Paradise

In the aftermath of the battle between the Belief in others and the Idea in oneself, the Belief went on to become what is now known as Paradise. Despite becoming a completely separate realm of existence it still maintained the same level of sentience and Will that it once had. As a result of this, after transitioning from "The Belief" to "Paradise", the former Avatar's original stance gradually shifted away from simple selflessness. Focused solely on the singular purpose of defeating The Idea it instead began to stand for all that is good and righteous, in whatever form such things may find themselves. With this new stance Paradise, as it was now known, felt it was Its duty to protect mortal souls from The Idea after death. For this purpose it made sure its new existence was to serve as a home to the lives of those mortals who were good in life, and are ready to move onto the next world. In the name of protecting these souls from The Idea, as well as to organize and reward mortals for being goodhearted in life, Paradise divided itself into what are now known as Planes by Its inhabitants. All the afterlives known to mortal religion meant for good souls such as Heaven, Valhalla, and Sovngarde all truly exist within the endless sea of Planes that make up Paradise's modern state. Each Plane is tethered to a corresponding Sector of Immensus so that the worthy mortals who perish there may find eternal peace within Paradise, however said plane is not a set destination. Ultimately, Paradise sees to it that mortals are sent to whatever afterlife would make them happiest. For mortals with a strong faith towards a particular religion it often means being sent to a completely different afterlife compared to what it "normal" for their Sector, while in other cases Paradise has to make a completely new plane for one particular soul. Time is meaningless to Paradise and the beings that dwell within it, essentially meaning they have no concept of it at all. On account of Its own inability to directly protect these souls it needed Guardians, but more than that it needed armies to crush The Idea in lieu of itself. It is for this reason that Paradise first began to create at least one God for every Plane, and continues to do so today, which by extension also causes said Gods to rule over their Plane's corresponding Sectors as their Protectorate.

Gods

Serving as the Guardians to Paradise and Its souls, to be a God is not something as simple as a title or status: It is a race, a species, largely (thought no universally) molded in the likeness of mortals. Paradise has created countless pantheons from the Nine Divines of Tamriel to the Greek and Roman Gods. Mortals can rest assured that whatever happy afterlife they believe in is real because if it wasn't real before then Paradise makes it real, as well as the God and Goddesses that come with it. To Paradise, the more religions it validates by making their Pantheons and Afterlives a reality the more mortals will come to the side of Good. If their belief systems are true then surely they need no further justification to be a goodhearted soul in life, after all. To help these Godly beings live up to the names mortals had given them, and to better fight Its eternal enemy, Paradise gifted all Gods with special powers they have nearly absolute control over. These powers are known as a God's Domain and can vary from insignificant to instrumental, encompassing everything from Sweets to Life itself. Multiple different Gods can and will hold the same Domain so they are not unique to individual Gods, though their exact level of power in the Domain may vary significantly. Some Domains can provide additional bonuses when in use, such as how a God of War would have insurmountable levels of power and combat sense or how a God of Knowledge would know all that can be known to those lesser than True Dragons. Some Domains a God or Goddess may hold are inherently more or less powerful than others, leading to Gods being divided into three separate categories which are heavily influenced by the Domain they hold and the degree to which they wield such power: Minor, Major, and Titan Gods. Some Domains may limit the Gods who possess it to only be Minor Gods, while others would make it impossible for a God to be any less than at least a Major God. Then there's other Domains where the God who holds it could fit into any of the three categories, depending on how much power they individually hold with it. The limits to what a God can do are practically nonexistent, even for a Minor God, but they are still not omnipotent. Ultimately they are still bound, though loosely, by the laws of reality in what they can and cannot do through their Domain. With all that stated, a Gods power is not strictly limited to their Domain. All Gods possess cosmic awareness, a power allows them to know just about everything that involves or otherwise affects them in any way, even something as small as being spoken of. They never tire and possess instantaneous regenerative healing, so even harming them is nigh-impossible without exploiting their very few and select vulnerabilities. If they choose to they can also instantly materialize at any location in the Mortal Realm, typically with a weakened version of themselves in the form of an astral projection. The true strength of the Gods, however, lies in their spiritual powers. In an extremely simplified, bare bones basic make up of what a God is, to the point it is almost inaccurate to claim, they are essentially a mass of pure spirit energy so powerful that they naturally manifest into a corporeal state. Through means that mortals are only capable of comprehending as magic, a God is capable of using this very same energy to enhance their raw physical abilities to astronomical levels, all without ever even drawing on the power of their Domain. With all of this in mind it is important to again reiterate that Gods are not omnipotent, in fact they can even be killed...just not easily.

Due to the fact they are essentially just a mass of hyper dense, pure spirit energy, you can disperse said energy with enough sheer brute force/power, however it is quite simple for them to just rebuild themselves from scratch even if their "body" is completely destroyed. Rebuilding could take hours, days, months, even decades or centuries but they can rebuild just the same. With that said, to TRULY kill a god you have to completely destroy every last bit of energy that a God is comprised of. If even a single molecule remains they can and WILL rebuild, given enough time. No matter how powerful someone or something is pure physical might will never be enough to permanently kill a God due to this, as such attacks won't do anything more than merely disperse the energy they are made of, which means one must be able to destroy the energy using magic or some sort of energy manipulation such as Life/Spirit energy. Even with that, simply having more magic power than a God isn't enough to do the job, because if you are only a little bit stronger than them then you won't be able to completely atomize them, some small parts of them WILL survive and they WILL rebuild. The power gap would have to be overwhelmingly in favor of the individual trying to kill said God and then, only then, would they be able to actually kill a God for good. Beyond that there's two types of weapons capable of killing Gods, weapons known as Divine Spirits and another known as Celestial Weapons, however both only exist as a result of the actions of Gods. A Divine Spirit is a weaponized, corporeal manifestation of a Gods Domain that they can craft completely at will whenever they wish. No two Divine Spirits are the exact same in appearance or effects, more often than not they are wildly different even if they are of the same weapon type (such as a bow or a sword). The manor in which a Divine Spirit is capable of manifesting have literally limitless possibilities from swords to whips, trebuchet's to chariots, to even frying pans or a deck of playing cards. A Divine Spirit is capable of killing anything that does not transcend the Gods themselves, including other Gods. As for Celestial Weapons, they are also made by the Gods but for others rather than themselves. Only Gods or those with the power, knowledge, and skill in godly magic on par with an actual God can craft such weapons. Generally speaking a God might hand pick one of their most devout of followers and gift them a Celestial Weapon, if they also wield power worthy enough to carry a weapon capable of killing a God, and only the person who created a Celestial Weapon and the one it was made for can even lift the weapon. Anyone else who tries to lift such a weapon would find it not just difficult, but quite impossible, no matter how much brute strength they may have. They are a physical weapon so they can't be materialized like a Divine Spirit but they can be summoned to the wielder across any distance through force of will alone, and are nigh-indestructible. In other words if you ever see someone who wields a Celestial Weapon, safe bet is that they are a VERY faithful follower of a particular God, and wield power that puts them on par with one as well.

Through the use of all this power and influence gifted to them, it is the duty of all Gods of Paradise to protect and guard the souls of mortals held within their home. However the Gods were also created for the task of leading the charge against The Idea, crushing their enemy through any means necessary. Determining this task to be impossible while simultaneously guarding Paradise's Realm, the Gods decided to assume the additional role of Generals through the creation of Angels. While not all Gods create armies of angels, some relying on other entities for their armies, the vast majority of Gods do. While Gods stay within the bounds of Paradise to watch over their Protectorate and the souls within, they send their angels out on various tasks. These tasks primarily consist of using their powers to convert mortals to the side of good, so that in death their souls may come to Paradise, as well as any number of tasks that pit them up against The Idea and Its forces in some way. Broadly speaking, Gods and their armies will go to any means necessary to do what they must in the name of the greater good, though not all of them have the same sense of just what "the greater good" means. A common viewpoint among the Gods and Goddesses, and their angels by extension, is to not care about the physical lives of mortals because their souls are what makes them truly alive. So even when their physical body dies their soul lives on, capable of ascending to Paradise if they are a good and worthy soul, and THAT is what they actually care about. This mindset leads many Gods and their angels to very readily accept any number of mortal deaths if they feel it is for the greater good, but not all within Paradise agree as to just what "the greater good" means. Gods and angels cannot fathom why mortals hold their physical lives precious because their souls continue to live, and their souls are far less vulnerable to harm at that, though some understand that while it is not something they understand they don't have to. To some, the physical life of a mortal is precious to mortals and so it is precious to themselves as well. Such Gods view sacrificing the physical lives of mortals as an end that does NOT justify the means, and they will protect their physical lives with just as much ferocity as they will their souls. Unsurprisingly this leads to many disagreements between Gods, some resulting in intense rivalries of mutual hatred, while in some cases it even breaks into outright war between to Gods and their armies. It is not uncommon for angels to fight and even kill each other over disputes between their Gods, though it is exceedingly rare for Gods to personally do anything against each other. With this all in mind Paradise is actually in a state of perpetual unrest, though the mortal souls held within are carefully kept out of all disputes between the Gods and are thus none the wiser as to what's going on behind the scenes. While their methods and opinions vary they ultimately all share the same, singular goals: Protect the souls of worthy mortals and defeat The Idea once and for all. Sadly for the denizens of Paradise, however, they have no idea about their true origins. Even Gods and Goddesses of Knowledge know nothing about The Belief nor The Idea, they know nothing about how True Dragons indirectly created them, but most of all they have no idea how drastically all existence as they know it would change if either The Belief or The Idea actually managed to defeat the other...if it continued to exist at all.

