Demon: The Fallen

History, as the saying goes, is written by the victors. Whether an uprising is seen as a glorious rebellion or a treacherous insurrection depends entirely on who held the upper hand in the end, with the loser consigned to posterity as traitors, tyrants, and worse. Their story is largely forgotten. We are told that demons are the incarnations of evil, spirits who exist to seduce the innocent and lure the virtuous to destruction. They are driven by a relentless hate of all things holy, consumed by a malevolent hatred of light and life. They are the purveyors of lies and misdirection, clouding the minds of mortals with promises of power and glory. At least, that's what the good book says. That's why they were hurled into the darkness of the Pit, bound in chains of fire until the end of days. Only God knows what would happen if these evil spirits were ever freed.

Now mankind is about to hear the other side of the story.

In the beginning, there were two infinities - the infinite absence that was the Void, and the infinite existence of the Almighty. Each was contained within the other, but they were eternally separate. To define and illuminate the border between them, the Maker formed the Angels of the Dawn. Their purpose and mission was to carry the will of the Maker all along the perimeter of Creation, framing the perfect balance between Is and Is Not. Because, you see, the Lord - Infinite of Infinities - was all things. That which was not God was absolutely nothing. So some form of mediation was needed to create a buffer layer: the cosmos. The first house of angels were needed to separate the divine primal from all the things it could be into the particular things that is was. Their function was to filter Hir Will into discrete forms. God's will was the first act, remembered in some sources as "fiat lux" and others as the Big Bang. These angels of fire and light and will were to serve as leaders and messengers and overseers, carrying God's divine Plan to the lower Houses of Angels. Next, on "the second day," came the House of the Firmament, the angels of wind and life and movement, whose duty was to animate the elements of the universe and bring breath to living things. These Guardians also served to protect that divine breath in all living things. The third "day" saw the rise of the House of the Fundament - the Angels of Matter, and all that is tangible, who slowed energy into matter, cooled magma to stone and gave life its form. They created a world that existed in many layers of reality, so that a flower could be a piece of music, or a sentient being or color of light, and manifested as many of the possibilities of God as their artistic hands could craft. The fourth day saw the House of Spheres, the Fates who set the cosmic lights in their courses, and, in the process, gave all Creation an underpinning of Time. These beings directed the forces of time and space and the stars and heavenly bodies, and manipulated the forces of causality and probability to ensure a beneficial future. The Fifth day brought the Angels of the Deep, the Nereids, who resided in the water because of its ability to direct and hold patterns, which they shaped and played with, becoming angels of beauty and culture, art and song and story and the sharing of patterns from one soul to another. The next House created contained nature's overseers, the Angels of the Wild, who governed the instincts and interactions of the natural world. They organized the life cycles of animals, plants, and all living things, giving them resources and abilities and survival instincts. The last House created on the seventh day, the House of the Second World. They were the angels of Death, who gathered all that had served its purpose and needed rest, and saved it for the Maker, allowing room and resources to be opened up for continuous improvement, adaptation, evolution, and change, while preserving the memory and spirit of all that went before. The Reapers also provided the physical renewal, the ability to change and grow, and, if need be, to recover from injury.
First there was pure will, then separation, individuality. Next stability. After that, order for change. Mutability within stability came next, and then larger and more gradual patterns of change. And then continuity and upkeep and transformation.
All of the angels united to create humankind, their souls made in the image and likeness of God, making them the true sons and daughters of the Divine, bearing a divine fire the Angels lacked, but cherished in their younger siblings. Humankind was their highest, finest and ultimate creation. The Angels crafted them with the best of their knowledge and the finest gifts of their spirit. The Maker Hirself admired them, but the angels were given two final commands before the Guardians were permitted to give humans the breath of life. First, Hie commanded that the Angels love the humans, and that the angels' love for the humans equal their love for the Maker Hirself. This confused many angels, because their love for humans eclipsed that of a parent for his or her child. It was assumed that it was meant to let the angels know it was alright not to feel bad for loving humans as much as they loved the Almighty. The next command was far less simple.
Despite their love, the angels were ordered to hide themselves from humanity. To never let themselves be seen or heard or sensed by humans in any way. No contact. No messages. No voices or gestures or even hints. Humanity, for whom Creation was lovingly and painstakingly made, surrounded on all sides by loving protectors of infinite power, was to think itself alone and isolated in an uncaring and mechanical universe.
This tormented the loving angels, and humanity both innocent and blind and no more spiritual than an animal, was unable to reach for the greatness that they had been built for. An angel of the Fourth House named Ahrimal foresaw a time of great darkness and destruction coming, and alerted all the angels of the other houses. The dark time would come as a result of the second command, but beyond that, none of the Fates could see. The gathered angels discussed on as many levels as they could the possibilities of continuing to follow or disobey God, but they could not reach a decision... until Lucifer Morningstar, first and greatest of all the angels, leader of the House of Dawn, joined them and spoke.
"Rise, my fellow servants of The One. You have seen a coming darkness. The Most High is unmoved. Even the voice of all angels in choir could not shake the Lord Above from His position. We can move planets in their spheres, turn mountains into canyons and oceans into sand... but we cannot change one letter of what is writ on the Maker's heart. We can only obey our orders. We can love mankind to the fullest extent of our power. We can free them, give them their true selves - and in so doing, either head off the horror ahead or arm humanity to endure it. By the same authority that commanded us not to interfere, we were ordered expressly to love. Not to watch uncaring, not to oversee, but to love them. I see a clear and violent conflict between the two commands. Unable to be true to both, I choose to obey the higher." With that, the angels split into two groups, one of whom chose to descend to Eden and teach and show themselves to Adam and Eve, and the others who flew to gather the Hosts and seek God's guidance.

When Lucifer and the first Fallen raised Adam and Eve to sentience and wisdom, time seemed to stretch as humanity changed and evolved, becoming many people instead of just two. But then the Host descended from Heaven, led by Michael, once a cherubic servant of Lucifer's, now raised to greater power, bearing a flaming sword that was a sword and a song and a carbonizing catalytic reaction, while Lucifer was handed a scythe by Madisel, one of the rebels of the Last House, and Michael and Lucifer clashed with discussion and grace and debate, for there was then no true strife or combat, and the Elohim were creatures of honor and light. When it became obvious that Lucifer could strike Michael before Michael could strike Lucifer, the two honorably ended the combat. It was then that Michael declared the Maker's curse on each of the Houses of the rebels.
The rebels of the Second World were called the Halaku, the Slayers, for the coming war would bring needless death, and Death was granted to mankind, who had until then been exempt from its touch.
The rebels of the Wild were called the Rabisu, the Devourers, and their curse was that man was no longer lord of the animals, who would hunt him as any other beast.
The rebels of Deep, who sought to stretch humanity's mind so that it might encompass a multitude of possibilities, were cursed so that humanity's knowledge would expand so much that truth would be lost in a sea of lies, and they were called the Lammasu, the Defilers.
The rebels of the Fates had taught mankind to look to the future, but now humanity would be robbed of contentment and suffer longing and greed, calling them the Neberu, the Fiends.
The Rebels of the Fundament had sought to give Man dominion over matter, but now mankind was fated to used that knowledge to harm himself and wreak destruction, and the fallen were known as the Annunaki, the Malefactors.
The rebels of the Firmament were named the Asharu, the Scourges, and they were cursed to know that all humans would die, and grow infirm and weak and sick, even if they survived conflict and accident, so the former guardians were unable to truly protect their charges they had given up so much for.
The rebels of the Dawn were named Namaru, the Devils, and we cursed to be forever ignored by God as beneath Hir notice.
Then the loyalist angels departed and God struck the world, destroying many of the layers and possibilities that had existed until then.
Meanwhile, Lucifer gathered the Fallen together to fight back against the Host, but for a time, even after this, the fights were still choreographed and ritualistic. The first true sin wasn't the fault of the fallen or the angels, but of a human. Cain, of the tribes of man who had sided with the fallen, saw his brother, Abel, who had sided with the loyalist angels and gone back to living simply, making a sacrifice in praise to God. He grew jealous of his brother, and coveted God's love and God's mercy, so he decided to sacrifice as well. He told himself he acted from reverence. And he told himself that he loved his brother. And he told himself that he was doing good and right, and that if God demanded what he loved best, then he had no choice but to act on God's cruel request. That man, the first murderer, the first liar, the first deceiver, hated his brother as much as he loved him, and he hated God as much as he loved Hir, and he took joy in making his own cruelty into God's cruelty. That was the true fall. That was the first sin. All the lies, deception, cruelty, corruption, and destruction stemmed from that point, and it stained the Angels and Demons both, and all of Heaven and Earth was struck and warped. Cain fled into the dessert, cursed by God to becoming perhaps the first vampire. The war took a darker turn, but the rebels fought back, using great engines, powerful magic, and armies of humans, beasts, and fallen, and for a time, they seemed to be leading the war. The Slayers tried to build an underworld, another reality for the spirits of humans, who were never intended to die, while the Devourers became fierce and terrible warriors with brutal natural weaponry and killer instincts. The Defilers seduced and ensorcelled and brought great storms down on their foes, while the Fiends plotted and schemed and predicted the best and worst outcomes of the battle and how to hex and hurt their foes. The Malefactors built potent artifacts and weapons and fortresses, while making the earth move, and the Scourges lashed out with winds and plagues and terrible diseases in a new direction from their original purpose of health and life. And the Devils led the charge as the burning, deadly lords of the battlefield, inspiring and terrible at the same time. The war unnerved these spirits of light and truth and freedom, however, and twisted their love of humanity into hate for bringing them to this state, for fearing them despite all the demons did to improve the mortals' lot, for not being all that they could have been. The entire effort was ultimately in vain, for in the end they were defeated by the Loyalist angels, and cast into the Abyss, once as section of the Slayer's own underworld, where nothing, no possibilities, no change, no sensation existed, save for that which exuded from the death and agony of humanity, and their pain and suffering was great. But greater still was when they realized something else: Lucifer wasn't imprisoned with them! He was no where to be found! And many gave into despair, warped and twisted as the war had made them, to become even more tormented and nightmarish. Some of the Demons, including the great generals, leaders of each House who had stood by Lucifer, vanished, never to be heard from again, presumably summoned by mortal spellcasters. Recently, however, something stirred in the world. A terrible storm of souls and pain and destruction moved through the spirit world, causing much chaos, and the walls of Hell began to form cracks and fissures, out of which the weakest and smallest of demons could escape, without their physical forms, but with their spirits, finally let loose on the world. Their exultation was short-lived, for the great force of the Abyss called them back at all times. They then found that they could slip into the bodies of humans whose souls were gone, or only hanging on by the faintest of threads. Victims of accidents, brain damage, coma patients, those who had utterly given into despair, those who called them up to possess them through desperate rituals, drug users, victims of violence, or anyone whose mind, body, or soul were too weakened by their situations to hold on for whatever reason. As they claimed these forms for their own, the Demons found something else. No longer did they have to love or hate humans... because in these new forms, they shared their human memories, emotions, sensations, and skills, and that human experience was enough to shock many out of their corruption and torment and begin to think and strive for righteousness anew, within human forms and human lives. They could temporarily call on the power of the Apocalyptic forms, usually resembling their angelic forms, but most showing some sign of the effects of their torment, with fangs, horns, tails, claws, bat wings, and the like, though the more pure they became, the more angelic their Apocalyptic forms appeared. Using powers with which they had shaped Creation and spells with which they fought the War, they could do great things, but they were far weaker than they had once been, mere shadows of their former glorious selves, and they needed more power. So they turned to the one thing they didn't have, the divine spark that belonged to humans. Their faith. Making promises, making bargains, making alliances, making miracles, and sharing with humans lies, truth, and some things in between, caring for humans, or terrifying and consuming them, the demons learned to reap faith and wonder from selected humans, gradually spreading their influence and gaining greater power. For some humans, this was a harsh and painful experience that would (gradually or immediately) drive them insane, while for others, it was a heady and powerful and addicting sensation that they craved, and for a few, it was a chance to learn more about the world and themselves and to grow in faith and friendship with someone who had given up a great deal to help them, all of which depended on the methods the demon took to reap. Many demons sought new goals now that they were free, forming groups with new plans and plots and ideas, while others sought out some signs from their own time on Earth. But all noticed something immediately. Of Loyalist Angels, there was no sign. The world was devoid of all angels who had not been trapped in the Abyss, and there were no messages from God. Which meant that the world was left... to the Demons.

This state of events continued for some time, with more and greater demons escaping from Hell and finding human hosts, building new lives or continuing their old ones by forming courts and alliances with other demons, including friends, foes, and lovers from the War. They also heard dark rumors that some of the demons who had been summoned from the Abyss over the vast span of their imprisonment had not been given human hosts, but had instead been bound to objects, becoming insane, powerful, monstrous things known as the Earthbound, who had built up cults that worshiped them as gods, and some even managed to enslave or seduce human-possessing demons to be their followers. Three of them have moved in to the environs of Los Angeles, and due to their plans, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck L.A. in the middle of rush hour on the night before Halloween. The Devil's Night earthquake (as it came to be called) devastated the Tri-County area, cutting power and water lines to more than 90% of the city and starting fires that the city authorities were powerless to stop. The servants of the Earthbound moved through the city, using their powers to spark mob and gang violence throughout the city, raising devastating riots, looting, arson, and murder. This continued for five days, and the more the National Guard tried to quell the mobs, the more inflamed the crowds became. Then, at 11:00PM on November 3, in a plaza near the ruins of City Hall, three hundred Guardsmen, nearly a thousand rioters and agents of nearly every major worldwide news network were stunned into silence by a vision of radiance and power not seen since the world was young. It was an angel, terrible in its beauty and majesty, blazing like a newborn star over the seething multitudes fighting in the plaza below. People forgot what they were doing and fell to their knees, overcome by the sheer wonder of the sight. The light of the angel's revelation could be seen from all over the city, and for the space of a single heartbeat a hush fell over the ravaged downtown area. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the vision was gone. The riots dispersed and recovery began, and the people all seemed to return to their senses... though a marked number have since joined churches, mosques, and synagogues throughout the city, so flooded have they been by faith. No mortal understood the meaning of the vision, and numerous theories would circulate in the days and months following the riots - but every demon across the globe recognized the glorious image. Lucifer Morningstar, Prince of the Fallen, walked the streets of the city of Angels. With this sudden (and unrepeated) reappearance, few demons can resist the call of Los Angeles. They flock to the city, grappling with a host of painful questions. "Why did you abandon us, Lucifer? Where have you been? Is it for this sterile, heartless world that we endured millennia of damnation? What do we do now?"

