Gabriel

Demon Princess of Wrath

The world is raging out of control . . . and I will fan the flames!"

[Dissonance] [Band Attunements] [Servitor Attunements] [Distinctions] [Relations] [Rites] [Invocation]

This writeup of Gabriel as a Fallen Archangel is offered as an alternative ending to the Forests of the Night scenario.

Gabriel knows she's Fallen, and has completely surrendered to her nature. It is a relief, in many ways, to finally unleash thousands of years of pent-up anger. Now the Symphony will tremble at her fury; now she'll show that snivelling toad Belial what she was holding back all this time! She has no love for her new peers, but as long as they stay out of her way, she's willing to focus most of her rage on her enemies. This includes those of her former peers who persecuted her - Dominic is at the top of the list. She also now realizes that that smug bastard Yves deliberately set her up, and has been standing back nodding and clucking sadly as she took the heat for the Islam debacle ever since. Khalid was probably in on that too. Laurence has been scheming all along to knife her in the back as soon as she stepped out of line, and she never trusted Michael in the first place. Blandine and Novalis and all the other goody-goody Archangels make her sick.

In short, Gabriel has become a raving paranoid hatemonger. She has it out for everyone, and she just wants to burn, burn, burn. In odd moments she will revert to an almost calm state, and in those moments, she might recognize a former friend and experience regret. This is unlikely to last more than a few seconds, however.

She still channels the Divine, but now the message comes to her as a garbled bellow, searing her mind much as the conflict with Belial did at one time. She knows God too is out to get her, and He's instructed all his angelic slaves to punish His wayward Servitor who dared to step out of line. Sometimes she may be seen with tears of fire streaming down her face, pleading for forgiveness...other times she rages, shaking her fist at the heavens above and cursing God, daring Him to come get her. It is in these moods when she is most frightening. The other Princes would love to see Gabriel become sane enough that she could process the information she gets through her divine link, but it's not a subject any of them dares broach with her.

In the immediate future, Gabriel will be waging an all-out war against Belial. Hell isn't big enough for the two of them. While she (barely) heeds Lucifer's admonition not to take the battle to other Principalities, she has made camp in Sheol, at the top of a mountain looking across at Belial's citadel, and her followers are gathering. Many of them are Belial's former followers, mostly those who'd been out of favor with their old Prince and now hope they're backing the winning horse. Gabriel's personality is such that she attracts many ambitious, eager young demons to her cause. Most of her new following is made up of younger diabolicals, but she has a solid core of veteran angels of Fire, now demons of Wrath. Belial hasn't mounted a direct assault on her encampment yet; he's trying to recruit support from the other Princes. He's very clearly fighting for his life, and the outcome of this battle will rock Hell. Belial will have numbers on his side, and a home turf advantage, but Gabriel has sheer power, and fanatically devoted followers. What will really determine the outcome, however, will be how the other Princes line up...

Dissonance

It is dissonant for Servitors of Wrath to restrain their anger. If anything provokes their fury, they must make their displeasure known. A violent fit of rage isn't mandatory, (unless that's what the demon really feels like doing, in which case stifling that impulse is dissonant), but any who feel anger and don't express it are going against the Word of Wrath. No slight may be ignored; demons of Wrath must retaliate for any transgression or suffer dissonance. This dissonance can be erased if the demon bides his time and strikes at a later date. Other demons are careful about antagonizing Gabriel's Servitors; they know that if you cross a demon of Wrath, you've now got an enemy who will be carrying dissonance around until he pays you back.

Band Attunements

Balseraphs (Restricted)

Balseraphs of Wrath may add their Celestial Forces to any resonance roll that will cause the victim anger if he believes the lie.

Djinn (Restricted)

When these Djinn get angry, their Wrathful nature overwhelms their Band dissonance conditions. They can harm the objects of their attunements, but only if they do so while angry at the victim (and thus fulfilling their Superior's dissonance conditions). Furthermore, if a Djinn of Wrath has become devoted to one of his subjects due to a failed resonance roll, he gets another Will roll to break that fixation any time he gets angry at the subject.

Calabim (Restricted)

Calabim of Wrath are scary. They add their Ethereal Forces to their resonance rolls and to the check digit of a successful roll when they're angry (and it doesn't take much to get a Calabite angry...) However, they suffer double dissonance for choosing to absorb a failed resonance roll rather than unleashing it elsewhere!

