Angels: Winged and halo-ed beings, messengers, servants, and soldiers of The Divine. Righteous, but not always benevolent, the Angels stationed in Purgatory never forget how far they are from home, finding the place strange, misguided, inhospitable, and tragic. It is a constant danger to their sense of themselves, a trial and a temptation, too miserable but also too vibrantly alive in ways the land of the dead should not be. Angel wings are generally white, but may also come in bright, natural colors. Angels in the Market are often particularly resentful of the authority of the Sithen, as Dhuosnos asserts his prerogatives frequently and forcefully.
Demons: Adorned with horns and tail, the more powerful also sporting wings (but never the bright-colored or stainless wings of angels), Demons are the fallen, rebels against the Divine, beings to whom independence is more important than harmony. Some are sadistic and malicious, some chaotic and hedonistic, some simply too passionate to be governed. Purgatory suits them - but the necessary limits and restrictions they must suffer to remain in the Market do not. Demons in the Market cannot help but feel that Dhuosnos ought to have been a Demon, for his defiance of other norms and mercenary outlook, or an Angel, with his autocratic insistence on authority.
Sithen: The Sithen all made a choice. Angels chose to serve the Divine; Demons to rebel. Sithen disobeyed only one divine command: to make war on the Rebels. For that, they were cast out and despised by both sides of the war. Now, countless ages after it began, they have claimed the scorched battlefield between Heaven and Hell as their own country, bribed both sides for the right to the land, and depend upon both sides to use them in diplomacy, espionage, and trade, pacifist mercenaries eking out a living in a warzone. Some Sithen are serene as angels, some as resentful as demons. Most have gossamer wings and long, pointed ears, but some share or mingle angelic or demonic traits instead; Sithen with illusion as a part of their Demesnes may appear as Immortali or other celestial beings, for a time. In the Market of Tech Duinn, Immortali & Peregrines are welcome, Angels & Demons tolerated, but more than anywhere else save the Queen’s Court, Sithen rule. Some Sithen are unused to this status and authority, and often shocked by how Dhuosnos & others throw their weight around. Others are emboldened to the kind of confident hierarchy Angels so often display elsewhere.
Immortali: Not everyone dies. A few humans or other mortal beings escape or cheat death, whether through Divine heritage or magic, curses or blessings, defeating or evading an Angel of Death… many of these eventually enter the Land of the Dead in any case, unable to finish their spiritual journeys in life, and end up foreign nationals in Purgatory. Unbound by the careful rules of the warring spiritual beings here, Immortali spend their afterlives collecting wealth, pursuing their dreams, or in whatever decadent manner may suit them. Some Immortali may have visible non-human traits, at player discretion. They are comparatively rich and carefree, but never able to forget that they do not belong, not in any realm. The Immortali of the Market tend to be those who have something they desperately want that centuries or millennia of life have not enabled them to procure.
To the casual eye, any Investigator in the Market will appear to be an Immortali. They revive upon bodily death, answer to strange beings who cursed them with strange magics, and wander the worlds on mysterious whim. While their specific nature and purpose is unlikely to be guessed, for those who have been here millennia pursuing immortal agendas, nobody is really likely to care who they are.
Peregrines: The lost souls of the dead, those who were not taken or claimed by any rulers of any overworld or underworld, Divine or Diabolical. Before the Asaph Eschaton, Peregrines gradually drifted and lost substance and memory, until they became wraiths, unable to speak and even lacking solid flesh unless they drank mortal blood or immortal ichor. Now, all Peregrines have flesh granted to them by the power of the Name - grey skin, eyes, and hair that do not fade with time, though any memories they lost before are still gone. Now that Peregrines do not need to trade their Sins and Virtues for blood & ichor - they may still do so, but only if they choose to - the markets of Purgatory are unbalanced, and the Peregrines are beginning to accumulate wealth and power as a faction. Many Peregrines are still enslaved to Sithen, demons, or Immortali, having sold themselves before the Name gave them flesh. Angels & Demons still seek control over their souls.
FACTIONS
Demons: Adorned with horns and tail, the more powerful also sporting wings (but never the bright-colored or stainless wings of angels), Demons are the fallen, rebels against the Divine, beings to whom independence is more important than harmony. Some are sadistic and malicious, some chaotic and hedonistic, some simply too passionate to be governed. Purgatory suits them - but the necessary limits and restrictions they must suffer to remain in the Market do not. Demons in the Market cannot help but feel that Dhuosnos ought to have been a Demon, for his defiance of other norms and mercenary outlook, or an Angel, with his autocratic insistence on authority.
Sithen: The Sithen all made a choice. Angels chose to serve the Divine; Demons to rebel. Sithen disobeyed only one divine command: to make war on the Rebels. For that, they were cast out and despised by both sides of the war. Now, countless ages after it began, they have claimed the scorched battlefield between Heaven and Hell as their own country, bribed both sides for the right to the land, and depend upon both sides to use them in diplomacy, espionage, and trade, pacifist mercenaries eking out a living in a warzone. Some Sithen are serene as angels, some as resentful as demons. Most have gossamer wings and long, pointed ears, but some share or mingle angelic or demonic traits instead; Sithen with illusion as a part of their Demesnes may appear as Immortali or other celestial beings, for a time. In the Market of Tech Duinn, Immortali & Peregrines are welcome, Angels & Demons tolerated, but more than anywhere else save the Queen’s Court, Sithen rule. Some Sithen are unused to this status and authority, and often shocked by how Dhuosnos & others throw their weight around. Others are emboldened to the kind of confident hierarchy Angels so often display elsewhere.
Immortali: Not everyone dies. A few humans or other mortal beings escape or cheat death, whether through Divine heritage or magic, curses or blessings, defeating or evading an Angel of Death… many of these eventually enter the Land of the Dead in any case, unable to finish their spiritual journeys in life, and end up foreign nationals in Purgatory. Unbound by the careful rules of the warring spiritual beings here, Immortali spend their afterlives collecting wealth, pursuing their dreams, or in whatever decadent manner may suit them. Some Immortali may have visible non-human traits, at player discretion. They are comparatively rich and carefree, but never able to forget that they do not belong, not in any realm. The Immortali of the Market tend to be those who have something they desperately want that centuries or millennia of life have not enabled them to procure.
To the casual eye, any Investigator in the Market will appear to be an Immortali. They revive upon bodily death, answer to strange beings who cursed them with strange magics, and wander the worlds on mysterious whim. While their specific nature and purpose is unlikely to be guessed, for those who have been here millennia pursuing immortal agendas, nobody is really likely to care who they are.
Peregrines: The lost souls of the dead, those who were not taken or claimed by any rulers of any overworld or underworld, Divine or Diabolical. Before the Asaph Eschaton, Peregrines gradually drifted and lost substance and memory, until they became wraiths, unable to speak and even lacking solid flesh unless they drank mortal blood or immortal ichor. Now, all Peregrines have flesh granted to them by the power of the Name - grey skin, eyes, and hair that do not fade with time, though any memories they lost before are still gone. Now that Peregrines do not need to trade their Sins and Virtues for blood & ichor - they may still do so, but only if they choose to - the markets of Purgatory are unbalanced, and the Peregrines are beginning to accumulate wealth and power as a faction. Many Peregrines are still enslaved to Sithen, demons, or Immortali, having sold themselves before the Name gave them flesh. Angels & Demons still seek control over their souls.