Infernal Realm

In Ars Magica, the Infernal Realm is equivalent to the Judeo-Christian Hell. It is an important and active force in Mythic Europe. Parts of the world are corrupted by the presence of infernal auras and demons roam abroad seeking to tempt mortals to corruption.

Extent of Infernal Influence

The extent to which the Infernal Realm threatens and influences Mythic Europe is up to the Troupe to decide. It is one of the open-ended background questions that define the nature of your Saga.

In some ways, Infernal creatures and their mortal agents make good adversaries. They are always evil, so there's no moral ambiguity in fighting them. They can be quite powerful, and as cunning or as straightforward as the storyguide wants them to be. In contrast to most adversaries, it is easy to create a demon who can rival the power of a magus.

There are several arguments against having too many demons in your Saga, though. For one thing, since demons personify evil, they tend to undermine any moral ambiguity in a character or story. If demons become too prevalent, Mythic Europe becomes a bleak and depressing world. Any theme, if repeated too often, becomes trite and makes for weaker stories.

References

• The Infernal Realm, ArM5 page 186
• Background Questions, ArM5 page 217
• The entire book, Realms of Power: the Infernal discusses the Infernal Realm, its inhabitants, and its allies

Related Topics

• Diabolist
• Demon

Legacy Page

The history of this page before August 6, 2010 is archived at Legacy:infernal_realm