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| Species | Buer |
| Order | Demon |
| Classification | Living Soul |
| Court | Third |
| Family | Beast |
| Sphere | Darkness |
| Origin | The complete damnation of a Tara'hinian agent |
| Lifespan | Inmortal |
| Habitat | The Hells |
| Food | Souls |
| Description | Buer appear either to be a fanged centaur with bow and arrow or a a lion's head with five goat legs. Form depends on the buer, but they cannot change between them. No distinction is made between forms culturally, however. |
| Procreation | Buer reproduce via violent sexual intercourse with each other. If a buer mates with another kind of demon, the demon of the Third Court will be the same species as the birthing parent. If a buer mates outside of the Third Court, the union will produce a buer regardless of which is the birthing parent. Buer cannot mate with abominations. Mating with mortals is only possible supernaturally, and it creates a nephil. |
| Esoterica | Buer are beings of infernum. They often learn other infernal arts, shadow arts, or arts of msawhat, void, rending, entropy, or arnum. Some also learn aetherial arts, magic, or shebvic arts, though these are rare. Arts of blasphemy or spirits are possible, as well as soul energy. They can use arts of humors, Raesian energy, or viscera only if they use body parts of mortals, as their bodies are made entirely of soul. Emotional resonances are possible but rare. Paradoxical powers are extremely rare. |
| Special Powers | The fangs of a buer cause soul damage as well as bodily damage. Their gaze can instill fear in a mortal or weaker demon. Their hooves in either form burn to the touch, and their arrows in centaurian form pierce bodies and souls at once. Their breath reeks of rotted flesh and causes intense nausea. |
| Court Powers | As members of the Third Court, buers can speak to spiders, see souls at will, and shadowwalk once a year. |
| Demonology | Demonologists can bind a buer using lion's, goat's, or horse's blood in a mystic circle. To summon a buer, a demonologist must create such a circle, then use thirteen distinct sigils and the death of a newborn/hatched animal. The blood from this death must be consumed by midnight or the demonologist will burn to death by hellfire at the stroke of the clock. Once the blood is consumed and midnight has passed, the demonologist must read the words from their personal grimoire for summoning the demon thirteen times before the hour is up. If the demonologist's will is strong enough, a buer will appear. If the circle is unbroken and still wetted, the buer will be bound within it and unable to kill the demonologist. Buers can offer a standard contract for the learning of natural or moral philosophy or logic, for knowledge of all botanica, for healing of maladies and infirmities for males/masculine people, or a bond with a powerful familiar. The standard costs for any of these is either part of a demonologist's soul, an act of malice on behalf of the buer, or an innocent child's life. For special contracts, prices vary by what is sought, but usually require acts of violence, especially murder. To bind a buer to an object or individual, a demonologist must take the buer's breath and capture it in a bottle made of infernal glass (glass infused with infernum via an act of ritual violence). This bottle must then be filled with blood from a lion, goat, or horse, and left open to spoil over night during a new moon. An individual must then drink the blood or an object be washed in it to complete the binding. A forced binding will result in the possession of a mortal by the buer which can only be ended via exorcism or the mortal's death. A willing binding will result in gaining the buer's soulsight (if it is of the Third Court), breath, archery skill, plus botanical knowledge, healing powers, and infernal fangs. If a demonologist seeks to commune with a buer, the resultant possession will be a constant contest of wills. If the demonologist can master the buer, they will gain raw infernal power and control. Similarly, a bound buer in a mystic circle can be siphoned for power (20) with special sigils (or other mystic arts, such as parasitic energy, ethereal energy, yahas, mana, imperium, etc.). A buer can be enslaved by a demonologist only if its Name is known. However, a buer can reverse this control in a direct contest of wills. If a buer wishes to enslave someone, they will resort to learned esoterica. To create a buer or turn another mortal (or beast) into one, a demonologist must have raw infernal might (28) to wield and consume their target with. |
| Sending | A mortal may protect themselves from the powers of a buer by wearing a symbol of an Alabaster or Fulgent Divine, standing at a crossroads at noon and invoking the Name of a protective angel, or wearing feathered serpent feathers. To send a buer back to the Hells from a mortal realm, a mortal can do so through commanding potent heavenly essences or faith, by speaking the name of a messiah or offerant of Fulgent or Alabaster Courts, through bestial or viridian aetherial arts, or by burning dogwood leaves and letting the buer be driven back by the smoke. |
| Weaknesses | To destroy a buer, one must be sure the buer's fangs are removed, or use heavenly essences, qi, bestial aether, solar aether, or very strong positive emotional resonances. |
| Behavior | Buer seek souls to devour. Though they are beasts, they are highly intelligent. They are known for their cunning and their manipulative tactics. A buer will seek to convince a mortal to commit murder before devouring their body and soul, as this provides a mixture of sin and soul energy that they can most easily convert to raw infernum. Buers in the Hells dwell within the realm of the Webweaver's main domain, living as apex predators in the most dangerous environments. Buers live in prides or herds (or a mixture of both) dominated by an alpha buer called a president. The president commands 50 legions, though these do not have a military structure. Instead, they live as very intelligent animals. They stalk the souls of the damned within the Hells or sojourn into other realms to hunt, bringing back meat/souls for the entire group. |
| Culture | The original buer was a former demonslayer named Buer who was corrupted by the Webweaver himself. This Manifest is part of the main Court of the Webweaver, living as a vicious guard animal. Most buers' prides/herds are small, violent units that have little interaction with other demons, except as conflict, unless they are part of a greater force. |
| Hierarchy | Buers live in independent herds/prides led by a president, which commands 50 legions. Each legion is led by a master, who has ten captains and 100 lieutenants. All buers answer to the Webweaver and his Court. |
| Court Culture | Buers serve as guard animals for powerful demons in the Webweaver's Court. They are treated as favored beasts and respected for their cunning and independence, even by other demons. |
| Other Courts | Buers sometimes defect to the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, Eleventh, Twelfth, or Thirteenth Courts. In these Courts, they are given low-noble rank if they are strong enough as a reward for defection, and each gives them a new set of Court powers, though these vary individually based on their learned esoterica. |
| Mortal Interactions | Most mortals know nothing of buers, but those that do view them as fearful demons or beasts. In some areas like eastern Mati, buers sometimes stalk at night and prey on mortals, and in these areas, mortals know to carry dogwood leaves with them to wrap around the end of their torch and try to stave off the beasts. In academic circles, buers are seen as sources of knowledge, though dangerous ones. Demonologists favor buers for knowledge and healing powers, empowering arrows or bows, familiars, or raw infernal power. |
| Notables | Buer ibn Tara'hin, Buer Manifest, Leonine Guard of the Webweaver; Sagitangraus, Demonobotaner; Maun'Hikaarogt, Beast of the Fell Dunes in Eastern Mati |
| Special Classes | Botaner, Guard Beast, Healer, Scholar, Archer, Logician, Philosopher, President, Captain, Lieutenant, Hunter |
| Sample statistics | PRO 18 ATH 18 STR 18 Fangs +6/+6 Hooves +6/+4 AWA 18 WIL 18 ROG 18 Breath 20 Fang/Hoof Infernal Heat 20 Archery 20 Arrow Infernal Heat 20 Contracts 19 |
GrandGuignol
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