Habbalah (Restricted)

Habbalah of Wrath add their Ethereal Forces to any attempt to inflict Fury -- and anyone who is already angry does not get a resistance roll! They do suffer double dissonance for absorbing Fury (but not other effects) if it is resisted.

Lilim (Restricted)

Angry people are transparent to Lilim of Wrath; they can attempt to read such a person's Needs without eye contact, and add their Ethereal Forces to the roll.

Shedim (Restricted)

Anger makes people very vulnerable to these Shedim, who subtract their Celestial Forces from an angry victim's Will roll to resist possession. If the victim has the Angry Discord, add the level of that Discord to the Shedite's check digit on a successful possession!

Impudites (Restricted)

Rather than charming victims, Impudites of Wrath can choose to make them angry instead. There is no specific game effect, but the victim instantly acquires a bad mood. These Impudites can also attempt to steal Essence from angry subjects without charming them first.

Servitor Attunements

Blinded by Rage

For 1 Essence, this attunement allows the demon to work himself into an almost mindless frenzy, and do the same to anyone who is currently under the effects of the Angry, Berserk or Murderous Discords. While blinded by rage (as long as the demon wishes when applied to himself, or for the duration that the Discord is in effect for others), the subject will be unable to act in a calm or rational manner, but he will be immune to any other celestial effects that would alter his mental state -- this includes the Songs of Harmony, and many resonance effects (including possession attempts).

Smite

Gabriel still grants this attunement, but now it's fuelled by rage, rather than fire. It works as before, but the demon can only use it when angry (not that this is usually a problem for Servitors of Wrath...)

Distinctions

Knight of Rage

The demon can tell at a glance what is the easiest way to make someone angry. He also detects those with the Angry Discord on sight.

Captain of the Screaming Hordes

The demon has an uncanny ability to direct anger without lessening it; he can communicate and "reason" with anyone who is angry, even berserk. A detached part of the angry person's mind will consider what the demon says and react as the subject would when not suffering from a fit of temper -- but his rage will continue unabated. He can get an intelligent answer to a technical question from someone in the middle of a berserk rage, or lead frothing hordes of enraged warriors and give them detailed tactical commands which will be followed precisely, even as they continue frothing.

Baron of Smoldering Fury

The demon knows at a glance every lingering source of anger tucked away in a person's psyche. Every grudge, every resentment, every instance of unachieved vengeance, gives the demon information that can be used to rekindle animosity or push someone into a mindless rage.

Relations

Gabriel hates all the other Princes. Furfur she deigns to tolerate, because his passion for her is useful and she needs a few allies. Belial, of course, she has sworn to destroy. Everyone else she ignores as long as they stay out of her way.

Allied: No one
Associated: Furfur
Hostile: Everyone else
Enemy: Belial

Below is how the other Princes view her, both in general, and specifically how they line up in the current Gabriel-vs.-Belial deathmatch.

ANDREALPHUS: "Mmmmm.....simply scrumptious. And much too hot to handle. Stay away from her or you'll get burned." Andrealphus won't shed any tears if Gabriel takes out Belial, but he's doing his best to stay out of the conflict.

ASMODEUS: "The Host didn't trust her -- I see no reason to. She is an unstable ally at best, and must be brought into line." Asmodeus would have been happier without this disturbance in the status quo. Since Lucifer sanctioned the contest, he is willing to wait and see who survives.

BAAL: "Belial I can work with; Gabriel is beyond insane. I doubt we'll be able to make any better use of her than Heaven did." Baal is officially supporting Belial; he is not, however, committing as much of his resources as Belial would like.

BELETH: "She is Heaven's nightmare, and she even scares me a little. I have no intention of getting close to her, but I think she'd be an improvement over that simpleton Belial." Beleth won't side with either Prince -- she's too busy trying to take advantage of the loss of Gabriel's forces on the Heavenly border of the Marches.

BELIAL: "KILL THE BITCH!" Belial is hyperkinetic; he's fighting for his life and he knows it. He is very, very intense, and cannier than he's ever been; he's also just a little bit frightened, which is causing him to assume that every Prince who doesn't support him is against him. He'll remember who sided with him and who didn't, if he survives.

FLEURITY: "They're both nutjobs, actually. Between the two of them, Belial is probably marginally more sane, but God obviously sent Gabriel because we needed her more than Heaven did." Fleurity's Habbalite delusion has led him to view Gabriel as a sign, so while he would have better dealings with Belial, he's secretly rooting for Gabriel.

