LIL: The Consolidation of the Queen's Power
By Eric Burns
A note -- in both background materials and mechanics, I'll refer to
"Luciferian" Words. These are original Infernal Words, degrading at 1
Word Force per day at sunrise. Note that barring promotion of one's
Word enough to gain Forces, the most powerful of non-Superiors
(defined as having 18 Forces and 21+ Word Forces) will fall into soul
death after 39 days plus however many more Word forces they have.
Superiors, having huge numbers of nebulous Forces and power,
generally will last longer than this. Also, while Lilith (in this
system) can both grant Words (and stable ones at that) and
Princedoms, she can't strip Luciferian Words and Princedoms unless
she grants new Words at the same time. But, that problem is self
correcting, isn't it? Technically, the new Words are Lilithian Words,
but generally they will just be referred to as Words.
The Consolidation of the Queen's Power
(or, the First Seven Major Princes)
There was turmoil in Hell following the Ascension of the Queen. Many
demons had passionately believed in Lucifer and his cause, and had no
reason to believe in Lilith and her right to power. Others had
repented of their rebellion and gone to embrace Heaven and
Redemption. The Luciferian Princes, still desperately fighting for
survival, had little time to consider Lilith's Ascension -- no doubt
they decided Lilith could be dealt with after they achieved stability
once more.
But Lilith was no fool. Since long before the Fall she had known that
all things came with a price, and true power lay in what one could
provide. Her strength had been undiminished following Lucifer's
death. Her ascension to the Granite Throne had made her vastly more
powerful. The support of Kronos meant she was strong and difficult to
assail. But to rule Hell she first had to give Hell a reason to
follow her.
That reason came from a Demon of the War -- a Habbalite named Voizia,
who was the Luciferian Demon of Tormenting Prisoners of War. Lilith
selected her as a powerful Demon who had suffered greatly, her Word
not strong enough to protect her from the erosion. She was not yet a
Remnant, but it was close... so close.... And Lilith spoke to Voizia,
and asked if she were strong enough to step into a new world, without
Lucifer or even her Word. And Voizia said yes, and Lilith drew her
close and impressed upon her the Word of Pain. And Voizia, Habbalite
Demon of Pain, rose in strength quickly.
And the Luciferian Demon of Pain felt his Word being held by another
and felt a momentary flare of strength. The moment was fleeting,
however, and within three days he was Soul dead. The Horde knew then
that Lilith had the strength to save them.
Andrealphus was the first to yield himself to Lilith. She reached her
beautiful, cruel hand out and collected the Luciferian Prince of
Lust. She pulled him tight and whispered to him, demanding his utter
and total fealty now and forevermore, tightening a Geas that made a
simple Year's Geas look petty. Lilith was no longer concerned with
Equity, it seemed. And Andrealphus wanted the beautiful, powerful,
domineering woman and threw himself to his knees before her, and
Lilith renamed him Prince of Lust -- his Word once again stable. And
he knew that she could take that Word from him if she willed, and
kneeled at her feet, the slave of the woman who had been the Princess
of Freedom. And so Lilith built her earliest foundation on Fate's
free support and Lust's submission.
Lilith then knew she needed to weaken the old order, and form a new
Hellish Alliance that was devoted to her, not to old dreams and
viewpoints of the War. And so she let Asmodeus degrade on, but
instead drew young Alaemon to her breast, feeding his paranoia,
ambition and Impudite's pride with bitterness and hunger, and forging
him into her Prince of Intelligence. Secrets fell beneath his Word
now, and she gave to him the spies, the whispers, the hidden things,
and made him her agent in Hell and on Earth. And so Lilith accepted
Intelligence into her power base, before violence or War. And so the
nature of the very War itself changed, with Heaven none the wiser.
For Lilith intended to win, and her goals were specific indeed.
The weakest potential beachhead in Hell came from the Marches, of
course. Since the Death of Lucifer, the forces of Blandine and
Laurence had been hounding Beleth's gates. Laurence had believed
Beleth vulnerable with her Word failing slowly within her. Blandine
hoped and prayed that with Lucifer destroyed, her lover could be
reclaimed from the ashes of Hell itself. But Lilith did not intend to
lose just yet, and she summoned the Luciferian Princess of
Nightmares. And whatever bargain the two struck is not know, but
Beleth pledged herself and her support both to Lilith and Lilith's
plan, and Lilith made the Djinn the Princess of Horror -- a broader
Word, with more potential. And Beleth threw her forces into defense,
and had them bolstered with Andrealphus -- whom she disliked, but
Lilith wanted dreams of lust corrupting humanity alongside nightmares
that terrified them -- and demons in the dreams of humanity on both
sides of the Marches. With renewed angles of attack on Blandine's
side of the Marches, the assault was lightened and Hell was not
taken. So was Lilith's strategy shown to be wise.
