Titivillus
Balseraph Baron of the Media
The Demon of Misspelling
Adapted by: "Carmen Clemons"
<carmenc@dfwmm.net>
Corporeal Forces 4 (Strength 8, Agility 8)
Ethereal Forces 5 (Intelligence 8, Precision 12)
Celestial Forces 5 (Will 10, Perception 10)
Vessel:
Human/6
Songs:
Charm(Celestial)/6, Form(Ethereal)/4, Possession/5, Tongues(Corporeal)/4
Skills:
Artistry(Calligraphy)/6, Computer Operation/5, Fast-Talk/5, Knowledge(Church)/6
Attunements:
Balseraph of the Media, Baron of the Fourth Estate,
Subliminal
Special Rite:
Titivillus gains 1 Essence whenever he participates in an exchange where
another person misspells something. In the case of print media, this could
be a letter. In the case of an online discussion, he must remain online
for at least an hour.
"Psst, you spelled 'grammer' properly," said the Demun
of Mispellings; it is disonnant to correctt someone who mispels a werd.
(Hm. I see an idea there, believe it or not!)
Actually, he already exists. *grin* According to my copy of _Medieval Calligraphy:
Its History and Technique_ by Marc Drogin (ISBN 0-486-26142-5 if anyone
really cares), his name is Titivillus.
Apparently, he started out collecting verbal mistakes made by monks during
services, then started collecting mistakes they made in the scriptorium.
He takes these mistakes to Lucifer, who has them all recorded in a big
book so he can bring it out and let God know about it on the Day of Judgement.
Well, after this story got around, the monks were a lot more careful about
their copying, so he had trouble finding enough mistakes to fill his bag
for a while. But in the fifteenth century, he apparently got a bright idea
- he might not have been able to find mistakes in the first editions of
some texts, but he could entice the scribes who made copies for the universities
to make hundreds of them. This worked beautifully. The scribes made hordes
of mistakes, and denied all responsibility, claiming Titivillus made them
goof. So the demon became their patron instead of their pest, because he
took the blame.
After the invention of the printing press, he really had a field day. In
1561, _Anatomy of the Mass_, a 172 page document, had 15 pages of errata.
The monk who edited it said the enormous number of errors said the devil
caused the printer to make the mistakes after somehow getting the manuscript
soaked in a kennel. (I don't even want to know how that happened.) However,
that was a mere pittance. His masterpiece was a printing of the Vulgate
Bible ordered by Pope Sixtus V. The pope issued a papal bull automatically
excommunicating any printer who altered the text, and he inspected each
sheet as it came off the press.
However, the finished product was so bad that corrections had to be printed,
cut out, and pasted over mistakes in every single copy. Sixtus V had to
have all the copies returned and destroyed, but according to my book, "at
least one, though, reportedly has been preserved as a testament to Titivillus'
handiwork."
For In Nomine, I'd say Titivillus has had a hand in the recent popularity
of internet communications. Although not responsible for the creation of
the internet, he immediately saw the potential to further his Word. Titivillus
has spawned newsgroups, mailing lists, IRC discussions, and MU*'s. In the
past few years, his records (which have long since been transferred to computer)
have swelled at an incredible rate. His chief enemy is Leorel, the Angel
of Spellcheckers. Although he originally worked for Vapula, he switched
loyalties when Nybbas was promoted.
Titivillus's vessel is a man in his late thirties of middling appearance,
although he often employs the Song of Possession.
Quote: [online] "Oops, s0rry abouy the t7pos."
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