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I want to do something with the Daevites, but aside from 140, is there any canon pieces that I should be aware of? Are there any particular aspects of the Daevites I should be careful of when writing? I've looked through the tag search, but aside from 140, the Daevites mostly show up as secondary actors.
Well SCP-2515, for one, is where they are probably more than mere secondary actors.
There's also what it says here.
My own SPC-140 has an alternate universe version of the daeva and also SCP-140-A.
The Grand Theological Game takes place during the Daevite era.
There's also Mary Gentle's Ash, A Secret History which is a novel about something very similar to the Daeva. I have no idea how, or if, this was influential to any other authors, but it definitely has been for me.
"There is no canon" applies, but as far as some useful information on the Daevites go, its been established by SCP-392, SCP-3140, and SCP-3399 that the Daevites heavily used thaumaturgy in combination with horticulture. The result? Anomalous plants and giant tree golems. Plants like SCP-392 and SCP-3399 seem to have been used by the Daeva matriarchy and their society's royals while SCP-3140 instances were used in their military campaigns (later on modified for agriculture and other purposes).
It's a fairly recent development so it hasn't appeared in a ton of articles yet.
Incidently I feel like SCP-140-A is one of the most underused characters on the wiki.
What are the characteristics of 140A? They do sound really interesting.
There really hasn't been much done with them- they appear in SCP-140 as the individual who had a two-digit number of copies of 140 printed, and their (unstated) name is included in the book's list of notable figures in Daevite History.
In SirPudding's earlier life raft metaphor, it would seem they're the survivor paddling for shore.
I am the writer of SCP-140.
SCP-140-A hasn't had much revealed about them yet. But I'm working on a small Tale written from their pov. What I'll say, for my interpretation, is that 140-A is in some respects one of the "white sheep" of their culture - there were various other daeva who said "bugger all this for a lark" and left.
My view of SCP-140-A is:
1: very old. They're one of a relatively small number of non-zealot daeva who survived their civilization's collapse, mostly either joining sarkic circles or going off and doing their own thing.
2: cosmopolitan. They studied among the other peoples of their time, and freely use and understand modern technology. 140-A has watched human civilization grow and is actually rather fond of what we have done.
3: Not, strictly, evil. This does not make 140 itself any less dangerous to human history or civilization.
Their actual moral standing is up to you.
4: A powerful thaumaturge, but NOT controlling -140. The book has a life of its own now. Creating -140 was not a casual or repeatable task.
5: Not Sarkic. They understand the principles and may have understood why Ion did what he did, but modern neo-Sarkites repulse them.
6: Able to pass as an ordinary human, through disguise or thaumaturgy. They are either of indeterminate gender (reinforced by their workings) or female. (This wasn't my original intent, but since daeva have been defined as matriarchal, I'd rather not have their white sheep be a man.)
7: Not, strictly, aligned with the Daeva gods.
Little late to the discussion, but having the author of 140 show up and start talking about a the Sarkics feels like watching a caveman rise from the dead and start talking about quantum mechanics.
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…thanks, I think?
Didn't mean to alienate you or anything, but it's wild to see such an old author come back and hit the ground running.
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Well, I do read the great stuff people come up with! :)
Would anyone be able to tell me the difference between "Daeva" and "Daevite" in terms of their usage?
They're basically interchangable Demonyms.
Daeva tends to be used for plural things and the culture in general (IE: "The culture of the Daeva", "the Daeva matriarchy"…) while you see Daevite used more for singular/specific things ("the Daevite depicted in the engraving is performing a ritual") and as an adjective ("Daevite Artifacts") but there's no hard and fast rule.
To put it in action while spinning some headcanon:
Blood plays a central role in Daevite culture: It can be found in Daevite art as symbol of fertility, sensuality, virility, and conquest; in the Daeva's veneration of matriarchal lineage; and even functionally as the fuel for their magics. It remains an open question, however, whether the Daevites' fixation on blood is the result of their hæmothaumaturgical practices, or if existing cultural importance drove the Deava to embrace blood magic over other methods.
My take is similar, though I've exclusively used Daeva to refer to the matriarchy and royalty of Daevite society. "Daevites" has been my go-to plural form.
I'm inclined to use "daeva" for members of the species and things relating to the homogenous ruling class. "Daevite" is for things relating to their broader culture that includes Homo sapien slaves/subjects and engineered organisms.
Personal headcanon, ymmv:
Their chief deity is the Scarlet King. Their religious dogma, at its heart, can be boiled down to "The Gods are wrathful and demand sacrifice on multiple levels in multiple ways. To prevent the whole universe turning to ash, we must constantly burn small parts of our world. This will keep the Gods amused and sated." Their beliefs regarding Fate and Destiny are basically pulled straight from a Greek play. To them, the Gods gave us fire specifically so we could set the world alight.
They will break the space-time continuum to appease the Gods. They will break all of reality. In my headcanon, every atrocity, every wonder, every step made and breath taken is done out of deep-seated, well-founded terror.
While I don't head canon the Scarlet King portion, I think the parts about attempting to appease the Gods with their behavior is something I could easily subscribe too. It gives them a little more nuance than just being bloodthirsty warrirors. Plus it fits into SCP-140 as well.
I'm working on something with the Daevites right now, and any and all information hopefully helps make them feel more "authentic". Thanks for your response!
This is a good framework.
They're the quintessential society of blood-god worshipping, dimensionless slaves - driven only by the voracious demand of the abominations that empower them. Chaos cultists, Cthulhu worshippers, etc.
I think "dimensionless" is inaccurate - the daeva had their own culture, their own ethics, and their own ideals and goals; their ruling class just generally didn't think of slaves as Lives That Mattered. In this they are not unusual among the cultures of the ancient world!
Originally.
They appear to have degenerated over time and the usage of SCP-140. My personal canon is that SCP-140 was intended to bring forth the daeva, but it's really only doing so in an inorganic way that benefits the dark powers they served. The daeva would, of course, devastate normality being brought to the present day even if they weren't a generally awful society by modern standards.
They're not dimensionless. There's finesse to their society. If you serve the Gods well enough and in the right ways, you can enjoy some relative luxury. Living in Daeva would be like being an Inner Party Member in Orwell's 1984: awareness that your position is in constant jeopardy, that the Party may turn on you and treat you like a pig bound for slaughter, but until that happens you can sit back, sip your wine, and enjoy the view.
I meant dimensionless in terms of, strange, quasi-mortal beings who, depending on who you are, can variably shift between planes of reality.
Ah, yeah. That makes much more sense.
Pulling out all information from this entire thread because I came over to ask this exact question.
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