A woman and her dæmon (Art by crab milk)
Dæmons, or daimons, are the external physical manifestation of a human's "inner-self" that takes the form of an animal. They are similar to Familiars albeit the latter is exclusive to humans with an "Awakening" (resulting in a witch or a mage) while Dæmons belong to regular humans but ones that carry an Antediluvian gene.
Description[]
Dæmons have human intelligence, are capable of human speech—regardless of the form they take—and usually behave as though they are independent of their humans. Prepubescent children's dæmons can change form voluntarily, almost instantaneously, to become any creature, real or imaginary. During their adolescence a person's dæmon undergoes "settling", an event in which that person's dæmon permanently and involuntarily assumes the form of the animal which the person most resembles in character. Dæmons are usually of the opposite sex to their human, though same-sex dæmons do exist.
Although dæmons mimic the appearance and behaviour of the animals they resemble perfectly, dæmons are not true animals, and humans, other dæmons, and true animals are able to distinguish them on sight. The faculty or quality that makes this possible is not explained in the books, but it is demonstrated extensively, and is reliable enough to allow humans to distinguish a bird-shaped dæmon within a flock of birds in flight.
Overview[]
The concept of a dæmon has existed for thousands of years, stretching all the way back to Mycenaean Greece and even Hyperborean age. They can be found in the belief systems of several cultures, such as Fylgja from Norse mythology, Nahuals and Tonals from Aztec mythology, aku-aku from Easter Island, and familiar spirits from early modern English witchcraft. Elsewhere, a parallel can be seen in the Jungian concept of the anima and animus. However, the most famous dæmon holder was Socrates, who claimed that he could see and talk to his.
Dæmons first manifested during the Golden Age of Hyperborea. Because of their unique antediluvian physiology and roots in divinity, the Hyperboreans were able to channel the "fire" of which they were used to be made from through their soul which then results in the formation of a dæmon. The purpose of this was unknown though it was likely as a way for the Hyperboreans to explain to their descendants that they are tied to divine nature while proclaiming that such a skill cements them as the rightful rulers of the Earth instead of those "born from dark appendages".
According to Hesiod, the people of the Golden Age (the Hyperboreans) were transformed into their dæmons after death, to serve mortals benevolently as their guardian spirits; "good beings who dispense riches…[nevertheless], they remain invisible, known only by their acts". This relates to the belief that when an individual dies their spirit takes the form of an animal to keep watch over their loved ones, a belief that is held even to this day. One tradition of Greek thought, which found agreement in the mind of Plato, was of a dæmong which existed within a person from their birth, and that each individual was obtained by a singular daimon prior to their birth by way of lot.