Well, I’ve been pressed into watching True Detective by an acquaintance of mine. I had heard good things about it. Specifically, I had heard about it and that it was good. Course, there were few details beyond that except for the intriguing indication that it dealt with Lovecraftian horror. I do love me some Lovecraft even if I don’t think a lot of his work is all that great. Plus, Lovecraft was racist – possibly misogynistic as well.
I’m not finished the series yet which is, mercifully, only eight episodes long. Perhaps I can have it done and a write-up on Friday. Mostly, I just wanted to state what today wasn’t going to be about. This is not a post about True Detective so if you’re looking for a review you’ll just have to sit in anticipation. Course, if you’ve watched True Detective then you’re probably used to waiting in anticipation.
Fukin Raijin by Tawaraya Sotatsu (17th Century).
Instead, I wanted to do something a little different. I wanted to discuss some more Plemora. Pleroma. I have no idea what we’re calling it now or whether Derek’s cured his dyslexia. I’ve taken to referring to the project as Plemora even though “Plemora” itself doesn’t turn up in any of the work. Confused? Well, let’s see if we can’t keep it that way.
I thought I would give a brief glimpse into the creative process. The world for plemora was conceived years and years ago. I’ve probably been expanding and rewriting the lore as many times as Derek’s been changing the mechanical ruleset. Unfortunately for him, he sees about as much lore as I see rules which is to say none at all. So I’m going to include some of my work and the direction I’ve been transitioning with the world.
First, however, a run down on what the Hel “Plemora” even is. I’m assuming few readers are brushed up on the Gnosticism, so the quick and dirt is this: Plemora is the grimdark role-playing world that supposes the existence of demons. However, unlike Judeo-Christian entities, these are closer to the Gnostic/Ancient Philosophical daemons. Not necessarily malignant, not necessarily helpful, these creatures descend from a higher plane of existence to interact with us lowly humans. The world examined the impact that fractions of these entities would have if they infused themselves within the bodies of suspecting (or otherwise) humans. The trials, for the character, would be understanding what has occurred to them followed by adjusting to life while being host to an otherworldly parasite that granted supernatural powers.
Course, this isn’t the germ of an idea that began the whole process, but I’ll save that little story for another time. What I want to do today is cover the evolution of one of the major factions in the game system. Since the goal was to set the game world in our own with an overlay of the supernatural, much of the inspiration and ideas for the different peoples and groups which populate it come from our own societal developments. Give the supernatural, faith and religious overtones of the world, it seems only natural that one of the most rewritten groups is none other than The Host. These beings are better recognized by their common name amongst daemonkin: Angels.
First, let’s start off with the Angel faction as I first mentioned them so many months ago. This was back with the Noble Truths discussion and was meant to represent a specific philosophical outlook. In that incarnation, the Angels were described as thus:
The Noble Truths
Angel – Worship. Angel philosophy stresses a strong hierarchy with clearly defined roles. They also believe in Gods and are almost the Enlightened transition of typical religious individuals. Angel philosophy contains a trickle down effect. Angels worship a higher entity which in turn grants blessings and powers to the lower followers. Beginning Angels, or Initiates are thus, often extremely numerous and extremely powerless. These would be represented by the in numerous masses of people shuffling into churches, mosques, temples etc… However, due to the interconnected belief flow, when one finally classifies as an ‘Angel’, that individual is typically far stronger than any other Enlightened at that level of growth. Due to the nature of Angels, their society is fractured. Thus there are the Judeo-Christian-Islamic Angel group, but there would also be the Hindu Deva group, the Shamanistic Totem group etc…
Angel (Angel Prelude) by Mikalojus Ciurlionus (1909).
Here we can see the development of a very specific idea. The Angels follow a top-down hierarchy which places great emphasis on those in the limited higher echelons than those on the bottom. It details how the Angels interact with the common world (through worship) as well as briefly touching on an overall philosophical outlook. Of important note was the idea that, though called Angels, in practice they wouldn’t have to be restricted to Christian views. The goal was to create a flexible system even in the earliest incarnation.
The Noble Truths was followed up by the idea that they would be a type of daemonkin so as to ease the amount of stress on the mechanical system. While I knew early on I would like to have a bunch of different types of play that could be enjoyed in this world, I wanted to make sure we had a strong base for the daemonkin idea to launch. Thus, Angels were shaping up to be powerful protagonists but needed to be realized in the mechanical framework Derek was initially developing.
These Angels I termed as the Bloodline Angels.
