Paradise Lost

Genesis
In the beginning, there was God and despite being all powerful, he got lonely so he
fashioned beings who were like him yet unique, the first beings known as Elohim, or Angels.
Creating seven Houses, each with specific skills, objectives and powers they helped God in
His works. This mirrors the whole "God created the world in seven days" thing from
the Genesis Chapter from the Bible. Paradise was being created in preparation for the arrival
of the epitome of God's work, His most glorious creation: Humanity.

When He was finished and created Adam and Eve (after some drama involving Lilith getting
tossed out), leaving them content in the Garden of Eden, he made two decrees to his
Firstborn. First, they would love Humanity as much as they loved God. The Elohim
considered this to be a given, but agreed because they reached the consensus that God did
not want them to feel bad for loving Humanity as much as they did. The second was far
more difficult: they would only observe Man and never interfere with or reveal themselves
to Humanity. The Elohim were at first disappointed, for they all were in awe of Man and
wanted to befriend and help them achieve their divine potential, nevertheless they heeded
God and obeyed.

Discord and Temptation

For a while things were calm and peaceful, with the Elohim's observing of Humanity being
like watching a pair of very inept Let's Players. An Angel named Ahrimal foresaw a terrible
catastrophe that would befall the world and undo all the hard work the Angels had done to
help Man and forever mar the race of Man. He reported this to his superiors but was
ignored. God's response to this was pretty much "If you knew what I knew you'd
understand." Some Elohim took up this offer but were seemingly destroyed and left
unfindable. Those Elohim bothered by this began a great debate as to whether or not they
should interfere and help save Mankind from this impending cataclysm and at the same
defy God. It was the favored son and mightiest of the Archangels, Lucifer Morningstar, who
rallied an third of the Elohim and left Heaven to finally interact with Humans. This of course
angered God, so when the Archangel Michael arrived, told Lucifer and his kin to face
punishment, and that the works of the rebels would be unmade he flatly refused and
whupped Michael's ass. Michael retreated but called a curse on each of the Houses:

 The House of the Second World would have to reap things before their time and
above all, reap the beloved humans as well.
 The House of the Wild would see Humanity lose its place as nature's top dog and
have beasts turn their claws and teeth upon Humanity.
 The House of the Deep would see the minds of humans be filled with lies and
untruths, clouding the truth they sought to bring.
 The House of the Spheres sought to bring contentness to the minds of man, but
would now see them only consider that which they had not done, filling them with
greed and envy.
 The House of the Fundament had given Humanity power over matter, but would see
its reach overexceed its grasp and despoil the land in search of more.
 The House of the Firmament would see Humanity grow sick and die without them
being able to prevent it.
 The House of the Dawn was stripped of its purpose, leaving them empty and without
meaning.

Humanity picked sides as well: most of them joined the Fallen but a few chose to stay
faithful to God. With this began the thousand year lasting civil war of the War in Heaven.

War in Heaven
The first blow came from God Himself. Shielding those faithful to Him God essentially place
a divine bitchslap upon reality, filling it with entropy and ruining Paradise. Oh sure, it did not
destroy the world outright but scarred it enough to break endless perfection. Initially the
angels on both sides were naive and kind in a way. Fights were on many different levels,
from physical battles to acts of physics meeting. Those who lost were captured and
imprisoned: the Fallen to be processed later and the loyalists to deprive God of His soldiers
and to try and seduce them. This meant that the war was a bloodless one, until a local man
ruined everything. He had joined the Fallen while his brother had remained faithful to God.
The man observed his brother make a sacrifice to God and was rewarded with His love. This
drove the man into a rage from jealousy but also love. For he loved his brother as much as
he hated him, and he loved God as much as he hated Him. So the man decided to make a
sacrifice of his own, that which he cherished the most was given to God. It was an act of
love, an act of jealousy; an act of kindness, an act of hatred. The man killed his brother, the
man gave his brother to God. This first act of cruelty, of murder, of hate and desire, changed
the angelic host and the rebel Fallen forever. As a punishment the Lord set a mark upon the
man, lest any finding him should kill him.

Way to go, Caine.

This turned the war for the bloody. Lucifer's lieutenants, the Fallen Belial, Abaddon,
Dagon, Asmodeus and Azrael, each took command of a host of Fallen and began to wage
their wars. They were successful but ruthless: exterminating or enslaving those who would
side with God against the Fallen. The successes kept mounting up so Lucifer decided to
enact his Great Experiment: uplifting Humanity to their true potential. He appointed ten of
the most learned of Fallen and gave them the task to teach something to Humanity:

 Giriel taught how to shape the land by combining elements and minerals.
 Sharaael taught medicine.
 Bephamael taught astronomy and how to use it to predict the future.
 Marael taught meteology.
 Gamael taught metallurgy.
 Ur-Shanbi taught how to predict the future.
 Samael taught of the Moon and its powers.
 Agriel taught farming and herbology.
 Shamshiel taught of the Sun.
 Penemue taught linguistics, writing and reading.

Unimaginatively called the Ten, these Fallen set out to be the teachers of Humanity. For a
while they did quite well and Humanity grew to unimaginable heights. Some Fallen however
were distressed by this: because if Humanity was to master all of Creation, what use would
the Fallen be? A nameless traitor suggested that in order to remain the masters of
Humanity, perhaps it would be possible to create something new to lord over the humans.
Asmodeus, Abaddon and Azrael being to formulate a plot to create a new race of beings.
These things would be born from Fallen and humans, making them subservient to their
Fallen progenitors but lording over Humanity in their masters' name. This saw the creation
of the Nephilim: possessing the gifts of Man and Fallen, but terrible to behold in visage or
potential. They quickly began to dominate their cities, but they made a grave mistake when
they turned on the Ten. This lead word of their existence to Lucifer's citadel, who purged
them with fire and sword. This great battle left the world in tatters and created the
Shattering.

Shattering and Imprisonment

Lucifer had made a miscalculation: the Fallen were teaching Humanity too much, too fast.
They began to buckle under the weight of their divinity, eventually snapping. In an attempt
to make Humanity like God its own divinity proved to be too much. The most critical failure
however was that this caused Humanity to lose its mastery of the One Language, a
primordial tongue used by all of mankind to speak with one another. They drifted apart and
began to forget of the Fallen, starting to think of them as legends and myths. All that they
had built was lost or abandoned, and the Fallen were left with nothing.

