Rezzack, Balseraph Prince of Greed
By Rolland Therrien
The World is mine for the taking... and I plan on foreclosing, soon...
In Hell, the word "Hostile Takeover" takes on a whole other meaning.
That was pretty much the thought going through Kobal's mind as he
watched his beloved protege Haagenti's forces going through Mammon's
weakened troops like...
Like a crowd of starving third-worlders through a crew of pizza delivery
guys. Hmm... He would think of a better line soon, he was sure.
As for the Glutton Prince Haagenti, he was actually at the front lines,
litterally chewing through the resistance, working his way towards Mammon,
whom he knew was cowering in his vault. Soon, Greed would be devoured
by Gluttony, and Haagenti would be the de facto power in Shal-Mari.
Kobal was still wondering if this was a bad thing, or a good thing. He
fractured himself and teleported another form of himself in the building
beside Haagenti. "So, doing all right, my friend? ...We need to
finish this before Asmodeus turns his attention back to Shal-Mari and
starts to object to the chaos."
Haagenti growled at his "mentor" even as he finished slurping up a
Balseraph in his mouth, then nodded. "I just need to find that stinking
Snake's Heart, then he'll be mine..."
"I can tell you where it is, Oh Gluttonous One."
Both Kobal and Haagenti turned to see a slim Balseraph in a power suit
slither up slowly towards them, seemingly very calm and untroubled by
the chaos and carnage surrounding them. He was clearly, by his uniform,
one of Mammon's top Servitors, just a few distinctions shy of actually
being a Word-Bound, but with more then enough Forces to Qualify.
Haagenti grinned. "So, little Snake... you wish to sell out your Master?"
The Balseraph nodded and pulled out a notepad with a contract and a standard
bloodpen, and held them up to Haagenti and Kobal. "Quite so, Sir, but I
insist we follow a few simple terms for the Transaction. Just in case
The Game ends up asking about it..."
Haagenti paused for a moment, and looked over the contract's terms, then
growled. "I could just eat you and find the damn thing on my own... Why
should I give you "One Item of Mammon's, of your choosing", anyway?"
The Balseraph simply grinned. "Oh, you could... But that might take some
time... more time then Asmodeus might have afforded you to "Look away."
Besides, What I want from Mammon is Inconsequential to you."
Haagenti looked questioningly at the Balseraph, then back to Kobal,
who smiled and shrugged. "Hey, might as well save some time, clock's
ticking." Haagenti nodded and signed the contract, then Kobal signed
as a witness.
"Ah, Very good. Just this way, please. By the way, my name's Rezzack."
"Where are they, where are they...?" Mammon waited nervously in his
barricated office, holding a large, gold-plated sword in his hand,
waiting for the invitable, when he suddenly felt something...
His Heart! He quickly teleported to his Heart, which was locked in a
dozen-layered safe in a Vault at the heart of his bank, only to find
the safe ripped open, and his heart now cluched in Haagenti's horrid
fingers, as both he and Kobal grinned. He wondered how they'd found
it, when he he suddenly spotted Rezzack, one of his most promising,
up-coming Servitors leaning against the vault wall. "You Traitor!"
Those were Mammon's last words as Haagenti engulfed both him and his
Heart in a short struggle, then turned towards the Servitor and licked
his lips.
"Now... I believe I have given you what you asked, Dread Prince... I
believe I am now to recieve my end of the bargain?"
Haagenti growled and nodded. "Fine, sure... Now, what do you want?
Take your pick."
Rezzack smiled and pointed at Mammon's soul remains. "I want his
Princedom. ...I want to be the new Prince of Greed."
Both Haagenti and Kobal looked at him with wide eyes. "WHAT!?" Haagenti
growled, "I just got through removing the old one!"
"True, Dread Prince... But I believe that my esteemed ex-Superior made
a big mistake in being so Hostile to you. After all, there is a noted
difference between Greed and Gluttony, a Difference which can allow
me to coexist with you in a peaceful, cooperative manner, as Mammon's
replacement." Haagenti squinted and tried to grasp as the Balseraph
continued; "It's all about Supply and Demand, you see... You, Gluttony,
are the Demand. ...And I can be the Supply, if you wish. Our words
can support each other, not compete."
Kobal just stood by and smirked as he saw Haagenti, the dreaded Prince
of Gluttony, who's Hunger knew no end... as his hunger apparantly paused
to let the Liar's words sink in. Haagenti nodded. "Yes... Makes sense...
You will not interfered with Gluttony?"
"Sir, I promise you, I'll do my best to HELP Gluttony! I mean, Restaurants
make a lot of Money, right? So do clothing shops, and car dealers, and
everything else that promotes Consumerism. So the more I help you, the
more I help MY word... We'd be helping each other... All I need is your
sponsorship and BOOM, we're in Business!"
Haagenti nodded and smiled. "Very well, Snake. You got a Deal."
"Glad to hear. I was kinda curious as to how this would go myself."
All three turned to look in the direction of the new voice, and all
blanched to see the Lightbringer himself, standing in the doorway, smiling
in his usual mysterious way. "I hope you don't mind, the Bank was all
open anyway. I hope Mammon's replacement handles that situation soon.
Oh, and don't worry about Asmodeus, I told him I'd personally handle
this." Rezzack, suddenly feeling very worried, crouched down into a
very low reverence, while Haagenti and Kobal simply went down on one knee.
"Oh, you can stand on one knee too, Rezzack... It's standard for all
Princes before me."
Rezzack looked up in disbelief. "R-r-really, Sire? You mean it?"
Lucifer looked down seriously. "Of course. Mammon's in no condition to
argue, Haagenti's sponsoring you, even the paperwork's done. And,
quite frankly, I think you'll do better then Mammon anyway.