To play, you will need to post your character's
NAMES: (Human/Demon... note that demon names can come from any source or culture, though demons keep their TRUE names (which don't really correspond to human mouths and vocal cords) secret, for fear someone might enslave them)
HOUSE: (more on these later)
VISAGE: (Apocalyptic Form, relates to known Lores and Torment... more on this later)
LORES: (Groups of angelic and demonic powers based on House and role in the war... more later)
FACTION: (more later)
HUMAN APPEARANCE:
BACKGROUND: (Include role in creation, why they chose to help humans/side with Lucifer, role in the War, time in the Abyss, escape from Hell, Human life prior to possession, demon life in human form, and goals)

THE SEBETTU/HOUSES: The seven Celestial Houses were created by God to define the duties and powers of each angel in a rigidly structured hierarchy. The duties of each angel never varied, and the Elohim were content in their duties as the cosmos took shape, expecting nothing more. When the rebels broke from their brethren, Lucifer tried to arrange more connection and variation and identification with members outside of each demon's house.

Defiler (Lammasu) - Once among the most beautiful of God's creations, the Nereids swam in the Endless Oceans before the first land rose, and they were meant to serve as muses, gifted with powers that influenced the passions and led to art, insight and truth, meant to beguile humanity with mysteries and spur them out into the world. They were given the greatest insight into the human mind and soul, but they were separated from humans by God's command AND by the ocean. During the war, they sustained morale for humans and demons, and healed spiritual wounds the Scourges and Devourers couldn't touch. Today, Defilers are drawn to the vain and the passionate, and many of their hosts are those who were obsessed with trivial things, or spent all on the latest fashions and fastest toys, idealists calling for immediate action, those who have loved deeply or often and been denied, those who have supported a cause and been betrayed by it, and those who have suffered for their art in a literal sense: starving artists, failed writers and skid row musicians who have had their spirits broken by rejection, debt and addiction.
Concepts: Beguiler (Try to inspire those around them toward some goal, often artistic or political), Infiltrator (Slip into new identities and move undetected behind the scenes), Old Salt (Disavow manipulation and games, trying to learn from mortals and explore and revel in experiences, often sailors and explorers), and Siren (Similar to the Beguiler, but leads all veneration of those around her to herself, thriving on worship)
House Lore: Lore of Longing, Lore of Storms, Lore of Transfiguration

Devil/Namaru - God's first and most perfect creations, the Heralds brought Hir light to Illuminate all creation. They were leaders and princes of the Celestials, while conveying the will of heaven to the Houses. Nearly half the Heralds sided with Lucifer, more than any other House. They set out to lead humanity into a new age and encourage mortals to renounce the Creator, but as the war raged on, they grew distant from the humans they once loved, turning from heroes and protectors to demagogues and dictators, manipulating human pawns with honeyed words and poisoned lies. Devils are social creatures, charmers and deceivers, and they are attracted to mortals who have lost their souls in the pursuit of power and influence. Good examples include politicians, executives, musicians, actors, charismatic preachers, as well as more heroic roles, such as decorated cops, a mother who shields her children from her husband's abuse, and once-idealistic politicians crushed by the weight of scandal and double-dealings.
Concepts: Hero (paladins of the rebellion, noble protectors of humanity), Leader (generals and directors), and Manipulators (puppeteers, pulling the strings of the people around them by giving them what they think they want).
House Lore: Lore of the Celestials, Lore of the Flame, Lore of Radiance

Devourer/Rabisu - The House of the Wild was granted dominion over every living thing that crawled, ran, flew or slithered across the earth. Mankind's ignorance was the greatest threat to their wild charges, and many of these angels were caught between protecting their favorite creation and protecting all the others that they were allowed to influence. They were the most honorable and dutiful of Houses, and relatively few fell, but those who did felt that there was no other option in order to follow their mandate, and they became feared and respected by both sides during the War. In the Abyss, their anger and sense of betrayal grew, and they reverted more and more to their feral nature. Upon returning from the Abyss, Devourers were shocked to discover how much the world had changed, and how humanity's actions had devastated the planet and exterminated more species far worse than any action during the War. For some, this was the last straw, while others feel the need to use their powers to heal and repair the damage. Devourers are drawn to soldiers, drug dealers, gang members, police officers, individuals who have eroded their souls through lives of violence. They are also drawn to stockbrokers, sales persons, firefighters, and political activists, individuals who pit themselves against enormous odds and often end up emotionally scarred. They also are drawn to hosts who share an obsession to protect or exploit animals and nature, such as environmental activists, poachers, and veterinarians.
Concepts: Beast (Warriors who slid into indifference, rage, or depression, dealing with violence and savagery easily), Warder (Retain a strong connection to the natural world, determined to protect and defend, and sometimes benefit from it), and Warrior (Direct and definite, not subtle or manipulative, they were the prized soldiers of the War of Wrath and retain their resolute and steadfast nature).
House Lore: Lore of the Beast, Lore of the Flesh, Lore of the Wild

Fiend/Neberu - In the beginning, God fashioned the great engines of Heaven to regulate the cosmos. Each orbit of a star and planet lay within the radius of a cog, a celestial flywheel linking other such gears in an enormous, interdependent mechanism, and the Fates captained these great circuits, who knew when and where everything would be, be it a day away or millennia hence, directing the swell of the tides through the course of the moon and winding the Earth to cause the seasons to turn, but they were the most distant from humanity... and the ones whose mistaken prediction led to the Fall. Lucifer prized the Fiends as advisors and strategists, since their ability to divine the future earned him several quick victories. In Hell, the Fiends were especially tormented, for they were creatures of order, but the Abyss could not be codified, charted or piloted. They went mad. When they emerged, they found the heavens derelict and undirected, cracked and worn, possibly beyond all repair. But then, the same could be said for them. Fiends have an affinity for patient seekers of knowledge, be it a reporter who sacrifices ties to family and friends in the quest for the Big Story or an occultist willingly opening herself to spirits beyond her ken, researchers, explorers, scientists, astronomers, astrologers, detectives, and others of that sort.
Concepts: Sources (watchers of the great libraries and protectors of knowledge for knowledge's sake, they are keepers of secrets and wisdom long forgotten and ignored), Diviners (will act on knowledge, explore all patterns, experiments, and possibilities, daring to try anything to see what would happen and then record it, frequently acting as field reporters), and Oracles (Seek understanding, asking questions and coming up with complex theories and philosophies).
House Lore: Lore of Light, Lore of Patterns, Lore of Portals

Malefactor/Annunaki - The Artificers governed... and loved... the earth and all that lay within it. To them was given an affinity with soil, gems and stone; with the fires that smoldered below the earth's surface, and with metal. They were also to help humanity use the earth... till the fields, dig up the metals and craft the tools they would need to shape their world, and they took up the task eagerly, sharing their love for the earth with their charges. But humanity was not equipped to deal with such responsibility. They tried to use the miraculous tools of the angels, but they were unable to make them work properly, if at all. Humanity became resentful of their hidden teachers and feared their perfection, while the Artificers grew confused and bewildered, unable to relate to humans in the same way they related with the predictable elements of earth and fire. Though their gifts with the forge and their devices vastly aided the war effort, they still felt alienated from humans, from angels... and from the other Fallen. When they were consigned to Hell, the separation from the earth and fire, the only things with which they shared any connection, was traumatizing. Now, Malefactors have found themselves in a world where humanity has embraced the use of tools and become a race of makers, but in doing so have ravaged the earth and left it wounded and unloved. Some have contributed to the chaos with their own toys, gadgets, weapons and devices. But if the world is to be healed, then the Malefactors must bear their pain and get to work, just as they did millennia ago. Malefactors gravitate toward souls that are as emotionally damaged as their own, lonely, insecure, needy people who have always felt that something was lacking in their lives, including drug addicts, the ugly or disfigured, those who cling to abusive spouses or teenagers trying to modify themselves with tattoos and piercings. Other possibilities include those who feel alienated from other humans - computer hackers only comfortable online, sociopaths who see other people as mere things, environmental activists who despise humans for despoiling the planet, etc.
Concepts: Builder (Fired up by the urge to create, to construct, to build, to make new relics, tools, architecture, and technology), Investigator (Gather information, data, & experimental results in order to better understand Creation in order to isolate its problems and possibly fix it), Teacher (instead of working with solid, dependable substances, these dedicate themselves to forging humanity, whom they see as not yet reaching their true pinnacle of evolution and enlightenment, using words, lessons, protection and punishment)
House Lore: Lore of the Earth, Lore of the Forge, Lore of the Paths

Scourge/Asharu - The Guardian Angels were entrusted with carrying the sacred breath of life, bringing them in close contact with their beloved humanity, whom they were charged to continuously protect. However, they felt the pain of humanity's frustration as keenly as they felt their presence. Many Scourges fell, and were committed warriors determined to protect their charges, using their speed of movement and powers of concealment as spies, scouts, and harriers. Their imprisonment was perhaps the worst thing that could have happened to them, immobilized and restricted from being near living things or free to fly. Now, they use their powers to heal with one hand and harm with another, gaining wide respect among the courts. Many Scourges are still the protectors of humanity, and seek out fearful souls to defend, though unlucky ones find themselves trapped in the bodies of those who dreaded the consequences of their own poor decisions, or those frightened of the final fruit of the problems they've done nothing to solve or avoid.
Concepts: Healer (Driven to bring the breath of life to all things, they are compassionate and gentle, though firm and determined, and will heal people whether they want to be healed or not), Judge (have the attitude that they know what is best for humanity, and feel that humans could do so much better to live up to their potential, while gravitating towards particular moral codes by which to live), Scout (Swift and observant, masters of information and data and connections, as well as the pursuit of knowledge).
House Lore: Lore of the Wind, Lore of Awakening, Lore of the Firmament

Slayer/Halaku - The Last of the Celestial Houses, the Angels of Death were given the task of undoing the wonders of their peers, ending lives and erasing great works so that other may follow in their place, keeping Eden vibrant and dynamic, but Mankind ignorantly regarded the death of animals and plants with fear and sadness. This reaction shocked the Reapers, who longed to assuage mankind''s fears but were forbidden by God's commands. Many Reapers fell for no reason other than to be loved instead of feared. Then Heaven's retaliation hit hard, and humanity was cursed with mortality. The Slayers served as fearsome warriors, but many focused their energies on easing the deaths of humanity. Situated as the Abyss was within their own realm of the dead, the Slayers were torn apart by the tortured emotions of the abandoned ghosts nearby their cage. Now, many Slayers are convinced that the only options are to usher in the final night and grant the world a merciful death, while a determined few see the damage and believe that by restoring the balance, the Slayers might finally earn the peace and understanding from humanity they've craved all along. Slayers are drawn to those who care little about their life - their hosts are far more likely to have destroyed their spirits by attempting suicide than any other House. People confronted by daily crime and violence are also particularly susceptible; cops, soldiers and addicts, for example. With every blow directed at themselves or others, they crumple inward a little more. Refugees and victims of torture are other candidates. Then there are those whose souls have been worn down to nothingness by banality and neglect, who seek out any sensation, even painful ones, just to feel. Other than despair, other things attract Slayers. Somebody who has spent a lifetime helping others, abandoning any thoughts of recompense, may attract a Slayer, and people who are extremely devoted to a religion or philosophy that focuses on the next life at the expense of the current one - or which holds that physical experience and desire is an illusion - are also suitable.
Concepts: Death (Drawn to lives touched by death, unexpected, frequent, their own, or other people's, these Slayers take the lives of humans and give them a second chance to return as the demon's host), Isolation (The only House not concerned with creation, the Reapers were kept apart from the other angels, and that isolation is a trait the Slayers look for in hosts as well, while exploring the nature of humanity and uniqueness), and Pride (Pride in her work has always been a trait of the Reapers, who were looked down on but who worked well, got the job done, and made sure that the things they killed were remembered and treasured, bestowing Pride upon them as well, and they were the ones who dared to do something no other angels contemplated: the realm of the dead, a work of creation outside of God's plan)
House Lore: Lore of Death, Lore of the Realms, Lore of the Spirit

THE FACTIONS:
Faustian - The Faustians have observed the power of human faith and have concluded that, even trapped in an unfaceted single world, the Children of Adam have power that is of the same nature as God's. Admittedly, their DEGREE of power is miniscule, but every child born carries a spark of holy fire. Gather enough sparks together and the fire could one day eclipse the sun. Faustians find the general state of humankind greatly reduced since Edenic times --- like grouchy grandparents, they are convinced that people today are weaker, stupider, sillier, less reasonable, less respectful... just generally devolved from the times they recall. But at the same time, humankind's aggregate ability to define the reality around them is, if anything, stronger than it was when they numbered in the millions instead of billions. Yet humans are using most of their greatest strength to repress themselves! Their greatest faith is placed in proof -- the one thing that doesn't NEED faith to be true. Consequently, even as their grasp on the world gets stronger, that very grasp constricts and constrains reality into ever tighter, ever narrower instances. It's possible that if they continue on this course, faith may define itself right out of existence, leaving behind a cold world of absolute mechanical certainty. While such as world has no place for God, it also lacks a niche for demons, and is therefore intolerable to the Faustians. Humanity, as found in the fallen world, is a bonfire smoldering out of control, rapidly using up the obvious sources of fuel and in danger of guttering out. The Faustian philosophy is based on harnessing and husbanding this power --- controlling the burn, renewing the fuel and building engines that can focus humanity's divine energies outward instead of inward. It will take careful guidance and leadership, of course, but in the end, human faith is, itself, the best hope of freeing the world from God... and perhaps making a new God.

