Tags
Belial, Christopher, Darkened Words, Djinn, Gabriel, In Nomine, Phenex
“Hell? Hell is for Children”
The Djinn Prince Phenex considers itself to be a spirit of childhood and rebirth. In Hell (and when it can get away with it on earth) the lord appears as a great bird with human eyes wreathed in red and gold flames, but whatever form it wears the great spirit will speak with the voice of a child.
Unlike much of Hell’s nobility, Phenex still sees itself as a defender of mankind. More specifically it styles itself the protector of childhood. Real childhood; with all the grit, cruelty, and disappointment that brings – not the Hallmark card childhood pitched by heaven.
Phenex was inspired by “Their Darker Natures” It embraces the pettiness, cruelty, & disappointment ignored by Christopher.
Perhaps this is because Phenex was once a Servitor of Gabriel, and still considered the Archangel to be an ally (the feeling is not mutual). Conversely, the avian prince considers Belial to be an uncouth boor, and takes great pleasure in upsetting Gehenna in various small and rambunctious ways.
Dissonance and Attunement
Each band feels affinity for a different type of child whom they can recognize at a glance. They must “assist” one of these children in their own demonic way once every Celestial Force days or suffer a point of dissonance.
Band Attunements
Balseraph – partially restricted – Children’s Liars have a special place in their dark hearts for bullies. No roll is required for one of these demons to deflect blame away from a child. When a Balseraph uses this ability it is backed by the strength of their resonance, which mean that new evidence will have no impact.
Djinn – partially restricted – The Djinn of Children love a know it all. While engaged in a non-combat opposed skill roll, these demons may sacrifice one reaction level to gain a bonus equal to their Ethereal Forces. Djinn may give their attuned the same option at will.
Calabim – restricted – The Calabim of Children lash out through the play of those around them. This demon causes one less point of disturbance with his resonance for every child within 10′. Their affinity is for tantrum children and troublemakers.
Habbalah – restricted – Children’s Punishers can spot a child who was meant to salvage a relationship or fulfill a dream with only a glance. The parents of such children must reduce their Willpower by the demon’s Corporeal Forces when attempting to resist its resonance.
Lilim – Placing a geas on a child is like stealing candy from a baby, but these Lilim are particularly keen to help runaways. Gain Celestial Forces x2 CP that can only be spent on Escape Artist, Fast Talk, Move Silently, and Urban Survival.
Shedim – restricted – These Corrupters feel a special kinship with children who have special needs. They can satisfy their dissonance condition by corrupting one of the parents of their host.
Impudites – restricted – Children’s Takers have a special affinity for unwanted children. While holding a child they may Drain Essence from its parents same as if they had been Charmed.
Servitor Attunements
Luck
This demon may call upon the luck of youth. Once per gaming session the demon may re-roll any d666 that was not an Intervention. Should the new roll be an Intervention, it must be used otherwise the demon may pick between the two results.
Ridicule
Usable once per day at no cost and requiring 1 essence for each additional use, this demon can aggravate one Discord or Disadvantage. If the demon doesn’t know what Discords or Disadvantages their target has, the target can pick which is aggravated. The aggravated Discord or Disadvantage is treated as if it were 1 rank higher for the remainder of the day.
Distinctions
Knight of the Second Star
This distinction gives the demon the ability to gain the complete and total confidence of any child under the age of 11.
Captain of Crimson Feathers
This distinction makes the demon immune to any natural or supernatural flame (other sources of heat can still cause damage).
Baron of Golden Ash
A demon with this distinction no longer suffers Trauma when their mortal vessel is destroyed and does not need to spend CP to replace the role of a child vessel.
Rites
- Spend two hours playing with children
- Visit a broken home
Relations
Allied: None
Associated: Asmodeus, Nybbas, Gabriel (Gabriel is Hostile to Phenex)
Hostile: Belial, Lilith (Lilith is Neutral to Phenex), Ethereal Phoenix
Enemies: Fleurity
Invocation
Base Chance of Invocation: 2
+1 A rumor spread by a child
+2 A burning feather
+3 Proof of truancy
+4 A phoenix feather
+5 A child waiting to be disciplined
+6 A playground full of unsupervised children
Christopher and Phenex
Much like Gabriel and Belial, Christopher and Phenex resonate with each other because they share a Word. Because one is divine and the other infernal, this means that they each drive the other a little crazy.
Christopher finds Phenex loathsome. He considers the demon to be harming children by encouraging their worst instincts. It has made the archangel absurdly distrustful of any Celestial who adopts the form of a child (part of why he treats this particular behavior as if it were patronizing).
Conversely Phenex considers Christopher to be overly controlling and manipulative in his attempts to turn children into ‘perfect little angels.’ To avoid becoming like Christopher, Phenex has opted against growing up. While still intelligent and perceptive beyond human measure, the Demon Prince still views the world as if it were a child.