Congratulations,
Prince of Greed. Haagenti, since you're patronizing him, do help him
get things back on track here. Well, I gotta go now, I have things
to do, people to Damn..."
As he turned to leave, he paused to add "Oh, and Rezzack? Don't screw
up... you CAN be replaced..."
Rezzack gulped and nodded, resolving not to waste the time he was going to
spend as Prince collecting Enemies, like Mammon did.
Greed, as Rezzack envisions it, is not about simply Hoarding money and
items of luxury, without ever handing anything over to anyone. In fact,
as far as giving is involved, Rezzack is more then willing to lend you
exactly what you want, when you want it. It's with the Interests that
Rezzack charges for the loans that he promotes the Word of Greed. The
Royal Bank of Hell, under his new management, is now famous for it's
generous Loan packages... The fact that people taking out Loans from
the Bank tend to end up in severe debt, as Interests and added costs
pile up again and again, tends to get brushed under the rug, however.
Rezzack, since acquiring his Word and Princedom after betraying his
former Master Mammon, has wasted no time in rebuilding the National
Bank of Hell, with crisp, clean new offices which would make one
believe to be on Earth again, where it not for the drab colors, the
constant lack of good air conditionning, the de-humanizing Management...
Actually, it DOES make one believe to be on Earth, after a fashion.
Rezzack believes in a very active policy when it comes to the Corporeal
Realm, and is training most of his available Servitors for Corporeal
activities, collecting souls in contracts and corrupting businesses and
corporations, turning them into fronts for more Greed operations. When
interrogated about why he wants to go to Earth so bad, he merely answers
"'Cause that's where the Money is."
Dissonance
It is dissonant for a Demon of Greed to give anything to anyone
without collecting something of at least equal value in return. On the
other
hand, Servitors of Greed are under no obligation to repay freely given
offerings in kind...
Band Attunements
Balseraphs: Snakes of Greed, after the example taught by their New Prince, have learned
to use their Ethereal Forces to boost their Resonance Rolls when trying to
make a bargain with a willing subject.
Djinn: These Greedy Stalkers can bind themselves to twice as many Patterns as
normal,
as long as those Patterns are those of material objects with some value.
They serve Rezzack as Security Guards and Repo Demons.
Calabim: Rezzack's personal "Collection Agents", Calabim of Greed always start with
the Greedy discord. They can determine, at a glance, what a target's most
valuable possessions are, and how to ruin him financially.
Habbalah: Habbalah of Greed can use their Resonance to induce Greed in victims,
making them Covetous and Avaricious. They tend to use this ability in
subtle ways, fooling Humans into making wrong decisions out of a lust
for gain.
Lilim: These Greedy little Temptresses automatically gain a Corporeal Force
bonus when collecting their Geases, though they can forgo that Bonus
in an attempt to "surcharge" their victims, boosting the Geas by one
Level if they make a successful Will roll (or Two levels on a 6).
Shedim: Shedim of Greed get a Celestial Force bonus when using Greed,
Covetousness or Avarice to lead a Host to corruption. They hover
around Loan Banks, Realtors, Pawn Shops and especially Casinos.
Impudites: Impudites of Greed truly earn the name of Takers, as they gain a
Corporeal Force bonus to their Charm Resonance, when using it to
collect money from Humans.
Servitor Attunements
Infernal Contract: The Demon may write a contract (on paper) between himself and any
single other individual (known as the Client), exchanging any one
item requested by the Client for a payment determined by the Demon,
such as a period of Service, another Item, a First born child, or
one's Immortal Soul. Any attempt (by either Demon or Client) at
violating the Terms of the contract will result in the Violator taking
the amount of Essence bound into the Contract, multiplied by 6, in
hits of Celestial Damage.
Infernal Revenue Service: A Demon with this Attunement can use an Ethereal Force check to look
at any single person and determine the state of their finances; how
much money they have on their person and their bank account, and how
much money they can scrounge up through selling their personal items,
car, house, organs, etc.
Distinctions
Rezzack has slowly replaced most of his former Prince's old Dukes with
carefully selected new Demons, who bear the title of "Vice-President",
or VPs for short. These VPs are all Word-Bound, and are refered to by
both their Title and Word. For example, the Demon of Gambling is
referred to as the Vice-President of Gambling.
Knight of Wallets: This Demon can detect every form of currency (from Cash to credit
cards to checks to barter) within a 40 foot radius, to their exact
value in the money of his choice (usually Dollars).
Captain of Collections: Demons with this Distinction are constantly aware of the status of
their finances and investments, both in physical wealth and in Essence
use. Should he suddenly start losing money (such as having it stolen
or a blackmail victim breaking free), he will know about it immediatly.
Barons of Foreclosure: The Demon has the skill of Fast-Talk at level 6, or adds 6 to the
skill if he already possesses it, whenever the skill is used in a
discussion in Financial Matters.
Relations
Rezzack, being relatively new and without major competition, is taking
the time to properly "network" with the Nobility of Hell, making
advantageous alliances, while trying to avoid potential enemies.
Nonetheless, Belial, and Malphas have already earned the new Prince's
ire, as Rezzack considers Belial's pyromania as being unprofitable, and
Malphas' support of competition harms his efforts at building Trusts
and Monopolies. Lillith, on the other hand, is an open supporter of
the new Prince of Greed, who treats her Daughters much better then
Mammon did. Baal is also friendlier to Rezzack, who shares his desire
to conquer the Earth, albeit in an Economic, not military manner. The fact
that Rezzack willingly channels funds into Baal's earthly operations
doesn't hurt, either.
Allied: Haagenti, Lillith, Nybbas
Associated: Andrealphus, Baal, Valefor
Hostile: Belial, Malphas
Rites