So, recently edited the first 25 chapters of the story. Most were only edited for grammar, but a few while I was going over them had some far more major fixes. The most consequential of these fixes was to chapter 14.
Originally, in chapter 14, it was mentioned that corruption introduced by order-type magic is what converted fey into demons. I have removed all mention of this magic corruption mechanic.
The magic corruption mechanic is something I used back in "Second Life as the Sister of a Goddess" (The 1st draft of this story, which was posted previously as a different series.) I thought that whole magic corruption thing was a good idea at the time, but this version has been developing in a very different direction. The different direction it has developed has resulted in demons instead being created by the fears and dark imaginings of humans instead.
Due to this alternate version of creating demons, I decided to eliminate the magic corruption idea. I had still made mention of it in chapter 14 though, and now this relic of the previous draft of this series has been removed.
Another chapter that was edited quite heavily, although not quite to the same level of consequence as chapter 14, is chapter 19. In this chapter, I decided to introduce Kiiria a little earlier than I had originally, and in a more personable form. Her mentions in chapter 20 have also been refined a little bit to reflect her earlier introduction.
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The different direction it has developed has resulted in demons instead being created by the fears and dark imaginings of humans instead.
This does seem to be a trope growing in popularity in recent years. Though, personally, it's not my preferred origin for them as it feels rather hoaky to me, like what is used in a kid-oriented anime. Rather, I think it feels more genuine if they were spawned from creation as a balance or counterpoint to other beings or other forces, such as "law", "light" or "good" or similar. That, or they could be the creation of evil gods.
Originally, in chapter 14, it was mentioned that corruption introduced by order-type magic is what converted fey into demons.
Not that it matters, but I do prefer this change. Granted, I could conceptualize that some sort of force or type of corruption could turn fey into demons. However, the idea that order-type magic could do this doesn't sit right with me. Fey - especially creatures like spriggans, fairies and elementals like sylphs - are usually associated with nature and, as such, are usually depicted as more-or-less neutral on the chaos-law spectrum of alignment.
In contrast, demons and other dark ilk are very often depicted as chaotic on the chaos-law spectrum, while heavenly beings are almost always depicted as being very strictly law-oriented. There are even some stories were the chaos-law dichotomy is so strict that there are no exceptions such that chaotic beings have no place at all in the "heavenly" realms - stories such as in the Bayonetta games or the Shin-Megami or "Persona" Japanese franchises.
Well, spirit energy is defined as the energy of thought. There was even a big thing made about it when the elder of the elves was giving Nymph his mana that he was trying to prevent himself from giving her any spirit energy because he was afraid of this thoughts in regards to being ready to kick that one guy out being picked up on by Nymph.
So, spirit energy is incredibly central to the power system of this world. It makes sense then that having thought in a negative direction would have bad consequences in this world system.
Anyway, this power system was heavily inspired by The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound. (One of the top stories over on Royal Road.) I was rather captivated by the concept of images. So, I was struck by that and refined the concept of memetic avatars from it. (Basically, the idea is that Images are world building and character back-story as a power system. It has the author's own spin on it, but that is the core of the concept. I decided to take the exact same core concept and take it in my own direction. Mine involves less of the story you tell and is more along the lines of the story others tell about you. This also applies to entire races, not just individuals.)
@Jemini so effectively demons are "fae" that originated from negative/dark thoughts attached to spirit energy, or that were corrupted by such. Whereas the Fae are "spirit beings" that originated from positive/light or neutral spirit energy?
@C3 Sort of, I guess. I wouldn't necessarily call any of the fey entirely positive/light, at least toward humans anyway. It's more like fey are neutral and demons are straight up evil in terms of being malevolent for the sake of being malevolent. Unlike demons, fey will at the very least have a reason for why they are acting shitty, and can be appeased or at least just not crossed in order to avoid some form of negative result.
@Jemini then will there be a third Spirit race that is positive/light aligned? Angels?
@C3 Not as a race. For the most part, this is what gods and positively-aligned avatars are for.