4
$\begingroup$

There exists a parallel universe next to ours called the warp, in which inhabit creatures called angels or daemons. These creatures don't exist as physical entities, but abstract manifestations based on human emotions. Fear, hate, anger, joy, love, etc, are all represented by these creatures, and are the embodiment of these human emotions. Whenever a daemon or angel crosses into our world through gaps in our reality, they take on physical forms that are somehow linked to these emotions as well as the myths that surround them. These forms are meant to cause the highest amount of anxiety based on that feeling in humans. A daemon based on power and rage may take the form of a dragon, et cetera.

These entities can't die permanently, and instead fade into nothing after sustaining heavy damage, there essence fading back into the warp. However, daemons can be captured and held prisoner for long-term use. Scientologists are the ones which study these entities to find out how they work and how best to defeat them. One curious discovery that was made is that these entities have a functioning biological structure. organs, blood, bones, and everything else that goes with a internal structure can be found.

These creatures are meant to be manifestations of our deppest emotions, so it would make sense that their physical forms would be ones that cause those deepest reactions in us. What doesn't make sense is that they would have any internal biology at all. They have no real need for it, since they dont depend on it to survive. They can sustain heavy damage and simply reform themselves multiple times due to their warp energies, so there seems to be no logical reasoning behind having an internal structure modeled off of biological life.

What would be the reason for this?

$\endgroup$
4
  • 4
    $\begingroup$ Did you really mean to say "Scientologists"? $\endgroup$ Commented Dec 26, 2019 at 16:55
  • $\begingroup$ "they take on physical forms that are somehow linked to these emotions as well as the myths that surround them" I think you have your answer here. Angels and daemons belong to spiritual world, but their physical manifestation are based on real world. $\endgroup$
    – Alexander
    Commented Dec 26, 2019 at 17:23
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ @Tim Pederick This will be a movie, and Tom Cruise will be in the lead. $\endgroup$
    – Alexander
    Commented Dec 26, 2019 at 17:24
  • $\begingroup$ Shadesmar, is that you? $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 12, 2022 at 23:42

4 Answers 4

4
$\begingroup$

They're not abstract concepts. Because they are called up by human emotions, they are invariably filtered through a human perception of the world. The little assumptions that we think must hold true for monsters do hold true, because it's the collective (or possibly singular) belief and emotion of a human that makes it happen. What we see in the "real world" isn't the daemon itself, but a sort of interdimensional photocopy that's connected to the perceptions of the human who called it forth; this is also why they don't die when you kill the vessel, because the daemon proper still exists in the warp.

If you went and encountered a daemon on its home turf, it would likely be far stronger and more inconceivable because now you're viewing its true form, not a human-filtered projection. (This also neatly explains why humans can fight off daemonic incursions, but can't simply go and kill all the daemons like we do with most dangerous predators.)

$\endgroup$
3
$\begingroup$

You come to my house, you play by my rules

Our world is one of causal relationships. A person doesn't (usually) start bleeding out of their chest for no cause, you will have to stab a dragon claw through it first. If your entities can bypass these sorts of rules then they truly wouldn't need a form at all, they could just wink people in and out of existence at will without any prior effort.

However, it starts to raise further questions, like what was the cause of the claw moving? Where did the kinetic energy come from?

If you follow these sorts of questions far enough you will find that there needs to be a heart to pump blood to the muscle to move the claw.

The only moment causality gets broken is when the dragon appears out of nothing and continues to exist. You have resolved this a little bit by linking emotional states to the appearance and form of these creatures.

Some handwavium can explain that this emotional energy can be utilized to create matter "from the aether" but it's form is limited only to well practiced legend, which is why it cannot be utilized to suddenly kill a person without cause and why it can't take the form of a nuclear bomb.

Additionally, when the aether link to the matter is broken, like by slaying the dragon, the matter/energy returns back to the aetherial plane and disappears from ours.

$\endgroup$
1
$\begingroup$

These creatures are manifestations of emotions right. The mixture of emotions and biology has been a thing in past scientific and philosophic theory. You're probably familiar with the 4 temperaments which use the 4 fundamental humors

Sanguine - associated with joy, intrinsically tied to an individuals blood

Choleric - associated with ambition and temper, tied to Yellow Bile

Melancholy - associated with depression, tied to black bile

Phlegmatic - apathy and stoicism, tied to phlegm

Perhaps these creatures, being reflections of emotions have organs that produce effects representative of the temperaments they reflect. For example, a demon of joy could have an overly large heart with veins pulsing. You of course don't have to follow the traditional humors and are free to add your own.

$\endgroup$
0
$\begingroup$

Using warp-energy for everything is inefficient

It takes a certain amount of energy to move around and do things. Certainly it might be possible to draw all sorts of power from the warp, but there's a cost to that. Maybe they can only draw some amount of power from the warp. Maybe they can only "recharge" when close to one of the gaps they came through. Maybe they've got a set amount of energy available to them from the time they arrive to the time they leave. Regardless of what it is, there is some cost to them doing things on Earth.

That poses a problem if it's difficult to draw power from the warp, especially if they intend to stick around for a while. If only there was a way to get energy to do things (like walk, talk, or swing a sword) without having to tap into another plane? Luckily for them, there is. It's called a body, and bodies use organs to harvest energy already present and widely available on Earth.

Consider a demon that is just a blob of flesh, fully animated by warp energy. It might decide to run a few miles to a battlefield and cast some fireballs. Unfortunately for it, the farther it has to run the more energy it has to use, and if the warp energy that powers its body is the same stuff used to cast a fireball, all that running limits its effectiveness. So if it initially has enough energy for 100 fireballs, it might use up 3 fireballs worth just moving to where it needs to be!

Now consider an angel that can eat and digest food. It is free to use energy from a bag of apples to move itself to a battlefield, and then it can reserve all of its available warp energy for fantastic, otherworldly feats.

$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .