Whisper Not The Name Of Madness (Part 2)

By Fallen Seraph

Aballam

Habbalite Archangel of Madness

The world will bend, then break before me. All shall be madness.

History

No-one (save Lucifer and Kronos) quite knows where the dashing, smiling Habbalite in the top-hat, tails, and cane came from. There are rumours of course: Son of Beleth and Malphas? An Ethereal God from the far marches, elevated to Princehood on Lucifers Whim? Something more hideous? Lucifer, in disguise? who knows? who wants to find out?

Sometime after the fall, Blandine discovered that Beleth wasn't the only power working human dreamscapes. Something else was out there, twisting the souls and psyches of humanity into grotesque parodies.

It even had a name.

Aballam.

It made her hit list quite fast after that. Aballam went about, sowing seeds of chaos in his path, and Malphas soon became a patron of the speedily growing power, but then again, Malphas makes friends with everybody.

Aballam found that where ever he went, who ever he spoke to, it all went wrong. Well, not wrong from his point of view, those he spoke to, the monkey-things, some of them had good ideas, some even saw things almost as clearly as he did. Those that didnt see it all to clearly, well, lets just say that they saw more than clearly when they had their eyes opened truly to the symphony, able to see it but not able to do anything about it, able to see the terrible things that walked around in human bodies.

About 3200 BC he got his word.

He began to work with Kobal, destroying the sanity of the petty little talking apes, and although the work was good, something was missing.

Fate.

When Lucifer presented Kronos, he took Aballam aside and whispered in his ear. Aballam stepped away from Lucifer a Prince. over the next 50 years, he severed his ties with Kobal, and re-established them with Kronos. Kobal has yet to forgive either Aballam or Lucifer for this. (He can't do much about the latter, but he's sure as hell gonna get even with the former.)

Besides Kronos and Beleth, Aballam worked closely with Mariel, princess of Oblivion. Their words meshed well, and his organisation, his plan, and some say he himself, was devastated when the upstart Haagenti devoured her on his way to princehood.

Time passed, as time does, and still he managed, (assisted it would appear, by Beleth), to evade all those that blandine sent. Once in a while he'd add his own personal touch to history, book burnings, rabies (much to the loathing of Jordi), the hysteria aboard the titanic that lead to so many deaths, and many many more besides.

Recently, his Choir-Brother Fleurity has boosted his word at the same time as his own potent word. For some reason, Furfur looks up to him, doing all that he can to please him, like a little brother, getting more hardcore and madder with each act he does. There are some rumours of Aballam and Fleurity giving FurFur a new drug to try out, but this has never been proved, and we all know that Furfur cuts his crack with damned souls and tartarus brand floor cleaner.

Not to mention the shootings, sudden rise in doomsday suicide cults, and postal workers in general.

Then there was Lovecraft, and King and Barker...

Who is the wild-eyed man? Aballam knows.

Perhaps one of the only things that Kobal might like him for is the insanity caused during the Xmas holiday as overworked parents struggle to find the last toy on the list that is limited edition, never to be released again, in a choice of colours (and dear little kiddy didnt say what his favourite colour was...) Mammon likes this too, but for different reasons.

Asmodeus, as binder of things in rules, really dislikes Aballam's attitude. He's keeping a Djinnish eye on the Prince of Madness.

Aballam is formally referred to as Prince of Lunatics or The Keyholder. Behind his back he is called The Lunatic Prince, or Crazy A (mostly by kobalites).

Outlook

Aballam sees the little monkeys as toys for him to play with, and break if he sees fit. Some of them are worthy. Some see the world through his eyes. All others must be made to do the same. Aside from promoting his word, he is heavily involved in creating False Prophets for Lucifer and Kronos.

A point to note is that while he does indeed hold the word of Madness, Aballam is far from insane. He is cold, calm, collected and focussed. He is also, unlike Saminga (the other DP associated with madness - though for different reasons), supremely intelligent, and a master manipulator.

Dissonance

It is dissonant for servitors of Madness to allow convention, morality, or reason to hinder their plans. Suppressing their Gift also causes a point of dissonance.

Band Attunements

In addition to their attunements, all demons of Madness have an ethereal discord at a level equal to their Ethereal forces. (this is additional to their natural discord in the case of calabim). this is refered to as their 'Gift'. They receive no extra character points for this discord, but gain the ability to spot others who suffer the same Discord/Disadvantage with a perception roll.

