Created by: "Leath
Sheales (Leathal Weapon)" <938269@wrpc.riv.csu.edu.au>
["Okay, here's my idea for Thrash, the Demon Prince of Music.
I don't know if I'm happy with him yet, but he seems to compliment Melody well..." --Leath]
The world is a big hotel with an infinite number of rooms just *waiting*
for you to trash 'em up." [Austin
"If that's too close to what Furfur's take on the world is going to
be, I'm sorry" Loomis]
Thrash's history more or less echoes that of Melody, his Divine counterpart.
While faithfully serving Malphas as a good little Impudite, Thrash too noticed
that humans were becoming enamoured with music and requested that he be
assigned a Word in order to pervert the music to Hell's cause. Hell had
not yet realised the potential of music for anything greater than inspiring
armies, and denied Thrash his wish. Thrash was disgruntled but continued
to serve his master. He periodically sent requests to the Powers-That-Be,
but he was continually turned down. He was careful not to make these requests
too frequently, and only after he had pleased his master, lest those powers
mightier than he decided to punish him.
As the free-love movement started, Hell saw it as a victory for their cause,
until they realised that the ideas of peace and love were being promoted,
largely through music. Horrified, they at last agreed to Thrash's request
and appointed him Demon of Music, although the attempt was largely damage
control, Hell was sure that Heaven had overwhelmingly won this battle.
Thrash was faced with an enormous task, and it was almost entirely luck
(and a little skill) that gave him his break. Thrash was able to find some
groups who wanted to take the hippie movement further and extend it to bring
the downfall of society and governments so that people could truly be 'free'.
Thrash perverted these groups, creating the punk movement, and launched
this assault at Melody, his far more powerful opponent. He didn't stop there
and within the space of a few years had managed to turn groups and musicians
in every aspect of music towards Hell's goals.
Although Melody had suffered a setback, she still had far more resources
than he and was starting to use them against him. With this knowledge Thrash
returned to Hell and petitioned Lucifer himself for the resources necessary
to fight an Archangel and her Followers. It was an extremely risky gamble,
with the outcome likely to be Thrash's destruction for his presumptuousness
in demanding a favour from Lucifer. However, Lucifer was annoyed that Hell
had taken so long to enter the world of music as a battle front, and made
Thrash the Demon Prince of Music then and there. Thrash now had the resources
to fight his enemy.
However, the politics of Hell could not be ignored, and Thrash is still
largely inexperienced in such things and spends much of his time manoeuvering
against the other Demon Princes. He has had a rather equal balance of power
with Melody for some time now, but she has recently extended her influence
and seems to be taking the high ground in the music war, something Thrash
is determined to stop.
It is Dissonant for any of Thrash's followers to stop any music being played, directly or indirectly. Note that pausing or interrupting music in order to, for example, join in, is not considered to be stopping the music.
(Note that 'Band' below may refer to a single musician or a group). Those bands influenced by Thrash are no less successful than those of Melody, although Thrash's bands tend to have a far darker view of life.
Masters of scandal, the Balseraphs seem to attract media attention, and are always trusted as an 'inside source'. Basically, the Demon can make up any scandalous lie about the band and it will be believed and reported to be 100% true. This generally makes the band members very depressed, which can be heard in their music, but it greatly increases their reputation with the fans.
Once a Djinn has attached itself to a band, all sorts of trouble seems to follow the hapless members. Death threats, stalkers, harassing phone calls and more are attracted to them, but don't worry, the faithful Djinn always seems to be there to stop it, protecting the band and feeling needed. So occasionally a few things get by and a band member gets hurt, so what? At least the Djinn protected the others and feels good about itself.
The destructive impulses of the Calabite may be unleashed on the band. During any performance, the band will be urged to smash instruments, break equipment and be destructive. This drives the fans into a frenzy where they will probably try to break things as well, and will be more inclined to violence and vandalism after the performance (GMs decision).
