Demon Creation:

Ayuthiel’s Crucible and the Merchants of Flesh

There are three ways demons can come into existence. #1 and #3 are fundamentally similar, but different enough I’m counting them as two different methods.

1. Massive amounts of Evil elementrons spontaneously creating them

2. Reproduction through the ‘usual’ means

3. Rebirth through Ayuthiel’s Crucible

Method 1: The first six demons to be created were Ayuthiel, Coelacanth, Bwendelyn, Deep Sea, Hollow Void, and Jumijo. These six were created in the year -666 (sue me, I wanted to use 666. The negative sign means it happened before the Gods apotheosized. So there were no Gods to stop this event from happening) during an event known as the Mirth Massacre, where an army of Takyufon (one of the 88 sapient species of my world) slaughtered everyone in the city of Mirth. Among the population was the Pixie of Evil. I’ll have to do a whole other worldbuilding topic on the pixies one day, but suffice to say for now, they are emotionless, soulless homunculi who can learn, walk, and talk as needed, but do not feel emotions. There are sixteen of them in any given timeline, one for each element, and they each carry part of the elemental core and have magic-rich blood. They cannot use their own magic, however, due to having no “will” of their own. When a pixie is injured, their spilled elemental blood may spontaneously perform magic unless that element has God to stop it.

So when the Pixie of Evil was slaughtered (well, hacked into several pieces, but not killed because pixies are immortal, so her body eventually came back together) her blood was spilled everywhere. Some of her parts were taken to a bonfire, some were tossed into the ocean, some were left on the corpses of the other slaughtered people.

The pieces that were put into the bonfire created Jumijo and Hollow Void. The pieces that were placed with the deceased created Ayuthiel and Bwendelyn. The pieces that were thrown into the ocean created Deep Sea and Coelacanth.

When demons are created, the Evil element will bestow upon them various powers, sometimes great and sometimes not so impressive. Ayuthiel, Bwendelyn, and Coelacanth became aware of their existence right away and knew they were something ‘else’ to what they’d previously been. Ayuthiel and Bwendelyn actually had memories of some of their previous lives (the bodies who’d just been killed) whereas Coelacanth recalled being many fish in the sea.

Ayuthiel in particular was created with the ability to create more demons. A Crucible grew on his back and he instinctively knew how to use it. He cut it off his back so he could see what he was doing. Another one sprouted from his back within the month. Whenever a Crucible is destroyed, he cuts off the one on his back and grows a new one. By the time Year 561 rolls around (the year the Merchants novels take place), Ayuthiel had gone through dozens of Crucibles.

Method 2: Literally reproduction, either sexually or asexually, or whatever means the demon’s body allows. Not all demons can reproduce. Demons who have a Crucible-born parent are called second-generation demons. 

Method 3: Ayuthiel’s Crucible is a massive container, large enough to fit whole houses, full-grown trees, and animals such as elephants, dinosaurs, whales, and coatls. If you put something into the Crucible with a drop of the Pixie of Evil’s blood, put on the lid, then put it on a fire. What comes out is entirely random. Demon creation is an art, not a science. You could put the same materials into the Crucible a million times and get a million different demons that all vaguely have something to do with the original ingredients. Most demons created this way are weak and “unintelligent” (as in, they have no memories or knowledge, though they can learn and become intelligent). Once in a while, powerful demons might be created purely by chance. In order to increase the odds of a demon being created intelligent, however, you need bodies, particularly of people.

The merchants of flesh come in two varieties, though any given merchant will usually perform both services. Some are slave traders who sell men and nonwomen people to Ophidians. Some are non-demon people who steal recently-deceased bodies and sell them to Ayuthiel. In the case of the latter, the merchants have to work quickly, before a shinigami can sawdust the body. The stealing/selling of corpses is blasphemous to Sawyer, the God of Death, so he allows shinigami to kill the merchant if caught in the act.

A single drop of the Pixie of Evil’s blood is enough to activate the Crucible and create however many demons it chooses to make. Again, it’s an art, not a science. One activation could make a thousand small demons or one large demon.

A little extra context regarding the Pixie of Evil: Remember when I said pixies were soulless, emotionless homunculi? Well, that’s only true until they are ‘broken’, which is what happened to this one during the Mirth Massacre. She now has emotions, feels pain, and is tortured for her blood.

So what do Demon Lords think about Crucible-born demons and the merchants of flesh? Each Lord has their own opinion. Some do not want Crucible-born demons beneath them in the Hierarchy because they are usually more powerful than second-gen demons and pose a threat to their power. Some want intelligent demons created from dead bodies specifically because they want sapient, civilized people to populate their realms (not all demons become sapient. These are often called ‘ferals’ because they may viciously attack anything or anyone they perceive as a threat. Technically, Lord Chaos is only slightly above being a feral.) Some are morally opposed to the torture of the Pixie of Evil and won’t accept Crucible-born demons unless King Susan enforces their placement in the Hierarchy.

Most Demon Lords seek the Pixie out for her blood and torture her, but some exceptions:

The Lords in the Circle of Friends (Williford, Selfishness, Vivea, and Valanier) are kind to the Pixie of Evil and will take her blood, with her permission, through normal phlebotomy.

Midnight Cake is the Pixie’s friend and does her best to keep her safe and hidden from the other Demon Lords.

The Trifecta (Deep Sea, Hollow Void, Vinoc) have no interest in what demons are beneath them in the Hierarchy and do not waste any resources collecting her blood. Vinoc actually prefers his realm being populated by second-generation demons, since he dislikes the instability caused by ferals.

Mammon/Avarie actively pays Susan and the merchants of flesh to NOT put Crucible-born demons beneath him because he’s very weak and easy to kill.

Zyx-Nuul-Tior finds the practice abhorrent and has told Susan they will kill any Crucible-born demon placed beneath them in the Hierarchy.

Zuriko and Hira are both missing and have no involvement in Makai’s politics.

Megumi, Leminestra, and Yamagiri have bigger problems on their mind and don’t care what their underlings do in regards to the Pixie.

Barabara just wants to chill and grow roses, though she is the Lord of Torture and used to torture the Pixie personally to get energy from her in addition to her blood. Surryle is in a similar situation where he just wants to chill in his forest and grow trees.