A Demonically Inspired Cult

In this scenario, a heretical cult arises near the covenant. It is more successful than usual, because several demons, not working together initially, each give it added impetus. As the cult grows, it spreads misery, death, and Infernal auras throughout the region that contains the covenant's resources. The player characters can ignore the rise of the cult, but left to their plans, the demons that support it spread a deadly disease, destroying the economy of the region and driving thousands of desperate people to sin, creating further Infernal auras. The Church and nearby noblemen are forced to act, and Hermetic magi, untrustworthy and unorthodox, risk being destroyed with the heretics.

work, and then shift the blame to others. Her followers have blamed Jews, lepers, pagans, Muslims, sorcerers, and (and this is unusual to this demon in particular) greengrocers, for whom she has a passionate loathing. She is not, directly, a servant of Abaissier, but as the cult grows, her schemes complement his so that they are effectively allies.

Fabrico usually makes false relics. This demon enjoys tricking mortals by simulating acts of the divine. He crafts mundane items, and then surrounds them with fake miracles so that they are acclaimed as relics. Fabrico then promulgates false doctrine by aiding those who espouse spiritual errors. The tiny cults he creates are usually suppressed by the Church.

Abaissier arranges for several of his cells to emerge publicly in various places simultaneously, making them more diffi-

The flagellant movement described in this chapter is, initially, an accidental collaboration between demons.

Abaissier is a demon dedicated to turning the exceptionally pious away from God, by distracting them with the sin of Pride. His seductive message is that people who go to greater extremes of suffering are demonstrating greater piety, and therefore are more beloved of God. This is not true, but the snare of sacrifice is such that the more people have forsaken for God, the more difficult it is for them to admit that they have been mistaken. Abaissier tempts single pious individuals, but also lures charismatic men who become the leaders of small heretical groups. As a Lord, Abaissier has sufficient status to command many lesser demons.

Bufonia is a demon who causes sickness by poisoning wells. Her greatest love is to have her followers perform their evil

Abaissier is a Lord of the Angels of Punishment. It is a demon that tricks people into harming themselves. This leads them to damnation, because the sinners then believe they have atoned for their transgressions.

Order: Lord of the Avengers of Evil Infernal Might: 35 (Ignem)

Characteristics: Int +2, Per 0, Pre +2, Com +3, Str +1, Sta +3, Dex +3, Qik +4

Size: +2

Confidence Score: 1 (3)

Personality Traits: Relentless +5, Merciful –3.

Reputations: Angel of Punishment 3 (Infernal), Scourge of the Pious 1 (Infernal).

Hierarchy 5

Combat:

5 x Flailing chain: Init +5, Attack +12, Defense +11, Damage +9.

Soak: +5

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –1, –3, –3, –5, Unconscious.

Wound Penalties: +1* (1–7), –3 (8–14), –5 (15–22), Incapacitated (23–30), Dead (31+).

* Light wounds make Abaissier more dangerous, not less. He may deliberately harm himself each round, to gain these bonuses. This bonus cannot go higher than +5.

Abilities: Awareness 4 (flagellants), Civil and Canon Law 4 (petty errors), Philosophae 5 (making people feel guilty), Single Weapon 6 (whip), Theology 6

(threatening Scriptural quotations). Powers:

Coagulation, 3 point, Init –1, Corpus: Allows the demon to manufacture a solid body from the ambient, unformed matter of the universe. See Appearance for details.

Envisioning, 1 or 5 points, Init 0, Mentem: 1 point allows the demon to enter and twist dreams. 5 points allow the demon to create a waking hallucination. If used to terrify, the victim can ignore it with a Brave Personality trait roll against an Ease factor of 9. Failure to resist leads to a profound physical reaction, like a seizure. Abaissier often uses these waking dreams to remind people of tiny failings, as a way of stoking their Pride. "Your failing is so small," he notes, "that if you just expiated it with flagellation, you would be perfect." These hallucinations can be resisted with a Humble Personality Trait against an Ease Factor of 9.

