Devil

Devils originate from the Seven Cities of Hell. They are humanoid in form, most commonly bearing red or blue skin ranging from dull crimson to deep violet. Each devil carries at least one hellmark, a visible sign of infernal origin such as horns, a tail, cloven hooves, fanged incisors, a forked tongue, or vestigial wings. These traits vary widely and are not indicative of rank or status.

Hell is governed through the Seven Cities, each ruled by an archdevil. Authority among them is unstable and competitive. Every archdevil maintains a claim to supremacy, and the politics of Hell are shaped by continual negotiation, rivalry, and attempted advantage rather than by fixed hierarchy.

Most devils are bound into this system through the Ember Courts, where status is accumulated through obligation, debt, and service. Advancement is rarely granted outright. It is negotiated through oaths, enforcement, and the careful management of rivals. One recognised avenue of advancement is participation in hellbinds, sanctioned rites that allow mortals to summon a devil as an intermediary. Through these pacts, an archdevil grants power or knowledge to a mortal in exchange for a future claim on their soul, with the summoned devil acting as agent and guarantor.

Not all such summons conclude as intended. When a summoning collapses before a pact is sealed, the devil involved may be stranded in the material world. Some attempt to return to Hell through further binding or negotiation. Others remain, finding the structures of mortal society less rigid and the risks more comprehensible than those of infernal politics.

Most devils encountered in Chane are not recent arrivals. They descend from bloodlines established after earlier failures of summoning, shaped by long residence within the mortal plane. While their infernal traits remain visible, their customs, expectations, and ambitions often reflect centuries of adaptation to mortal law, faith, and survival.