The Hierarchy

The Devil Hierarchy is composed of eight sub-hierarchies, each headed by one devil from each lineage, which forms a council. It would make far more sense for the devils to have made a nine-person council, but no devil wanted to give another lineage the upper hand. This means that any votes in the council are very often ties, so nothing is achieved in many cases. This is compounded by every devil being very paranoid, and often rejecting proposals from their fellow council members because they believe the issue brought to the table is being manipulated by the devil that brought it to the table to empower their lineage. Which is correct. Often, the only things the council can agree upon is measures involving Kyvos.

Each sub-hierarchy must also select a leader from their lineage to represent them at the council. This leader is always selected from the highest ranking devils within that lineage, essentially making the council a council of oligarchs. The devils decide which of their number are high ranking through a rigid caste system which dominates their lives. In the eyes of the devils, their relationship to the original progenitors of the various houses within each lineage decides their place within the caste system. However, the devils have had shifts in the castes in the past, and devils who display an exemplary record related to their lineage may rise in the ranks. Similarly, old, corrupt houses who have 'lost their way' and strayed from their duties can also fall in the castes as stronger and younger families take their power. Devils can also fall out the hierarchy's castes entirely, becoming a part of the many devils outside the reach of or below the notice of the Hierarchy.

Nominally, each sub-hierarchy has the same caste system. However, this is not the reality. Because acts which embody one's lineage are most likely to get one promoted, this means that many castes are full of members whose deeds are valued by that lineage, and not by the other sub-hierarchies. Hence, they do not believe that devil is a fightful member of that caste. Over the years, due to interbreeding among the various castes, houses, and lineages, the castes have become so muddled it is essentially worthless to compare the castes of one sub-hierarchy to another outside of the very highest echelons, where promotion is both rare and the devils are strong enough that to degrade their reputation risks inter-hierarchy war.

The one and only stated goal of the Hierarchy is to fufill their obligation to Kyvos and obtain their own realm with which to do as they please. This means they are, in theory, locked within an endless war with mortals in order to corrupt society, wholly control the realm, and therefore allow for the return of Kyvos. They believe that Kyvos will be thankful for their efforts and bestow a new realm unto them for their deeds in his service. In order to achieve this, each sub-hierarchy has a number of locations in which they are currently active in corrupting the nearby peoples. This is seen as the territory that they claim. Similarly, they may have lands that they claim, but which they are not active in. Any other hierarchy may attempt to start spreading their own type of chaos within that region. If the hierarchy which already claimed it is active, this can lead to conflict between the two hierarchies. However, if the claiming hierarchy is not active, the interloper may be able to set up operations without conflict, though it can lead to chaos later. Hierarchies often collaborate in certain areas of the realm, where two or more sub-hierarchies will launch a more coordinated effort to undermine society on multiple fronts. There are also areas where each hierarchy has agreed to open corrupting season on mortals. These areas are high-volume region; megacities, densely populated zones, and regions very near portals to the shadow dimension.

The Hierarchy has strong control over the Shadow Dimension Hotspot on Yyradayn, and has great influence over the Visqron Empire which controls the region on the mortal plane. Indeed, they have even influenced the development of the Cult of Sanomudra. Despite this, the Visqron Empire has been able to prevent the Hierarchy from taking full control over the region, and has proven stable enough to not collapse into warring states that would allow the Hierarchy to exert total control. This means the two are essentially in an uneasy alliance. In contrast, the Hierarchy is in active conflict with four other devil factions which seek to control Yyradayn, all of whom must content themselves with breaking into the mortal plane via less reliable methods.

#1 power on: Synarxes, voltheim

influential on: Hymar, Yyradayn, yehv, southern Aerellion, Cet'aenn

limited influence: Mortvugg, telgren

no influence: Shadow Island

The Hierarchy has a backstory that is unknown to most mortals, but it seems to have existed since the dawn of time. This makes the Hierarchy one of the oldest known organizations in the entire Eight Realms. The hierarchy was known to be a major opponent of many early societies in the Eighth Realm, especially those that were centered around god-kings and seems to have been behind the disappearance of many of these mysterious figures. The hierarchy is known to be behind some of the most violent events in history.