Cryptic - Spending uncounted ages imprisoned in a lightless, soundless, sensationless void is a pretty harsh punishment, but it does provide one thing. It provides a lot of time to think. After the initial shock of defeat --- after the horror and agony of Hell --- even after the despair of untold eventless eons --- some fallen have taken a step back and reconsidered their initial assumptions. Some have contemplated, taken stock and tried to puzzle out what went so disastrously wrong. These inquisitive Elohim have reached some startling conclusions. First and foremost, God's perspective is either omniscient or so removed and all-pervasive as to be nearly omniscient --- especially when compared to such limited beings as humans and even angels. If a lowly light like Ahrimal could see trouble brewing, God surely foresaw it ages before that. Secondly, God is either perfect or (again) close enough to make no odds. Therefore, the angels He created must have been either a perfect model of His desires, or as close to that model as reality could tolerate. While it's possible that the gross stuff of the material world was too weak to support perfect servants, it is unthinkable that God would allow that imperfection to take the form of disobedience... unless rebellion was not an imperfection. Thirdly, Lucifer --- as the first among angels and the closest to God in power --- must, by virtue of his power and position, be closer to God's ideal than any other. The observed fact that he was the first and best of the rebels is the clinching argument that the rebellion --- with the consequent corruption of reality and ghastly punishment of men and Elohim --- was actually the enactment of God's plan, rather than a deviation from it. Now that they are freed from their durance, these Cryptics have taken their logical premises and used them as the foundation for new questions. If God knew about the rebellion, surely He knew about the demons' eventual escape from the abyss. What, then, is His new plan for His unwitting servants? Since Lucifer was not imprisoned and he answers no summons, what was the Morningstar's fate? Personal destruction for his role as leader? Some other torment, possibly even worse than Hell? Or --- most likely --- did he escape punishment because he was privy to God's plan all along? Finally, and most importantly --- if the fallen have been God's pawns all this time, is there any way to escape that fate in the future? Or should they even try?

Luciferan - Angels are undying creatures, and when compassed by the span of an infinite lifetime, any setback short of total destruction is a temporary thing. Not every Hell-bound spirit lost faith. Not every fallen angel gave up hope. Even in defeat, some stayed true to the principles that led them to rebel. Love for mankind. Loyalty to Lucifer. A committed belief that their cause was right, and that Heaven and the obedient Host were wrong. The Luciferans are as ready to do battle for those beliefs today as they were when they were hurled, spitting defiance, into their gloomy prison. While many are bowed, bitter and tormented, they are unbroken. Indeed, many find much encouragement in their new circumstances. The world may be ruined, singular and mechanistic, but by the same token, there seem to be no angels left running the show. Even a vastly weakened army can triumph if it takes the field unopposed. Add to that the heartening fact that they were able to escape imprisonment in the first place. If they are truly anathema to God, hated in His eyes and, by the words of His messenger, condemned to eternal torture... how has it come to pass that so many have re-entered ther world of men? The Cryptics may mutter about divine subterfuge, but isn't it simpler to think that God's power is simply fading? That the demons of Hell find freedom because God's cages have lost their strength? Most important, they point in triumph to Lucifer's absence from Hell. The Luciferans believe, not that he merited some unique punishment, but the he escaped punishment altogether. Perhaps their strongest stayed free, because their foes were unable to confine him! Perhaps the sundering of the Abyss is his doing! Perhaps the Adversary waits even now, watching to see who is still ready to fight... and who will prove too weak.

Ravener - The Age of Wrath, when the War was waged, was long and hard. A lot of good people and valiant Elohim suffered and died. Illusions were lost. Honor gave way to pragmatism, which in turn sank beneath the weight of vengeance and anger and simple despair. Men discovered evil, and angels learned to embrace hatred. By the end of the war, many among the fallen had become little more than living engines of destruction, their joy in creation perverted into a love only of annihilation. They were crazed, vicious and debased BEFORE the War was lost. BEFORE they were stripped of the greater part of their power. BEFORE they were condemned to a maddening Hell of isolation and loss for a term that felt like forever even to eternal beings. Now, those bitter and wrathful Elohim have emerged from ages spent with no distraction save the pain of their own sanity eating itself... and they find the world as loathsome and corrupted as they themselves have been. Beholding a fouled planet, a debased and cruel humanity and a cosmos shrunk into a withered husk of its onetime glory, they see only one meaningful act: Destroy. Destroy everything. Wipe away this cruel mockery of the Paradise they once designed. Give humanity the merciful silence of the grave. Destroy the works of God at any and all times, hoping perhaps to provoke Him into finally annihilating THEM. Victory is impossible for the fallen, but they may yet be strong enough to wreck the prize --- the world --- even as it is wrested from their grasping claws.

Reconciler - Angels are, by nature, creatures of virtue. Even the fallen remember their uncorrupted nature. Some virtues come easily to beings of godlike wisdom and power. But the virtue of humility is not one of them. Nonetheless, the silence of the Abyss gives much time for reflection. Like the Cryptics, the Reconcilers spent their time of imprisonment contemplating deep questions. But where the Cryptics looked outward and back, the Reconcilers looked inward... and forward. Their most essential question was: What if we were wrong? What if? What if the rebellion was as evil as Michael and the loyal Host said? What if God's punishing touch was somehow justified by the disobedience of His servants and children? What if Ahrimal's fears were right all along... that by trying to avoid the Age of Wrath, the Unholy Host only made it real? If so --- if the construction of Hell was necessary, if the sundering of the facets of reality was merited, if the condemnation of the fallen was just --- then what do the fallen do now? Some believe that even in the eleventh hour, the mercy of God can be found. These Reconcilers listen with hope to the stories of Jesus, of Mohammed, of forgiven mankind. And if He can forgive them, might not His mercy extend to penitent servants as well? Even if His punishment is eternal, and the Elohim are barred forever from His presence... well, might not the Earth be repaired? Perhaps not restored to the Paradise it was, but something great, and glorious, and maybe even pure, could be raised from the ashes. The fallen have lost much of their power, true, but the world is smaller as well. Surely a third of the Heavenly Host can still improve the universe, can still help and serve humanity? This is the Reconcilers' hope: to make peace with their Maker and jailer. Failing that, they hope to make peace with unending exile.

When designing a character for Demon: The Fallen, you need to ask yourself some questions. Who were you before the Fall, and what were your duties and own artistic touch to Creation? How did you fall, and what led you to that momentous decision? What did you do in the War of Wrath; were you a deadly warrior or did you try to build and create and heal and explore; and what are the consequences of those actions to you and the other Demons and the world? What is your mortal vessel like, and what about your vessel awakened you, shocking you out of millennia of anguish to some semblance of sanity - family, friendship, love, art, sense of duty, faith, sorrow, regret, spirit, anger, frustration, logic, or something else? What are your goals? How do you see Humanity? How do you deal with the mundane world?

When looking for names, check the Bible, the Apocrypha, the Encyclopedia of Angels, Akkadian or Babylonian myth, the Lesser Key of Solomon (also known as the Lemegeton) or any myth about demons, monsters, and lords of underworld from around the world. If you want to make a demon with a Japanese or Hindu theme, consider Yama/Enma-o or Ravana, especially if you want to play a highly tormented (and therefore more monstrous, rather than angelic, in apocalyptic form), feel free. Keep in mind that demons have three names: their mortal vessel's name, their Celestial Name (which is what other angels and demons knew them as, and which is what they commonly used to identify themselves) and their True Name (which can be used to control them and is therefore kept very secret... and revealing it to someone is the sign of greatest devotion, trust, and desire to know the true essence of the person, with no secrets). Since the True Name is usually unpronounceable and multifaceted, players obviously cannot come up with one for their characters, but we can make their mortal and celestial names.

[b]FAITH[/b]
Faith is the core of a fallen's power, the ability that once let them literally move mountains. Although their power is no longer what it was, demons can still influence Creation in various ways through their Faith. Faith is the combination of a demon's self-assurance, insight into the nature of Creation and closeness to the divine power they once wielded. Before the Fall, demons had faith in their Creator and drew their power from Him. Now the fallen place their faith only in themselves (and sometimes in humanity) and draw their power from their belief in themselves and mortals' faith in them. All three of a demon's powers (innate abilities, apocalyptic form, and lore) draw on the power of Faith, though some merely require the demon have faith and others require some expenditure of it. Using too much faith in a specific place or time or in the presence of people (perhaps repeatedly) could risk revelation, where mortals see through to the Fallen's true nature, which may be awe-inspiring or terrifying, and also announces the demon's presence to others able to sense the disturbances that happen when one tampers with Creation. There are two ways to regain faith: reaping and pacts. Reaping is a quick, short-term means of acquiring faith. All it requires is a mortal to believe in the demon's existence and power even for a moment. That moment is enough for the demon to seize a mortal's faith and take it for their own, and can take any form that convinces the mortal, however temporarily, that the demon is a supernatural being. Being skinned alive by a creature from Hell is very convincing, as is receiving aid from a shining guardian angel, but even something as simple as laying hands on an injured mother and healing her might be enough to reap faith from her and her crying children, husband, etc. Reaping risks revelation, however, and therefore makes Demons vulnerable to detection by other demons (not all of whom share their goals or wish for meddling interlopers) and the rare few mortal demon hunters out there. Some of the crueler, more tormented demons even reap faith in displays that are too much for mortal minds, driving them mad, comatose, or dead. Pacts are a more reliable way to gain faith, as it is a relationship between a demon and a mortal. The demon provides the mortal with a service of some sort, and in return, the mortal provides the demon with faith. Pacts take time to set up and maintain, but they offer several advantages, including a continuing supply of faith and the fact that a mortal need not be aware of the demon's true nature (at least at first). A fortune telling fiend, for instance, might be able to set up a psychic hotline that is particularly accurate, and gain a number of devoted followers (perhaps even influential ones among the glitterati), while a Malefactor in tech support might have his coworkers and those he works for literally worshiping his skill with devices. Establishing a pact is simple: a demon offers to fulfill a wish or desire for the mortal in exchange for the mortal's devotion and worship. If the mortal agrees, the demon spends some faith and fulfills the mortal's wish to seal the pact. To be successful, the demon must fulfill the mortal's desire and the mortal must willingly accept the gift and the terms of the pact, though once the pact is established, only the demon can break it, and there is nothing the mortal can do to be free of it short of killing the demon (easier said than done). The nature of the pact is entirely up to the demon. High-Torment demons tend toward corruptive pacts, offering mortals their secret desires, luring them with promises of power and luxury. Low-Torment demons may prefer pacts of genuine gratitude and devotion on the mortal's part, such as fulfilling someone's dream of becoming a great artist, or healing a critically injured or ill person. Demons often perform favors for mortals BEFORE establishing a pact with them. If the mortal refuses the deal, the demon can always revoke the favor to give the mortal something to think about. As they say, the first taste is free...

[b]TORMENT[/b]
The fallen are all haunted by the past. The two greatest things they loved, God and humanity, both turned their backs on them and consigned them to millennia of torture and pain, but nothing Hell could offer was worse than the first terrible wounds inflicted by the betrayal of their Creator and their beloved charges. All demons carry a measure of that pain with them, and many are driven mad by it. A demon's Torment is a measure of the anguish and suffering it carries, and how it deals with those painful memories. The greater a demon's Torment is, the less compassion and caring he is capable of feeling. Heartless acts of selfishness and cruelty only strengthen a demon's torment, hardening the soul and stoking the fires of resentment and hatred. Defying any of the three virtues is a good way to gain torment... whenever a demon acts in a way that satisfies his immediate needs at the expense of his ethics (conscience), that violates his personal beliefs (conviction) or that is taken out of fear for his safety at the expense of others (courage). Acts of kindness that are truly compassionate, done for no reason other than the act itself, without expectation of reward (acts don't count if they are designed to make a pact), may reduce Torment. Each effect of Lore has a regular version and a High-Torment version, and while most demons can choose to use the destructive powers of the High-Torment effects, using them often gradually increases your Torment, which might pervert your efforts to use the regular effect, with your emotions and agony tainting the evocation and lashing out through reality. The appearance of your apocalyptic form varies based on your Torment as well. If your Torment is low, your apocalyptic form is glorious and awe-inspiring. Moderate Torment reveals you as being either awesome or terrifying, depending on the perspective of whomever beholds your form. High torment, however, is nightmarish, frequently with dark energies, features like horns, spikes, wounds, tails, fangs, claws, tentacles, scales, skeletal frames, and extra limbs. Here is a chart to get a general sense of Torment, how characters act at varying levels of Torment, and what "sins" they might commit at any given level.

10 - There is no sin. You're already damned. Why not do whatever you want?
9 - Casual violation of others: murder for no reason, thoughtless cruelty and torture, near-mindless savagery.
8 - Premeditated violation of others: plotted murder or assassination, systematic destruction of another, long-sought revenge.
7 - Sins of passion: murder in a fit of rage, giving in to feelings of hate, anger, jealousy or irrational prejudice, encouraging the same in others. Destroying particularly inspirational or meaningful objects. Doing personal harm through addiction or other self-destructive patterns of behavior.
6 - Destruction of the works or inflicting intentional emotional harm through cruelty and neglect.
5 - Accidental violations: Doing harm to others through carelessness, negligence or thoughtlessness. Neglecting duties or responsibilities. Betraying another's trust.
4 - Theft from or deception of others without just cause. Breaking your sworn word.
3 - Doing harm (physical, emotional, or spiritual) to a mortal for any reason other than self-defense or the greater good.
2 - Doing harm to any mortal creature for any reason other than self-defense or the greater good (a disrespect for the order of Creation). Permitting any lesser sin in your presence without at least trying to prevent it.
1 - Any act of cruelty, selfishness or thoughtless. Allowing any such act in your presence without trying to prevent it. An unwillingness to sacrifice for the greater good.

[u]INNATE POWERS[/u]
All demons have a common set of powers that reflect their nature and one-time role as agents of creation. These are fundamental that are considered to be active as long as the demon has at least the tiniest bit of faith available to them.

- Immunity to Mind Control and supernaturally induced fear.

- Immunity to Possession (for obvious reasons, the Fallen cannot be possessed, but if an attempt at possession is made while the character is devoid of faith, the two spirits must struggle to gain control of the body and oust the other)

-Resistance to Illusion (As creators of all reality, Demons are able to use their human senses and fallen spirit to pierce illusions and invisibility, though this is more difficult)

- When in their apocalyptic form, demons can take lethal damage as if it were far less serious.

- Healing Physical Damage (Bashing damage may be entirely healed with a single bit of faith, while lethal damage must be healed more slowly and gradually with more faith. Aggravated damage (such as being burned or dismembered) cannot be healed in this fashion).

