Dameron Demon Prince of Slavery
By Steve Feldon <sfeldon@microsoft.com>, from discussions with Elizabeth McCoy, about Superiors who might have been diminished without being destroyed. . . . Incorporating several useful suggestions from Lonnie Foster.
"The world is in need of a master. Give it one."
The Word of Slavery
When one human hurts another, you have cruelty. When one human forces another to do something, you have coercion. But when one human systematically destroys options and breaks the soul of another, you have slavery. You have Dameron.
As with most evils, the humans did it to each other first, and then the demons stepped in to make sure they couldn't stop. Once Dameron got his word, there were entire countries running on slave labor within a century. Tribes becames slaves to other tribes, and eventually lost their identity. There was no place where slavery wasn't; there was no voice calling to end it but Lilith's.
And one day it changed. Vapula and Dameron's grandest plan, the Industrial Revolution, started as a way to make more people into virtual slaves to poverty and danger, but eventually, something went wrong. The work got easier, and social changes made it less dangerous to work in a factory. People began . . . living. Not in fear. Without terror. The humans were unbroken. And the economies that rode this wave were strong enough that they threw off
Dameron's shackles.
Dameron, an Impudite, is a shadow of his former self. Just three hundred years ago, he held a Word which was powerful worldwide. Now, only tiny pockets of influence remain. Thailand. Togo. Scattered sweatshops and houses of prostituation. Even South Africa has reformed, and Slavery's Demons no longer call it home.
The change hasn't been easy for Dameron. He never worked particularly closely with any of the other Princes, but at least he was respected in Hell, for in
Hell every soul is a slave to something or someone. Now, he's a laughing stock. Lilith is actively attempting to have Lucifer demote Dameron to a mere Demon, and several of his primary Servitors, including Alnax, the Demon of Sexual Slavery, and Loqis, the Demon of Conscription, have defected to the service of Andrealphus and Baal. Even his most trusted lieutenant, Yuw, the Demon of Mastery Over Others, has separated himself from Dameron and is trying to widen his Word so that Dameron's fall won't affect him any more than it has to. Dameron is in the embarrassing position of not being able to punish Yuw, for several reasons: Dameron can't afford the loss of support of the Word of Slavery that Yuw _does_ provide, and, frankly, Yuw may very well be more powerful than Dameron is, if not now, then in the future. Dameron is hard-pressed simply to keep this fact a secret.
Dissonance: It is dissonant for the followers of Dameron to encourage slaves to disobey or masters to cease owning slaves. It is also dissonant for them to abuse slaves themselves, or to take no action to prevent slaves from being abused, although they regularly take _very_little_ action against this behavior. It is also dissonant for them to allow slaves to run away or disobey without being punished, although that recapture or punishment does not need to come at their hands.
Band Attunements:
Balseraphs
Slavery's Balseraphs get a bonus of their Celestial forces to any roll to convince people that slavery is correct or just, that they should start or continue owning slaves, or that it's okay to use products produced by slaves or to use a slave for physical pleasure. They also gain this bonus when trying to convince people that the slaves shouldn't be harmed.
Djinn
If a slave has run away, these Stalkers may attune to them with as little as a description or a picture; no touch is needed. Furthermore, they don't need physical contact to renew this attunement. However, it's unwise for them to use this ability carelessly, as since Dameron's viewpoint is that the slave is doing themselves harm by running away, the Djinn receives a note of dissonance as soon as they stop actively tracking the runaway. This note is removed when the Djinn begins tracking again, and is removed nonetheless when the Djinn knows that the slave has been returned to captivity.
Calabim
The Calabim of Slavery, instead of breaking something physical, can destroy the wills of those they use their resonance on. With a successful resonance roll, they lower the will of a slave by one point. This loss is permanent until the slave does something to indicate rebellion against the master, at which point half of the points are returned, rounded up. The remaining points are returned when the slave performs a second rebellious act.
Habbalah
Slavery's Habbalah can use their resonance, adding their Corporeal Forces, to make their victims, uniformly slaves, feel Punished as if whipped. This feeling lasts a number of hours equal to the check digit of the roll plus the Ethereal forces of the Habbalite. This functions exactly as Sadness, except that the Punished slave will still follow orders rather than remaining idle; indeed, suffers a penalty equal to the check digit on any Will rolls to not follow orders immediately.
Lilim
Slavery has no Lilim. He occasionally is able to get one for a single operation or mission via trading geasa with others, but Lilith will not trade geasa with him, and will not create Lilim for him. The one Lilim that came into his service after being Renegade was destroyed by the Game at Lilith's request. Even when she was one of his Servitors, he was unable to alter Lilith's creation enough to give her any attunements or rites at all.
Shedim
Shedim of Slavery may possess slaves or masters without a roll and without needing to corrupt their host. They can stay in their host as long as the slave-master relationship remains undisturbed--no successful acts of disobedience on the part of a slave if possessing a master, or no behavior that would have caused the host to attempt an act of disobedience if possessing a slave.
Impudites
Dameron's Impudites get a bonus of their Ethereal forces to the target number of a resonance roll against slaves or masters. They always get a check digit of 6 when stealing Essence from slaves.
Pachadites
Unlike most other Superiors, Beleth has loaned Dameron enough Pachadites that he has developed a special Band Attunement for them. Frighteners of Slavery add their Celestial forces to the Will of all fears they cause in slaves, and are also given a vessel/2 of whatever type is needed to walk undetected among the slaves where Dameron has placed them.
