CALABIM, The Freaks

"The door," said the Balseraph, pointing at it while he saundered out of my range. "Take it out."

"No problem," I said, concentrating on the door. It wasn't a huge door, but we weren't getting through without help.

I touched the door, feeling the grain of the metal. In my mind's eye, the door wasn't just a door, it was a bunch of little pieces of stuff all crammed together into a door-like shape. And if you thought about it, there wasn't really all that much between all the little pieces.

The trick is making the door think about it.

"Thanks, man," said the Balseraph, his feet crunching across tired metal flakes as he walked through the doorway.

"Got anything else for me?" I smiled. "I think I'm on a roll."

There are no demons more cautiously avoided by angels than the Calabim. They serve no purpose except wanton destruction. Calabim are highly prized servants when the Princes need such work done -- but widely feared when they inevitably freak out and start destroying everything around them.

Resonance
A Calabite is surrounded by an invisible field of entropy that can break down the integrity of any ordered structure within its reach. At will, the Calabim may impose their whirling entropic energies upon their physical surroundings or, when in celestial form, any other celestial within range.

Dissonance
But when their resonance manifests, but is deflected its target, it lashes back on the Calabite. He must either absorb its destructive energies into himself, which causes him dissonnace, or keep lashing out with his resonance at another target within range until he does some damage. It's dangerous to hang around the Calabim, though they pride themselves on doing good work.

Manner and Appearance
The Calabim, one and all, are pretty freaky. They all have some Discord about them, but it's through this crack in their Forces that they pour destruction upon the world.

These demons try to act calm, almost distant. They're descended from Ofanim stock, the angels who act as the Symphony's agents of motion. To strike the balance necessary to exist as diabolical creatures, Calabim have externalized that sense of motion, converting it into their whirlwind of entropy.

But don't let them fool you. At all times, the mind of a Calabite is turned towards taking things apart and breaking them down to their componant elements. Other demons don't let them near mechanical devices or any delicate instruments -- you'll come back to find the Calabite looking sheepish, sitting amongst parts of a disassembled contraption.

They're nice enough demons, loyal to their Prince, but easy to anger and hard to calm down. Both as a testament to their tempers and as a side-effect of their field of entropy, Calabim leave a trail behind them of fist-shaped holes through doors, broken glass windows, punctured tires and toppled mailboxes. These demons won't think twice about picking someone up and slapping them around if they don't like what's being said, unless they've been given a real good reason beforehand as to why they shouldn't.

In their celestial vessels, Calabim are nasty, grubby and leering demons, red-faced and bat-winged. On Earth, the Calabim prefer rough and tumble vessels, the better to sprawl about in a living room with. No matter what clothes you put on them, they'll quickly get dirty and wrinkled as a side-effect of the ever-present aura of entropy. Calabim let their long hair get mussy, smiling hugely from beneath shaggy manes. They're the Calabim, and damned if they're going to let you get in their way.

Game Mechanics
All Calabim characters begin play with 1 Discord, of any type, at a level equal to the number of Forces they have of that type. For example, if a Calabite wants to take Stigmata, a Corporeal Discord, and he has 3 Corporeal Forces, then his Stigmata is at level 3. A Calabite's initial Discord cannot ever be bought off or taken away, but it can be amplified.

The Calabite's resonance, when successfully invoked, does corporeal damage equal to the demon's Corporeal Forces plus the check digit of the successful roll. In his celestial form, a Calabite's resonance does celestial damage equal to his Celestial Forces plus the successful roll's check digit. If the demon fails his resonance roll, he can't use it again for a number of rounds equal to the check digit of the failed roll.

His resonance is effective against anything within a number of feet equal to his Will. Living beings may attempt a Strength roll to resist the infernal forces of entropy (or a Will roll, when resisting celestial damage). When a Calabite's resonance fails against a target, he can't try to impose his own personal symphony upon it for a number of minutes equal to the check digit of the failed roll. Inanimate objects may not resist.

When a Calabite's target resists his attack, the demon may either take a point of dissonance or lash out in frustration at something else within range. If the demon chooses to go with the random destruction route, he can do nothing else but invoke his resonance against other targets within his range, including himself, until he finally succeeds and does some damage.


In Nomine Online | The Game | Bands of Demons | Demon Princes | The In Nomine home page