Help with an idea for a Curse

[Gemiae]

So I got this fantasy gender-bender story I am still writing and have yet to publish. In that story, besides magic, there are curses which are highly inefficient for humans to use because of its costs, but very efficient for demons to spam if necessary. Where the only way to counter it is to have a high enough magic resistance to either slow down or halt the curse's effect, which will still not remove the curse from the victim's body as it requires the death of the caster for that to happen. And also that the curse is irreversible once its effect is completed.

One of those curses is a special curse called the "Demonification Curse" which I want to ask some help for.
As the name implies, it turns humans into demons and forces them to switch sides. (The story is also during wartime between humans and demons so there's that. Typical fantasy setting.)

The idea I have for this particular curse is that it has five stages and that each stage cannot be reversed once it is completed.

The first stage is the physical change which transforms the afflicted's body into one of the existing variants of demons like Imps, Succubi, Vampires, Hags and so forth.

The second stage is the sensory change like heightened perceptions, duller hearing or better sense of smell. Something along those lines since the demons have different senses compared to humans in the story, which can vary depending of the type of demon the physical change was set to be.

The third stage is the emotional change which reduces the individual's ability to feel. Turning them cold-hearted or giving them a lack of empathy, if they already aren't.

The fourth stage is the mental change which swaps their perception between friend and foe. Essentially the part where they start to switch sides.

And lastly, the fifth stage is a personality change which gives them a whole new character. Finalising the demonification.

The help I want to ask on are the second and third stages which I have some conflicted feelings about. Because the sensory change could also be a part of the physical change in the first stage and the emotional change could be part of the mental change in the fourth stage.

Are there any different ideas you may have for the second and third stages that are revelant to the curse, or is it just fine as it is?
Thank you in advance.

I see you emphasize second and third stages, so I will assume you have no intention to really change the order of the stages because you have things already planned out. I'll answer the questions, but I will have some questions on the order just because I would like an explanation for the logic of it.

the sensory change could also be a part of the physical change in the first stage

For the sensory and physical change being the same thing, I honestly don't think it particularly matters. If you want the sensory enhancement to come from physical biological development, then it should be tied to the physical changes the cursed individual goes through. If the sensory enhancement is more of an ability or you want to be really strict with how the curse works and the order of stages, then they can be separated because you can just use the excuse that one stage must be completed/build off the other for the next development to begin. In this instance, they would gain the sensory changes after they're physical changes have fully completed and is irreversible, at which point the sensory organs can develop after the basis body parts now exist.

the emotional change could be part of the mental change in the fourth stage.

For the emotional and mental change, I think they are kind of the same thing. If you lack any kind of empathy then the person has basically become a self-serving sociopath and at that point I doubt they would care much about switching allegiances anyway. However, if the mental change is something like a unique way demons view humans, or a distorted view of the world that either forces the individual to turn against humans or they just go insane, which could lead really well into the personality change. When it causes them to switch sides, then that is different than emotional because it is a response to something more physical. If it isn't related to the cursed individual becoming unfeeling, then its probably something different. It just depends on what purpose you want it to hold in the story.

I will have some questions on the order just because I would like an explanation for the logic of it.

My question is that because the first stage is physical, and people are fighting the demons anyway, why would people not just kill people who have the curse? It would be very evident they have it in the early stages of the curse because the change is physical, not something they can really hide. As you said, you can only halt the curse or slow it down, not regress it. Each stage is irreversible once its completed (I assume unless it requires all 5 stages to be completed for it to be irreversible) and can only stop progressing once its removed by killing the caster of the curse (which I imagine is not an easy feat). Every person going through this curse has a chance, sure, but they are also a risk, and I wouldn't be surprised if you had a church or cult in this world that exterminated people with the curse with religious fervor. If anything, anyone with the curse would probably be treated less than humans, discriminated against, and never trusted, because they are all basically ticking time bombs. If the curse has been removed, the damage has already likely been done and I doubt there is a visual indicator to ease people's worries that the curse is no longer afflicting the person.

If the physical change is the first then it gives me a lot of logic questions, whereas everything else could be an internal development that the individual could hide. It's not like these people want to die, its the same logic as a survivor getting a zombie bite in an apocalypse and not telling anyone because they don't want to get killed. You could also make the physical changes slow at first and able to be hidden that develops through all the stages, and each stage, since its more severe to the transformation, speeds up the physical change the later in the stages you are.

If I was in this world and saw somebody who looked like a demon, they either are a demon, or a walking time bomb waiting to go off who would be better off dead for the safety of every other human around them. If you have the curse, you probably aren't welcome among humans, and are probably safer with the demons if you don't want to die, even before you've had any of the mental stages occur.

With this in mind, I'd probably structure it as Stage 2 develops first as a boon to the person, with none or hidable physical changes, and a form of temptation with the advantages the advances senses provides. The mental changes then start and is more of a risk to society because of their detachment or deception while still being able to blend into society, and at that point the person would be more concerned with keeping themsleves alive if they are losing empathy. My concern is that the later stages dont really matter if it makes sense to just kill the people when the first stage occurs.

