Miasma

Miasma refers to the pervasive, corrupting, demonic energies that seep into Gaia from the demonic realm, and which are emitted from fully matured, healthy demonic creatures. Its presence creates Shadowlands and helps foster new Demonkin and Chimerans, as well as strengthens existing demonic traits and abilities. Animals with weak auras are vulnerable to its corrupting influence, potentially undergoing demonic transformations that develop unnatural abilities and significantly raise their hostility.

What most Fairkin perceive as a singular corrupting energy, Demons understand as complex, multi-faceted energy sources with numerous specializations and applications.

Carnal Miasma

Carnal Miasma is the demonic essence of biological transformation. It is the most invasive and adaptive class of Miasma, rapidly expanding through living matter to extract power and evolve. It powers the extreme evolutionary capabilities of demons, facilitates healing and regeneration, and is attracted to and strengthened by predation and dominance. In its flow state, it appears as a caustic, smoking essence.

Carnal Miasma can be calcified rapidly, but enacts a heavy physical toll that quickly leaves the Calcifier weakened and fatigued. Its calcified state is limited to simple solid forms, creating an obsidian-like mineral that tends to produce rough and jagged edges. Calcifiers direct the growth through physical contact, and need to replenish their own energy reserves in order to continue its use.

Infernal Miasma

Infernal Miasma is the most aggressive and destructive demonic essence, serving as a passive fuel ready to ignite. It violently breaks down physical and magical barriers through rapid or explosive catalysts, capable of being wielded to great effect. It is attracted to anger and hostility, wielded most effectively through rage. In its flow state, it appears as fiery red blood that hisses when it touches pure substances.

Infernal Miasma can be dangerous to calcify, as it is by far the most prone to undesired catalysts. Its calcified state is known as Demonite; a fiery red crystalline material capable of channeling Miasma. It is used for magical batteries and conduits, essential components in all demonic artifacts.

Umbral Miasma

Umbral Miasma is a subtle, seeping, insidious essence that reacts strongly to thought, particularly focused intention. It is especially attracted to and strengthened by ego, trauma, willpower, dark thoughts, compulsion, and addiction. Its nature appears passive and servile, though its corrupting presence can be difficult to release or purge. As the Miasma most capable of nuanced instruction and refinement, it enables psychic and utility-based sorcery.

Umbral Miasma passively obscures light, creating the dimming effect experienced in Shadowlands and areas where it pools. In its flow state, it appears as an oily obsidian iridescence. Most of its calcified forms take an obsidian color.

Umbral Miasma is both the easiest and hardest form to calcify, depending on your requirements. It reacts with great precision to the Calcifier's will and coalesces extremely slowly, allowing the design to achieve considerable nuance in its approach. It is necessary for crafts that require moving parts, fabrics, semi-solids, miniaturization, or complex mechanisms. However, its process is by far the most time consuming and has the highest skill ceiling to master.

Genesis Miasma

Genesis Miasma is the demonic essence of adaptive mutation as it relates to vegetation. It possesses the unique ability to transform, grow, and control plant life; especially those that are physiologically adapted to life in Shadowlands. Among the various forms of Miasma, its transformative properties are notoriously non-corruptive and reversible. Druids consider the effects of Genesis Miasma to be somewhat perplexing and miraculous, as it appears to be capable of fundamentally altering plants with supernatural traits.

In its flow state, Genesis Miasma appears as a dark green, oily liquid, visibly distinct from other Miasma types. Its calcified form can assume a seemingly endless variety of "genesis plants" that are capable of absorbing and utilizing trace quantities of all forms of Miasma in the environment. Some variants can produce "demon fruits," which contain concentrations of one or more types of Miasma.

Demonic Sorcery

Demonic sorcery shapes Miasma through will and emotion rather than disciplined focus. Raw Miasma reacts eagerly to the caster's state, making it far easier to learn than Aetheric sorcery, but harder to control with precision. Most Demonkin cannot wield it; its practitioners are typically Nyzari, Warlocks, and naturally gifted Demonkin such as Creepers. Each class of Miasma supports its own discipline:

• Carnal Sorcery: Reshapes living flesh. Practitioners accelerate healing and regeneration, harden hide, grow natural weapons, and drive mutation in themselves or others. Its most feared expression is tendrils of Carnal Miasma that ensnare and drain their prey.
• Infernal Sorcery: The most destructive discipline, unleashing Infernal Miasma as searing blasts and detonations that break down physical and magical barriers. It is fueled by rage, and is notoriously unstable in careless hands.
• Umbral Sorcery: The psychic and utility discipline. Umbral sorcerers dim light, conceal themselves, influence minds, and bind lesser creatures to their will. Its tendrils are shadowy and subtle, used to grasp, silence, or restrain rather than tear.
• Genesis Sorcery: The art of corrupting and cultivating plant life. Genesis sorcerers grow genesis plants and demonic crops, shape Miasmic biomes, and command corrupted vegetation in battle. Harvesters and Creepers are its most notable practitioners.

