Topic: Damning Wishes (Seeking Demons, Seeking Mortals)

[Wintercat]

Hell is a place of many conflicts and every demon is out for themselves to rise to power, but power is respected and even feared. Every soul taken creates a certain amount of power each day between an infernal dusk and dawn, empowering the fiend to whom that soul is bound. That is unless a soul is ever destroyed or released, but such is not a common occurence in a realm where souls are the currency of true power.

Its been a damned long time since new souls came to Hell, and the battle over those souls that remain threatens to destroy the ones that are the price and reason for the entire skirmish. Rather than fight tooth and nail for worn, tired old Souls that have lost most of their personality and manners through the countless tortures they have suffered in order to force them to give up their daily soul-energy, they are of little desire for a group of younger demons that have more grand plans.

In fact, a few clever fiends have gathered together alongside a Demon Noble, a Demon Prince that actually controls a part of the Hellish Landscape. Creating the Twisted Kingdom, a new realm for Demons separate from the rest of the Hell, he has left it to his new followers to do what they do best. Tend to their own corner of hell as temptations are finally thrown to the mortal realm again after so long, long time. Great Old Archfiends fear that whispering to the Materium will draw the wrath of the Celestials, the beings of fury, but these fiends know all too well that hell will fail and collapse under the shortage of souls soon unless something is done.

By Law of Pact, they prepare to answer summons, and to give mortals their wishes... for the price of one soul.

---- ----

It began a little while ago, a few old dusty tomes emerging into the occult underground, the urban fantasy fans speculating these might be a hoax but a rumor on the streets is that these tomes can actually be used to summon a fiend that could grant people's wishes, but there is always a price and some worry their wishes might be too grand to be able to pay the price, yet there are those who are tempted. Those who seek those tomes.

Inevitably, the ones that have true will come to possess one, or come to find a group that does.

When that happens, and a summoning circle is drawn, a wish can be named but when making a pact with the Damned one has to remember that while they do have power, they are in it for a payment that they expect to have.

---- ----

So, the concept is of group of younger Demons ( Adult, but not centuries / thousands of years old yet ) have gathered together seeing what is happening and decide to try and change things. They have limited control of things on 'real world', the Materium as they sometimes refer to it, but they can grant some wishes. The more carnal, more physical a wish the easier it is for them. Things like good health, muscular body from a slob, a brilliant intellect, cure from terminal illness and such are easy for demons to fulfill, but often are left with a hook to draw a person in further. Little by little the demons can first nibble at a soul at small wishes, but when it comes to bigger ones, they can draw a soul to a contract that upon death it enters Hell, or even go as far as to take a soul then and there if one is offered as a 'substitute' by a particularily vicious, already hellbound person.

The demons are more averse to granting things like actual magic, eternal life or ridiculous wishes such as giving more wishes at a cheap or no price, or granting a megalomaniacal wish like controlling the entire world. They may even accept these wishes but demand a payment the host is unable to meet, and drag them to Hell or leave them at least harshly drained for wasting the demons time.

The thought is to both explore the darker side of humans and the selfish wishes the characters might have,  but who knows perhaps there is room for romance among all that darkness too, and who is to say that there cant be lust? Perhaps a bound soul by these 'younger demons' is not tortured for its power in the new Hell, but rather raised to a height upon which they release it. Pain or pleasure, its just the same as far as releasing energy goes, the fear and pain are just easier for the older, more jaded fiends.

Thinking of playing 2 roles, 1 summoner, and 1 demon, leaving the 'Demon Prince' that made the 'New Hell' separate part from the rest of the hell to be a 'background boogeyman' just ensuring nobody else tries to hi-jack that niche of Hell to themselves.

Any takers?

[bubby]

*Lifts a hand* Definitely demoness.

[Wintercat]

Since the topic got a bit of attention at least I thought I ought to put together a form to fill up to prepare for a game then, lets see now.