Protective Obsession, 1 to 3 points, Init –5, Vim: When a person is committing a sinful thought or deed, the demon may impose its Obsession Trait if this Power defeats Magic Resistance. This gives the person a temporary Personality trait of Self-loathing, and at the next opportunity, he must make a roll, opposed by any suitable Personality trait, to avoid doing something to harm or punish himself. If the Obsession fails, the temporary trait is lost. If it succeeds, the trait is acquired permanently. A character under the effect of this Obsession has a Light Wound modifier of +1, although no more than three of these wounds can stack as a bonus (for a total of +3).

Punish the Sinner, 5 points, Init +3, Corpus: Allows the demon to harm humans in proportion to their level of sin. An unexpiated mortal sin causes a Heavy wound if this Power penetrates Magic Resistance, and a venial sin causes a Light wound. A character with no obvious sin suffers a number of points damage equal to the sum of all the character's negative Personality Traits. This power is activated by a touch from the demon, and can be used in conjunction with a strike from its flail.

Weakness: Protected group (people who self-flagellate in a way permitted by the Church).

Vis: 7 pawns of Perdo, 1 in each whip. Appearance: Abaissier takes the form of an angel made of flaming chains, the color of brass and blood. This particular Angel of Punishment has no right hand; instead, it has five thin chains with weighted ends. In battle, these extend to an extraordinary length, and can be used independently as flails. It wears a pale white robe, which, uniquely among its kind, is stained with blood-like liquid if it is injured.

cult to extinguish. Fabrico subverts some of the cells. The different demons' flagellant leaders argue, and their followers clash. Fabrico is weaker than Abaissier, though, so the more powerful demon brings the other into involuntary servitude.

When the Church or magi intervene, Abaissier avoids drawing attention to himself. He is willing to sacrifice Fabrico, provided this allows him to identify the leaders and methods of his opposition. Fabrico knows this. The player characters may be able to encourage Fabrico to attack Abaissier, weakening each demon before the players destroy both.

Bufonia does not initially know that Abaissier is master of the cult. She believes Fabrico rules the flagellants, and is unafraid of him. Once the processions begin, she recruits followers to poison the wells in towns near the flagellants. She hopes to destroy a group of outsiders: greengrocers, magi, Jews, whoever is easiest. If everything goes sour and competent opposition materializes, she wants her activities to be blamed on Fabrico. Bufonia is not a direct rival or ally of Abaissier, but her evil and his are complementary, so it appears that they collaborate.

Demons cannot, in the strictest sense,

exercise the virtue of patience, which prevents them from making plans. They are also unable to share, because they cannot abstain from greediness, which prevents them co-operating in a collegial way. In this case, however, no real planning is necessary. The cult is damaging simply because three demons that usually operate separately happen, on this occasion, to be active in the same region. Once each has set its minions to action, the demons do not need to direct the development of the cult. Their followers, who are human and therefore capable of calculated harm, find their own mischief.

The characters first encounter Abaissier's schemes when their companions or grogs meet some people who are part of

Antagonists

his extended network of flagellants. The first encounter with the flagellants occurs in a story in which they are not the focus. Following the story seeds given later in the Methods section, the first encounter is with a single member of the cult. The presence of the demons may become obvious when they begin to cause panic and suffering in mortal communities, but their connection to the flagellant cult is revealed only gradually.

Bufonia is a demon who teaches humans how to poison wells. She does this to provoke hatred of scapegoat groups. She does not, however, ever poison wells herself.

Unusually for her class of demon, Bufonia can take on a superficially pleasant human form. This allows her to convince some of her dupes that the liquids they are creating, and then placing in the wells, protect against the plague. These victims usually die soon after, as they take her sovereign remedy in highly concentrated form in an effort to protect themselves. The demon so enjoys their suffering, particularly when she reveals to her victims that they have killed their family and friends, that she often cultivates a few of these victims, even if willing accomplices could do more harm.

Order: Likely a Vessel of Iniquity

Infernal Might: 20 (Animal)

Characteristics: Int +1, Per 0, Pre +2, Com 0, Str +1, Sta +1, Dex +3, Qik +1

Size: 0

Confidence Score: 1 (3)

Personality Traits: Depraved +6, Hateful +6, Loathes greengrocers +3.

Reputations: Poisoner of Wells 1 (Infernal).

Hierarchy 1

Combat:

Thrown vial: Init 0, Attack +7, Defense 0, Damage 0*

• Contact with the undiluted contents of one of Bufonia's vials should be treated as poisoning with an Ease Factor of 9, doing heavy damage. See ArM5, page 180, for details.

