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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Grover Cleaveland" data-source="post: 2666675" data-attributes="member: 34932">They control their territory because, in a sense, they are their territory - the prince and his layer are one. They are also two, and the wills of layer and regent may clash, but as long as the prince remains strong he can control the layer as a god would control a divine realm.Do they control the actions of every creature in the layer? Of course not; nor would they want to. They're beings of Chaos.Let's say #B sets up his realm a little (or a lot) further away - there's an infinity to work in, remember - and takes its time building up troops and resources. Now #A and #B both have an equal claim to the layer. #B then begins to march over. #A wishes it didn't live in the Krust-verse, and instead lived in a sensible multiverse where rulers of Abyssal layers actually got to rule Abyssal layers. Or Demogorgon can just open a portal directly between Gaping Maw and Thanatos, ignoring any other layers of the Abyss. Who says the two layers don't border one another, anyway, or (more likely) come in and out of conjunction over time? For future reference, comparing Abyssal layers to arbitrary nations in the real world adds nothing to the clarity of your argument, but instead serves only to obfuscate your case. ...which represents another security hazard. Why not just let them rule their whole layers? The layer as a whole, not one relatively tiny realm minus any purely hypothetical other realms in the same layer somehow seperated by metaphysical gibberish from doing what comes naturally to the Abyss - rapacity and conquest.1001 days, actually, and then only after 777 years of flawless service as a gelugon. And none of that has anything to do with demonic fertility rates.I think, rather, their immediate superiors will be placing bets on who walks out alive.Where did you get this idea? And what is "stable?" If it's a place where demons aren't frequently destroyed by the landscape and one another, such a place doesn't exist in the Abyss. It's the Plane of Chaotic Evil, not the Plane of Stabilized Evil.I think you're glossing over the chaos, which is half of their nature. Evil itself isn't about control, only about harming others in the name of self-interest. Chaos is antithetical to too much control. Do they seek power? Sure - that falls under self-interest. It's what they do with the power that seperates them from beings of Law - they don't seek to make their thralls any less violent or destructive. They don't seek to turn their minions into devils, which is what your plan is leaning toward. Or worse yet - you'd have them become mere cattle, livestock for their owners to breed - breed in stables, apparently. Any demons treated thus would be sickly and weak, distant indeed from that which makes them strong. Any lord who tried such a scheme would quickly be overcome by its rivals, who understand what sorts of acts the reality of the Abyss empowers. In each plane, the "laws" of nature are different, each encouraging that plane's ethos. In the Abyss, Chaos is rewarded and all order crumbles and suffers. For a demon horde to become strong, its members must be encouraged to cultivate their individual urges and will - this is the strength of Chaos. If they are to breed, they must do it in passion, according to their whims, not some centralized command. And, of course, violently - one mate or the other probably often dies, further reducing the population.  This is what empowers the layer as a whole, and only empowering the layer as a whole can the layer spawn armies stronger as a whole than those they fight against. You could argue, in fact, that sexual reproduction makes demons less populous than otherwise, but this only makes them stronger as individuals.</blockquote>

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