Angels

If the Gods are to be called the shields of Paradise, then no doubt Angels would only rightly be called the spears. Angels have effectively existed for just as long as their creators themselves, tirelessly carrying out the orders given to them in the never-ending war against The Idea. As the creations of the Gods they carry many of the same powers their creators do, though to far lesser degrees. Through a weakened version of Cosmic Awareness, known as Cosmic Sense, an Angel is perpetually aware of all happenings in their God's protectorate as well as areas and things they consciously focus on. They are additionally capable of teleporting instantly across any distance to anything that is revealed to them through their Cosmic Sense be it a person, place, or thing. Not only that but angels inherit a small portion of their Godly creators Domain into a power angels call their Order. An Angels Order is no where near as powerful as a Gods Domain but is still incredibly powerful in its own right, capable of using such power to do just about anything they wish to so long as it is well within the Laws of Reality. Calling upon their Order an Angel can perform feats they would otherwise absolutely never be able to, though controlling such power is the only way to exhaust an angels otherwise unlimited sense of vigor and stamina which requires them to retreat to Paradise to recover. The more they used the power the longer they need to rebuild their strength, leading it to be only in the most dire of straits that most angels will even exercise the use of their so-called Trump Card. Even so, the most impressive powers held by angels are the incredible levels of magic they carry. Naturally they can use this magic to bolster their raw physical abilities or perform any number of magical spells from defense to attack, most notably of which being their power known simply as Smite. Through physical contact an angel can purge all evil, as perceived by Paradise, from other beings no matter how faint said evil may be. What remains would be a soul of pure good worthy of the embrace of Paradise, meaning if the target is already pure of heart in the eyes of Paradise then this power would have absolutely no effect. If there is not enough good in a being to still form an entire soul then the soul is destroyed as well. This attack works to completely obliterate the forces of The Idea, the primary targets of this power, though mortals are often made victim of this attack as well. If said mortal has any shred of decency then whatever is left is worthy to ascend to Paradise, while if there is no decency to be had (or simply not enough to be saved) then the mortal is utterly destroyed just as a Demon would be, so either way there is no loss in the eyes of an Angel. Interestingly, Angels are fully capable of smiting other angels, an exemption to the otherwise ironclad rule that beings pure of heart cannot be harmed by a Smite. Even angels themselves are unsure of why this power works on them when even some mortals are granted immunity, though many believe it to be penance for Angels fighting and killing each other instead of fighting the forces of The Idea. Angels are created with all the knowledge and experience required to carry out whatever tasks may be thrown their way. New angels are created with the sum experience of those who came before them, so to an Angel there's no such thing as lacking skills or experience in any particular way. In that way even when an angel is killed they technically live on, knowing the experiences they went through up to their death helped newly created angels have that much more of a leg up to complete their duties. Angels have their own hierarchy as well, dependent on the caste they were created to be as well as the level of God that made them in the first place.

Angels created by a Major God are not only more powerful but carry higher status than those made by a Minor God, while those created by a Titan God carry even more power and status than that. Beyond that there are three caste's of angels: Angels, Seraphs, and Archangels with each being exponentially stronger and carrying much greater status than the one before. To these ends the standard angelic hierarchy can be outlined as follows: Minor Angels, Major Angels, Titan Angels, Minor Seraphs, Major Seraphs, Titan Seraphs, Minor Archangels, Major Archangels, and at the top you can find Titan Archangels. Lastly there are two caste's of angels that exist outside this standard hierarchy, those being Mortal Angels and Paradise Angels. Mortal Angels are former mortals who were so selfless and purehearted in life that Paradise reincarnated them as Angels, a particularly rare but far from unheard of occurrence. They have little to no memories of their former life as a mortal beyond the fact they were one, though some Mortal Angels may remember names or even faces of those they once knew in life. While they are seemingly no different from normal Angels, a Mortal Angel possesses one distinguishable trait that sets them far apart from their brethren- The potential for human growth. While their brothers and sisters are hard locked within a certain power range based on their caste a Mortal Angel can grow, learn, and get exponentially stronger. The second caste of angel that stands outside the normal hierarchy are Paradise Archangels, which are quite simply Archangels not made by a God but by Paradise itself. They are far stronger than any other angels and, while still nowhere near as powerful as even a Minor God, are considered to hold the same level of influence and authority as one. When it comes to the physical appearance of an angel Gods actively chose to model them in a way that they'd look like the mortals they are meant to save, barring a few glaring differences. To be specific their eyes and the fact they have wings are what differentiates them from a normal mortal. An angels wings vary in color from pure white to light grey or even a slight yellow hue, while their iris naturally glows a bluish white with slivery, star-like pupils plucked straight from the night sky. Beyond that Angels have a wingspan of 8 to 10 feet, though Seraphs and Archangels have wingspans of 12 to 15 feet. In addition to this Archangels in particular also have three pairs of wings, rather than just the one pair that other angels have, making it an exceedingly simple matter to spot an Archangel even in a large group of their Kin. Angels are capable of concealing these traits if they wish, losing the physical appearance of their eyes and hiding their wings so they truly appear as a normal mortal, allowing them to flawlessly blend into mortal society so as to avoid drawing attention to themselves. However doing this weakens an angel heavily, due to the efforts such concealment requires, so many either don't bother trying to hide amongst mortals while they carry out their tasks or they inhabit the body of willing mortals. Not quite the same as possession, which lets you take control over another beings body forcefully, angels can ONLY inhabit the form of a mortal with their vocally expressed permission and full willingness in their heart. Doing this is rather effortless on the angels part but can be quite taxing on the mortals body and soul unless their body and spirit are acutely strong. If an angel inhabits them for too long the mortals soul could be absorbed or simply burned up, causing them to cease to exist, though the angel would still be able to continue inhabiting their body until the body itself breaks down as well. Higher caste's of angels cause this process to occur faster, and thus require even stronger mortal vessels to reliably conceal themselves. Moving onto their weaknesses, all angels actually share the same vulnerabilities. Being from a higher caste of angel does not make them immune to any of their innate weaknesses though it might make them more resistant, or otherwise require more powerful instances of exploitation to actually effect them.