Soak: Toad form +3, Human form +1.

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious.

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+).

Abilities: Awareness 4 (the Divine), Guile 6 (frightened people), Medicine 6 (contaminants), Thrown weapon 6 (vial of poison), Teaching 6 (to make "cures").

Envisioning, 1 or 5 points, Init 0, Mentem: 1 point allows the demon to enter and twist dreams. 5 points allow the demon to create a waking hallucination. If used to terrify, the victim can ignore it with a Brave Personality trait roll against an Ease factor of 9. Failure to resist leads to a profound physical reaction, like a seizure.

Form of Wickedness, 2 points, Init 0, Mentem: This allows the demon to manufacture a solid form of pure sin. Those around the demon who lack sufficient Magic Resistance begin to suspect their neighbors of poisoning them. A Stamina stress roll against an Ease Factor of 6 is needed every hour; failure costs a Fatigue level, and a success breaks this Power's hold. The Power also ends if the victim falls unconscious. A botch causes temporary insanity, and imposes a Minor Personality Flaw appropriate to the sin. This form may only be maintained for one round, after which the demon must take spiritual or human form.

Form of The Proud Man, 0 points, Init 0, Corpus: After assuming corporeal form (see Form of Wickedness earlier), the demon can take solid form. See Appearance for details.

Possession, variable points, Init +2, Mentem: The demon stores some of its Might in a temporary pool in a victim, after overcoming Magic Resistance. When this pool is spent, the possession ends. The two pieces of the demon can only communicate if in sight of one another. The demon controls the actions of the host, but must spend Might to have the victim perform tasks he considers abhorrent. This requires the demon to make a roll of stress die + spent Might points against the victim's Personality trait roll. Using a Supernatural ability also costs 1 Might, or the same number of Might points a possessed supernatural creature spends to use one of its powers.

Contagious Obsession, 1 point per victim, Init 0, Mentem: When a person is committing a sinful thought or deed, the demon may impose its Obsession Trait if this Power defeats Magic Resistance. This gives the person a temporary Personality trait of Hates (group). At the next opportunity, he must make a roll, opposed by any suitable Personality trait, to avoid attempting to harm the scapegoats. If the Obsession fails, the temporary trait is lost. If it succeeds, the trait is acquired permanently. Any human who becomes a victim of this demon's Obsession power becomes a carrier of that Power, and can pass it on to anyone he abuses, using the same series of rolls. Every added victim costs the demon 1 Might point, and the Power ceases to be contagious if either the carrier runs out of Might or a day passes without someone being infected. Once the power ceases being contagious, it continues to affect the afflicted as described earlier.

Weakness: Protected group (people who never drink well-water)

Vis: 4 pawns of Perdo, long nose.

Appearance: The natural appearance of this demon is sin made manifest as a formless dark shape. She can, however, take a solid form. She appears as a tall, refined woman, often dressed as a plague doctor.

The Church, or the Divine, eventually extirpate all heretical movements, so there's a temptation for player characters to just hunker down and ignore the cult. There are many reasons why the player characters should choose not to do this.

First, when the Church extirpates heresy in an area, it's not a gentle process. Initially, preachers are sent to reconvert the populace, but if that fails, military force is used. There's no real difference, to the average person, between an invasion for the pride of a king and an invasion for the good of the Church. Cities are still sacked, the countryside is still pillaged, and crops are still burned. Magi shouldn't want this happening in their area, from purely practical considerations if for no other reason. The farmers, craftsmen, and merchants most covenants require cannot continue their professions during war.

Second, when the Church suppresses heresy by invasion, its followers often target other problematic people during the process. Jews, Muslims and pagans are also forcibly repressed. Magi, who are problematic people with fortresses, are prime targets for crusading forces. A commander who takes a heretical castle may reasonably expect to keep it as a fiefdom. This means that the younger noble sons who form the officer class of the crusading army are highly motivated. They are not dissuaded by the magi defeating other raids, since they assume each failure on the part of other crusaders has reduced the men and supplies of the castle.

