Editing Deva (section)

==Deva Corruption==
Nobody is quite sure why devas risk being corrupted into [[rakshasa]] if they allow themselves to grow too evil. It may just be a natural result of introducing such a potent quantity of sin to a creature already made up of a precarious mixture of divine and primal energies. One popular theory is that it was a deliberate decision on the part of the Primal Spirits, one aimed both at preserving balance and at ensuring that devas remained thoroughly tied to the inherent dynamism and mutability of living creatures.

Regardless, becoming a rakshasa is not simple. A deva can live hundreds of lives as a repentant scoundrel or repentant villain and still be assured of coming back in its next life as a deva. It requires true depravity, or the deliberate and eager embrace of evil and selfish self-gratification, to damn a deva to become a rakshasa. This is why truly evil devas are so terrible; once they have come aware of what is going to happen to them, most willingly embrace their darkness - they can't save themselves anyway, so they might as well enjoy it.

Devas who have begun to succumb to corruption form a distinctive sub-species, handled mechanically as a unique racial paragon path, called Heavenly Deceiver. These individuals have gained corruption enough to begin manifesting some of the inherent illusory powers of the rakshasa, but not so much as to be damned to become one in their next life. Some of these Veilwalkers pursue redemption, others seek to preserve this "balance" as long as possible, and still others go over the edge and become the monster they know they can be.

That said... the path between deva and rakshasa isn't a one-way street. It's incredibly rare, of course, but sometimes a rakshasa manages to lift itself up from hedonism and pursue redemption, ultimately returning it to the ranks of the devas once more. These Redeemed Deva, as they're called, are likewise defined by a unique racial paragon path, the Dark Star, which revolves around using the "call up past lives" power of all devas to dredge up the horrors they committed as rakshasa to scare the shit out of people.