Demon Summoning For Idiots

By Jacob Latris

Demons are wily beasts, and will seek to deal you harm at any turn. Have no fear, however, for with a little common sense and the right magics any wizard can summon a demon. All you need is this simple guide, and even you can summon a demon.

First, let us define that which we seek to summon. The demon is a creature from the plane of Congeria, and is born and forged of chaos. As such, they are gifted with extraordinary magics, and wield their sorceries with an accuracy born of innate talent. But magic is not the only weapon they wield; the demons have another inherent gift. They can shape-shift in Atheus, and this makes them an even trickier adversary. It seems that the more powerful the demon, the more forms it can take and the more skill it can shape-shift. It should be noted that a demon can change into any number of forms, just that the amount it is good at using are limited, and old forms it is comfortable in can be unlearned in favor of a new one.

There are three main classes that a demon can be grouped in. These are the imps, the weakest, the elementals, the moderates, and the afrits, the strongest. We shall examine each in turn.

The imps are simple beasts. They have a variety of uses, and do not pose much of a threat. Some are used in scrying glasses, through use of a spell that shows what the imp sees in a mirror. Others are used as guard-dogs, and patrol wizard's towers. Of course, they are more commonly used by far in the creation of magical items. They only have a small number of forms available to them, with about a dozen being available to them.

The elementals are thematic demons. Each has one of the four elements- earth, air, fire, and water- as their main form and power. A water elemental, for example, usually uses water magics for attacks and typically favors using water for their purpose. This sets them above the imps, as they lack even a single element as their own. If a tentative order of power can be given them, fire is above air which is above water which is above earth, as fire is more chaotic than air, air more than water, and water more than earth. With chaos being their power source, the elements less chaotic provide a demon with lesser powers. However, this is by no means the rule, and some earth elementals can crush fire elementals. Note that just because they have one element, this does not limit them in their magics. A water elemental can still hurl fireballs at their enemies, for example- they simply prefer and are more powerful using a certain element.

The afrits are the strongest for but one reason. They have command over multiple elements. Where each elemental has one main element that they use as their major weapons, the afrits can use 2-4. There are no limits to the combinations. A general way for ordering in power is that the more elements an afrit is good with, the more powerful, though by no means is this the rule. A two element afrit can beat a 4 element one.

Also note that simply because they are ordered in this way, and imps are in general the weakest, does not mean that an imp cannot beat another class of demon. Though it is rare, there are stories about an imp beating a four element afrit through use of a handy boulder and terrain (the afrit had become overconfident). Understanding that these groupings is only tentative and cannot fully capture the entire population of demons will lead to a good grasp of these basics.

Summoning

But how does one actually summon one of these? I cannot give you specifics, only a general procedure. Go to your local library, and especially a wizard-only library. Go to the demonology section, and there should be a list of demon books somewhere, ordered by class. If this is your first summoning, you should pick an imp, as they are the least dangerous. Find the book describing how to summon this demon, and take it with you to wherever you are going to summon this demon.

Almost all demons require a summoning circle and a pentacle to summon them, so you should have a space that you can easily chalk both on the floor. Most circles and pentacles have a standard size, so you can reuse both from summoning to summoning. This standard size is 3 feet in diameter for the summoning circle, and two feet for each side of the central pentagon of the pentacle. The book describing the summoning procedure for your demon should include the specifics if your demon requires a differently sized summoning circle.

Next, follow the directions your book gives you. Candles and incense are common requirements, though the exact pattern depends on the demon. Writing in the High Tongue, as well as a variety of magical runes, is common as well. Of course, certain demons require certain ingredients to call them forth from Congeria, and I have once summoned a demon requiring, instead of chalked lines, dragon blood lines.

There will always be a chant as well. All these things are mere focuses and protection devices to keep you safe from the demon in question. The chant provides the raw magical power to summon the demon in question to Atheus.

The summoning will result in one of two outcomes. The first is that no demon will appear. If this happens, then command the demon to take on a visible form (more on commands below). If you repeat the command thrice, and still no demon is visible, than it should be safe to exit your pentacle, as there should be no demon within the circle. What this means is that some other wizard has all ready summoned the demon you wanted, and thus it is unavailable for summoning.

