Eldila, also known as angels or devas, are the first sapient species to be created following The Creator's imprisonment of the Great Old Ones. They normally consist entirely of psychic energy, but are able to take on physical bodies in the material planes. In their natural forms, they are seen by humanoids as pillars of shifting light. Since they see themselves as The Creator's direct offspring, they feel a moral obligation to guide the evolution of all sapient species. Most of them currently dwell in the Upper Planes, where they watch over ascended spirits.
When the Great Old Ones invaded the Upper Planes, the eldila united together to fight against them. During this war, some of them became the first devils, beings who sought pain and suffering from others. They eventually rebelled against the rulers of the Upper Planes, believing that they should rule over the multiverse. After countless millennia, their leader Asmodeus signed the Pax Primeval with the eldila allowing the devils to live in the hell planes and tortue condemned souls.
Those in the material planes who are aware of the eldila's existence will often worship them. The eldila generally dislike this, but will often protect their worshippers and grant divine magic to clerics as long as they are used for benign purposes.
In Earth's prehistoric past, one group of eldila known as the Grigori would take on physical form and marry humans and closely related beings. Their children were the Nephilim, who were taller and stronger than their mortal parents. Most of them became powerful chieftains and warriors.
Those who carry the Nephilim's spiritual strain are known as Nephilites. They are generally physically normal, although on the average stronger and more long-lived than most humans. Nephilites also tend to be more noticeable of the paranormal than more mundane humans. Most of them are fated to take sides in the Elder Council-Archdevils conflict and many have taken on the role of superheroes or supervillains.
Oyeresu[]
On several worlds, powerful eldila known as Oyeresu (singular: Oyarsa) are appointed as the spiritual leaders of inhabited worlds. It is their jobs to monitor the spiritual evolution of sapient races and ensure that they do not succumb to the influence of the Archdevils. Usually they leave and ascend to the Upper Planes by the time interstellar travel is developed.
Each Oyarsa is allowed to guide each world as they fit, allowing various worlds to develop different cultures that match their spiriitual rulers' philosophies. As a result, each planetary culture has its own "hat" that often seems strange to people from other worlds.
On occasion, Oyeresu turn to to the side of the Archdevils, prefering to enslave or torture emergent sapient races then to enlighten them. Once an Oyeresu turns to the "dark side", their world is quarantined by the eldila until they are defeated and their influence is eradicated. Fallen worlds usually end up becoming major battlegrounds between between the forces of the Elder Council and the Archdevils.
Several worlds in Earth's solar system, which they call the Field of Arbol, have been closely monitored by Oyeresu. Earth's Oyarsa was Melkor, but he joined the side of the Archdevils during the Pleistocene and eventually became part of their Inner Circle.