--- Mortal ---
Name:
Gender:
Age:

Virtue: (Name one selfless thing about the mortal, like generosity, kindness, willingness to stand up for what is right..)
Vice: (Name one selfish thing that about the mortal they'd do regardless of who it hurt)
Damning Wish:

Appearance:
Personality:

--- Demon(ess) ---
Name:
Gender:
Age:

Specialization: (Demon of Revenge? Demon of Lust? Demon of Coin? Demons can have all kinds of powers but what's their speciality?)
Weakness: (If Any, optional but could add depth to a character)

Appearance:
Personality:

-----

If someone has good ideas what to add, feel free to comment, a picture would be a good starting point I imagine, but anyhow glad there's at least a little interest in existence for the idea.

[Shihong]

I think I'd be interested in playing a demon, unless there ends up being a large shortage of summoners and average mortals to tempt.

A question about granting wishes!  Is there always some sort of "Give and Take" involved, or can wishes be granted freely up to the point where a deal is struck for one's soul?  In other words, will giving a man increased strength and intellect result in some loss, however small or seemingly benign, on the recipient's half?

[Joebob]

Hello!

I would like to give this a go, if there's a space for me.  As a demon, if possible:

Name:    Eladril of the Clay Keep, Third of the Five Ill Winds, Viscount Alone.
Gender: Male
Age:       132

Specialization: Eladril is the Third Wind, the headwind that blows against true paths.  In his grasp, mortals strive even harder to act according to their true nature, but find it harder and harder to resist actions that lead them backwards.  Eladril has misers blowing it all in one Vegas night, romeos tieing the knot, and Generals waiting for orders from their men.  What is more, they do this willingly, resisting each step, but failing none the less.  While they are happy under his auspices, once the acts are finished there is a hole left inside them - a little piece of them will always remember what it felt to turn and run under the third wind, heedless of where your true destination is.

Weakness: Eladril can never take advantage of a person's true nature.  If his schemes require a lecherous politician to be influenced, he will do it through blackmail.  If a thug offers him a favour, he will find himself solving a cryptic puzzle.  This makes Eladril's conspiracies a step more complicated even that the usual demonic machinations, and slows him in his grand scheming.

Eladril is lord of two demesnes - the Clay Keep, and Alone.  The Clay Keep is a large castle slumped against the landscape, malleable and slightly revolting to look at.  It's form changes daily, and respected guests will always find an imp sent to escort them to breakfast, as they wake up in a different room, in a corridor that didn't exist when they went to bed.  Alone, however, is but a single tower, a spire of metal jaggedly splitting the hellish sky.  Inside only thirty souls languish in chains, one per floor, but these souls have been here for millenia, and their suffering is sweet.  It has few defenses against attack, and Eladril worries constantly while he is abroad in the mortal realm that such a prize will be irresistable to a rival, or an ally.

Appearance: Eladril has the looks of an angel - a tall, blond haired almost glowing man, with a wide spread of white feathers behind him.  He has no halo, though - if he had, he would have been sent as a spy to heaven, without a doubt.

Personality: Eladril is young, and hungers for much greater prizes than the ones he owns.  He sees the excursion to the surface as a shining opportunity to prove to his liege that he should be a right hand man.  He has little time for manipulating other demons - they are compelled to act according to their nature - so he talks to them without ulterior motive, and makes genuine offers of alliance and patronage.  He revels in the his titles, particularly Viscount Alone - an impressive title for one so young.  Eladril is proud, arrogant, conniving, distrustful and evil - but of these, perhaps his pride only outstrips others of his ilk.

[Zombie]

I may play a summoner maybe c: Dunno yet for sure, I'll have to see what kind of character I can come up with or use x3

[DTW]

I'm intrested but shouldn't orientation be in the profile layout?

[Wintercat]

@DTW:
Well I am open to suggestions about the profile but felt it might be a bit odd to list the virtue and vice for humans, and powers for demons, so tried to separate the two to start with. Still, good thing to consider too, if you got a better idea for a profile I'm listening of course, I just figured those would be a good starting point.

@Zombie:
Welcome aboard, hope you'll get an interesting idea and enjoy yourself then.

@Joebob:
There's space I think, and you're the first one to post out a profile so far. Powers and Weakness look quite appropriate I'd say, it gives a definite feeling of knowing what you're doing, but the part on the Demesnes and the Thirty Old Souls makes me raise a brow.

