"Unsurprising, data collection requires investigations, and as you can imagine sending someone to The Demon Realm to have a look around and take notes isn't high on any ones 'to-do' list. So the data collected is likely just from encounters with what ever demons crossed over. Some groups, Iscariot for one, probably have more data, but I doubt much more."
Jarrah was slightly disheartened to learn that information was so scarce, but at the same time he was glad that he had decided to find Seth before he dug through the books under his arm.
"Huh ... I actually have some free time for once, how odd, so, what would you like to know?"
That...was a good question. Jarrah had a few thoughts and ideas but, just as he knew next to nothing about Demons, he didn't know a whole lot about just what to ask about them.
"You mentioned a group called Iscariot? Who are they?"
"The Iscariot, in the simplest terms, is the secret military arm of the Vatican. Literal 'warriors of god' if you will. I'll spare you the tales I could tell of how hypocritical they can be, and often are. They can also be extremely hostile toward non-humans because of they're faith, though there are more 'progressive minds' in the ranks as well. Still, you should never just 'trust' The Iscariot completely, even if you run into some of the more 'progressive' minded ones that don't see all non humans as something to be purged." Seth explained. "Though being that you are not a demon, I suppose you might not have the, shall we say, 'abrasive encounters' I have."
Jarrah nodded understandingly. While the fact that the Vatican had a secret military arm was a surprise, their stance towards non-humans and demons in particular had been touched upon in his Humanities studies.
"So how common is it for Demons to cross over into this world?" Jarrah asked.
"Fairly often actually." Seth started, "You have the ones crossing over on orders. Say, there's something the humans came up with one of the Demon Lords, or Greater Demon Lords have an interest in. They'll send some one over to ether spy on them/it, sabotage/kill them, or help it along/protect them." Seth explained. "You also have the ones that come over because they would like to not have to worry about being conscripted into on of the Greater Lords Armies, or just 'be some where safer' in general. Believe it or not there are quite a few demon tribes that are naturally more 'human' in terms of mind set, wants, and needs."
'That would explain the thickness of these books if demon incursions are so common.'
"You said that there are demon tribes. Are they based on species or social factors? Or both?"
"It's just another word for species anymore. Demons haven't lived in tribes for thousands of years."
"And how many species of demon are there? A lot, I'm guessing."
"Depends on what you count as a 'Demon'. If your defining every thing from the Demon Realm as such, then there are literally quadrillions, maybe even more then that, If your only counting demons that are 'sentient' like my self or Juliet, then that number comes down to, a few million at most I'd wager." Seth said, still leaned back in his seat. "It's only recently that any one has even though to take a proper head count of who and what is actually out there, so if you want an accurate number, sorry, one doesn't exist yet."
"What are some of the more common, or at least, known ones then? I've heard of Succubi, and Viktor mentioned something about Abyssal Demons, but, I dunno, what can we expect to run into?"
"Abyssals are rare even in the Demon realm. The one Viktor was talking about was an anomaly, as they tend to stay in the small space of the Demon Realm they live in." Seth explained "As for what you can expect. Since we have the possible Demon Lord involved, the species is less important, and more the training they've under gone should be come the chief concern. The Demon Realm has trained, military forces, most of these troops are under the command of the Demon Lords and Greater Demon Lords, how ever Demon Mercenaries are also common."
"The species would dictate the training to a degree though, wouldn't it? Are there demons that have wings and are used attack from the air? And the big DOOM reject that we fought in the karaoke bar. He had a cannon and a bunch of mechanical stuff, are they the equivalent of tanks or something?"
"Naturally, does Juliet not have wings? But there are also ways to grant wings or flight outside of what they where born with." Seth thought for a moment. "I've heard about experiments like what your talking about, I've not heard of them being used by the Greater Lords though, well, not the Greater Lords of the West and South, probably on the side of the '72', though or whats left of them anyway." Seth pulled out a card with a hologram of a few types of larger demons, that one could assume started at one or two stories tall and went up from there, if the smaller, presumably human sized demon was any indication. "This is the type of demon they use as 'tanks', typically big and stupid, but with the physical strength to compensate, though some of the older ones can be very intelligent and well spoken."
As Jarrah looked at the hologram, he was incredibly glad that the creature he'd fought at the karaoke bar had been the size that it was. If it had been that size... the fight would of been over a lot quicker.
"What's the '72'? If they use those experiments would that mean they're the ones behind the attack, and the cultists at the temple?"
"The '72' is the short hand for the 72 noble houses that used to run the Demon Realm. Them, you should have information on, as on Earth they are known as 'The 72 Demons of Solomon'. Up until Ansoth and the Sisters rebellions they controlled all of the Demon Realm. Now though, less then half of those familys remain intact, and those that are have ether sworn loyalty to ether Asoth or the Queens, or hold territory in the Eastern and Northern in a not so subtle effort to build back up enough power to kill the Queens and Anosth. " Seth continued. "It's hard to say if they had anything to do with it or not though, hopefully Riviera will be in a mood to talk and not buried in some book, and well be able to get a list of suspects. I doubt it's one of the remaining 72 though, not cause it's not something they wouldn't do, more like it's not something they're in a position to do, a sympathizer if you will."
