Desperately Seeking Demons

[CapitanTypo]

The core request of this post is that I'm looking for ideas to help make Malfeas in my game as populous and varied as possible. If you've got custom demons you've made up, or even just ideas or thought bubbles you're willing to share, please post here (links to other resources/threads also welcome)

I'm running a game primarily focused on Malfeas and the demons who dwell there. According to the numbers presented in the Roll of Glorious divinity, there are at least 23 yozis, each with a minimum of 12 souls, meaning at least 276 3CD. Therefore there are just shy of 2000 2CD and who-knows-how-many 1CD.

While I'm designing a particular Yozi and soul hierarchy as the centrepiece of my story, the solars will be journeying to malfeas with increasing frequency and I want to make sure such journeys never become routine.

So if you've ever daydreamed about unique demons or have ideas you're willing to share, please help me out!

Also, has there ever been a more detailed description of the purpose of each of the different souls that are 2CDs?

[Bulshock]

The core request of this post is that I'm looking for ideas to help make Malfeas in my game as populous and varied as possible. If you've got custom demons you've made up, or even just ideas or thought bubbles you're willing to share, please post here (links to other resources/threads also welcome)

I'm running a game primarily focused on Malfeas and the demons who dwell there. According to the numbers presented in the Roll of Glorious divinity, there are at least 23 yozis, each with a minimum of 12 souls, meaning at least 276 3CD. Therefore there are just shy of 2000 2CD and who-knows-how-many 1CD.

While I'm designing a particular Yozi and soul hierarchy as the centrepiece of my story, the solars will be journeying to malfeas with increasing frequency and I want to make sure such journeys never become routine.

So if you've ever daydreamed about unique demons or have ideas you're willing to share, please help me out!

Also, has there ever been a more detailed description of the purpose of each of the different souls that are 2CDs?

http://exalted.xi.co.nz/wiki/ATaxonomyOfMadness This could be a good place to start. It's a collection of the official Yozi as well as a bunch of homebrew ones. Includes some 1st, 2nd, and 3rd circle demons. Each entry on the list that I linked is a Yozi, and in the follow up for it is the demons that have been thought up as either their souls, their souls souls, and the first circle demons associated with them.

Edit: In the Sorcerous initiation thread I also posted a partial writeup of an initiation for Ex3 based on a bargain with one of the custom demons for Malfeas.

[CapitanTypo]

http://exalted.xi.co.nz/wiki/ATaxonomyOfMadness This could be a good place to start. It's a collection of the official Yozi as well as a bunch of homebrew ones. Includes some 1st, 2nd, and 3rd circle demons. Each entry on the list that I linked is a Yozi, and in the follow up for it is the demons that have been thought up as either their souls, their souls souls, and the first circle demons associated with them.

Thank you, much appreciated.

[Bulshock]

Thank you, much appreciated.

Quite welcome, there should be a few hundred custom demons there, including more then a few first circle types though I think second and third circle are more common on the lists, and close to 20 homebrew Yozi most of which should have at least a couple demons made for them.

Edit: I don't think any of them have Ex3 mechanic writeups, and most don't have a mechanic writeup at all. But it should give you a starting point for ideas at least.

[YeOfLittleFaith]

I've been working on some demon write ups ever since getting into Exalted, while we were still waiting for Ex3. Most of it still needs cleaning up, but some of them included:

Arbites, the Defining Soul of Kashta, an indulgent demon with the torso of a caesar and the lower body of a giant spider with a second mouth that hungers for death. Accompanied by his parade, he looks for contests to turn into deadly matches where he decides the loser's fate.

Respecta, the Constructive Soul of Ligier, who serves as his empire's peacekeeper. A knight with an armor of lead thorns encasing a vitrol-fed flame for a core, who is both male and female. She works to keep Ligier's forges working smoothly and harmoniously, and his progeny are other demons and unfortunate mortals welded to skeletons of lead and lantern hearts who have broken the peace.