First and foremost there are a variety of sigils, rituals, and even exorcisms that can prevent angels from entering a specific area, prevent them from seeing it with their Cosmic Sight, and/or even banish them back to Paradise for a short time. More powerful angels are able to break through working means of warding, and as such require more powerful means to block them in the same ways, but it's still possible. If a sigil or ritual or whatever else is used is not powerful enough to block or otherwise impede a particular angel, as a result of their powerful exceeding that of the means used to try and block them, then it will not even serve as a temporary hindrance to them. Naturally there are means to kill them as well but, like Gods, it is easier said than done. They too are in essence just a mass of spirit energy so powerful, so dense, that it naturally manifests into a corporeal state. To truly kill an Angel even last bit of energy that they are comprised of must be completely and utterly destroyed, otherwise whatever is left will simply be dispersed to return to Paradise and rebuild themselves. Depending on how much of them was destroyed/survived rebuilding themselves could take mere minutes or several hours, though for an angel it should never take more than a day under any normal circumstances even if only one molecule of their existence survived, due to the incredible difference in energy mass between an angel and a God. While this means they can rebuild quicker from otherwise life threatening attacks this also means the level of power to kill them is, naturally, far lesser than what is required to kill a God. With that said it still calls for someone capable of destroying soul, otherwise you likely won't even be able to really hurt an angel let alone kill one. Angels also have weapons crafted by their own kin that are capable of killing basically anything that isn't a God, which by extension even means other angels. These weapons can be anything from swords to daggers, guns to bows, and unlike a God's Divine Spirit an Angelic Weapon is an actual, physical weapon. To wield a true Angelic Weapon one must either be an angel themselves or "pure of heart" like one, otherwise just touching one is enough to burn with an intense pain throughout the unworthy wielders body. The more impure their existence the more intense the pain. Through the correct magic rituals and spells humans are capable of making imitations and knockoff Angelic Weapons that, in most cases, aren't as powerful as the real deal but can still do the job. Such imitations are rather rare, relative to the sheer population of Immensus that is, but still most certainly exist. What's truly rare are imitations capable of scratching, let alone killing, an Archangel. There's only two other weaknesses of an angel, and both are tied to the sources of their power: Their Grace, and their connection to Paradise, which often go hand and hand. Every power an angel has at their disposal comes from one of those two sources, meaning if they lose either one then they lose a portion of their power. An angels Grace in particular is, in essence, what makes them an angel to begin with by providing them with a "core" of sorts. While not a physical thing, like a heart a brain, an angels Grace is simply part of their very existence. This fact also means their creators, the Gods, can strip them of their Grace. Only angels created by Gods can have their Grace stripped of them, so Mortal Angels and Paradise Archangels are immune to such a fate, but all other angels can have their Grace stripped from them by the God that created them and ONLY the God that created them. Angels will meet this fate if a God deems them to be in breech of their service of Paradise in some way, as an alternative to killing them, though while Gods see this as a mercy angels see it as a fate worse than death. Stripping an angel of their Grace requires the physical action and cannot be done remotely so, more often than not, when it is decided that an angel is to be stripped of their grace they are hunted down by other angels whom serve the same god until they are captured and presented to their creator. Losing their Grace makes an angel nearly mortal, experiencing things like hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and illness. They lose their ability to inhabit mortal bodies as well as their ability to rapidly heal, limiting themselves to only marginally better than the healing of a mortal. In being stripped of their Grace an angel will also lose their connection to Paradise, taking away their Cosmic Sense, wings, and ability to teleport. In the rare event an angel manages to evade capture and escape with their grace they will still lose their connection to Paradise, as they have abandoned it at that point, and as such still lose the attached powers they once held. Angels with their grace stripped from them are seen as simple mortals and are treated according, however those who have abandoned Paradise but managed to somehow hold onto their Grace are seen as "Public Enemy Number 1", referred to as Fallen Angels, causing their former allies to hunt them for as long as they live until their grace can be taken from them as intended.

Champions and Harbingers of Paradise

Archangels whom were created by Paradise itself are naturally special compared to their God made brethren. They are far more powerful and are incredibly devout in their following of The Belief and never Fall, continuing to serve Paradise for as long as they exist. What makes them truly special, however, is the capacity they have for growth through a gift that Paradise may give to them. Most who receive this gift are known as Champions, though at any given time one (and only one) may even become known as a Harbinger. It is believed they receive this gift from Paradise for proving themselves to be the epitome of what it means to be an Archangel under Its direct service. How the gift works is that they gain the ability to temporarily become a facsimile, a copy, of The Belief itself. When using this new ability they give themselves and their very existence to the future of the world and all the good and hope that can be found, both within themselves as well as others, thus channeling all of it into power of their own. The increase in power they get in doing so allows them to rival the Gods, and the more they use this ability the more pure of a copy they can become. This ability does not come completely free and they don't have unlimited use of it, in truth it can quite quickly exhaust them and potentially force them back to Paradise to recover their strength if used for too long or too often. After calling upon their gift they are often left weakened as a result of this exhaustion and will seek solitude to recover, though even in this weakened state they are more often than not still much stronger compared to most other angels. The Harbinger is the most powerful Champion of all, capable of becoming the complete the embodiment of The Belief without restriction, infinitely surpassing the power of any mere God. They are seen as the physical manifestation of Paradise and the highest possible authority among all of Paradise's creations as a result. There can only be one Harbinger at any one time, and a Harbinger does not always exist in the first place. Their very existence is temporary, a call to action, when a pressing task NEEDS to be completed no matter the cost to oneself. By the time their task is completed their existence would long since have returned to Paradise and their body would remain as a puppet husk for the The Belief to masterfully control. For a Champion to become the Harbinger they have to forfeit their life, their very existence for the absolute greater good, and in that moment their fate is sealed. Now for the truth of their origins, a truth that even Gods of Knowledge do not know. Only Champions themselves know. This ability is not a gift, but a curse, because they have learned the truth about Paradise, they know about The Belief and The Idea. They found the core of Paradise, the heart of The Belief, and not only managed to survive without getting absorbed but learned everything along with it. They do not speak of or share this knowledge with anyone, not even other Champions. Despite this knowledge their falter in Paradise, if anything it's stronger than ever. The key difference is that now they know and understand that neither The Belief nor The Idea can EVER gain even the smallest advantage over the other, otherwise all life as they know it will cease to exist, so in the name of the greater good they must ensure the war never ends and the cycle of violence continues.

Perdition

At the conclusion of the battle between The Idea and The Belief, The Idea went onto become what is now known as Perdition. Much like Paradise, Perdition is a self sentient realm of existence separate from the Mortal Realm. While it was originally meant to symbolize the importance of oneself, after losing its proper physical form this concept warped and twisted to an extreme. With sole focus on crushing The Belief it has, arguably, begun to stand for evil incarnate. In reality it still stands for the importance of oneself above all else, just as it always has, though such an existence inevitably clashes against anything and everything perceived as moral, good, and just. Perdition will stop at absolutely nothing to further its own goals and purpose, which simply means it needs power. It did not have enough power to crush The Belief before so it just needs more. That's when Perdition thought to harvest mortal souls and cultivate them to be converted into what essentially amounts to super-charged batteries. It was found the most effective, and enjoyable, means of "cultivating" souls was actually through various means of torture. To more efficiently convert as many mortal souls as possible it divided itself into various Planes, encompassing everything from Oblivion (Elder Scrolled) to the Underworld (Greek) and even Hell (Dante's Inferno). Each Plane has a different way of going about cultivating these souls once they are harvested, some for maximum efficiency by doing it as quickly as possible while others prioritize the pleasure of the craft. For every Sector that exists on Immensus there is at least one Plane of Perdition connected to it, though some may even have as many as ten or more. Both in the name of fighting Paradise and increasing the volume of souls It can harvest Perdition has since created various entities to fill Its depths. Unlike Its far more organized counterpart Perdition saw no point in forcing these entities into predetermined strengths that they can't escape, granting them power for free. Instead It made Its creations for for the power, work for their strength, by granting them the abilities to utilize or consume cultivated mortal souls to increase in their own power. While the ultimate goal of Perdition's creations is to crush Paradise their short term goal, as per how they were made, is to harvest and cultivate as many souls as possible to increase their own power. In the end Perdition did not form an innate hierarchy for Its creations, instead Its creations did that themselves as the strong subjugated those weaker than themselves.

Pitkind: Demons and Fiends

The creations of Perdition are all collectively referred to a Pitkind, though despite having a single unified umbrella term there's a wide variety of different beings among them. There are two main branches of Pitkind: Demons, which appear more human-like and are the direct counterparts to angels, and then Fiends which range from animalistic to outright unearthly. Fiends vary wildly and are unpredictable, both in appearance and their abilities, with unique one-of-a-kind anomalies even popping up on rare occasions. These unique anomalies are more often than not drastically different from any other fiends, so the point referring to them as such is bordering on being a misnomer. While there's far too many varieties of Fiends to go into detail about, more common/recognizable examples include things such as Imps, Succubi, and hellhounds while unique occurrences would be something such as Cerberus. Most Fiends are often only as strong as weaker demons, though some Fiends (and especially anomalies) can contend with ones far more powerful. Due to just how varied Fiends are there is no standard information to outline about them, not beyond the facts that they vary wildly and there is no standard information, which means the remainder of this section will be about Demons. Demons naturally appear largely human in appearance, though with at least one very clear difference. The eyes of a demon denote what evolutionary stage, or caste, of demon they are. The higher caste a demon is the more powerful they are, distinguishable just by the color of their eyes. Demons can increase their power and thus their caste by consuming mortal souls and thus, unlike angels who have a fixed level of power at their creation, are not locked with the level of power they had when they were created. The more souls a demon consumes the more powerful they become until, eventually, they manage to consume enough souls that they evolve into the next caste. In order the eye colors of a demon at each stage are as follows: Black, red, yellow, violet, and finally white. Beyond just their eyes an individual demon may have horns, black wings, red skin, animalistic fangs, a tail, etc, but none of this is any guarantee. The only thing that is would be the color of their eyes, beyond that they have have nothing else that differentiates them physically from a human at all. Unlike angels a demon is also incapable of simply "concealing" their natural appearance, having to rely on other means to do so, namely possession. Demons can possess a living body or an acutely fresh corpse, where active decomposition has yet to begin, and are additionally capable of assuming the physical appearance of anyone they have ever possessed in the past. While possessing a corpse and shapeshifting hides their physical appearance it does nothing to hide their presence itself, so anyone capable of detecting demons in some way at any level could absolutely still do so, though while possessing a living body the human soul that still resides within the victim does an excellent job at helping mask the demons presence. It is not uncommon for demons to regularly assume the form of a past possession victim that they particularly liked the look of or, because it requires less effort, continuously possess the same person or even magically preserved corpse. All demons are capable of instantaneous teleportation to anywhere on Immensus, an ability that is as effortless to them as breathing is to a mortal, and naturally possess incredible magic power even within the weakest demons. As demons evolve through the consumption of souls they not only grow more powerful, but they will often also gain new abilities themselves. These abilities are not uniform and can encompass many possible things from simple telepathy to even a smiting power visually similar to that of an angels. Demons are also capable of consuming their fellow demons, however, as a result of the impurity of their existences, doing so is not as effective as consuming even an untortured mortal soul (with the exception of the two most powerful castes of demons).

