"The world is spread before you. Take it."
[Dissonance] [Band Attunements] [Servitor Attunements] [Distinctions] [Relations] [Rites] [Invocation]
Genubath was a singularly nasty piece of work. The first of the "Young Princes" (as the Princes who were never angels are called in Hell), Genubath took a truly unholy delight in his Word. His elevation to Princedom, occurring not long after the demons escaped their infernal prison and began intervening on the corporeal plane, forcibly gave Heaven a new understanding of their Fallen brethren. Previously, there had been some (very quiet) sympathy among the Host for the rebels. All agreed that Lucifer had been wrong to rebel, but some angels admitted that the former Archangel of Light had had a point. It was commonly assumed that the Fallen, while now living in a state of gracelessness, were still angels. They had been cast down for the sin of Pride, but even so, they couldn't have abandoned their essentially selfness natures . . . could they?
The Prince of Rapine quickly silenced these sympathizers. He was selfish. He was vicious and cruel. Like most Shedim, he reveled in being a demon. He had never known the light of Heaven or the glory of God, and he was EVIL. The fact that he wasn't, technically, one of the Fallen made no difference; he was of the same substance as them, and he demonstrated with glee what diabolicals were capable of.
Genubath's servants didn't have to teach mankind how to use violence to get what one wants -- humans figured that out as soon as they were evolved enough to wrap their fingers around a rock. But demons of Rapine taught humans how to enjoy taking by force. Previously, many celestials saw humans as nasty, brutal animals capable of raping and killing each other out of spite and envy. Now, they realized that humans were capable of raping and killing each other just for the sheer pleasure of it. As Genubath is credited with hardening the Host against Hell, he is also credited with increasing the frequency with which angels joined the Horde, post-Fall.
Genubath's Word was broader but shallower than that of his successor, Valefor. Rapine includes rape, theft, destruction, and exploitation -- any act of forcing one's will upon an unwilling victim. Rapine is taking what you want because you can, and enjoying it a little more because you're taking it from someone else. Genubath epitomized "might makes right," and encouraged his Servitors to run amok and enjoy themselves as much as they could possibly get away with . . . and the more they could make others suffer while doing so, the better. Rapine was one of the most intrinsically selfish, utterly diabolical Words that has ever been given to a Prince, as it contains absolutely no positive connotations or applications.
Armies, particularly invading barbarian hordes, provided many of Genubath's Tethers and fueled his Word most noticeably, but individual day-to-day acts of rapine probably had a greater net effect. One of Genubath's failings may have been that he paid more attention to Assyrians, Huns, Goths, and Saxons than he did to subtler social developments -- growing civilizations like Rome and China might not have engaged in quite such dramatic acts of rapine, but their stability, underpinned by an intrinsic sense of entitlement to expand at others' expense, did more to ensure that rapine would become commonplace in human society.
Genubath was a militant Prince who chafed under the increasing restrictions Asmodeus placed on Earthly disturbances. He wanted to treat the Symphony as his personal playground, and might have been an even more powerful Prince had he not spent so much time on Earth simply enjoying himself, instead of spending more time in Hell, attending to politics. Even so, he was one of the major Superiors of his day, most often opposing Novalis. While Novalis demanded that her Servitors attempt kindness first even with demons of Rapine, in private she admitted that Genubath was one of the few demons she would not object to seeing exterminated.
In 793 A.D., a newcomer named Valefor appeared before Lucifer, with a book stolen from Yves' library. The Lightbringer was sufficiently impressed to offer the powerful Calabite his choice of Words, and Valefor asked for Theft. Lucifer pointed out that this Word would encroach upon that of the reigning Prince of Rapine, who probably would not be inclined to share. Valefor asked for permission to challenge Genubath for his Word; Lucifer regretfully consented. Regretfully because he was sure Genubath would make the promising upstart squeal like a pig before being squashed like a bug.
It was one of the few times the Lightbringer has miscalculated. No one but (perhaps) Lucifer knows exactly how Valefor replaced Genubath, but in the year 793 A.D., Lucifer announced the new Prince of Theft would be taking over Genubath's Principality. Most former demons of Rapine realigned themselves with the new Prince; some sought refuge with other Princes, or went Renegade. Valefor stripped most of Genubath's former Servitors of their Rapine attunements and Distinctions - not unprecedented when a new Prince accepts large numbers of Servitors from another Prince and wants to make sure they are beholden to him and him alone. (Not to mention one would expect the Prince of Theft to exact a price for entering his service.) However, it's rumored that Valefor did let a few former demons of Rapine keep their attunements, and there may be some other former Servitors of Genubath in service to other Princes, with their old Rapine attunements intact.