Servitor Attunements:
Chains of the Body
With this attunement, one of Dameron's Servitors can bind a single human who is with a number of yards equal to the Demon's total Forces. The human will be able to move at a slow walk or not move at all, at the will of the Demon. There is no visible effect, and the Demon may do this to as many humans as he wishes, one at a time. The effect continues as long as the Demon can see the bound human.
Chains of the Mind
With this attunement, a Demon of Slavery can impose a prohibition into the mind of a slave by simply speaking it out loud, and it will be obeyed. The command must be simple: "Don't run away", "Don't cross this line", or "Don't attack your master". There is no visible effect, and the Demon may do this to as many humans as he wishes, one at a time. The effect continues for the Demon's total forces in minutes, or hours if the target is currently under the effect of any of Dameron's attunements or resonances.
Distinctions:
Knight of the Chain
When promoted to Knight, Dameron's Demons gain the ability to detect masters and slaves by sight, and detect who is owned/controlled by whom.
Captain of the Whip
Dameron's Captains can remind a slave of any punishment the Demon has witnessed the slave enduring with a glance. This will inflict, for a single round, the maximum amount of pain or distress that was suffered during the punishment.
Baron of the Broken Soul
The Barons of the Broken Soul can spend Essence to keep a slave from rebelling. For each Essence spent, the slave's Will is reduced by 1 for purposes of disobeying or rebelling. This normally lasts for a number of days equal to the base Essence spent, but if the slave is currently under the effects of _any_ of Dameron's Servitor's resonances or attunements, the duration is in _weeks_, instead.
Relations:
Allied: Beleth, Kronos.
Associated: Vapula, Andrealphus, Asmodeus.
Neutral: Baal, Valefor, Haagenti, Kobal.
Hostile: Belial, Malphas, Nybbas.
Enemy: Lilith, Saminga.
Beleth appreciates how the nightmare of slavery resonates within souls and societies; Kronos simply likes how it prevents so many individuals from knowing that their destiny is even available.
Vapula appreciates that his beloved Industrial Revolution was borne on the backs of slaves and those working nearly as slaves. Andrealphus only recently began to appreciate Dameron, as sexual slavery became more prominent. Asmodeus simply likes his control over people and Demons.
Belial and Malphas dislike anything that keeps a social structure in stagnation. Nybbas dislikes the effect shows about slavery have on his viewers' desire to Watch More(tm).
Saminga simply hates that Dameron is actually careful with his humans, caring more about the fact that they're enslaved then that they're _alive_. And Lilith holds a burning hot hatred for Dameron, as he is the institutionalization of everything she stands against.
Dameron's opinions of his fellow Princes basically depend on who isn't attacking or who he has recently received help from. He tries to put up a bold face, but he knows his Word isn't worthy of a Prince any longer, and some day, Lilith will free him from this misery. He hates her--that's the only constant. Even Saminga he sometimes looks to for support, although he never gets it.
Basic Rites:
- Rest in a dwelling/building with slaves for four hours while no acts of disobedience occur.
- Convince someone to use a product made by slaves or be served by slaves. - All of Dameron's servants generate an additional point of Essence every day they are in a country (geopolitical unit) where slavery is legal.
- Enslave a free human. (3 essence, but only once per day no matter how many humans are enslaved.)
Invocation:
Basic Chance:1
Modifiers-
+1 An anklechain
+2 A bound human being broken for slavery
+3 A slave
+4 A dwelling where slaves are kept
+5 A person born into slavery
+6 The owner of business that couldn't run without slave labor
Armand <armand@spiretech.com> wrote:
And one day it changed. Vapula and Dameron's grandest plan, the Industrial Revolution, started as a way to make more people into virtual slaves to poverty and danger, but eventually, something went wrong. The work got easier, and social changes made it less dangerous to work in a factory. People began . . . living. Not in fear. Without terror. The humans were unbroken. And the economies that rode this wave were strong enough that they threw off Dameron's shackles.
Dameron, an Impudite, is a shadow of his former self. Just three hundred years ago, he held a Word which was powerful worldwide. Now, only tiny pockets of influence remain. Thailand. Togo. Scattered sweatshops and houses of prostituation. Even South Africa has reformed, and Slavery's Demons no longer call it home.
Of course, being a fromerly powerful DP, he up-graded. Now, men and women chain themselves to their jobs in industrialized nations around the world. The shackles are not iron nor steel, but silicon and radio waves. Young people entering the corporate work pyramid take this shackles with pride (I'll show the boss that I've got what it takes), but this fades. (Sorry kids, I can't take you to the zoo, I have to type this report for work.)
Dameron has shifted gears. Yeah, I think that he still likes his ops in third world nations, but I think he's moved on. Also, before you start thinking that he's given up on the third world nations, I give you the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
These orginazations loan money to poor countries so that they can get their feet back on the ground. When the country in question faults on their interest payment (as is almost always the case), these organizations move in and start relegating where the country may spend money and allocate resources. Often, these allocations are soley for production.
Oh yeah, slavery is alive and well, just no longer so blatant.
Armand Ofanim with eyes on the fries and the other bad guys
Back to the INC Mainpage.
Back to the Adventures page.
Elizabeth McCoy <arcangel@prismnet.com>
Archangel of Archives