At this point the loyalist Host struck. One by one their citadels fell, their inhabitants
imprisoned. After 40 days and 40 nights of battle Lucifer's own stronghold was breached
and the Lightbringer was bound in chains of fire. Dragged off the Fallen were sentenced to
banishment into the Abyss, a place utterly devoid of God's touch. Once the final Fallen were
cast inside its gates were shut, never to be reopened. They quickly discovered that one of
their kin was missing: Lucifer himself was not with them. The agony of being utterly devoid
of everything but those around them began to drive the Fallen slowly insane, decrying
Lucifer as a traitor who sold them out. And that was the last anyone heard from the Fallen,
until...

After the Rebellion

"I do not enjoy. I cannot. I put on a good show when sipping fine wine or eating exquisite
viands or making love to a magazine model, but there is no true happiness for me. I can
conceive enjoyment. I receive a certain intellectual satisfaction from undergoing "pleasure". It
suits me to arrange matters pleasantly. I prefer beauty to ugliness, the scent of a rose to the
stink of a turd, the caress of silk to the rasp of burlap. But the absence of pain is not pleasure,
and any mental comfort I achieve is very sterile next to actual joy. I keep trying, though. I keep
thinking that maybe one day I'll trick myself into  thinking  I'm happy, which might very much
more like  being  happy. "Fake it 'till you make it" as they say. So I eat like a king and fuck like
a rock star and I get a bumper sticker that says "Heaven Doesn't Want Me and Hell's Afraid I'll
Take Over". I've been faking it since mankind tamed fire, and I haven't made it yet. Instead of
happiness, I have duty."

– Lucifer Morningstar, the Adversary

Binding of the Earthbound

Lucifer had indeed not been locked in the Abyss. He was sentenced to wander Earth
alone forever. He did not sit idly and began to plot the resummoning of his kin, starting
with his five Archdukes. The summoning was difficult, so Lucifer taught the secrets of
magic to people all over the world. When he was done the peoples of the times of
antiquity, unaware of one another, began five great rituals to summon their "gods".
They had prepared great Reliquaries to house their gods, giving Lucifer's followers
physical bodies in the world. Said objects resembled their associated Fallen in some way.
All five of the Archdukes were summoned at the same time to places all over the world:

 Abaddon was first, summoned by Akkadian priests in service of Sargon of Akkad. His
reliquary was an ancient tree 30' in height, carved with faces and filled with crimson
vines of petrified wood.
 Asmodeus was summoned to Sumer and housed in a ebony statue run through with
bits of gold, looking like a many-armed priest facing the heavens.
 Dagon was summoned by a cult located in the Indus Valley (India) put in a massive
basalt slab engraved with players and later adorned with moving parts.
 Azrael was summoned by the necromancer kings of Kush (Africa) into a scarecrow
built from bones, draped with gray cloth and had emeralds for eyes.
 Belial, the Great Beast, was last, summoned by the Chinese Shang Dynasty who
treated him as greater than the emperor. His Reliquary however was small: a foot-
tall idol in the shape of a crouching half-cephalopod, half-man.

Upon being summoned Lucifer contacted them, but to his horror realized that his
Archdukes had been driven utterly insane. They scoffed him and began to expand their
cults in an attempt to lord over Humanity as the Earthbound, the first of the demons.
Their main objective was to harness worship, which gave them the ability to work their
dark powers and remain in the world. Their reign was terrible and harsh, punishing
severely and driving others into acts of greater and greater depravity. They did not
enslave entire nations: instead they aimed for the highest ranking official within a nation
and seducing them into their cult. Some of these cults were quite public as religions:
Marduk, Nergal, Apep, Zahhak and Bastet are but a few names for these fronts. The
secrets of summoning demons began to spread out, and more and more Earthbound
were summoned to the world. The Lightbringer sought allies, but all rebuked them and
promised Lucifer a future in which only they would rule.

Star, Cross and Moon

Lucifer found allies in the most unlikely of corners: Humanity. Specifically a tribe that
told the history of the world as it had actually happened. They had no sorcerers of their
own and were too insignificant for the Earthbound to conquer. These people,
the Hebrews, started to received the secret guidance of the Morningstar himself.
Earthbound caught wind of this and tried to tempt the Jews, but they turned out to be
very resilient to their efforts. Solomon, successor to King David, was a seeker of
knowledge. This put him into eventual contact with the Phoenicians, who were willing to
teach him if he took upon the worship of the Earthbound-in-disguise. Solomon agreed
and began to learn a great deal of things while at the same time building temples,
shrines and performed rituals and prayers. A staggering total of 72 Earthbound were
involved this way, with Solomon eventually building them all a great temple under
Mount Moab. When it was done he withdrew an ancient Assyrian parchment and began
to perform a ritual. Each of the 72 Earthbound were bound into a single bronze urn that
Solomon had prepared. He then brought it out to the Dead Sea and dropped it into its
depths, never to be found again.

With the ever-increasing number of Earthbound in the world they eventually came into
conflict. The classical period saw the conflict between many of the Earthbound, with
many mortal religions creating stories of their exploits against mortals and each other
alike. With the rise of the Roman Empire Asmodeus and Abaddon decided to team up
and help the Romans. This worked spectacularly, and the Pax Romana was a time of
great depravity in the world. Those Earthbound part of it found great stability and an
income of worship as well. Everything was peachy until a Hebrew man named Paul
stated to have undergone a revelation (courtesty of ol' Lucifer) and claimed the divine
connection of a man called Yeshua ben Josef, aka Jesus Christ. The Earthbound were
appalled at the call to such a fake religion (as in, there's no Earthbound behind it) and
began to take steps against this new religion, Christianity. While the problem was not
new (given the whole Hebrew issue) the half-hearted steps taken against the Jews
meant that something drastic was needed. Both the Christians and the Jews faced mass
persecution by the Roman government, encouraged by the Roman people. The
Archdukes saw Lucifer's hand in this, as did they in the deaths of Caligula and Nero, who
had five-pointed stars carved upon their foreheads. As the years passed though the
accord between the Earthbound began to fracture, cumulating in a Roman called
Constatine received an omen in his dreams: a cross of light in the sky accompanied by
the words in hoc signo vinces. Doing just that, he ordered his men to paint crosses on
their shields and fight their battle, which they won despite the odds. The now Emperor
Constatine made Christianity the state religion and outlawed the worship of the old
gods (aka the Earthbound). Almost overnight the Earthbound were stripped of their
income of Faith, and the death blow was struck when the entire Empire collapsed. In the
aftermath the Earthbound made a mad grab for any Faith they could find, but their rage
made it difficult to find a steady income of Faith.