Black-eyed demons, also commonly known as Lesser Demons, are the lowest and weakest evolutionary stage of demons. They almost exclusively exist in lowly servitude of other, more powerful demons as a direct result of this fact, only being held in higher regard than common Fiends such as hellhounds...and even then, maybe not. In terms of power they can be compared to either Mortal or Minor angels, depending on how many souls they have personally consumed in an effort to further their own evolution, though "Lesser Demons" have a particularly rough time in doing so as any and all souls they procure are supposed to go to their superiors. In others words, collecting any souls for their personal purposes requires keeping many of their actions and activities hidden from the knowledge of their fellow demons. Alternatively they can try to earn favor to receive souls for themselves as gifts, and while not uncommon it is certainly far less common than trying to collect souls in secret on their own. As they gain more power and get closer to reaching the next stage of evolution for their kind there is a chance, just a chance, that they may develop telekinetic powers. Such powers are standard among all other stages of demons however Lesser Demons such as themselves are not expected to be able to do so. It is believed that a Black-eyed demon capable of using telekinesis is meant to become a great and powerful demon...a fact that, unfortunately, may end up getting them killed if one of their superiors decides they might be a threat. Being at the bottom of the food chain, so to speak, Black-eyed demons unarguably have the hardest time in attempting to further their evolution. The next caste of demons are Red-eyed demons, who are considered capable of rivaling Major Angels and in some cases even Titan Angels as they near their next evolution. Red-eyed demons, otherwise known as Crossroad demons, are possibly the caste the most often interacts directly with mortals. Their alternative name comes from one very simple reason: That's basically their job. If a mortal buries a small box with their picture contained within and a few drops of their own blood as the dead center of any crossroads, i.e. where two roads intersect, then a Red-eyed demon can be summoned if they choose to answer the call. Once summoned the demon in question is expected to make a make a pact, or contract, granting the mortal any one wish in exchange for their "payment" after a negotiable amount of time, typically 10 years. Once the agreed upon time is up Lesser Demons" and/or hellhounds are sent to collect, almost always in the form of the mortals soul. The most common wishes like fame, fortune, for the one they love to feel the same, and to heal someone who is dying which are all easily granted. Sometimes more complex wishes such as resurrection may be asked of them which, as long as the soul still exists, can still be fulfilled but ONLY through forging a pact. Pacts are made verbally and bound by the demons powers, sealed via physical contact of any kind once the terms are established, leading the demon who forges this pact to be quite literally incapable of breaking or otherwise going against the agreed upon terms. Crossroads demons are also fully capable of approaching humans themselves, without being summoned, at places like bars to trick the inebriated into making a pact with a demon without even realizing it. While most pacts forged through a summoning are often ironclad, since the mortal in question knows full well what they are doing and signing up for, unaware drunkards at a bar are far more easily tricked and often end up agreeing to particularly unfavorable terms with easily exploited loopholes. Summoned deals are preferably because they are known quantities, guaranteed pacts that WILL happen once terms are established, though approached pacts can also be preferable since the victim will often not even be aware they are making a deal with a demon so more favorable terms (for the demon side of things, anyways) can be established. The next step in a demon's evolutionary cycle are Yellow-eyed demons, also referred to as Greater Demons. For most mortals a Greater Demon is the top of the totem pole, as it is rare for their superiors to interact with humans in a capacity in which they survive. Most mortal "experts" on the occult truly believe Greater Demons are as powerful as it gets, with even the most astute among them assuming only rare, specific individuals MAY be more powerful. Such an idea is just a theory to them at best, only those who have truly been exposed to the reality of Perdition are aware that Greater Demons are far from the top.

Their power compared to those beneath them is in a class all of its own, a fact which makes the realization that they themselves aren't even in the same league as their superiors all the more terrifying. Their range of power leaves them best compared to the Seraph caste of angels, though only Titan Seraphs carry enough power to consistently smite them. They also carry with them considerable resistances to many demon weaknesses. Most Greater Demons are the acting, hands on boss for demons of Perdition and are granted the right to more or less consume souls at their leisure for their efforts, as long as their superiors get the overwhelming share. As long as they don't step out of line, do as their told, and don't fail their superiors in someway their evolution is all but assured...eventually. Unfortunately these things are easier said than done. Assuming they don't get killed for their own failures they can eventually evolve into a Violet-eyed Demon, those who not just capable of going head to head with an Archangel but are even capable of winning. Often seen as the direct opposites to Archangels, Violet-eyed demons are generally known as Archdemons among their kin and those proportionally few mortals whom are aware they exist in the first place. Exorcising them is completely out of the question and they hold high resistances if not outright immunities to nearly all demon weaknesses. They hold overwhelming power over the demons beneath them and with it they carry influence as well. They are more often than not considered responsible for keeping track of how many souls are being collected by their underlings and where they are going. A case could be made that is it their job to tally and ration souls accordingly within their hierarchy. Greater Demons answer directly to them both in their success and their failure, though while Greater Demons have an solid chance at evolving if given time, Archdemons are not so lucky. They are looked at with the utmost scrutiny by their superiors as they are the most direct potential threat to their authority, authority they would prefer to remain unchallenged. The slightest error or gap in the judgement or tally of souls and they are likely to be dealt with swiftly, and without mercy. They are simultaneously the most trusted and most judged demons in Perdition. If an Archdemon gets close to evolving they are often forced to run and hide in the mortal realms, slowly and silently collecting souls by themselves, for themselves until they manage to finally complete their evolution at which point they often return to their original home to try and take it for themselves. If they do not then they are likely to be consumed by the final caste of normal demons, intent on keeping their underlings from even having a chance to try and challenge them, the White-eyed Knights of Hell. Knights of Hell are the most powerful demons of all, matched only by the Archangels of Paradise in sheer power. No number of weaker angels or even demons could hope to match a Knight of Hell in battle, try though they might they would all be inevitably slaughtered just the same. They are capable of shapeshifting into any humanoid form they wish, possessing total control over their physical appearance with the exception of their eyes and are effectively immune to all weaknesses of other demons. Knights of Hell almost always lead as the sole member of the caste at the top of the food chain in a Plane of Perdition, and see any activities by the forces of another Knight of Hell in their self-defined "territory" to be an act of aggression. Ironically most war and fighting amongst demons actually occurs within their own "chain of command", and it is far more rare for two Knights of Hell and their forces to go to war. They are far more worried about amassing as many souls as possible to increase their own power, so much so that most of them would rather not get distracted by "going to war" with another Knight of Hell.

