I stayed up too late writing a lore dump on my phone.... sticking it under the cut just so I have it somewhere concrete
This is one of the basic building blocks of the universe. Just as physical things are made of atoms, spiritual and magical things are made of mana.
There is mana abundant in the universe, but it isn't something everyone can access. Human souls are made of mana, but most humans cannot cast magic. After death, human souls are returned to the fabric of the universe just as human bodies decompose into carbon and rejoin the earth. For most people this is all that exists after death: a return to whence we were made. But for some, deals can be made. That's where angels and demons come in.
Angels are beings who are capable of drawing, storing and casting mana as magic from the universe around them. They are capable of miracles, and can change their shape at will. These beings have formed an organizational structure for dealing with humankind and human souls- we call this organization Heaven.
Heaven is run with a similar structure to a government. Officials are elected by vote, with representatives being chosen at larger scales the higher up the ranking one goes. At the top level of heaven exists what is essentially an angelic Supreme Court- those who have the final say on what is or is not angelic law. Angels work to uphold a sense of order and balance in the world, and to create a fair and just existence.
In order to do so, angels make deals with humans to reward their souls with preservation after death. When a human has been deemed to have a positive impact on the world around them, and when they have prayed to angels for life after death, their souls are kept in Heaven. This is something between walled garden and museum display- a collection of the mana that once made up the humans deemed worthy by angelkind.
The environment in Heaven is best thought of as political. Angelic relationships tend to remain professional, polite, and above all private. Since the entire system is run democratically, reputation and status mean everything to angels. It is far more dangerous to be caught up in a whisper campaign in Heaven than any physical threat- a poor enough reputation will trap angels in lowly positions with no hope of advancement, while a good reputation and a solid network are needed to maintain any sort of influence over the celestial legal system.
Human souls are judged and reviewed by the Celestial Court, a legal system that reviews the life and impact of each human soul brought in as a potential candidate for preservation. Celestial defense attorneys, such as Asphodel (before their quiet exile) are tasked with presenting a case as to why this human is worthy of Heaven. Those souls rejected in court will be released into the universe once more.
Celestial court also handles cases where human souls cross paths with Demons. Demons are a different kind of being, and their dominion is known as Hell.
Demons are not capable of drawing mana from the universe. They are formed from mana, but after establishing themselves as sentient beings, they cannot pull from the fabric of the universe the way Angels can. This means demons must rely on another source of mana: that contained in the human soul.
Hell functions a lot like a large corporation. Demons make deals with humans to grant them favors in exchange for their souls, after which their souls are sent up the pipeline to the Devil. The Devil then distributes from the mana pooled by all demons under his employ, with the amount of mana each demon receives proportional to their position in the company. Promotions up the ranks happen when demons are exceptionally skilled or experienced, with demons at the lower ranks serving more menial or administrative jobs. Vin worked in a position where his job was keeping track of records and collections, managing data on how much mana came and went through his pipeline. Other demons, like Nik and Ike, would have been in charge of writing contracts or making offers directly, in what more closely resemble sales positions.
The atmosphere in Hell can be thought of more like a large company with many small social groups and networks. Because the work is stressful- and because demons need to know human vices and pleasures well in order to offer them- Hell has a rather rowdy party culture. Demons are known for indulgence and hedonism, working only so that they can run wild in their hours off.
Because they are both attempting to collect human souls for different purposes, demons and angels consider themselves to be enemies. However, there is a small portion of both populations who spend their time on Earth, and who have acclimated to one another. These may be those who work in the field directly- offering deals or miracles- or they may be exiles.
Exiles are demons or angels who no longer live in Heaven or Hell. There are a variety of reasons this may happen, but most often this is due to negative circumstances. For example, Vin is exiled due to a series of loopholes which resulted in an unfulfilled contract. Because he was accidentally summoned with a summoning circle typo, he was summoned for magic he could not actually provide. On top of this, his summoners died immediately from their bungled magic, which left Vin unable to negotiate any adjustments to their terms. As a result, he must stay in earth indefinitely, as the terms of his contract dictate he's only free to return to Hell once he has completed his end of the bargain. Most demons trapped on earth are similarly bound by contracts or exiled for their failures to perform their jobs in Hell.
Angelic exiles, on the other hand, tend to be a bit subtler. Angels have a system called Falling that can be used to cut an angel off from all mana in the universe. However, this is an incredibly dangerous process. An angel cut off from the source of all mana creates something like a black hole in that angel, causing them to pull indiscriminately from everything around them- compromising both the magical equilibrium of a location as well as draining and potentially killing any humans, demons and/or angels around them.
To avoid this outcome, fallen angels are collared. The collar binds the fallen angel, containing them to a singular form and quantity of mana. Collared fallen can no longer shapeshift, cast magic, or absorb mana. They are held in stasis unless their collar is removed- which would result in the aforementioned magical black hole. This means that properly Falling is a very rare verdict for the celestial court, reserved only for those whom the creation of a dangerous magical weapon still presents less threat than leaving them to their own devices in Heaven.
Instead of Falling, exiles like Asphodel tend to have been quietly pushed out while making it seem like their own idea. Since reputation and status are so important to angels, many angels who are looked down upon, isolated from or shunned by their peers quietly slip away to earth under the pretense of a project or vacation. This is generally framed as the exile's own decision, though it is usually clear that the angel's peers and superiors are making the decision for them. In these cases, exiled angels are more like estranged family members- quietly cutting off those in Heaven unless an emergency happens, cut off themselves from any access to mana or magic. Exiled angels tend to be reclusive and low-key, living among humans and avoiding drawing unnecessary attention to themselves.
Amongst these circumstances, it's hardly odd for a reclusive pair of exiles like Vin and Asphodel to cross paths. And while Vin may no longer be able to earn mana from hell, there are ways for demons to collect it that do not need the same process.
Human souls tend to shed mana the same way their bodies shed skin cells and hairs. On an individual level, this is a negligible amount of mana, but at larger concentrations of people this amount of mana can be collected quite easily. Human souls tend to shed more mana when emotions are high, so events where large amounts of people gather and experience strong collective emotions make for excellent opportunities for demons. These may be things like concerts, movies, theme parks, gatherings, or even streams- mana operates on emotional closeness or collectivity with the crowd, not physical.
As a result, many exiled demons become involved in culture or the arts. Music, theater, art, filmmaking and dance are all common ways for demons to engage with humans in order to draw them together and unite them in collective experiences in order to harvest mana. Combined with demons’ hedonistic culture in hell, it means a great deal of demons also frequent clubs, bars, raves and parties.
areudirty
gamechangershow
jimmyeatworldofficial
gummygunk
izzy806
amandla
blakekathryn
2087