Mariel, Djinn Princess of Oblivion

Mariel

Djinn Princess of Oblivion

The world is fading. Fires burn low, hopes grow dim, the sun itself gutters and sparks. Soon everything will be gone, and nothing will reign.

Belial has the advantage of Word-friction: his very existence maddens the Archangel of Fire. Furfur has the advantage of energy: his destruction, his chaos, his mayhem all exemplify the hideous strength of fire that makes Gabriel work all the harder to promote the positive aspect of flame.

Yet neither holds a candle to the greatest threat Gabriel ever knew. There was once a Prince who presented such animosity, such enmity to Fire that even that Archangel stood back at her mere presence. There was once a Prince to whom the suns, the human hopes, the very fire for which Gabriel stood were a dire insult and a killing offense.

Mariel was the Void incarnate: Princess of Oblivion, Queen of Ultimate Destruction, Empress of Nothing. Her Principality was every vacant space in Hell, and her seat of power was her Empty Throne within the castle Abyss, which still stands - beneath the Lake of Fire in Sheol. Even now, long after her death at the hands of Haagenti, some say her shade sits on the Throne, still drafting her ruinous orders to phantom Servitors.

It is a subtle irony that her Word compelled her to care so deeply about oblivion, and it is said by those who knew that many times she considered suicide as recourse to the constant self-destructive urges she felt. Yet her Word compelled her to stay alive, to make certain that all was destroyed and that the Void reigned supreme before she could rest. Legend states that she was only allowed to die when the Prince of Gluttony, whose predilection for devouring everything he could see encompassed even her own Word, came to the scene and overpowered her Word's urgency.

Dissonance

Servitors of Oblivion were required to destroy: one cubic foot for each Force they had, every day, reduced to sand, splinters, or spatters on stone. They were not forbidden from creating, but were compelled to destroy an amount of matter at least equal in volume to what they had created, in addition to their daily requirement.

If a demon of Oblivion took dissonance for not destroying something, he could not make it up by destroying more the next day; working in a Tether to Oblivion or petitioning the Princess herself were the only recognized ways of removing it.

Band Attunements

Balseraphs (restricted): Balseraphs of Oblivion could remove a subject from the public perception. By resonating upon an object, they could subtract it, for a number of days equal to the check digit, from the environment in which it existed: it was still there, and the Balseraph could still perceive it - as could anyone who made a successful Perception roll, less the number of days left in the duration - but the general public would walk around it, step over it, and generally ignore it entirely.

This attunement could be used upon a living creature (including celestials and spirits), but the duration was for hours instead of days, and the victim could resist the resonance as normal. The Balseraph could also use it on himself, but the duration was for minutes equal to the check digit, and the check digit was not subtracted from rolls to spot him.

Djinn (restricted): These Djinn could implant thoughts into the head of the target of their resonance. With 4 Essence, the user could cause his victim to consider thoughts of suicide - or of murder; any thought that led to the destruction of another living creature worked, although thoughts of suicide were more powerful than others. The victim could make a Will roll to resist the impulses, at -2 if the thoughts were of suicide.

Calabim (restricted): These Calabim could turn their powerful destructive forces on the Symphony itself. For Essence equal to the check digit of a successful resonance roll, they could make the corporeal wounds dealt by their entropic fields permanent, and unable to be healed by anything short of an Intervention, as the Symphony itself forgot that there was ever anything there to be damaged. However, the disturbance made by the use of the resonance when used in this way was increased by twice the amount of Essence spent, and the attunement could only be used when the Calabite had dealt Body Hits with his resonance.

Habbalah: Habbalah of Oblivion replaced hopes with fears, and dreams with nightmares. By spending Essence, the Habbalite could invert a hope or dream into a certain dread: a page's hope to become a knight became a fear that he would be thrown out of court, or a king's dream of conquering Europe became an all-consuming fear of insurrection and rebellion. The duration varied by the Essence spent: 1 Essence altered the victim's outlook for a day, while 6 Essence made a permanent change.

The use of this attunement, by destroying hopes and dreams, fulfilled Mariel's dissonance conditions: if the demon used this on victims within the span of a day whose total Forces equalled or exceeded his own, Mariel did not inflict dissonance on him that day.

