Notes on Archdemons.
Theory of "Pitched Battle" posed by Bishop Isiah, Imperial Cycle 6, 33rd year.
Summarized:
There exist two worlds: our world of Light, and another world suffused in Dark. An intelligence exists in the Dark World. This intelligence creates the Archdemons and sends them into our world for the sake of transferring Dooms. Every Doom that enters our world lessens the Doom that suffocates their own, to the end of reversing the fortunes of our respective worlds. Eventually they will dwell in a stolen paradise while we succumb to their misery. The only way to stem the flow of Doom is to find a way to strike back at the Dark world- by finding a way to create Archdemons of our own.
("Curse-Eater" Isiah was later stripped of his title and named Heresiarch. In part due to his authorship of the "Pitched Battle" heresy, and in part for attempting to act upon it. The Divine Order has not yet prevailed in finding a way of carrying out his Death Sentence, and must content itself instead with indefinite imprisonment.)
Detection.
The Imperial Calendar is maintained by the Sibilant Order of the Divine Foresight. Through communion with the petrified God, the Order of Foresight is capable of determining when and where each Archdemon will appear.
Though Archdemons emerge more reliably than clockwork, the order of Foresight makes adjustments to the calendar regarding Leap years and other holidays to prevent laity from accidentally losing track of which day is exactly 100 years from the last emergence. (Of interest: Archdemons observe leap days but not intercalary months.)
Foresight's predictions are accurate within seven miles of the Archdemon's point of emergence. These predictions can be made as early as seven years prior to the emergence, allowing for fortification and evacuation.
The Order observes the Archdemon's form for a period of seven minutes before its emergence; though this has returned false information on several Archdemons, including Plague. An Archdemon's Doom is, by definition, novel, and predicting it through this observation is rarely accurate. Each Archdemon's physical capabilities, however, can be inferred from its form. The Divine Order uses a network of Communication Deodands to relay data from their predictions to the rest of the Divine Order, including the Exorcists awaiting the oncoming Archdemon.
Notable Archdemons.
Archdemons killed before passing their Doom are not given names. Sensory detail is customarily recorded and retained by the Sibilant order of the Divine Memory, which draws from the dreams of survivors and Exorcists.
Archdemon Apollyon; Imperial Cycle Zero.
Form: Eight Legged, Capable of Self Replication, Four Membranous Wings.
Doom: Averted. Within 100 miles of emergence, dead matter no longer provided sustenance. Plants and fungus rapidly adapted to seed in living flesh. Estimated total ecological collapse within five years. Persisted for three minutes after its death.
Note: Killed within fifteen seconds of emergence by Sol Amon. Effects and behaviors extrapolated by the Titan of Foresight. Most catastrophic doom recorded in Imperial history. Outlier?
Nameless Archdemon; Imperial Cycle Four.
Form: Severed Human Head Magnified Twenty Five Times, Pallor, Third Eye Set above Brow.
Doom: Averted. Speech which provoked Qualia response in Soul. Spoke the words "Flense" "Patricide" and "Parasites." Audible for seventy-three mile radius, took effect regardless of language. Qualia persisted for seven months after its death. Those afflicted were capable of mimicking the effect by describing hallucinations.
Note: Only Archdemon capable of speech in Imperial record. Transmission; possible link to Plague?
Nameless Archdemon; Imperial Cycle Nine.
Form: Bird-Like Morphology, Pallor, External Lungs, Non-functional Eyes and Limbs, Two feet long.
Doom: Averted. Any creature consuming their own offspring (within five minutes of live birth or within ten of hatching) within four miles of its point of emergence gained half their offspring's lifespan in addition to their own. All creatures within radius became aware of this fact. Effect faded after four hours of its death- excluding already extended lifespans.
Note: Unusually weak physiology. Killed by a boot to the skull. Predecessor to Plague. Weakest recorded Archdemon followed by the hardest to kill; Possible link between relative strength?
Archdemon Plague; Imperial Cycle Ten.
Form: Segmented Body, Exoskeleton, External Gill-like Structures, Projectile Fluid Expulsion Orifices.
Doom: Propagated. Contagion. See "Dogma Pathologia" for precise detail.
Note: Unusually evasive. Order of Foresight fed Exorcists inaccurate detail; the first engagement used ineffective weaponry and allowed the Archdemon to escape. Archdemon focused almost entirely on its own survival and the propagation of its Doom.


