Lore – Demonic Reign By Devorah Leah Barrocas

Demonic Reign Lore

The world was not always divided. That is merely how its rulers prefer it remembered. Assiah lies beneath three suns and three moons, split into four kingdoms and ruled by demons old enough to have made cruelty normal. Humans enter life beside celestial guardians, while beyond the mortal realm wait higher powers, darker realms, and a history someone went to considerable trouble to bury.

ENTER ASSIAH

A World Cut Four Ways

One world became four. Nothing has been right since.

Each kingdom remains trapped within its own land, climate, customs, and particular method of making life unpleasant.

AFARA
A province held in an endless twilight ruled by Queen Igrat bat Mahlat, demon queen of illusions and the night, where day never fully brightens and night never fully deepens.
ORON
Desert kingdom ruled by Ashmedai. Sand, heat, and stone in abundance, water and kindness in short supply.
GANIRA
Jungle province ruled by King Azazel. Thick growth, heavy heat, and more creatures with teeth than any traveler cares to count.
RAKEFET
Frozen northern province ruled by Queen Naamah. Ice and snow hold the land, and anyone who wants to keep all ten fingers stays away.

The Bonded

At first breath, a guardian is bound to every human soul.

Soul creatures are Malakim: angelic guardians entrusted with a single human before birth. When the pathways between Heaven and Earth were sealed, they descended in living forms so they could remain beside those placed in their care.

Their bond grants extraordinary abilities, but its purpose was never power. It was always for protection.

When a human dies, their guardian returns to Heaven to await the soul they were entrusted to guide.

THOSE WHO RULE. THOSE WHO SERVE. THOSE WHO REFUSE.

Powers of Assiah

The Crowns

Four demon monarchs divide Assiah between them. Their courts call it order. Those living beneath them may use another word.

The Shadow Syndicate

The most feared assassins in the realm are selected through trials of knowledge, instinct, violence, and the bond between human and Malak.

Its mark bears a skull threaded by four serpents, one for each kingdom. Around it sits a promise concerning blood, sacrifice, and the rather permanent consequences of joining.

The Hidden City Below

Beneath the kingdoms, humans preserve what the rulers would rather erase.

Some call it sanctuary. Others call it rebellion. The distinction generally depends upon which side of the blade one happens to occupy.

The hidden City Below shelters generations of humans living openly beside their soul creatures, beyond the reach of the Demon kings, and violent world above.

Relics of the World

History is easier to rewrite than an object.

Four Gems
Each of the four archangels governed an element of creation and forged a stone from its power: fire, water, earth, and air.
Nyx's Clawed Gauntlet
A gauntlet with retractable claws that spring free when Nyx makes a fist. Her preferred method of killing.
Demon-Killing Dagger
A soul-forged dagger created by a dying king, who bound his wrath to the blade and set his own eye within its hilt so his vengeance would outlive him.
Ring of Matronita
The four stones forged by the archangels were set into a ring for Matronita, Mother of Angels, so she could preserve the foundations of the lower world.