War of the Immortals
While the immortals of Heaven and Hell have similar origins and underlying natures, their social structures are completely different, as are the self-imposed physical limitations each endures. As beings of pure will, or āyus, immortals were not originally created with corporeal shape, therefore any physical characteristics they possess are the result of their own intentions (and divinely imposed inclinations) when they began to assume solid forms.
Over time, the differing natures of the immortals began to strain what had for a time been peaceful coexistence. Words such as “good” and “evil” had long since come into being, but were originally abstract concepts to be bandied about by immortals still testing the limits of their existence. Eventually, however, animosities built among various factions that ultimately coalesced into outright hostility between angels and demons.
Most of the demons rallied to the call of the most powerful among them, the demon known as Mephistopheles, self-proclaimed King of Demons. Mephistopheles slowly began to dominate the wills of his followers, subtly at first, then more openly later as the demon lords and princes who might have challenged him fell under his sway. The only two demons known to have stood openly against him were Abdiel and Kaelus.
The Great Schism officially began with a singular event – the destruction of the Seraph Gabriel. This not only marked the beginning of open warfare, it is also the first known instance of a demon slaying an angel, or vice versa. (Some demons had been slain by their brethren as they explored the potential for absorbing each other’s power, but open combat was still unknown at that time.) A trap was set by several of the demon lords and princes, foremost among them being Aesthma, a demon lord raised from the ranks of the childris.
The Seraphim immediately sought out the most powerful demons and demanded justice for their brethren’s demise, but they were turned away and came near to assaulting the demons on the spot. Instead, they retreated to their city of Medina and took council on the best course of action. Mephistopheles, meanwhile, used the opportunity to further cement his hold on his followers, claiming the angels were plotting to annihilate the demons in reprisal for what he initially portrayed as a tragic accident.
The demon prince Abdiel spoke against Mephistopheles’s aggression and attempted to break the demon king’s hold on enough of his followers to forestall open warfare, but instead his brethren tore him apart and destroyed him on the spot. His close companion, Kaelus, held back and left his own objections unvoiced for fear of sharing Abdiel’s fate.
Not long after the deaths of Gabriel and Abdiel, the Seraphim Mikal, Uriel, and Maya led a group of their brethren to confront Mephistopheles. To this day, no one knows who attacked whom first, but almost immediately the two sides found themselves in pitched battle, and the Great Schism was begun in earnest.
Lesser angels and demons began genesing as many of their kind as they could safely create without jeopardizing their own existence, seeking to bolster their ranks as the war flared to ever-greater levels of violence and destruction. All moral questions and quandaries among the angels about the propriety and presumption of genesing another immortal quickly vanished.
Over time, the differing natures of the immortals began to strain what had for a time been peaceful coexistence. Words such as “good” and “evil” had long since come into being, but were originally abstract concepts to be bandied about by immortals still testing the limits of their existence. Eventually, however, animosities built among various factions that ultimately coalesced into outright hostility between angels and demons.
Most of the demons rallied to the call of the most powerful among them, the demon known as Mephistopheles, self-proclaimed King of Demons. Mephistopheles slowly began to dominate the wills of his followers, subtly at first, then more openly later as the demon lords and princes who might have challenged him fell under his sway. The only two demons known to have stood openly against him were Abdiel and Kaelus.
The Great Schism officially began with a singular event – the destruction of the Seraph Gabriel. This not only marked the beginning of open warfare, it is also the first known instance of a demon slaying an angel, or vice versa. (Some demons had been slain by their brethren as they explored the potential for absorbing each other’s power, but open combat was still unknown at that time.) A trap was set by several of the demon lords and princes, foremost among them being Aesthma, a demon lord raised from the ranks of the childris.
The Seraphim immediately sought out the most powerful demons and demanded justice for their brethren’s demise, but they were turned away and came near to assaulting the demons on the spot. Instead, they retreated to their city of Medina and took council on the best course of action. Mephistopheles, meanwhile, used the opportunity to further cement his hold on his followers, claiming the angels were plotting to annihilate the demons in reprisal for what he initially portrayed as a tragic accident.
The demon prince Abdiel spoke against Mephistopheles’s aggression and attempted to break the demon king’s hold on enough of his followers to forestall open warfare, but instead his brethren tore him apart and destroyed him on the spot. His close companion, Kaelus, held back and left his own objections unvoiced for fear of sharing Abdiel’s fate.
Not long after the deaths of Gabriel and Abdiel, the Seraphim Mikal, Uriel, and Maya led a group of their brethren to confront Mephistopheles. To this day, no one knows who attacked whom first, but almost immediately the two sides found themselves in pitched battle, and the Great Schism was begun in earnest.
Lesser angels and demons began genesing as many of their kind as they could safely create without jeopardizing their own existence, seeking to bolster their ranks as the war flared to ever-greater levels of violence and destruction. All moral questions and quandaries among the angels about the propriety and presumption of genesing another immortal quickly vanished.
