On Metaphysics...
On Creation:
In the beginning, there was the Light—and also the Darkness. Then the Light created the Sovereigns, the first life. In their own arrogance, the Sovereigns assumed they had always been, and they had in a sense, existed before time. And what else was there? Working together, they created Aeon, a place of refuge from the Darkness. But their ambition grew, and they tired of being all that existed. So they banded together yet again and fought the Darkness; combining all their powers, they forged the Great Seal, and bound the Darkness behind it.
Then the Light created The Cosmos, the first dimension. It grew at a geometric rate, exploding outward into the nothingness. Galaxies emerged from the endless void; stars were born. The Light went on to create Aura, the unifying Life. Time began.
Untold eons passed. Then Halo, the second dimension came into being, but it was only one world. Then another dimension formed, then another, and another, each like Halo rather than The Cosmos. Aura spread into them all, but found itself unable to encompass the boundless stretches of The Cosmos. So it departed, leaving that dimension absent of all things mystical and magickal, instead to be ruled by science.
Every dimension since The Cosmos has consisted of only one world. For itself, The Cosmos continued to develop. Space dust began to coalesce into rocks, asteroids, even planets. After many more ages, Earth finally formed in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Since the beginning, the Sovereigns have ignored the politics and matters of the Linear plane, dabbling in it with idle curiosity or boredom, at best. Then a handful of revolutionaries forged in secret the forbidden dimension of Realm, a world they could claim as their own to toy with—a world based on a model of Earth.
On Demon Dimensions:
Officially, Oblivion is the birthplace of Demons, the place where they originated. The place where evil was given shape and purpose. The first Demon Dimension.
According to legend, Oblivion is one of the youngest of all the worlds, often believed in most myths and tales to have been the 10th dimension created. Like all worlds before it, Oblivion was a beautiful dimension, filled with potential for all things good.
Until the Darkness came.
The pervasive force of the Darkness crept into the world of Oblivion, twisting it, recreating it. The skies darkened, the ground turned to ash. Rivers dried and became flowing fire. And the Demons were hideously malformed, shaped into beings of pure hate, malice, and evil. Oblivion soon became known as a Demon Dimension, a living incarnation of all the Hells in all beliefs and religions.
When Demons began flowing out as conquerors, they set out to make the new worlds like Oblivion. When the powers of good were overwhelmed in a dimension, the balance of all things shifted to darkness, and the newly overthrown world became a Demon Dimension in the likeness of Oblivion.
Countless Demon Dimensions exist now, vast empires of pain and despair. Powerful Demon Lords rule these empires and constantly seek to absorb more worlds as time passes.
Before Oblivion united under one King, the various Demon tribes warred with each other, vying for supremacy. Into the chaos came Apollyon, greatest of all Demonkind, and united several smaller kingdoms under his leadership. Over the millennia, he led crusades to merge Oblivion into one kingdom. Apollyon declared himself Lord of Oblivion, but his rule would not last. Civil war shook his empire as the fledgling kingdom of Hell rose to power, defeated Apollyon, and banished him from the throne and its capital city, Pandemonium. Establishing his power, the new King quickly took mastery over the entire Demon race and all dark powers (including Destroyers and Primevals), combining their power into one force: the Demon Essence.
This became the driving strength behind the throne of Hell.
On Life:
There are three distinct parts that make up a sentient individual of any race or (though there are a few racial exceptions to this): the conscious, the soul, and the spirit. (For example, vampires do not have souls in the traditional sense. And zombies, being non-sentient, lack a conscious mind.)
The conscious is often referred to as the thinking mind, that part of the self which thinks, strategizes, and remembers. A vast array of races possess this ability, which sets them above the animal-like races. The conscious, however, does not define the individual and generally ceases to exist once the individual’s life has ended.
The soul can best be described as the uniqueness of an individual. The soul is the portion that holds feelings/emotions and often shapes the specific personality of that individual. Like snowflakes or fingerprints, each soul is unique and irreplaceable. The soul is also that part of the self which moves on after life to its final resting place.
The spirit carries many different names in each belief system, but it can be characterized most succinctly as the life force, that ever-present power which animates the individual and separates life from lifelessness and is intrinsically bound to the physical being of the individual. (This often why vampires and zombies are not referred to as “alive”.) Like the conscious, the spirit does not move on with the soul to the afterlife but rather returns to the source.
On Death:
For every faith and religion, there exists the place of heaven and hell—the final destinations of all souls. There are many such “heavens” and “hells”, but the most prominent of all these is Genesis and the Core of the Void.
Genesis is the most fabled of paradises, not even believed by many to even truly exist. It is the pinnacle of Creation, hidden between dimensions, a guarded and protected secret to which only the most deserving of individuals go when they leave the Linear plane. It is so well-guarded, in fact, that no one can be forcibly removed from Genesis once passing its gates (resurrections, raisings, conjurings, and other mystical “lazarus” events do not work).
The Core of the Void is the polar opposite of the splendor of Genesis. A “living death”, it is for those who died of the most bizarre or horrifying mystical causes. The soul does not pass on to the realms beyond, but is rather forced to linger in a kind of suspended animation. The individual knows only pain, despair, and darkness. Those who die by Ascension means typically go to the Void. There are only a handful of other deaths that would place a soul in the Void.
On Reanimation:
As mentioned in the “On Death” passage, there are any number of ways to bring a dead individual back to the mortal planes. Rituals, energy, and simple divine intercession by higher powers may each be sufficient to raise the dead. Additionally, there are also several types of reanimations. From something as simple as full restoration to simple physical revival, the dead in question does not always come back the same.
The most common types of reanimations include vampires, zombies, and revenants. On occasion, an individual can be brought back fully, sometimes with all three components intact (conscious, soul, spirit) and sometimes only partially.
On Domains:
Creation is divided among several variant domains: the Linear plane, the Higher realms, the Sovereign Continuum, and the Beyond worlds.
The Linear plane is the home of the Mortal ones--humans, elementals, Immortals, vampires, most Demons, and others. Dimensions like Realm, Halo, and Oblivion exist within the Linear plane. At times, struggles from other Domains come bleed over into these worlds, and the beings from those places assume new, fantastic forms.
The Higher realms exist "between" worlds of the Linear plane, though most from the Higher realms often refer to them as "above". These Domains are more energetic and spiritual than physical places. Super-powered servants of the Enemy often try to penetrate the Defender Line and enter the Linear plane. Conflicts of unimaginable scope take place there, battles awesome enough to level worlds.
The Sovereign Continuum, alternately known as Aeon, exists in a place and time unto itself. Home of the Sovereigns, physical boundaries mix with the energetic, but no non-Sovereign has EVER entered Aeon.
The Beyond worlds is an ancient reference to Domains with countless more common names: Heaven, Hell, Valhalla, Shangri-La, the Elysian Fields, Purgatory, the Jade Palace, Azure Skies, and many others across the worlds. When Linear beings pass on after dying, they go on to the Beyond worlds. Normally only their souls go on, but sometimes their spirits (simple life force), or entire physical being may go with them.