Lilim: To a Lilim serving Mariel, it was as though the entire Symphony had a Need: to stop being played, to be still and silent, to rest for a while. This was a favor they could grant, at least in parts: by spending Essence, a Lilim of Oblivion could generate a sphere of non-influence around her, where her own personal reality pushed back the bounds of God's Symphony. In a sphere with a radius equal to one yard for each Essence spent, no disturbance would be heard for damage inflicted - but no Songs could be sung, no other supernatural powers could be used, celestials could not leave their vessels and no celestials in their native form could enter. This sphere moved with the Lilim, and was visible - very faintly - as a field of intangible, impossibly small, glinting green crystals hovering in the air around the Lilim.

Shedim (restricted): A Shedite of Oblivion had the option of corrupting its host by removing bits of the host's memory. Instead of forcing the host into depravity, the Shedite could remove the memory of one event from its host's mind, erasing it entirely from his thoughts. This did, however, require the usual Contest of Wills in order to succeed. Shedim of Oblivion left total amnesiacs in their wake, people unable to function in society because they'd lost the memory even of how to walk and talk.

Impudites (restricted): An Impudite serving Mariel dealt damage as he drained Essence: 1 Hit per Essence taken, depending on which realm he was in (Body Hits on Earth, Mind Hits in the Marches, Soul Hits in Hell). It was a subtle destruction - 1 Hit a day for as many days as it took - and while this could do enough damage to kill a human (although the hits were curable, by normal and supernatural means) or to inflict Discord, this attunement did not allow the Impudite to strip a Force from an affected soul or spirit.

Servitor Attunements

Chill: The demon with this attunement had command over the temperature in the area, and could lower it by 20 degrees (Fahrenheit) or a fraction thereof for every Essence spent on the attunement, in a radius equal to his total Forces in yards. This attunement could also be focused: a single, cubic-yard area within that radius could be dropped by 40 degrees Fahrenheit (or a fraction thereof) for every Essence spent. Although this typically snuffed candles, put out fires, and chilled ovens, it is rumored that an especially powerful servitor of Oblivion actually froze a flame by using enough Essence on this attunement, and that the icy fire (now a Relic containing the Songs of Ice) sits in Belial's stateroom as a trophy. (Nobody who's actually seen Belial's stateroom will confirm or deny the rumor.)

Expurgation: This attunement conferred the ability to erase written knowledge. For one Essence, the demon using this attunement could cause a number of written (or drawn) pages equal to his Celestial Forces to blank completely, their contents lost forever. This attunement could also affect the human memory: the cost was 3 Essence, but memories of a number of events equal to the demon's Celestial Forces were completely and irrevocably excised from the victim's thoughts.

Distinctions

Knight of Oblivion: A demon with this distinction could create a pseudo-vacuum in his hands, drawing objects toward him. Knights of Oblivion could use the Corporeal Song of Attraction automatically (although the Essence cost still needed to be paid): the level of the Song and the check digit were both equal to the Knight's Celestial Forces.

Captain of the Void: Mariel's Captains expanded their Knight powers: their pseudo-vacuums were actually miniature black holes, damaging anything they touched. The attracted object took damage equal to the Essence spent on this ability (up to 9 Essence) every round it was in contact with the Captain's hands, for a number of rounds equal to the Captain's Celestial Forces. These demons could also use the Knight abilities without causing damage.

Baron of Undoing: A Baron of Undoing was the worst foe of knowledge and memory. He could use the Expurgation attunement without Essence cost, although he was still limited to (total Forces) uses per day on written documents, or (total Forces) uses per week on human memory. He could also choose to spend Essence on the attunement, which did not count against his uses with this Distinction.

Relations

Allied: Beleth, Saminga
Associated: Kronos
Neutral: All others, except:
Hostile: Kobal
Enemy: Andrealphus, Belial

Rites

Destroy matter equal twice your total Forces in cubic feet
Convince a human to commit suicide (+2)

Chance of Invocation: 0

One did not call the Void; one heeded the Void's call. Still, there were ways to get the Void's attention, however dangerous.

Invocation Modifiers

+1: A suicide note
+2: An unmarked grave
+3: A corpse with no identifying marks
+4: An amnesiac (Remnants count)
+5: A relic of an extinct species
+6: Destroying an item or creature that is the last of its kind