Annalai, the soul of the Ebon Dragon who has tasted of death and listened to oblivion for him. A shade who always appears with the familiarity of a mortal end, imprinted with what has once been, shaped by her experiences into a terrifying gestalt.

Tartaroi, the soul of Malfeas who represents his coveting of all that rightly belongs to him, who hates the greedy and the reckless. An immense mine system that stretches into the depths of hell, bearing many riches which only increase in amount or rise in purity the deeper one goes. Those who take anything from the shafts without permission are bound and pulled back, and their minds and bodies twisted into ugly, diminished servants.

[Baaldam]

As a little aside i would ask - which 3rd circle demons are mostly "demon gods" (like Erembour or Orabilis), which are mostly landmarks of sorts (like Munaxes, the Ravine of Whispers or Bostvade, The Quicksilver Highway) and which are a mix of both (like Ligier, the Green Sun or Ululaya, the Blood-Red Moon)?

That in itself can offer loads of color and ideas, as geography, astronomy and kingdoms of the demon realm mix and match in peculiar ways.

Mentions exist of forest of gold, silver and bronze, each being a different entity (one of them a Yozi itself), but what of mountains, rivers, cliffs and other locales betwixt Malfeas many layers?

Just for an example, I once made for a story arc a province bound by a bay of blood that was a behemoth child beloved to the Blood-Red Moon with a high number of worshipful ghosts of people enslaved or sacrificed by the Lintha and ruled by seven quarrelsome 2nd circle demons with alchemical obsessions exploiting strange solvents, mixes and products formed where kimbery's acidic waves crashed in blood foam, among other things.

[Sorcerous Overlord]

http://killsixbilliondemons.com/ There's a good start.

Here's a character I made for a Shadowrun campaign and have put a version of in almost every game I have run, Azanth the Metaphysical Merchant of Magic Curious. My players love him.

Azanth's Bazaar of Questionable Reality is one of the few places you can get to from anywhere... sort of. For starters, even repeat customers aren't really sure "where" it is- in just about any city you can find a series of doors in places they shouldn't be: facing the stone columns bridges, on ceilings in run down apartments, the floor of an apothecary, and a dozen other seemingly random locales. A sizable number of magic theorists have worked out a series of byzantine rules that govern when a door will appear and disappear, but their accuracy is slightly above "dartboard selection" and below "coin flip". Anyone in the magic community can give a local list of several repeat spots to hit until you get lucky.

When you enter the door (which is always a shade of purple) you pass into complete darkness, with five silk veils before you: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, and Darker Red. Azanth's Bazaar is one room large, but the room is always different. Today it's six sides are covered in rich Satrapy style carpets: walls, floor and ceiling. There doesn't seem to be a door or windows in this room. on the floor are great plush pillows and hookahs of exotic tastes. Exotic spices and foods are laid out on plates attended by nubile servants, which seem to be literally made of porcelain. The servants fawn over the customers and will try to touch their faces and caress their shoulders, forearms, and feet. On close inspection, these servants resemble more beautiful versions of various people from your life and travels, except for the one who does not move or speak, that one looks like you if you were the opposite gender.

Azanth stands in the room with a warm greeting. He is taller than you, but only just (which is the same for both the extremely short and extremely tall. don't think about it), and his large eyes are cloudy and multicolored, like fires lighting up a thick fog. His dark skin seems to change between "black coffee" and "deep oak", but never while you are looking at it. His wild hair is unkempt (whether fashionable or crazed is in the beholder's eye). He has a deep voice and speaks with a strangely matter of fact syntax, as though he were explaining something to you that you should already know. Azanth never explains the how's or why's. He refuses to deal with anyone who wears the color Bright Green until they take off the item or cover it up. Again, he doesn't explain why.