Balseraphs (Restricted): Anyone under the influence of a Balseraph of Madness' lies who then comes across physical evidence to the contrary must immediately make an Int roll or suffer d6 mind hits as their new worldview is cracked by contradictory data. if they fail, the Liar does not incur dissonance.

Djinn (Restricted): The Djinn's attuned are inflicted with a reflection of the Djinnish personality, becoming mildly obsessive/compulsive over one thing. The Djinn cannot choose what, it varies from person to person. If the Djinn allows his attunement to run it's course, he may make a contested will roll with the attuned and if successful the victim will retain this compulsive behavior for a number of months equal to the Djinn's Ethereal Forces.

Calabim (Restricted): Shatterers of minds and destroyers of sanity, Aballam's Calabim may cause Mind hits with their resonance if they wish, adding their Ethereal Forces rather than Corporeal when doing so.

Habbalah (Restricted): These demons suffer no backlash if the emotion they are inflicting is the effect of their Gift.

Lilim (Restricted): Lilim of Madness may spend a geas to drive someone temporarily insane. the duration of the insanity is equal to the length of service related to the geas. at the end of this period, the insanity disappears completely.

Shedim: A host being ridden by a Shedite of Madness loses one mind hit per day, which do not heal until the Shedite leaves. They also lose a further 1 mind hit every time they lose a Will contest with the Shedite (which heals normally). Discord/disadvantages that result will almost certainly be reflections of the Shedite's Gift. This attunement works with the song of posession as well.

Impudites (Restricted): Any being successfully drained by one of Aballam's Takers gains a Need(something really unpleasent in a Clive Barker/HP Lovecraft style) at a level equal to the Impudite's Celestial forces, for a number of days equal to the Essence transferred. The Impudite may make a Will roll to prevent this affliction if they wish.

Pachadim: Aballam has many Pachadim serving him, as a gift from Beleth for his support of her Word. A Pachadite of madness gains a bonus to both their Perception roll and resonance roll for detecting/inflicting fear equal to the highest Ethereal Discord/disadvantage possessed by the target.

Servitor Attunements

Transferrance: With a Will roll, the demon may inflict their Gift upon another being. Physical contact is required, and the victim may resist with an Intelligence roll of their own (celestials add their Ethereal Forces). The imposed Discord lasts for the demon's Ethereal Forces in hours, during which time they do not suffer from it themselves.

Paint the Walls: For two Essence, the servitor may cover an available surface (not necessarily a wall) with eye-burning symbols and wild ravings. These remain for the demon's Celestial Forces in hours, and during that time any person who reads them must make an Intelligence roll or suffer d6 mind hits. This will affect a number of people equal to the demon's Ethereal Forces plus any additional Essence spent before fading.

Dream Walking: As per Beleth's attunement.

Distinctions

Knight of Turmoil: The Knight's celestial form causes stunning like a Shedite's. Shedite knights raise the chance of being seen in celestial form by the level of their Gift.

Captain of The Descent: Masters of misdirection and obfuscation, Aballam's Captains cause confusion in all around them. Any intelligence tests made within the demon's Total Forces yards are penalized by the demon's Celestial Forces. This includes Intelligence tests to resist the effects of Aballam's Balseraph and Servitor Attunements.

Baron of Nyarlathotep: For 3 Essence the demon may inflict his gift on all within Total Forces yards. Celestials may resist with a Will roll. The effect lasts until the victims move further away than 100x the demons Cel Forces in yards. There are no lasting effects (barring an infernal intervention).

Relations

Allied: Beleth, Kronos. Associated: Fleurity, Furfur, Malphas. Neutral: All others except... Hostile: Saminga. (Baal, Asmodeus, and Kobal are hostile to Aballam) Enemy: Asmodeus.

Basic Rites:

Spend an hour arguing philosophies with a rational being (+3 if you sway them to your viewpoint)
Inspire someone to express their madness in the form of art or writing

Invocation chance: 4

Invocation modifiers

A book of riddles
A strip of LSD tabs
Someone having a bad trip
A lunatic preacher
A serial killer, driven by madness
In an asylum for the violently insane

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