It comes as no surprise that the Luciferian Princes are deeply upset.
First off, their entire worldview has been smashed. As the Infernal
Player's Guide notes, much of their entire being was based on the
idea that Lucifer was right, God was wrong, and eventual victory was
inevitable. Lucifer dying hurts. Secondly, the degredation of one's
Word is actively painful -- like having a slow wound that's causing
an agonizingly slow bleeding to death. The Princes are not
immediately overly affected in power level (though they do feel an
effect after the first month) and not all Princes are degrading at
the same rate or the same way that Word-bound did, but all feel it,
and it's nothing they can ignore. At all times it is close to the top
of their thoughts, and as a result is more important than Lilith on
the Granite Throne or control of Hell. Third, however, is Lilith.
Had Lilith assumed the Granite Throne, stabilized Words, and moved
into Lucifer's role, there would be little dissention over her reign.
Oh, the usual schemers would scheme, and it's safe to say every
Prince would be trying to find a way to reverse the relationship and
assume Hell for his or herself, but there wouldn't be much
consternation beyond the usual grumbling about semievolved baboons
with delusions of grandeur.
However, Lilith is not taking on Lucifer's Role. She is actively
ruling, parceling out Words with a strategy in mind that she isn't
telling others, at least not yet. Those who serve her obey her, and
the autonomy known since the Dawn of Hell among the Princes is not
shared between her Seven.
This keeps the Luciferians at bay. While she could likely recruit any
of them if she tried (and held out the Word like a carrot, clouding
their judgement with their need for wholeness), she has stopped her
recruitment, instead waiting to see what her Seven and the
Luciferians do. So, without inducements, the Luciferians chafe and
resist, certain that if they make enough trouble, the Queen will have
to come to terms.
If they can remain unified.
At this time, all relations between Luciferian Princes should improve
one level. Enemies become Hostile Princes. Hostile Princes become
Neutral. Neutral Princes become Associated. Associated Princes become
Allied. Further, relations between Luciferian and Lilithian Princes
fall one level. Allies become Associated. Associated Princes become
Neutral. Neutral Princes become Hostile. Hostile Princes become
Enemies. You don't want to know what Enemies become.
Specific reactions and agendas are as follows:
Asmodeus: You cannot play the same game with different players, and
Lucifer was always a player in the game. He believed himself more,
but he learned differently. Now, Lilith plays her own game, and
Kronos plays his, and Baal plays his, and I of course play mine. I
will not mourn Lucifer -- he played and lost, but the Game continues.
Now my strategies must weave together. The Game between Heaven and
Hell must be secondary to Hell's own gambits, and I must consolodate
my position before I can procede. As for little Alaemon... he has
been given a good opening position in Lilith's strategem. Let us see
if he can play it. (Asmodeus's Servitors are concentrating almost
exclusively on Word bolstering -- Asmodeus has a Word that is easier
to bolster without inviting the Wrath of Stone than others -- and
entrenching their position on Earth. Asmodeus has elected to neglect
the huge number of refugee demons fleeing to Heaven for now -- after
all, Lilith has her own Spymaster for such things, and she has
declared herself the Queen of Hell, hasn't she? This seeming
unconcern over treason has led to more Gamester Renegades -- hidden
away with their Humanity attunements -- than at any known time in
history.)
Baal: In case you have forgotten -- and why should I expect otherwise
-- there was a purpose to our Revolution. Lucifer, the shining
Morning Star, strove and ultimately died in the name of the Heavenly
Host -- those who followed him and those who did not. He swore that
we were better than these barely sentient, barely evolved simians.
