Lenamare’s brow twitched in frustration. “By lord Hierelen, Lord of Fire, Lord of Demons I conjure thee Tomasedwardperkinje. Ekfeltos tral kiev, urbido Dominae. Sig norium sed layum. Demon Tomasedwardperkinje thou art commanded by the covenant of Man and Demon as set forth by Varn and Hierelan in the first millennium. Thy true name compels thy obedience, attend! These are my words of command to thee. Thou shalt appear in this room before me now. Kristem sid torium let fialtos sed miercoles. Trist absum sed fierkum. Nos kriegum sed vienton merienton torme.”
Smoke began to fill the air, the sigils and runes etched upon the floor flashed pure white with intensity. The braziers burned faster and hotter than ever. Sweat trickled down both Lenamare’s and Jehenna’s brows. The build-up of magic in the room was beginning to be felt physically as something similar to a build-up of static electricity. Red mist began to form in the center of the pentagram, and vaguely large canyons with huge boulders could be seen. Periodically, jets of flame seemed to burst across their vision.
Realizing that it was of no use, Lenamare quickly began to perform the release spell that would safely discharge the magical energy that had been built up. The summons simply wasn’t working, and Lenamare needed to dispel the summoning energies, lest they start interfering with the world around them. It took him about a minute to get the energies down to a minimal level and when he did he looked to Jehenna.
“Well,” Lenamare’s face was about as red as the demon’s. Jehenna could tell he was on the verge of screaming.
“Apparently someone or thing is blocking our attempt to summon the demon.” She stated, trying to draw his attention off along safer lines. She didn’t want him raging about a demon that wouldn’t obey him. He was likely to start causing random damage.
“Exador?”
“Possibly, although short of having taken control of the demon, I don’t think he could do it.”
“What then? You surely don’t suggest a Demon Prince is shielding it, preventing me from summoning it?”
“No, none that I know of are aware of what we’re doing. Of course, if they were, then they very well might.” That gave Lenamare pause, and he actually leaned back on a table to think. “Actually, there are also two other explanations.”
“Yes?” Lenamar asked.
“Actually, I’m sure you realize them, but I’ll just point them out. First, the demon could be even more powerful then we believed. True even a fifth order would have at least been forced to show its presence in the pentagram, even if it didn’t obey you completely. However a sixth order wouldn’t have to have obeyed that particular summons.”
“True. But that’s impossible. We know the demon’s fourth order, we bound it with a standard fourth order spell. Second?”
“A minute. What you’ve said is true; however, when I summoned it with the ring, as I said, I didn’t feel in control. It is possible that it simply allowed itself to be bound by the fourth order spell.” That made Lenamare’s eye’s light up in thought. “Remember, it appeared as a low order, only revealing itself later on. We didn’t understand what was going on. Perhaps it is playing a longer game?”
“However, my best guess is possibility two.”
“Which is?” Lenamare asked.
“He’s still in Astlan.”
Lenamare looked at her more seriously this time. “That definitely would explain it. The summoning spell could only draw it from the Abyss. It would certainly be the easiest explanation. Except for one thing.”
Jehenna nodded, knowing the one thing. “Why would it still be here?” she agreed.
“Exactly, there is no possible reason!” Lenamare exclaimed raising his right hand in frustration.
“True, it should have done the job assigned, possibly killed the girl and then left. There would have been no reason for it to stay, in fact it should have automatically returned.”
“Unless, remind me? You said it did say that it came of its own free will?” Jehenna nodded. “In which case it’s here until it decides to leave.”
Jehenna’s brow furrowed. “It is entirely possible, there was certainly enough fire for it to build its own gateway.”
“Shit, if it’s in Astlan, there isn’t a hell of a lot that we can do to get it here, unless we find out where exactly it’s at. If I knew that, I could force it to come to me...”
“But,” she finished, “we don’t know where it is.”
“It could have gone anywhere in the world, after leaving the battle. Goddess rot in the Abyss!” Lenamare shouted in frustration.
“So, what do we do next?” Jehenna asked.
“We think; we think and plan. We also keep trying to summon the damn demon.”
“We also have to present our case before the guild in three days.”
“I know, I know. I’d just prefer to know exactly where we stand with that damn book before facing Exador in court.”
Classification of Demons
Demons are generally classified in six different categories. These categories are roughly based on the relative power and strength of the demons. The lower the classification level, the lower the power and consequently the more common the demon. One important thing to keep in mind is that all demons are unique and the following is only a rough guideline.
These are certainly the most common of demons. Most are smaller than man size. Most are wingless without the power of flight, although some can teleport. Imps are generally the only class I demons to have any wings and usually look something like small gargoyles with wings. Sprites generally are the most human appearing of all demons and often appear nearly completely human except for their perfectly proportioned miniature stature, 1’ to 3’ high, and the fact that most are red skinned. Some Sprites even wear clothes occasionally. Shadows do not appear humanoid at all and in fact have the least physical form of all. Shadows appear simply as impenetrably dark regions in corners and dimly lit regions.
Fiends are more powerful demons and range in size from dwarven up to man-size. Some Class II demons have extremely bizarre forms with multiple sets of arms and legs, occasionally with humming-bird type wings rather than the more traditional bat-like wings. Appearance of these demons, despite often being man sized, is often the least man like of all the demons. Fiends are relatively common in wizardly circles.
Major Demons range in size from just under man sized to slightly larger than man sized (5’ to 7’ tall). While often appearing somewhat more human than Class II they usually have bat-like wings, horns (like almost all demons), red, scaly skin, perhaps a tail, and usually cloven hooves. Succubi and Incubi are generally examples of Class III that look very human except for small exotic differences such as small horns and maybe red skin color or other similar small but noticeable difference. Class III demons are typically the most powerful demons summoned for any but the direst of uses. Often summoned to fight in wars or battles they are usually only seen in small number and usually not on lesser errands.
Greater Demons are truly horrific in the terror they inspire. They are rarely seen on the planes of men and are always sources of dread and fear. Only the bravest and strongest of Conjurers would summon Class IV demons. Class IV demons are the epitome of the demonic nightmare. Generally around 11’ tall or larger, with goat legs and cloven hooves, two or three times the size of those of a large bull.