Third, a successful demonic cult creates Infernal auras in the countryside. These corrupted places act as seeds for future trouble, and support the schemes of other demons. Characters who refuse to deal with the first outbreak are ignoring the way that a virulent period of diabolic activity contributes to later corruption.

Fabrico is a demon who creates false relics. He encourages the sin of Pride by creating small cults who believe they have been chosen by a particular saint for a great task. He encourages the leaders of his cults to believe they know the will of God better than the Church, since they are guided by regular signs from their patron.

Order: Deluder

Infernal Might: 20 (Corpus)

Characteristics: Int +1, Per +1, Pre -1, Com +3, Str +3, Sta +1, Dex +4, Qik +2

Size: 0

Virtues and Flaws: Puissant Guile

Confidence Score: 1 (3)

Personality Traits: Credible +3, Sly +2. Reputations: Creator of relics 1 (Infer-

nal), Deluder 1 (Infernal)

Hierarchy: 1 Combat:

2 Claw-like fingernails: Init +2, Attack +7, Defense +10, Damage +5

Soak: +1

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5,

Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20),

Dead (21+)

Abilities: Awareness 4 (the Divine), Guile 6+2 (Divine), Brawl 6 (claws), Theology 6 (miracles).

Powers:

Coagulation, 3 point, Init –1, Corpus: Allows the demon to manufacture a solid body from the ambient, unformed matter of the universe. See Appearance for details.

Delusion, 1 or 5 points, Init +3, Imaginem: This power creates vivid illusions. A 1-point use of the power affects a single object, while a 5-point use of this power creates an illusion the size of a room. The illusions always have a subtle fault. Fabrico uses these powers to simulate miraculous messages.

Duplicate the Magi's Creation or Transmutation: variable, Init +1, variable Form: This power allows the demon to create any non-ritual Creo or Muto Hermetic spell of level 20 or less. The demon uses props with this power to make false relics.

Envisioning, 1 or 5 points, Init 0, Mentem: 1 point allows the demon to enter and twist dreams. 5 points allows the demon to create a waking hallucination. If used to terrify, the victim can ignore it with a Brave Personality trait roll against an Ease Factor of 9. Failure to resist leads to a profound physical reaction, like a seizure. Fabrico often uses these waking dreams to simulate visions. These hallucinations can be resisted with a suitable Personality Trait roll against an Ease Factor of 9.

Obsession, 1 to 3 points, Init –5, Vim: When a person is committing a sinful thought or deed, the demon may impose its Obsession Trait if this Power defeats Magic Resistance. This gives the person a temporary Personality trait of Gullible. At the next opportunity, he must make a roll, opposed by any suitable Personality trait, to avoid believing something dangerous or stupid. If the Obsession fails, the temporary trait is lost. If it succeeds, the trait is acquired permanently.

Weakness: Fascinated by valuable mundane objects

Vis: 4 pawns of Perdo, eyes.

Appearance: The natural appearance of Fabrico, like all deluders, is a rent of darkness in the face of the world, filled with eyes, teeth, and organs. He uses his powers to appear as a flagellant wrapped in bandages during this scenario.

The flagellant cult develops through many stages, as described in the following sections. Storyguides do not need to use all of the seeds given here. They represent a progressively more powerful cult, under increasingly obvious demonic influence. If some of the story seeds are skipped, storyguides should try to implant the key motifs of those seeds in the background of the other stories they are telling.

In the first stage of the cult's development, the demon Abaissier finds at least a half-dozen charismatic speakers, and seduces them to his cause. The demon is more concerned with their ability to draw and hold the emotions of crowds than with their social position. Player characters may notice this when a character who has previously used his eloquence for another purpose becomes a lay preacher.

Fabrico, at this stage, is spreading prophecies of the coming of the Antichrist and the end of the world. These prophets are not Abaissier's charismatic cult leaders: they are a separate class of dupes. Their bleak message does, however, make people more receptive to Abaissier's solution to the problems of the world.

A local bandit group causes the player characters difficulty, by targeting merchants or Redcaps. One of the senior members of the group approaches the player characters. He claims that he has been visited by an angel, and told to separate himself from sinners. After he aids the characters to ambush his erstwhile companions, he leaves to become a preacher and to expiate his sins. He may return in later story seeds, as a follower of the flagellant cult.

