Devils

**Devils** are a populous race of extraplanar entities native to the divine realm of Oblivion. The first of their kind (archdevils) were created by the Sovereign as his children and servants, but they have since reproduced independently through the torturous transformation of souls into the most basic form of devilkind, lemures. Some higher forms of devils are also capable of reproducing in more typical ways.

## Description

Devils, at their most basic essence, are a single soul bound in servitude to the Sovereign for the duration of its afterlife, the sole exceptions being the five archdevils which the deity created himself at the very start to govern over the lesser castes in his name. These archdevils have their own particular forms, governing over a particular collection of sins and vices, and consequently the base souls that came to Oblivion as a result of being mired in such vices.

Once a newly-deceased soul achieves physical form, it becomes first a lemure, the lowest member of infernal society; little more than an amorphous blob of stinking flesh encapsulating a tortured soul, incapable of thought or decision. If they survive, lemures are eventually shaped into lesser devils, which can take numerous base forms that fulfil the particular purpose determined for them.

Greater devils on the other hand are still entrapped souls, but arrive to Oblivion by other means than death. Their forms are usually more powerful, physically or mentally, than their lesser kin, and they are generally more impressive specimens as a result.

Devils do not need to eat or drink. This does not mean they do not. To them eating and drinking is either a hobby, where fine food and drink is concerned, or a show of power and domination, when they are eating one of their enemies. The same applies for more carnal pleasures. In general, sexuality is enjoyed more like a hobby by devils, and among them far more often by the powerful than the weak.

## Culture & Society

Devils first came into being when Azareal, the Sovereign, created the five archdevils to rule over his domain, the stronghold of Oblivion. Each archdevil was granted charge of a single astral chain, the bonds that keep the stronghold from falling into the Slip. To fulfil this charge, they each took over a subsection of the wicked souls that fell under their creator's control, claiming those that fit their primary vices. The five archdevils are:

* **Delzebaal, Lord of Avarice:** Claims those souls that came to Oblivion as a result of gluttony or greed. Notable servants include amnizu, gruesome and covetous, that hoard wealth, creatures, and knowledge alike.
* **Sareth, Lady of Wrath:** Claims those souls that came to Oblivion as a result of hatred or rage. Notable servants include her many daughters, the Erinyes, that captain her armies in their bloody campaigns into the abyss.
* **Beleal, Lord of Lies:** Claims those souls that came to Oblivion as a result of hubris or deceit. Notable servants include duplicitous rakshasa, expert spies and deceivers, that undermine and assassinate alike.
* **Xana, Lady of Desire:** Claims those souls that came to Oblivion as a result of envy or lust. Notable servants include succubi and incubi, seductive beings of great beauty that tempt all kinds into their dangerous embrace.
* **Seitri, Lord of Spite:** Claims those souls that came to Oblivion as a result of pride or resentment. Notable servants include powerful pit fiends, jailors and generals alike, that keep his prideful hordes in check.

### Hierarchy

Devil society has a number of castes (often referred to as levels of a pyramid), promotion through which is only possible via the intervention of greater devils or the consumption of souls. On the lowest level are lemures, new souls with little form or function. Just above them are various ascending castes of lesser devils, such as imps, spined devils, bearded devils, and so on all the way up to horned devils, which is the highest a base form can go. These lesser devils make up the vast majority of devilkind, serving in the legions and trade of Oblivion. They can come in a vast variety of different forms, each archdevil having their own preference and style. Lesser devils are weaker souls with little hope of long-term survival. When destroyed, they rarely reform, but are instead scattered like ash into the abyss.

Put in charge of the droves of their lesser kin are greater devils. These devils are usually handpicked, bred, or created by an archdevil to suit particular necessities in the hierarchy of Oblivion. For example, the Lady of Wrath often takes captured mortal warriors into her bed to father Erinyes from her own womb, after which she feeds her new born daughter their father's soul and bathes them in his blood. Conversely, the Lord of Lies routinely entraps cunning souls into the cursed forms of Rakshasas, shape changing devils well-suited to his deceitful wiles. Each archdevil has a variety of greater devils in their servitude, some in more common forms, and other carefully-crafted unique tools for very specific purposes, but all competing with their kin to assert a better place in the pyramid. Greater devils are powerful creatures, and have complex internal politics of their own. When killed, they reform over long periods of excruciating formlessness into new bodies, effectively immortal (unless ritualistically destroyed in Oblivion itself). For a greater devil, the time spent out of the great game is punishment enough.

Outside of the hierarchy but generally in servitude to it are an assortment of still-living mortal souls, gathered for different purposes by all kinds of devils (lesser, greater, or middling). These souls often submit themselves willingly to indenture, or are tricked into it. Most serve until death, driven by the promise and the allure of being transformed into greater devils upon their demise, instead of falling to the bottom of the heap. Many find, to their own horror, that those same promises turn to ash when their masters have no further use of them.

### Currency

The economy of devilkind operates primarily on the currency of souls. Not those souls that fell automatically into the birthing pits upon death, becoming lemures, but souls captured by way of cunning, wile, and devilish contracts. These contracts are binding to devil and mortal alike, and cannot contain a lie, a fact that has led many intrepid souls to attempt to trick their way into power. More often than not, the devils did not need to cheat. They gave exactly and explicitly all that had been promised, but the price was always the mortal's soul.

The least important of such souls are shredded into physical currency, soul slivers, that are both a form of coin and sustenance. Such slivers make up the basis of most transactions amongst devilkind. They are higher only in value (to a devil) from base metals and gems, though those are not without their purposes either. More powerful souls are either formed into new greater devils to serve their master, or else devoured to enhance the devil's own strength.

All devils partake in this way of life, collecting souls to increase their standing in the eternal hierarchy. The only thing more important is the Blood War.

### Blood War

When Azareal, the Sovereign, first created the stronghold of Oblivion, he purposefully built it on the verge of the very abyss that threatens to consume it, the Slip. He had seen opportunity in the cores of solid arcana that lay at the heart of all demons, wishing to collect this rare matter and use it to enhance his standing amongst the gods, while simultaneously using it to keep his stronghold from falling over the brink and culling the overwhelming hordes of demonkind that (he believed) would one day grow too many and overwhelm the Fractal Realms (and subsequently reality in its entirety).

He tasked his children, the five archdevils, and their many servants, with the collection of such cores; to pay a tithe to him and keep the rest for themselves, both for the upkeep of their own sector of Oblivion and for their personal gain. Knowing that the cores bore great strength, in his paranoia, he also seeded within the archdevils the spirit of competition: the fear of being the lesser amongst equals.

Thus was the Blood War born: an endless conquest of the abyss, and an endless competition between the five Lords and Ladies of Oblivion (and consequently their many subjects), each striving to gather more cores than the other, to venture further into the bottomless dark, to lift their chain higher than the rest. The only rule of the game was that no devil could kill another. All other bets were off the table. From his black citadel, Azareal reaps the rewards and keeps a careful eye on his spawn, lest they ever grow weary of the game and turn their attention to him.