The Immortal Flame

Actually a demon of immense power, The Immortal Flame is the distant ancestor to both the Seraphs and the Naga. Strong enough to hold sway over a vast realm existing in The Otherlands, his ultimate goal is to return to the material plane and extend his power there as well.
The Flame shows the same traits as most demons: malicious, pitiless, cruel, and with very little regard for mortals or other demons alike. However, he's also wickedly intelligent and more than capable of feigning a sort of affection for his descendants in order to further his own goals as well as maintain the pretense that he's actually a god.

Depictions

Depictions of the Immortal Flame vary widely depending on their source. Among the Seraphs he's shown in human form; a handsome man at the end of his prime, with white hair and yellow eyes as well as faintly luminous gold markings across his brown skin. He's shown with a black crown shaped like fangs or scales, and dressed in a layered, ancient style primarily consisting of reds, grays, and golds with subtle scaled patterns worked in. Seraph depictions will almost always show him surrounded by flames, often with snakes by his side or draped around his neck or arms. He's sometimes shown with his three sons, though their portrayals are far more vague than the Flame himself and will often only detail his youngest son Darius.
Among the naga, the Flame is only depicted in his true demonic form; a massive serpent-like being towering over the land. The Flame is dark gray with a white underbelly, a mane of long white fur or hair most prominent near the head, and a trailing 'beard' of white hair. His face is near-skeletal, with the skin clinging tightly to the skull underneath in a way that emphasizes a mouth of forward-thrust sharp teeth, and crowned with four backswept blackened horns that frame the face. Though he's not truly winged and is incapable of flight, he has two immense bladelike appendages that greatly resemble folded wings and are placed in lieu of arms. The Flame's eyes are a luminous dull orange/yellow, and trail the same sort of markings that are present on his skin in human form.

Interactions and Ambitions

The Immortal Flame has visited the material plane at least once before in recorded history, gaining access through the actions of an ambitious mage sometime around the year 3500 CE. During this time he fathered three half-demon sons with a human woman; of these sons, one would go on to in turn father the naga, and another was the first of the Seraphs. Despite him taking refuge in human form, the Flame's presence was recognized and he was banished from the world by the Jackal Reaper. Though the specifics are unknown, this banishing appears to have locked the Flame within his home in the The Otherlands, far beyond the reach of any mortal.
In the time since then, the Immortal Flame's interactions with the material plane have been exclusively through lesser demons and his faithful children, the Seraphs. His focus has been primarily concerned with using the Seraphs to entrench themselves in the power structures of the Old World, harry the magical races that would oppose his return, destroy the Reaper that poses the greatest threat to him, and as always seeking a way for him to physically reach the material plane once more.

Genetic Legacy

Descendants of the Immortal Flame, whether naga or Seraph, share several consistent traits that can be assumed to be universal among any potential descendants of the Flame.
AFFINITY FOR FIRE
Both naga and Seraphs show a strong affinity for fire to varying degrees; both are fully immune to its damaging effects and have a great resistance to extremes of temperature, finding comfort in heat and having a great resistance to cold due to running naturally hot-blooded. Seraphs additionally display the ability to create and manipulate fire with little to no exertion compared to a mage trying to do the same.
LINK TO THE FLAME
Due to their familial connection, the Flame is capable of mentally reaching out to any of his descendants that carry his bloodline strongly enough. The naga have largely found ways to shield their minds from this, largely thanks to the magical protection of their Godqueen, but the Seraphs embrace their link as the presence of their god; the Flame will also use this link to show his favor to certain individuals among the Seraphs, giving them access to a corrupted form of their fire abilities that is more powerful and capable of affecting even others who should be immune. Originally this power was meant to aid the Seraphs in their conflict with the naga, but in the time since it's also been a way for the Flame to show his support of a given leader of the family.
DOMINANT GENETICS
The Flame's demon blood always breeds true, allowing both naga and Seraphs to expand their relatively small genetic pool by interbreeding with humans. The offspring of a naga and a human will always be born with naga body structure, though their vigor as a species has declined considerably over time. The offspring of a Seraph and a human will always inherit a Seraph's innate abilities.

Worship Practices and Holy Days

Among his faithful, the Flame demands absolute obedience and devotion. Seraphs maintain a small, candle-lit private shrine and offer prayer each evening before sleep, opening themselves fully to their 'god' to make contact with them and examine them for weakness or fault. Similarly, it's believed among the Seraphs that burning a body offers its soul to the Flame rather than being sent to the gods of Genesis, and they'll burn the bodies of both their enemies and their own dead in honor of their god. With enemies this is a sacrifice of sorts, denying Siarus a soul and feeding it to the Flame instead, but for dead Seraphs it's seen as the only way to send them to their place at the Flame's side rather than leaving them wandering lost through the Evernight.
The Seraphs consider the night of Midwinter their holiest day, and light fires from sunset to sunrise in honor of their god leading them out of the darkness. In theory it's a night for prayer, but in practice it's one of the only times that the rigidly disciplined Seraphs let a little joy into their lives. Among the naga, who know the Flame's true nature, Midwinter Night is a day when the entire community comes together for protection and mutual strength against the dark.

Associated Mythology

THREE CHILDREN OF THE FLAME
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