#dire-vulture

[beach-illustrations]

flight rising commission for @dire-vulture of Qirrasi holding up Kermes!

[mortemcatabasis]

Finished commission for @dire-vulture of Isostola 🎣

[windswepthills-clan]

Ram for @dire-vulture !!

[guardsbian]

🔜

🔜: How many projects do you currently have unfinished?

well I have 88 dragons done and 266 dragons who can be considered projects/permas so uh. uhhhhh. 178........

[alithographica]

Been a minute but I've still got it baby

Dire wolf skull, from specimen at AMNH. Charcoal on toned paper.

[antiqueanimals]

Rancho La Brea mural by Charles R. Knight, 1925. From Terra: The Member's Magazine of The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Volume 31, No. 1. Fall 1992.

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[fr-familiar-bracket]

[dire-vulture]

my Molly Dire Vulture info was in discord links so fdgdsf let's fix that. might as well post this too c: the second edit was done by @bakusnout !

[palaeosinensis]

A collection of skeleton glyphs.

[millies-theme]

went crazy on the artfight attacks wednesday lol (top six are all from then) Characters belong to @certifiedgrim , Suitepee, Kipdripp, rainsplash, Meron, @spaceklownz , @dire-vulture, and splashpaws :3 (sorry about all the pings haha)

[gimmethemprimals]

girl help I’m losing track of all of the [insert familiar icon/name here] people I’m following my bestiary is so disorganized

[mortemcatabasis]

Finished commission for @dire-vulture of their dragon Bosc

[get one for yourself here]

[windswepthills-clan]

Finished commisison of Wisp for @dire-vulture !

(commission info is on my pinned post!!)

[guardsbian]

It's been a little while so I forgot what I might already know tbh, but how does like the hierarchy of demons work? Who is at the very top, if anyone :O

OH. OH I HAVE AN IMAGE MADE UP FOR THIS PERFECTLY. DON'T ASK FOR THE ANGEL VERSION IT ISN'T DONE YET. ALSO HALF-DEMONS SHOULD BE ON HETE

Unlike angels, demons don't follow a universal hierarchy- their hierarchy is limited to their position within their independent pantheons, and then, in relation to demons in other pantheons, relative to this general ranking. As demons can be extremely self-absorbed and judgmental, it isn't uncommon for them to fully take advantage of these divisions for personal gain.

(The rest is very long and rambling, so it's under the cut!)

Archdemons are universally at the top, though the number in control of a pantheon can range from one to... however many can get along and agree on things. They're remarkably powerful, with their magical instability on Sornieth countered only by their acute control over it. It's impossible for any demon to uphold a pantheon (basically, manage all the magical nonsense and control it entails) if they aren't an archdemon, and whether every demon could potentially become an archdemon is... eh? It's like how queen bees start out as normal larvae but are given different treatment; for demons, becoming an archdemon typically comes with a fair mix of nepotism and luck. Archdemons will pick favored children to raise to their status. Average demons can discreetly raise an archdemon from youth in order to better manipulate a new pantheon (in a regent to the child-monarch sort of way). Some young demons will simply fall into the right environmental circumstances. In most cases, the child of two archdemons will just be so powerful that their rank is inevitable, regardless of what anyone does to stop it. An adult demon can try to become an archdemon, but there's a lot of essential development that's difficult to change by that age.

Average demons and incubi/succubi are, physically and magically, the same thing, but their roles in pantheons have incubi/succubi treated with slightly less regard. The only thing that marks them as such is having lust as one of their primary vices. Socially, however, incubi/succubi are integral to the dealings of pantheons with other pantheons. In terms of pacts and promises, one archdemon offering demons to another is one of the most common forms of exchange. And, unless a specific demon is being transferred for their specialty or skills, it's purely a numbers game, which requires somehow obtaining more demons... Through, you know, demons in an archdemon's pantheon having children that are then indebted to the pantheon and its whims by birth. So, incubi/succubi are really the only demons considering to be "naturally inclined" to that. (Realistically, most of it is social- in a non-demonic society, a demon's vices would have no bearing on how willing they as an individual would be to have- and either hand over or abandon- children; though it probably also wouldn't be inaccurate to say that demons, generally, do not form very strong attachments with their children or ascribe to the concept of parenthood regardless of the society they're in.) This often puts them in positions where they aren't making many pacts or leading souls their archdemons, which makes them more "expendable" compared to the other demons which are constantly working to earn their archdemon's favor and grow their power. However, this divide also isn't universal, and tends to change as pantheons exist on Sornieth for longer. Many incubi/succubi have far more freedom to act in manners more akin to demons of other vices within their pantheon. (Which is... ironic, maybe, considering that serving an archdemon isn't exactly "freedom" in any form.)

Below these average demons are imps- naturally less powerful demons who usually don't have the magical capabilities to make meaningful pacts, and are usually assigned to directly assist archdemons or notable demons with menial tasks. Sometimes this can include harassing potential targets to get them to finally fold to a pact, but sometimes it isn't much more than average housework and service. In situations where looking after a young demon is just a case of waiting for them to grow up and become useful, imps are generally also the ones to look after them. Half-demons, though not often directly involved with pantheons, would likely rank around imps on average, though the archdemon's opinion on them could make this vary wildly (from high-ranking favoritism to low-ranking hatred).

Below that, you have enlisted fallen angels- a relative rarity, all things considered, but not unheard of. A fallen angel in a pantheon is likely forced to serve via pact, but the actual role they end up playing has no bearing on their ranking. Most only align themselves with pantheons because it led to the circumstances of their falling, or because the treatment is slightly preferable to being treated as a pariah by the angels.

Lesser beasts just entails any non-humanoid, non-intelligent demonic entities that a pantheon keeps for one reason or another. They're generally unseen on Sornieth, as there's not much to be gained by putting them into an animal body that couldn't be achieved by just using the animal as-is, but occasionally they'll scutter around and cause chaos in their true forms. Despite a large number being purely wildlife in their home realm, they're the same species (whatever that means for a spiritual being) as all other demons, and most originate from demons falling victim to curses, pacts, or other strange circumstances that led to them having monstrous children, or becoming monsters themselves, which then ran amok and interacted with other accursed offspring to eventually create lesser beasts with no known lineages. While a few are still born from those aforementioned curses and such, the vast majority are just monsters, descended from monsters, descended from monsters, etc.

[reallypheelingit]

i’ve been slacking on putting my characters into halloween costumes haha so here is Molly Dire Vulture dressed as a Mandibuzz! It seemed like a natural pick for them c: 

[antiqueanimals]

The Evolution of the Mammals. Written by L. B. Halstead. Illustration by Sergio. 1978.

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