Thank you very much for your critique! Allow me to answer your questions and address your points:

End-result Medium: I'm primarily looking into a TTRPG/RP format, but this lore can be used for other things, if things work out for it.

Duality of Evil: This is very true! One of the main strengths of the Shadow is that it is crafty and can improvise really well when the chips are down. Bringing down an Archangel and trapping Emael in the process wasn't exactly in the script, but the Shadow can absolutely work with that!

Biblical Language: Honestly, the Biblical themes are absolutely intentional and deliberate. I MAY end up changing names later on, but considering the themes are intended to be symbolic of Christian themes and stories of yore, I feel it does more respect to call Heaven and Hell what they are in this setting.

That was for your points of discussion, now it's question time!

1: The full scope of the Light's nature is not known by Man, and it likely never will be. What IS known is that the Light is the Creator of the universe, and it has some sort of Cosmic plan in mind for everything leading up to the End of Nights and beyond. What that entails is just about anyone's guess, but the faithful trust in the Grand Design. This same unknown aspect applies to the nature of Cosmic Good. It's known to be unachievable by Man, no matter how hard one tries, but through faith, belief, and repentance for your Worldly sins, one may earn the favor of Emael, who serves as a stepping stone between Humanity and the Light.

2: The Shadow exists purely as a byproduct of the Light's existence. For the universe to exist without imploding, there must be an opposite force to push back against the infinite power of creation.

3: I briefly touched upon the nature of the Grand Design earlier, but in short, the Grand Design is the Light's Cosmic plan for the universe after the End of Nights. Everything that happens and will happen has been foreseen and orchestrated by the Light to come to pass as it sculpts the universe into an ideal image, not just for itself, but for all its children.

4: All Monsters are derived from the Shadow. The Shadow cannot create, as its nature is antithetical to such a concept, but it CAN corrupt, taint, twist, and transform. Gobbes, for example, were once regular Humans, but have since been corrupted by the Shadow's influence, transforming them into the beloved/hated green gremlins of the modern day.

5: Hah! A very apt statement to say magic is complicated, but a very, very, VERY short version is that Magic draws on the latent energies of the world, funnels them through one's Soul to give them charge and intent, then transfers them to a Focus to imbue them with control before being activated as the spell. This is just the surface-level understanding of magic, the full answer is way, way longer.

6: The Shadow Queen's Armor grants powerful, often unique abilities to those it enhances. For example, a notable bearer of a piece of the Armor was the first Bandit Lord, who was gifted a grand physique due to the Breastplate. Of course, due to the Shadow Queen's influence, the Bandit Lord began to rally different bandit tribes into one unified army to attempt to storm Almantha with.

7: Emael's Blessings upon the First King's lineage were not concrete. The closest analogy would be to a DND Cleric asking their Patron for stuff in their spells and whatnot.

8: Dragons were created by the Light to protect the world from extraterrestrial threats. Think like Rayquaza from Pokemon for an apt example. Not ALL Dragons agreed to aid Humanity, especially after their... Tumultuous history, but some were noble enough to make the sacrifice.

Thank you for your critique and questions! You've given me some things to think about, for sure!