Much like their Elohim counterparts, Habbalah make 'good' managers. They can see which path would lead the band to greatness, but only if that path involves the sacrifice of something the band treasures to the causes of Hell. This gift if largely GM's discretion, but bands with a Habbalah manager are usually hugely successful, but leave behind a trail of broken marriages, drug abuse charges and sexual harassment claims.
Even if the Lilim never goes near the band members, rumours and media will place the Demon right at the heart of any scandal involving the band. The Demon will suffer no repercussions from these rumours, being the 'innocent victim', but wives, girlfriends, husbands or anyone else will grow extremely angry and jealous, and will not believe the band members when they claim not to know the Lilim. This of course leads them to become more devoted to the music and write darker lyrics.
Once a Shedim has possessed a member of a band, any fans of that band may be automatically possessed. Also, any roll made while the Demon uses the fan's body has the Demon's original possession check digit added to the target number. The Demon must possess a band member at least once a week for this power to stay in effect. With the destructive impulses this Demon creates, it moves from band to band very quickly.
These Demons love music, and they love music fans. An Impudite can steal Essence from any human listening to Hell inspired music (GM's decision) simply with a light touch, without having to charm the victim first.
These are generally similar to those enjoyed by Melody's Followers, as Thrash has based his gifts largely on his nemesis.
with a Perception roll, the servant of Thrash may automatically tell if a note is out of tune and by how much. This power also makes them more sensitive to the music of the Symphony, and they may add their Celestial Forces to any test to detect disturbances.
the Demon may take any piece of music and fill it with feelings of hatred, violence and selfishness. Despite the actual words (the fans don't want to listen to them anyway) the fans will feel agitated and aggressive and will be more inclined to further Hell's goals. This power requires a Will roll and 1 Essence per thousand people listening. The exact effects are left up to the GM. Followers of Melody hate demons with this power and both can often be sensed at concerts trying to alter the mood of the music. For music with an overly feel-good or peaceful message, a negative modifier may be applied to the target.
With a Perception roll these Demons may sense musicians and locate them to pervert their musical dreams of greatness.
By succeeding in a Will roll, these Demons can play any instrument they touch, inspiring jealousy in anyone listening and can even teach this instrument to others if desired (although they must re-make the roll every time they put down the instrument).
With a Perception roll, these Demons can sense Celestials moving through the Symphony. Followers of Melody are their particular targets, and their Celestial Forces add to the target number.
Thrash is treated as little more than an amusing child by most of the
other Princes, but generally hasn't made many enemies (that he knows of).
He is hostile to Saminga, who takes every opportunity to kill promising
musicians. He makes some excellent music videos with Nybbas.
Allied- Kobal, Lilith, Malphas, Nybbas.
Associated- Andrealphus, Ball, Beleth, Vapula.
Neutral- Asmodeus, Belial, Haagenti, Kronos, Valefor.
Hostile- Saminga.
Thrash loves meeting his cool 'groupies', but Hell politics take up a lot of his time and really suck.
+1 Any music playing loudly.
+2 Disturbing at least one other person with your music.
+3 Playing own music to a cool tune that Thrash would love.
+4 A concert with up to 1000 people.
+5 A concert with 1,000 - 100, 000 people.
+6 a concert with over 100,000 people.
This dark, smoky and loud place is bigger and louder than the largest,
noisiest nightclub on Earth. Music plays non-stop, echoes of the most demonic
music on Earth. Demons occasionally get up on stage and play, even rarer
Thrash has a jam. The human souls here feel the need to dance whenever the
music plays, and the music never stops. Every day they must pay a 'cover
charge' of all their Essence or they get thrown out by bouncer demons. No-one
knows what's outside, but no-one ever returns, except the Demons. Demons
have the knack of speaking normally despite the noise, but if a human wishes
to be heard they have to shout at the top of their voices, severely hurting
their throats in the process.
Demons can buy drinks at the various bars lining the walls at the cost of
1 Essence. Humans never have enough Essence saved up to buy a drink, so
they always feel thirsty. Demon's Hearts are stored on shelves behind the
bars, and Demon bartenders stop anyone from touching them. Besides, climbing
behind the bar is an offence you can be thrown outside for......