By: redneck@txdirect.net (Redneck Gaijin)
Nybbas looked over the stinking charnel pit of Budapest, gazing in mute horror at the corpses of all sorts of life, humans, pets, predators, scavengers, plants - even millions upon millions of flies lay still on the earth where the smell of decay had drawn them into the slaughter. The only life remaining in the river valley for ten miles in either direction was the bacteria which had crawled up from the earth to claim the bodies lying in the street, filling the once great city with the horrible stench of decay.
Congratulations, -chump,- he thought to himself, you controlled their minds, they followed you blindly, and now here they are.
What's your first order, O Lord of the Media?
Disgusted with the waste, disgusted with Saminga, disgusted with Lucifer and most of all disgusted with himself for having been such a perfect patsy, Nybbas almost turned to leave...
...no, he thought, I'm here for a reason. Slowly, carefully, he picked up his camcorder from where it had dropped and aimed it at the gore, zooming in on the reeking bodies, getting a good shot of one corpse, a beautiful woman without a mark, face not yet distorted by the bacteria's work, staring into the sky with a permanent look of shock frozen into her face.
The world must know...
The world is what I tell you what it is... and could be what I tell you it could be, if you take a stand, reach out, and stay tuned for updates as they develop...
Nybbas feels guilty... but just a little.
It's not that he's been sold down the river, but good, by Hell in general - that's bad enough. It's the thoroughness that galls him, how eager and enthusiastic he was to push the humans towards the Abyss, setting them up to slaughter each other and the Angels in the Last Battle. Hey, he'd control even more humans after the Battle, without Angels to work against his controlled misinformation and selective service, right?
Wrong. It was blatantly obvious, the more he looked, that Hell didn't give a damn about ruling the living - and some didn't even care about ruling the dead. As an Impudite, he loved humans, not just as a source of Essence but because of their vibrant, chaotic, -living- quality. He loved rubbing elbows with them, charming them out of their Essence, toying with them like a human plays with a favored pet.
It came as a marked slap to the face just how deluded he'd been about Hell's goals in the War. Obviously, very obviously, he'd been working for the wrong side...
... and who says it's too late to switch?
Nybbas is a little bit repentant, but just a little. He still sees no reason why controlling humans through the Media is evil in and of itself, but he knows that the things he used that control to achieve were just plain wrong. He eagerly points out some good things he created - family television, televangelism (not televised church services, but religious events specially designed for a television audience)... by and large, the other Archangels ignore his claims, with Eli giving him the benefit of the doubt and Andrealphus openly disparaging him for playing up to the Angelics.
Nybbas has taken to calling himself the Archangel of Communication. Nobody protests, but nobody else but himself and his Servitors actually -uses- it either. Nybbas' Demonic Word is still 'the Media,' which has nothing to do with the message (as Communication might) and everything to do with the tools for that message. Still, despite this, Nybbas is actually making a good-faith effort to bring the message as well as the medium. You can find his claws in editorials urging the survivors of Armageddeon to join together for a new world, in the new Texas Television Network sitcom about a family bravely facing down the post-Apocalyptic world around them, with help from their friendly neighborhood tank-driving postman. Nybbas is still trying to control people through information, but the control is no longer to veg out or to destroy; it's to stand up and work for a new tomorrow.
Perhaps Nybbas' biggest strike against him is his -overeagerness- to play nice with the Archangels. The people used to dealing with his false front don't know whether or not to take the new Nybbas at face value. It's actually genuine, though - even if he isn't ready to Redeem, Nybbas genuinely wants to serve the side of good - he wants to be on the side that's going to totally wax those bastards who used him like a scented Kleenex all his life.
Besides, as he's finding out, being Bright in a Dark universe plays well with the test markets.
(Stats included only as they are changed from the IN rulebook writeup.)
Seraphim are Nybbas' censors, filtering out lies - and sensitive information - from any media outlet they infiltrate or control. They may also use their Resonance to alter an individual viewer/reader's perceptions (Perception roll to resist) so that whatever media they are reading is stripped of any falsehoods.
Seraphim of Nybbas generally have editors, publishers, station managers, and of course censors as servants - or they take those roles themselves.
BALSERAPHS - as in the IN rulebook.
Cherubim of Communications organize public events which inspire humans to greater hope, faith, and goodwill towards each other. Usually this means they are attuned to one of two kinds of people - religious figures or popular musicians. (The two, thanks to Furfur on Hell's side and Nybbas on New Heaven's side, have been known to overlap.) To aid in the euphoric athmosphere of the event, they may inspire good feelings in the object of their attunment for a number of hours equal to their Celestial Forces; the attuned may resist with a Will roll.