Azanth sells magic curios- he has just about any item in the book with no problem but he refuses to haggle, he simply repeats the price until the buyer accepts or declines. These prices range from 'Impossible' to merely 'Arbitrary', and he accepts all currencies. As soon as you pay him, though, he destroys the coins/jewels/trinkets and eats them. Its here that you might realize Azanth's teeth are made of gemstones which are reflecting light from a roaring fire that does not exist. Azanth will not accept any payment or traffic any item that has an Insect depiction on it, no exceptions.
For a different price, Azanth can get (or make, it's not really clear) custom items. A popular choice is the Divining Stick- it points to the item the buyers actually want (the head of a Fae Prince, True Love, a source of raw Oricalchum). Anything and everything that could exist can be procured, except that which can't. Again, it's not clear what the difference is. For these services, Azanth charges a different sort of price: Memories and past lives. He might take the memory of your first kiss, the location of your childhood secret treasures box, your eclectic knowledge of a favorite pastime. He might require you to forfeit you past (or future?) reincarnation as a Gladiator, or a flower, even if you never were those things. Gods only knows what he does with them. [This price can only be paid by removing an Intimacy or a Background]

To leave, Azanth tells you to look at your feet. If the players raise objections or questions he simply repeats himself. When the players look down, they see the street. When they look up they see the door they entered from a distance, and they see their past(?) selves touch the door and disappear. They are either a year older or a year younger than when they entered, so savvy travelers bring a shaving razor and a proper sized belt, where applicable.

-------- Castigation of the Unprincipled Darkness, aka "Devil Wong the Cook" aka "That Old Bastard" and his sort-of only friend One-Horn Jan of the Pearlhammer.

Deep into the slums of Malfeas exists a fabled and triumphant eatery that even the mightiest of demons prostrate themselves to enter, it goes colloquially as "Devil Wong's Noodle Bar". There are only two item's on the menu- Devil Wong's Devil Bowl: Very spicy; and the Get The Hell Out of My Store Bowl: Free. The Devil bowl is a delicious mix of noodles, chicken, eggs, peppers and spices. The other bowl gets you (literally) kicked out of the bar. Green tea is offered for free with every bowl. Alcohol must be purchased. The only accepted currency is the corrupted bronze talents of the Malfeasian black market.
The owner and only cook (don't say chef, I warned you) is Devil Wong. Old, pock marked, and rail thin, Devil Wong is meaner than starving mongrel and not as good looking. But god damn does he make a good bowl. His "niece" Mei Lin is a mortal from the outer edges of the Realm, she's the only server in the small shop and is frequently overwrought, confused, and afraid. Devil Wong constantly berates her for being useless and clumsy (she isn't either of those), however, he is fiercely protective of her, which some people learn the hard way. One of the few regular customers is One-Horn Jan, a down and out demon with a long past. World weary and past his prime, he still looks like he can handle himself well in a fight. You don't survive for millennia in Malfeas by being easy to kill. Whatever his previous involvement with Wong, they have a sort of mutual, if terse, understanding. One-Horn can be found squatting withing a few blocks of the noodle bar. Mei Lin tries to hide it, but she's attracted to him, even though he's probably wicked and murderous he's at least courteous to her when ordering.

Surprisingly, Castigation of the Unprincipled Darkness is not a demon. Whatever type of power lies within him is well hidden, but the level of his power is both obvious as terrifying. Rumors abound that Wong is a Sidereal who backed the Yozi, or that he's a fallen First Age Solar doing penance, or that he's actually the Exigent of Five Days Darkness, Lord of Calibration. Only Wong knows, and even demons of the Second Circle are hesitant to cross him. By some chance a player should have extensive knowledge of lost martial styles or lore of the first age, they might recognize Wong's unusual Black Sun forearm tattoo. The mark of is the crest of the notorious Dark Sun Wickedness, legendary inventor of the All-Consuming Inescapable Void style, which is lost to history if it ever even existed. Surely Wong couldn't know the style or have studied under Dark Sun Wickedness, could he? If asked this question, a surge of murderous intent passes from Wong's eyes into the petitioner, and they understand that asking again could negatively affect their life expectancy.