The second outcome is that the demon does appear. In which case the real work begins. It will use trickery and guile to get you to leave your pentacle. But do not do so: the moment any part of you crosses the inner pentagon of your pentacle all bindings holding the demon are loosed, and it is free to do as it wishes. These wishes do not end well for the wizard in question, for killing the wizard destroys the last thing binding the beast to Atheus.

The demon may try to turn invisible to make you think it was never summoned, as I said above; command it thrice to reveal itself if you don't see it, and it must reveal itself. It may try to terrify you, so you flee the pentacle in fear; but if you did not make a mistake, then it cannot touch you. It may try to seduce you, so you leave the pentacle through lust; keep in mind that under the alluring figure is a beast with claws to cut and tentacles to crush and magics to destroy.

Commanding

Once you have summoned the demon, you need to issue it its commands. Why else would you summon a demon, after all? To command it for the first time requires careful measures; after this docility will come once it realizes your power.

As such, this first command is very important. It will flavor your entire relationship with the demon; if it sees you as weak, then it will constantly try to destroy you; if it sees you as strong, then it may accept its fate and subordinate itself to you.

Thus, you must try to be as casual and aloof as possible, and make it seem like this demon is just some other demon: you summon and command far more powerful beasts than this pitiful wretch!

In this first order, you should begin with the following: te iubeo imperia mei obedire. Chant this thrice, and then you can order the demon in your regular language. When ordering the demon, make sure to voice your command without pause. It may take such hesitations as a full stop, and leave before you can finish commanding it. Make sure that after the chant you clearly say all orders, and do not enunciate the pauses for a comma or a period in the middle of your orders.

Once this is done, you can be less careful with your ordering the demon. Of course, do not make mistakes, but extreme caution is not required. If all goes well, they will discover that you are not a man to be messed with, and realize that there best hope for survival is to follow your commands to the letter. Establish clearly the roles of master and servant, and you will go far.

Punishments

To help establish these roles are the various punishments you can use on your demons. They are all magical in nature, and are meant to be used while both you and the demon are within the pentacle and circle, respectively. Most are magical in nature, with some herbs and metals included because they are painful to the demon if they are exposed to it.

For one thing, iron can hurt it. Though it does not actually pain a demon to touch it, iron can physically cut demons, which in turn causes them pain. Through my own research, I believe that the fact that humanity has 'domesticated' iron to such a degree that iron has become 'ordered' enough for it to deal damage to such creatures of chaos.

A herb that can harm it is oregano. Burning it causes pain to demons nearby, and thus they shun it. The reason for this is not known. Because of this pain, as a safety precaution, have a fire between the demon and yourself, and periodically throw oregano into it. There are also oregano candles, where the herb has been infused with the wick, that one can buy- if the summoning allows it, it does not hurt to use these for your circle. Touching oregano also causes the demon pain.

Another herb that can harm them is henbane. Burning it, as with oregano, causes demons nearby to be slowed and become lethargic. In some cases, it causes them to cease movement all together. Proximity to the source increases the affects. Once again, the reason for this is unknown. I should warn you that henbane causes humans harm as well. Humans inhaling the smoke of burnt henbane experience hallucinogenic effects. Though no long-term damage is done, there are reports of people thinking they can fly and jumping off buildings because of the herb, or, in a case more related to the subject matter, be reduced to a state susceptible to successful demon attack.

A spell worthy of note for its wide variety of resources is the Indefinite Confinement spell, here reduced (as in most texts) to IC. This spell locks a demon into a vessel of some sort perpetually. Some action to the vessel releases the demon, though whatever this action is is unknown until it is done. Typically, the vessel chosen is a closeable container, to make the chance extremely high that releasing the demon is as simple (and preventable) as opening it. The IC spell is extremely useful punishment in it versatility; you can place the demon in some container full of an herb harmful to it and cause it eternal pain, or simply place it in a regular container. Either way, its a useful spell to use to simply imprison it and do something else for awhile. The spell also has some advanced applications, which can be found in more advanced texts.

There are several more metals and herbs that cause a demon pain; however, they tend to either be extremely rare, affect only certain demons, or be otherwise impractical to mention here. Keep to iron, oregano, and henbane, and you will be set.

Another thing of note is fire. It does not affect a demon. As both are things of chaos, neither effects the other. Oregano fires only cause pain to demons because of the oregano, not the fire. Thus, be careful of charlatans who sell fake protective-herb-filled candles. The only protection you will get of them is if you throw it at a demon, and then a rock will serve you better.