The Nature of Humanity, the Gods, and Demons
In my campaign, demons (I lump demons, devils, and daemons into the same category) are the aborted and twisted first progeny of two mysterious beings named Ishu and Marut. Before Ishu birthed the demons, she came into contact with "something" that caused them to be deformed and twisted mockeries of what they should have been. The demons were cruel, selfish, and preyed upon each other, siphoning and consuming each other's souls and spiritual energy for their own purposes. Ishu and Marut were so horrified by their children and their twisted powers over their own souls that they banished them to another realm, which mortals call "Hell". However, since the demons are direct progeny of cosmic beings, they have the power of deities, and can shape and control their environment as they please, so Hell appears as whatever the controlling demon of the area wishes it to be like. Demons are also masters of soulcrafting, or modifying and utilizing spiritual energy, and as such are formless beings. In order to take physical form, the demon must expend tremendous energy to manifest a body, or possess an already living host (rarely do they animate the bodies of the dead). Some areas of Hell are beautiful scenic woodlands, others are plains of ash littered with scorched bodies. Just depends on the individual demon's preferences. None of this information is known by ANY human or god- demons predate the gods, and Hell is not someplace you can travel to before death (well, you can go there before death if a demon takes you there, but you WON'T ever come back)- so no spells or gates can allow you to plane hop.
The gods of my campaign world are also children of Ishu and Marut, but ones that didn't come into contact with whatever the demons did. However, something else drew Ishu and Marut's attention, and they left the unborn gods with another being named Chronon, who would act as a teacher and mentor for them, but let them live their existences as they saw fit and not interfere, simply watch them. Over time the gods began to awaken, and took an active interest in the world that Ishu and Marut had created, becoming masters of the elements, nature, animals, and the heavens. However, the passions of their parents were still within them, and they desired to create life of their own- sentient life.
However, the gods had no idea how to create life, although they were masters of altering life and the world. During this time is when the gods first became aware of the demons. The demons did not know the gods were also children of Ishu and Marut (whom they hated for abandoning them and locking them away), nor did the gods know anything of the demons. For a time, the two groups coexisted peacefully, sharing knowledge and power, and the gods helped to weaken the boundaries between Hell and the physical world. The demons were masters of soulcrafting- modifying spiritual energies and reforming them for other purposes and uses. Together with the gods’ mastery over form, the demons and gods were able to create sentient life- humans. During the creation of humans though, the gods, jealous of the spiritual abilities of the demons, infused some of their divine power in every human, such that as humans multiplied and paid spiritual tribute to the gods, the gods could reap the rewards of faith and enhance their own power. The demons did not notice this until humans began to multiply and worship the gods as their creators. When some demons tried to establish cults devoted to their worship, they could not draw the spiritual energy from humans as the gods did, and they became enraged. However, demons could infuse some of their power into a human, often in exchange for services or souls- the practice of diabolism.
A war between the gods and demons followed, with humans caught in the middle. The world was ravaged by their battles, and humanity was nearly driven to extinction. When it seemed as if total annihilation was inevitable, Ishu and Marut returned, and commanded the war to cease. Chronon reported to Ishu and Marut what he had observed, and a decision was made: the gods would forever be physically banished from the world for their arrogance, deceit and freeing the infernal hosts, and would only be able to affect it through their proxies holding a spark of divine power- the humans. The demons were banished back to Hell, but because the boundaries of Hell were weakened, they could enter the world via invitation or spell, and once in the world could conduct themselves as they pleased, but they were also susceptible to commands from mortals that knew the proper holy words or rituals to bind them. This command, known as the Divine Mandate is still in effect today, with violations of it being punished harshly with annihilation of the offending party. After proclaiming this, Ishu and Marut again left, and have not been seen or heard from since then.
Humans, as a whole, have no idea about any of this. They believe (through oral and written history, divination spells, and mythology) that the gods created them, and the demons are ancient adversaries bent on the destruction of humanity. They know that the gods are distant and never involve themselves directly in worldly matters, but they do occasionally send divine servitors as messengers to their faithful. Humans truly believe that the gods are their benefactors, caretakers, and dutifully watch over their children. While some gods do feel love or affection for some humans, the truth is that to the gods, humans are a resource to be reaped for faith and spiritual power, and this is the primary reason the gods are protective of humanity. This has expanded the gods’ power immensely in the millennia since the Divine Mandate, and gives them an advantage over the demons. However, because the gods do not have power over the creation or control of souls, they cannot bring back the dead, and the faithful who die and go to be with their respective deity will forever be bound to that god, never changing or growing. The demons, on the other hand, see humans as flawed creations and abominations that must be destroyed and their souls reclaimed by diabolic forces, so they can eventually make a counterattack on the gods and destroy them. By promoting corruption and undermining faith, the demons strengthen their own powerbase, as any soul unclaimed by a god as one of its faithful when it dies goes to Hell. Oddly enough, some demons seem somewhat affectionate towards some humans, looking at them as wayward children, and try to re-direct them back to their side via promises of power, pleasure, and an easier life. These individuals, known as diabolists, possess great power and are tasked by their demonic masters to undermine the power of the gods in the world in exchange for their boons. Ultimately though, when a diabolist dies, his soul goes to his patron demon, who can then use it as he pleases.