With Fate, Lust, Intelligence and Horror, Lilith was clearly
establishing a beachhead in the War -- not of violence or military
strategy, but within the hearts, minds, fears and desires of mankind.
Lilith knew that the world and human race that had existed when the
Fall was as dead as Lucifer. It was a modern world now, and Hell
needed a new agenda. One not dedicated to Armageddon but Humanity.
The Luciferian Princes could see this, and they were sorely
displeased. Baal, the Luciferian Prince of the War, spoke out against
this plan and Lilith's rule, and in this was supported by his
associates, Asmodeus, Belial, Vapula and Saminga. But they were no
longer strong enough to openly attack healthy Princes. Still, Lilith
could not afford to leave the power bloc untouched. She seized upon
the one Prince that fit her agenda -- Vapula -- and drew him in.
The world was scientific now, not superstitious, she told the
Habbalite, and war was fought by missiles and computers instead of
swords and charges. And Vapula was turned, and accepted Lilith's
rule. And in her name Vapula became the Habbalite Prince of Science,
his scope expanded and his research affirmed. And Vapula left behind
his Luciferian comrades and clients, and threw himself into
researching the world Lilith wanted to bring about. At the same time,
he publically abandoned his research into stabilizing Luciferian
Words -- though rumors persisted of black research, naturally.
Lilith, in assuming the scepter of Hell itself, had renounced
Freedom. In accepting the promise of power and whim, she had
renounced Equity. No longer was she interested in the trading of
Lilim for promises, or services for services. Those who wanted her
services could bring their gifts up front, now. But Lilith could
recognize the need both for Lilim in Hell, and for the kind of
dealmaking that once she had excelled at. Further, with her ascension
and Mammon's Word degradation, Marc was poised to seize the financial
structures of Earth and restore Selflessness in most arenas. To
combat this, Lilith raised her first entirely New Princess to power.
This was Rebekah, a powerful but hereto un-Word-bound Free Lilim, and
a former aide de camp to the former Princess of Freedom. Rebekah
agreed to the unthinkable -- eternal servitude -- in exchange for
both unimaginable power and the unique abilities (aside from Lilith
herself) to provide Lilim to other Princes, trade and reassign
Geases, and otherwise broker power throughout Hell. It seemed Rebekah
could actually create Lilim, but the white gold bracers and
neck-choker Rebekah always wore from that day forward may have
actually provided the ability. Lilith herself stopped providing Lilim
on that day as well, so as not to undercut her so-loyal, so important
Lilim Princess of the Deal.
Rebekah swiftly proved her worth by gathering up the weakest, most
desperate of the Luciferian Princes, Furfur, Calabite Prince of
Luciferian Hardcore, and bringing him to Lilith. Lilith watched as
the Calabite courted death. It is said she let her Demon of Pain --
the very symbol given to Hell of her power -- torture him during this
time, increasing the pain and his horror. And the Queen of Hell
offered the suffering Prince a lure -- as beautiful as she was. A
Word and Principality among her highest. The role of Furfur's old
Superior and enemy, Belial. The expression of violence among
humanity. And Furfur broke under the strain -- the Hardcore ultimate
rebel against authority betraying all his followers and proported
beliefs, swearing eternal bondage in Geas to Lilith and her will. And
in turn, the Queen lifted Furfur back up in power and knowledge,
granting him the Word and Principality of Destruction. And Furfur
embraced Destruction in the name of the Queen with fiery pleasure.
Fate. Lust. Intelligence. Horror. Science. The Deal. Destruction.
With these seven Princes serving her will -- a 'Balseraph' (in name
at least), two Impudites, a Djinn, a Habbalite, a Lilim and a
Calabite -- Lilith felt secure in her power, and began to work her
designs upon the Earth, promoting new Word-Bound in service to her
Seven Princes. And she let the forces of Hell know that other Words
and even Principalities could still be had... for a price.
And the Luciferian Princes -- Asmodeus, Baal, Belial, Haagenti,
Kobal, Malphas, Nybbas and Saminga -- gather their flagging power and
try to hold a unified line, but begin to fragment and fall upon one
another... or seek to survive by any means necessary. Of them, Baal's
vision was the broadest -- knowing Hell's mission for thousands of
years, and distrusting the Lilithian Agenda, but increasingly
helpless to fight it.
And no one knew where Valefor was.
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