Hmm,

That is a very interesting interpretation.

There are things like that, that I have seen before. It could be, the only thing I know about it is from what Tom and Rupert have told me.

But that would certainly be consistent with what it's doing.

I have to say, such a device, as originally constructed would be of great value in the courts.

I have had this discussion with several on this forum when trying to describe the mirror and power. And your interpretation of the original intent correlates quite well. Power is not purely reflected by innate mana levels, it also incorporates ability to channel mana from other sources, as well as knowing how to best apply that mana.

What's the point of having lots and lots of mana if you waste half the mana with each spell? Highly skilled mana users often need less mana to achieve the same task than unskilled mana users. (this is an advantage wizards often have over animages) Thus someone who has less mana may actually be more "powerful" than someone with a lot of mana.

This, you see, is the very complexity of the demon ranking system and why there is a great deal of difference in power between demons of the same rank.

Why some greater demons can shape change and some can't. And this is where the politics of the court comes into play.

Once one establishes that one is of a certain level, testing and finely determining that level becomes very dangerous, and is generally not worth the risk of losing. Of course, Lilith and Sammaal will play court members off each other, trying to make such a measurement, safely, for themselves.

You really don't want to find out which one is more powerful, because it may not be who you think. And if you are one of the players in question, you probably don't want to find out, and be wrong.

So therefore, appearances are often as important as reality. The bluff equivalent to reality, at least until proven to be a bluff.

For example, I think the obvious assumption is that in a hand to hand contest, Iron Man will beat the crap out of Captain America. But what if he doesn't? That would probably be a big hit for the ego.

Similarly, Batman has no chance against Superman.

But maybe not, it depends on a lot of factors, who is more powerful in a given situation. That is why you really don't want to try and measure this, if you are one of the two parties.

Of course, being fictional characters, the writers can envision all sorts of playing field levelers in those two cases. You know like numbing Captain America's fists so he doesn't feel pain when pounding Iron Man in the "iron" jaw.

However, in the Courts, demons don't have the advantage of being fictional characters. We don't have any writers to shift the playing field for us.

And in fact, if they could, I am sure authors would try to tilt the playing field against demons, and orcs and D'Orcs. Just because authors are known to side with the elves and their allies.

Have you considered the possibility that this relationship might be inverse?

That what humans try to express with ostentatious choices of clothing, automobile model or interior decoration style, demons tend to express by puffing themselves up?