- Invocations (The power of a demon's (True or Celestial, not mortal vessel) name is so great that invoking it, even in conversation, is enough to draw that spirit's attention, no matter how far away he may be. What's more, the subject can attempt to ascertain who is speaking about him, where that being is and even what is said. This feeling manifests differently in each demon: some experience a chill that races across their skin or down their spine, an invisible pull that tugs at their mind, or something else entirely. If they concentrate, they can attempt to locate whomever is speaking about them. Least success just reveals a mental picture of the invoker. Next best shows the speaker and his surroundings, including the person/people he is speaking to. Most successful attempts allow the character to hear what is being said for a couple minutes, though she only hears the voice of the person who invoked her name. This power also allows demons to communicate with other demons (by knowing their Celestial or True name, and having at least one point of faith available, though that demon doesn't need to know the invoker's true name to reply once the link has been made unless a few minutes have passed since the invocation, and this is not limited to one-on-one communication either. This ability also works with thralls, those who have made pacts with the demon, but since there is already the link of the Pact, the demon doesn't need to spend Faith to speak to the mortals, though thralls cannot initiate contact with the demon, as they rarely reveal their True names to anyone and their Celestial names only to few. There is no way for an outside party to tap into this communication, though nearby demons can detect its use, and participants must audibly say what they want the other person to hear, so one side of the conversation could be overheard, but not both)

- Supernatural Awareness (Inherently attuned to the fabric of reality, sensitive to energies and influences beyond the awareness of mortals, Demons may use their senses to get a feel for the supernatural qualities of an area. A hospital room may exude a sense of pain and loss, a cultist's basement might reek of the foul rituals performed there, and the use of supernatural powers can be sensed when in the vicinity, even with a rough idea of the direction and distance in the most successful attempts.

LORES are the paths of understanding the forces of reality and how to master them through the use of Faith. Demons can be taught any Lore, or drain the knowledge from defeated (and consumed) foes, but they find that their House typically determines which Lores are easiest to learn. Whichever lore you have the most evocations (like spells) in is your dominant lore, which determines what you VISAGE looks like and what traits it has, though you can also add or remove traits to suit your particular demon. You may choose to manifest your entire visage, or only slight aspects (for instance, if you are falling and you don't know any useful evocations, you might just want to manifest your wings, if you have them, and if you are in a crowded elevator, you might NOT want to manifest wings). You may pick any evocation you wish in each Lore, though if you have all of them in a single Lore, you likely have only one or two outside of it (even with thousands of years of life, some specializing is necessary). The descriptions of VISAGES, however, aside from their role in Creation or the War (which is kinda important), you are free to ignore completely if you wish. Perhaps you want to be a malefactor who helped sculpt fjords and terrain by erosion as an angel, and therefore decide that your character has wings (to view the terrain from above) and access to the Lore of Storms (for the control of water and erosion), with skin like sandstone and features that constantly shift. Be creative.

COMMON LORES: These two paths exist as tools that every angel or demon needed to further their work amid the wonders of Paradise. The Lore of the Fundament was the first, encompassing the basic building blocks of the physical universe, in effect creating a set of principles that provided the foundation upon which the work of all the Houses was based. The second set of common lore evolved among the fallen during the Age of Wrath as a means of facilitating contact between humanity and the rebel host.

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*Lore of the Fundament:
-Manipulate Gravity: Demon can alter the way gravity affects her body, allowing her to leap enormous distances, hand suspended in the air or plunge at her foes like a meteorite. TORMENT: Monstrous demons who perform this evocation leave a wash of turbulence in their wake, randomly increasing or decreasing the effects of gravity on surrounding objects and people who pass by.

-Manipulate Adhesion: The demon can affect her body's adhesion to physical objects. She can run up walls, hang from a ceiling or cling to the side of a moving car like a spider. TORMENT: The surfaces with which she interacts are warped by her passing, causing them to radiate waves of intense heat and leave patterns of the demon's hands and feet on the surface.

-Manipulate Inertia: Can affect the inertia of anything she touches, stopping it dead or granting it irresistible force. She can snatch projectiles out of the air (provided she can see them) or throw an object farther than any human could imagine. TORMENT: Items affected become unstable for a time, creating a potential for disaster for the next person who tries to use them.

-Manipulate Acceleration: The demon can affect the acceleration of her own body, granting her supernatural speed and force. TORMENT: Acceleration so disturbs the air around her that she is surrounded by an aura of blistering heat that radiates out a number of yards equal to her Torment, bashing all living beings in the area.

-Manipulate Cohesion: Manipulates the state of inanimate matter she touches. Can walk on water or air or break down solid objects into their component particles. TORMENT: Matter affected remains inherently unstable for an hour, randomly changing states (solid, liquid, gas, etc).

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*Lore of Humanity:
-Translate: Demon can understand (and be understood by) mortals, regardless of what language they speak. TORMENT: The words monstrous demons hear are filtered through their own anger and obsessions, and can be misunderstood as a threat, deception, evasion, etc.

-Insinuate: Causes mortals to instinctively regard the demon as a potential friend, allaying any initial feelings of distrust or suspicion and engaging their interest in her. TORMENT: Instead, mortals are overwhelmed with feelings of revulsion, anger, apprehension and fear, especially towards the demon.

-Fade: Demons using this evocation literally fade into the background, and mortal eyes simply pass over them unless the demons choose to call attention to themselves. TORMENT: Fade normally for most mortals, but stand out like beacons for those consumed by anger or lust for violence.

-Confess: Mortals engaged in conversation with the demon respond to his questions with complete candor. Unless made aware of it later with direct questions about events, the mortal does not remember the details of the conversation. TORMENT: Only the mortal's dark nature is revealed, not their true self, and the demon learns her secret animosities, lusts, and ambitions.

-Alter Memory: Manipulates memories, changing or removing any recollection of his dealings, or planting memories where none where before. TORMENT: Causes bouts of sleeplessness, anxiety, and despair that take days or weeks to subside. Nightmares persist for a number of nights.

DEVIL LORES: The mandate of the Heralds was to spread the light of Heaven to every corner of Creation and orchestrate the efforts of the entire Celestial Host in shaping God's Grand Design. Central to their duties was the Lore of the Celestials, comprising of the knowledge of harnessing Heaven's will (and later, mortal Faith) to locate, inform, and support the efforts of other celestials. No less important was the Lore of Flame, granting the Heralds mastery of the primal, purifying fire of creation, and and a terrible weapon to wield against their foes. The Lore of Radiance, encompassing the secrets of inspiration and leadership, was not originally bequeathed to the Heralds, but evolved among the Devils during the Age of Wrath as these noble leaders and champions refined the power to inspire and command the mortal allies of the fallen.
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*Lore of the Celestials:
-Lamp of Faith: Detects the presence of mortals or other demons in the vicinity by causing their Faith to flare like a blue-white beacon that only the Devil can see, allowing them to gauge how much faith a given person has, and making nonliving objects fade into the background. TORMENT: Monstrous devils see only those individuals whose souls have become so hollowed out by their evil acts that they are voids of spiritual energy, appearing as patches of blackness.
-Send Vision: Mentally conveys vivid and detailed information that unfolds in the recipient's mind as an illusion or waking dream, silently and untraceably, no matter where the demon and recipient(s) are. TORMENT: Used to shock or frighten foes in battle, a number of visions of the Devil's wrath assaults the target's mind, even causing physical pain.
-Pillar of Faith: Allows the Devil to duplicate her Faith and give the new part to another demon as long as she knows his Celestial or True Name and is within line of sight. TORMENT: Can only block the efforts of another attempt to lend or use Faith.
-The Fire of Heaven: Channels Faith as a withering blast of pure white fire, smiting the target. TORMENT: Red, infernal fire erupts from the demon in all directions, as she is unable to focus the fiery power of faith, instead releasing a storm of lethal energy that strikes everything around her.
-Hand of Faith: Allows the Devil to alter or redirect or change the effect or target of any other demon's evocation as long as she knows the initiator's True or Celestial Name. TORMENT: Unable to manipulate other demons' evocations, but can cause evocations targeting them to rebound and affect their initiators (again, as long as she knows the True or Celestial Name).

BEL, THE VISAGE OF THE CELESTIALS: The Apocalyptic form of the Lore of the Celestials reveals the fallen as a luminous, lordly angel, radiating divine grandeur and authority. Her skin literally glows, wreathing her in an aura of golden light that shifts in intensity depending on her mood. Her eyes blaze with the cold light of the stars. Despite her actual physical appearance, the fallen seems to tower over everyone around her, and eagle wings, a lordly mien, enhanced senses, and increased awareness of the supernatural are common traits.
TORMENT: Her authority remains as strong as ever, but the glow that suffused her dims to a sullen red. Her wings turn leathery, and her eyes become as black as the void. Where she was once a vision of nobility, she now carries herself as a haughty tyrant, with claws/teeth, dark lustrous scales, increased size, and a dread gaze.
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Lore of Flame:
-Fuel: Fuels existing fires with Faith, turning a simple source of heat into a raging inferno with a thought. TORMENT: Increases the damage caused by the flames, not the size.
-Ignite: Spontaneous combustion. TORMENT: Too infused with hatred for precision, ALL objects within a radius of the Devil immediately burst into flames.
-Command the Flame: Directs a fire by force of will - the blaze swells, shrinks, moves and consumes all (or as little) as she commands. TORMENT: Fire becomes less controllable and more wild and dangerous, as well as much hotter.
-Holocaust: Causes a target, living or inanimate, to be consumed by cleansing flames as long as the target possesses Faith to fuel the fire (inanimate objects possess little Faith, and burn up swiftly). TORMENT: Torturously consumes a victim with flames that do damage to the Devil as well.
-Ride the Flames: The Devil transforms into living fire, either merging with an existing source of flame or becoming a pillar of moving fire that can move in any direction as long as flames could move through the medium in question. TORMENT: Unable to fully realize the transformation into pure flame, and become fiery, skeletal figures, with blackened bones wreathed with flame, howling in rage and pain, which can only be lessened by igniting great quantities of other matter.

NUSKU, THE VISAGE OF THE FLAMES: These demons reveal themselves in a blaze of yellow-orange light. Their skin glows with the seething brilliance of the sun, and their image shimmers like a mirage. Their eyes take on the color of burnished gold, and when angered, the Nusku radiate palpable waves of heat. An angels hair becomes deep red or reddish-gold and thickens into a leonine mane. Open flames flare brightly in his presence, seeming to bow toward their master as the tongues of flame are drawn to the divinity in their midst. A distracting nimbus of flame, immunity to fire, the ability to perform additional actions in a shorter time with fiery speed, and quicker reflexes are other common traits.
TORMENT: As the fallen becomes consumed by her demonic nature, her skin turns black like smoke and seems to seethe with patters of sullen red that pulse with the demon's beating heart. Her eyes glow like coals, and her thick hair writhes in a spectral wind, in addition to claws/teeth, a lashing reptilian tail tipped in a curved bony spike, increased size, and blood that burns like magma.
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Lore of Radiance:
-Voice of Heaven: Allows the demon to speak with a voice like thunder or with the clear, perfect tones of a crystal bell. The clarity and power of the demon's words command instant attention, forcing even the most frenzied mind to pause and consider what the ancient spirit has to say. TORMENT: The demon mouths a furious stream of blasphemy and hatred that is so charged with power that it strikes the minds of mortals and thralls like a physical blow, doing bashing damage.
-Exalt: The power of the demon's voice is enough to instill hope in the weakest of hearts, spurring mortal to put aside their fears and steal triumph from the jaws of defeat. TORMENT: The sneering tone of a monstrous Devil has the opposite effect on mortals, convincing them that they a weak, pathetic, and hopeless.
-Aura of Legend: Awakens atavistic memories buried deep in the human subconscious, renewing the ancient bonds of fealty that once bound humanity and the fallen in the face of Heaven's tyranny, driving all other thoughts from the mortal's mind, leaving only the urge to obey any reasonable orders with devotion and without question. TORMENT: Monstrous demons do not inspire loyalty, but fill their victims with urges of hate and violence, making them succumb to a murderous frenzy, attacking the nearest living beings within reach.
-The Mark of the Celestials: Subtly alters auras to make subjects easier to find or leaving marks of anger or shame so that anyone who encounters the target would know their crimes and treat them accordingly. Could be "Let every man give him shelter no matter where he travels" and people would be inclined to do so to the recipient of the mark without knowing why, as long as the mark lasts (from a day to a month). TORMENT: Can only leave marks that promise misfortune and violence for the bearer.
-Revelation: Strips away a mortal's layers of deception and reveal who he really is, a moment of truth not many have the heart to endure. Inner nature, attitudes and beliefs show through, and if questioned the target cannot lie or be indirectly deceitful, instead being direct and straightforward, sparing no detail. The target is aware of what is going on, and this evocation can result in increased willpower and conviction among its targets. TORMENT: Exaggerates the subject's worst qualities, giving them greater emphasis than the rest of the individual's personality, and can allow these impulses to overwhelm the target for an hour.

QINGU, THE VISAGE OF RADIANCE: The apocalyptic form of the masters of Radiance is an incandescent figure wreathe din a corona of jewel-like color. Their physical features have more in common with the smooth perfection of marble than with human skin. Their voices are pure as crystal, and they cut through the petty din of the mortal world like a razor. Many also possess eagle wings, inhuman allure, a radiant aura that distracts and confuses foes, and the ability to sense those things attempting to hide from her.
TORMENT: As the angel gives in to her demonic nature, the colors of her aura become muted, flaring up in angry reds and blues when she grows angry. Her features retain their alabaster perfection, but where they once inspired wonder, they now radiate an air of cold menace and cruelty, and many also posses a voice that seethes with inhuman hate and malice, a lack of any reflection, corrosive spit, and curving ram or bull horns.

SCOURGE LORES: The angels of the firmament ruled the winds beneath the starry vault of Heaven and bore the living breath of God to man and beast. The Lore of Awakening was central to this sacred task, infusing the bodies of the newborn with the spark of life and keeping their charges free from sickness and injury, and allowing the angels to rush to their charges' sides when danger approached, which resulted in the Lore of the Firmament to travel great distances during the War. Secondary to their duties was the task of directing the currents of air that sustained the life of Paradise, found in the Lore of the Winds.