Perceived aggression is often met with calls for meetings to discuss the matter at hand, or just an outright challenge for a fight to the death through a chosen Archdemon on each side. While there's a chance the two Knights of Hell may choose to duel each other directly such a thing is far more rare, as they would often rather not chance dying themselves and would prefer an underling to take that risk on their behalf. They are well aware how powerful their fellow Knights are, and only if they are supremely confident in their victory would they push for a direct fight. Naturally demons have weaknesses, and quite a few of them as well, though as mentioned above the more powerful a demons gets the less their innate weaknesses effect them. Angels are one blaring weakness, both with their weapons and their capability of simply smiting demons that aren't strong enough to resist their power. Powerful enough magic and life/spirit energies can also injure or potentially kill them, though mortals without enough power in the appropriate areas to actually kill them are exceedingly rare. Far more base weaknesses even normal humans can exploit are salt and holy water. Holy water burns them on contact and causes them great pain, enough to coax them into abandoning a possession to escape the pain or even potentially kill them through enough exposure. By contrast while salt does not cause them any pain they cannot cross it, acting as an invisible barrier, so standing inside a circle of salt or lining the borders of your home with it could protect you from weaker castes of demons. Of course it is still just salt so even something as flimsy as the wind could ruin the little protection it provides you. Then of course it goes without saying that exorcisms are a fairly effective weakness, painfully bashing a demon back to Perdition through magical bindings they cannot break on their own. Exorcisms mostly only work on Lesser and Crossroads Demons but that's often not much of an issues, as such castes are the overwhelming majority that humanity ever has to deal with in the first place. More powerful demons can eventually break these bindings without outside help, while demons even more powerful than that simply can't be exorcised in the first place. There's also runes and sigils that can serve many purposes from hiding something from their detection to serving as a barrier that keeps them from entering, or even a barrier that keeps them trapped within and unable to use any of their powers once they enter. Theoretically runes and sigils can be carves into bullets or other projectiles so that when a demon comes into contact with them the desired effects apply accordingly. Wards are a particularly popular rune that not only keeps a demon from entering a building that has the ward on all exterior walls, but if inscribed or otherwise tattooed on the body can also protect against possession. Demon made weapons are also fully capable of killing their kin, though such weapons are rather uncommon in favor of using their innate powers and magic, quite different compared to their Paradise counterparts whom have standard issue weapons.

Chthonians

The evolved state of worthy Knights of Hell, Chthonians are the greatest powers in Perdition. Though relatively few and far between they command enough power that they rival even the Gods. They are capable of creating demons of their own design, with the same level of power that Perdition itself does, and can rather easily create brand new Planes of Perdition. More importantly, they are even capable of creating new Knights of Hell meant specifically to serve them, though these Knights will not be inherently more powerful or weaker than those created by Perdition. They will also have just as much of a probability of evolving into a Chthonian as any other Knight of Hell. A Knight of Hell is revealed to be "worthy" when the very core of their existence fundamentally changes through unknown means, allowing them to completely strip away past limitations they once shared with so many of their former brethren, achieving a state other demons refer to as Enlightenment. Upon achieving this state the Knight of Hell in question immediately grows in power, becoming far stronger than any normal Knight. Even so, this initial growth does not mark the end of a Knight's evolution, not by a long shot. In order for a rising Chthonian to continue evolving they must consume mass numbers of souls. Normal demons are also capable of consuming souls for rather hefty boosts in power temporarily, and a rather tasty snack, though only a Chthonian gains these boosts permanently for every soul they consume. These facts gave rise to the true reasons that the forces of Perdition aim to collect mortal souls in any way possible, going as far as to even make deals with them. Perdition is a realm based on self interest, and demons have self interest in collecting souls. The stronger want souls to get stronger, Chthonians in particular, while the weak gather soul on behalf of the strong otherwise they will be made into a snack themselves. The evolution process is divided into three, distinguishable stages. While all other physical aspects an evolving Chthonian will take on are virtually unpredictable, their eyes are the one and only trait that can be used to accurately pinpoint one and the stage of evolution they are in every single time. In the first stage, evolving Chthonians will have a black sclera with a white iris and pupil as they become equals to Minor Gods in power. Meanwhile, in Stage 2 where they rival Major Gods, a Chthonians sclera dulls to a more grey coloration while their iris and pupil turn red. Then, in the third and final stage, a Chthonians sclera develops a silvery hue with golden irises and pupils. By the time a Chthonian is fully evolved and has reached the end of the third stage they are capable of rivaling even the most powerful of Titan Gods. In fact, even Titan Gods themselves often view Chthonians as being more powerful, or at the very least more dangerous, than themselves. Beyond that, a Chthonian can physically appear however they wish, though they still have a true form that their evolution naturally takes on. They can just choose to look like something else, minus their eye color. Beyond just their natural appearances varying widely, many of the powers one may possess are equally unpredictable, possibly compensating for their lack of an "absolute power" like what the Gods of Paradise possess. Their new powers develop and manifest as they evolve, gradually getting stronger. It is popular belief, though unproven, that Chthonians actually directly influence the way in which they evolve through their own desires, practically choosing their natural appearance and the powers they gain. In spite of this unpredictable evolution, there are some powers that are simply standard, possessed by all Chthonians regardless of other powers they may manifest. Interestingly enough a fair amount of these powers parallel those of the Gods. They have Cosmic Awareness of all things involving themselves to any capacity and are capable of instantaneous teleportation to anywhere they see fit. They are capable of the same level of Alteration that the Gods themselves are, both of oneself and the world. In addition to this, they also heal instantly from any wounds they somehow sustain if a weakness was not properly exploited. Beyond these powers, which parallel the Gods, there are still others that do not. All Chthonians are capable of using powerful telekinesis and, if they so choose, can instantly corrupt the soul of a mortal to turn them into a new demonic entity. Though they typically prefer not to do that, as it's more fun to perform this corruption over gradual or otherwise extended lengths of time. Even if they don't turn the soul into a demonic entity they are still fully capable of removing a mortal soul from their body without killing the mortal in question, an ability given by their power of Alteration, an act which causes unpredictable changes in the then soulless mortal. Some merely become utterly empathetic, but are otherwise they same they were before, while others suffer from psychotic breaks that make them go on killing sprees. In terms of weaknesses, they too are vulnerable to powerful enough magic and spirit energy. A Gods Divine Spirit is also capable of killing them, or at the very least causing damage to them, though since Gods almost never leave the confines of Paradise the two races hardly ever cross paths themselves. Not to mention that, while more common than Gods, Chthonians rarely leave Perdition themselves either. Beyond this, Chthonians don't really have any weaknesses. In other words, any being wishing to fight a Chthonian must have great enough power in magic and/or Spirit/Life energy to kill one, otherwise they won't even really be able to hurt it. Now onto the truth about Chthonians, the part that few know. The evolution into a Chthonian is not limited exclusively to Knights of Hell. In fact, any demon is capable of this evolution, all they have to do is meet one prerequisite. They, just like the Champions of Paradise, must bare witness to their true origins. They must find the Core of Perdition, what little remains of a solid existence that the Idea still holds, and they must survive assimilation. In doing so they are connected to the Idea in much the same way as their Paradise counterparts are connected to the Belief, but unlike their counterparts they can't channel the power of Perdition. The Idea felt that permanent empowerment through soul consumption is far more effective than allowing servants to channel Its power, only to be rendered horribly weak after doing so. Due to the fact that demons have more or less free reign, while angels are more bound by order, it is far more common for demons to randomly venture into the depths of Perdition and inadvertently find the core. The problem is that surviving assimilation by the Belief is far easier than surviving assimilation by the Idea. Still, due to the sheer number of demons that find the core, Chthonians manage to hold onto being uncommon at best and relatively rare at worst, to the point that there is roughly 1 Chthonian for every 15 Gods. The fact is that, having survived assimilation by Perdition, they now know the truth of everything. They know what would happen if either side ever gained even the smallest advantage in the Enochian War. They refuse to share what they learned with any other creature, even other Chthonians, for the same reason that Champions of Paradise refuse to share- They wish they could forget. The true reason that a Chthonians eyes are the way the are is that what they saw scarred their eyes, in a way, to the point that they can't change or influence their eyes unlike every other aspect of their appearance. What other, more ignorant demons see as achieving Enlightenment, Chthonians themselves see as having a curse cast upon them. Now they seek to ensure that neither side ever gains any semblance of an advantage over the other in the Enochian Wars, less all as they know it and potentially even Immensus itself ceases to exist.

Nephilim

Put simply, a Nephilim is born when an angel (who is occupying a human vessel) reproduces with a human. They can also be born if two angels each possess a human and court each other, though such a Nephilim would be notably more powerful than the prior mentioned means. They are very rare, as to create a Nephilim is outlawed among Paradise and as such so is their very existence. Due to their existence being forbidden, a vast majority of angels go so far as to see Nephilim as abominations that must be exterminated and will even hunt them down if they discover the existence of one. The human and especially angel that made the abomination would also be harshly punished. In contrast to angels who must apply effort to conceal their angelic true form, a Nephilim must apply effort to reveal it. As such most Nephilim perpetually appear mortal which for them is their natural true form, as to reveal their angelic form would exhaust them rather quickly by burning up their stamina. In addition their angelic form is far more powerful than their true form, to a much greater extent than normal angels by comparison. While in their natural "mortal" form a Nephilim is still far more powerful than mortals, but would be easily overpowered by the weakest of angels, however if they were to use their angelic form an average Nephilim would gain a power increase substantial enough that they could potentially fight Minor Angels on semi-equal terms.

