(Created by: The Saint of Killers <stofkillers@earthlink.net>)
Fezek tried not to cower under the hot glare of Lucifer, but when it's the Morningstar who is doing the glaring, it's the glaree's job to tremble and whimper. The gathered Princes either snickered or did their best not to pay attention. Finally, Lucifer spoke.
"Fezek, Balseraph of Factions, Captain of the Broken Promise, I grant unto you a Word..."
Fezek, not hearing the pause, let out a long sigh.
"...but not, however, the Word you had hoped for. This day and forward, you are hereby granted the Word of Wrath and the Princedom that goes with it."
A pale whimper, "Oh shit."
The world is anger, begging for release.
After the fall, the title of Wrath was just saught after and important as today's most recognizable words. Wrath was a principle sin of not merely the humans on the globe below (or above, depending on perspective) but also of the demons and Lucifer himself. The cherub Ezrael, who faught along side of Lucifer against the Malakim of Michael, and who struck the treacherous blow to Michael's back, preventing Lucifer's death, was named Prince of Wrath.
Ezrael ruled over the Word of Wrath quite successfully until he had a misunderstanding with Belial. He good naturedly compared the rising of anger in wrath to the power of flames when they come across something especially combustable. Belial assumed that Ezrael had intention to steal his Word. What was left of Ezrael could be put into a plastic baggie. Lucifer was angry, but not angry enough to punish Belial. The other Princes were disgusted (and perhaps somewhat rattled, for Wrath was a powerful word) but Belial had done this sort of thing before, and no one was quite stupid enough to call him on it.
Twice since then, Lucifer has crowned another demon with the Word of Wrath, and both times Belial has destroyed them. Not because of something they said, but because he remembered what Ezrael had said. Baal taught Belial the importance of a pre-emptive strike, and Belial believed in it whole-heartedly. After the first one had been immediately toasted, most of the Princes assumed that anyone else assumed to the doomed position would be put there for Lucifer's amusement. So, when a second attempt was made at refilling the seat of Wrath and was turned to ash, nobody paid much attention. It was, however, the last time Lucifer gave out the word for nearly a thousand years.
Fezek was a Balseraph of Factions, a favorite of Malphas (a Prince known among other Princes as having few favorites) and absolutely Wordless. Originally, Fezek had been a servitor of Saminga, but quickly discovered that Saminga had no sense of style. Fezek enjoyed getting two people so angry at each other, either through trickery or lie, that they'd get in a fight and, of course, kill one another. Saminga didn't care about the how, just the result. Death was part of the fun to Fezek, but just a small part. When his discontent with Saminga started to show, Malphas offered him a place under a Word that would suit him better. Fezek immediately took him up on it.
Early on March 3rd of 1991, Fezek started to work on what would be his masterpiece. He was determined to get a Word for himself, and he knew which one he wanted. He just needed the right catalyst and everything would fall into place. The work wasn't easy, he'd not allowed himself to tell his companions, for fear that one might try to take credit and take his Word. The cops were pathetically simple, needing only a brief conversation with an 'old friend' of theirs before heading into the office. The 'old friend' shared concerns that the drug problem in Los Angeles was caused by 'them damn negroes'. I'm sure you've figured out just who the 'old friend' was.
It took more than a year for one event to lead to another. The six policemen, with Fezek's lies imprinted on their minds, beat a careless speeder nearly to death. An anonymous cameraman just happened to be at the right place at the right time. (Coincidence be damned.) The tape went public. The police were arrested. Most of them were subsequently aquitted, and on April 23rd of 1992 the riots started. Fired, murder, looting. Every Prince was impressed by the damage caused by one lowly Belseraph.
The Nemesis was similarly impressed, it seems.
When the riots had been subdued, Fezek petitioned for his word. He'd hoped to be given the Word of Demon of Riots. He was in for quite a shock. So was everyone who watched the event take place.
Fezek is honestly terrified. He's made it through his first five years with help from Malphas, but soon Malphas is going to stop stepping forward for his friend, and Fezek will have to support himself. Even though Fezek isn't sure, Malphas knows that he'll do well. Fezek is very good at his job.
Wrath is everywhere in the world. From the barroom brawl caused by one man bragging about 'banging' another's girlfriend, to the Brazillian football game that ends in tragedy because a goalie wasn't doing his job well enough. Gangfights, prison riots and the first time a man hits his wife. These are all Fezek's to watch over, care for and nurture.
Despite his Word's association with passionate violence, it doesn't show in Fezek himself. In front of anyone other than Malphas, he acts with complete confidence. Intelligent and cool, Fezek is a plotter and a schemer, not one likely to fall for his own traps. Anger, unless it is the anger of others, is usually the last thing on his mind.
Anger. Rage. Violence. Acts committed in the proverbial 'heat of passion' are Fezek's dominion. When someone is so mad that they lash out without giving themselves time to fully think their act through, they have committed an act of wrath. Cold blooded murder, planned assassinations and drunken driving do not reflect wrath. Of course, that which comes afterward can.
Servitors of Fezek gain dissonance when they allow themselves to become angry enough to act on the anger alone. Fezek demands that his demons think about their actions. An action made in anger helps no one but Fezek himself, though having a discordant demon walking around doesn't help anyone but the angels. Dissonance gained by letting ones passions lead to violence can be removed if the demon can get an angel to do the same.
Since Fezek is so new to the scene, he doesn't have nearly as many servitors as the other Demon Princes. Malphas has allowed those in his Word who feel they can best serve Factions by following Wrath move under the guidance of Fezek. Several of Fezek's most loyal are demons who followed his lead, leaving the mindless Death of Saminga for the plotting sneakery of Wrath's demons.