We were the natural inheritors of Divine Grace and Favor, not these
sin-infested, lazy, crass sacks of meat. And now Lucifer lies dead,
his soul itself sacrificed in the name of our holy cause, and a
human has the audacity to sit upon the Granite Throne? I would
laugh but I am too busy weeping. This human has been suffered for
millenia as Lucifer's pet and in the name of her useful demons. But
to actually have this tiny little woman claim the right of rule over
me? Absurd! The very thought is offensive. She must be crushed
and eliminated -- as soon as we have brought our Words and Forces
into stability once more. In the meantime, the War continues. The War
always continues. And in Lucifer's martyred name we will pursue it
and win it. Now, if only I knew what Kronos was up to.... (If the
Game has more Renegades then ever before, then the War has fewer
deserters than any other Luciferian Prince's organization. The
Servitors of the War have intensely powerful Esprit de Corps as they
fight to establish the Word of the War more securely. This is in part
because of the speedy promotion track as the Generals and other
Word-bound of the War falter and die, and even the powerful
unWord-bound lead suicide missions to bolster the Word of War.)
Belial: It hurts. It hurts! Damn it, don't you understand? I can't
get away from her! I can't get away from her! I've got to make the
fire hotter! I've got to make the destruction louder! Destruction
-- damn that monkey woman for making Furfur Destruction! Damn
her! He was mine! And then he was mine to kill! How dare she? How
dare she? Don't you see? It hurts, damn it! Damn Lilith! Damn
Gabriel! I can't get away! We have to burn them all away! Burn
Lilith! Burn Gabriel! Burn Earth and Heaven and Hell until only the
ash remains! (Belial and Gabriel have been in balance for a long time
-- and so long as his Word at least approached hers in Power, he
could revel in the pain his Word caused the Archangel of Fire more
than be torn by it. However, as his Word falters and hers becomes
ascendent, Divine Fire now surrounds his being, forcing his selfish
Symphony to acknowledge it and literally making him Dissonant and
Discordant (especially since he is literally being 'burnt' by his own
scheme now.. Note that while he is Dissonant, he is *not* a candidate
for Redemption, as he flees the enlightenment in pain and
selfishness. His Word is failing much faster than others because of
the conflict, and as a result he has begun to feel the pain and loss
of sanity that has plagued Gabriel for so long. His Servitors are
similarly panicked and crazed, and are desperately trading their time
between setting obvious, catastrophic fires on Earth (to fuel his
Word -- especially since they can't merely be destructive now, as
that fuels Furfur's Word) and fighting Furfur's forces off in
Sheol, where their conflict is anything but hidden.)
Fleurity: Mm. Well, I've always had a good working relationship with
Lilith even though she never cared for me personally. I had thought
her humanity would draw her into my way of thinking -- the right
sniff or snort or needle and all, liberating her senses -- but it
didn't happen that way. She proved herself strong after all. I can
respect that, and intend to contact her and make my services
available. After all, it doesn't take a genius to see this revolt
will never last. Too many weak links, after all. And I could be of
great use to her. In the meantime, my Word slowly diminishes and that
must be dealt with, and I cannot afford to commit resources to
battle. The important thing is to ensure that operations continue to
rejuvenate me until Lilith and I come to an appropriate arrangement.
As for Lucifer's demise... well, ultimately the strong must be tested
against the strong. One will emerge as stronger, and the other does
not deserve our mourning. (Fleurity is calm in the face of
destruction -- panic or anger would be a sign of weakness, after all.
He has stepped up operations on Earth, in hopes that the more
demonstrative Luciferian assaults will distract Heaven away from him.
His Servitors are mostly employed in those endeavors, save for his
most expendable Servitors, who he has loaned to his 'allies' among
the Luciferians, as a sign of good faith. Fleuritians were quite
likely to go Renegade in the beginning of the chaos, but at this
point most of the potentially redemptive have left, leaving
Fleurity's organization diminished but not destroyed. Fleurity's
relative lack of Word-bound before the death of Lucifer means his
upper organization is remarkably untouched, however.)