Even worse for them, the relatively untouched Arabia saw the rise of a merchant called
Muhammad, who claimed that there was only one God, and that all who claimed
otherwise should be converted or slaughtered. In a last mad grab for power they tried to
turn the three faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam against one another, but the wars
between them only bolstered the faith of the people. Now utterly drained the
Earthbound found themselves falling into torpor. In their death throes the Earthbound
created things like the Inquisition, the Plague and religious extremism, but it was for
naught. Only deepening the world's faith the start of the Renaissance and the belief in
science, reason or logic rather than demons saw the remaining Earthbound run
completely out of Faith. Their Reliquaries were disassembled, hidden or otherwise
obscured, their relics buried with them and their servants scattered to the winds, waiting
for the eventual return of their Earthbound masters. For centuries the Earthbound slept,
through enlightenment, colonization, world wars and the rebuilding of the world.

And Lucifer saw it was good.

Happy New Year!

The year 1999 was a major turning point for the settings of WoD. Due to all the magical
shenanigans caused by vampires, werewolves, mages, ghosts and so on the magical
backlash resulted in a spiritual storm in the Afterlife. The rather unpopular Wraith: The
Oblivion was nixed so hard it weakened the walls of the Abyss, allowing the Fallen
Elohim to escape and for the first time in millennia walk the Earth (alongside
creating Mummy: The Resurrection and Orpheus). What they do with their new lives is
up to the PCs and Storyteller.

Important Aspects of being a Demon

Innate Powers
Demons all come with a whole slew of powers built in, much like how Vampires and
Werewolves do. These are usable by all Demons, regardless of their House, Faction or
Faith or Torment scores.

 Demons are immune to mind-control and supernaturally-induced fear.

 Demons are immune to possession; technically, it's the host who's immune to
possession, because the Fallen got there first. A Demon with 0 temporary Faith can
be pulled out of its host and then either thrust into a new host or thrown back to the
Abyss.
 Demons can see through illusions and supernatural concealment with a Perception +
Alertness roll. This has a Difficulty of the highest the target's Faith or Torment score
when a Demon is involved, or Difficulty 7 when dealing with a non-Demon.
 Demons in Apocalyptic Form can soak Lethal damage.
 Demons can spend a Faith point to heal all Bashing damage or one point of Lethal
damage.
 Demons do not age as long as they have at least a single point of temporary Faith. If
they lose all their temporary Faith they start aging as normal, so no "catching up"
years. Recovering even a single point pauses their aging again.
 Demons are immune to disease as long as they have at least a single point of
temporary Faith. If they lose all their temporary Faith they can get ill as normal, but
once they recover even a single point all diseases are immediately purged from their
bodies.
 Demons are highly resistant against poisons and drugs. When poisoned/drugged a
Demon rolls their Stamina + their Faith rating as long as they have at least one
temporary Faith point. Success lets them be unaffected by the substance or soak
damage.
 Demons are unable to conceive or get pregnant. A Demon that takes over a
pregnant body will experience a miscarriage. (A Demon that doesn't is a plot hook in
the Storytellers Companion)
 Demons can detect those who speak their Celestial or True Names (see below) and if
the speaker is either their Thrall or another Demon they can establish a link to
converse.
 Demons can detect the use of supernatural powers in a nearby area equal to their
Faith score in miles. They can roll Perception + Alertness to detect roughly where
 this happened and how powerful it is, but not the exact nature of the power or its
location. They can use their knowledge of the area or maps to pinpoint an exact
location with four, maybe three successes. Most demons don't know how to
interpret powers of other supernaturals, seeing them as a garbled mess or corrupted
versions of their own Lores, as mages, werewolves and vampires didn't exist back in
their days.

Names
Demons all have three names: Host Name, Celestial Name, and True Name. Host Names,
if you didn't figure, are the names of the people whose identity Demons steal when
possessing someone. The Celestial Names tend to be "angel-styled" such as Michael,
Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel. Their True Names are eldritch and nearly unpronounceable, if
at all: any given demon's particular True Name can contain things like rustling of paper,
or a choir of a thousand children chanting in adoration. Knowing someone's Celestial
Name gives you an uncomfortable catalyst by which to reach or empower effects of
supernatural funsies you may wanna use against them and knowing someone's True
Name gives you heavy amounts of influence over them letting you easily hold them by a
leash, so long as you're careful with keeping a steady grip and close track of said leash.

Possession
The Fallen feel the pull of the Abyss on their essence and must possess a physical object
to remain in the mortal world. The most common vessel is a spiritually-damaged person,
one who has little grasp of what makes them "human," such as a coma patient, burned-
out drug addict, or someone on the verge of suicide. A thrall may allow its master to
possess him, in which case the possession automatically succeeds. Upon possession, the
Fallen comes into contact with the host's memories and emotions, two things the Fallen
never experienced before. The Fallen must somehow reconcile its own existence and
torment with a sudden rush of love, hate, fear, and recollections in order to integrate
with the host, survive on Earth, and find a path to forgiveness.

It is possible to possess an inanimate object. The Earthbound have done so. The vessel-
to-be must have a strong "resonance" with Humanity; for example, a typewriter on an
office clerk's desk is insufficient, but the typewriter of a struggling novelist is. As well, the
Fallen's personality influences how well it can integrate with its object vessel. Taking an
object as a vessel is quite limiting, so the Fallen use it as a last resort.

Faith & Pacts

God supplied his angels with the resources they needed to use their powers in the
creation of the world. After the Fall, the rebel angels were cut off from this power. The
ones who escape the Abyss find that human souls, made in his image, can substitute for
the power of God. There are two ways that the Fallen can extract this power from
humans: reaping it or making Pacts.