In their angelic form they have no wings and, rather than the bluish white of normal angels, their eyes are more a dimming grey glow. They cannot inhabit, aka possess, other beings unlike their angelic parent(s) nor can they teleport on a whim. However they do possess powerful telekinesis and great physical strength, and some Nephilim can even control elements such as fire or water. Despite their angelic heritage they cannot teleport. They can read the minds of mortals as well. Due to their angelic side, they can also heal others at will and cannot be truly harmed by mortal means. They can really only be hurt, let alone killed, by angelic weapons and powerful magic just like their angelic parent. Their powers are also ingrained into their very being, and to that end unlike their angelic parent(s) who can have their grace and power taken away, a Nephilim does not have any power-giving grace to have taken. Thus, for a Nephilim to lose their powers by having them taken is impossible...unlike full angels. They do, however, age as if they were mortal though they remain more youthful for far longer periods of time than a human. No Nephilim has actually lived long enough to pass from old age, though one known Nephilim managed to live to be nearly 4 million years old before being killed and he still appeared to be in his 20's.

Cambion

A Cambion is born when a demon, who is possessing a human, reproduces with a human. Two demons possessing two humans would yield the same result, though slightly more powerful. Unlike angels who consider Nephilim to be abominations, demons simply consider Cambion to be weak. They are rare, but more common than Nephilim, mostly because they aren't outlawed and simply don't often occur because demons rarely court with humans while possessing another human even as a rape simply because Demons have no natural desire for the pleasure of the flesh. Demons believe that their human half makes a Cambion weak and vulnerable, however that is not entirely true. On average, Cambion are just as powerful as black eyed demons with some even being as powerful as typical red eyed demons. Cambion have superhuman strength and powerful telekinesis, some also being able to control the elements or the whether itself. Cambion are also capable of teleporting still, unlike their Nephilim counterpart, and are capable of controlling the emotions and thoughts of humans at will. Their true eyes, which they can conceal and reveal completely at will, have a black sclera (the "whites" of the eyes) but their iris and pupil remain normal human colors. They are unable to possess humans, however they can shapeshift into any human or human looking being they might see. They can be killed by both demonic and angelic weapons, like normal demons, as well as very powerful magic. Also like Nephilim, they are technically mortal due to their human half and do age, but the extent of their natural life span is yet to be seen in any Cambion born to date. They also seem to stay in their "prime" almost indefinitely, as the oldest Cambion recorded reached nearly 1 billion years of age before finally being killed and she still appeared to be no more than 30 years old.

Nephalem

A truly rare creature, Nephalem are the result of a heavily outlawed and blasphemous unholy union between an Angel and a Demon both of which would have to be inhabiting a human vessel at the time of conception. The number of Nephalem through all history is virtually unknown, as whenever one is born all evidence of the child's existence is wiped away by the parents. Due to the relationship Angels and Demons share, the birth of a Nephalem is always consensual and the result of legitimate feelings between the two parents...which only makes the relationship and the child's existence that much more traitorous. Unlike Cambion and Nephilium, the power of a Nephalem is actually dependent on the parents. The more powerful the demon and angel parents, the more powerful the Nephalem child, who is typically born with the average strength of their parents. Using random numbers as an example, if the mother was at a 13 in power and the father was 23, then the Nephalem child would be 18 (13+23=36, 36/2=18). Then, naturally, after their birth they can really only grow stronger, though they likely won't become much stronger than their strongest parent. Regardless of the power of their parents, Nephalem are immune to the telekinetic powers of both Demons and Angels. They themselves also possess immensely powerful telekinesis and physical abilities, as well as the power to teleport instantly to anywhere they want. Additionally they can possess mortals as well as even less powerful demons, less powerful angels, and even reapers for a short period. They are also immune to exorcisms as well as other means of banishing.

They can however be trapped by a special sigil which is a hybrid of the Angel and Demon trap sigils, meaning while in this sigil a Nephalem loses all their powers. With a wave of their hand however a Nephalem can essentially erase a Demon trap as well as an Angel trap on their own, thus only when combined into one sigil can they work against one. They can control the whether at will and control the elements. Depending on the abilities of their parents they can also potentially possess biokinesis, the ability to heal others, telepathy, the ability to control minds, manipulate memories, and a fiery orange smiting light as well as holy light capable of destroying angels, demons, and most mortals at a molecular level. Their true form, in which all their abilities increase, has black wings similar to an angels in appearance though smaller with solid blue glowing eyes and a tint of their demon parents eye color (black, red, yellow, violet, or white). They also have to apply no effort in showing or concealing their true form. They are immune to demonic weapons but are still fully susceptible to angelic weapons as well as immensely powerful magic. They also still age but so far a limit to how old they can get has not been seen, and they stay in their prime for hundreds of millions of years. They are believed to be able to live for billions upon billions of years but no Nephalem have ever been confirmed as living half that long, for they are killed long before then. Both angels and demons will hunt any Nephalem to the ends of the universe in order to purge one, as well as the demon and angel that resulted in one being born into this world in the first place. It's one of the few things angels and demons can agree on: Nephalem are abominations that must be purged, and cannot be allowed to exist.

Purgatory

There is one final natural realm of existence, making four natural realms in total. The operative word there being "natural" as there's several other unnatural realms, such as aura's Mirror realm or the Shadow Realm. There's the mortal realm where living souls reside, Paradise where the lost souls of the pure and good reside, and Perdition where the lost souls of the corrupt and evil reside. Purgatory however is the realm where the lost souls of monsters, creatures, and other beings that don't exist naturally in the mortal realm go. If it is a species that doesn't doesn't occur in the mortal realm naturally in some way then Purgatory is where their soul goes upon death. Often, being created through magic and being created by demons go here. While Perdition and Paradise come in various planes, Purgatory only has a single plane which all creatures and monsters go to. Purgatory is an endless forest in a perpetual gloom with fog naturally occurring a majority of the time. Just when one thinks they have reached the end of Purgatory, they loop right back around to the beginning. It is also completely void of all modern tools and synthetic materials, leaving it so if one wants a weapon in Purgatory they must make one out of things such as bones, rocks, sticks and vines. Such weapons are used by those who inhabit Purgatory, sometimes just for fun but most often to fight other inhabitants that are more physically gifted.

Being inhabited entirely by creatures and monsters, Purgatory is literally kill or be killed. Hunt or be hunted. Fight or be a punching bag. Purgatory is true chaos with no leaders or official rulers, as even the strong can be killed by the weak there. Those in Purgatory can still be killed, though only temporarily as they are already dead, so given time their soul that inhabits Purgatory will eventually regenerate itself to continue the cycle of fighting and killing. A portal to Purgatory can be opened through a special sigil so that any being can enter or leave Purgatory. This portal however also requires a spell to be performed in order for it to work, one that requires the blood of a virgin, the blood of a demon, the blood of an angel, and the blood of a being that upon their death they will go to Purgatory. The sigil must be drawn in the mixed blood of the four beings as the proper incantations are read. Once opened, the portal only remains open for a few minutes. If a soul manages to escape through this portal they can search for their former "mortal" body and come back to life, via their soul sparking life back into their body. Alternatively reapers can come and go from Purgatory as they wish, bringing or taking the lost souls of whoever they like in the process. Of the essentially countless monster and creature souls that have been pushed into Purgatory, only an estimated few thousand have managed to escape while even fewer have been "rescued" by reapers. Purgatory is described as being worse than hell by those who have been there, on whole new levels of blood, gore, and violence. This is a description most commonly given by reapers, who can and do freely visit both Perdition and Purgatory regularly as they transport souls to their respective afterlife.