This is a tale of a Hell where souls are running low, where even a handful of souls are worth fighting for, and usually in the hands of older fiends. Only truly wicked end up in Hell, only truly saintly end up in Celestial Realms, the rest emerge to life without memories of past and live another time seeing if they reach either extreme. So possessing 30 souls already is a bit much for a young demon. If you can alter that down I'd appreciate it, I imagine the fiends might have 1-2 mortal souls to draw power from, or possibly even none. This is just to outline the importance of every new soul damned. Otherwise, perhaps the 30 old souls are already so drained that even 1 or 2 'fresh souls' that have not been tortured and broken so would give more energy daily than they would.

Sorry to be the sand in the gears but trying to preserve the aim of the game. The character looks good but if you could modify that part that goes against the concept, he'd be the first one ready.

@Shihong:
When Demons make deals they can 'nibble' on a soul, taking parts of it, the soul can rejuvenate and grow back if more than half of it remains with the mortal but the more they lose the less virtuous they are likely to be and the easier it should be for them to fall into their vice. So the price of dealing with demons is "Falling from Grace", leading a soul down the path to end up in Hell. Sufficiently depleted (more than half lost) may recover some but enough of the soul is already in the demon's possession that the demon gains some of the soul's energy daily up until the mortal dies. At which point they can pull the rest of the soul to themselves, after which they can gather that soul energy each day by whatever means necessary.

Also, granting wishes consumes some of this soul energy probably, like 'mana' from a magician, but they expect a price for it in turn, and thus further change of nature. Repeated smaller wishes can 'deplete' a person, as can one bigger wish as well. Less than half a soul recovers in human while the demon's taken part diminishes slowly, but grants them power for the time they have it, but if half is lost then the demon's half does not diminish and the mortal's soul only restores itself half-way. The 'expense' and 'cost' are upto each player to roleplay out, I don't want to try and make it too difficult to manage those things but the main idea being that demons can truly offer something to a mortal, for a price.

Also that's why souls are important, and why the older demons are so reluctant to let even one slip through their claws to younger ones. Demon with zero souls can only grant wishes with the amount of power they can draw from the deal they make, one with even one or two already has more power to affect things and promise more, luring people down the path.

@bubby:
Hope to see what you got in mind sometime soon.

@Rela:
Feel free then, the term 'Summoner' came to mind as the human who has at least some 'real knowledge' of the demons, perhaps one even knowing to avoid losing their own soul entirely (but possibly damning others around them) or thinking they do, amusing demons when their scheming turns against them.

----

The game concept is as it is but I think everything else is negotiable, and I'd gladly hear everyone's opinions to help build a better game.

[Shihong]

So it looks like we're probably going to be more in need of regular humans?  I guess it's true what they say--we all love being bad from time to time!

By the way, what role will ordinary humans play in this game?  I know summoners can actually call demons to arrange a deal.  Am I to assume that demons, when not summoned, actively seek out humans of their own accord through other means?

[Wintercat]

I believe that we have a lot of demons and few summoners or regular humans. Summoners and Regular Humans can go in the same category I think as is, but the actual Summoners title is meant for those who go and make a wish through a summon. Some might lose themselves through it, some might tempt others into it to pay with pieces of the souls of others, or even go as far as to somehow sell another's soul, if bringing them in some ritual through which giving them to the fiends, probably becomes pretty elaborate at that point, and runs a risk of failure and backslash like the demon granting a wish to the 'sacrifice' instead perhaps.

As for what demons do in the meanwhile. I think that they might arrange things between one another, perhaps some demons like to gamble sometimes, or try and trick one another to handing out a particularily interesting mortal, or perhaps they might enjoy the company of a mortal already pulled into hell.

Other options would include things like possessing a mortal who is in the 'mortal world', Materium, but who has lost all his soul. The kind of mortal that goes through the motions without real interest in the world around them, all of their soul gone and just waiting to be grasped by the strings that used to be their soul, and manipulated to bring more into the demons realm.

Perhaps through making contact with the Demon Prince, some might physically manifest in the mortal world, Materium, for a little while now and then to further increase the demons possibilities... but the more overt an action, the more risk of interference from the Celestials, the Angelic beings that would probably be a real headache for any young demons to face.

[AndyZ]

I'm thinking about playing one of the victims, an ordinary mortal pulled into things out of his (or her) control.

