Demons and their Roles

By Rolland Therrien

**Flaming
Feather**

Demons have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Roles. This is a strong point, especially when one remembers the War got started because the Demons believed they deserved the earth more then Humanity, and that Demons resent and hate Humanity because of this. So it's a bit of a personal slap in the face for a Demon to pretend to be a lowly human while on Earth.

And yet, Demons who gain Roles often find themselves enjoying the freedoms and comforts that those Roles and their place in Human society offers. For a being who's lived in Hell all his life, the relative purgatory of Earth can seem like Paradise. Quite many a Demon finds the freedom of a human life to be a respite from the stressful duties of serving a Prince.

Since this "temptation of freedom" is often a source of Demonic defection, it is not surprising that Hell has an entire organization focused on keeping tabs on Earth. The Prince of the Game's servants work hard day in and day out, keeping tabs on Demons active on Earth, and making sure they report regularly to their Demon Princes. It's no small wonder Gamesters all get Roles on Earth, since they need to be on Earth to do their jobs correctly. The Gamesters hone their demon tracking skills by keeping tabs on one-another, which has the added benefits of ensuring the Game stays unified and under tight control. It doesn't hurt that the fastest way to earn a promotion in the Game's service is to turn in a treacherous comrade...

Balseraphs are known for really "getting into" their Roles, which is not suprising, considering their innate gift for "subjective reality". They take to their Roles much like a method actor would: They convince themselves they are the Role, thus they must act exactly as how the Role dictates they must act. This makes a competent Balseraph nearly impossible to find out when properly "immersed" in it's Role, but it also comes with the added risk of Balseraphs "going native" whenever it forgets it's a Demon and becomes convinced it's a human.

Djinn will originally grumble and gripe about having to take care of their Roles, once awarded them. Some will neglect their Roles, only taking the strict minimum amount of effort to maintain the legalities (and relationships) while others will take meticulous care of maintaining them, obsessing over every relationship and technical detail.

Calabim see Roles as tools for "Home Renovation", using them to damage things using their mortal connections, much like they would with other means. They tend do stay with low level Roles, as everything tends to break down around them. They're frequently forced to renew personal documents like credit cards and drivers' licenses due to wear and tear, and Calabim tend to damage human-based relationships through carelessness and personal abuse.

Habbalah see Roles as a gift from above, a chance for them to serve God by going to Earth to do their jobs as God intended them to. Much as the Elohim see Roles as an opportunity to study human emotion in the field, Habbalah see Roles as a chance to observe and test human resiliance out under real life conditions. The relationships they have in high level Roles tend to be stressed ones, with a lot of emotional tension (mostly caused by the Punisher).

Lilim see Roles in a different way then Demons do. Born from a human Princess, Lilim feel closer to Humanity then other Demons, and as such find themselves fitting more carefully into elaborate Roles. They find human relationships easier to understand, since most friendships basically involve trading small favors from time to time. Free Lilim, in perticular, enjoy the freedom of their Roles enough to make them flight risks in the eyes of The Game, whose agents keep a tight watch on them.

Shedim don't have Roles... They prefer messing around with other human lives over making their own.

Impudites live for Roles. They relish the opportunity to travel to Earth and build lives for themselves amongst the humans they love so much. Much like their angelic cousins, they love mingling with people - only in their case, it's out of a need for Essence and attention, rather then honest friendship.

**Flaming
Feather**

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