Higher Beings and Their Hierarchy

Hierarchy starts with the creator. Whether this be singular or plural does not ultimately matter. All one needs to know is that the creator is unknowable and its hand made everything.   Below them are the Gods. Normally incomprehensible in motivation and form, but far more involved in mortal affairs. Those that are devout to their ideals have had opportunity to commune and witness parts of their forms. They are the ones known to have created the planes, possibly even alternate realities. In regards to Argus and its planar neighborhood, the gods will interact in mysterious ways. Among these though, beings may be more or less sapient. They drift into groups related to their forms and desires. Celestials are most often the ones to intervene with the races, however gods associated with all forms of alignment take part in such experiments. It's likely any sort of meeting or image of these beings would be a life, even physically altering experience. Through the people and nature of the material plane, the Gods seek to influence the outcome of ideology and natural law. If what their domain represents is the most omnipresent, that cycle of the material plane is awarded to them to control and maintain in their own interest. Through this investment in Argus, the gods have gotten comfortable in being able to reveal themselves, often through subservients created by them. Although, even if Gods control plane(s), those dimensions are not immune to continual change themselves.   Below the gods are the mortal gods. Lesser beings, but ones given any signifcant amount of cosmic power. The main difference between Gods and gods are temporarily, with the mortal gods able to die. Whether this be by lifespan or simply just conflict & disease, varies by the individual. Similar to the games played by the gods, their purpose is that of challenge and amusement. By proving themselves and gaining power, it is believed they can join the ranks of the eternal gods. This is also done by meddling in the affairs of mortals, but with a far more active role. Many of them simply seek to maintain their position and gain power in the material planes rather than covet Godhood. Lessers can be almost anything, as long as it has enough power to share for one to enter covenant with it. However, not all mortal gods come from the material planes.   There are two major types of mortal gods created by the Gods themselves to serve their purposes. Devils and lesser Celestials.   Celestials, as the name implies, are tied to and and serve the domain of Gods that created them. Their original purpose, fulfilled by Angels that appeared in forms suiting a mortal's beliefs, was to guide souls of mortals to the plane of their deities' devotion. If a mortal died without faith, their soul is lost to wander the ethereal plane. After a long enough time, souls recycle back into the cosmic fabric if they aren't consumed by some interplanetary entity first. Only those of abnormally strong conviction and with unfinished business can materialize as a ghost, but this is a rare enough occurrence that few even believe in tangible spirits. There are other celestials that serve no apparent purpose such as unicorns, other than to permeate the material plane with the Gods' influence. Other celestials are used to commune with the devout as to avoid mind destruction if a weak being were to meet with a God.   Devils were created to tend to the planes, managing the ethereal tissue dividing each realm. Those that meddled with the planar neighborhood or abhorrently defied the Gods would taken by devils to be eternally punished. Like the lessers, they do have some desires to achieve godhood, through order, diligence, and ideology.   However, not all devils keep sight of lawful motivation and are corrupted by an outer God that grants them freedom through the domain of chaos. These rogue devils become demons, often transforming to match their new identity. Demons are often bent on defying the gods, hoping to gain the power of Godhood or simply cause chaos. Devils see the demons as threats and often war with them, however conflict has been sparse as the devils have been focusing their efforts on the source and consequences of the Rift. Despite this conflict of nature, there is a demon known to work with the devils, less aligned with its brethren. The devils want their influence in the material plane as much as any other cosmic being and the demon offers to place the devils' essence into children to be born as tieflings. However, this demon only targets celestial-touched unborn, stealing their divinity for itself to be replace by power not of its own. By turning the aasimar into unholy perversions, this is a direct act of retaliation against the Gods.