And, for that matter, what’s your master plan to ensure as many damned souls as possible?
(Suggested by this thread: Why is demon possession so rare?)
Here are the conditions:
[ul]
[li]For purposes of this thread, there is a God who is, though singular and benevolent, is not quite omnipotent and certainly not omniscient. This God is the mightiest being in existence, but a great deal of his power and attention goes to just keeping the thermodynamic trains running on time. The quotidian details of universal management are left to his lieutenant Michael, who, for no particular reason, is female.[/li][li]As mentioned in the subject line, you are Mephistopheles, Lord of the Fallen Angels (and formerly Lucifer, Sun of the Morning Star). You are the second mightiest being in existence–second only to the Creator; one on one, no single angel, Fallen or Unfallen, has a prayer against you. Eons ago, as Lucifer, you tried to take over the Golden City; Michael and her forces defeated you with great effort. The original number of angels was 300,000,000. A third of them got tossed out with you; two-thirds remain on Metatron’s side. Your punishment was expulsion from Heaven; you’re not captive in Hell, but rather rule it.[/li][li]You and your guys want Heaven back, as all the best cheesecake is there. But you’re outnumbered two to one. Angels can neither reproduce nor be destroyed, so you can’t affect your numerical advantage directly. But you can do so by recruiting mortal souls–that is, arranging for them to be damned.[/li][li]Damnation consists of causing a human being to be actively and deliberately evil. The person’s religion, philosophy, or beliefs don’t matter much–only what they do. As far as Heaven is concerned, a man who loudly decries “there is no God and never was!” but spends his life toiling to help orphans and widows gets a spot in the choir invisible; but murderers, rapists, bishops who cover up for child-molesting priests, and Fred Phelps are all not getting through the Pearly Gates. If a soul dies in sin, it can be consumed by demons to make them more powerful, or enslaved, or dissected and used for parts in thaumaturgic weaponry. Persons who die more or less neutral get recycled as many times as it takes them to improve significantly or become hopelessly irredeemable.[/li][li]For purposes of this thread, humans have free will. Neither side is able to affect that. However, Fallen Angels can lie all they want; Unfallen may not lie in any way, not even by omission. The nearest they can come to deception is remaining invisible while among mortals, as that is their natural state.[/li][li]Both Fallen and Unfallen Angels are of limited power in the mortal plane. As mentioned, they’re invisible (and intangible) unless they choose not to be, and if they choose to be seen they can only manifest in imitation of an object or person that exists naturally; and of course they’re invulnerable to mortal weapons. Their physical powers are basically psychokinesis on the order of, oh, Jean Grey’s back when she was introduced. They also have limited telepathy; they can communicate with one another over unlimited distances, and block anyone they wish ffrom overhearing said communications; but neither sort can read mortal minds without posssessing the mortal. Unfallen angels don’t do so because it’s evil; demons don’t do so with abandon because it prevents them from acting except through the natural abilities of the person they’re possessing.[/li][li]Only three worlds exist in this scenario: Heaven, Hell, and the Mortal Plane. The only source for new souls is humanity.[/li][/ul]
What’s your plan?