Horsemen of the Apocalypse

The fabled Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse do exist, though they went for a long time without the title of Horsemen. It was not until humans began calling them as such they were ever known by Horsemen of the Apocalypse, before that they didn't really even have names, not that they really care about the title. Or names...or much of anything to be honest. Each one came in to existence with the first case of hunger, confrontation (war), illness, and death in history. This of course makes among the oldest beings that exist. They are all Old Spirits, and among the most powerful Old Spirits at that. As Old Spirits they do not technically have an actual physical form, rather they can choose what form they take. In the event of them taking physical form they almost always take the form of a human, generally wearing nice suits. They each possess abilities unique to themselves, but there are a few collective abilities that all four of them possess. The first is that all four of them are ageless and cannot be killed at all, though they can temporarily be detained or sealed via unimaginably powerful magic and similar things but they will eventually manage to free themselves....only a very special kind of magic can seal them permanently, the Magic of a True Dragon. Each of them can also teleport instantly to anywhere they desire with a mere thought, and by instantly I mean INSTANTLY. They are also all nigh-indestructible since they are just manifested concepts of existence, so they cannot be truly be harmed. All of the Horsemen also possess telekinesis, able to manipulate physical matter at will. Each of them can and do actively create so called "children" of their own who act as servants, followers, and messengers. Like their fathers they are also Old Spirits. These children are basically just weaker version of their parents, possessing instant teleportation. Finally they are all naturally invisible and can only be seen if they so choose by taking a physical form. Unlike their fathers, the so called Children of the Apocalypse as humans call them do have a physical form at all times. They can choose what this form looks like, and they are still naturally invisible to mortals, but they have physical forms nonetheless. Children of the Apocalypse can only be seen by those who are able to see into the Veil, such as Divinity and Dragons. As far as unique abilities go each of them have powers based around their name. War can create illusions and hallucinations that drive people mad, causing them to resort to extreme violence and turning on one another with extreme prejudice. He can also read the minds of others via telepathy, a useful tool to use so he knows what will drive individual targets in particular to violence most effectively. Additionally he has practically immeasurable physical strength. His mere presence is often enough to cause anything unlucky enough to be near him to see their worst fears and memories come to life in the form of these illusions, but they will think everything they see it real as what they see drives them to insanity fueled violence. He does have control over this however, so if he merely contains his presence this will not and cannot happen. War's children, which he calls Drengr, help him carry out his work by wandering around and using their powers to manipulate mortals into waging war against one another.

You can bet that behind every sudden, unexpected war is a Drengr or perhaps even War himself. Naturally they are not quite as powerful as War himself. They have all the same powers as him, minus the insanity fueling presence, but to a far lesser degree. Famine can eat anything he pleases regardless of if it is actually edible or not. He can also cause great, uncontrollable hunger in others and even drive them to devour whatever they crave most...even if what they most desire isn't technically edible. If what you crave most is the love of your life, Famine's influence will literally drive you to eat them, but on the bright side if he's close enough to affect you then he's affecting your lover as well so they're probably eating you right back. Famine can also directly choose what his victim's consume by making them have specific cravings, such as a craving for oil or rocks. Those who are touched by Famine's influence literally eat themselves to death in one way or another, generally due to eating until their stomachs literally burst. Many victims of Famine die before they even get that far however because it's not uncommon for his victim's to end up eating something poisonous or otherwise deadly if consumed to any degree, let alone in a large quantity. Like his brothers all it takes is for Famine to be in a mortals general vicinity and they will be cursed with a hunger than can never be fulfilled, unless he wills it otherwise that is. Famine's children are known as Gratim's. Famine's children are nearly just as powerful as himself, but not quite, just like all Children of the Apocalypse. Unlike his brothers however, who do not have any innate cravings or need for any form of sustenance, he and his children have an almost insatiable hunger for souls and spirits of all kinds. Demons, angels, humans, even Gods...nothing is off limit to them. They will eat it all with great pleasure, not because they require it...but because they simply crave for it. Pestilence can create, manipulate, and control all diseases of all kinds. He naturally has the ability to make any target sick with any illness he chooses instantaneously, holding the ability to even alter the severity of how sick they are to make something as simple as the common cold a sentence to certain death. He can also create brand new illnesses from scratch or heavily modify existing ones into newer, deadlier strands of themselves. While this is really his only unique power, he does not really need any others. The ability to cripple any target with sheer illness is a simple yet powerful ability. Pestilence's children, called Vectors, are also particularly effective at their job. Disease spreads so easily even on its own after all, so just imagine how easily it spreads when a Vector let alone Pestilence is around infecting people with whatever they wish.

Then finally Death, who thankfully doesn't use his powers as he pleases like his brethren, and is easily one of the most powerful beings in all existence for obvious reasons. He takes his role as the grim reaper very seriously, and normally only reaps those who are already dead or dying...as it is their time. Due to his advanced age, and his role in existence, he views basically everything there is as insignificant in the grand scheme of things. He also will rarely interfere in just about anything, instead preferring to see how events unfold. He has become rather content with the "old man in a black suit" look. Click here to see how he chooses to look. He has the ability to cause instant (and permanent) death in anyone or anything with a simple touch or even a mere thought. He can also bring others back to life in any state he chooses just as easily as he can kill them, though since bringing the dead back to life is against the natural order he never really does it. Additionally he is near completely omniscient, with there being very few things he isn't aware of, and being death incarnate he can be anywhere and everywhere that he pleases at once (omnipresent). He can also control the whether to such a degree that he can create apocalyptic level catastrophe capable of wiping out entire Sector groups at once with minimal effort on his part. In addition he can control the temperature of the air and other objects, to the point he can flash freeze the air itself or turn solid metal into a gas. He can also tell what something truly is regardless of what state it is in, such as being able to tell a shapeshifters true form or see when someone/something is being possessed, likely in part due to his ability to read the very soul of everything around him. He can also manipulate the memories of those around him, anything from merely suppressing them so that the memories may be able to return as some point, to making one completely forget given memories, or even giving them completely fictional memories that never happened. He views life as a very powerful thing and thinks humanity is beautiful, a thought that directly conflicts with the views of his brothers. He only claims lives that he feels are past their expiration date. He does get bored, and MIGHT (that's a very big might), decide that a given Sector has reached this expiration date...but he only gets that bored once every few hundred thousand years so it's not that much to worry about.

Reapers

Reapers are the children of Death himself, and possess many of the abilities their father does but to a lesser extent. Additionally, Reapers often actually guide the souls they reap to their respective next world (i.e either Paradise, Perdition, or Purgatory) unlike their father who simply claims the life and leaves it at that. Sometimes what is known as rogue reapers, who have strayed away from the path they were created for, might make special deals and take a soul somewhere other than what they were meant to. Examples include taking a human soul to Purgatory or taking the soul of a good person to Perdition. Essentially, rogue reapers don't follow the plan of the Natural Order and just do what they want, and honestly speaking Death lets them because he couldn't care less. He can easily create a replacement reaper and/or correct the rogue's errors if they are drastic enough that they require fixing. Unless they start bringing people back to life one after another, Death will more or less allow rogue reapers to reign free. After all, he created them to have free will and individuality purely for the sake of watching and enjoying his children acting how they please, so to suppress the very things he gave to them in their creation would defeat the purpose of him giving such things to them in the first place. Should a soul resist going with their reaper they normally don't force them to the next world despite being more than capable of it, though said soul is still dead so they remain on this world as a ghost. As a whole there are typically two kinds of reapers: Traditional Reapers and Modernized Reapers. Traditional Reapers are often the stereotypical skeletal appearance with a scythe and black cloak, and simply want to reap a soul and get on with it. They don't care about guiding them, and will just send them on their way before moving on to the next. Modernized Reapers however, the more common of the two, are the ones who actually guide their targets and at least pretend to care. They dress formally, relative to whatever the modern age they are in uses as formal attire. Modernized Reapers feel this appearance helps soothe recently deceased souls into cooperating that way they don't have to force them, while again Traditional Reapers just don't care. Reapers can choose how they appear at any point in time, from their clothing to their literal physical appearance. It is their job to reap the souls of the dead and as such whenever something dies a reaper is almost always there to collect. While they are essentially harbingers of death, they cannot kill whoever they please through simple touch. Unlike their father, who can kill whoever he pleases with a simple touch or even mere gesture, a reaper's innate power only allows them to kill those who are already near death for one reason or another. This, of course, does not mean reapers can't kill people otherwise. They can always use some form of a weapon to do so, but being able to cut off someones head with a scythe or something isn't a special power.