FURFUR: "Now this babe is Hardcore! And Belial's pissing in his asbestos undies -- what's not to love? Help her out and kick some ass!" Furfur is in love. Gabriel is his new role model, as an ancient, elemental personification of a significant part of his Word. Which will be a problem later, actually, because while Furfur is infatuated with Gabriel now, eventually they are going to suffer friction, and not the kind Furfur is hoping for.

HAAGENTI: "I never liked Belial anyway; it won't bother me if she eats him for lunch." Haagenti is enjoying seeing Belial pressed so sorely; he is indifferent towards Gabriel.

KOBAL: "The greatest joke anyone could have played on Hell, and I had nothing to do with it! Gabriel's just as humorless as Belial, but she's a lot more fun to laugh at...from a distance." Kobal thinks this entire situation is hilarious. Gabriel is rattling everyone's cage, and Heaven is hysterical. He will not support her actively, however - in fact, he will play off both sides as long as he can.

KRONOS: "Never before has an Archangel succumbed so completely to her Fate. However, Belial is easier to work with, buffoon that he is. It is more important that Heaven has lost Gabriel than that we should gain her." Kronos is happy that Gabriel Fell, but he has no desire to make room for her in the infernal power structure. He will be supporting Belial, but if Gabriel wins nonetheless, he'll have no qualms about accepting her new place.

LILITH: "Somehow, it seems....wrong. I admired Gabriel, in a way. But now she's just another Demon Prince, and not one of the more cooperative ones." Belial owes Lilith a few favors; Gabriel owes her nothing. Lilith would just as soon not have all the favors she's collected from Belial's minions over the years, as well as all Lilim of Fire, get extinguished. She'll happily support Belial in return for even more indebtedness. She'd deal with Gabriel too, but Gabriel isn't about to deal with her.

MALPHAS: "Old alliances burn down, new ones rise from the ashes. This is our opportunity to seize territory, while those two maniacs are trying to kill each other!" Malphas will support one Prince, then another, trying to keep them at each other's throats for as long as possible. He'll also try to get other Princes involved, especially Princes he'd like to see weakened.

MAMMON: "Belial is a little cracked, but Gabriel is stark raving mad! We don't need to screw with the status quo." Mammon would normally offer his support to the highest bidder, but he sees more long-term profit in keeping Belial in power.

NYBBAS: "Belial's ratings are still better than Gaby's; the babe's got definite star potential, but who needs an up-and-comer when Belial still burns up the screen just fine?" Another Prince who finds it easier to deal with a known quantity, and isn't thrilled at the prospect of dealing with another unstable psychopath, Nybbas will be casting Belial in a much more sympathetic light for the duration of the conflict, while portraying Gabriel as a dangerous, raving lunatic (for once, he won't need to do much editing to create the image he wants).

SAMINGA: "I've got no use for Belial, and less use for Gabriel. I don't trust her; she's been an angel for too long. I'd be happy to see them kill each other." Saminga will not actively root for either side, but he might be persuaded to support Belial, if he can be shown some advantage in doing so.

VALEFOR: "How audacious! Gabriel is trying to steal Belial's Principality right out from under him! Personally, I'd just stay out of the way, and watch for good looting opportunities." Valefor is actually rooting for Gabriel, just because he finds her more interesting, but he might be talked into making an outward show of support for Belial.

VAPULA: "Dreadful, just dreadful. Those two are sowing more disturbances.... Personally, I think Gabriel's where she belongs, but I'd rather deal with Belial. Gabriel's insane, and who wants to deal with a crazy person?" (he says, most earnestly). Vapula does not share Fleurity's convictions, and would just as soon see Gabriel snuffed, now that she's abandoned Heaven.

Basic Rites

  • Throw a violent temper tantrum in which you smash the contents of a room or inflict serious injury to others.
  • Provoke someone else into losing control of his temper.
  • Exact vengeance against someone who crossed you that is out of proportion to the original slight.

Chance of Invocation: 2

+1 A child throwing a temper tantrum
+2 Someone verbally or physically abusing another person in a fit of anger
+3 A dedicated pacifist driven into a violent rage
+4 A passionate orator inciting a crowd to violence
+5 A rioting mob
+6 A senseless mass slaughter being undertaken by enraged or vengeful killers

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