By: redneck@txdirect.net (Redneck Gaijin)
The world is what we all make of it.
Lilith is a tortured soul, with nobody doing the torturing except herself.
As Armageddeon broke loose acros the Earth, Lilith rejoiced. Her careful work in the governments of the world had paid off, setting each against itself as much as against others, every President, Prime Minister, Generalissimo and Emperor exercising their Freedom on the others.
Then the looting began... and didn't stop.
Then the mass murders began... and didn't stop.
Then Saminga walked the earth, sucking the Forces from all in his path...
... and Lilith knew it wasn't supposed to work like this. Doomsday was here, and now everyone should be free... and as she watched, the dead went straight to slavery in Hell, or were destroyed outright... the living struggled to stay alive and escape the new warlords and bandits.
Within her, the demonic Word she had accepted from Lucifer screamed out in betrayal, even as Lilith's tears fell to the ground. This was not freedom, this was destruction, plain and simple. In life, freedom was dying for most humans, and in death, Hell awaited...
In her despair, Lilith cried out to Heaven, begging the Almighty to return, not for herself, but to bring back the last hope for humanity. That path was closed, though, not just to her but to everyone. If there was going to be a freedom, Lilith would have to bring it about herself.
Today Lilith walks to and fro in the earth, and up and down in it, her guilt and grief settling heavier than any Geas on her Celestial shoulders. Every day makes her more and more dissonant to her darker nature, as she takes on responsibility and obligation willingly, without reward, the demonic aspect of her Word slowly burning away into... who knows?
Lilith knows what is happening, and has tried to deny it. She's blamed Lucifer for selling her down the river; that lasted a day and a half. Blaming Saminga didn't last an hour. Now, to others, she rationalizes her actions - she cleaned the heavy radiation away because she needs humanity to fight Saminga, right? She heals the sick because dead humans can't fight, right? And even if it does seem selfless, all it is is an investment in the future... right?
Nobody's fooled, least of all Lilith. Her beauty remains, but the incredible weariness of seven thousand years of guilt laid on at one shot is obvious to anyone who sees her. Lucifer has apoligized, and purges her Discord when it manifests, but the Dissonance builds up faster than he could hope to clear it away.
Sooner or later, Lilith knows, she will break down and repent... and what happens to her if she Redeems? Will she be bound again to human man, the powerless helpmate she was before? Will she lose her agelessness and crumble to the dust? These fears haunt Lilith, prodding her back away from grace, though in her hopes she sees herself as a bright goddess of Liberty, purged of guilt, forgiven and glorified by the Almighty.
Caught between guilt and hope, responsibility and obligation, Lilith walks the upward stair, dragging her feet as she struggles to break away, her Word and her newfound conscience driving her on to an uncertain future...
(entries following changed only as they differ from the IN rulebook entries)
In addition to existing Dissonance requirements, it is Dissonant while in Lilith's service to unfairly or arbitrarily deprive another being of its freedom. This includes killing, except in the case of Demons. It does not include extracting a Geas from someone.
Lilith is very repentant of her works, and in the time since she left Hell she's had very little time or energy to create new Lilim. Andre is a reminder to her of what she was, and though she understands him and sometimes supports him in council, for the most part she wants nothing to do with him. Lucifer has taken a particular interest in her welfare, for which she is intensely grateful. Yves, on the other hand, keeps silent about her struggle, earning Lilith's resentment... but whether his stoic silence is to allow Lilith to reach her Destiny, or because she -has- no higher Destiny, no one knows but Yves...
Lilith's newfound conscience goads her into commitment - some, especially Lucifer, would say -overcommitment.- She still has a lot to do, and she can't be everywhere at once, but already her name is becoming a rumor among humans. "Call on me," she has said to many, and now many are calling, a low background rumble at the moment but possibly soon a tidal wave of calls for her, pleas for help which rip her from two directions at once, working on her guilt while adding still more Dissonance to her demonic nature.
Lilith gains Dissonance each time she commits herself to a responsibility without some negotiated exchange. If you call on her and offer a Geas, she will be relieved to hear, if she hears. Given a chance to help in exchange for 'indefinite services later', she will jump to the task, filing the Geas away for a day when it will come in handy and a task proper and just for the Geased.
Lilith still holds Geases on all the Demon Princes still in Hell, as well as many of the Lilim still there. She will not call these promises in lightly; they are in the nature of a Last Resort, a weapon to be used when the time is right or the cause justifies the means.
And remember... ANYONE, even Saminga himself, may summon Lilith. It's just tougher for Hell to speak to her now... and Hell knows that, Renegade or not, Lilith could cause a lot of grief if they tried to just haul her back in...
(*NOTE: Lilith is the subject of the first adventure seed I'm working on. The three I currently have in mind are all Superior-related, and are titled, 'Rebirth of Liberty,' 'Reap the Whirlwind,' and 'Heavenly Laughter.')
--- Redneck
Kris Overstreet, will write for food... | Do not taunt Happy Fun Belial. http://www.txdirect.net/users/redneck | * * * c/o White Lightning Productions | "I love the sweet smell of http://www.jurai.net/~redneck/wlp/ | humiliation in the morning!" Webmaster for Antarctic Press | --- Kobal reaffirms himself http://www.antarctic-press.com/ | ***QUESTION EVERYTHING***
[This bit inspired me to a bit of Fiction of my own; Redneck says that it doesn't quite capture the notion he had, but a couple of other people have liked it... --arcangel]
[I also came up with a tiny vignette...
{His wings about her. "I lied to you, you know. Tempted you, promised things I knew you would never quite be able to grasp. Distorted the conflict so you would think we were the better choice."
"I know. I knew it then, but I wanted more to believe you." Tears are crystal, reflecting the rainbow of Light in patterns on her cheeks. "But all dreams end, especially now. There's nothing left but tatters."
"Give them up. Clinging to them is only clinging to the past, to the mistakes we all made."
Silence, and she closes her eyes. "It's so hard. I can't do it."
"Not yet." But he folds her close, and sings of hope and forgiveness.}]
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