Story Seed: Demonic Attack

Abaissier enjoys the evil spread by his little cults, and is unwilling at first to allow them to draw the attention of the Church. When one of his charismatic leaders begins proselytizing for the cult, Abaissier destroys that cult cell. If the player characters or members of the Church notice this, they may assume that the flagellants are on the side of the angels, since they have been assailed by the forces of Hell. Members of the cell who survive, particularly if they are given positions of trust as such obviously pious people, will be contacted later by Abaissier through other servants to use them as agents.

Once Abaissier's preachers are recruited, he needs communities to become vulnerable to manipulation. He weakens them by creating conditions that his followers can claim represent the displeasure of God. His strategies are varied, so that the pattern of his manipulation is not apparent. Player characters may become involved in mitigating the local effects of his efforts.

At this stage of the cult's development, more public flagellants become active, across a broader area. These are not harmed by the plague, and their eloquence attracts followers. At this stage, followers are not asked to whip themselves, but instead to pray, fast, and perform other acts that are entirely within the doctrine of the Church. Some of these gatherings, made up of pious people doing pious things, create temporary Dominion auras.

Crop Failure

In some areas, crops periodically fail for a few cycles for purely natural reasons, and Abaissier's preachers simply take advantage of this. In others, where a crop has already failed, Abaissier takes advantage of this opportunity by sending mundane raiders, commanding small demons to rot seed corn, and encouraging arsonists.

These little creatures are intended as foes for grogs and companions. They lack the Strength to do much damage with individual blows, and thus attack in groups. Large groups may include some demons who grapple or cover the eyes of their opponents, while their allies attempt called shots.

Order: Vessel of Iniquity Infernal Might: 5 (Herbam)

Characteristics: Int 0, Per +1, Pre 0, Com 0, Str -8, Sta 0, Dex 0, Qik +6

Size: –4

Confidence Score: 1 (3)

Personality Traits: Depraved +6, En-

thusiastic +6.

Reputations: Bringers of Famine 1 (Infernal), Vessel of Iniquity 1 (Infernal)

Combat:

2 x sharp claws: Init +6, Attack +6, Defense +12, Damage –8*

* Putrid ichor coats these claws. This causes fever and sepsis in the claws' scratches. It also causes plant products to moulder and rot. (Disease Ease Factor 6, causes a minor wound, see ArM5, page 180)

Soak: +2

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1), –3 (2), –5 (3), Incapacitated (4), Dead (5+)

Abilities: Awareness 4 (foes), Brawl 6 (feet)

Powers:

Coagulation, 3 point, Init –1, Corpus: This allows the demon to manufacture a solid body from the ambient, unformed matter of the universe. See Appearance for details.

Weakness: The demons cannot harm, and are burned by contact with, the Host or wheat intended to be turned into the Host.

Vis: 1 pawn of Perdo, tongue

Appearance: These little rodent-like humanoids cause harm by appearing in places where grain is stored and tainting it with the pus from their claws.

mundane wealth. They can track down local sources of harm and prevent them from making the situation worse. At this early stage, the magi are unlikely to connect the problems to Abaissier.

Plague

Large cities are more difficult to attack with crop failure, but the cult's development, at this point, is aided by the schemes of a third demon, Bufonia. She teaches her minions to make poisonous concoctions, and pour them into wells in major cities. Her human servants can make a number of different mixtures, which cause a variety of sicknesses, but for this plague, the ingredient required for each potion is a human heart, preferably from someone who has died of the plague.

Ruining Reputations

In other areas, the demons strike at the reputations of the community's leaders. They publicize venal sins and falsify evidence of terrible crimes. The demons do this through mortal puppets, whom they can kill or ignore (breaking the connection between demon and puppet) to cover their tracks. Player characters may take advantage of this to tear down local rivals.

Story Seed: Protecting Crops

The player characters may be able to survive the crop failure by shipping in supplies and leaving the mundanes to fend for themselves. They may instead choose to save their local community. The magi may feed nearby towns magically, or by using

In Mythic Europe, plague is not caused by bacteria; it's caused by a susceptible body coming under the influence of an external cause that unbalances its humors. External causes include bad air, unfortunate astrological configurations, direct demonic influence and, in this case, poison.