 

[GlassRose]

They use the same magic which I had wrote earlier.
The demons created the runic language and spellcasting formula for magic, which the humans saw and stole at some point, researching and studying it for their own use.

Maybe I could change the nature of the mana instead to resemble more like a demon than a human?

Well, you also made it sound like the human's version was an inferior form, so I was thinking the cursed individual would find themselves adapting their magic back towards the original form
You could also make it so there's some inherent difference between a demon and a human's mana, not that one is better or anything, just, different, so the magic that demon made was optimized for their type of mana, and humans, using the demon's magic, find it less efficient and more difficult to use. Since the humans have been studying it and adapting it, it might be more efficient than it used to be though, and the new demon would probably have trouble using the adapted magic and need to switch to the original, demonic form.

 

[ChocolateLover030]

My question is that because the first stage is physical, and people are fighting the demons anyway, why would people not just kill people who have the curse?

My mistake. I should have mentioned that the curse's effect would be instantaneous if the target doesn't have the magic resistance to fully counter it. Meaning that those five stages would happen all at once if it's used on like a regular soldier or civilian, but be slowed or halted if used on a trained knight or mage. I'll add that right now.

 

[Gemiae]

Well, physical is where the gender-bending happens so... I don't really want to change that. And I want the MC to realise the change in her senses as the story progresses, which is why I put physical as the first stage.
The rest, however, I'll do that. Thanks. :)

I just posted a response. Since the MC has it and that is what causes the gender-bending, then my view on the stage order doesn't really work, but my question about the first stage still persists. Why would people not just kill her if they know she's cursed since she'd be a risk to humans? Unless she wont be around them and the point is for her to be the enemies of humans anyway?

My mistake. I should have mentioned that the curse's effect would be instantaneous if the target doesn't have the magic resistance to fully counter it. Meaning that those five stages would happen all at once if it's used on like a regular soldier or civilian, but be slowed or halted if used on a trained knight or mage. I'll add that right now.

That clears some things up on the speed of the process, and makes sense as to why the MC suffers from it in the first place, but if it does affect a knight or mage who can resist it to some extent, how are they dealt with? Are they allowed to stick around or are they exterminated before the curse could progress any further? If they can stick around, why are people willing to take that risk?

 

[ChocolateLover030]

Why would people not just kill her if they know she's cursed since she'd be a risk to humans? Unless she wont be around them and the point is for her to be the enemies of humans anyway?

The idea is that she becomes a type of demon that is uncanny from a human in terms of appearances. But the anatomy is different, which they won't know unless they cut her open.

So people thinks she is human while hiding the fact that she's been cursed. She also has a high magic resistance so the curse's effect would take a very long time for the rest of the stages to be completed.

 

[Gemiae]

The idea is that she becomes a type of demon that is uncanny from a human in terms of appearances. But the anatomy is different, which they won't know unless they cut her open.

So people thinks she is human while hiding the fact that she's been cursed. She also has a high magic resistance so the curse's effect would take a very long time for the rest of the stages to be completed.

Got it. So the only type of relevance the other stages have significantly is for the MC, as they would be the slowest progressing person with the curse, and also probably the only one who could blend in with humans during the process. In all other cases, the stages happen either instantly or are progressed through much faster and are more noticeable, and those people are dealt with accordingly.

I assume the MC is trying to kill the caster of the curse that has been placed on them to stop the transformation. Can all stages be reversed if the caster dies (unless they reached stage 5) or after each stage is achieved nothing is reversible past a each stages completion? That's just for my curiosity :)

 

[ChocolateLover030]

how are they dealt with?

Kill the caster of the curse. That's the way to remove it before it can fully turn them.

Can all stages be reversed if the caster dies (unless they reached stage 5)

I would say no for now, since the idea is that the Demonification Curse is special among the other curses, as it has five effects put into one in a sequence, while other curses would only have a single effect. Hence, the five stages. And once each stage is done, it cannot be undone even with the caster's death. So the MC would be permanently stuck as a demon and a woman, but still needs to kill the caster to prevent the other stages from happening.

And because the Demonification Curse is special, the cost for casting it would be tremendous compared to the other curses which already have crazy amount of cost to pay. Also, the cost for casting curses is not just mana but anything that the caster possess, including mana, like body parts, an emotion, one of their five senses, lifespan etc. Which is why humans don't use it but demons do, because the price for let's say a curse to make someone deaf would already require like 30 years of the caster's lifespan or anything equivalent to that.
And this is without adding in the factor of the curse's strength to overpower the target's magic resistance if it's high. Because if it's too weak, then the curse would not work in the first place. But too strong and the caster won't be able to pay the price for it. Making the transaction invalid.

Which is also why curses that will directly result in death won't exist in the story because of how absurd the cost would be, even for a demon.

Basically, the whole system for curses is supposed to be different from the system for magic, where the former is inferior in many sense.