Demons and the Watchers
Demons and Portals
Demons are the creations of the god of destruction made with the purpose of causing violence and destruction where there otherwise wouldn't be.
Demons are not sentient beings, and all of them lack souls and free will entirely. Even those that do have human intellect are not truly sentient; they were programmed with a singular, destructive purpose with no capacity for reason. It is easy for even an untrained eye to identify a demon, since their appearances are all completely unnatural and almost whimsical, like characters made by a deranged cartoonist.
Demons come from demon portals, which are randomly spawning rifts in reality. Thankfully, mages have become fairly good at predicting where demon portals will spawn as well as closing them; the spawn point can be predicted about nine hours beforehand within a one-mile radius. Portals come in varying sizes, with more powerful demons coming out of larger portals. Large portals are rare however, and the only one that spawns the most powerful demons is the giant, always-open portal in Kaimet that the Kaimetian warriors have kept mostly contained for as long as it's existed.
The Watchers
The Watchers are the demon hunters of Vargus, named for their endless task of keeping watch over the continent for demonic threat. The Watchers exist in every kingdom, but they are not bound to any specific place and go wherever they are needed.
Watchers are grouped into squadrons of around six or seven people, at least two of which are capable of closing demon portals. Even though the squads have official numbers, sometimes these squads give themselves unofficial names and logos just for fun. Well known squads even become popular among the people on occasion.
Because the Watchers do not discriminate based on background, skills, magic ability, or magic source, these squads are frequently ragtag groups with a wide variety of skills. While there's absolutely nothing stopping guards, Hunters, mercenaries, or adventurers from killing demons, the Watchers are the ones who actually go and close the portals, making them essential parts of society.
Other Precautions
While demon attacks aren't a daily occurrence and are not inevitable at any moment, it is still important to be prepared for when they do happen. They are more akin to severe weather than an absolute catastrophe, however.
Most homes have demon-resistant cellars, but for those that don't, all settlements have underground passages serving the same purpose that are available for public use. All settlements have enchantments around them that prevent larger demon portals from spawning within cities, but this doesn't work on small portals.
Because the enchantments only work on a relatively small scale and are difficult to maintain, cities are massive but few and far between. The populace bunching together under the protection of the enchantments has left most of the rest of the continent an uninhabited no man's land which is dangerous to traverse without the proper preparations.
