Makatiel, Demon Prince of Disease

Makatiel

Habbalite Prince of Disease

The world is sick, riddled with infection and pervaded by decay.

Makatiel was the first Habbalite Prince, and the only Habbalite Prince in his lifetime. He took pride in this: of all of the Punishers in all the world, only he was strong enough, in Word and spirit, to become one of the elite of Hell. This eventually led to his downfall; the "Angel Prince" began to see himself as better than the Archangels, because only he of all the Angelic Superiors had the stamina to rule in Hell as a Prince. Makatiel became determined that if he were the best in all of Heaven and Hell, then the Archangels - much less the other Princes - didn't deserve the human souls that they were being given - that he should have all the souls he could take. In an attempt to realize this, Makatiel began to spread lethal plagues across Europe, to gather as many souls as possible into his Principality, and it was only through the concerted efforts of Dominic and Asmodeus that the maddened Prince of Disease was stopped.

Some claim that Makatiel contracted one of his own diseases, which affected his sanity and his ability to reason. Others say that Makatiel had always been insane, and that the Black Death - and his death - were only the logical culmination of a lifetime of derangement. Few of Makatiel's actual servitors remain, of course - many of them died in the quest to kill the mad Prince - but they maintain that Makatiel, though megalomaniac and obsessive, was never anything nearly as bad as the Game's propaganda makes him out to have been.

In person, Makatiel was a fairly typical nobleman - always polite, always ready to entertain guests, but invariably convinced that he was better than anyone he entertained - even if he was entertaining Lucifer and his retinue. Of course, he had few visitors - his Principality, the Grand Laboratory, was at once ancient and Victorian, and could be deadly to the casual visitor. Poison coursed through thin glass tubes along the hallways, and lethal, luminous bacteria the size of a fist pulsed within bulbs in certain rooms.

His organization was based upon the laboratory schema: each demon reported to a supervisor, who in turn reported to a manager, who reported to one of the five Directors; each of the Directors reported to Makatiel himself. Makatiel, like Vapula after him, was interested more in research than in organization: each Director had almost complete control over his department, though Makatiel could change anything at a whim.

The favored vessel of the Prince of Disease was fairly odd upon initial examination: an old man, scarred but unbowed, ancient and intelligent, in tattered but rich clothing and carrying a staff. In fact, Makatiel's vessel, as befit a Punisher, was a challenge: see if you can live this long, through this many torments, and then we'll talk as equals.

Dissonance

Makatiel allowed his Directors to run their departments as they pleased, but one rule was always in effect upon those who worked within the Grand Laboratory: Never heal a disease. Injury could be repaired, but a disease was to be allowed to run its course, no matter the consequences.

It is rumored among some that this was the source of Makatiel's madness: unwilling to assume the weakness that would come with dissonance, Makatiel allowed an experimental disease to rampage through his soul and came away from the experience a battered shell of his old self.

Band Attunements

Balseraphs: Makatiel's Liars were "faith healers". By spending 1 Essence, they could remove the symptoms of a disease for a number of days equal to their Will. However, the disease itself remained, festering and continuing to injure its host. Balseraphs of Disease rarely went to Earth with a Role; they preferred to insert themselves into communities, as a wandering witch doctor or religious pilgrim, work their "faith healing", and move on just before the disease was to return - thus fostering a belief in the healer's supernatural power to heal.

Djinn (restricted): Djinn of Disease infected those to whom they were attuned. Within a number of days equal to (7 - the Djinn's Celestial Forces), the attuned would come down with a disease, whose intensity rose with the check digit of the resonance roll: a check digit of 1 brought the common cold or warts, while 6 or higher brought lethal disease such as the Bubonic Plague or measles. These Djinn tended to take Roles as town guards: never sick themselves, but always carting the ill and dying away from their families.

Calabim (restricted): Calabim of Disease carried leprosy in their souls: anyone affected by their resonance appeared to have been afflicted with that deadly disease. If a Calabite struck someone with his resonance, the victim took 1 Body Hit per day (in addition to the normal damage) until either the victim died or the "disease" was cured (which could be done with, among other things, the Corporeal Song of Healing). Makatiel's Destroyers enjoyed Roles as lepers themselves, doomed never to fit in with the rest of society and to drag others down with them as they fell toward death.