The plague Bufonia spreads does not need to be anything as apocalyptic as the Black Death. It is better for a storyguide to select an illness that is considered mild in the modern world, particularly if one of the players has recently suffered the same illness. Alternatively, the storyguide might just describe a set of symptoms that are not recognizable as a particular modern disease.

For example, measles is recorded as first appearing in Europe in the second century. It's a mild childhood illness to most players, but it killed one quarter of the population of the Roman Empire. The strain of strep throat that causes scarlet fever is another ideal illness for this purpose; it caused permanent disability and death well into the 20th century. The difference between player perception and the characters' reality helps make the plague frightening.

For those using the disease rules on pages 47–50 of Art and Academe, Bufonia can create many different diseases, and may do so if she feels that this makes it less likely for her to be caught. She does, however, want Fabrico to be blamed for everything, so she cannot use her full range of poisons. Those hunting Fabrico must not realize he is not versatile enough to create the observed maladies. Her mainstay disease in this scenario has Severity 13, a Stable score of 9, an Improve score of 12, and an interval of a week. It causes a Heavy Wound, with symptoms of thirst, and burning sensations in the fingertips, nose, toes, followed by bleeding from the eyes and ears. Those not using the Art and Academe rules should use the rules on page 180 of ArM5, and give this poison an Ease Factor of 12, causing a Major Wound.

Story Seed: Plague And Rumor

Player characters who find the people poisoning the wells, and prevent them delivering further doses, allow the plague to burn out at its own pace. They may also be hired to investigate the source of rumors. If potentates who have been smeared send followers to attack those they imagine responsible, the player characters may want to mediate.

To avoid closing the saga prematurely with a direct confrontation between the primary demons and the player characters at this point, the storyguide may want to interpose another lieutenant demon for the player characters to defeat. If the characters destroy Malicia, the rate at which the cult spreads slows, and it is less powerful in their local area. It still eventually reaches the next stage.

Religious processions are not unusual in Mythic Europe, but flagellant processions are a little different to those that celebrate Saints' Days. The pilgrims carry banners, but these are not the usual venerations. They are denunciations of human weakness and threats written on behalf of God. These pilgrims also carry whips and birch scourges, though they do not yet use them. There are disruptions at the edges of the events where angry pilgrims fight with locals.

If the processions are opposed, the participants become furious. They begin to believe that worldly powers are corrupt and working against them. If they are not opposed, the processions gain popularity. Local churchmen, worried by the processions, oppose them with processions of their own, dedicated to local saints.

The counter-demonstrations that local priests arrange are targets for Infernal influence. Player characters can protect these processions. At this stage, the InferMalicia

Malicia is a Fury, a demon who feeds on anger that destroys the person who feels it. She has been recruited with the promise of a cult of tasty prey. Flagellants who fall under her sway whip those watching their processions, and may mortally wound themselves by accident; flagellant leaders who fall under her control may counsel their followers to commit suicide. If Abaissier is defeated, Malicia tries to seize at least part of his cult, and use the despair the followers feel during the crackdown by the nobility and the church to provoke mass suicide.

Order: Fury

Infernal Might: 15 (Corpus)

Characteristics: Int +2, Per +2, Pre -2, Com 0, Str +3, Sta +0, Dex +3, Qik +2

Size: 0

Virtues and Flaws: Berserk Confidence Score: 1 (3)

Personality Traits: Wrathful +4, Angry

+2, Self-controlled –6

Reputations: Eater of the self-destructive 1 (Infernal), Fury 1 (Infernal)

Hierarchy: 1 Combat:

Bite : Init +2, Attack +12*, Defense +9, Damage +4**

Hands : Init +2, Attack +8*, Defense +7, Damage +3

* +2 when berserk

** Venomous, as asp bite, see ArM5, page 180

Soak: +1 or +3 when berserk

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (15–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Awareness 4 (the weak), Brawl 5 (bite), Guile 6 (the weak)

Powers:

Coagulation, 3 point, Init –1, Corpus: The demon may manufacture a solid body from the ambient, unformed matter of the universe. See Appearance for details.