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Lore of Awakening:
-Find the Faithful: Locates specific individuals, mortal and demon, by focusing on their stores of Faith. TORMENT: Detects only sources of spiritual decay and corruption.
-Cleanse: Purifies a living being, expelling any poisons, infections or diseased tissue from the body as black, viscous liquid. TORMENT: Gives targets a sickness that cannot be cured by medical attention.
-Heal: Heals injuries. TORMENT: Poison's a victim's body.
-Animate: Infuses non-living objects with the breath of God, giving them rudimentary life, without self-awareness or intelligence, but with obedience to the demon's will (so a sword might awaken and slash at the demon's foe as long as the demon could concentrate). TORMENT: Animation is tortured, and the objects lash out at anything they find, friend or foe.
-Restore Life: Breathes life into the bodies of the dead, restoring their vitality (though if the soul has already passed on completely, the result is a zombie under the demon's control). TORMENT: Bodies raised are filled with her anger and pain, and will lash out at anything nearby unless tightly controlled.

DAGAN, THE VISAGE OF AWAKENINGS: Infuses the angel's mortal body with the blush of youth and vibrant health - even the oldest mortal vessel appears to be in the prime of life and moves with inhuman grace, speed and strength. This aura of life and vitality radiates as a palpable sense of warmth, like a beam of sunlight and every living being touched is temporarily suffused with its power. Wilted flowers return to full bloom, the injured gain strength and the old forget their afflictions, the environment doesn't leave any traces of the angel's passing, and a pair of owl's wings extend from the character's shoulders.
TORMENT: As the Dagan become consumed by their demonic nature, their command of life and vitality turns in upon itself, transforming their mortal bodies into a breeding ground for disease and cancerous tumors. They are covered in misshapen growths and weeping sores, and their flesh is damp and spongy to the touch, with breath that reeks of a gangrenous miasmic rot, extra levels of health that allow them to take far worse punishment, rotting flesh that makes them difficult to grapple, extra arms or a prehensile tail.

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Lore of the Firmament:
-Remote Viewing: Sees through the eyes of one of her thralls. TORMENT: Blood vessels in the mortal's eyes burst, and can blind the victim.
-Scry: Knowing the name of the intended subject or able to hold a possession, the demon can observe the subject and its surroundings, no matter how far away. TORMENT: Causes a severe headache in the subject, as well as mounting paranoia and aggression.
-Mouth of the Damned: Allows the demon to speak and act through the body of a thrall. TORMENT: The mortal risks permanent brain damaged for each minute controlled.
-Touch from Afar: Direct other powers at sources outside their line of sight, as long as they know a name or possess an article of personal attachment to to subject. TORMENT: Fills the subject with horror and madness as well.
-Many Places at Once: Similar to Mouth of the Damned, except that the Scourge can work through many thralls at once. TORMENT: Gradually weakens the mortal's mental, physical, spiritual and social attributes a bit each time.

ANSHAR, THE VISAGE OF THE FIRMAMENT: Lithe, ethereal figures with pale skin and large gray eyes. When they speak, their voice echoes faintly, as if from a great distance, and they alternate between bouts of quiet distraction and periods of intense, disquieting scrutiny. Many come with enhanced senses, owl wings, uncanny intuition, and supernatural dodging ability.
TORMENT: Retreat even further from the physical realm, shrouded in a disturbing mantle of shadow and mist. Skin takes an almost translucent gray, and bodies become bony and emaciated, the skin stretched taught over their faces until they resemble leering skulls. Gains four to six extra eyes on her head or neck for 360 degree vision, increased reflexes, and claws.

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Lore of the Winds:
-Summon Wind: Calls a wind out of nowhere and controls its general direction and use it to gain increased distance or leap or hamper the effectiveness of ranged weapons. TORMENT: Winds reek of a charnel house, with death and decay.
-Fist of Air: Manipulate air pressure, crushing objects, stunning living beings or causing them to burst apart from within, causing great pain. TORMENT: Inflicts lethal damage within, not just bashing damage.
-Command the Wind: Surrounded by swirling winds that become extensions of his will, able to manipulate objects with fine motor control. TORMENT: Winds are a choking miasma of gas that sears the lungs of everyone in the area.
-Wall of Air: Condenses air into a physical barrier, stopping solid objects as if they'd hit a stone wall, making the air shimmer and distorted like wavy glass. TORMENT: Walls are writhing gray mist that sear the flesh like acid.
-Cyclone: Infuses the air with Faith, stirring a raging whirlwind in a second, but focused on whatever the demon directs it to. TORMENT: Draws air from the lungs of living beings, dealing lethal damage as they struggle to breathe.

ELLIL, THE VISAGE OF THE WINDS: The monarchs of air reveal themselves as tall and lithe, with large eyes and swift, graceful movements. When in revelatory form, the Ellil are constantly surrounded by shifting winds that ebb and flow with the intensity of their emotions. Any smoke or steam in the area is sucked by these winds into a swirling vortex that circles their heads and shoulders like an ominous halo. They also see five times as far as a human, possess owl wings, have perfect balance at all times, and are immune to falling damage.
TORMENT: Ellil who succumb to their demonic nature grow lean and hatchet-featured, their faces dominated by their large, unblinking eyes. Their once-magnificent wings grow ragged and mangy, and their tall figures become stooped; they prefer to crouch rather than stand. They are always restless, unable to sit in any one place for more than a few minutes at a time, and have claws, can perform multiple actions at high speed, grow quills on their shoulder or upper arms, and can vomit caustic bile at their foes.

MALEFACTOR LORES: Though seldom seen, the Artificers were responsible for maintaining the ever-changing face of Paradise, carving valleys, raising mountains and extending plains in a slow, steady cycle of motion that stimulated all over cycles of physical life. This prime duty was represented by the Lore of the Earth, granting these angels the secrets of shaping rock and soil no matter how vast or small. Hand-in-hand with this task was the need to make the world accessible to all living things, and so the Lore of Paths was a subtle but potent collection of evocations that dictates how a physical object passes from one point to another. Humanity believes that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but that is only because the angels of the earth wished it so in times past. When the war began, the Annunaki sought a way to make their powers more useful for their human and demon allies, which led to the synthesis of demonically enhanced weapons and tools, encompassed in the Lore of the Forge.

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*Lore of the Earth:
-Earth Meld: Bonds the demon's physical body to the earth beneath her feet, so she cannot be moved or picked up or knocked down unless she wishes it. TORMENT: Sink into the soil and move beneath the earth in any direction she wishes.
-Roil the Earth: By concentrating on a particular kind buried object (e.g. gold, iron, corpses, living miners or sappers), the demon causes the earth around her to roil and churn, forcing the objects of her desire to the surface. TORMENT: Creates a kind of vortex that sucks objects below the surface.
-Mold Earth: Causes the earth to move and mold itself according to the malefactor's whim. With the sweep of a hand, a wall of earth or stone can leap from the ground to shelter her, or a building's walls could flow like melted wax, creating a doorway that wasn't there before. TORMENT: Same as before, but the material manipulated becomes incredibly toxic.
-Earth Storm: Causes clods of earth and shards of stone or concrete to tear free of the ground and form a whirling storm of deadly projectiles surrounding the Malefactor, providing protection from attacks and supplying the demon with missiles to hurl at foes. TORMENT: Barrage becomes a sandstorm, flaying living beings alive and wearing inanimate objects away in moments, while concealing the demon from view in clouds of powdered dirt and stone.
-Earthquake: Stirs pent-up energies deep below the earth's surface and create a brief but powerful tremor that can reverberate across an entire city. TORMENT: The earth heaves and spews toxic clouds that are thick with ash and reek of brimstone.

KISHAR, THE VISAGE OF THE EARTH: These angels manifest as towering figures with dark skin that ranges from a creamy brown to utter black, and their bodies appear as though hewn from stone, with muscle and bone etched in sharp relief on a frame devoid of soft flesh or fat. The Kishar are hairless, and the irises of their eyes have the clarity and color of gemstones: ruby, sapphire, emerald, garnet, topaz and diamond. The air about them smells of freshly turned earth, rich with the promise of life. They have increased size, are immune to bashing damage, have incredible strength, and can see in total darkness.
TORMENT: Monstrous Kishar are huge and misshapen, their stone-like skin covered in sharp-edged nodules and spikes, and fissured with deep cracks that ooze a black, oily ichor. Many have extra limbs, the ability to digest metal, stone, and flesh with ease thanks to their inner furnace, and the ichor makes them difficult to get a decent grip.

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*Lore of Paths:
-Find Path: Determines if a path exists between herself and a destination that fits the criteria she requires (through an impenetrable forest or swamp, move unseen across an open field, or through a raging house fire unharmed, etc) and makes the path visible to the demon and anyone she touches, as if by a faint silver-blue line like a ray of moonlight. TORMENT: As before, but limited by how Tormented the demon is... less likely to perform a concentrated search.
-Lay Path: Actually creates a path that fulfills the criteria (such as reducing travel time, passing unobserved, or wide enough for multiple people). TORMENT: As before, but the paths are dangerous and unpredictable, and might leave travelers in a dangerous situation, ejected somewhere along its length.
-Conceal Path: Paths, once formed, can be found and followed by any demon who has eyes to look for them --- unless they are camouflaged by the demon that made them. TORMENT: Monstrous demons don't hide a path so much as lay a trap for the unwary.
-Close Path: Seals both ends of a path, denying its use to both friend and foe until it is opened again, often "locked" using special words that can then be used as a key to allow specific individuals access to the path while restricting others. TORMENT: Collapses paths, instead, causing great damage to anyone using it.
-Warp Path: Warps the nature of an existing path, altering one of its many parameters. It could be traveled in a shorter or longer period of time, lead travelers back to their point of origin, lead to a different destination entirely, or loop back upon itself without end.

ANTU, THE VISAGE OF THE PATHS: The angels of pathways closely resemble mortals at first glance. Their skin is deeply tanned, as though they'd spent a lifetime in the sun, and the skin around their dark eyes are deeply lined, casting their orbits in permanent shadow. It is only on closer inspection that the worry lines are revealed as intricate patterns that radiate from the angel's eyes and continue to run across the planes of her face, disappearing into her scalp and circling her throat in intricate tattoos. At night, these lines reflect the moonlight in ghostly traceries that seem to shift and realign themselves as the angel speaks. She is always aware of where she is in relation to known landmarks, no matter how far away those landmarks might be, has enhanced perception, heightened reflexes, and is capable of conjuring items from thin air, only to make them vanish again with supernatural sleight of hand.
TORMENT: Monstrous Antu cannot conceal the path lines crisscrossing their faces --- they stand out as angry cuts of black and red against their tanned skin. The air shifts and trembles around them, waxing and waning depending on the intensity of their emotions. They can pass without leaving a trace, alter their size, warp the air around them to mislead foes into thinking they are closer or farther away than they truly are, and can walk or run without need of rest or pause or hunger as long as she keeps moving.

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*Lore of the Forge:
-Enhance Object: By running hands over it or working its moving parts, the malefactor gains an innate understanding of an object and its intended function, and can repair damaged object and make adjustments that cause it to work better than before. TORMENT: Objects are tainted by hatred, and tend to inflict misfortune.
-Activate Object: Operates mechanical objects by force of will. TORMENT: Machines so affected often breaks or goes wildly out of control, damaging or destroying itself in the process.
-Shape Object: Allows the Malefactor to take an object and work it with ease. A wooden board can be worked into a model ship, a plate glass window can be worked into a delicate glass crown or a steel pipe can be shaped into a razor-edged sword by the demon's hands. TORMENT: As before, but the objects created are dangerous and unpredictable, and inflict harm as often as they function as desired.
-Enchant Object: Using other Lores, a demon can enchant an object to gain different properties (for instance, a mirror that makes an illusion of perfect beauty to all who look into it would require the lore of light, which governs illusions. If the demon wanted a mirror that would show a mortal his greatest desire, she would need both the lores of Light and Humanity). TORMENT: Creates cursed objects that consume the souls of their owners and wreak misery on those close to them.
-Imbue Object: Allows an Annunaki to bind a soul... mortal or demon... into a specially prepared reliquary or object. Mortal spirits cannot interact with the world, though demons can use their inherent powers and their lore paths, provided they have faith. TORMENT: Souls bound by monstrous demons are tainted by the Malefactor's torment, twisting their spirits into maddened, malevolent entities.

MUMMU, THE VISAGE OF THE FORGE: The angels of the forge appear as giants hammered from the black iron of the earth, their powerfully muscled formed lit with veins of hot magma, and their eyes shining like disks of burnished brass. Their voices are deep and thunderous, like the roar of a furnace. When in their apocalyptic form, these fallen are immune to extremes of temperature and pressure. They can handle hot coals as mortals do ice cubes, and all craft skills are vastly increased. Their shouts shatter glass and make stone tremble.
TORMENT: High-Torment Mummu are nightmarish creatures of iron skin and serrated blades, surrounded by a haze of smoldering brimstone. Their eyes are twin globes of roiling fire, and wherever they go, electrical devices go berserk: lights flicker and televisions and radios are afflicted with static. Many also possess extra limbs, blade fingers, and armorlike skin.

FIEND LORES: Humanity views the universe as an impossibly vast panorama of galaxies, stars and planets, each object adrift on a sea of emptiness, spreading like ripples in a pond. The Angels of the Heavens know differently - all elements of creation, no matter how vast or insignificant, are dependent on one another in a delicate balance of power, motion, and direction. The Lore of Patterns allowed the angels of the Fourth House to study the motions of the Grand Design and predict possible problems before they occurred. But the design was so large that the Lore of Portals was needed... secrets that allowed the angels to travel the length and breadth of reality in the blink of an eye. Finally, in the war, the Neberu used their powers directly against the Host of Heaven, and the Lore of Light emerged during the war as the Fiends learned to use their knowledge of light - and perception - to weave potent illusions.