Calcification is a separate craft, though many demonic sorcerers practice both.

States of Miasma

There are three primary states of Miasma: Raw, Flow, and Calcified, which can be generally interpreted as gaseous, liquid, and solid. Each type has an essential place in demonic magic.

Raw Miasma is strongly attracted or repelled by specific auras, thoughts, emotions, magic, will, and psychic experiences. This contrasts with Aether, which is very non-reactive until forcibly manipulated. Fairkin can often learn to wield Miasma even if they were unable to master the Aetheric sorceries, as it is much easier to harness. Demons unconsciously react to Miasma, and absorb it in high quantities when they're growing or healing.

In its flow state, as Miasma begins to calcify, it enters a fluid or semi-solid state where its properties can still be adjusted. Master Calcifiers manipulate its traits with extreme precision during this phase. Demonic flesh naturally utilizes this state as part of its development process, and for natural abilities. The iconic "infernal veins" of demons are a form of Infernal Miasma in a flow state.

Calcified Miasma has been transformed into solid materials, ranging from minerals and crystals to metals, taking on characteristics of its original class. It is used in many demonic projects, including their most valued artifacts and structures. The forms of calcified Carnal Miasma used in structures are difficult to damage, and can be repaired through the same calcification techniques used to create it.

If Miasma pools in an area to a saturation point, it will begin to calcify along surfaces. The most notable trait will be calcified Carnal Miasma due to its speed of growth.

Calcification

Calcifying is a demonic conjuration process that extracts Miasma from the environment and calcifies it into desired crafts. Like Sorcery, calcifying requires strong willpower and focused intent to compel Miasma to fit a desired purpose. Creations are "grown" over time into their engineered states, bending to the will of their Calcifier.

Stronger creativity and intuition allow Calcifiers to shape results into more refined and nuanced products, though it can take weeks or months of effort to achieve truly remarkable results. Many Fairkin Warlocks can master Calcification techniques beyond what most Demons are capable of due to heightened intelligence, though it comes with the price of demonic corruption.

Miasmic Materials

Miasmic materials are substances calcified from Miasma or grown within it, used in demonic structures, artifacts, and Miasmatech. Possessing them is forbidden throughout Endros, and Purity Shards readily detect their traces. Prolonged handling risks corruption, so most Fairkin encounter them only through Warlocks, smugglers, or the Archivists who confiscate and study them.

• Carnal Obsidian (Carnal): Jagged, obsidian-like stone that forms the walls of warrens and demonic fortifications. Extremely difficult to damage, and readily repaired by Calcifiers.
• Demonite (Infernal): Fiery red crystal that stores and channels Miasma. The essential battery and conduit of demonic artifacts.
• Shadeglass (Umbral): Dark glass that swallows light and dulls Prana passing through it. Used for demonic windows, lenses, and stealth enchantments.
• Umbral Silk (Umbral): Fine, shadowy fiber calcified thread by thread. Used for demonic garments, mechanisms, and Warlock cloaks, though extremely slow to produce.
• Genesis Soil (Genesis): Miasma-saturated soil in which genesis plants thrive. Ordinary crops planted in it wither or mutate.
• Blightwood (Genesis): Dark, sap-veined wood grown from genesis trees. Resilient and quick-growing, used in demonic construction and Warlock tools.
• Demon Fruit (Genesis): Fruits borne by genesis plants, containing concentrations of Miasma. A coveted delicacy in demonic society.
• Duskfruit (Genesis): Genesis fruits cultivated by Warlocks to suit Fairkin palates. Sweet, intoxicating, and faintly euphoric, they replenish a Warlock's Miasma while deepening their corruption. They are a quiet temptation to those not yet corrupted, and fetch high prices among Warlock clans.

Umbral materials can ease the effort of suppressing the flare of a Warlock with two stakes, but no material can conceal a Warlock with three stakes from Fairies or trained Priests.