Mariel, Djinn Princess of Oblivion

Mariel

Djinn Princess of Oblivion

The world is a construct, built of the memory of Archangels who have long since forgotten its meaning and a God who no longer cares. Destroy the world, and let the Void reign supreme once more.

Mariel was a bitter Princess. She had once been the Angel of Memory, and although the Word had been stripped, her affinity for it had not - even after she was granted the Word of Oblivion by Lucifer.

So she remembered what it had been like before the Fall - remembered being an angel - remembered Heaven. She knew what the Fall had cost, what her devotion to Lucifer had brought her, and that Raphael, her old master and friend, was still in Heaven, righteous and pure Elohite that she was.

Mariel knew and remembered all of this, and hated Heaven for it. Hated Raphael for it.

Even though she was a Djinn, and could not hate, she hated Raphael for remaining what Mariel herself had once been - a pure and shining angel - and for having what she could not have - the cool touch of Heaven, the righteousness that came of being an Archangel, the power that came of being the Archangel of Knowledge.

But what is Knowledge, if there is no Memory?

Yet somehow, Raphael had survived without Mariel, was still surviving when Mariel was freed six thousand years after the Rebellion, and didn't even seem to have noticed the absence of the Angel of Memory.

Mariel was a bitter Princess.

Dissonance

Mariel was not foolish, however. She did not forbid her servitors creation, but compelled them to destroy more than they had created. Any act of creation had to be followed, within 24 hours, with an act of destruction equal to or greater than the creation. This could be physical destruction, mental destruction (erasing memories, for example), or emotional destruction (dissolving an angel's Role, for instance), but it had to take place within a day or dissonance would result.

Band Attunements

Balseraphs: Mariel's Liars brought the Void to individual objects by removing them from the normal flow of the Symphony. Any object affected by this attunement could not be perceived by the general public: for anyone to notice it, they first had to make a Perception roll to notice that something was out of place, and then a Will roll to penetrate the illusion. These rolls were at +2 if the object physically touched the person attempting to perceive it. The illusion lasted for a number of days equal to the Balseraph's Celestial Forces, and cost 3 Essence to activate.

This attunement could also be used on living creatures; all effects were as listed above, but the duration was measured in hours, and the cost was 5 Essence. The Balseraph could also affect himself, but the cost was 5 Essence, and the duration was measured in minutes.

Djinn (restricted): Djinn of Oblivion used their resonance to bring death to the minds of their victims. Anyone to whom one of these Djinn was attuned had to make a Will roll every night at dusk to avoid following their murderous inclinations. For an additional 2 Essence at the time of attunement, the Djinn could cause suicidal tendencies; these functioned the same way as the murderous tendencies, above, but the Will roll was at -2. A successful murder coerced in this fashion caused no disturbance if the victim of the attunement was mortal; suicide caused disturbance as though the Djinn had killed the victim, but caused no dissonance to the Djinn for harming his attuned.

Calabim (restricted): These Destroyers were potent forces of the Void. They could use their resonance to inflict Mind Hits (instead of Body Hits) on the corporeal plane, and added their Corporeal Forces to the target number or the check digit of any attempt to damage a nonliving information source.

Habbalah (restricted): Habbalah of Oblivion could create auras of fear around sources of information, living or nonliving. These auras cost 1 Essence and required a successful resonance roll to activate; the duration of the aura was determined by the check digit of the resonance roll (see the "time required" section of the Lilim resonance; a check digit of 7+ created a permanent aura). Anyone approaching the information source had to make a Will roll, at a penalty of the Habbalite's Ethereal Forces, in order to avoid fleeing in terror.

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: This attunement reflected Mariel's connection with the Void, and anyone using it could inflict the uncaring cold of oblivion upon his victims. 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 miniature black hole between 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 check digit of the Song was equal to the Knight's Celestial Forces. Anything touching the Knight because of the Song took Hits (in the appropriate realm) equal to the check digit of the Song every round that it remained in contact, until the Song lapsed.

Captain of the Void: A Captain of the Void 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.

Baron of Undoing: These demons could unweave the very fabric of the Symphony around an object. For 7 Essence, they could remove an object or event from people's memories entirely; they could still perceive it, but had no memory of it whatsoever, including its workings, its function, and its place in the world. This could be done to a living creature as well, although the Essence cost was increased to 10. In either case, the duration of the erasure was a number of days equal to the Baron's Will; anyone could pierce the attunement and regain his memories of the object, event, or person with a successful Will roll, at a penalty of the Baron's Celestial Forces.

Relations

Allied: Gebbeleth, Saminga
Associated: Baal, Belial, Beleth
Neutral: All others except:
Hostile: Asmodeus, Kronos

Rites

Destroy a person's memory of a cherished person, object, or event
Remove all physical records on the corporeal plane of a person, object, or event (+2)

Chance of Invocation: 0

One did not call the Void; one heeded the Void's call.

Invocation Modifers

+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