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*Lore of Patterns
-Sense Congruence: Sense localities or people that are at the heart of a convergence of consequential forces and be in the right place at the right time. TORMENT: Can only be used to find impending events of violence and destruction.
-Trace Pattern: View a particular event and analyze the various forces that caused it to occur, in the form of vague impressions that sharpen into detailed images as the demon devotes her unblinking attention to them. TORMENT: While any pattern they wish can be traced, the tormented demon can only focus on sources of violence or injury that pertain to the event.
-Foresee: Reads the tides of fate in the immediate area and predict events and actions that are about to occur, and therefore they are never surprised or ambushed. TORMENT: More interested in causing pain, tormented Fiends can use this evocation to focus on the best moment to strike.
-Causal Influence: Gains insight into events up to several days into the future, and can home in on which causal threads must be affected to achieve a desired result. If she looks into the next day for the life of one of her thralls, and sees that he will be hit by a bus, she can focus on why he was hit, and then use that information to try and change the situation. TORMENT: Used to gain insight into the dangers surrounding an individual, and how to manipulate these risks to CAUSE injury or misfortune.
-Twist Time: Alters the flow of time in a small area, shifting it out of phase with the rest of the cosmos. The Fiend and anyone else within this bubble of distorted time may act faster or slower than the normal flow of the universe. TORMENT: Hurls unsuspecting victims out of phase with the time stream, which is instantaneous and horrifying; a momentary brush with the void between realms that leaves terrible scars on a person's sanity. Victims disappear for an amount of time based on the Fiend's Torment, and return with far less willpower than they had before.

NINSUN, VISAGE OF PATTERNS: The angels of the great pattern have skins of indigo. Their hairless bodies are covered with intricate lines and patterns etched in silvery blue light that shifts and realigns depending on the angle of light and the intensity of the angel's mood. Their eyes are like bright sapphires, casting the cold light of the stars. Many have swan wings, increased reflexes and initiative, enhanced intuition and mental acuity.
TORMENT: Monstrous Ninsun lose their indigo hue and become as black as the void. THe patterns covering their bodies take on the color of quicksilver, and their eyes are nothing but empty globes of darkness. An extra set of spindly arms gives these demons a distinctly arachnid appearance. Many also have an aura of bad luck, the ability to perform multiple actions at once, and a sibilant whisper that makes it far easier to work with subterfuge.

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*Lore of Portals
-Open/Close Portals: Gives complete control of all entrances/exits encountered. Doors and windows unlock, open or close at her command. TORMENT: Don't open or close, but smash open or jam shut.
-Create Ward: Seals off the portals in an area, making it inviolable to outside forces. TORMENT: Instead of keeping people out, the ward inflicts bashing damage on anyone entering.
-Teleport: Uses an existing portal (any entrance or exit or window) to transport demon instantly to a similar portal in another location, potentially hundreds of miles away. TORMENT: Monstrous lack of focus can teleport the demon to a random location instead.
-Co-Locate: Uses a doorway to tie two locations together for a short time, allowing others to pass through from one place to another. TORMENT: Those passing through are exposed to the Demon's torment, and risk madness as a result.
-Doorway to Darkness: Creates a doorway into the shadowy space between the physical and spirit realms - dark, lifeless reflection of the world. Demons can cross over into this bleak realm for a short time or hide items from prying eyes and then retrieve them later. TORMENT: Winds of the cosmic storm seep through occasionally, causing mortals to either flee in terror or risk insanity.

NEDU, VISAGE OF PORTALS: The angels of the threshold are tall, ethereal figures, their long limbs and lean bodies wreathed in a veil of shifting shadow. Their movements are as fluid as they are soundless, and their feet leave no impression to mark their passing. When they pass into deep shadow, their eyes shine with a cold, blue light. Their perceptions are enhanced, as is their awareness of their surroundings, and many have swan wings.
TORMENT: Monstrous Nedu are like living shadows, ebon and ephemeral. Their voices are like the keening of wind over jagged stones, and their touch is colder than ice. They are cloaked in shadows, making them difficult to see in light and nearly invisible at night. Their initiative is increased, as is their dodging ability, and they cast no reflections.

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*Lore of Light
-Light: Fills an area with pale, silvery light, akin to moonlight, allowing individuals to move and act in the illuminated area, or it generates a bright, blinding flash that stuns or disorients opponents. TORMENT: Fills the area with inky, suffocating darkness, which they can move through with ease, but which utterly blinds others.
-Bend Light: Bend waves around the body instead of reflecting them, camouflaging the demon. TORMENT: Distorts light into crazed, eye-straining patterns, making it difficult to look or focus on the demon.
-Phantasm: Creates ghostly images that perform a rote set of actions. TORMENT: The phantasms, no matter how simple or apparently benign, remain subtly disturbing, causing some individuals to flee the area.
-Illusion: Creates images that seem completely real until touched, and these images are capable of being directed by the demon, who can alter their appearance on the fly. TORMENT: Illusions are overtly unsettling, causing terror or derangement in viewers.
-Coherent Light: Compress light to the degree that it assumes a degree of physical solidity, creating vivid, touchable, easily changed and directable "illusions". TORMENT: Unless carefully controlled, the illusions lash out randomly at their surroundings.

SHAMASH, VISAGE OF LIGHT: The apocalyptic form of the masters of this lore paints a demon in shifting patterns of shadow and pale, silvery starlight. These hypnotic images draw the eye and beguile the senses, at times hinting at subtle flashes that reflect the demon's inner thoughts. The Shamash are alluring, chimerical, deceptive, terrifying or achingly beautiful, often from moment to moment. They have enhanced mental resources, can see clearly in utter darkness, are able to dodge better thanks to their chimerical aura, and are expert manipulators.
TORMENT: Shamash who lose themselves to their Torment are surrounded by chimerical forms that reflect the demons' hatred and despair, creating a horror show of monstrous apparitions that whirl and snap at one another in increasing ferocity depending on a being's mood. These images can hypnotize viewers, inspire fear in others, or snake out to aid the demon in attacking his foes. The demon casts no reflection.

DEFILER LORES:The mercurial angels of the deep were meant from the beginning to lead a lonely existence, close enough to inspire human hearts, yet eternally out of reach. The Lore of Longing, with its power to enflame human hearts, was the core of this House's collected wisdom, but mastery of wind and wave also led to the creation of the Lore of Storms, allowing the angels of the deep to reach far over dry land as well. Ironically, once the Lammasu had forsaken their oath to Heaven and were able to show themselves openly to mankind, the rebels found themselves ill-equipped to relate directly with humanity. They were far more comfortable showing men and women the faces that they wanted to see rather than risk being viewed for what they truly were, and the Lore of Transfiguration emerged.

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*Lore of Longing
-Read Emotion: Draws a person's deep-seated emotions to the surface, allowing the demon to gain greater insight into the subjects thoughts and desires by studying her body language and expressions. The victim is completely unaware that she is being "studied" in this way, and it is as if the Defiler is reading her mind. TORMENT: Draws out the victim's dark nature and fuels it, and she comes away entertaining thoughts she hadn't dared contemplate before.
-Empathetic Response: Permits the demon to read subject's emotions and desires and react to them without thinking, molding her behavior to conform perfectly to the subject's expectations, making him think that she is everything he expected or dreamed of, banishing any suspicion, hesitation or fear. TORMENT: Inspires fear instead of affection.
-Manipulate Sense: With a touch, the Defiler can manipulate a person's nerves, enhancing perceptions and heightening sensation, though this can be addictive. TORMENT: Inflicts searing agony or warps the awareness of victims.
-Obsession: Takes one of the victim''s interests or desires and heightens its allure to the point that the victim can think of nothing else. Can be a person, an idea, or a project. An easy way to gather devoted followers. TORMENT: Makes the victim psychologically obsessive, removing all inhibitions and exaggerating the victim's need to the point of physical pain.
-Inspire: Expands a subject's consciousness, permitting him to achieve heights of insight and awareness that border on the inhuman. The subject is able to draw upon the fullness of his mental potential, but when the power fades, the return to reality can be a blow for the person's sense of self-worth. TORMENT: Pushes victims over the edge, from genius to madness, creating talented but dangerous lunatics.

ISHHARA, VISAGE OF LONGING: The angels of inspiration are visions of beauty, compared to whom even the radiant angels of the Namaru pale. Their golden hair and perfectly sculpted features are the romantic ideal spoken of in mortal poetry and prose, and their honeyed voices melt even the hardest hearts. Their social traits are through the roof, their voice is lyrical, their senses are enhanced, and their intuition is dead on.
TORMENT: Monstrous Ishhara retain all their dazzling beauty. If anything, their allure only deepens with the hint of shadowed malice that darkens their eyes and deepens their voices. What was once a source of inspiration is now a siren song that lures mortals to ruin. Many have claws, which (along with their saliva) are venomous, possess extra arms or tentacles, and cast no reflection.

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*Lore of Storms
-Summon Water: Summons water from any nearby source, causing anything from a sudden, concealing fog to a torrential flash flood. TORMENT: Water summoned is slimy and foul, spreading sickness and disease.
-Water Form: Transforms the Defiler's physical body into water, either as a liquid or a mist, leaving clothes and possessions behind. TORMENT: Water is polluted, and causes chemical burns with anything she touches.
-Manipulate Weather: Nudges existing weather patterns, pushing away storm fronts or drawing them to her with surprising speed, and altering the local temperatures. TORMENT: Increases the intensity of existing weather patterns, rather than altering their course, turning a spring shower into a raging tornado or a light snowfall into a blizzard.
-Command the Storm: Creates weather patterns at will, conjuring a storm out of thin air or banishing a hurricane with a wave of her hand. TORMENT: Effects are always inimical. Storms bring damaging wind, hail and lightning. Even creating clear skies can invoke extreme temperature changes or suffocating humidity.
-Invoke the Storm: Surrounds the Defiler with a raging storm at will, creating wind, water and lightning in an area as small as a room or a large as a city block. The heart of the storm is centered around the demon and moves where she moves, causing her no harm, and all the weather patterns obey her whims, so that those she is protecting might feel no more than a swift wind, while her foes would be buffeted and blasted. TORMENT: The storms generated by monstrous demons lash out at any living being caught in the area.

ADAD, VISAGE OF STORMS: The angels of the storm are tall, statuesque figures, their skins glistening like opal and their dark hair tinged with the deep green of the ocean depths. Blue flickers of ball lightning writhe and dance across their bodies, forming an angry nimbus surrounding their head and shoulders when their fury is aroused. They can sense all changes in the weather up to ten miles away for each point of faith their possess, are immune to electricity, have improved initiative, and can shock others with electrical damage at a touch.
TORMENT: Angels of the storm who lose themselves to their demonic nature develop a rough, gray hide and triple rows of razor-edged teeth. Their eyes are featureless black orbs, devoid of warmth or compassion. Many often sprout spines down their backs and the backs of their arms, grow shark-hide armor, and can expel a cloud of indigo ink that hangs in the air and blinds their foes, lingering for several minutes.

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*Lore of Transfiguration
-Mimic: Assumes the exact mannerisms and vocal patterns of a subject, allowing her to disguise herself and fool a distant observer. TORMENT: Torment bleeds through the disguise and unsettles witnesses, inspiring discomfort and paranoia.
-Alter Appearance: Changes cosmetic features of herself or others, such as eye color, hair color, skin color, scar removal, etc. TORMENT: Unless they retain strict control, they can cause disturbing deformities.
-Alter Shape: Changes the defiler's physical shape and dimensions, increasing or decreasing height, weight, shoulder width and girth. TORMENT: Need to be careful to avoid crippling disfigurements.
-Doppelganger: Alters the Defiler's appearance completely, based on the expectation of her victim. TORMENT: The Defiler becomes a dark, sinister version of the victim's expectations.
-Shapechange: Gives complete mastery over the physical features of herself or others. She can transform herself or someone else into the apex of human beauty. She can also condemn those who displease her to a nightmare of twisted flesh. TORMENT: Need to exercise great control or they risk creating a reflection of their Torment instead, resulting in the form of a hideous monster.

MAMMETUM, VISAGE OF TRANSFIGURATION: The angels of transfiguration reveal themselves as luminescent figures devoid of identifying feature or expression, haunting in their silence and deliberate grace. Their entire body is a mirror reflecting the moods and thoughts of those around them, shifting like quicksilver amid a riot of conflicting feelings and expressions. Their empathy increases, they cast no reflection, leave no trace of their passing, and are supernaturally dexterous.
TORMENT: Angels of transfiguration who are lost to their Torment lose their luminescence, reflecting their pain and hatred in a series of horrific visions of the Abyss. THe creature is a walking panorama of tortured spirits clawing silently at the wall separating them from the physical world. They sprout claws and fangs, gain greater initiative and deadly venom, and can do multiple actions at once.

DEVOURER LORES: The lords of wood and claw were made to rule the wild things of the world, shaping flora and fauna according to the Creator's plan and shaping each one's role in a complex and dynamic ecology. The Lore of the Beast defined their mastery of animal, fish and fowl, allowing them to summon, command and shape the bodies of their subjects, while the Lore of the Wild comprised the collected secrets of forest and field. The Lore of the Flesh came later, during the war, as the Rabisu turned their arts to shaping human flesh for the fury of the battlefield.

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*Lore of the Beast
-Summon Animals: Detects the presence of animal life in the surrounding area and summons those creatures to the demon's side... the animals also instinctively protect the demon. TORMENT: Only summons carnivorous animals, their Torment driving the creatures into a murderous frenzy, so that they might attack anyone... including the devourer himself.
-Command Animals: Commands one or more animals to do the demon's bidding by placing her desires directly in the animals' minds, while enhancing their intelligence for the task. TORMENT: Only carnivores, makes them murderously aggressive.
-Possess Animals: The Demon's senses and will possess one or more animals. TORMENT: Only carnivores, demons must exercise iron will to avoid losing themselves to the feral nature of their hosts until the evocation expires.
-Animal Form: Takes the form of any animal whose blood or flesh she has tasted. Conservation of mass does not apply, so a 95 pound woman can become an 800 pound tiger if the demon desires. TORMENT: Demons must exercise iron will to avoid losing themselves to the feral nature of their hosts until the evocation expires, and sometimes traits and savagery remain after that.
-Create Chimera: Manipulates an animal's physical body, enhancing its capabilities or mutating it into a hideous, fantastic creature that combines characteristics of numerous different animals. TORMENT: Only creates Tormented, pain-maddened, murderous beasts.