 Reaping souls requires the Fallen to reveal themselves as explicitly supernatural

entities while interacting with the targets, such as intervening in a fight while
wearing the Apocalyptic Form and tearing the skin from an attacker. This is a short-
term quick fix of Faith that tends to cause hunters and other supernatural powers to
start asking questions.
 Pacts are made with willing humans by exchanging a service for a continual trickle of
Faith. It takes time to set up a Pact, which involves the demon fulfilling the mortal's
wish and the mortal accepting the gift in return. Once established, only the demon
can end a Pact and the mortal becomes a thrall.

Mortals generate anywhere from 0 to 5 Faith:

 0 Faith means that the person is horribly deprived of something to believe in: they
are the most jaded and empty people on the planet. Demons cannot make Pacts
with people like them because there is no Faith to use.
 1 Faith is reserved for hardcore skeptics to whom faith does not come easy.
 2 Faith is the average for humanity: they'll believe, but don't go out of their way to
engage in their belief.
 3 Faith is for the hardcore believers who put large amounts of time and money into
their Faith, for whom their belief is an integral part of their life. Hilariously, hardcore
political activists with strong conviction in their cause are also here (yes, even radical
atheists).
 4 Faith is for the most intense and profound of believers: the kind that would live in a
monastery, endure imprisonment or act in locations that are an active threat to their
lives.
 5 Faith is for those who are their belief. The most learned religious rulers, those who
are truly willing to give everything for their faith and are capable of remaining true
of faith when enduring the most difficult of trials.

You can also make pacts with some supernaturals, most notably Mages (and they
usually have a crap ton of faith), but the link created between you two makes you
vulnerable to those assholes sniffing out your True Name and reversing the deal, making
YOU their slave. It is theoretically possible to form a pact with a Werewolf (if you
manage to convince it to not rip you open on the spot), but it tends to fuck them up
and turn them to the Dark Side rather rapidly, and once they're there they would turn on
their demon master... so not recommended. Vampires due to being dead and thus
having no spark of creation have no Faith, although Ghouls are free game, even though
blood bonds would all but guarantee that they would be more loyal to their vampire
masters than you.

A Faith Potential of 2 is the most common amongst Humanity. When heading in both
directions the people with such a Faith Potential decrease in number, with there being
only a handfull of people with a Faith Potential of 5. Note that this does not have to be a
faith in God or another deity: aside from religion philosophy, ideology and science are
all valid things to believe in. Hell, according to the book Damned and Deceived even the
faith in a celebrity, which can be a religion in and of itself, can be sufficient to generate
Faith.

The Faith Potential is how Faith a mortal generates to be used in Pacts. Half of the total
amount of Faith Potential, rounded up, can be used by the Demon to fuel its powers.
The other half has to be spent on the abilities granted as part of the Pact. These abilities
are:

 Repair chronic injuries or impairments: let the cripple walk, heal the blind and so on.
Also includes healing a terminal condition like cancer.
 Convert it into 10 freebie points that can be spent on Attributes, Abilities or
Willpower: Attributes cost 5, Abilities cost 2 and Willpower costs 1. This can easily
skyrocket a Thrall's Willpower, grant them a whole new Ability or increase an
Attribute significantly. They cannot be raised above their regular maximums of 5
though.
 Grant one of the Demon's inherent powers such as immunity to mind control, see
through illusions, detect the use of powers and so on. Using them requires a
Willpower (difficulty 7) roll to use.
 Give a limited version of an Evocation the Demon can use. These costs more than
usual: one point of Faith per dot the Evocation has. So a one-dot Evocation costs
one point of Faith while a three-dot one costs three points of Faith. Using them
requires a Willpower (difficulty 8) roll; this roll doubles as the roll for its effect.
 Bestow one of the enhancements from the Demon's Apocalyptic form. With a
Willpower roll (Difficulty 6) a Thrall can use the power for one scene.

Mortals with a Faith Potential of 1 require the granting of a power without generating
Faith, but a skilled Thrall with such a low potential can still be used for their skills. Those
with a Faith Potential of 2 and 4 have a one-for-one trade: one point of Faith, one point
for an ability. With a Faith Potential of 3 and the rare 5 you can go either way: you have
a number that you have to spend on abilities but you have some leeway in whether you
want to gain more Faith from this particular Thrall or want to give them more abilities to
make them useful. After engaging in a Pact a Thrall gives its Demon master a number of
the unused Faith it generates at sunrise, up to the Demon's maximum Faith amount.
This means that a clever Demon who makes Pacts all over the world (or even better: with
an astronaut right before they got to space) has access to a constant stream of Faith to
fuel its abilities.

If a Demon manages to nuture the faith that one of its Thralls provides this Faith
potential can grow, allowing for larger Pacts to form. In case a Thrall outgrows its Pact it
has to be redefined to grant the Thrall more power. If this is ignored though a Demon
can simply opt to reap more Faith, if the used-to-unused balance is not distrubed of
course.

Torment
After being subjected to countless millennia of torture and horror, the Fallen Elohim
have been reduced to Demons. The more evil the demon acts on Earth the more
Torment he accumulates, this can be both good and bad as it grants both strengths and
weaknesses. In game mechanic terms, you typically have to fill out a bar of Temporary
Torment before you gain a dot of Permanent Torment, the former which can be
removed by doing good and selfless deeds and the latter with experience, though
Permanent Torment is hardcapped at 1. You gain Torment in both shapes by being evil.
Once you hit 10 Torment, you're essentially one of the Earthbound. Holding such anger
means any living host you take rapidly falls apart, forcing you to possess an object
instead. In short, it's not meant for players to indulge and is typically answered with a
"game over" akin to when Vampires lose all their Humanity/Path of Enlightenment score
and become a mindless beast.

