The word demon is not spoken much outside of Eyom. All cultures know of the denizens of the lower planes, but only as ancient stories. Whispers distorted by the ages. Their history is as shattered as the lower planes themselves.
All fiendish activity was based in the collection of mortal souls with the ultimate goal of trading them to the Lords, who would consume them as nourishment. The Lords of Hell were once of such power that enslaving the entity of the lower planes to their will, converting them from their original forms into a ranch fueled by slave labor, was trivial.
The Hells functions as a great conveyor. All value came from how many souls one brought their superiors. Souls were currency. Souls were literal and metaphorical power. The uncountable denizens of the lower planes' immortal lives revolved entirely around securing, transporting, and storing souls. There was nothing else in their lives save for punishment for failure to meet quotas.
Then the god Irus was born and began his war against the gods. The lower planes were destroyed during the Third Battle of Gehenna (Believed to have been in the early stages of the Irisian War), displacing the surviving demons and devils to the material plane.
Desperate and enraged by the loss of their food supply, the Lords of Hell accepted a deal from Irus. Join him as his generals and have their need for souls filled with divine energy. A simple and effective arrangement they accepted, and which placed them under Irus's total control, as his whims could now strip them of their nourishment, and without the hells to return to, they would starve.
The lesser fiends were left to fend for themselves. Some joined their Lords as soldiers of Irus. Most underwent a metamorphosis into the demi-mortal Oni. The Succubi did not.
The Lords of Hell had altered every one of their denizens to suit their purpose for that planar being on their soul ranch. The Succubi had been their agents of sexual corruption. Agents who gathered mortal souls through overindulgence of pleasure in the form of dark impulses and thinning the meaning and love found within all forms of physical pleasure. They did not need to be corrupted much at all to transform them into those agents.
Once free of the Hells, the Succubi sacrificed half of their power and half of their numbers to revert to their original forms, spirits of love. Specifically, spirits of love tasked with guiding mortals toward their hearts' desires as they came of age.
Of course, given the chaos of the Irisian War, their ritualistic suicide/rebirth didn't quite work as intended. The Succubi were able to revert (mostly), but became Demi-Mortals, bound forever to the prime material plane. They took in their new forms, which required food, shelter, and socialization to survive, and, according to legend, were totally cool with it.
Succubi can be found all across Eyom in small pockets. Their mission in life is simple:
- Serve the public's sensual needs.
- Protect the innocent.
- Ensure children are raised in loving homes.
Remarkably, Succubi are seemingly absent from Goblin lands. The general opinion among Succubi is "Why would we help them? They're doing great." The two groups get along well on the scale of individuals.
Personality
Succubi are best described as late teens who are oddly wise beyond their years in terms of how social arrangements affect the world and feel a need to make things better. At least, what they believe to be better. This is due to their very nature and is beyond their control.
Their help takes the form of creating many false lives through the use of their shape shifting and illusory powers. Succubi do not live more than one life at a time, but rather let one identity age to death and then take up a new identity, as a child, elsewhere in the world. They take homes in orphanages and among the childless, all so they can grow up alongside children, acting as their protectors from the shadows.
As the children begin to transition into adulthood, the Succubi are there; covertly guiding them away from toxic relationships and generally ensuring the teenagers of their communities come into a healthy understanding of themselves. Notably, this is achieved without the use of sex. It's performed using examples, persuasion via their supernatural charisma, and the occasional vanishing of exceptionally horrid bullies.
Once these people reach their late teens, the Succubi will shift to phase two of their current life's cycle. A Succubus will be intimately aware of the social web of a community's youth, having been a part of it for its entire existence. Thus they will know who among a given mortal population is the loneliest, least popular person with a kind disposition. The Succubi will become their partner, using every last ounce of their natural abilities, immortal lifetime's experience, and knowledge of that person to...
Be their loving spouse for the rest of their lives.
It turns out Succubi want nothing more than a little house, some children, and a partner or two. So they use their innate instincts and ancient no-longer-existent role as the spirits they were to find good people who deserve a loving partner but would otherwise not receive one, and then ensure that person's life is wonderful as can be.
It's their whole thing.
Many people despise Succubi for this, seeing them as predatory. Studies of their activities while unobserved have shown no grooming or predatory behavior. Indeed, communities with Succubi see a sharp downtick in such things with a related uptick in missing person cases. But one cannot deny that they appear to see their payment for their services as being a relationship with someone they "grew up" with.
If it's any consolation, the succubi's long years seem to do nothing to change their behavior, disposition, and personalities. They are basically just immortal 19-year-olds who feel a need to be everyone's big sister, and inevitably wind up falling for the shy boy/girl in the back of the class during senior year. This is often a problem for them later in one of their lives eras as their love will age and mature, but they will not. They remain peppy, youthful, and retain their general maturity indefensibly. Given succubi die from physical trauma, it's believed their immortality is based on being pinned to the present. They simply do not age or change. At least, not at a rate mortals can observe.