Additionally they can rip the souls from people without killing the body, and they could then kill the soul which would result in the bodies death as well. This means they can also remove a being that is possessing another being, just like their father. So, while they can't just kill with mere gestures like Death, they can still kill basically anyone just the same. They just have to try to do so, rather than merely think it. Speaking of the soul, reapers can read the souls around them just like Death himself, so no matter what state or form those around them take they can always tell who or what they truly are. Many reapers also learn Death Magic and, due to their deep understand of death that is beaten only by Death himself, any reaper who learns death magic is so powerful in the craft that they can kill...well, pretty much anything. Even Gods if they had to. They too can bring the dead back to life, though since it goes against the natural order and thus goes against their fathers Will most reapers would never dare bring back someone who is already dead. They can also alter the perception of humans, making it so a human will see whatever a reaper wants them to see. If a reaper chose to they could make a human see a complete world of illusions. They can heal people in a way, but rather than actually healing a person of a given disease, injury, or other ailment a reaper simply transfers it to someone else. In addition a reaper can possess humans at will, not unlike demons, though they can also possess demons and angels (not that they really have a reason to). They, like their father, can also read the souls of beings around them which makes it so they can also read any given being for what it really is regardless of the form they are in. They also have incredibly powerful telekinesis. Due to all of their abilities, any reaper who learns Death Magic instantly becomes one of the most powerful Divine beings that exists. However, unlike their father, they can be killed. Namely by Death himself and Archangel weapons, while highly powerful magic can bind them to do the casters bidding or even seal them away. To bind a reaper however is a very hard, very powerful, and needless to say very dark spell. It is not easy to do, and quite frankly it pisses off a reaper when they are bound. If a reaper knows magic they can also generally break the bindings themselves with their own magic...and then you have a reaper that wants you dead. Have fun with that. Honestly, sealing one away is safer than binding one, but it's still very high level stuff. Far greater of a level than nearly any humans ever even dream of achieving. Every living being on Immensus has a reaper directly assigned to them, however there is not a personal reaper for every being. In reality a single reaper is estimated to be assigned to several trillion souls. Each person has near countless predestined moments at which their death could come, and a reaper knows a vast majority of them (but not all) instinctively for each of their assigned souls. Since these moments are times of potential death, it is up to the assigned reaper if this will be the moment their target ultimately dies. Normally reapers go by a rule of chance- Realistically speaking, what are a persons chances of surviving this? If they have somewhat of a chance, then they might be allowed to live.

If survival is borderline a sure thing, a reaper is almost guaranteed to allow them to live unless they decide to be a particular kind of dick. At the same time, if a given moment has little to no chance of survival a reaper will almost always mark that moment as the moment for their target to die. I.e if someone is choking but someone who knows what they are doing performs the heimlich, chances are a reaper will let the moment pass since their chances at that time is pretty solid. However without the proper intervention most reapers would likely reap said choking person, as their chances of surviving aren't very high without someone saving them. Then say someone has a really bad case of cancer? Even with professional medical treatment, their chances of surviving are almost zero, and as such most reapers would likely seize the moment with the knowledge that even without their presence said cancer patient will still likely die within the week. In this event, a reaper is basically mercy killing someone. Some reapers often just go as far as to wait things out until their targets begin to die on their own, which is the lazy way out for a reaper. There's a rather high number of reapers who aren't patient enough to wait for their marks to "naturally" die, hence why most reapers take it upon themselves to kill their marks when the time is right. So really it comes down to are they too impatient to wait for them to die on their own, or at they too lazy to actually go out and do their full job. But there's also a chance that moments where unplanned death can occur, things that just kind of randomly happen with no real planning or anything, such as a random murder. So not all moments of death are actually planned...some just kind of happen and the assigned reaper is like "lolz, what? This wasn't supposed to happen...". It is times like these where a reaper MIGHT bring one back to life, as their death wasn't planned for this moment, though it still isn't likely. A reaper is not required for death to occur, they are only required for a soul to properly move on to their respective after life, and beings can die without a reaper even being present. Having a high level of cosmic awareness, to the point they are nigh-omniscient like their father, reapers know when an event that is going to take hundreds or even thousands of lives is going to take place (such as an earthquake). At these times a mass collection of reapers often just sit and wait in the area for the catastrophe to hit so people start dying and they can get to work. For those who can see into the veil and thus see reapers, it is quite the unsettling thing to just see a group of hundreds even thousands of people just standing around not moving. The big difference between a life Death takes and a life a normal reapers takes is that a life that a normal reapers takes can potentially be brought back by another reaper, black magic, etc. A soul that Death himself reaps on the other hand is rendered permanently dead and no one other than himself can bring them back unless he allows otherwise, which needless to say he almost NEVER does. Reapers and Death are also the only known beings that can openly and freely move between all four natural realms of existence completely at will (mortal, Paradise, Perdition, and Purgatory) without having to force their ways through or anything of the sort.

Ghosts

Ghosts occur when someone dies and, for one reason or another, does not move onto the after life thus becoming stuck in what is known as The Veil. Normally this is because a ghost refuses to go with their reaper to their respective after life. This is a plane between the Mortal realm and the After Life (Paradise, Perdition, and Purgatory) and is also the plane that reapers and Death normally inhabit. Angels and Demons can also enter this plane at will. Beings in this plane are invisible to those in the Mortal Realm, though some beings (such as mediums) have the innate ability to see into the veil or otherwise contact it and thus see communicate with/see the ghosts that reside in it. These souls become ghosts who wander through the Veil, often being unable to interact with anyone or anything in the Mortal Realm for decades despite being able to see and hear everyone around them. It can take some time, but nearly all ghosts eventually go mad because of this. Because of this fact, typically the longer a ghost remains in the Mortal realm the more dangerous and violent it becomes. Most even describe ghosts as injured animals: They become so angry and upset that they just lash out and anyone and anything that crosses their path. While at first ghosts are simply wandering around and can't be felt or seen, nor can they do anything, eventually they either teach themselves how to interact with the world and take a "physical" form or they encounter another more experienced ghost who teaches them. For a ghost to interact with the world around them they must be able to achieve one of two things and control it: They must either be able to completely calm both themselves and their mind...or they must have an absolute blinding rage. Pick one. Most ghosts access their powers through being calm.

Most ghosts often refuse to believe they could actually be dead, especially if their death was so sudden they legitimately don't know what happened, meaning that once they finally do realize they are dead they become confused, disoriented, and in many cases enraged. It is for that reason that many ghosts end up becoming what is known as an Angry or Vengeful spirit, the ones you would hear about haunting places. The more they harness either their serenity or anger, the more than can do. While ghosts who harness serenity can simply cause cold spots wherever they are, ghosts who harness anger cause cold spots as well as potentially generate a black goo substance known as ectoplasm but only in extreme cases. This ectoplasm, though uncommon, is often used as a means to identify "normal" spirits versus seriously pissed off ones. Ghosts also disrupt electronics with their presence, making them glitch out or otherwise go haywire. Ghosts can potentially learn how to take a physical form as if they were still alive, one in which they could be seen again, by breaking through the Veil temporarily (though this requires great effort and can exhaust a ghost). They can also learn to possess beings that still live, they can learn telekinesis, and of course they can learn the most basic ability of simply grabbing, moving, and or throwing things by actually touching them. Though, being invisible to those around them, it would appear as if said object(s) is/are floating. They are also immensely strong, able to overpower even high tier demons, as they don't have the limits of a physical body controlling what they can and cannot do. Since ghosts are simply disembodied souls they have very few true weaknesses. First off, their obvious weaknesses, are reapers, Death himself, and other beings or means of attack that can directly harm and/or touch a soul. Being a ghost aka spirit or soul, these are very effective means. To actually kill a ghost, one must be able to completely and utterly destroy a soul. If they can do that...they can learn how to kill a ghost. Killing a ghost is actually much more difficult than destroying a soul though, especially if the ghost has been around for a while and knows all the tips and tricks of being a ghost.

Other than that however, they are also vulnerable to salt and iron. Salt can make them temporarily lose their abilities to do anything, including manifest themselves into a physical form. They also cannot cross lines of salt. Iron has a very similar effect, but being solid it can actually be used as a stable form of defense against a ghost rather than salt which could easily be blown away by natural means such as wind or even someone just getting in the way or walking by. There are however only a few ways to actually stop them for good. One such means is to find the ghosts human remains, dig them up if need be, then burn them. This will send the spirit up in flames, causing great pain, and force them to their respective after life. Every last bit of a ghost remains must be burned before the spirit will burn as well, right down to the last hair or even residual blood stain that never got cleaned properly from their childhood. Alternatively, sometimes people who are cremated still become a ghost. In this situation their spirit is bonded to an object they had a close personal connection with, such as a flask, a necklace, or a doll. Since there are no bones to burn, this object must be salted and burned in its place. Ghosts, luckily, can normally only inhabit one of a few places. They can often only inhabit the location of their death such as a park or building, the location of their remains (which can be in multiple places, if their remains are scattered), and/or the remains of a close personal object. Smarter or more clever ghosts who want to be able to freely roam often will take a portion of their remains or their personal object and carry it around with them, after they learn how to interact with the physical world that is, effectively making it so they can freely roam around without being stuck in a given area. If they possess another being they can go wherever they see fit, or if they somehow bond their own soul with the soul of another person said ghost is instead trapped within a certain range of their bond mate. In rare instances a ghost may find a way to break all these "haunting" rules, and roam freely regardless of other factors. Generally speaking, only those ghosts who control their power through complete calmness and serenity are capable of this. There are also spells that can allow a ghost to roam freely.