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Demons, regardless of their origins, are invariab] evil. Their sole purpose is to create pain and gather pow at human expense. Through their efforts, they accumu late souls. From human souls (other species’ do not seen to interest them), they gain status among their own kin: and even greater power on Earth and in their Nether. Realms. They appear in many forms, most of which are benign, if not pleasing to the eye. Their form is always best suited for their task at hand, though many have “natural” forms which they usually assume when in- jured, angry or simply capricious. Many demons, such as succubi and incubi, seduce humans through carnal pleasures. Some demons use promises of power to draw in their foolish victims, while still others use sheer force to intimidate their victims into serving them. Regardless of the method used, the end result is always the same the demons get the victims’ souls, and the victims receive only a short- term reward which hardly makes up for their own loss. Infernal creatures possess all sorts of powers: producing hellfire, inflicting pain, inducing pleasure, stealing secrets, reading minds, causing bad luck, rapid healing, summoning other demons, Umbral travel and wish-granting. Demons are extremely dangerous and powerful, but they seldom directly use their powers except when they wish to demon- strate the price of failure. Most are cowardly and will only face opponents far weaker than themselves. Hermetic scribes who rank the Umbrood grant lower demons “Minion” status, while the Infernal majority ranges from Preceptors to (thankfully few!) Lords. All but the lowest of demons are subtle and Machiavellian. Most act like slick drug pushers: “C’mon, guy, I’m your friend . Have a favor, it’s on me A demon will seemingly aid a character in the beginning, protecting him from harm, bring- ing great pleasures and rewards and asking little in return. Over time, the demon will begin asking for favors, but will promise rewards in exchange. Eventually, a character will have no qualms over selling his soul to the demon, since the demon has bargained fairly up until that point. Once under the demon’s control, things change... Book of Madness 103 It’s fairly easy to abuse or overuse demons in a magickal game. Frequent appearances by the Infernal Powers, however, does not really fit the tone of either Mage or the World of Darkness as a whole. Such entities are best left in the shadows, looming occasionally from the depths to add fearsome spice toatale, then retreatingbefore too much can be revealed. The greatest terrors are those dim shapes which we recognize but cannot ascertain. Familiarity breeds boredom. Demons should never become mundane. Fighting a demon one-on-one is a foolish proposition. Neverthe- less, players may wish (or be forced) to do it. Assume that none but the stupidest of demons will hang around for a serious fight—they have better things to do than scrap with mortals. While servitors (see below) may battle characters, most demons will merely taunt them, cause them some kind of anguish and leave. These entities should be impressive. l-l~rald their arrival by bad omens, worse weather, mysterious sounds, awful smells and bone-deep warnings of danger. These beings are forces of nature, not mere monsters. Play up the otherworldly aspects of the Infernal if a demon ever appears. Demons do not, by the way, seek utter destruction for the world (unlike the demented Things Beyond the Horizon). They exist to cause misery, not to extinguish all life. Masters theorize that demons, being th~ personifications of evil and fear, would cease to exist if humanity were to be obliterated. There’s only one way to test this theory, and no one wants to try it! Rules As entities of spirit, demons have two sets of statistics: their natural spirit forms (for use in the Umbra) and physical materialized stats (for when they manifest on Earth or a Realm). Humans cannot physically affect ephemera (the stuff of which spiritsm made) uriless they have some powerful tie to the spirit world. Demo~ are thus immune to physical attacks so long as they do not materialize. The CharmAppear allows aspirit to manifest without taking physical form, and many demons like to use it to bait mortals without risk. Rules and details about spirits and mortal interactions can be found in Chapter Five and the Appendix. Even in physical form, demons heal at a startling rate. The Heal Charm allows a demon to regenerate its material body for one Health Level per Power point spent, or three points for an aggravated Health Level (see Appendix for Power and Charms). Most demons have plenty of Power. If a demon’s Power or Health Levels are expended, its body is dispelled, and it returns to its astral hell. Demonic magick is more a plot device than a set of statistics. Assume that the lower orders will have a few set powers (their Charms), while others can use any Effect their Spheres might indicate. The most powerful can do anything they dat~n well please with few limitations. These limits include: • The Barnem It is one of the blessings