Odds and Ends
Firebird Palace
The personal palace of Prince Phenex is located in a remote corner of Gehenna. The animosity between the two fiery princes means that the grounds are often the target of “accidental” incursions by Belial’s servitors. The incursions rarely last long since Phenex is known for personally defending its palace – but even little distractions from its own plans can add up.
The Orphanage (a.k.a. “Heck”)
The real center of Phenex’s power is not its embattled palace, but a gargantuan institutional orphanage operated out of Asmodeus realm of Dis. Children staying in the orphanage are expected to keep a hellish schedule full of demonic chores and infernally difficult classes – but as with most such institutions, supervision is just light enough for the children to create their own hell. As one might expect, there are rules against children leaving The Orphanage, but they are not strongly enforced. On the other hand, the punishments most certainly are enforced. Bad as those punishments are, they still might be better than the trouble a young soul finds elsewhere in hell. Neither adults nor unauthorized demons are allowed to roam The Orphanage freely.
Bureau of Demonling Support
Phenex has been known to strip forces from its most belligerent servitors and merge them with the willing souls of dead children to create new Demonlings. Since these little devils are almost always unwanted by the original demon, Phenex’s Impudites can use them to draw away the essence of the unwilling parent.
Damn the Competition
There are two main reasons why Phenex dislikes Lilith
- Phenex knows that in the past Lilith killed and stole the forces of children and suspects that she still does from time to time.
- Phenex rents out the souls of dead children to the other denizens of hell. It resents that the Lilim cut into its business and that they can collect better fees while doing so.
could you recommend a suitable attunement for bright’s that join christopher’s “side”. i’m using darked words option #2 for my setting.
That’s pretty easy. A Christopher’s Gifters can look at a child and automatically see what it needs.
It’s an imperfect tool, but I’d keep a copy of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs on hand if you’re planning on having this type of Celestial in your game.
Could you give some tether help for both christopher and phenex? I’m having trouble comming up with tether locations that show the distinction between the 2 superior’s philosophies towards children.
There isn’t any. It’s in the nature of how children use the space (and how children are used in the space).
Both like schools and playgrounds, but Phenex tends to prefer places where bullies thrive while Christopher prefers one that nurtures potential. In the stereotypical 80’s made for TV movie, Phenex gets the locker that the smart kid gets stuffed into, Christopher gets the classroom where he or she is taught to excel.
Bishop Wordsworth’s School (where William Golding was schoolmaster when he wrote Lord of the Flies) is probably a particularly contested territory between the two.
So this question is more thematic than mechanical, but what positions do you think Phenex and Christopher would choose for their mortal soldiers? Also do you think Christkind (I.e Christmas angels) would lean more towards Phenex or Christopher’s part of the word of children?
It’s not so much a matter of positions as attitudes towards those positions. Both might have soldiers who are babysitters. Christopher would focus on those who play make-believe with younger kids while Phenex prefers those who bully them or encourage them to be destructive.
What about the christkind? They’re angels in the form of young children that the Protestant Reformation tied to Christmas. Do You think there role as gift-bringers would tie them more to heaven or to hell? Or would they likely be more tied to a completely different superior?
Again, it’s a matter of attitude. They’re not typically represented as being petty, cruel, or monstrous, so Phenex is a bad fit. If you wan’t them to be infernal, Mammon would be a better choice. If you want them to be heavenly, then Christopher would probably suit them as well as any.
This just made me have a crazy thought. Mr. Fred Rogers of Latrobe, PA. Solider of Christopher. Fights off the demons of ignorance with his “imaginary” pet tiger.
Mr. Rogers would be an excellent choice for a Soldier (or now Saint) of Christopher.
But he’s probably a blessed soul, not a saint. He probably wouldn’t want to come back after learning what happened to his show.
Daniel’s Neighborhood is aimed excursively at preschool children. When i watched Mr. Rogers with my family growing up a i loved singing the songs because i felt like the show didn’t talk down to people just because they weren’t part of the target demographic. The “sequel” basically just took the characters that were popular and turned the show into a barney rip off of the original.
Do you think Phenex would have dark malakim? Would you recommend just reversing Christophers virtue attunement and letting detect dishonorable instead of honorable kids? What about grigori and deilos attunements?
A lot of this depends on how common you expect Dark Malakim to be. Personally, I’d treat both them and Bright Lilim as exceptionally rare.
But yes, Phenex would love to have one. As you say – they could just be able to identify dishonorable children, but I think Phenex would be more interested in identifying “movers and shakers” – so I’d give their Dark Malakim access to a version of the Mercurian Resonance that can only be used on children.
As a demon, Phenex would have no Grigori servitors.
Their Skulkers (if they have any) would likely be masters at hiding their emotions from adults. Perhaps any attempt to read their emotions requires a CD above their Celestial Forces (which also means that Habbilim who target such Skulkers run the risk of backlash even if they succeed because they won’t know if they’ve succeeded).
For this ability I’d treat all fledged Celestials as adults and all redeemers and demonlings as children.