But back to One-Horn Jan for a minute. He is old, certainly he looks grandfatherly (by demon standards), his rough leathery skin is hard and yet smooth to the touch, like a desert lizard's. He stands at seven feet tall, and his prized white beard is trimmed neatly to his chest, which somewhat off sets his muscular, scarred, and burned torso. In places about his extremities thick metal bands are affixed by nails that protrude from the other side. He grins and laughs when asked about this, but doesn't explain them. Where his spine should be is a cavernous trough filled with burning embers, which smoke and produce heat but do not fall from place. He wears a large belt with a snarling face emblem that covers most of his curious belly- curious in that it seems to be muscular but as if the muscles were on top of fat (or, hideously, like a great snakes that has swallowed a whole dear). He binds his feet with rope and is willing to trade decorative trinkets in exchange for information about Malfeas. He promises that he won't try to eat any of the party, this time. One-Horn is very informed about the comings and goings of this area, and is willing to enter into agreements or deals with outsiders without coercion, but never for free. He will offer to bodyguard the party and take them to their destination without incident if they offer him a human to eat, other demons seem to respect One-Horn Jan's fighting prowess enough to make this offer seem worthwhile. Jan wields a warhammer that is either stylized like a conch-mollusk or actually is a giant, 8 foot conch-mollusk. He claims it was a gift from the King of Fish in the Lawless Seas. It's power is obvious, and it's Artifact 5. Periodically it will drop pearls that Jan tells the party not to touch under any circumstances, if they want to keep their eyes and ability to breathe air. Jan will not talk about Wong's past under any circumstance, even death.

Let me know if you liked these, I can make more.

[BrilliantRain]

I had this idea once for a first circle demon that had the form of a clockwork orb full of gears that built automaton bodies around itself and they would have competitions to see which bodies are most artistic. Didn't really get much beyond that, but maybe you can run with it.

Might be better if they're more like hermit crabs constructing bodies of junk to live in or something, as the gears might be too Autochthonia..

[CapitanTypo]

Edit: I don't think any of them have Ex3 mechanic writeups, and most don't have a mechanic writeup at all. But it should give you a starting point for ideas at least.

Meh. My game is strictly 2nd ed. I missed the kick-starter and 3rd ed didn't come out before the game started so. .. not an issue!

[CapitanTypo]

I've been working on some demon write ups ever since getting into Exalted, while we were still waiting for Ex3. Most of it still needs cleaning up, but some of them included:

Brilliant! Thank you.

[Bulshock]

That's quite fair. You'd have your work cut out for you mechanics wise with doing a Malfeas game in Ex3 with just the core book.

[CapitanTypo]

As a little aside i would ask - which 3rd circle demons are mostly "demon gods" (like Erembour or Orabilis), which are mostly landmarks of sorts (like Munaxes, the Ravine of Whispers or Bostvade, The Quicksilver Highway) and which are a mix of both (like Ligier, the Green Sun or Ululaya, the Blood-Red

Good question.though given the scope and scale of the yozis is be inclined to consider Yozis as a landmark, and an abstract concept, and an element of malfeas, etc.

[CapitanTypo]

Let me know if you liked these, I can make more.

I don't think there is a limit to my appetite for new ideas! Thank you.

[CapitanTypo]

I had this idea once for a first circle demon that had the form of a clockwork orb full of gears that built automaton bodies around itself and they would have competitions to see which bodies are most artistic. Didn't really get much beyond that, but maybe you can run with it.

Might be better if they're more like hermit crabs constructing bodies of junk to live in or something, as the gears might be too Autochthonia..

Like a mechanical neomah... nice visuals.

[CapitanTypo]

That's quite fair. You'd have your work cut out for you mechanics wise with doing a Malfeas game in Ex3 with just the core book.

I know it had some issues, but i really like 2nd ed.