of the walls between worlds that demons and their ilk cannot simply pass into our world whenever they want to. Summonings, from simple invocations to complex rituals, are needed to bring an Infernal being across into our world. Once they are here, however, demons are notoriowlyhard todispel. Further rituals or the destruction of the demon’s material form are usually required. • Paradox: While static demonic powers (Investments and Charms) are immune to Paradox, those who use dynamic True Magick run the same risks as anyone else twisting reality in such a fashion. Paradox backlashes against materialized demons can actually damage them (re. physical backlash). Thus, demons usually avoid Sphere magick in the material world. • Purity: Purity offends demons; they take aggravated damage from attacks composed of pure Prime energy and suffer physical damage fromTrue Faith (one die of aggravated damage per dot of Faith). Demons lose much of theirpoweron Holy Days and in places of positive religious sanctity. Granted Investmenaynotwork,andinfemalistsorDiabolistsmayfindthemselves out in the cold on such days. • The will of the summoner or pact: An exceedingly clever mortal may be able to wrangle a contract around to limit the demon’s powers over her. This is very rare and dangerous. Nevertheless, if a demon is specifically prohibited from doing a certain thing, it is said that he cannot. This concept, however, may be anise to further fool mortals into trusting their own abilities to best a demon. • Deus ex Machina: These are forces out there that, forwhateverreason, donotwant Infernal entities wandering the Earth. These powers may include divine will, static reality (see Unbelief,Chapter Two), mighty mages or even the laws of nature. Just as demons have great leeway with their magicks, they must also be bound to follow certain Things Which Simply Are. The perimeters of these limits is the Storyteller’s discretion, but some boundaries should exist. Ranks The ranks below are mere guidelines, not Infernal or Hermetic hierarchies. The power level of demonic beings will vary considerably and are the Storyteller’s place to decide. The abilities to cross the ‘Barriers and grant Investments, however, corresponds to the following levels. Weaker demons can wander more easily into our world, but cannot gi* the powers and wisdom most infernalists desire. Infernalists ofteii “jump levels” in a search for greater power, getting themselves further into debt with the loan sharks of the soul. • Servitors: When the misnomer “demon hordes” is used, itoften refers to these lesser Infernal creatures. As the name implies, servitors act as agents or muscle for their mightiçr kin. Few demons of this level have a set form or identity. They shift constantly, growing limbs or orifices, going from classical mythological devil-forms to amorphous blobs of mind-shattering proto- plasm, depending on the expectations of their audience and the will of their masters. In theirnon-material forms, servitors and Middle-Umbral Banes act as the proverbial “evil spirits” that plague humanity. Servitors cannot grant Investments or teach black magic beyond the second rank. They may, however, cross the Gauntlet and manifest with simple rituals and minor invocations. • Tempters: Common infernalists deal with these demons most often. Tempters are those Infernal creatures that pass on Investments and black magic in exchange for one’s soul. These demons are clever, subtle and arrogant. Each has an identity and a specialty: Nishama bides over the perversity of human intellect while Jadrax guards the secrets mages crave. MostofthesebeingsrankasPreceptorUmbrood (seeChapterFive)for sheer power. They can grant Investments up to five points and can teach all but the most advanced black magicks. Only the most powerful can Awaken an Avatar to perform True Magick These demons are great storehouse of occult lore, but must be dealt with utmost caution. Rituals of some power are necessary to invoke a tempter, though they may be contacted through Umbral and astral travel. • Lords: Only the strongest infemalists can truck with these personi-, fications of malice, and only the maddest would want to. Demon Lords rank as Umbrood Lords (or even higher) and can use mighty magicks with little difficulty. They are, however, living blights upon reality and cannot travel here without major sacrifices and summoning rites. These beings are essentially gods and should be handled more as plot devices than as characters. Though they can grant any level of Investment, few would waste their time. No mortal could meet their price. A human life, even a supernaturally long one, is not worth their notice or effort. Book of Madness 112 Servitor: N~4ro~sto the Mondr~i~or~ Willpower 4, Rage 5, Gnosis 4, Power 25 Charms: Armor, Blast Flame (5 dice), Blighted Touch, Control Wind (5 points), Corruption, Create Fires, Shapeshift, Tracking Nature: Conniver Demeanor: Judge Materialized Attributes: Strength 1, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2 (use Gnosis for Social and Mental Traits) Abilities: Alertness 2, Awareness 4, Brawl 1, Cosmology 