Obsession, 1 to 3 points, Init –5, Vim: When a person is committing a sinful thought or deed, the demon may impose its Obsession Trait if this Power defeats Magic Resistance. This gives the person a temporary Personality trait of Self-Harming, and at the next opportunity, he must make a roll, opposed by any suitable Personality trait, to avoid hurting himself. If the Obsession fails, the temporary trait is lost. If it succeeds, the trait is acquired permanently.

Envisioning, 1 or 5 points, Init 0, Mentem: 1 point allows the demon to enter and twist dreams. 5 points allows the demon to create a waking hallucination. If used to terrify, the victim can ignore it with a Brave Personality trait roll against an Ease Factor of 9. Failure to resist leads to a profound physical reaction, like a seizure.

Endurance of the Enraged, 0 points, Init 0, Corpus: The demon does not suffer Wound penalties, except on Defense totals.

Waxing of the Humors, 3 points, Init +2, Mentem: Causes passion to overcome sense. The victim must make a Personality trait stress roll against an Ease Factor of 9 to keep the emotion in check. This Power is often used immediately after a successful use of the Obsession Power.

Weakness: Protected group (children) Vis: 3 pawns of Perdo, serpent head

Appearance: Malicia seems to be a young woman with a serpent emerging from the middle of her chest. The head of the serpent gnaws and stings the rest of her body continuously, save her face. The serpent's bites bleed a little, and some bear the livid colors of venom and putrefaction.

nal disruptions are not spectacular: possessed individuals attack the procession, herds of animals escaped from markets block routes, poor weather makes roads impassable, and fires spring up in buildings that the procession must pass. Player characters who prevent or remedy these problems gain a positive Reputation with

the priests mostly likely to lead the fight against the flagellant preachers.

To create individuals who have been possessed, take any suitable grog or companion, give them an Infernal Might of 10, the Berserk Virtue, then add +3 to their Soak, and +3 to their damage.

Once the processional movement has started, Abaissier spreads the ideas behind the cult. He does this by inspiring waking dreams and visitations, encouraging bards, and having followers speak with pilgrims. Redcaps notice this strange proliferation of information, with its many points of origin, and are alarmed by it. They discuss it with friendly covenants, but have no firm idea what is causing it.

Fabrico and Abaissier Clash

Fabrico notices the flagellant movement at this time, and claims parts of it. His followers clash with those who follow Abaissier. In limited areas, groups of flagellants fight in the streets. Player characters can limit the damage this causes. Eventually the two demons fight, and one overpowers the other, making him a vassal. The battle between two powerful demons may be reported by seers, particularly those claiming that disaster looms.

Uniforms

At this time, Abaissier's flagellants in the areas near the covenant begin wearing uniforms. These are undyed robes of wool or cotton, with a red mark on the breast. Characters can track the source of these. They are a charitable donation from a nobleman. He has been visited by an angel. It commanded him to distribute these clothes as alms, in penance for a disproportionately terrible crime he committed. Tracking the shipments the nobleman has sent allows the player characters to identify the gathering points for many of the local flagellant cells.

If the characters know who the leaders of the local movement are, they can reduce its influence. They may do this with assassination, imprisonment, spiritual disputation, smear campaigns, or removal of resources. Alternatively, the player characters can give the names of the leaders to others. Moderate churchmen can separate the leaders from their followers, and hold them incommunicado. Nobles who have been ridiculed by flagellant leaders take more direct measures.

Once the two demons are collaborating on the flagellant movement, it becomes increasingly popular. Processions lasting 33.5 days, one day for each year in Jesus' life, begin to occur. False miracles are performed, and news of them spreads. Processions can have a thousand participants, of both genders and all ages. Many people who do not participate in the processions nonetheless support the movement.

Flagellant Songs

Flagellant songs, a sort of call and response chant to which people whip themselves, are invented. The idea develops that whenever Christ is mentioned in the songs, the pilgrims must abase themselves, by flinging themselves to the ground. In practice, this means that, at the mention of the name of Christ, the pilgrims cover themselves in dirt, blood, and animal droppings.

Story Seed: Silencing Songs

Companion and grog characters can help slow the spread of this movement by disrupting the spread of the flagellant songs. Player characters may compose highly amusing ballads, which bards prefer to learn and carry to perform in other places. This requires a stress die + Communication + any appropriate Ability roll against an Ease Factor of 15. They may

Magi who realize the importance of the songs may equip their servants with magic items that remove the songs from memories. The Quaesitores keeps a few of these items, to tidy up after magi have interfered with mundanes. The Redcaps also have similar items, used in rescues and for espionage. Player characters can negotiate for the loan of these items, although the Quaesitores need more convincing than the Redcaps.

