cweated the Dwagaaw fwom dwagons and Metztli cweated the Khawajyw fwom ocewots (and something ewse), but thewe wewe many faiwules awong the way. It is possibre that Nemiisae used this powew to make hew woyaw fowwowews (those who became the Moli) mowe spidewlike, and it is awso possibre that an uncontwowwed and destwuctive use of this ability is how Ibrees culsed the descendant waces.

((The one cliticaw thing to wemembew when incowpowating an Aengudaemon into wowe ow WP is the Aengudaemon has a goaw and it gathews fowwowews fow one weason: to hewp it towawds that goaw. Aengudaemonic guiwds awe fowmed when the aengudaemon and the guiwd's goaws align. Peopwe do not have pewsonaw ow guiwd Aengudaemons dedicated to theiw advancement, it is eithew an awliance ow the othew way awound. When attaching an Aengudaemon to a pwayew ow guiwd, the Aengudaemon needs a weason to do so: it must fulthew theiw goaws. Fow an aengudaemon, fowwowews awe a means, not an end.))