I think it makes more sense to offer this to everyone before I make my own character, because I figure people will probably want something in particular.  Feel free to check my O/Os and give me a PM.

[bubby]

I am still interested in this RP, but it's going to take me until either sometime this weekend, or next week to make a char. I'm working overtime and it's totaly killing this old lady's brain cells. Due to this lack of brainpower, I'm still trying to wrap my head around how my Demoness should be. Can I have her look any way I want? *Points to her avi* If I could play her I'd love it.

Will we, as Demons, in advance, pick who 'summon's us OOCly? Or will that be ICly, perhaps leading to fights? ...that'd be awesome..

And what are the origins of the Demons? Are they fallen Celestial?

[Shihong]

I too am thinking about creating an "ordinary" human, just to go against the grain.  I've got a rudimentary character shaping up and should have all the details to you by tomorrow, Winter.

[Wintercat]

Glad to hear a bit of humans are joining the mixture too of course, now I wonder a little about what to answer to a few more questions that have been brought up recently.

The appearance of the demons is very varied, so you can play your avatar if you wish. I think the idea is that the demons that have strength to answer a summon are strong enough to look the way the damn well please. Unless there's a crippling reason not to, such as a fiend that's very weakness is that its power has also devastated it somehow.

As for the summons, I think that each demon has a chance to spread information about the secrets on how to summon -it- in particular, but there's also rituals, spread by the demon-prince of that area, that allow for any demon in that realm to be summoned, in which case its a matter of who arrives to the demon prince's castle and steps through the ritual circle crafted there.

Of course, if more than one fiend arrives simultaniously they may end up fighting over it, but ultimately its upto the Demon Prince. I'm thinking of playing the Prince as an NPC that doesn't particularily intervene with his subjects except to prevent them from doing something absolutely stupid like unleashing Celestial War upon that corner of Hell.

Perhaps the Demons have worked out some arrangement, but when summoned try and ensure that the rituals to call them in particular are brought up next. When its a 'personal ritual' they are summoned wherever they are, of course if they reject the summon (which should be about as hard as it is to win a tug of war alone against an opponent who's strength depends on just how good ritual it is in the other end) then it might become a 'general summon' again resulting in a rush at the Demon Prince's castle.

Also thinking that the time passes differently in Hell and Materium occasionally, making it so that Demons have a bit of time to answer the summons, but figure the rituals aren't exactly 5 minute business either, taking enough time to handle it that the demons make a decision who goes.

Of course if particular people want to RP together we could always have it so that the ritual for that particular fiend has ended in the hands of the person that needs it in that case.

And who knows, perhaps some demons trade favors or 'turns', who is to say.. it's in the players hands.

[Joebob]

  It's okay, I figured that 30 was still a very small number, but if things are really bad then there is an easy solution -

"the title Marquis Alone goes with the tower, and has long since been separate from the rights and privileges associated with possession of the 30 souls therein.  These souls have long been split between several ancient and powerful demons, according to ancient favours and contracts written long before Eladril even existed.  The title implies the ability to extract some small favours from these ancient denizens, and whether or not these favours are available this implication bears great prestige among the squabbling lesser demons who might be considered of sufficient rank to hold the March."

[Vergil1989]

This kind of reminds me of a mix of Bible Black, Viper GTS, and Constantine lol.  I'm weird that way.  Still, I might drop a human in on this, but it might take me a bit to think of a good one to use.  I will most definitely do a Demon of Lust, possibly the Queen of all Succubi or something lol.  Beyond that, I'll have to take a closer look to see where this ends up going.

[Wintercat]

@Joebob:
Fair enough, the demons in the realm are supposed to control a bit of their 'own territory', though whether this is a place they rest at or an actual building in Hell. The demons in question that can answer summosn are young, but they are still -demons-. The term 'lesser demon' comes to mind with Imps and such, that serve the true demons.

The 'Demon Prince', a Demon Noble, separated the area of Hell from the rest of the Hell's landscape, to keep the other Demon Nobles from coming over regularily to leech off of the success of the demons in this area. That in mind so that the players wouldn't havae to constantly worry about 'Older Demons' coming over to bully them.