Unlike Humanity which goes from 10 being a saint to 1 being a monster, Torment is
reversed: 10 turns you unplayable and 1 makes you a saint. It is rumored amongst the
Fallen (especially the Reconcilers) that it is possible to attain the forgiveness of Heaven
and become Elohim once again. This would be Torment 0, creating a state somewhere in
between Golconda and Ascension. At this point a character would no longer be playable
either, but there are not hard rules for how to do this. As such, it's up to the Storyteller
to consider if redemption is even possible in their game. Of course, each level of
Torment has its own sins linked to it:

Torment Hierarchy of Sins

10 There is no sin. You're already damned. Why not do whatever you want?

 Casual violation of others: murder for no reason, thoughtless cruelty and
9
torture, near-mindless savagery.

Premated violation of others: plotted murder or assassination, systematic

8
destruction of another, long-sought revenge.

Sins of passion: murder in a fit of rage, giving in to feelings of hate, anger,

jealousy, or irrational prejudice, encouraging the same in others.
7
Destroying particularly inspirational or meaningful objects. Doing personal
harm through addiction or other self-destructive patterns of behavior.

Destruction of the works of others, inflicting intentional emotional harm

6
through cruelty or neglect.

Accidental violations: doing harm to others through carelessness,

5 negligence, or thoughtlessness. Neglecting duties or responsibilities.
Betraying another's trust.

Theft from or deception of others without just cause. Breaking your sworn
4
word.

Doing harm (physical, emotional or spiritual) to a mortal for any reason

3
other than self-defense or the greater good.

Doing harm to any moral creature for any reason other than self-defense
2 or the greater good (a disrespect for the order of Creation). Permitting
any lesser sin in your presence without at least trying to prevent it.

1 Any act of cruelty, selfishness, or thoughtlessness. Allowing any such act in

your presence without trying to prevent it. An unwillingness to sacrifice for
 the greater good.

Defilers, Fiends, Malefactors, and Scourges all start at 3 Torment, while Devils,
Devourers, and Slayers start at 4. Torment 4 is the rough equivalent of Humanity 7,
putting the latter group on par with the other game lines while giving the former group
a head start.

Houses
So The Fallen obviously used to be angels before the little... incident. God may have
done the heavy lifting on creating the universe but He wasn't big on sweating the
details. So instead of missing His Murder She Wrote marathon, He made the Angels to
handle all the time consuming bitch work that He didn't want to do. The Angels were
divided into seven Houses who each handled an aspect of Creation. They are, in order of
creation:

Devils
Formerly the Namaru, the House of the Dawn. The very first House and
therefore very first Angels made by God, these guys are the leaders of
both Angels and Demons, Lucifer unsurprisingly came from this House
and half rebelled against God. As leaders they are extremely charismatic
and possess great powers of persuasion and manipulation. They are the
most stereotypical Demon, commanding control over Fire and being
very powerful.
Scourges
Formerly the Asharu, the House of the Firmament. The Asharu were the
Guardian Angels. One wonders exactly how hard it was to be a guardian
angel in the Garden of Eden but apparently they were needed. Of all
the Angels, the Asharu loved Humanity the most and were dedicated to
making sure no harm came to them. This dedication caused them no
small amount of grief as they knew humans would never know how
much they loved and protected them. Their boss Lailah sided with God
in the Great Debate but a lot of the Asharu joined the rebels. This
ended up really costing Humanity as they were the ones who kept
Humanity immortal and the Asharu's part in the Rebellion ended up
making Humans able to die. They took this development poorly.
Malefactors
Formerly the Annunkai, the House of the Fundament. The Annunkai
were the builders and craftsmen of Heaven and Hell, responsible for
building the physical world and mastering the arts of the forge and
working with metals of any kind. They faced the classic STEM major's
dilemma, they wanted to understand and be loved by Humanity but
were terrible at things like "Emotion" or "Social Skills". It wasn't their
fault, they were just made to understand how the physical world and
machines worked and fit together, not how to socialize with primitive
cavemen. Lead by Toguiel, over half joined the Rebellion because they
were dissatisfied that their work on Creation was cut off before they felt
it was done and to try to earn the love of Humanity. In Modern Times
many Annunkai RAGE at humans for buttfucking the planet they put so
much effort into making, and thus desire to 'cleanse' the Earth so that it
may be healed and repaired.
Fiends
Formerly the Neberu, the House of Spheres. The Neberu were the seers
but unlike the old "gypsy" fortune-teller that suckers waste their money
on, they actually could see the future. They also were in charge of the
movement of the heavens and the flow of time. They were the most
distant from Humanity and joined the Rebellion in fewer numbers and
with more reluctance then other Houses. Which is ironic as it was one
of their number, Ahrimal, who caused the Rebellion by foretelling that a
great catastrophe would come to Humanity if the Angels did not act. Of
course, because Fate is a spiteful bitch, the catastrophe was caused by
the Angels acting.
Defilers
Formerly the Lammasu, the House of the Deep. These guys were in
charge of the sea and poetry, art, and dancing. They had a intense
fascination for Humanity and chafed hard against God's decree of non
interference since they were pretty distant from Humanity being bound
to the sea and all. Other Angels tended to mock the Lammasu for being
useless as their sphere of influence was limited to being limp wristed
poets and glorified pool boys. Belial was of this House and was the one
who initiated the Great Debate that kicked off the whole Rebellion.
More Lammasu joined the Rebels than any other House.
Devourers
Formerly the Rabisu, the House of the Wilds. The nature loving animal
activists of the Angels. These guys weren't your soft Patchoili smelling
tree hugger types though, they were the old school nature red in tooth
and claw breed. The Rabisu created all the lower animals, ecosystems,
and plant life and were charged with protecting them and Humanity
from them. They designed the human form and considered it the
pinnacle of their creations. They followed Lucifer with slavish loyalty
 during the rebellion and took his defeat the hardest. Which is probably
why so many of them are raging blood crazed Raveners in modern
times.
Slayers
Formerly the Halaku, the House of the Second World/Afterlife/Death.
The Halaku were the Grim Reapers of the Angels. While this sounds
badass and you would think that they would be be respected and
feared by their brethren for their awesome power over life and death, it
turned out more like being the acne ridden goth kid in high school that
no one likes. The other Angels resented and disliked the Slayers for
even existing and shunned them at every opportunity. The Halaku
themselves were unsure of their purpose as God had cryptically
mentioned a Second World they were to be vital to but as always was
infuriatingly vague and smugly silent about the whole deal. They loved
Humanity just as fiercely as the other Houses and were pretty bothered
that Adam and Eve would cry and curse them for reaping their pets and
such when they just wanted to do their jobs in peace like everyone else
were. This sadness lead a great number of the Halaku into joining the
Rebellion even if their leader Usiel was too wishy washy to join. One of
their number named Madisel was the one who gave Lucifer her scythe
so he could defend himself against Michael in the first time a Angel
raised hand against another.