Aside from these traits, Succubi are incredibly individualistic and cannot be easily described. Their preferences are built up across countless lifetimes, and through out different eras.
Physical Description
Succubi are shapeshifters. Their physical forms are entirely morphable, and they can assume any humanoid form they please. Most of them choose to appear as ordinary human females all of whom share such a strong familial resemblance that most people who stumble upon succubi-dominated communities wonder just how many children a human mother can have at once.
Of course, once a Succubus falls for someone, they inevitably begin subtly tailoring their appearance to be their crush's idea of beauty incarnate. No matter what that may entail. Middle-aged people in Eyom tend to ignore reports of 'strange thing in insert odd place for a teenager to be here' due to how often 'puddles of mutagenic ooze' are used by Succubi to explain to a crush how they grew a foot taller and have blue eyes now.
Essentially, every single adult in a community knows if someone is a success sometime around their current identity's 19th birthday.
As Demi-Mortals, Succubi have a discernable anatomy, though it is magical in nature. While they are reproductively compatible with other species, their offspring (be they father or mother) is always a member of the other parent's species. The most notable aspect of their biology is their blood, which is a painfully bright and pure pink color that glows in the dark.
(Scholar's Note: Succubi claim to be fed in part by true love from their partners. If true, this may explain the alchemical properties of Succubi blood. Market Note: Succubi blood can be sourced ethically from certain... strange succubi with particular proclivities. Not all potions made using it are immoral goods.)
While immortal, Succubi can be killed via physical force. They often wear the scars of lifetimes across their bodies. These cannot be removed through their shapeshifting (Though a missing body part can be regenerated, it will be uniformly scar tissue). All Succubi use illusion magic to hide their scars. Except for their tomboys, who think they look cool. And will regale you with the story of each scar, assuming you know of their immortal existence. This can take days.
At least in the current era, Succubi seem to have come to some sort of universal agreement that the fashionable outfit consists of a long knit cardigan tunic, knee boots, and a hairband which has at least two horns attached to it. No one is quite sure why this trend has emerged. Or where they are acquiring their clothing, all of which appears to be made by the same factory and appears giftwrapped and addressed to the succubi's current identity. A known Succubus was asked about it and replied the style was "in vogue this century" and they had acquired them at a boutique called "Wafe". (Scholar's Note: Wafe rather unhelpfully translates as "soup".) The shop is believed to be extraplanar in origin.
Relations
Succubi have a very complex relationship with every other group on Eyom. Many hate them for their spirit-driven activities, seeing them as predatory. Many see them as protectors. Others see them as dangerous shapechanging menaces who are shaping the youth's minds for reasons unknown.
Goblins see them as fun friends who will get all of their innuendos. Iron Elves somehow just know who is a Succubus, and typically ask them to stop hiding and just be themselves. This has functionally driven all Succubi out of Iron Elvish lands. They appear to need to live out their many identities.
Succubi don't seem to care about the politics behind their existence. As far as Demi-Humans go, they seem closer to spirits than mortals in their behavior. They have freedom but are restricted in many ways through what genuinely seems to be no fault of their own.
This view of the Succubi is also quite common among Eyom's residents. Many communities pity them, and will play into their cycle of lives. Others seek to drive them out.
There is allegedly a living map deep in the heart of a hidden Succubus dominated city, which shows how safe and welcome they are in any community in Eyom. This map is allegedly used in their ongoing quest to transform the world, abolishing traditional gender rolls, making personal identity paramount to societies, and bring an end to the "Era of Crowns".
The existence of this map and city are impossible to verify, and all known Succubi laughed at the idea, lamented such a thing doesn't exist, and asked who was sharing the conspiracy theory. Which is exactly what they would do if they had such a thing.
Settlements
There are no known Succubi-built settlements. There are many of them living in large communities here and there in Eyom, but they appear to prefer living in mortal-made homes and will simply go elsewhere for their next life to "Change the scenery". We imagine that a Succubi-built community would be remodeled frequently and randomly.
Alignment
Succubi do not like rules, traditions, and anything else which imposes one person's will on another. It is something they simply cannot abide. This is an inherent part of their time as demons, and cannot be removed, suppressed, or altered. They will oppose "People of Order" as they call them. They cannot do otherwise.
Fortunately for everyone, Succubi have a strong sense of community and tend to see groups and factions as giant families. They will do their best to ensure their family prospers, and while Succubi do love to move around as they change lives, they will always come back to see the fruits of their labors, as well as any grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Interestingly, Succubi are able to sense mortals they are related too, and will treat them as one would expect of a blood relative, no questions asked.
Adventurers
Succubi do not often take up the life of an adventurer. Of course, sometimes, this is necessary to win the heart of their crush. In those cases they take to the adventuring life with gusto, seeking out anything which could give them fame and fortune, particularly in their home region. Many adventuring guilds see Succubi as extremely valuable assets, given their time as demons, Succubi are no strangers to violence unimaginable to mortal kind. To say nothing of the fact that each one is a veteran of the Irisan War.