Of course, that can happen plot-wise for a bit of fun on occasions, but thinking it should not be a n everyday occurence it might otehrwise be, given the sheer amount of Souls in that small region with young fiends, compared to teh amount of souls elsewhere being fought over by the older more powerful fiends.

Of course, its just my thoughts on this and I'm gladly listening what others think, if something I say sounds like it would be less fun actually than alternative would be, I'd just like to know. Adjustments that are reasonable are always good afterall.

@Vergil1989

Bible Black I am familiar with, Constantine I've only seen the movie, not the rest of the tale, and Viper GTS I am not familiar with. Still, if you find those are a reference, not a bad thing I imagine. Heheh. Anyhow, looking forward to that, and hoping to see some characters together.

I think once we got some 3 people, demons and humans, I could toss up a thread.

[bubby]

So..we need to pick what 'type'of Demon we'll be?...hmmm...can we blend?....like say lust and chaos? Here's my issue. I'd LOVE to play the char of my avi...Lady Death. Though her original story is ruler of Hell...I can tweak that for sure. She can just be a demon. But..say...can she be lustful in gaining her humans or Summoners, but try and get them to murder maybe?...I might be confused here...

[AndyZ]

I'll leave my human concept open a little bit longer, so that if someone wants someone to play as the object of their tortures, or the object of their affections, or any number of other things, they can poke me.  If nobody has anything, though, I'll see about throwing something together.

[Vergil1989]

--- Mortal ---
Name:  Jason Jefferson.
Gender:  Male
Age: 23

Virtue: Compassionate, willing to stand up for what is right.  Naive
Vice: None yet that he's aware of.  He does find women attractive....especially in revealing outfits but he makes it a habit of not looking...or tries to anyway.
Damning Wish:  (None...yet  That and I'm not sure anyway.)
Appearance: 

Personality:  Jason is and always has been a good church going fellow, as has his parents and grand parents before him.  He's a bit naive perhaps but he's incredibly smart and tends to take everything in stride.  He is finding college life harder than he had originally anticipated but he is adapting quickly.  Always ready with a joke or sage words of advice, Jason is probably the nicest person you'll ever meet.
History;  There really isn't anything remarkable about Jason other than his intelligence which is rather high.  He's not genius level but he's certainly not average either.  His parents, grandparents, and their grandparents have all been churchgoers, and Jason is no different in that regard.  Having a normal childhood, normal friends, though a few his parents don't approve of for one reason or another, Mr. Jefferson is the perfect example of a happy and healthy young adult who is having a bit of a problem of late.  It wasn't a problem until now since he had attended private Catholic schools, and all the girls and boys were made to wear uniforms that covered everything that made them unique just about save for their faces and hands.  He had not been introduced to the wild variety that is life until very recently.  Now, he finds himself at a rather unique disadvantage since he's torn between telling the, as his father would say 'whores' to cover themselves up better to finish undressing them with his eyes himself while mentally beating himself up for the impure thoughts.

--- Demon(ess) ---
Name:  Lilith
Gender: Female
Age:  A woman never reveals her age.  Even those in Hell know this, mortal fool!  (500 years old.)
Appearance: 

Specialization: Former Demonic Queen of all Succubi, and thus a powerful Lust Demoness.  She lost her power due to a coup and joined up with the Prince in the isolated portion of Hell.  She hasn't lost any of her natural abilities, just they work at a much lesser degree now...for now.  Her powers include but are not limited to shape shifting her entire body as well as clothing and other items such as whips, floggers, and other instruments she can dream up to aid in her profession.  Her scent is intoxicating, a natural occurring aphrodisiac that comes off of her as much or as little as she wishes. 
Weakness: None, that she's aware of.

Personal Ritual to be used in Summons;  A long incantation along with the proper summoning circle drawn in red chalk.  Candles should be placed at each of the star's points as well as around the border where the points would cross if they were extended that far.  A ruler is highly recommended so as not to make a single error.  A cup (preferably a gold chalice but those are hard to find anymore,) of a single gender's sexual fluids poured in the center of the circle just as her name is spoken to ensure it is she that is summoned and not some lower level demon.



