Demonic Cthulhu Character: Belphigor

Fallen Name: Fell Knight Belphigor

Titles: The Radiant Champion, The Black Man (cult title).

House: Namaru (Devil)

Sub-House: Radiance (Qingu)

Legion: Iron (Champions of Humanity).

Faction: Faustian (Schemer)

Fallen Appearance: His skin, teeth, gums and the whites of his eyes are jet black while the irises and wings are pure gold.  His body, even armour, feels silky smooth and gently warm to the touch.  He smells of a warm spring day and evokes the sensation of hopes and dreams. 

Demonic Personality Traits:

House Personality Traits: Namaru are used to being obeyed by other angels and see them as the first among many.  This expectation has led them toward arrogance and a need for power and control.  Even at its best they often create a level of distance between themselves and other Fallen so that the others don't see them vulnerable.

Sub House Personality Trait: The Qingu were a development that occurred during the war against the Great Entity where the Namaru had to learn to guide humanity to safety and to war.  All Namaru were initially created to use their power over magic itself (Celestials) to guide the other angels in their work to create according to the Great Entity's plans.  This means that the Qingu are used to special treatment and though many tried to approach humanity with kindness their closeness to perfection would often unsettle and frighten them.

Belphigor Personality Traits: Pride lies in the heart of every Devil.  The virtue that made them the greatest of God's angels is the sin that led them to reject the Creator's wisdom in favour of their own.  Pride gives a Devil the conviction she needs to fight for her goals and to inspire others follow her example.  Taken too far, pride becomes an overwhelming arrogance that puts her desires and personal goals above all things.  This certainly sums up Belphigor.  Devils were also creatures of honour, responsibility and dignity but unfortunately Belphigor has moved beyond honour toward personal empowerment.  Unfortunately he hasn't moved beyond the passion and energy of his House, which is why he gravitate toward a mortal who had felt passionate, destructive urges - Ambrose Mogens - and who had felt terribly wronged by the world and the petty insects within it.  While a cruel and callous Fallen, eager to empower himself, he is still an improvement on the original Host.

Belphigor History

His creation was different to most in that he had a twin sister (Belphegor) from another House.  They were created as a duality because it was his role, primarily, to enhance and weaken her powers as the Hurricane's First Kiss Upon The Shore according to the needs of Creation.  As a Devil, he'd presumed he would lead her forever and was shocked when she gleefully ran off into the Silver Legion without a backward glance.  The Iron Legion seemed a more natural fit and so he joined that legion, unaware that his sister had assumed that they were so alike their mutual decision was guaranteed without conversation.  Thus both felt equally hurt and betrayed and they fell out of touch with each other.

After the First Murder, he fought his own fellows to save humanity who were currently under the yoke of the Ebon Legion (though it wasn't lethal at this point) and by the time he returned to check on his sister he saw that she had created Ninatan (Palace of Sighs), a citadel of eugenics experiments upon the very humans that Belphigor had sought to protect.

When the Long March finally happened, Fell Knight Belphigor led an expedition to her door to demand the release of the tortured mortal flock.  Lady Belphegor agreed on one condition - that he surrender himself to her and allow her to experiment upon him for a year and a day.  The rest of his squad of thirty rejected her terms, but Belphigor accepted and walked alone into the gates of the Silver Citadel.  When Belphegor broke her word and refused to release her human prisoners, her forces beat back his squad.

He remained her obedient prisoner for that year and a day, stunned by the horrors and atrocities working their way around them and forced to suffer things he had never thought possible.  After the year and a day, she released him and he returned with troops to raze the Silver Citadel to the ground, yet accepted her surrender with nobility and respect.

In the Abyss, his experiences of powerlessness ate away at his core.  He had never had the power to prevent the actions of his twin nor sculpt his own destiny and so he turned to the Faustian Movement for that promise of power.  On a terribly stormy day, he felt himself pulled through the cracks in reality and found himself in the body of Ambrose Mogens, will-worker and sailor of ill-repute aboard the Half-Moon ship navigating what would be called the Hudson River.  A man who believed in his own great destiny, pressed into service by debt.  He escaped the ship with a few other sailors whom he commanded and set up shop in what would later become New York, pieced together occult knowledge, and summoned a demon into himself.

During his centuries upon this land he has learned quite a few spells which he uses carefully, lest he lost sight of his true desires.  He has also obtained a few nifty relics including bullets which sever a Fallen's connection to their hosts (Storyteller's Companion) and Marchocias' chimes (Houses of the Fallen).  Later, once Nuriel is released she will eventually wish to steal it from him.  He has also consumed the spirits of two fallen -- in one instance it was to remove an enemy so that he couldn't find a new host and in the other instance it was to hide his own secrets and the knowledge of his True Name.  In both instances, he stole their core power.

He drew out Zipacna and Ezurial through special rituals he has painstakingly researched over the past century but for Nithriel he had to find a special Aztec artefact -- a carved silver skull with a key trapped between its teeth.  He thought it housed  Nithriel alone but it turns out Nithriel was bound into the key while Gipontel was bound into the skull itself.  He left the skull in the hands of some rich young lords, wanting access to their wealth and connections, as well as the information required to activate it. 

Physical Form and Powers:

Qingu Power (Exalt): Each round Belphigor may spend points of his own skills to bolster other people's rolls for non-magical checks (i.e. on General Skills).  He may also spend points of his own stability to assist others as well to pass their own stability checks.

Halaku Power (Step Beyond The Veil): Belphigor can move across distances with great speed by stepping across into another sliver of reality (akin to that which can be glimpsed using certain machines in Lovecraftian tales) and then reappearing on this side.  It happens so quickly he never really sees the other side unless he moves across long distances.  Unfortunately, if he were to materialise in the same space with a solid object that isn't easily shunted out of the way (i.e. edge of a table), he would materialise with that piece of table inside of him, causing him damage.  Technically he could linger across the veil but that isn't a wise idea either.  He can't bring more than a cubic foot or two of equipment or creature across with him.

Asharu Power (Find the Faithful): So long as he has their name (celestial name or human name) and has met them before he can trace where they are as though possessing an internal compass that will direct him to them.  He can find anyone within the space of a hundred miles.

Namaru Form Ability (Wings): A pair of eight-foot-long golden wings extends from his shoulders which allow him to take off from a standing position and glide up to three times her running speed.  These wings have long pinions that are sharp as razors and quite flexible (+1 damage), which allows the Devil to attack opponents in the middle of a movement which will likely leave them out of reach of melee opponents.

Qingu Form Ability #1 (Affirm): By making eye contact and spending a point of faith, Belphigor can reaffirm a person's place in the overarching plan and their faith in their Sources of Sanity which allows them to also regain 2 points of Sanity.  He may only do this once a year per person.

Qingu Form Ability #2 (Liar's Ear): Belphigor can spend a point of Faith to automatically tell when someone lies to him in the current conversation.

ACTUAL STATS

Abilities: Athletics 6, Fleeing 12, Health 10, Sanity 3, Scuffling 9, Stability 8, Weapons 9

Faith: 6 (12); spells - Cloud Memory, Death Spell, Deflect Harm, Enthrall Victim, Evil Eye, Flesh Ward, Mind Blast, Power Drain, Stop Heart, Summon / Bind Byakhee, Summon / Bind Dimensional Shambler.

Hit Threshold: 4

Alertness Modifier: +0

Stealth Modifier: +0

Weapon:.32 revolver (-1), Sword Cane (-1); Wings (+1)

Armor: 0

Languages: Dutch, English, French, German.