Factions
Being a diverse group of beings, the Fallen have had a long time to think in the Abyss,
and over time various factions have emerged which represent their opinions on God,
Mankind, the World and themselves. Upon possessing a host Demons usually seek out
their own kind and join these factions, which are in a sense political parties for the
Damned.

Cryptics
The Cryptics have used their time in Hell to think. They feel that if God
is omniscient, then his creations would be as perfect as reality would
allow, and since Lucifer was God's highest angel, then his rebellion was
a part of God's plan. The philosophers of the Fallen, the Cryptics
gather knowledge to determine what is really going on and what they
should do next. They dislike the Luciferans and the Faustians, approve
of the Reconcilers asking questions, and dislike Raveners' destructive
tendencies. They were initially to be called 'Inquisitors', but this was
changed during production, although there are occasional references
to them under this name in some books due to ing errors. They are a
uncoordinated bunch with no clear end goal or leader, but they tend
to defer to the wisdom of Ahrimal. He is the Fiend who saw everything
coming, alerting his peers and kickstarted the whole plot. He's
currently in the body of a German cop called Gerhard Liebner.
Faustians
The Faustians lust for revenge against God, whom they believe
unjustly exiled them from Heaven. Even without the leadership of
Lucifer, they still try to awaken the human race to its true potential,
but only so Humanity can be used as a potent weapon in yet another
war against Heaven. The plots and intentions of a Faustian are often as
subtle as they are dangerous. They have no patience for the Cryptics,
their goals are directly opposite to those of the Raveners, Reconcilers
can be friend or foe, and they can work with Luciferans. They are lead
by Belphigor, the most powerful Devil amongst their ranks. His
Torment is getting pretty high, but he's been doing a good job of
keeping this fact hidden from his fellow Faustians. He wields a sword
forged from one of the remnants of Michael's sword; a majestic and
powerful weapon that makes Belphigor a force to be reckoned with.
Luciferans
The Luciferans still believe that Lucifer was right to rebel against God.
Even though Lucifer cannot be found, they still follow what they feel to
be his directives. Their leadership has divided them into three legions:
the Legion of Majestic Liberation (who are searching for and
attempting to free Lucifer), the Legion of Glorious Victory (who were
organized to fight the Heavenly Host, but found no angels to oppose
them), and the Legion of Stark Defiance (who secure supplies,
resources, and safe havens for the rest of the faction). They dislike the
Cryptics, can work with Faustians, consider the Reconcilers to be
traitors, and consider Raveners to be enemies. The three legions all
have their own leaders who consider themselves to be the
benchwarmers for Lucifer himself; they actually stood down the
moment he made himself known to the Luciferans.
Raveners
The nihilistic Raveners look at the broken world and wasted potential
of Humanity and believe there's only one option left: destroy
everything. Some see it as a way to finally lure out God and his Angels;
others see it as an act of mercy to a near-dead world; and many just
don't care at all. They are often enemies with all the other factions of
demons, though they can tolerate the Cryptics (as the Raveners
assume they will eventually stop asking questions and start breaking
 stuff). The Raveners have no real leader, with most of them acting on
their own accord. They have set up shop in an old fortress called
Lemuria, an ancient stronghold of non-human make resting at the
bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.
Reconcilers
The Reconcilers have used their time in Hell to reconsider their actions
and the punishment that God meted out to them. Many have come to
the conclusion that they were punished justly and that they must
atone for their misdeeds; others simply feel that there is no point in
continuing to fight a war they lost long ago against an omnipotent
enemy. Now that they are free they wish to do some good, thinking
that God might forgive them and allow them to return to Heaven.
Even if he won't they might be able to help the humans, even fix
things so the humans can have what they themselves can't. They are
on reasonably good terms with the Cryptics and the Faustians, but are
diametrically opposed to the goals of the Luciferans and the Raveners.
The Reconcilers gather in communities, each of which have their own
leadership. Areas run by the Reconcilers tend to be fiercely protected
from non-Reconcilers, but these communities tend to be too far apart
to form a real regional power.
Earthbound
Now these are the really bad demons. After their imprisonment in the
War in Heaven, many human magi wanted to learn more about the
universe and so started using the magic they had learned from Lucifer
to summon Demons. Instead of offering a living host, they created a
device known as a reliquary, which was a powerful magical artifact
capable of containing the demon. However, without any Humanity to
block out their Torment, these Demons, now known as Earthbound
became even more corrupted and monstrous, becoming something
which even demons fear. Most of them were sent into slumber, as
without Faith from their worshippers, their powers faded and they lost
their influence over Humanity. However, now thanks to the return of
the Fallen, the Old Ones have started to awaken, and they have a very
poor view on both Humanity and their fellow Fallen.

Angels
Those angels who had stayed loyal to God seem to have vanished from the face of the
Earth. In the eyes of many of the Fallen this is just fine because they are in no shape to
fight them.
Time of Judgement suggests a scenario in which they make their return, as well as their
rules. And as it turns out Angels are BADASS. They are always in their low-Torment
Apocalyptic form and are immune to all things that would affect their physical forms
(such as the Lore of Flesh). When built from scratch they can spend 10 points on their
four abilities as per the DIY Apocalyptic Form. They have 0 Torment, 10 Willpower
and 25 Faith points that automatically restore each day. And that 25 is for the LOW-
RANKING angels (to compare, Demons have a max Faith rating of 10). Mid-ranking ones
have around 40 and the highest level ones are in the 50 to 65 range. They have five
dots in their Attributes but have no Abilities. Instead they can spend any number of
Faith points for their rolls to pretty much do whatever they want. The low-ranking
Angels have 15 dots amongst the Common Lores and their three House Lores, aka an
average of 3 per lore. Mid-ranking ones have 20 dots (average of four) and the high-
ranking ones have the full five on all the Lores. They are flat-out IMMUNE to bashing
and lethal damage, and can heal aggrevated damage at the cost of 5 Faith per point. On
top of that, low-ranking Angels can take 10 aggrevated damage before discorporating
and being forced to return to Heaven. Mid-ranking ones can take 15 and the high-
ranking ones can take a staggering 25. And if you do somehow manage to kill one it
returns to Heaven, where it has to spend its Faith to return to maximum power and
return to the world. The only way to permanently kill one is to destroy its body and
consume its essence just like Fallen can consume one another.