Bloodline Angels
Angels (Sanctus Templum) – I need a new name for them so it isn’t so obvious (e.g. Malachi, Ahuras, Elohim, Adonai, Malach, Malach Adonai) The Archangels and the older ones (who steal names from the bible) will generally have a very beautiful (or feminine, fragile, fine featured) appearance. These are the individuals who occupy the upper monotheistic religions. They believe in the One who created them to watch over humanity and shepherd them. Their beliefs and energetic functioning are slightly different than other daemons. They believe that God had created them, transforming them from the frail and flawed human form to that of perfection in the One’s own image. They receive their energy from the One who sustains them and replenishes them. They have created a distorted energy flow in their beliefs. Because of their connection to the monotheistic deities, they have created a system were an enormous amount of energy is directed to one individual which is then filtered down to those in descending hierarchical importance. Thus, the Archangels receive the most amount of energy, followed by the angels, powers and so on. However, God isn’t the top of the power tier but Metatron (as this game is religion neutral). Because of the different monotheistic religions, there is probably three/four different sects of Angels, one for Judaism, Christianity, Islam and perhaps Zoroastrianism. Though the lower levels are very different, I think the upper echelon is made up of members from all of the different factions and constitute the archangels (Uriel, Raphael, Michael, Gabrial etc…)
You can see how the strict organization is still maintained while I began to toy with the idea of where these beings came from. There’s still an idea of God and they still dominate the monotheistic religions of our modern world as has their narrowing to a specific group of religious tenets. I also began to develop the ‘flow’ of energy between the levels a little better. You can begin to see some standard terminology arising as I hone my vocabulary about the topic of Plemora. Much of the energy discourse has to do with faith/belief as well as generic, universal energy. This refinement of terms would be carried over into later revisions of the Angels as well would my expansion on making them religion neutral. However, I was still pulling on heavy Gnostic beliefs at this time so there was still a great focus on religion. The next iteration, however, was the most in-depth for a long while and it had been inspired after a rather remarkably industrious surge of output from Derek.
This vision of the Angels I call the Gnostic Stumble.
Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel (1868).
Gnostic Stumble Angels
Leader: The Angel Melchisedek/Lucifer
The Choir is how daemonkin’s refer to the “angels” as a group. The angels are a class of daemon that serve incredibly powerful entities known as gods. Angels hunt and destroy daemonkin, killing the physical vessel of the human and capturing the energy body in talismans.
Paradigm: The beliefs of the Choir are involved and complex, requiring a faith in the higher energy planes of the pleroma. While God (Demiurge) is the technical head of the Choir, the focal point of their energy and the being which they all worship is his son Lucifer – the de facto leader. Melchisedek is the archangel appointed by Lucifer to monitor and contain the physical plane.
The One True King: the Demiurge has come to believe he is the true creator of life and the universe. He does not believe in a higher authority, believing himself to be that higher authority. His gaze is forever downward, on the millions of worshipers and followers on Earth. To him, all daemonkin are just fallen angels – individuals who have strolled away from his graces. However, due to Lucifer’s convincing, the Demiurge does not directly interfere with the physical plane but remains dormant and watching within the energy plane called The Kingdom.
The Wayward Child: Lucifer, alone, believes in a higher spiritual authority. He acknowledges the existence of the Eternal Divine Principle (the Creator) from which all existence emanated. Accordingly, Lucifer believes one of the aware emanations of the Creator – an Aeon – created the Demiurge. The Demiurge is not the Eternal Divine Principle but a simple Archon who has been deluded by his own grandeur. Lucifer believes that the Demiurge was created by the Aeon of Wisdom Sophia. When Sophia saw the Demiurge and his blindness, she attempted to illuminate him of the truth. The Demiurge refused to listen and she turned to the Demiurge’s first bastard creation – Lucifer. She bestowed upon Lucifer the knowledge of the higher planes in the hopes of returning the Demiurge to this paradise – this Eden. However, Lucifer failed to convince his father of Eden and instead became obsessed with returning to this paradise of his own accord. To do so, he crafted a religion around the Demiurge on Earth to channel the will and belief of the people in order to become strong enough to Ascend.
Paradise Lost: Lucifer maintains that he entered paradise but that the Aeons immediately turned upon him for being flawed, ousting him from Eden. Since then, Lucifer has turned to humanity in order to fuel his violent re-entry. Lucifer wishes to reclaim the lost heritage of his father at all costs. Lucifer maintains that the Aeons wish to keep him barred from paradise and created new Archons with the sole purpose of opposing him – swaying the hearts and minds of the mortals away from the Demiurge while fighting his siblings in a constant war against the Demiurge’s private plane The Kingdom. These are the ‘false gods’ and the origins of the other daemons who the Demiurge sees just as fallen angels.