Fezek grants the following distinctions. Knight of Anger, Captain of Rage, Baron of Catastrophe. If he has any distinctions above Baron, he has not yet given them out.
Wrath has few tethers, aside from those left over from previous Princes. Places where cataclysmic events occured because of the wrath of a few people become tethers of Wrath. The freeway in San Fernando where Rodney King was beaten, the Simpson estate and the sight of tsar Nicholas murder are all examples. On the battlefield, brief but powerful tethers to Fezek's City of Dis are often created.
As stated before, most of Fezek's politics are done through Malphas. He's still learning the game, and has no desire to get burnt before he knows the rules. Most of the Princes expected Fezek to be extra tasty crispy by now, but Belial was so appreciative of the fires spawned by the LA Riots that he has become like a big brother to Fezek. A big, dumb, scary bully of a brother, but a brother nontheless.
Fezek watches the Princes debate and argue, power change hands and his old friend factions being made and healed. When he finally decides to step out from Malphas' shadow, his ponderous nature and penchant for getting people angry will most likely make him a power to be reckoned with.
Andrealphus: Oh, he may -say- passion, but he doesn't mean it. There's a difference between a good spanking and beating a man to death.
Asmodeus: He is good at what he does. He has not learned to play our game, though. I do not look forward to the day that he turns his Word on us.
Baal: Wrath has its place both on the battlefield, and the War's battlefield. It is good to know that every time Michael loses control, one of our own gets a little bigger.
Belial: Unlike Razael, he's shown no interest in my Word. I like him. Anger burns bright like fi- oh, wait, now I get it. Damn. I owe someone an apology.
Beleth: Anger overwhelms terror, and allows people to ignore their fears. I hate him for that.
Haagenti: Who? Wrath? Whatever.
Kobal: I gotta say, this guy getting his position was the funniest joke I'd ever seen Lucifer play. Unfortunately, Belial has yet to incinerate him. I'm afraid that this time the joke will be on us.
Kronos: Fezek himself shows a keen understanding of Fate, the way one event can turn into a catastrophe. The way a single moment in time can lead an entire city to damnation.
Lilith: I haven't made any deals with this bastard, and I don't plan on it. I'm no fool. Anyone who trained under Malphas is bound to get the better end of the stick.
Malphas: My favorite student. He is a prodigy. Despite his Word, I think there is still more Factions left in him than there is Wrath. I look forward to the day that I can loose him on our brothers and sisters in Princedom.
Nybbas: Where would Action News be without this guy? It's Mike Tyson, OJ Simpson and Xena: Warrior Princess all rolled into one. Too bad he's so boring in person.
Saminga: I don't think you really understand how I feel about him. Not only did he betray me, but he's caused some of my own to betray me. I will kill him. No, I won't just kill him, I'll -really- kill him. Deader than dead. When his forces disband, I'll hunt down each one of them and kill them again! I'll show him wrath.
Valefor: Can we say looting? I knew we could. Usually a good old fashioned fight isn't good for much, but he's got a magic touch. I like a good riot.
Vapula: Pardon? Wrath? Oh. No. I hadn't realized. I was too busy working on my rectal neuro-desensetizer. Er. How did you get in here?
Due to his recent rise to power, Fezek hasn't fully realized his new abilities. He has a habit of changing attunements every week. He'll decide that an attunement is good one day, then the next he'll think of something 'cooler'. At its core, many of his attunements are carbon copies of Malphas' own.
A Balseraph can use his resonance on as many people at once as he has Ethereal Forces x 5. Balseraphs of Wrath are the perfect rabble rousers, able to incite the masses to revolution, riot or worse.
A Djinn can sense the amount of anger in anyone he is attuned to, and where the anger is directed. One of Fezek's favorite servitors was a Djinn who used this attunement to gain the Word Demon of Disgruntled Postal Employees.
Fezek's Calabim can use their resonance to destroy the moral code that prevents people from acting out in anger everytime they get a little upset. At worst this can cause someone to flip the bird in traffic, at best it can lead someone to whip out their .45 in traffic.
When using their resonance to cause anger, a Habbalite's target number is always two easier, and his check digit is always two higher. Unfortunately, Habbalah who suffers wrath backlash will take dissonance from their band dissonance, and dissonance from their Prince. Roll twice.
Lilim who serve Wrath have a tendency to be the object of a fight. She uses her resonance to make two men lust for her so much that they'll gladly kill any other suitors. Of course, if the two men are willing to share, this can really really backfire.
Fezek's Shedim, like Malphas', can drive away their host's mind entirely. No will rolls need be made to assert control. They retain the host's memories while posessing him. Shedim of Fezek are the least subtle of the entire group.
Impudites can feed on anger. For every ten levels of damage done in the name of Wrath, an impudite may roll his resonance to feed.
It works exactly like the Malphas attunement on page 174 of the main In Nomine book.
This works like Imbroglio, but inside out. It can be used to make one specific person absolutely foul tempered for the rest of the day. He will take everything he hears wrong, assume personal slights when things don't go just perfectly, and generally be an asshole to everyone he comes across. The target gets a will roll to resist.
This works the same as 'Knight of Deception' on page 175 in the main In Nomine book.
After a successful use of the Distinction of Anger, a Captain of Rage can intuit the proper actions that would lead to an out and out brawl between the two targets.
Belial appreciated the fires of the LA Riots so much that he taught to Fezek the attunement Domino Effect. Fezek passes it on to those followers who prove to themselves that they're masters of the subtility required for some really good wrath.
Note: Fezek just loves LA. Any demons in LA get an automatic +1 to summon him.