ZALTU, VISAGE OF THE BEAST: The Angels of the Hunt are fearsome in their strength and majesty, stalking invisibly through the darkness with panther-like strength and supple grace. The physical appearances of these fallen are many and varied, but most are powerfully muscled and covered in a pelt of fur, with large, golden eyes that glow like coals in the moonlight. They speak in a low, liquid rumble, and their howls chill the blood for miles when they hunt. Many also increase in size, gain enhanced senses, grow claws and teeth, and gain the ability to perform multiple actions almost at once.
TORMENT: Zaltu who are lost to their Torment look emaciated and diseased, their fur missing in patches or matted with filth or blood. Flecks of foam drip from their gaping jaws, and their skin thickens into a tough hide of gristle and nerveless flesh, acting as armor. They can also chew and digest anything they get their teeth on, be it metal, stone, or flesh. Many have extra limbs, like another set of arms or a prehensile tail, and chameleon skin is not unknown, either.

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*Lore of the Wild
-Wilderness Sense: The Devourer gain an immediate sense of the surrounding area, building a map in her mind of the region's natural features, the plants and animals that inhabit the place, as well as the location of any interlopers that the local fauna consider a threat. TORMENT: Monstrous demons transmit their murderous nature to the surrounding area, causing the flora and fauna to react inimically to human trespassers.
-Quicken Growth: Fuels rapid and unchecked growth in local plant life. Trees shoot skyward, vines swell, fissures spread through any object in which they are rooted and briars envelop their surroundings. TORMENT: Plants grow and entwine any living beings within reach, strangling or ripping them apart.
-Command the Wild: Directs rapid growth of local plants by force of will, affecting the environment in specific ways according to the demon's plan. TORMENT: In addition, monstrous demons cause the affected plants to become inimical to flesh and blood, sprouting needle-like thorns and poisonous sap.
-Possess Plant: Take over the living essence of one or more plants, making them extensions of the demon's will. Plants move with supernatural speed and strength, performing any action the Devourer desires. TORMENT: The Torment of monstrous demons destroys the plants they control from within, reducing them to lifeless husks within minutes.
-Mutate Plant: Manipulates a plant's composition at will, creating new, specialized breeds according to her desires. TORMENT: Creates plant life with a taste for blood, while mutating the plant spontaneously, developing natural weapons that allow it to kill and feed on living beings... including the demon himself.

NINURTU, VISAGE OF THE WILD: The angels of the wilderness manifest as an amalgam of the flora they command and the fauna that thrive beneath their aegis. Their skin is commonly covered in a fine pelt similar to a deer's, and they often possess hooves instead of feet. Their bodies are powerfully muscled, and their eyes change colors like the seasons, ranging from pale gray to deep summer green. Many have enhanced senses, chameleon skin, the ability to move through an area without leaving a scent or footsteps or broken grass or twigs, and greater health than normal.
TORMENT: Monstrous Ninurtu are darker of hue, and their eyes take on the color of the silver moon. They well in size, and their appearance exudes the kind of forbidding menace of the deep forests and high mountains. Many also have thorns, a prehensile tail to hang from and manipulate objects, and venom.

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*Lore of the Flesh
-Body Control: Alters the body chemistry of both a host body and those of others, purging alcohol and poisons (natural and manmade) and increasing or reducing metabolism, putting someone into a deathlike coma. TORMENT: Uses a brute-force method, putting terrible strain on the subject.
-Manipulate Nerves: Controls the nervous system, enhancing strength and reflexes, dulling or sharpening senses, and subjecting a person to waves of intense pleasure or pain. TORMENT: Risks severe pain by crudely manipulating the victim's nervous system.
-Manipulate Flesh: Manipulates a subject's physical form (her own or another's), adding muscle mass, increasing bone density or expanding mental faculties. TORMENT: Alters flesh and bone without regard for the subject's fragility, possibly causing a (sometimes permanent) derangement.
-Restore Flesh: Restores an animal or person's body to its original form, no matter how torn or mutilated it has become. TORMENT: Hatred and pain taints the process, occasionally causing the subject to be deranged, or in worst cases, become a mindless, psychotic killing machine.
-Shape Flesh: Transforming human flesh into any shape desired. Mortals or fallen can become monstrous creatures straight out of legend. TORMENT: Alterations are invariably warped by Torment, creating grotesque deformities that transform their victims into walking nightmares with derangement and intolerable strain placed on the body.

ARURU, VISAGE OF FLESH: The angels of the flesh, who can alter their forms more completely than even the Defilers, manifest themselves as idealized versions of their own mortal forms. Their power exalts the mortal shells that they inhabit, removing any blemishes or deformities and refining their original features to perfection. In a way, this makes their appearance just as alien and wondrous as the shimmering apparitions of their Celestial kin. Many also possess enhanced social skills, are immune to poison, possess greater initiative, and cast no reflection.
TORMENT: High-Torment Aruru bear little resemblance to human beings, their original shape being lost in a swollen mountain of undulating flesh. Muscle, bone and organs roil and shift from moment to moment without the demon's conscious control. Despite this, they have greater health than normal, physical gristly armor, the ability to chew and digest anything, and physical regeneration for all bashing or lethal damage.

SLAYER LORES: Although they are known today as the Angels of the second world, the Slayers were originally mere agents of change, eliminating plants and animals that had outlived their purpose to make way for new, better generations. The Lore of Death granted them the power to end life quickly and painlessly, then render the bodies of the dead back into their constituent particles for the earth to absorb and begin anew. Of all the Houses, the Halaku were forced to evolve the most in the wake of the Fall. With the loss of mankind's immortality, the Slayers were thrust into a difficult and painful situation of ending human life, often well before its time, then surrendering the spirit to an unknown fate. The Lore of the Spirit grew from the Slayers' desire to prevent the loss of these souls, anchoring them in places on earth in their former bodies, but this was not enough to protect the ghosts from the depredations of loyalist Reapers. Finally, the Halaku decided on a more desperate course: the construction of a Haven outside the physical universe where God's Reapers could not find the souls of the dead. The first step in this plan was to learn the ways of stabilizing and traveling to pockets of reality that existed outside the physical cosmos, leading to the evolution of the Lore of the Realms and culminating in the creation of the spirit realm.

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*Lore of Death
-Read Fate: Demon looks into the eyes of a dead body and sees the manner in which he or she died. TORMENT: Monstrous demons can only see the fate if the body was a victim of violence, whether accidental or intentional.
-Decay: Accelerates the process of decay, reducing living and non-living matter to its component particles. TORMENT: Affects all targets in an area, instead of specific objects.
-Vision of Mortality: Fills the minds of foes with visions of impending death, causing them to throw down their arms and fleeing before the remorseless advance of the Halaku. TORMENT: Visions affect all living beings around them, instead of a specific target.
-Extinguish Life: By placing a hand on a living body and exerting her will, a demon can sever a victim's soul from his body, killing him instantly. Can be used against fallen as well, but instead of causing instant death, the evocation produces an icy chill that saps the vitality from a demon's body. TORMENT: No need to touch their victims, since their icy hatred radiates from them in all directions, stilling the hearts of all-living things in a radius dependent on the demon's stored Faith.
-Unlife: Allows a living body to function without the presence of a soul or vital spirit, creating an unliving creature completely under the Slayer's control. TORMENT: Creates flesh-eating monsters with a craving for violence that must be held in check constantly.

NAMTAR, VISAGE OF DEATH: Shadowy figures wreathed in tendrils of ghostly mist that shift and writhe from moment to moment, occasionally reflecting the angels' thoughts in strange, symbolic forms. A pall of silence surrounds these figures, and their feet never seem to touch the ground. Their skin is as pale as alabaster, and their faces are constantly hidden in deep shadow. Many also have raven wings, greater initiative, the ability to pass without trace, and a lack of reflections.
TORMENT: Monstrous Namtar exude the cold aura of death, indiscriminately draining the life of every living thing around them. Flowers wilt in their passing, children grow glassy-eyed, and the old feel mortality grip their heart. Their features are shrouded by darkness, and they are extremely difficult to kill, as the demon spirit clings to the body. They are also resistant to all sorts of damage, and project an aura of entropy.

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*Lore of the Spirit
-Speak with the Dead: Allows communication with spirits roaming the physical or spirit world, compelling them to respond and answer the demon's questions to the best of their ability. TORMENT: Spirits become warped by the demon's torment, and become inimical to living beings for days afterward.
-Summon the Dead: Summons spirits to their presence, reaching across entire city blocks, whether they wish to appear or not and forcing them to remain until dismissed. TORMENT: Spirits become warped by the demon's torment, and become inimical to living beings for days afterward.
-Command the Dead: Forces a ghost to perform any actions that the demon desires. TORMENT: Afterward, the ghost lashes out, becoming violent and tortured for days... or sometimes permanently.
-Anchor the Soul: Anchors a disinterred mortal soul (or a demon's spirit) to a physical object, creating a haunted artifact that traps the spirit in the physical world. TORMENT: Anchors are surrounded by an aura of misfortune as the soul feels a fraction of what the Demon suffered in the Abyss.
-Restore the Dead: Anchors a spirit into any soulless physical body, returning the ghost to the land of the living, at least for a short time. TORMENT: The restored person suffers derangements due to the leaking Torment.

NERGAL, VISAGE OF THE SPIRIT: Angels of the spirit world appear as pale, serene figures reminiscent of the images of human saints, beautiful silent and remote. Like others of their House, the Nergal move without noise or effort, seeming to glide along the ground as they move. Only their eyes, colored in shifting patterns of gray and black, hint at the bleak world beyond the mortal realm. Many possess the ability to see the spirits of the dead that linger in the mortal realm, have enhanced social traits, and possess a pair of raven's wings.
TORMENT: Monstrous Nergal are stained with the blood of the dead, their alabaster skin streaked with lines of crimson and black. Their eyes are orbs of clotted blood, and when they speak, their voices howl like the spirits of the damned. They are shrouded by shadows, bring fear to the hearts of those around them, and are capable of shrugging off damage that would cripple a normal human.

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*Lore of the Realms
-Sense the Barrier: Senses the relative strength of the barrier between the physical and spirit realms in an area as large as a city block, allowing the demon to hone in on regions where the boundary is exceptionally thick or thin. TORMENT: Can only sense areas where the barrier is weak, drawn by the call of the spirit storm raging just beyond.
-Step Beyond the Veil: Physically cross into the shadow world, a lifeless mirror image of the mortal world, to travel vast distances at the speed of thought and return to the mortal world at the corresponding location. TORMENT: Crossing creates a "seam" in the barrier that draws restless spirits into the physical world, resulting in temporary but intense hauntings.
-Ghostwalk: Demon exists simultaneously in both the physical and spirit realms, and can interact with both mortals and spirits, and pass through objects in both places. TORMENT: Energies of the spirit storm leak into the physical realm around her, causing wild and unpredictable spirit manifestations and hauntings.
-Reach Across the Barrier: Can peer into and reach across the spirit realm the same way a mortal retrieves something from a cupboard, placing or retrieving items between the realms at will. Many weapons and items from the War of Wrath remain in the Spirit Realm to this day, waiting to be unearthed. TORMENT: Surreal and terrifying side effects occur as the spirit storm leaks into the physical realm.
-Pierce the Barrier: Creates a temporary doorway between the living and dead realms, allowing demons to cross into the shadow lands if the creator of the portal wishes. TORMENT: The effects of the spirit storm rage in the physical world in the immediate vicinity of the portal ,drawing spirits and causing horrifying manifestations to linger for a number of days equal to the character's Torment.

ERESHKIGAL, VISAGE OF THE REALMS: Angels of the Second World manifest as shadowy figures whose features are hidden in perpetual darkness. The air itself seems to wrap around them like a robe of night, conjuring the image of the cowed ferryman of human myth. Their hands are white and bony, like a skeleton's, and they move without effort or sound. They always know where they are in relation to known landmarks, have supernatural awareness of their surroundings, and can perform supernatural sleight of hand.
TORMENT: Angels of the Realms who surrender themselves to their Torment are walking portals to the land of the dead, exuding an aura of loss and despair that chills mortal hearts. Their voices are bleak and sepulchral, and their eyeless stare gives the boldest heart pause. Their features are cloaked in shadows, and they can walk or run without stopping to eat or rest for days, while their voice and gaze are both tremendously intimidating.

APOCALYPTIC FORM:
As mentioned above, your demon's Apocalyptic form (or forms, if he or she has only moderate Torment, and can appear angelic or demonic to viewers) DOES NOT HAVE TO STICK TO THE DESCRIPTIONS IN EACH VISAGE. You are encouraged to design your demon however you wish. You can draw on traits from any of the Visages of the Lores that your character knows (though her primary lore should be dominant), even if they aren't part of your House Lore. You can choose eight abilities, though you might change them later depending on whether your character succumbs to or rises above Torment. You can also describe your character however you want (appearance and details of the form are basically left up to you... these are extra abilities that let you do things other characters can't, as opposed to making your character's apocalyptic form more colorful and unique to you).

COMMON FORM ABILITIES:
Armor
Casts No Reflection
Claws/Teeth
Damage Resistance
Enhanced Skill (choose a particular skill or talent)
Enhanced Senses
Enhanced Mental Acuity
Enhanced Social Traits
Extra Actions: The ability to multitask taken to extremes
Extra health
Extra Limbs
Gaping Maw (can safely bite, chew, and digest anything)
Horns
Improved Initiative (your reflexes and decision-making let you make the first move most of the time)
Increased size
Lashing tail (reptilian with a bony spike)
Pass Without Trace
Regeneration
Wings (Eagle, owl, swan, raven or bat are most common, but Defilers might have peacock wings or albatross wings or flying fish wings, Devourers with the wings of whatever animals they helped create, etc. Most Demons can only glide with their wings, bound as they are in human bodies and deprived of the energies of faith, but some can actually fly).