All this makes even a single Angel a significant threat to a group of Fallen, but they are
highly unconventional enemies and can only be used in games with truly epic plot lines.

Lores
Essentially the Disciplines of the Demons; their magical powers. Lores are interesting in
the sense that there are typically two versions of all powers: one for Low-Torment
Demons and one for High-Torment Demons. The former tend to be more benevolent
and fit for doing the tasks their Houses were once up to, such as healing injuries or
shaping the earth, while the latter is more malevolent and damaging. Using the High-
Torment versions of the Lores grant Temporary Torment, but sometimes it might be
worth it. If you become too far lost in Torment you may start using the High-Torment
versions automatically which is bad unless you don't care about turning into an
Earthbound. Each of the Houses has three Lores to call their own, and are the only ones
who can use them (without certain merits, anyway). All Houses have access to the two
common Lores, giving any given Demon a total of 5 lores. Upon creation a character has
to have a primary Lore, which determines the maximum level for all other Lores. This has
to be one of the House Lores: a common Lore cannot be a primary Lore. A Fallen's
primary Lore also determines what their Apocalypse Form is like, which is kinda a
divine Crinos shape.
Common Lores
Lore of the Fundament: The ability to fuck with gravity and/or the laws of physics. You
can for example make yourself capable of running up walls, sticking to things like glue
or walk on water. High-Torment tend to either leave the effects lingering for anyone else
unfortunate enough to come across it or create demonic "I was here" marks such as
warm footprints that burns.

Lore of Humanity: This Lore is built around interacting with humans. The first power
allows you to speak and understand any language the one you talk to speak and top-
tier lets you alter people's memories. High-Torment either hamper the Demon's ability
to use this Lore properly or adds nasty side effects to the person by making them
anxious, insomniac or induce nightmares. The third ability, Fade, normally makes you
blend in with crowds without anyone taking notice, but for High-Torments they stand
out like beacons to anyone who really wants to bash some heads.

Devils
Devils are leaders, working best with either Fallen companions or Thralls to achieve the
best possible result: fitting, given their status as the firstborn leaders amongst the
Elohim.

Lore of the Celestials: You know when an Angel appears to you in a vision? Or when
they smite evil with holy fire? This is that Lore. They can also to some extent manipulate
their fellow Demon's Lores at top-tier by modifying outcomes to whatever effect which
their others tend to be pissed about. High-Torment tend to do what you'd expect; their
visions become terror, manipulating other's Lores becomes sending them flying back at
the caster and where Low-Torment casts bolts of holy fire, High-Torment becomes a
huge inferno of holy fire which inflicts Aggravated Damage on everything in the radius.

Lore of Flame: No more original than the name implies. You can play with fire. Top-Tier
lets you ride flames. High-Torment makes the fires more dangerous, possibly to the
Demon itself as well.

Lore of Radiance: What the Devils use to look glorious and appear powerful and like
'the leader'. Abilities ranges from thundering voice to creating instant morale (or terror)
or bestow Marks upon people, an example given being "('Let every man give him shelter
no matter where he travels.'). The number of successes achieved determines the potency
and the effectiveness of the mark." High-Torment makes the Devils look terrorizing and
demonic rather than majestic and angelic and turns their inspiration from say loyalty
and morale to violence and fear.
Scourges
Scourges have Lores that work well in conjecture with Thralls. By guiding them through
the Lore of the Firmament they can support them with the Lores of Awakening to keep
them in good shape and the Lore of the Winds to deal some serious damage.

Lore of Awakening: The Scourges were originally designed, among other things, to

ease human's sufferings. Some eyebrow raising on how they were meant to do that
without interacting with said humans aside, this is the Lore they would use for it, capable
of purging illnesses, healing injures and even perfect resurrection (but you'll need the
deceased's soul) at top-tier, which is EXTREMELY rare in World of Darkness. The High-
Torment versions venerate Nurgle and creates diseases, pain etc rather than curing it.

Lore of the Firmament: What the Scourges do to look at you when you shower. This
allows them to see through the eyes or speak through the mouth of their thralls (see
below) to scrying and being at multiple places at once. The High-Torment versions are
largely identical but tend to have very nasty effects for the thrall such as bleeding from
the eyes and ears or cause brain damages and so on.

Lore of the Winds: Pretty easy to guess what this does. You get to control wind!
Ranges from making casual breezes that can help you pick up speed to creating massive
cyclones or solidifying air into instant-walls. The two-dot version allows you to go Darth
Vader on your enemies and Force Choke them with air. The High-Torment versions
actively damages those it touches and smells very badly; for example touching a High-
Torment air-wall will sear the flesh from your body and a cyclone might start draining
the air from your lungs even at a distance.

Malefactors
Malefactors excel at working with solid matter. The Lore of the Earth is one of
manipulation rather than outright damage, and Lore of the Forge allows you to interact
with machinery, shape matter and even make magical items. Combined with the Lore of
Paths this allows the Fallen to travel on the ground with ease and greatly hinder
enemies.

Lore of the Earth: Also not much more original than the name suggests. Meld into the
earth early and causes earthquakes late. The High-Torment versions of the abilities are
for the most part useful additions unless you're not trying to hurt someone by rupturing
the ground beneath them, but can be a bit risky. High-Torment Earth Meld for example
allows you to move beneath the ground, which you cannot normally do, but if you fail
the roll you're forced back to the surface.
Lore of the Forge: Allows you to create and enhance objects to whatever effects.
Maybe a tad boring on the surface but doubtlessly useful with the right mind behind it;
a pencil that can double as a flamethrower might come in handy in a place like the
World of Darkness, as could a secret drawer only you can open. The High-Torment of
this Lore basically turns it into a Dark Mechanicus sort of deal where everything
becomes weaponized and out to harm or kill everything it interacts with, possibly
including the wielder.