3, Culture 4, Dodge 6, Enigmas 4, Etiquette 4, Expression 3, Intuition 6, Intimidation 3, Linguistics 7, Occult 5, Re- search 2, Stealth 4, Subterfuge 5 Background: Nagrogasto is the servant of Grostolis, an archduke of the Inferno who controls 6 of the 666 legions. This minor servitor is charged with corrupting mortals into giving over their souls to Grostolis in ex- change for some of their own power. This incarnation is only the most recent and successful of Nagrogasto’s incarnations. His current identity has survived for over 55 years, a long time for a servitor-rank demon. Image: It appears as either an average-looking 10 year old boy with black hair and brown eyes or as an owl. In either guise, Nagrogasto speaks with a voice like whisper- ing leaves. Roleplaying Notes: You are fanatical in your service to your master —he has the power to destroy you with but a glance. Always pretend to be kind and wholesome, and you aid anyone whom you can corrupt for your master. You are completely willing to serve as a tutor or familiar for infernalists of all kinds, whom you taunt with the smallness of their vision. Servitor: ~ish~im~i, the Imp of the Perverse Willpower 6, Rage 5, Gnosis 5, Power 25 Charms: Break Reality, Corruption, Disorient, Influ- ence, Reform, Shatter Glass, Short Out Nature: Deviant Demeanor: Conniver Materialized Attributes: Strength 1, Dexterity 5, Stamina 2 (use Gnosis for Social and Mental Traits) Abilities: Alertness 4, Athletics 2, Dodge 4, Intuition 3, Subterfuge 5, Stealth 5, Enigmas 4, Linguistics 5, Occult 4 Background: The Imp claims to be as old as conscious thought itself, but the original edition of the Malleus Neffandorum states that the Imp was a hobgoblin that attained autonomous existence during the Great Quiet of Nazdhur-i-Khan, before that august personage ascended to become an Oracle of the Sphere of Mind. The Imp was the subject of essays by Edgar Allan Poe and Ambrose Bierce and is believed to be the “muse” of many other writers and artists. Image: On the rare occasions it manifests on the physical plane, the Imp appears as a tiny spindly humanoid with long skinny fingers and toes (its feet are as dexterous as its hands). Roleplaying Notes: You are the universal personifica- tion of intellectual opposition. You lurk in the astral world in the space between one thought and the next, ever ready to pervert, invert, revert, bend, fold, spindle and mutilate any idea that passes within reach. When dealing directly with characters, contradict nearly everything that is said, agreeing only when someone’s train of thought takes a turn for the perverse. Steal small objects whenever possible. Servitor: Abzu, the Got herer Willpower 6, Rage 8, Gnosis 6, Power (now 10; he gains 5 Power per point of Quintessence he siphons from nearby mages, 10 points per host he Possesses (once successful) and 20 points if that host is an Awakened being (a mage, vampire, werewolf, etc.) Charms: Animate, Blighted Touch, Disorient, Drain Quintessence (5 points; allows Abzu to suck one point of Quintessence per Brawl success from his target. Difficulty 6), Possession, Tracking Materialized Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 5 (use Gnosis for Social and Mental Traits) Abilities: Brawl 3, Dodge 4 Background: Power corrupts and absolute power cor- rupts absolutely. The demon known as Abzu, the Gatherer, embodies the corruption that the taste of power can create. Eons ago, Abzu roamed the Tellurian, searching for unwit- ting mages to satisfy his insatiable hunger for Quintessence. In turn, the Quintessence made him more powerful with each feeding. However, with each feeding, his hunger grew larger and could never be satisfied. Hundreds of years ago, Ahl-i-Batin mages imprisoned him in an ancient vault deep within the deserts of Persia. There he dwelled for well over a thousand years, tormented by his vora- cious hunger. However, in the Middle Ages, the vault was discovered by three French knights of the First Crusade who mistakenly thought it to be the final resting place of the Holy Grail. The knights entered, only to be torn to shreds by the imprisoned demon To Abzu’s delight, one of the knights, Henri Pardeux, was a would-be mage whose Avatar had not yet Awakened. Abzu, knowing that his astral form could no longer exist in the Tellurian outside the vault, entered and possessed the unAwakened knight and resumed the knight’s present course. The possessed Henri emerged from the desert some 120 years later, having not aged a day since his possession by Abzu. The Church thought Henri’s virtual immortality a miracle. In time, Henri grew influential in government affairs and played an important role in engineering the Third Crusade to crush the Ahl-i-Batin who had impris- oned him centuries before. A mage of the Cabal of Pure Thought soon became aware of an almost diabolic resonance in Henri’s presence—a strange aura for one granted immortality by God. His suspicions were confirmed when one of the Cabal’s knights witnessed Abzu slaughter an unAwakened mage late one night. The Cabal of Pure Thought confronted the demon, narrowly subduing him