Haagenti: I don't understand how Lucifer -- Lucifer -- died. I
mean, Michael's big and tough, but Lucifer wasn't a Demon Prince. He
was the Devil. Big D followed by evil, you know? He intervened
in the world, pushing it just like God does. Are you seriously
tellin' me Michael was in God's league all this time? Makes me
sick... and I am sick. Sick to my stomach. I haven't been sick
since I was a damn demonling. I hate this. Hate it. I'm tellin'
you, I don't relish the idea of following Lilith, but anything'd be
better than this. Well, food will help. Food always helps. And
Gluttony's been strong for a real long time. (Haagenti is worried --
like Belial, his Word seems to be failing faster than others among
the Luciferians. Haagenti's followers live in terror that their lord
will start eating them for their Forces, to help slow his decline.
They also know he's been agitating to join up with Lilith (under the
theory that it's better to be alive than dead, so he can go back to
Shal Mari and the way life used to be -- food and lots of it) and
that some of the more militant Luciferian Princes don't care for it.
Many who've reached Earth have fled to the Angels out of those fears.
The remainder are running Gluttony operations, but it's hard to
dramatically bolster a Word like Gluttony and keep it up.)
Kobal: This is the way the world ends, this is the way the world
ends, this is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.
Y'know, it's funny. I could have guessed Lucifer'd get spacked sooner
or later. It's been literally twenty thousand years since anyone'd
given him a fight. Michael's been training all that time, waiting for
the golden moment. Lucifer's lucky he even hurt Mikey. I could have
guessed, and you know the others could have. But it caught us all off
guard, and now here we're fading away. Funny. Heh. So, the question
is, do we fight on two fronts, trying to keep our Words alive while
our Word-bound turn into tapioca and the Host slaughters us on every
excursion and fight a Civil War for Hell, hot or cold doesn't
matter... or do we swallow our collective pride and suck up to Lilith
in the hopes she doesn't let us die. Gee, they both sound so
good.... Still, I'll tell you something. When Lucifer died, there
weren't any more Infernal Interventions. They just stopped happening.
I always kept track of them where I could when I was responsible for
Fate, before Telly Savalas showed up. Now? Lilith's taken the throne
and the Interventions are back, helping Hell. Even our demons. But
we're still fighting against her even though she's clearly taken
over. Funny, isn't it? Huh? Aren't you laughing? (Kobal had fallen
into a kind of ennui before Lucifer died. After Lucifer's death, he's
clearly fallen into true depression. His world view has been proven
wrong and he's going to fade into nonexistance -- so why not laugh?
He barely directs his Servitors now, but his surviving Distincted
have taken it on themselves to promote his Word wherever possible.
It is not a good time to be a Servitor of Dark Humor.)
Malphas: Will I live or will I die? Who can tell? Who can try?
Lucifer is dead -- I loved him. I was his best friend. Lilith has his
throne. I love her. I am her best friend. Baal wants to destroy
Lilith before she can secure her power. I love him. I am his best
friend. All around me my fellows are dying -- slaughtered by Heaven,
fighting in Hell or having their Words collapse and die. And I? Can
but smile at the glorious factions that arise, like a pack of
children on a liferaft, arguing over trivialities until the raft
flips over and they die. For now I help the Luciferians. Tomorrow, it
may be clear their faction cannot win, and I will help the
Lilithians. In the meantime, I watch and listen and keep my forces
throughout Hell. Let Alaemon have Stygia. I don't need it any longer.
(Malphas is as always a faction of one. For now, it serves his needs
to work with the Luciferians. As soon as those winds change, so will
he. His forces are letting the others take the War to Heaven,
offering up only token resistance to Alaemon in Hell. Mostly, they
are slipping through the cracks into the realms, watching and
learning how the power struggles are progressing and different
alliances are forming. He is paying careful attention to how the
Lilithian Princes cooperate with one another, looking for patterns
and factions among them... all the better to exploit when he makes
his move across the Styx.)
