hollowworld.uk

DEITIES
The divine are mortal reflections, embodying their belief systems no matter how inherently contradictory or incomprehensible. When the Pantheon was united, it was nearly impossible to imagine a truly nascent divine. Now though, there are deities beyond the ken of man who are too inarticulate to form an avatar.

A deity is foremost a vast wellspring of power, taking the combined energy of all sacrifices (willing or unwilling, conscious or unconscious) made toward its combined domains. Someone who frets constantly over the chaotic state of the world, sacrificing their own time time and mental health as a result of that anxiety, contributes just as much as someone who spends a great deal of time in prayer.

Even if a deity is sentient and able to manifest an avatar, it cannot be everywhere at once. Most of a divine's power is entrusted blindly to others, typically its faithful mortal followers, but also to hosts of angels.

ANGELS
We must make a distinction between true angels, and an angel that was once a mortal. A true angel is a figment that is closely aligned to or explicitly a domain of a deity. Law, the literal embodiment of collective mortalkind's conception of law, is an example of an angel. A once-mortal angel is just that, a mortal who died and who was drawn from the Sea of Souls or whatever afterlife they had has been granted phenomenal cosmic power by a deity or near-deity.

True angels, being figments, are capable of all magic that figments are capable of.

Once mortal angels, having been once mortal, are capable of all magic that they were capable of in life and which their deity has granted them power to use.

In both cases, angels can range in power from "merely" much stronger than the strongest mortals to civilization-ending threats.

FIGMENTS
Figments are embodiments of concepts. Generally, the more ambiguous and broad a concept, the more powerful the figment. The embodiment of the concept of a specific grain of sand with this or that dimensions is rarely going to be considered except perhaps for a single time by one mortal. A figment that embodies, say, the metaphysical concept of safety and warmth by a hearth is going to be much stronger.

When a figment is able to manifest an avatar, it is able to act of its own accord, gaining its own individuality and perhaps its own agenda. Not all do. Some, in spite of their power, retain no agency unto themselves. Some, despite being exceptionally weak, plague the world as wisps.

Figments are beings of pure perception and symbolism, and do not exist except in the minds and perception of Alterans. They are able to manipulate the senses of others, and if something is believed to be possible, it is. Though a figment has no material body, striking it with a sword with the sincere belief that it will hurt the figment does hurt it. 

ELEMENTALS
Natural phenomena within Altera sometimes grows so ancient and so powerful that it is able to manifest an avatar. Being native to the "real" world, elementals manifest that avatar into the Planar like Animancers do. However, the most powerful elementals are able to traverse the barrier between the Planar and Altera, thus interacting with and being a threat on both.

Elementals exist in symbiosis with the life that lives on and within them, the more natural life to be found within an elemental's realm, the stronger it will be over time.

All elementals are born of natural phenomena, but most also die within moments of their birth, unaware they were ever alive to begin with. The mist that forms when water is boiled is an elemental, but will only life so long as the cauldron burns, and is so weak it is impossible to interact with it for any meaningful length of time.

Elementals, even weak ones only just able to manifest an avatar, are extremely capable within the boundaries of their element. The weakest fire elemental avatar is on par with the strongest mortal mages. Outside of of their element, they are capable of nothing except perhaps to communicate telepathically for some of the eldest elementals.

FIENDS
Fiend is a generic term for all true demons which reside in hell. Demon, demonic, and words in the vein convey that something is evil, unnatural, powerful. True demons are only a little more complex than that.

Fiends are able to grant the wishes of others through pacts, but always at a cost. This isn't even necessarily malicious, but the nature of their magic is corrupted, and they are unable to grant power without a cost. If they try to do so, it is damaging to them.

Fiends follow a chaotic hierarchy where the strong rule the weak, or the weak are forced into hiding and exile.

If you are playing a demon: you should reach out to a staff DM for confirmation on if you can or cannot fulfill a pact you sign, and if you do, what effects it has on you and the person you are contracted with, unless it is something your character can already explicitly do (such as sparking them in a school of magic your character is already adept with). If you are trying to bite off more than you can chew, you will be told as much and the consequences of that will be made clear.