(Created by: kestre1@airmail.net (Andrew Getting))
"Greed is good." -Michael Douglas, "Wall Street"
The world's not exactly in the best of shape, but that's no reason for you to suffer...
Self-serving bastards to the last, the Servitors of Mephistopheles know how to get ahead. A Balseraph with slick hair and an irresistable grin, even his fellows in the Band know better than to consider anything Mephistopheles says to be the full truth.
Mephistopheles is something like Hell's head accountant; it falls to him and his to count and distribute the Hellbound souls. To this end, he also works closely with Baal to ensure that more and more souls fall to Infernal might. If that fills both their coffers more, all the better.
In the last millenium, however, Mephistopheles has encountered setback after setback. A powerful earthly necromancer redeemed himself with Mephistopheles' accidental aid (Saminga will never forgive this slight), and the two Servitors of Dominic that guard Hell's gate have been known to supply their Superior with Mephistopheles' plans. The fact that Mephistopheles has occasionally been caught embezzelling souls has also compounded his fate; until he can prove himself loyal to Lucifer, he is no longer permitted to leave Hell. The Dealers have never been busier.
It is dissonant for Servitors of the Deal to come out behind in any arrangement, forced or otherwise. Getting caught and punished will cause dissonance.
Balseraphs of the Deal know fine print like nobody else, and have "borrowed" some ideas from the Lilim. With a successful Resonance check, they may inflict an additional Geas (of a level equal to the check digit) upon anyone who signs their Contracts. If the Resonance fails, however, the wording is wrong and the Balseraph owes the signers an additional Geas equal to the check digit. Malakim and Seraphim cannot be tricked in this manner; not only will they see the trickery in the contract, but if they did not know the nature of the Balseraph, they immediately figure it out. Consequently, the Balseraphs tend to be cautious with this Attunement.
Often employed as advanced "familiars" on earthly missions, each Djinn is attuned to a Servant of a level equal to their Celestial Forces. Though this attunement does not count towards the total number a Djinn must possess, a Djinn must ALWAYS protect his Servant or else gain Discord instead of Dissonance for their harm.
Alone among the Dealers, Calabim can break their word in a Contract freely on a successful Resonance check. If they choose to do so, the terms of the Contract are void (the contract burns up). This may not be done after a side fulfills their part of the bargain.
Habbalah
The Habbalah of the Deal are often looked towards as Hell's mediators; they will ensure that everyone is maligned equally. At character generation, they may purchase any Habbalite attunement of another Demon Prince (excepting Saminga) at +5 character points, or a general attunement at +5 character points. If, in the course of the Habbalite's travels, a Demon Prince bestows additional attunements, Mephistopheles will not feel slighted as long as no betrayal seems imminent.
The Lilim of the Deal are extraordinarily tricky. When inflicting a Geas upon themselves as part of any deal (not just a Contract), the Geas level is one lower than normal. Geasa that would be level 1 are still level 1, however. Few Lilim are allowed into Mephistopheles' ranks; the Prince of the Deal's trade is in enslavement, and Lilith almost never creates her children for Mephistopheles.
Shedim may freely possess anyone who has willingly signed a Contract with the Shedim. He need not fight the host for control, nor must he further corrupt the host.
Impudites are often sent to Earth as advance agents in deals, and Mephistopheles makes sure they're nigh undetectable. Impudites pay half the cost for any Roles they possess.
While blood does add style, it's not necessary. The demon may draw up a contract either between another and himself or between any number of other parties (this is often used to create Soldiers of Hell). After all signatures are received, the demon spends as many Essence points as he wishes, at a minimum of 1. If any side of the bargain reneges upon the agreement, any parts of the contract pertaining to them are void (though, in cases with multiple parties, the other parties are still bound to each other) and the oathbreaker immediately gains Discords (GM's choice) with total levels equal to the number of Essence the demon spent after the contract was signed. All parties are immediately aware of who broke the rules, as well. The broken word, not the intent, of the Contract is what sets these events in motion.
Contracts are sent to Kronos's Archive, where they are stored for safety. If a Contract is destroyed by means other than the Calabim Attunement above, all parties are still subject to its terms; the filing process is more for Kronos' verification than anything else.
ALL SERVITORS OF MEPHISTOPHELES MUST PURCHASE THIS ATTUNEMENT AT CHARACTER GENERATION.
The demon may, after reading a contract, know any and all loopholes, hidden riders, or falsehoods presented therein. If used on a Contract before anyone signs it, this allows the player to revise his contract after the GM points out any ambiguities. GMs need not point all of these out, however, as slip-ups can and do occur (don't ask the boss about that Faust guy).
With this Distinction, every Essence imbued in a Contract is also added to the check digit of any rolls made involving another party in the Contract (so long as it is not violated). If the Contract is in the demon's possession, he will also know the whereabouts of everyone in the contract.
A demon of this distinction may act as an official envoy to another Prince, and is branded with a seal to prove it. If this seal is revealed to another celestial (the seal can appear anywhere on the body), that celestial must not interfere with the demon lest he anger Mephistopheles. It is not uncommon for demons who attack Agents to find themselves reduced to Remnants by their own Superiors. Angels (particularly Marc's) are noticeably less concerned.
With the exception of his Allies, all Demon Princes view Mephistopheles one level lower than he views them. Mephistopheles is trying to claw his way back to power, but has angered many along his initial climb.
Allied: Baal, Kronos, Nybbas, Valefor
Associated: Asmodeus, Haagenti
Hostile: Kobal
Enemy: Saminga (yes, this does mean Saminga views Mephistopheles
as worse than Andrealphus)
Though he can no longer journey to the mortal plane or the Marches, Mephistopheles will summon the demon back to Hell on a successful invocation. This process takes 7 hours minus the check digit of the invocation, so it's less than useful in tight spots.