and imprisoning him in a cathedral high within the French Alps. They sealed Abzu in the catacombs beneath the cathedral with a bronze sigil in- scribed with a warning to those who might stumble into the place. Abzu remains there today, awaiting the time when he shall be released and satiate his hunger... Image: Abzu exists in the Tellurian by possessing a host, usually a mage. One common factor of each description of Abzu, however, is the black mist which surrounds him at all times. This mist, visible only with a Perception + Aware- ness roll, difficulty 6, is a manifestation of Abzu’s Quintessence hunger. The mist can Materialize if need be, assuming the shape of thousands of tendrils, each with razor sharp barbs at the end. These barbs form leech-like orifices that siphon Quintessence from an impaled target. A Sleeper can supply the demon with up to 3 Quintessence; a non- mage supernatural is good for 5. Roleplaying Hints: None, really. Chow down! Tempter: J~drox, Fiend of Secrets Willpower 8, Rage 8, Gnosis 7, Power 40 Charms: All but the following: Calcify, Cleanse the Blight, Forest Sense, Solidify Reality. Jadrax’s damaging Charms have 8 points (or do 6 dice) each. Demonic Powers: 3 pts. of Lightning Speed, Emotion Projection. Jadrax knows all Paths of Dark Sorcery at rank 5. Nature: Judge Demeanor: Curmudgeon Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 4, Stamina 8 (use Gnosis for Social and Mental Traits) Abilities: Alchemy 5, Alertness 4, Athletics 3, Aware- ness 7, Brawl 2, Computer 3, Cosmology 7, Culture 2, Enigmas 8, Etiquette 5, Expression 3, Intuition 4, Intimida- tion 6, Law 6 (Codes of Hell), Leadership 3, Linguistics 4, Lores (all at 4 each), Melee 3, Occult 9, Research 9, Science 3, Subterfuge 7, Technology 4 Spheres: Correspondence 3, Entropy 4, Forces 2, Life 3, Matter 2, Mind 3, Prime 4, Spirit 4, Time 2 Arete: 7 Background: Jadrax is an ancient demon of occult se- crets. He was one of the first demons to share the black arts with mortals. He controls his own cult, mentioned previ- ously in this chapter. Image: Jadrax appears however a person wishes him to appear, so long as his appearance is enigmatic. All see him as a mysterious figure who grants them secret knowledge. Roleplaying Notes: You have studied all the demonic arts, and you have acquired many souls. Now you take enjoyment out of teaching mortals demonic secrets just to watch them ruin their lives. You are one of the most learned of all demons, and you are often called upon by more powerful demons for your great intellect. Tempter: Vu~irius, the Ste~Ier of Breaths Willpower 9, Rage 8, Gnosis 8, Power 45 Charms: As Jadrax, above. Vugarius’ damage Charms do 10 points (or 7 dice) each. Demonic Powers: Apport Object (a huge black sword: Strength +4, difficulty 7), Eyes of the Abyss, 4 points of Lightning Speed, Underworld Passage. Vugarius has 5 points in the Paths of Lust and Torment, Fires of Inferno and Summoning. Nature: Architect Demeanor: Director Attributes: Strength 5, Dexterity 7, Stamina 8 (use Gnosis for Social and Mental Traits) Abilities: Alertness 3, Athletics 4, Awareness 8, Brawl 4, Cosmology 7, Dodge 5, Enigmas 4, Etiquette 4, Expression 4, Intuition 3, Intimidation 6, Leadership 5, Linguistics 4, Melee 3, Occult 6, Stealth 3, Subterfuge 7 Background: Vugarius has long been a tormentor of humanity. He has taken great pleasure down through history in causing the deaths of infants. He cannot take their souls, but he still gets great pleasure in watching them die. He does, however, collect the souls of his followers. This demon is brutal and enjoys the agony of others; sacrifices and punishments among his cult take the most sadistic means imaginable. Image: Vugarius seldom appears to his cultists, but when he does appear, it is in the form of a thin, old man at least in his 90s. He wears a black suit with a black rose on the lapel. He smells of sulfur, and when he speaks, people hear it in their minds as well as in their ears. Roleplaying Notes: You enjoy the pain and death of mor- tals, especially children. You have corrupted an entire town in New Mexico which may soon bring you to earth. Should they fail, you will begin corrupting other small towns into your service, as you never realized it was so easy. Should they succeed, you will walk the earth causing great destruction. Demon Lord: Grosf oils, Archduke of the Inferno Background: Grostolis is one of the most powerful of the demons. It has achieved great power by collecting souls, and it now needs very little from humanity. Still, it does occasionally toy with its cult, which has grown to an impressive size. Image: This virtual god appears however it pleases to each individual who views it. Although it rarely manifests on Earth, its powers in the Umbra are such that it defies mere statistics. Roleplaying Notes: You are an archduke who commands many legions. None may oppose you. You are the epitome of pure evil, and everything you touch becomes tainted with your dark energies. You are vile and cunning, and you seek even great power among the Infernal hierarchy. Chapter Four: Demons and Demon Cults 115
