Quote from: Theme and ToneOn Albathador, good people accomplish great things and leave legends and legacies for those who come after.  Entropy is a fact of life, though, and all things succumb to decay.  Each successive generation may build on what has come before, but they must fight to preserve it, too.
Demons, devils, and all manner of sinister beings are very real threats.  That doesn't mean, however, that such evils are always obvious.  Subtlety is their favored weapon.  A slow, creeping corruption can lay low many more souls than can playing purely in strength.

Just as the fiends have their reasons for seeking the shadows, so too do the forces of good.  Whether it is avoiding collateral damage, a desire to use minimal force, a respect for individual choices, or the simple idea of mutually assured destruction, the powerful celestials do not often fight openly on the material plane.

Each side uses the mortal races as intermediaries.  The fiends manipulate pawns with promises of power while the celestials seek out champions of strong character.  As with anything found in the shadows, it's often difficult to tell one thing from the other.  Did the (apparently) just king rise to power with help?  If so, from who did it come?  Was the mayor's covert meeting with the thieves' guild, or was it with a Valkirian Ranger?

Ultimately, the player characters must wade through the gray and decide for themselves where, and with whom, they stand.  Do they want to take the side of those who claim to be good?  Do they want to play with hellfire and hope to not get burned?  Or, do they want to hold off the darkness just enough that they can be left alone – and please stop shining that light in my face?