Devils, Demons and the Afterlife

Afterlife

The afterlife is a touchy subject for most religions as there are contradictory statements, vague impressions and seemingly willful amnesia on the part of those who return from the far side. This has allowed several afterlives people consider exceedingly unlikely but can't actually disprove existing.

A few afterlife planes are confirmed. Some by the living who have travelled to them and encountered those they know to be deceased. The gods are fairly silent on the subject unless you have very good reason to know.

Devils

One of the known forms of the afterlife is the plane from which devils emerge. Devils rise from their plane, Hell, to claim the souls of those that have made deals with them. Because Hell is so well known, many religions and other belief structures claim that all sinners go to Hell to be punished eternally by Devils, while the Devils claim they only take those that they have deals granting them ownership of.

Important note: This is not limited to those that have made deals with them, as you can definitely trade away other people's souls.

This isn't to say devils do not cause problems on the material plane. They are notorious for causing problems and then appearing to offer a solution, for a price. They are considered vile creatures by most religions, cults and other things but for pretty good reasons.

Devils are a path to power for some, able to grant abilities sometimes exceeding their own in exchange for various esoteric things. However, their primary purpose on this plane is almost invariably malicious. A sort of torturous tourism.

Also see Fiendish Infection 

Demons

Distinct from devils (at least according to the devils) are the Demons. They seem to have no home plane or reliable means of communication, either with the sentient races or with each other. This makes their goals and motivations very hard to understand as each appears to act independantly of any other demon.

Posessed of great power, demons are almost invariably impossible to kill. Some seem to have been killed throughout history but more often than not they are sealed away or exiled in some manner. Various arts are practiced by many religious groups for exactly this purpose.

Type

Metaphysical, Astral