Eden Forgotten, Hell Forged: When pressed for details on the higher plane, Lucifer can not remember them vividly. It has been a long time since his claimed entrance to this higher plane and he mentions only seven other Aeons residing within its plane. These Aeons, Lucifer argues, are perfect beings comprised of all virtues. Their creations, however, are imperfect and often just the exaggeration of a single virtue or missing a virtue. With each successive level of creation, the beings produced are more and more imperfect. Lucifer wished to know if it were possible for a lower being to create something greater than itself. So, aside from protecting his worship base, Lucifer also toyed with humanity, gently guiding them in some grand experiment to see if they could rise above their station. The recent creation of Cyberspace has excited Lucifer quite a bit as it is his first indication of a lower level being creating something amazing. Angels, generally, do not enter the Dreamspace and are typically unaware or uncaring towards its existence.
Wisdom’s Interference: Lucifer maintains that Sophia is constantly waging a ceaseless war against his efforts. He believes that Sophia is the one that rallied the Aeons against him and created the unending assault on The Kingdom. He also maintains that Sophia constantly emanates avatars to Earth in order to Enlighten humanity of the existence of Eden and the Eternal Divine. Lucifer knows nothing of the Eternal Divine save that it appears to remain uninvolved in the affairs of lower energy entities.
The Kingdom: The Choir doesn’t appear as the stereotypical dove winged individuals. Instead they have a very otherworldly appearance – almost alien. For the most part, they appear almost genderless, all possessing fine and delicately feminine features with the tall and toned masculine form. This androgyny is in reference to Lucifer’s desire to rejoin with the higher planes and the entities not defined and limited by such separations as gender. Furthermore, with those possessing or activating a perception of energy, every single member of the Choir from the lowly cherubim to the mighty archangels, possess ribbon tendrils that connect them back to Metatron. This immediate connection with the heavenly energy source is the reason why the Choir is so powerful. At any moment, Metatron can redirect excessive amounts of energy to any Choir member in need, stymieing the flow from members not in immediate danger. These same energy ribbons are what give the Choir the appearance of “wings”.
These last two are going to be the longest. I went full out on the Gnostic structure but it gave lots of inspiration for working out more of the details of the organization. Of greatest importance was that paradigm line. I decided on this iteration of the Angels that I wanted each major organization to have a unique outlook on the world and how it functioned. This seemed like a logically course to take, as the lore of Plemora is so steeped in faith and belief. It seemed imperative to me that the Game Master have a firm grasp on the philosophy that directed each group. I also began to have a better understanding of my cosmology and the delineation between the energy planes and the physical planes.
However, I had grossly failed in my initial goal way back at the start to keep things religion neutral. I didn’t want to impose a specific faith structure on the game system. I used to play Vampire: the Masquerade and one thing that always bothered me was its insistence on the Christian mythological explanation for vampires. It felt like it weighed down story possibilities by making Cain the father of all vampires and the curse being divine retribution from God. It made it very difficult to separate the world created from Christian teachings and parables, especially since vampirism was meant to be viewed as a curse the player would strive to manage or even cure. I personally prefer the tension and conflict that arises from uncertainty. There’s a strength to say “this is how the world works” but I think a greater conflict comes from two opposing philosophical viewpoints that are assured in their accuracy. The Gnostic incarnation of the angels undermined the paradigm system I wanted to put forward. A re-write was necessary and that’s when I arrived at my Host. It’s unlikely this will be the final incarnation of the group but I feel it represents best where I’d like to take the lore of Plemora. The factions are meant to be certain in their understanding of the world’s inner mechanisms but a natural paradox arises between each faction making none of them compatible. This should encourage conflict on a fundamental level. It means that there can be no reconciliation between the groups. Only dominance can prove the veracity of their claim.
The Park and the Angel of Death by Gustave Moreau (1890).
Malach Adonai – The Host/The Choir
Leader: Metatron (Mattatron)
The Malach Adonai are a terrifying organization. Long are their roots in the earthly plane, though rare are their manifestations. They have garnered many names throughout the generations between their sparse appearances. Known as The Host, The Choir and most commonly angels, documentation of these entities ranges well back into antiquity. There are few that put as much fear in the daemonkin as a single angel. Some whisper that many a daemon had drifted because they warred with the Host.
There is no interacting with the Host. New daemonkin are often confused by the elegant, almost fragile androgynous form, failing to recognize the danger in the lithe figure that blazes into existence. However, it does not take long to recognize the power of the Malach Adonai. All fear and flee whenever one arrives. Tales of their power are kept alive through frenzied whispers and paranoid retelling. A single angel is attributed with the complete destruction of a Haven. No combination of daemonkin has ever successful kept the Host from their target. They have no interest in parlay or politics. When they arrive, it is to destroy. The most a person can do is get out of their way, hide and hope they were not the reason for the manifestation of such a terrible power.
