The world revolves around me.
She served Andrealphus well and faithfully for millenia, playing the complex power games of the Beautiful Prince's court. As a favored Servitor, she earned her place in history under the names Salome and Delilah. But when the time came to ask Lucifer for her boon, she was cast down and disowned, her attunements and Distinctions stripped from her, until such time as the Lightbringer saw fit to dally with her again. She waited years for her opportunity.
And Lucifer granted her his favor the second time around. She did not receive the Word of Seduction. When the First Balseraph rose from her bower, it was to bestow upon her the Word of Vanity and a Princedom. He vanished, leaving her to deal with Andrealphus and the PFD. Fortunately, the Prince of Lust was in a mood to be seduced that evening.
Today she is one of the rising stars of Hell. Although a minor Princess, she is gaining Servitors by the multitudes. Marou's chosen are devoted to keeping the talking monkeys alive and happy on their way to the Pit...well, those of them who are pretty enough, of course. Her Servitors are among the most attractive in Hell, but are also among the most selfish. Marou herself goes beyond Vanity to outright solipsism -- she firmly believes, in ways that her Balseraphs and Habbalah try to emulate, that the universe revolves around her and her Word.
Petty and shallow, but also selfish and utterly alluring, Marou and her demons aren't out to bring Hell to the corporeal plane. They ensure that the humans who survive the War are those who most deserve to survive...i.e. those who are most beautiful and attractive. They also make sure that they are among that crowd, and even the most disdainful Servitor of Vanity will worm his way into Earthly society -- the better to be the center of attention and have everyone else fawn all over him, of course.
When she appears on Earth, it is always as an extremely attractive young woman. She has other vessels as well, all of which exude charisma and outright sex appeal, but for some reason she prefers the female form over the male. Her Servitors work alongside Andrealphus and Nybbas to ensure that humanity damns itself by its own actions and of its own free will. In the few years since she was raised to Princess, Marou has been frighteningly effective at this.
And Heaven's starting to take notice.
Dissonance
It is dissonant for a Servitor of Marou to acknowledge a higher ideal than the self. Idealism has no place in the ranks of Vanity. It is also dissonant to pass up an opportunity to promote oneself, whether by telling the truth or by outright guile.
Band Attunements
Balseraphs: Balseraphs of Vanity build or destroy egos. Of course, they all firmly believe that they are the center of the universe. Balseraphs get 10 additional points that can only be spent on Roles. However, these Roles must be at Status 2 or higher.
Djinn (partially restricted): Vanity's Djinn can imbue a mirror with Essence. The next being to look in the mirror must make a Will roll to avoid being enthralled by his or her reflection for a number of hours equal to the amount of Essence put into the mirror. This attunement costs 1 Essence to use and requires a minimum of 1 Essence. If the Djinn is attuned to the mirror, he becomes aware when the mirror is used!
Other Bands will not be alerted to the enthrallment, even if attuned to the mirror through the use of a Song.
Calabim (restricted): Unlike most Calabim, Marou's Destroyers tend to care about how they look. The field of entropy surrounding them does not affect the clothing they wear and material in contact with their vessels unless they want it to. Vanity's Calabim are never permitted to take Corporeal Discords as their starting Discord.
Habbalah: Arguably the cruelest of their Band, Habbalah of Vanity winnow out the ugly and unattractive from Earth's multitudes. They receive 10 additional points to create vessels, but these vessels must have at least 1 level of Charisma (2 if the Charisma only affects one sex).
Lilim (partially restricted): Marou's Daughters are her greatest sycophants. On a successful Perception roll, they can learn what a person Needs to hear someone else say about him. They earn Geases for convincing the person that they really mean what they're saying.
Other Bands can learn what other people Need to hear, but cannot earn the Geases.
Shedim (restricted): The Fleshless of Vanity are given makeup kits that can serve as temporary vessels while in between hosts. The makeup kits are also corporeal artifacts at (Corporeal Forces) level. Some of these kits are specially designed to show the Shedite in its celestial form instead of a normal reflection -- after all, stunned hosts are remarkably easy to enter...
Impudites (restricted): On a successful Charm roll, an Impudite may force a weak-willed human to obsess over him. The human acts as a temporary servant (at a level equal to the Impudite's Celestial Forces) for CD hours. This effect may be resisted with a Contest of Wills. This can also affect other celestials!