DJINN - same as the IN rulebook
Ofanim of Nybbas are New Heaven's swiftest messengers. On a successful Precision roll, they may translate their Corporeal forms to or from a stream of electronic data, traveling at near lightspeed through phone lines or television cable or some other enclosed form of electronic data transfer. (Failed Precision rolls will leave them in normal Corporeal form, or else trap them in the mode of data transfer, doing 1D damage per round for every failure to translate back to matter outside the transfer mode.)
One unfortunate Ofanite of Nybbas decided to play with his new attunement by sending himself through a television transmitter. His last known words were: "My stars, it's full of God!" *
Ofanim of Nybbas usually have Netheads, receptionists or telephone workers as Servants.
CALABIM - as in the IN rulebook
Elohim of Nybbas are the perfect copywriters for news shows and papers, totally without bias, and generally act as such directly or through reporter Servants. They may use their Resonance to detect emotion on a broadcast or written work, focusing on bias, the reasons for that bias, and how that bias would effect any other work by the reporter.
HABBALAH - Nybbas' Habbalah have gone from the fringe to the mainstream of faith, supporting inspirational religious figures with apparent miracles. Again, these Habbalah do not disturb the Symphony so long as it -seems- that their Servant the religious figure is performing the miracles.
Malakim do not work for Nybbas. Despite his goodwill, most Malakim feel his less-than-repentant feelings towards his work in Hell make him dishonorable at best, still evil at worst. Only the very specific orders of their Superiors keeps a handful of the elder Malakim from making a suicide run at Nybbas -right now.-
Lilim aren't just stars anymore - they're star-makers. A Lilim may choose either to take a Role free at character creation with level and Status equal to their Corporeal Forces, OR they choose to be able to add their Corporeal Forces to Geas someone whom they have made a celebrity. A Lilim with one may NOT ever recieve the other, nor may any Servitor of Nybbas buy the Lilim Attunement twice to get both Attunements.
Lilim's servants tend to be fans, agents, critics, and occasionally producers.
Nybbas may anchor some of a Kyrotiate's forces in a single Host, allowing them to remain in that host indefinitely. However, Nybbas will only do this -personally,- and -not- on request, and -only- for the most sensitive or vital long-term missions.
SHEDIM - Like all of the other Superiors of New Heaven, Nybbas does not use Shedim.
Nybbas loves Mercurians, now that he can use them - they control a means of communication he couldn't touch before, scuttlebutt. A Mercurian may use their Resonance to see which person in a group is considered the most reliable source of information by the others. A Mercurian-Impudite team can plant, squash, or spin-doctor the rumor mill to generate the innuendoes Nybbas wants generated, and to squash the rumors which hurt New Heaven's plans.
Impudites of Communications have shifted their goals slightly - whereas they leeched the Essence from the most successful stars before, now they charm those who have talent and dreams, but are too shy to take a chance on their own. They gain +1 Essence everytime they Charm a performer into an audition, or a writer into submitting a work - but they gain Dissonance if they feed while doing it!
Essentially the same, except renamed Vassal of Information, Friend of Integrity, and Master of the Fourth Estate.
Andrealphus' callous, mocking attitude towards the 'eager beaver wannabe Mercurian' has cost him his former ally - Nybbas regards Andre as one of the old guard in Hell who used him for their own ends, and now is showing his true colors. Almost petulantly, he's thrown himself in with Eli, going so far as giving him his proxy vote in council whenever he cannot attend. (Eli is a bit confused by this development, but it's one of his more minor worries.)
Nybbas loves to work with Lucifer ("Hey, I mean, Light is the new thing, it's hip, it's happening, it's what the people are hungry for!"), reading more into the Seraph's reserved cooperation than might be there. He'd love to get some of the same help and ideas from Gabriel, but she's having none of it... on more than one occasion, Nybbas has spent -hours- trying to con her out of her shell just long enough to give his writers that extra inspiration to more faith-inspiring work, with nothing to show for it than the silent, hateful glare of holy Fire.
Add: Read five different newspapers, excluding want ads and color supplement ads.
--- Redneck
* Thanks to Ben 'Gryphon' Hutchins for the stolen line. ^_-
Kris Overstreet, will write for food... | Do not taunt Happy Fun Belial. http://www.txdirect.net/users/redneck | * * * c/o White Lightning Productions | "I love the sweet smell of http://www.jurai.net/~redneck/wlp/ | humiliation in the morning!" Webmaster for Antarctic Press | --- Kobal reaffirms himself http://www.antarctic-press.com/ | ***QUESTION EVERYTHING***
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