Personality: Lilith can be the most charming individual or your worst possible nightmare if you make her angry.  She can be sickeningly sweet or be a totally dominating bitch demon from Hell.  (No pun intended.)  Most of the time it depends on the situation and what it requires to fit in since she's the best actor imaginable, promising everything and giving it with strings attached, and most times her victims don't even realize what they've done until it's too late.  She loves playing with mortals, shattering lives, and corrupting the innocent whenever she can.  However, recent events have made her quite pissy of late since her crown and palace of souls she kept on hand were taken from her, a fact she hopes to rectify in the days to come.

History;  The Queen of All Succubi.  Lilith had been at the top of her food chain for centuries, until a little upstart took the title for herself, just as Lilith had from her own predecessor.  The old 'Queen' had gotten quite sloppy as well as lazy though and everyone had welcomed the change at the time.  Apparently not everyone had been happy with the way Lilith had ran things either since when this new demon arrived in her employ, it took only three hundred years for this little bitch to dethrone her.  Now, out to rectify the matter, Lilith has joined forces with the Prince to reclaim her lost throne, in return she has sworn her services to his cause, even after she does succeed, and she succeed she will.  Come Hell or high water, she will succeed!

She started out like any succubus, having sold her soul for revenge against her cheating bastard of a husband back in the 1500s.  She had come back to Earth and had dragged the man down herself afterward when he was due to die, having been tormenting him in his sleep for years and slowly sucking his soul away over that time.  After her revenge had been complete, Lilith set her sights on greater and greater power, and started building a base of power for herself over the millennium until eventually all her hard work paid off.  Now, out of a home and back to square one, she has thrown in her lot with the Prince, hoping that she'll be able to regain her throne, though each passing day it seems less and less likely now.

[Wintercat]

@bubby

There's no limit to 1 type as such, its just what your demon is most known for, and I'd rather not have a number of 'demon nobles' along since the idea is that the Demons in question are strong but they're the ones that are now looking for power, they're not the most powerful ones out there but the ones that don't have it all and want to seize it.

If your character used to be a Ruler in Hell, alright, perhaps she is a noble and ruled some place? But perhaps she was also betrayed, and wounded badly enough to lose a lot of her power. It may be coming back but right now she is a 'have not' and the little demonic realm she has ended up in is a perfect stepping stone back to power for her in that case. She might have that 'wisdom' from before and knowing what she will do with power once she gathers it again.

@Vergil1989

Ok fill out the sheets at any pace you feel like, I'd like to request you'd have a vice ready though, if you are without any vice at all to begin with its a bit hard to start out perhaps, they're meant to be little flaws. It doesn't mean a lustful person has to be a total pervert to start with, perhaps its just that out of all the sins there are, his strongest is the fact he appreciates seeing a deep cut shirt on a woman and admires the view a little though thinking himself a nice guy for not staring long just a quick glimpse.. or perhaps not even intending to look but having a manner of subcounciously doing it.

And 'Demon Queen'.. As said, I'd like the characters to not be Nobles already. They may become nobles with enough power sure, but I would prefer they didn't start out already that way.

The very reason I don't want to play the Demon Prince of the realm is that its a bit boring to already be at the top, and this Prince sealed this section away from the rest of the realm of Hell for some reason, to let the smaller fiends gather power. Perhaps he just wants allies against others and this makes for newly rising-in-power demons that owe him a favor, or perhaps he's planning something more sinister, but he's an NPC, not a character I intend to play as a main character.

[Vergil1989]

Ah ok and sure I can do that.  It was a work in progress but I think I can finish it now lol.  Anyway, I'll get to work and see what's what here soon.

[Vergil1989]

I hope the alternative I found works my friend.  If not, I can easily change it to make it work for ya.

[Wintercat]

I think it looks like we're ready to give it a start, going to go post an IC thread after checking on a few more things, and need to craft my own characters here briefly, but it looks like we're good to go by now.

Unles anyone has objections that is.

[AndyZ]

Been talking with Bubby about the concept that my mortal is someone that her character has been manifesting to for some time, and not really a summoner but more of a pet that she uses to sew chaos in the mortal realm.  I wanted to check, can demons just show up as they choose or do they have to be summoned?

Also, is there any real difference between mortal and summoner, other than that the summoner knows the ancient magical rituals to call forth a demon?