Paradigm: The beliefs of the Host are involved and complex. They have faith in a higher energy plane, in fact most of the members never tread upon the lower planes of the pleroma. They worship Adonai who is the focal point of their energy. However, this Lord is a faceless and nameless entity. In most circumstances, such organized worship would create a new entity in its place. But the vast power directed towards such an entity would cause it to immediately ascend upon inception. Instead, a surrogate entity takes the place of the Adonai. When named, he is referred to as Metatron.
However, to keep from ascending himself, Metatron immediately uses the great power invested into him to redistribute all the accumulated power amongst the members of the Host. In exchange, the members swear unfaltering and endless devotion to the Adonai, cycling back all their energy to Metatron. This creates an endless loop forever locking their power in an endless exchange between Metatron and his Host.
The One True King:
The Malach Adonai system of power would not work with just the faith and fealty of its Host members. Instead, Metatron is almost entirely reliant upon the faith of The Flock. These are the faithful on the physical plane who gladly revere the Adonai without need for power in return. Since the spread of the Adonai cult relies on an amorphous and intangible image, the Flock are able to substitute whatever image they desire. This allowed the idea of the Adonai to spread amongst wildly different cultures and peoples. Unlike most higher planar creatures which often feed quite forcibly from their victims, the Malach Adonai feeds almost entirely on faith. This willing generation of power towards the Host has proved to be both long sustaining and incredibly profitable.
None have seen Metatron and it is rumoured that his visage is that of the ever shifting forms in which he is worshiped. Others claim, however, that Metatron is little more than a mindless husk, locked into this unconscious system of power cycling and takes on little form or personality. Either way, it seems most agree that Metatron has become less a person and more a personification of the Malach Adonai power system. He has become a truly impartial Lord of many.
The Kingdom of All:
The danger of the Host lies in Metatron’s ability to direct far more energy into a member than could reasonably be kept before that individual would ascend. Like electrons, any entity that becomes supercharged will jump from one plane to the next. A member of the Host, however, has access to an energy pool far outstripping anything that would exist on its plane. By holding most of it in reserve and channeling what is needed, a Host member essentially has infinite energy generation. Thus, they are capable of inhuman strength and regeneration as all energy spent on these processes are almost immediately replenished. Thus, an enemy of the Host will find their attacks practically bouncing off useless and each strike from the Host is able to tear even the most intricate and impenetrable defenses apart.
Because this energy is dispersed amongst a wide membership, however, the more power a single member expends, the more Metatron must draw from the other members. If a battle is incredibly draining on one member, though that Host will not show signs of fatigue his kin are slowly weakening as Metatron siphons from each to keep the fight alive.
Even more maddening, is destroying a Host member is futile as once a member reaches a critical point, Metatron absorbs the majority of their power back into the system and redirects it to the next closest agent, re-initiating the fight without any serious loss of power.
Child of Divinity:
Because of the singular nature of the host, members exhibit a surprising uniformity in their appearance. While there is enough difference to separate one form the other, they almost universally manifest as an otherworldy being – almost alien. All possess fine and delicately feminine features with a tall and toned masculine form. This androgyny makes individualization difficult, promoting a uniting amongst the Host in image and belief. However, there are often telling marks to suggest the origins of its members. The few individuals who have survived encounters with different Host members have attested to markings the separate them. Some appear slightly more masculine or feminine. There is slight variation in size, handedness, favoured weapon manifestation and marks often attributed to scarring. This suggests that the Host does not create simulacrum but that all members were once likely human but ascended through infusion with Metatron. Likely, given the use of Disciples and the reliance on earthly worship, the Malach Adonai recruits new members from the devoted and once they swear utmost fealty and reverence to the Adonai they are ascended into the higher ranks.
There does seem to be separate organization amongst the Host as well. Intuitions from daemonshards suggest that part of the marking and differentiation between Host members denotes their position in the Host. If their earthly teachings are anything to follow, there exists quite a lot of different levels from the Cherubim up to the dreaded Archangels.
Blessed Neglect:
Despite their reliance on faith generated on the physical plane, the Host rarely interferes with worldly affairs. They have no interest in the petty politics. So long as they receive the faith generated by the people, they care not what happens otherwise to their followers. Even direct interference with their flock is unlikely to summon an agent of the Host. Typically, most issues will be resolved on their own by their followers and any more niggling problems are usually overcome with a Disciple. Only a significant threat to their faithful would elicit a response from the Host. Otherwise, their appearance is typically to seek out Daemons who seek refuge on the physical plane or to find and eliminate the last vestiges of a particularly power enemy that has drifted.
Hegemony of the Script:
As an organization based on faith, the Host maintains with utmost sincerity the mythology of its institute. The vast majority of Malach Adonai do not understand the structure of their organization and belief they are receiving power directly from their Lord. In a sense, they do, though it is unlikely many of them picture their Adonai as Metatron. In their belief, they follow a Lord who ascended millenium ago and they are the arm of this powerful Lord, enacting his will.
