DJINN, The Stalkers

I knew where he was, right behind the bleachers. From half a mile away, I knew it -- I could hear him, I could smell him, I could taste him. I took my time, he wasn't going anyplace.

"Gkkk," he choked, coughing up blood -- must've been from the pole through his chest. "Kill me."

"No can do," said the Djinn. "Against the rules." I sat down next to him and tossled his hair.

Cold and disdainful, the Djinn don't get excited. That would be admitting they cared about something besides themselves, which doesn't come naturally to demons. Instead they move slowly, nonchalantly, without regard for anyone or anything. They just don't give a damn.

Resonance
Prized for their earnestly duplicitous nature, Djinn are the infernal counterparts to the divine Cherubim, eternally vigilant guardians of things held dear. Like a Cherub, a Djinn's resonance in his symphony is for the set of patterns he's attuned himself to through physical contact. These patterns can be anything -- a person, an object, a place, anything. While the attunement lasts, generally less than a week, the perceptive Djinn will know its general location and condition.

The Shedim and the Djinn are notorious for their vicious distrust of one another. Shedim, unlike other demons, move freely and frequently from vessel to vessel and can't be as reliably tracked with the resonance of the Djinn. The Shedim resent the fact that the Djinn would even try to keep track of them -- and compound the Djinn's feelings of impotency by making them the butt of nasty tricks.

Dissonance
The frustration which the Djinn feel toward the Shedim just shows how much they really do care about things, no matter what their poker faces might lead you to believe.

Djinn are in a constant struggle between their refusal to care about anything and their need to feel cared about, left over from long-ago days in the Heavens. Unlike a Cherub, who generates dissonance when the object of his attunement is hurt, the Djinn could care less about what happens to a pattern to which he's attuned . . . but he can't bring himself to cause it harm by his own hand.

The only exception is when the person to whom the Djinn is attuned asks the demon to do something, regardless of the harm it may bring him. In this case, the demon doesn't generate dissonance in the ensuing mayhem.

Also, when disposing of an attunement, a Djinn may find he can't get it out of his mind. His resonance begins to act like a Cherub's, causing dissonance if the object of his irrational affection is betrayed. Unfortunately, since they give their celestial attentions without the caution and reserve of the Cherubim, this can cause them to fixate on the strangest things. A Djinn's obsession is his darkest secret, to be guarded jealously until his love begins to fade and his black heart is restored to a state of tranquil apathy.

Manner and Appearance
The Djinn are the demons most likely to be found brooding in a dark corner, alone. Their hearts are desolate from pushing their naturally warm and romantic souls away from divine glory. In the Pit, there are no greater cynics than the Djinn.

Their corporeal vessels tend towards the stocky side, dense and strong. They put no care into their outward appearances, considering vanity a weakness they can't afford to spend time on. Likewise, these demons don't care what other people think about them. A Djinn doesn't bother with the general upkeep that corporeal living requires; their clothes are always dirty, their beds unmade.

In their celestial form, Djinn look like a horrible mish-mash of winged creatures, escapees from a surrealist's lucid dream -- like feathered armadillo toads and bat-winged dolphin slugs. Only the Shedim look more hideous than the Djinn, a fact the Shedim never hear the end of from these glowering, pessimistic demons.

Game Mechanics
With a touch, a Djinn may attune himself to as many patterns as he has Celestial Forces. The check digit of a successful resonance roll is the number of days the Djinn will be attuned to the object of his limited devotion. After that, the Djinn must again make physical contact to renew the attunement. If the check digit of the successful resonance roll is a 6, then the attument will stay with the Djinn until he makes a successful Will roll to remove it from his attention. At any point, a Djinn may remove an attunement with a successful Will roll, minus the number of days left on the pattern's attunement.

While attuned to something, a Djinn cannot himself cause it harm, either physical or emotional. If following his target's desires brings it harm, and if the attuned person relieves the demon of his responsibility, then the Djinn acquires no dissonance from the action.

When a Djinn fails an attunement-based Will roll, he loses himself in unholy, selfish devotion. For a number of days equal to the check digit of the failed roll, the Djinn's resonance will act like a Cherub's, causing dissonance in the Djinn if the object of devotion is betrayed, denied or destroyed.

Resonance Check Digit
1 You know the direction of the attuned object.
2 You know the direction of the attuned object and its general condition.
3 You know the direction of the attuned object, its general condition and its approximate distance from you (within miles).
4 You know the direction of the attuned object, its general condition and its approximate distance from you (within yards).
5 You know the direction of the attuned object, its general condition, its approximate distance from you (within yards) and whether or not it's moving.
6 You know the direction of the attuned object, its general condition, its approximate distance from you (within yards) and whether or not it's moving or in immediate danger.



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