Lore of Paths: Have you ever wanted to be a walking GPS? Maybe make some new
paths when the outline of a neighborhood or wilderness tries to force you through a
long and tedious detour? NOW YOU CAN! You can also hide or warp paths, the latter
meaning "change their directions." This is pretty much the divine version of the Sphere
of Correspondence. High-Torment ranges from getting in the way of the abilities to
making them more dangerous. For example, instead of concealing a path, you set a trap.
Instead of removing a path, you collapse it and so on.

Fiends
Fiends can use their lores to create illusions, manipulate fate and teleport. At high levels
you can freeze time, step out of reality and create illusions powerful enough to kill. This
makes Fiends real bitches to deal with.

Lore of Light: Think 'Light' in the more scientific sense of the word and you're right on.
Ranges from, unsurprisingly, creating light to being able to form optical illusions and
even to a degree solidifying light itself and hamper people. High-Torment makes it fear-
inducing, mind fuckening and, in the case of the 'solidifying light' one, makes said light
lash out against anything getting too close.

Lore of Patterns: What the Fiends used to see the future. Ranges from that to being
able to influence it and downright twist time at top-tier (which is the actual name for the
ability), allowing you to stop time, throw a staggering number of knives at people then
let time resume for massive damage. High-Torment becomes very obsessed with
negative outcomes and may either just show that or actively push towards one even
where there otherwise would be none.

Lore of Portals: Take a wild guess. No really. (It creates Portals.) At one dot you can
manipulate basic portals (like doors). Can also make wards on their portals to keep
others out. When induced with High-Torment the wards don't restrict invaders but do
induce a shitload of pain on them, portals aren't opened but rather smashed or ripped
open which might cause damage to anything too close when one is brought up or
down, and the powers in general become less reliable.
Defilers
Defilers love Humanity more than any other of the Houses, and it shows. The Lores of
Longing and Transfiguration are well-suited for pleasing humans, by altering their
perceptions or the Fallen's own form. While this makes them unparalleled in social
interactions, their combat abilities are limited to trying to drown people with the one-
dot Lore of Storms power.

Lore of Longing: What the Defilers use when they want to be muses. It ranges from
reading emotions to being able to create obsessions. The three-dot ability is interesting
because a botch on behalf of the receiving party will get them addicted to the power.
The High-Torment abilities typically put a dark twist on everything; reading emotions
becomes drawing out dark desires, inspiring with great creativity turns genius to
madness and manipulating senses are restricted to agony.

Lore of Storms: The Defilers were Angels of the Oceans and this is what they used for it.
Ranges from being able to create water with a thought to invoking huge storms
befitting of the name. Summon Water is something of a misnomer: you'll still need a
water source or some kind nearby like a Waterbender. High-Torment versions tend to
make everything worse; someone who likes stormy weather will find that the storms
they make are specifically out to damage everything around them rather than being just
a force of nature, water they create becomes polluted and can create chemical burns
and so on.

Lore of Transfiguration: Chameleon: The Power. Allows you to change your physical

features in a slightly more effective, if cosmetic, way than the Tzimisce can. Unlike the
Lore of Flesh, they cannot say add a bunch of arms or replace limbs; they can only make
it seem like they had. High-Torment tend to either make it difficult to perform without
strict focus or it invariably creates some manner of deformity in the victim whether the
Demon wants to do it or not.

Devourers
Devourers have Lores best described as one part Gangrel, one part Green Path Tremere,
two parts Tzimisce and four parts whoop-ass. While they can be very benevolent the
Devourers' Lores are quite useful when used in High-Torment mode: healing starts
doing damage and makes your patient go violent, the wild rises up and hates your guts
and animals... well, caw caw motherfucker.

Lore of the Beast: Animalism with a small spice of Protean in it for Demons. Allows you
to summon, command, possess and become animals. The top-tier allows you to make
mythical beasts. High-Torment, unsurprisingly, makes either them or you violent. Go
figure.

Lore of the Flesh: Think the same vein as the Tzimisce with Vicissitude. Want to alter
appearance? Can do. Fix up some nerves, add body parts or make bodily functions,
ranging from sneezing to adrenaline surges to boners trigger? All there and possible.
Has about the same amount of practical freedom as Vicissitude. The High-Torment
makes nerve-fuckery straining on the victim, appearances inhuman and scary and new
limbs potentially strangle whatever they're attached to, or otherwise lash out against
those around said victim. Not the sort you want plastic surgeries from.

Lore of the Wilds: Power over plants to various extents, ranges from the casual to rapid
growth, possession and mutations. High-Torment makes the plants more violent and
bloodthirsty.

Slayers
Slayers have spooky powers. They deal with the dead and ghosts, making them the go-
to House when you got a body you need to work with. They also work well with the
afore-mentioned Lore of Awakening to bring the dead back, or they can do so on their
own. It is wise to be careful though because not all ghosts like the living and will either
be uncooperative or outright hostile, which can be a problem when you're in another
reality than the rest of the party is.

Lore of Death: Ranges from the standard applications like decaying objects and seeing
how someone died to creating images of death in their enemies to traumatize them and
creating zombies under the Slayer's command. We're not even on the High-Torment
versions yet by the way; that tends to spiral the powers out of control. For example,
trying to kill a specific individual becomes difficult because nearly all of your powers
becomes Area of Effect and start fucking with everything nearby, including the likes of
grass and housecats, and zombies becomes feral. A High-Torment Demon trying to see
how someone dies can only see it if the person died violently.

Lore of Realms: Pretty much the ability to go into the Underworld where the Ghosts
hang out, or what's left of it after the Sixth Maelstrom. High-Torment tend to create
ripples where Spirits get through and/or agonize said Spirits and cause unsettling
effects on both side of the realms they travel between.

Lore of the Spirit: Slayers use this to interact with Ghosts and Spirits, whether that
means simply speaking with them, commanding them or helping them possess a
soulless husk like the Demons themselves do. High-Torment may either spread the
Demon's Torment onto the Ghost or cause suffering when trying to anchor them to the
mortal world.