For a long time it was assumed that Rift Demons were purely natural occurences and not sentient life. As they're made entirely of energy, it remains a mystery how they could contain any sentience, let alone intelligence.

Rift Demons start life as rift sparks, small pockets of energy that have been contained in spatial distortions. As Ca'anian scientists uncovered the secrets of dimensional travel, they also learned more about the multi-dimensional nature of reality and how those different dimensions interact. Spatial distortions occur more often in lower dimensions and are a result of the different dimensions colliding or fusing, often as a result of the creation of channeler tunnels. According to theories, the use of dimensional gates or engines also results in the creation of micro dimensional distortions.

These distortions can be seen as fragile bubbles of energy that would burst and their energy disperse under normal conditions, but the distortion itself allows a small area of space to contain a relative high amount of energy. This energy in turn stabilizes the distortion, allowing it to exist despite its unstable nature.

In rare occasions, rift sparks seemed to grow as they absorbed more energy. In some of these occurances, it appeared as if the rift spark was actively looking for energy sources, and as it grew, its behaviour became more complex and less predictable. This behaviour made scientists realize that there was a primitive sentience driving the rift spark.

Rift sparks are not harmless, however, and the bigger they grow, the more devastating their effects can be. As the distortion is a kind of membrane that only allows certain forms of energy to pass, it can pass through all kinds of matter, possibly causing trouble with electronics by locally overloading systems. On top of that, the entire distortion remains unstable and can burst at any time, releasing all its energy.

It is doubtfull that the lower Rift Demons are hostile in nature, instead, they might be oblivious to the trouble the cause to other lifeforms in their search for more energy. These demons are generally also not very large and tend to be referred to as lesser demons. The vast majority of these all seem to stick with one type of energy, which resulted in the naming scheme that describes demons by the preferred energy type. Next to the 7 common types of energy, there is the prismatic demon, which doesn't seem to have any preference in a specific type of energy and the elemental or pure demon, which came into existance as fully grown and stable.

Despite the chance of demons bursting as they grow larger, there is a class of larger demons, who have displayed having abilities linked to their preferred energy type. This also means they possess a higher intelligence, required to be able to use their energy without damaging themselves. The size of these demons is beyond all mathematical models - natural rift sparks would burst instantly if they reached this size, so an internal force must be responsible for maintaining balance.

Even larger, but also extremely rare, is a 3rd class of demons, referred to as greater demons. They are similar to normal rift demons, except for greatly increased cunning and power. Single greater demons are truly dangerous to lone ships and even small fleets and it's clear that these demons are aware of their strength. Greater demons are also far more aggressive towards other lifeforms, compared to their smaller brethren.

In ancient Ca'anian texts, there is mention of an even larger class of Rift demons. Three such elder demons are mentioned : Solaris, Gravitalis and Spectralis. Whether these demons are stil alive is unknown.

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