Servitor Attunements
Makeover: This attunement works like the Celestial Song of Form, except that this may affect others besides the Balseraph. This effect lasts for (Celestial Forces) hours, after which the target's form reverts to normal. This attunement costs 1 Essence per use.
Eye of the Beholder: By paying 1 Essence, the holder of this attunement can see how others perceive themselves. This effect lasts for 1 hour and can be used to detect other celestials -- especially those without Roles! Habbalah will, of course, confuse the demon with this attunement.
Cult of the Self: This attunement induces emotional detachment in its target. This may cause a variety of effects -- the person becomes enstranged from his or her friends, or the person begins to obsess over himself. Paranoid people will, of course, feel even more paranoid. This effect lasts for 24 hours and affects even celestials, who may make a Will roll to avoid its effects. Take note that an Elohite affected by this attunement is cut off from his resonance for 24 hours, but is safe from Choir-dissonance! This attunement costs 3 Essence and works on line-of-sight.
Distinctions
Knight of the Mirror: Marou's Knights are known for their silver tongues. They receive bonuses to their Savoir-Faire, Fast-Talk, Seduction and Lying skills equal to their Celestial Forces...the better to dazzle the talking monkeys, of course.
Captain of Ego: By making eye contact, a Captain of Ego can reinforce someone else's selfishness. For the next 24 hours, the person is forced to indulge him- or herself, ignoring important tasks in favor of more venal ones. This costs 3 Essence. Celestials may resist with a successful Will roll, but with a penalty equal to the Captain's Celestial Forces.
Baron of Narcissism: Barons of Vanity inspire envy in everyone around them, except for those with equal or higher Distinctions from Marou. They receive an ability similar to that of Rex, The Demon of Cool (see S2 for more details). Once a day, they may choose one action they perform in public and spend 1 Essence. That action becomes "cool" and is emulated by everyone around them with Wills lower than the Baron's (GM's call as to how long this fad remains in vogue). Celestials may resist with a successful Will roll.
Higher Distinctions
Marou's higher Distinctions are only available to her Word-bound, and are never granted to Servitors who aren't attractive enough to meet her standards.
Marquis of the Self: Marquises of Vanity recognize all other Servitors of Vanity on sight, whether or not they are hidden in vessels. This does not work on holders of higher Distinctions, or on Marou herself, unless they choose to be recognized by the Marquis.
Count of Self-Centeredness: Marou's second-highest ranking Servitors are given the most responsibility in her organization (and are expected to carry out these duties, too, unlike the Duchesses). As a result, they are granted the ability to travel from place to place through the use of mirrors. By spending (total Forces) Essence, a Count of Vanity can walk into a mirror and exit via another mirror at MOST (total Forces + Word-Forces, if not using Word-Forces, double total Forces) miles away. Both mirrors must be large enough to accommodate the celestial, and both mirrors must be mirrors that the Count has looked into before. Disturbance is generated at both endpoints.
Duchess of Solipsism: Marou's inner circle is composed entirely of demons who tend to think of themselves as female. Cliquish, exclusivist and all indescribably beautiful, the Duchesses of Vanity are forces to be reckoned with. On a successful Will roll, they may force others to obsess over them. This is similar to Marou's Impudite attunement, but works on line-of-sight and is much, much more long-term. The CD of the Will roll determines the time, in months, that the target is enthralled. Celestials may resist with a Contest of Wills. Marou's Duchesses are, of course, all enthralled in her own version of this Distinction, and are thus utterly loyal to her. Needless to say, Marou doesn't expect much from them...they just make convenient targets for others to attack.
Relations
Alone of the Impudite Princes, Kobal has earned the ire of the Princess of Vanity. His jokes involve destroying a person's ego and self-esteem, something antithetical to Marou's Word. The Prince of Dark Humor has taken note and is taking steps to counter her influence in Hell.
Allied: Andrealphus, Nybbas (Andrealphus considers himself allied to Marou)
Associated: no one (Nybbas and Malphas consider themselves associated with Marou)
Neutral: all else, except
Hostile: Kobal, Saminga (Kobal is hostile to Marou)
Rites
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