Habbalah (restricted): Habbalah tended to avoid Makatiel - his self-importance grated at their nerves - but the Prince of Disease made them an attunement anyway. Punishers serving Disease could make another person a beacon of emotion by resonating upon that person, so long as the target was suffering from a disease of some kind: anyone approaching within (the Habbalite's Celestial Forces * 10) yards would be afflicted with whatever emotion the Habbalite chose at the time of resonance, but could make a Will roll to resist. Typically, these Habbalah used this ability to generate fear or anger, although occasionally sadness or even emptiness was used. Habbalah of Disease took Roles as doctors, delighting secretly in quarantining houses and turning those within into social outcasts, always within reach of the victims of their attunement.

Lilim (restricted): Makatiel's Lilim were apothecaries and chemists. By providing someone with the remedy to a disease, they could automatically get a geas-hook in that person (with a level appropriate to the severity of the disease) - and as long as they did not apply the remedy themselves, they did not acquire dissonance from Makatiel's Word. They took Roles as purveyors of medical cures and liniments, often establishing themselves within communities along with a Djinn or two in order to get as many geas-hooks as possible.

Shedim (restricted): Makatiel's Corruptors were attuned to diseases of the mind. They could use the Ethereal Song of Entropy on their current host automatically (with a check digit equal to their Celestial Forces) and with no Essence cost (although they could still spend Essence to boost the effects). If successful, the Song caused not only Mind Hits but an insanity of the Shedite's choosing, which lasted until the Mind Hits were healed. As usual for their Band, Shedim of Disease typically had no Roles, allowing their hosts to direct their social interactions.

Impudites (partially restricted): Impudites serving Makatiel were his field researchers: they could tell at a glance what diseases someone had and from what sources he had contracted them. They also could add their Celestial Forces to their roll to Charm someone if the target was suffering from any disease more severe than the common cold. Impudites of Disease took Roles as tax collectors, census takers, and other officials whose job was to speak to as many people as possible.

Servitor Attunements

Waste: This dangerous attunement allowed a demon to inflict a wasting disease upon a human, at the cost of 5 Essence. Every day that went by, the human had to make a Strength roll or lose 1 Body Hit, which did not heal normally; success on the Strength roll meant that the illness had been overcome, and any lost Body Hits began to heal normally. The disease would do no more Body Hits than the demon had Will; after that point, the human lost no more hits, but could not regain the lost hits until he made his daily Strength roll. The disease inflicted by this attunement was not communicable, and would have no outward signs save that the victim continued to get weaker as the disease ran its course.

Venom: A demon with this attunement could enchant a weapon with a disease, for Essence equal to the severity of the disease: 1 Essence produced a common cold, while 6 produced a deadly plague. After the enchantment, anyone damaged by the weapon had to make a Will roll or contract the disease; this could be done (7 - Essence used) times before the enchantment wore off. A weapon could not be enchanted more than once at the same time, though it could be enchanted any number of times in sequence.

Distinctions

Knight of Unhealth: These demons could tell the general level of disease - from almost nil (the hut of a supremely healthy hermit) to extreme (a leper camp) - in a radius equal to their total Forces * 100 yards. They could also tell what diseases are most prevalent within that area.

Captain of Infection: Makatiel's Captains could track disease vectors, following an illness from a single case back to its source. For 2 Essence, they could become a disease vector themselves, carrying a disease but not being affected by it.

Baron of Illness: These demons could create new illnesses from scratch, using 3 Essence to infect the initial host, and were the only demons known to be able to create diseases that could affect celestials. Makatiel's Barons almost always had an Asmodean escort.

Makatiel had only one Distinction higher than Baron: that of Director. Only five Directors existed at any one time, and they carried no special abilities inherent to the rank; rather, each was in command of one fifth of Makatiel's legions. Each reported to Makatiel on a weekly basis, giving him information on the status and condition of each of his servitors.

Relations

Allied: Malphas, Saminga
Associated: Baal, Beleth, Gebbeleth, Mariel
Neutral: All others
Hostile: None (Lilith was Hostile to Makatiel)

Basic Rites

Spend two hours in a disease-ridden area
Directly cause someone to be infected (+2 if the disease is lethal)

Chance of Invocation: 2

Makatiel is almost always in his laboratory; while it is difficult to invoke him, it's rarely hard to find him.

Invocation Modifiers:

+1: The common cold
+2: The stomach flu
+3: Influenza
+4: Sleeping sickness
+5: Leprosy
+6: Bubonic Plague