Infernal Culture

Pentagram City has very little in the way of laws or regulations by its very design. Lucifer has little interest in governing his realm and instead leaves it up to a handful of chosen Overlords to manage things and, of course, pay him his tribute and fund his lavish lifestyle. As such, the city is divided into a number of different districts or territories, each with their own Overlord or crime boss to rule over it.

Most Overlords have their own set of laws and can vary greatly on what they will or will not tolerate in their territory, based on their own whims and preferences. The borders between territories is often blurry and entire regions can change hands frequently, whether it be between other Overlords or other upstart demons that want their own piece of the city, meaning that the laws of the land can rapidly change from moment to moment.

Overlords have very little oversight by any higher ups, so long as they keep their stretch of the population complacent and under control by whatever means they see fit, ensuring that the rabble is kept busy and out of the way of Hell’s rulers. Areas without Overlords tend to be even more chaotic and prone to conflict than usual, with many demons hoping to one day become Overlords themselves.

Most demons simply don’t pay much mind to the chaotic and violent politics of their home city, instead either doing their best to keep their heads down or pledging allegiance to one of the many factions constantly vying for power and turf. The domains and wills of the Overlords are usually respected out of fear if nothing else, though being supplied with their vices and entertainment keeps them in line in most cases, much to the delight of their overseers.




Currency
In nearly every Ring of Hell, commerce is done with a series of printed notes called “soul vouchers” or just “souls” for short. While their intended use was to simply facilitate the trade of the raw soul energy that the lords of Hell gather from exterminated or discorporated mortal souls, their use quickly spread throughout nearly all levels of Hell to be used as a standard form of currency.

Some regions of Hell even still allow the bearers of such notes to trade them in for the life force they represent, though few beings actually have the power or magical aptitude to utilize such energy. As such, paper souls are rarely used for that original purpose any longer. Even sinners utilize the currency as their primary form of trade, though it is largely because of the ubiquity of paper money in recent Earthly history and they pay little mind to the origins of the notes.



Dealmaking
In Hell, deals or “pacts” as they are more properly known, carry a certain degree of magical power. Usually only demons of notable power, such as Archfiends or Overlords, can enforce such pacts, though unusually powerful demons of other status can forge them as well. Pacts are rightfully regarded as very potent and dangerous rituals, only to be taken under the most desperate of circumstances.

Pacts usually take the form of contracts, though verbal agreements can also become pacts as long as a ritualized form of agreement is performed, such as bending a knee or shaking a hand. Dealmakers usually leave loopholes in their contracts, giving them a great deal of advantage over the recipient in most cases. The forces of hell care little for the spirit of the agreement and more for the technicalities. The Archfiends often find themselves as judges and enforcers of important pacts, particularly Mephistopholes, though the unknowable spirit of Hell itself seems intent on honoring bargains made within its borders.

Pacts are metaphysically binding between demons, usually giving the dealmaker some degree of power over the recipient. This can range from increased power against the target to help “enforce” their bargain to literal metaphysical enslavement, making the recipient physically incapable of fighting against their owner. Of course the rewards for such pacts are usually quite tempting, whether it be powerful infernal blessings or simply the offering of protection and shelter.

Breaking a pact is difficult for the recipient, or at least extremely dangerous. A broken pact usually grants the dealmaker a vast degree of power to punish the dealbreaker, usually resulting in the destruction of the demon and ownership of the resulting lifeforce. The more powerful the dealmaker is, the more horrifying and immediate their method of retribution can be. However, if the dealmaker fails to honor their end of the agreement, the pact is nullified and, sometimes, the recipient is granted similar power to claim vengeance on the original pactmaker.
Death is Cheap
Because sinners simply reform from death, considerations for safety or self-preservations are minimal. Demons rarely think much of watching each other be maimed or killed, and in fact many simply predate on one another for food or twisted delight. However, dying again is never a pleasant experience for those experiencing it, and most demons would go out of their way to avoid it whenever possible.

There are far worse fates than death, however, and this is a fact that many Overlords tend to exploit. Tales of being buried alive, imprisoned forever, drowned for eternity, and far worse have all common tales, usually spread to keep obedience to the Overlords as high as possible.



The Fall
The first thing every sinner will experience in their time in Hell is their violent descent into their afterlives. Often simply known as “The Fall”, it is an incredibly unpleasant experience in which their souls fall from the pentagram above the city, their new demonic bodies forming rapidly, and painfully, around them. In a twisted miracle, no demons ever hit the ground hard enough to die, though broken bones are quite common, as is falling into otherwise hazardous situations or locations.



The Lords of Hell
While Lucifer reigns as king of all Hell, other high-ranking nobles, particularly the Archdukes, still hold significant political power even in Ring beyond their own. Every lord of Hell has at least a passing interest in the 1st, for it is the Ring that all mortal souls enter and where they will meet their eventual extermination. As such, Lucifer holds the keys to the transfer of mortal souls throughout Hell.

To keep the peace, powerful demon lords are usually granted a certain degree of presence in Pentagram City, where they are free to scout for souls that meet their needs or desires and, one way or another, bring them into the lower Circles. While sometimes these abductions takes the form of genuine promotions and places of power for simple sinners, it is almost always a form of predation and considered an unfortunate fate my most.


Media
When one takes the fall, they very rarely take anything with them but their memories of the surface. As such, most of the art, music, and movies of Hell are unique to it, having been created there after the death of the artist. However, nostalgia is a powerful call to sinners, so replications of music or movies from the living world are commonplace and quite popular, though rarely as accurate as anyone would like due to having to recreate it from memory.

Some enterprising demons with access to the surface world take part in a sort of black market that deals in genuine media from Earth. Such things are usually incredibly valuable given how rare access to the living world is, and so it is often only the wealthy and powerful that can afford such luxuries.



Snapshots of Time
After dying, most demons prefer to adjust their surroundings to match the ones they saw in life to the best of their abilities, or at least congregate in areas that match those aesthetics the most. Thus, Pentagram City is a rather eclectic one, bearing architecture and media from almost every period of human history from all over the world and denizens to match. Because they tend to congregate together based on time period and culture, there are many areas with designated “themes” to suit their inhabitants.

Unlike Earth, however, these distinct cultures share a singular, massive settlement and so bleedover is quite pronounced, especially as factions take and lose the same territory regularly. Additionally, as time wears on sinners tend to become less and less attached to their earthly origins and instead begin to base their identities on the sins they most enjoy and the ambitions they hold.