Demons go through stages, almost like molting from pupae to butterfly, but for demons their are several stages. For many, they may never progress beyond the lowest stages. Each stage is like a rung on a ladder with higher ones being stronger with different appearances and powers. When a demon is killed in a place other than the Abyss, their soul energy returns home. On the other hand, those killed in the Abyss lose all, giving up their abyssal energy to the world, their psyche dissolved into tiny bits of energy that are drawn back to Chaos. For those demon souls that return to the Abyss from another system, they are forced to wait a century before beginning anew. Those who study the workings of all of this, claim this long wait for demons is the result of their being so many demons; a reformation time much longer than what happens in most other non-mortal systems. After a century of waiting, if the demon was once less than a demon prince, then they must start again on the lowest stage, a lowly manes. Demons who were once something more powerful than a dretch, often have an easier and quicker time progressing through the stages (unless they are prevented from progressing - see Buldumech). Something that was once as powerful as a marilith may only require a decade to get back to the stage they once had before being killed.
There are many branches off the most common Demon Stages list below. These branches lead to other branches that make-up the multitude of demon types inhabiting the Abyss. This list is shows the branches of of the most well-known demon types.