Mammon: Damn Lilith! Damn her! I'll kill her! I'll break her bones
and rape her body and nail her carcass to my Vault's wall, and lock
her away for all time, giving her food in exchange for her daughters,
and they will work for me. How dare she take Lucifer's crown as
her own? And how dare she set that green-skinned bitch up to take
my Word from me? She needs to learn -- Haagenti wasn't enough to take
Greed away from me. All the Princes who nailed me on Black Tuesday
weren't enough to take Greed away from me. Does she think her damn
daughter is enough to take my Word from me? Does she? I'll teach her
who's in charge. I'll give her something to rule. Oh Hell yeah! In
the meantime, death to the traitors, and vast riches to those who
put the Luciferian Princes in the driver's seat again! (Mammon is in
trouble and knows it. Rebekah, the Lilithian Lilim Princess of the
Deal, is clearly in his territory, taking strength away from his Word
and adding it to herself. Lucifer, who Mammon followed passionately
(or so he tells himself) is dead. His best and brightest Servitors
have proven to be bad investments, as his Word-bound die out and his
Servitors desert with dramatic speed -- most of them joining the
Princess of the Deal or Alaemon's service. Almost no Demons of Greed
have defected to Heaven, not with such attractive rates (and such an
attractive Princess) over at the Deal. Even his Tethers -- the ones
the thrice-damned Sword haven't blown up -- are being stolen for
Rebekah, the Seneschals throwing in with her in exchange for
stabilized Words. Those Servitors who remain loyal seek to promote
Greed without promoting the Deal and without getting killed by
Angels. It's not easy.)
Nybbas: It's a full bore Media frenzy! Hell is agog at the
spectacle, NNN's been running full bore reports on the War, on the
civil war, on rumors, on Lilith, on the new Princess... all slanted
Luciferian, natch, but slant or no it's being eaten up! And on Earth?
Pow! Whoosh! Zoom! Belial's setting fires, Mammon's starting
corporate takeovers, Baal's invading Hoboken and the Heavenly Host is
desperately trying to fight it and keep from revealing themselves!
It's a smorgasbord of videotape, and it's running everywhere on the
damn planet! My Word's just fine, baby, so I can sit back and make
a lot of friends and wait these unfortunate times out, then sign on
with the winner. It's a good thing. (Nybbas's organization has had a
number of defections to Heaven, but otherwise it's almost business as
usual. There's plenty of fodder for the Media to work with, and
Heaven is generally (although not entirely) busy with more violent
Princes reinforcing their Words. It's a good time to pitch ideas,
shape events, get the beauty shot on tape and get quality air time in
the Media. And while Nybbas is very positive, thanks to the general
Word reinforcement, his Servitors are getting quietly worried. Sooner
or later, either the emergencies will quiet down or the public will
get tired of them, and Media will wane slightly -- and then Nybbas
is doomed.)
Saminga: Lucifer is dead. I told you everyone dies. I told you.
Lucifer is dead, so Death is stronger than Lucifer. Lilith better
remember that. Baal better remember that. Michael better remember
that. Death is stronger than Lucifer. Death is stronger than God.
Death is. (Saminga's forces are divided -- divided between fleeing to
Furfur and fleeing to Heaven, that is. Saminga himself is sinking
into mania and death-worship. Those Servitors who are too loyal (or
who aren't bright enough) to leave their Prince are promoting his
Word from security, as Saminga's fortress is currently uncontested.
Of course, Saminga's undead are loyal, and none of them failed with
the Word-bound....)
Valefor: <comment unavailable> (Valefor's forces are in abject
chaos, as their Prince hasn't been seen since the Death of Lucifer.
While technically Luciferian, any number of Valefor's Servitors have
sought shelter with Lilith's Princes -- and Lilith has made it clear
she doesn't want Valefor's Servitors hurt. Invocations of Valefor
don't work. There is no formal effort to bolster Valefor's Word, as
Valefor's Word-bound has mostly died out and his Distincted but
un-Word-bound Servitors have adopted an "every demon for himself"
attitude. A few of Lilith's closer friends among the Servitors of
Theft have had their Words adapted, though a condition of
Word-adaption to Lilithian principles is to join with a Lilithian
Prince. Alaemon, Beleth and Vapula have been the greatest recipiants
of new talent from Theft. And of course, a large number have defected
to Heaven.)
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