Riviera. The name sounded familiar, and Jarrah racked his brain to remember who they were, before remembering the previous questions and answers session with Seth, the morning of the debriefing.
"Wait, Riviera? You have a direct line to one of the demon Queens?"
Seth smirked. "I am well connected my boy." The smirked faded back to the neutral expression he had before. "I have already sent some one to set up a meeting with her, just waiting on word from the agent I sent."
"Huh..." Jarrah was impressed. Though he didn't know for sure, he assumed that it would be no easier for an average demon to contact one of their rulers then it would be for a human. Though, he supposed, it was obvious Seth wasn't an 'average' demon.
"So, what's the Demon Realm like in general? It's not all fire and brimstone, right?" Jarrah asked, with a slight grin.
Seth snickered "Not even in the North, were there is a lot of volcanic activity." Seth paused a moment before continuing. "The best way I can think to describe it is, 'like Earth, but many times bigger, and infinitely more ambient aether in the air.' It's not Hell, which, assuming places like Heave or Hell even exist, are defined and portrayed as a plain of existence where only spirits can go, the Demon Realm, and I assume the same of the Angelic Realm, is a physical plain." Seth said as he tapped the card on the table, the image switching to a flat map of the earth. "As for how much bigger, here's Russia," Seth highlighting the country as he spoke, "This is the Demon Realm, as for earth." Seth then highlighted the main island of the UK. "Not 100% accurate mind you, but close enough."
"Don't let Viktor hear you compare the Demon Realm and Russia." Jarrah warned, jokingly, before continuing with his questions.
"If the Demon Realm is so big though, how are there only four kingdoms? Earth has hundreds of countries and states, and it's tiny." Jarrah said, pointing to the image of the Earth for emphasis.
Seth simply shrugged "Viktor would likely write all of this off as Bullshit as well, as for why only four kingdoms, for the South and West, different ideologies is the reason for the borders." Seth thought a moment. "Or maybe experiment, would be a better word since the Queens and Ansoth pay much more attention to the happenings in their borders then prior Demon Lords. As for the North and East, it's simply a case of them being territorial, and really calling the East and North 'kingdoms' is a formality, it's more like a bunch of smaller states that tolerate eachother to keep from being taken over, but there's not capital like the West and South have, as for the West and South, those are broken up into different territories, like Canada, US, Mexico and several other countries, with a Demon Lord over seeing each."
"So the West and South are called kingdoms but are functionally similar to empires. I get it." Jarrah said, nodding. "What exactly unites four respective kingdoms?"
"Treaties mostly. The West and South though are actually sincere about upholding the agreement, while the North and West only maintain them as long as said treaty remains beneficial."
"No, I mean..." Jarrah started, shaking his head as he though of how to reiterate his question, "What keeps the individual kingdoms themselves together, or, I guess on the same note, what are the ideologies that divide them?"
"The North and East, that varies from Lord to Lord, but for the most part they are motivated by a short sighted self-centeredness, that ironically, lead them into the positions they're in now." Seth said with a snicker "The West and South how ever, the only thing that truly separates them, and why I'm inclined to believe that Anosth and the Queens are running some kind of social experiment, is the stance they have on the use of Aether."
Seth pulled out another couple cards and set them down, each displaying sweeping shots of two very different cities. "Ansoth, uses it to advance the technological level of his Kingdom, and is building what he calls a 'Magitec Empire'." Seth said motioning to the card with the shot of a fairly normal looking city, if it wasn't for the demons walking around and a few odd looking machines, it could just as easily been an modern city. "The Queens, on the other hand..." Seth then motioning to the other city, that while clearly using modern architecture, also had a large number of crystals about , and generally looked like it had been ripped from some fantasy book. "The Queens promote the research and understanding of how Aether effects demon kind, and through that knowledge grow stronger." Seth explained. "It's technology verses magic basically, but it's how there is very little friction between these two that has me thinking there's more going on then ether let on."
"But what defines the North and East Kingdoms? From what you've said it sounds like neither of them like the South and West very much, so why don't they join together?"
"The inability to keep an alliance going long enough to get anywhere-" Seth started as his phones text alert went off . "Huh, Sierra is awake already." He said as he got a second text, this one a report from the person he'd set to set up a meeting with Riviera. "Figures..." he grumbled and set the phone down. "The North and East are generally to busy trying to screw each other over to get the power and resources they need to launch an effective counter attack, and they still think that's the best way to go about it even though the South and the West have, and continue to prove them wrong. It's only a matter of time before they fall, and are relegated to the history books."
"Anyway, Sierra is awake, so I need to go see what, if anything she knows about her attackers, and her general status."
"Oh, that's good to hear that she's awake." Jarrah said. "I guess I'll get out of your hair then."
Jarrah rose from his seat and, after a moment of consideration, held his hand out to Seth. "Cheers. I really appreciate you taking some time out to explain all this to me."