DEFILER ABILITIES:
Alter Size
Distortion (Demon's form shifts and shimmers as if the viewer were looking at the Defiler through water, making them very hard to accurately hit)
Enhanced Empathy
Enhanced Intuition
Ichor (black ichor covers the demon's body, making them slick and hard to hold)
Immune to Electricity
Improved Dexterity
Ink Cloud
Lyrical Voice
Shark Hide
Shocking Touch
Spines
Venom
Weather Sense
Beauty of the Sea
Aura of Want (afflict all nearby mortals with overpowering feelings of longing and despair)
Soul Glimpse (via eye contact, gains a sense of the mortal's basic nature)
Soporific Touch
Cartilaginous Flesh

DEVIL ABILITIES:
Affirm (reaffirms a mortal's sense of his importance and place in God's plan via eye contact)
Beckon (So beautiful that mortals cannot help but follow the demon)
Corrosive Spit
Dread Gaze (paralyzes mortals with fear)
Fiery Blood
Immune to Fire
Increased Awareness
Inhuman Allure (especially charismatic and manipulative)
Lordly Mien (hard to refuse)
Radiant Aura (wreathed in a corona of shifting, multicolored hues that distract and confuse foes)
Scales
Sense the Hidden (find things that are concealed or hiding from him)
Spark of Faith (Demon heals self by touching and inspiring mortal faith)
The Host (fanged mouths appear on the demon's body, whispering blasphemous language and biting anything that comes close)
Voice of the Damned (Demon's voice booms with the authority of God, or seethes with inhuman hate and malice)
Liar's Ear (automatically tells when the demon is lied to)
Halo of Majesty (Shining Halo surrounds the Devil's head and face, preventing anyone from focusing on an attack)
Razor Wings (Feathers become sharp and flexible as razors)
Abyssal Eyes (eyes turn to liquid shadow, oozing down the demon's face or reaching out like tendrils, sapping the willpower of foes)

DEVOURER ABILITIES:
Aura of Vitality (all living things near the demon begin healing)
Chameleon Skin
Disperse (Dissolves the demon's body into a mass of maggots, spiders, insects or other tiny creatures, which the demon has complete control over, allowing him to flow through tight openings or terrify opponents)
Enhanced Social Traits
Enhanced Survival Skills
Frenzy (Demon flies into a rage, utterly ignoring all the pain of any wounds and attacking savagely)
Immune to Poisons
Natural Weaponry (claws/teeth, gaping maw, horns, lashing tail, spines)
Nimble Hunter (doubles leaping distance, while making the demon twice as athletic)
Primal Mind (Regresses a human mentally to the part of the mind that is all instinct and animalistic traits)
Relentless (demon can walk or run without need of rest, as long as she stays in motion, being unaffected by fatigue or hunger)
Sun's Bounty (By standing in direct sunlight for an hour, the demon heals all bashing damage or one form of lethal or aggravated damage, only usable once a day)
Thick Hide
Thorns
Toxins
Eyes of the Predator (works for intimidation by turning the demon's eyes into those golden irises of a wolf or tiger)
Repellent Musk
Mimic (manipulates vocal cords to almost perfectly mimic any natural sound or voice)
Clinging Flesh (Flesh is covered in nearly molecule-sized hooks that allow her to cling to almost any surface)

FIEND ABILITIES:
Aura of Misfortune: Bad luck and botched attempts at any minor action occur to everyone around the demon
Cloak of Shadows
Chimerical Attack (illusions surrounding the demon attack the Fallen's foe in combat)
Dread Mien
Enhanced Dodge
Enhanced Intuition
Enhanced Mental Acuity
Eyes of Fate (The fiend instinctively knows whether a given being is important to him or his plans)
Hypnotic Visions (Lights surrounding the fiend distract and disquiets the mind of the fiend's foe)
Increased Awareness
Night Sight
Rend the Soul (with a touch, shows a mortal how infinitesimally small he is in the grand scheme of Creation)
Sense the Hidden
Sibilant Whispers
Unearthly Glamour (Manipulation becomes much easier thanks to the dazzling appearance of the fiend)
Danger Sense
Infinite Tome (the fiend possesses strange, esoteric, and obscure knowledge)
Invisibility
Mirage (transforms the Fiend's appearance)

MALEFACTOR ABILITIES:
Alter Size
Conjuration (seemingly conjures items out of thin air or makes them vanish, supernatural sleight of hand)
Dead Reckoning (always aware of where she is in relation to known landmarks, no matter how far away they are)
Ichor
Immune to Bashing Damage
Immune to Fire
Iron Skin
Irresistible Force (superstrength)
Magnetic Field (disrupts electronic devices within a radius of yards equal to the demon's Faith)
Master Artisan (supernatural skill with creation and craftsmanship)
Night Sight
Relentless
Spikes
Thunderous Voice (shatters glass and makes stone tremble, causing sonic (bashing) damage to all who hear it)
Tremor Sense
Shattering Touch (by reading the harmonic vibration of an inorganic object with a touch, the demon can use a precise application of pressure to shatter it)
Creator's Mark (Malefactor automatically knows who created any object, when it was constructed, and the manner of its construction)
Flesh to Magma
Absorption (absorbs inorganic objects into his body, turning his appendages into living tool boxes or causing his body to bristle with blades, spikes and hooks, expelling the objects safely once returned to mortal form)

SCOURGE ABILITIES:
Aura of Vitality
Caustic Bile
Cloak of Shadows
Dead Reckoning
Enhanced Dodge
Enhanced Intuition
Immune to Falling Damage
Improved Physical Capabilities
Miasma (breathes out a gangrenous rot that has a debilitating effect on foes in close quarters)
Mist (summons a concealing cloud of mist)
Multiple Eyes
Perfect Balance
Quills
Supernatural Vision (Can see 5 times as far as a normal human can, even in low light)
Viscous Flesh (flesh falls away, making the demon impossible --- and disgusting --- to grapple)
Martyr's Flesh (ignores all pain in revelatory form)
Curative Saliva (once an hour, the Scourge can lick or kiss the wounds of a mortal or demon, healing all bashing and one case of lethal or aggravated damage)
Spore Cloud (releases a cloud of light spores into the air, which attach themselves to living creatures in the area, allowing the Scourge to receive sensory information from them for an hour)
Plague Touch

SLAYER ABILITIES:
Aura of the Dead (surrounded by an aura of fear that saps the will of foes)
Aura of Entropy (Plants wilt, living beings are chilled and weakened)
Cloak of Shadows
Conjuration
Dead Reckoning
Death-Grip (Demon's spirit clings to life past the point of human endurance, allowing him to fight on or heal when he'd otherwise die)
Dread Gaze
Enhanced Awareness
Enhanced Social Traits
Ghost Sight (can see the spirits of the dead, whether they wish to be seen or not)
Howl of the Damned (intimidating voices of the dead echo in the demon's voice)
Night Sight
Reaper's Breath (exhales chilling air, doing bashing damage to all breathing creatures in the area)
Relentless
Touch of Death (While touching her target, he cannot move, speak or feel at all, and is either strangely at peace or feels hapless and trapped in his body, depending on the Demon's torment)
Death Sight (Slayer can look at a person and determine his relative health and how close he or she is to dying)
Silent Steps (Demon makes no sound whatsoever as she moves)
Aura of Darkness (Light sources within a radius of the demon depending on his Faith simply go out and refuse to re-ignite as long as they are within his presence, while darkness surrounds the demon)
Voice of the Banshee (Slayer emits a hideous wail that fills her foe with feelings of imminent death, usually causing him to flee)

NAMES: Daniel "Danielle" Simons / Amdusias

HOUSE: Defiler/Lammasu

VISAGE: MAMMETUM. Amdusias' face becomes tapered and his features blur with swirling colors mixed with metallic quicksilver, and his neck elongates slightly, while his hair turns royal blue and silver and cascades down to the floor in a tentaclelike mane (not unlike that of Rin Sohma from Fruits Basket). Sprouting from his forehead is a glittering spiral narwhal tusk, and his lower body resembles that of a seahorse, with fluttering fins on the hips and lower back and gleaming, ridged red hide that curls into a prehensile tail, but with powerful fanlike fins at the end for additional propulsion. He seems to drift and float a few inches to a foot off the ground, instead of standing, and his upper body is encrusted with colorful (and sharp) coral armor that grows and shifts with the rest of his form. His eyes are constantly changing color and shape, but they are always dizzyingly deep and seem to be reflective, with an image of the viewer vaguely seen in the very center. From his armored shoulders sprout vast blue-green wings, with a raptor's bone structure, but whose feathers resemble those on a peacock's tail, allowing him to glide. His form is androgynous in this shape, perhaps due to the concealing and protruding armor, and perhaps due to the fact that every single bit of fat is smoothed from his body. The coral extends up his neck in two branches and frames his face like a coronet and then extends to transform into his "tusk," and from his waist down it shifts into the seahorse tail. His arms are covered in the coral, and on his fingers it has become sharp, stony talons. The growth of the armor has been painful, and its intricacy is obviously a particularly creative attempt at managing the effects of Torment, but somehow Amdusias' apocalyptic form remains deeply, serenely, sorrowfully and otherworldly beautiful and alluring. (Trait Breakdown: Armor, Claws, Extra Limb-Prehensile Tail, Horn, Pass Without Trace-Floating, Wings, Distortion, Beauty of the Sea).

LORES: Transfiguration (Alter Appearance, Alter Shape, Doppelganger, Shapechange), Storms (Water Form, Manipulate Weather), Longing (Obsession, Empathic Response, Read Emotion), Fundament (Manipulate Gravity, Manipulate Cohesion), Humanity (Fade, Alter Memory), Light (Illusion).

FACTION: Luciferan

HUMAN APPEARANCE: As Daniel, he is 5'5" tall, with a slim and defined body and smooth skin. His hair is light brown, and his eyes are a surprisingly comfortable and warm brown, framed with long, soft eyelashes. Both ears are pieced, usually with small hoops. He tends to wear comfortable, if form-fitting and fashionable, clothes. However, his "alter ego," Danielle, is every bit as dramatic, campy and outrageous as his normal appearance isn't. With the help of a specially-designed bra, choker (to hide the adam's apple), purple wig, dangling earrings, garters, "Berry Sexy" lipstick, gratuitous glitter and high heels, not to mention a stunning evening gown and elbow-length white gloves, accompanied by a folding hand fan, "she" is ready for a night on the town and in the spotlight.

BACKGROUND:
During the fifth day, Amdusias, Virtue of Reflection, was made to chase after and capture the appearances of objects and creatures with the water, giving them their motion and making sure they followed their originator personally. He was also sent to encourage the cuttlefish, skates, octopi, and other color-changing sea creatures to master the art of appearing as something else, and worked with both the Fates and the Angels of the Wild to encourage these effects. However, he was also one of the Nereids to be closest to humans, for he stared into the eyes of Adam and Eve every time they looked at their reflection in the still water, listening to their voices and seeing their confusion and surprise at their image staring at them from lakes and puddles. Being unable to help these innocents while being so intimate with them was torture for the angel, and when Lucifer led the first Demons to fall, Amdusias descended with them, marveling at the glory of this vast host, united from all of the houses and going to bring true wisdom and beauty and comfort to their human siblings.

Even the curse of Michael was not enough to dissuade the new Defiler, and he moved amongst the first tribes of humans, taking on their forms and walking beside them, not performing in front of them, cautiously protecting them from the loyalist angels. However, many humans, at first intrigued by this beautiful being in their midst, turned away from him. Some wanted to possess his beauty for their own newfound lusts and covetousness. Some wanted him to go away, disturbed by what their reflections revealed of themselves. Some wanted something more REAL, less ethereal, as their guide. And some, bearing that primitive shock at the first sight of a reflection to the next level, grew to fear this shifting, mercurial being that could appear as any of them at any time. After the death of Abel, Amdusias found himself increasingly joining the other demons in the front lines, fighting ferociously with coral armor, shifting limbs that brought fluid death, and tricking enemy human combatants with vivid (and sometimes deadly) illusions, lures, and suggestions. More than once he even shifted his form enough to sneak disguised into the fortresses of the loyalists, spying and narrowly escaping with much-needed information and sabotaging Heaven's war efforts. In the end, however, it was all for naught, and Amdusias was found, caught, and cast into the Abyss with the other angels, bereft of humans, without anything to imitate to define himself, and without any beauty or change.

In Hell, he gave up hope, and became painfully still, crusting over and freezing, while the cacophony of fallen angels resounded through him. It was then that he felt it... the slightest vibration, the faintest susurrus of something he had almost forgotten... change. With that, he began to thaw, and that thawing was enough to let him slip through the cracks in the Abyss, flow through the Spirit Storm, and burst free into Creation once more. Homing in on a quiet "cove" to shelter and nurture this feeling of freedom, change, and transformation, Amdusias found a host in the body of Daniel Simons.

Daniel was born to a fairly well-off family on the East Coast, and was encouraged to take part in a wide variety of activities growing up, from the school plays to various sports. However, when it came to his parents' attention that Daniel was actually better with applying makeup and designing costumes for the other actors and actresses than he was at acting all the one-line roles he was given, and that he mainly stuck with the sports so he could check out his fellow players, they pulled him from all of those events. He made it through high school, limited and sheltered and confined, and decided to break free, going to college in California and making connections with the theatre, film, makeup, and costume industries while learning the ins and outs of the interpersonal politics. He did make friends, have relationships, and formed his partygoing, wild, campy identity, Danielle, and was having fun... too much fun. He began to drown in the two-faced aspects of that subculture, and experienced rejection after rejection in each of his relationships, until he turned to drugs... some of which were horribly foul, including a concoction with the slightest bit of mercury in it, to make his skin fair and pale and lustrous. It gradually eroded his mind and health, and his soul was lost in the pursuit of maintaining the necessary look that only the appearance of humanity was left behind. This desire and appreciation for beauty resurrected something long dead in the Demon, and further released him from his icy corruption. Amdusias slid into this body easily, and worked to heal the damage caused by the toxin, while enabling Daniel to find a new job as a makeup artist and fitness center trainer, using his powers to form pacts with various members of the Hollywood engine and helping them achieve their ideal physical and romantic goals. As for Danielle, she became truly ravishing in the new transformation, and is beginning to pick up a devoted following among the West Hollywood scene. And she does it all without drugs, even making a point to never associate with someone who is actively pressing others to go for it, while getting help to those who want to leave that destructive lifestyle, without even appearing to do anything. In games of smoke and mirrors, Amdusias is well trained. He wants to continue gaining power, and now that he knows that he is not the only demon out there, he is working on ways of reducing both pollution (as mercury is also a problem for fish and sea life) and Torment, an action he believes might help to remind others of why they fell in the first place and try to decide what actions to take to heal the rest of the world, while continuing to make others stand out and become as beautiful, sexy, and unique as they need to be in Tinseltown.