The description below is useful both for creating demons who once served Genubath, and for a historical or alternate campaign in which Genubath is still active.
Dissonance
It is dissonant for Servitors of Rapine to barter for anything they can take. They don't buy when they can steal, they don't persuade when they can coerce, they don't seduce when they can rape. They can negotiate only if they reasonably believe that their objective isn't attainable by force. It is also dissonant for a demon of Rapine to refrain from taking something he wants, if he thinks he can. This dissonance may be erased if the demon bides his time and takes the object of his desire at a later date.
Band Attunements
Balseraphs of Rapine excel at convincing others not to interfere - if you're not the victim, you don't want to get involved, right? They can apply their resonance to cause anyone who fails to resist to ignore the Balseraph's actions, as long as he's not harming them. (If the Balseraph is harming someone's friends or loved ones, a bonus to the Will roll to resist is appropriate.)
Anyone a Djinn of Rapine attunes to must make a Will roll to oppose anything the demon does - including harming the attuned. If the victim fails to resist, the Djinn will not suffer dissonance for hurting him! (Killing his attuned will always generate dissonance, though.) If the victim does resist with a check digit of 6, however, he will break the attunement and inflict a point of dissonance on the Djinn.
Genubath's Calabim inflict nasty, permanent wounds; anyone they injure with their resonance will not heal normally; only supernatural healing (or, at the GM's option, advanced medical care) will work. This applies to celestial damage also!
Genubath's Habbalah can inflict the emotional effect of Rapaciousness on people. Anyone who fails to resist will, for a number of hours equal to the check digit, behave like a demon of Rapine, taking whatever he wants if he thinks he can get away with it, ignoring any moral compunctions that would normally restrain him.
With a Perception roll, Lilim of Rapine can choose see what is precious to the subject, instead of what he needs. The check digit indicates how precious the object she discovers is. A CD of 1 might mean she learns his favorite piece of clothing; a CD of 6 tells the Lilim what is the most precious thing in the world to that person.
Shedim of Rapine can rape their hosts for Essence. While possessing someone, the Shedim has access to his host's Essence. He may not transfer the Essence directly to himself, but he can spend his host's Essence instead of his own on any action. The demon must win a Contest of Wills with the host each time he wants to do this; if the host should win (or the Shedite fails his Will roll), the Shedite can't attempt to use his host's Essence for a number of hours equal to the CD of the host's Will roll (or of the Shedite's failed roll).
Genubath's Takers can't charm people as other Impudites can. However, they don't need to to steal Essence, and they're better at it; do not subtract the victim's Ethereal and Celestial Forces from an Impudite of Rapine's roll.
Servitor Attunements
The demon can plunder people of Essence by plundering their bodies or possessions. Rape, theft, and destruction of property in the presence of someone who cares about what the demon is taking forces the victim to make a Will roll, or lose a point of Essence, which goes to the demon. (If the victim has no Essence, the demon gets none.) The demon can only get 1 point of Essence for each act of pillage -- but he can pillage the same person repeatedly.
This attunement effectively functions as if the demon had a perfect Role to cover his pillaging and raping. He will not create a disturbance with damage or destruction upon corporeal objects (and people). Spending Essence or using supernatural powers to inflict damage will make a disturbance normally, however.
Distinctions
The demon becomes accustomed to making people submit to him. Subtract the Knight's Celestial Forces from any Will rolls to resist his resonance.
Anything the demon takes will be tainted forevermore, in an indefinable but perceptible manner. Whatever the demon has despoiled will be undesirable to others. Possessions will feel "cursed," and people will carry a lingering aura of violation that makes others shy away. Being exposed to the light of Heaven (either in a divine Tether, or by ascension to Heaven), the direct intervention of an Archangel, or a Divine Intervention (at the GM's option) is the only thing that will make this taint go away.
As per Knight, except the penalty also applies to resistance vs. any attunements or Songs.
Relations
When Genubath was active, he was in Hell's militant camp. Most other Princes either approved of his work, or else avoided him. Only Andrealphus was actively opposed to the Prince of Rapine . . . not because the Prince of Lust disapproves of rape (he doesn't), but because Genubath's conception and use of rape was entirely different from and inimical to Andrealphus'.
ALLIED: Baal (Baal and Belial were allied to Genubath)
ASSOCIATED: Belial (Beleth was associated with Genubath)
HOSTILE: Asmodeus, Meserach (the former Prince of Sloth) (Andrealphus was hostile to Genubath)
The rites below are cumulative; raping and killing a woman in front of her children would be worth 3 Essence.
+1 A rape
+2 A gang-rape or mass rapes
+3 A church being desecrated
+4 A prison or concentration camp where the prisoners are routinely violated
+5 A city being pillaged
+6 An army on a rampage