Unhallowed Sea

Beyond the material plane lies a quiet place. A somber plane of existence where Devils dwell and an eternal fog covers a quiet sea which connects scattered islands. Though the Unhallowed sea seems a restful place at first glance, its eerie expanse is one of great danger. Beneath the calm pale waters leviathans dwell, and the islands that break up the expanse are the domains of Devils.

The Devils of the Sea

Devils are beings of Law and contract. They bargain for the souls of mortal beings, striking complex deals in exchange for a sentence to be served by the soul after death. It is said that no Devil may pen a contract in which a soul is bound eternally. Each contract has a stipulated term of purgatory before a soul will be released to whatever after plane they are drawn. That said, while a Devil will never break letter of their contract they are masters of complex logic and precise dealings, their contracts are trapped with tricks and loopholes that extend and obscure the length of a souls sentence. Few souls who find themselves bound to a Devils power ever see themselves released. This trickery is vitally important to them, for Devils grow in power only through accumulation of bound souls. The more souls they have bound, and the longer those souls remain bound the more powerful a Devil becomes.

Devils gather themselves into Firms. Coalitions of service in which one or two elder Devils are at the top, and many others serve under them. Lesser Devils serve under the elder Devils of the firm, giving up the majority of the power earned through a souls acquisition in exchange for the protection and guidance of those above them. All Devils dream of the day they are either promoted to Partner within their firm, or instead have gained enough power and influence to strike it out alone and form their own Firm.

When Devils form a form it manifests as a physical space within the Unhallowed Sea. An island birthed into the fogs. As the firm gains more souls, and by extension more power and influence Their island grows, the sea ever shifting, reshaping, expanding and contracting to fit the needs of the the islands found within its waters. The greater the power held by a Firm the more distant it is able to stay from other islands within the sea. Additionally the fog grows more thick around their island, and more difficult to traverse. This is of vital importance for Rival firms are always looking to steal contracts and by extension the souls that are tied to it.

The Leviathans below

While the Devils and their Islands represent a great danger to any that find themselves within the Unhallowed sea they are not the ONLY danger. Beneath the waters is the realm of the lost. The hunting grounds of great leviathans.

A devil without a Contract is no Devil at all. This is the very reason lesser Devils allow themselves to be tied into service. For without the power of bound souls to draw sustenance from a Devil starves. Sometimes occurs because they have had their contracts stolen. Sometimes because a Firm casts them out (a fate even Elder Partners are not always immune to). Sometimes it is because a foolish Devil may have over extended themselves, drawing forth more power than they had access to in hopes that they would be able to leverage that power to win big in the long run and the bet doesn’t pay off, Burning out the souls in their possession and leaving the Devil in question powerless.

When this happen Devils have three choices (or perhaps two choices, and a consequence): They may Find another Firm, Find another Contract, Or wither into a husk and be thrown out like trash. The third possibility is where leviathans come into being. Devils cannot truly die, but being without a soul to draw sustenance from is a torment beyond comprehension. It leads to madness. The remnants of Devils cast into the Unhallowed sea roam there eternally seeking sustenance. Mindless beasts twisted in desire and shape. They can never regain themselves. Never again be what any Self respecting Devil would ever describe as “A Devil”. But even that is not the end.

As clever and careful as Devils are in their contracts, and the defense of the souls under their power. Sometimes mistakes happen. Sometimes souls that should be bound manage to slip through the cracks. A stolen contract that is lost before it reaches a new Firm’s vault. A contract that had an unexpected exit clause that leaves a soul without serving its sentence(and by extension release) while also no longer being held captive. And sometimes unbound souls from outside the unhallowed sea come into the plane for reasons of their own, but become lost. For whatever the reason sometimes souls find their way into the depths of those pale quiet waters… At which point all too often they are found and devoured by those remnants of Devils long gone to madness.

Feasting upon the lost souls allows those husks to regain power, but it is not a stable, long lasting power granted by a contract. Devouring lost souls is a savage, feral feast which sates their hunger for only a short time. The husks regain strength, becoming twisted monstrosities referred to as Leviathans. These beasts form their own ecosystem. Fighting for hunting grounds, devouring what souls they can, and devouring each other whenever possible. Few husks last long enough to fully achieve “Leviathan” status, as they themselves are fair game for whatever elder Leviathans might happen to find them.

Though they have not the delicate and precise power of Devils at their best, leviathans can grow to be of massive size and power. Some Devils of great power have themselves gone missing in the endless for of the Unhallowed sea, devoured by beasts from below.

Though their exact nature is hard to quantify it is said that if you can manage to “slay” one of the beasts you may carve away draw out its potent blood, carve away its flesh, and take its bones. All of which are enriched by great power and are of great value to those with the knowledge to make use of them. of course since no devil can truly die, even a leviathan corpse can be returned to the sea where it may itself be devoured by another, or perhaps will someday reconstitute itself to begin its growth again.