The Problem of Superabundant Suffering

Minor sins become common in the processions. People become proud of their filthy, bloody uniforms. They neglect their attendance at Sunday services. They believe that their sins are forgiven due to their suffering, and that the superabundance of their suffering is saving the world. This suggests to some of them that, provided they continue their flagellation, they can commit other crimes with moral impunity.

A flagellant noble estimates his own suffering to have such high value that, now he has beaten himself bloody for a week, he is perfectly justified in seizing a nearby widow and her lands by rape and forced marriage. The player characters may intervene to gain the widow as a noble ally. The attacker's personal guards are also flagellants, and similarly believe that they have suffered so much that they can do all kinds of depraved things without threatening their place in Heaven. This includes using peasants as human shields, and exhuming the corpses of babies to cause terror in their enemies.

Some other flagellant nobles might, however, become valuable allies to the covenant, as they are some of the first to question the authority of the Church. Covenants who have poor relations with the Church may find flagellant nobles very receptive to their complaints.

At this stage of their plan, the collaborating demons begin to use the processions themselves as vehicles of sin.

Plague Carried By Processions

Fabrico makes false relics that emit the evil airs that cause disease, but also ensures that the flagellants have access to an antidote, so that they do not fall ill. Lengthy flagellant pilgrimages leave sickness and death in their wake. The incubation period of the plague is long enough that the flagellants can claim that their presence held off the plague until they left. False visions keep the flagellants fervent. False miracles and bogus relics make spreading their word, and Fabrico's plague, easier.

At this point, the processions still have support from some sections of the Church. Most of the Church, however, knows that something has gone wrong with the flagellant movement. Counterprocessions become popular, but these suffer disruption by supporters of the flagellants, and by the demons who nip at the heels of all processions. The belief among flagellants that you can sabotage a traditional procession, and then make it good with God through flagellation, becomes widespread.

The player characters may oppose the processions, if they notice that they are tainted,. In some areas, city authorities discern that, far from dispelling plague, flagellant processions seem to herald its arrival. If the player characters can spread the word of this, towns begin to close their gates to the processions.

In the closest city to the covenant, there is a faction that supports the flagellants. They intend to open the gates to the procession, cause riots, and then overthrow the local rulers, if they can. The player characters gain a hint of this, and can infiltrate the fifth column forces as the procession approaches. If the procession is kept out, Bufonia's students poison the town's wells, attempting to destroy the authority of the rulers who turned "salvation" away. Player characters can find her followers and prevent them from distributing the poison. The characters can also purify the wells or find alternative water sources. Bufonia or Fabrico may use dupes who place concoctions or false relics into the water supply in an attempt to protect their town. Characters may also discover a remedy for Fabrico's vapors or Bufonia's toxin, and distribute the cure.

In some other areas, pious people, aided by their saints, resist the flagellants successfully. This sometimes causes riots, impromptu battles, or even de facto sieges. Player character can get involved in this.

Abaissier knows that God will eventually destroy its cult. The demon decides to do as much harm as it can, pushing its followers into open heresy. Abaissier lets Fabrico do whatever he likes, knowing that this makes its patsy more visible.

Replacement of Sacraments

Many flagellants now believe that their activities replace sacraments. This allows them to work off sins, and to forgive the sins of others. This gravely exacerbates the problem of people thinking that they can perform sins, and then flagellate themselves pure again. Once people begin believing that flagellants can transfer their virtue voluntarily to others, this causes even greater trouble. Wealthy sinners offer money to the flagellants in exchange for their forgiveness, a transaction that counts as the sin of simony.

Story Seed: Simony

Player characters can reduce the harm done by the many people who believe they found a loophole in the laws of morality. Simony affects merchants, who have more coin than most other classes of society.

A local merchant has begun setting fire to the shops of his rivals in the middle of

the night. A group of grogs can determine who it is before he targets merchants who trade with the magi. The merchant's initial victims are his closest rivals, selling identical goods. As the merchant turns to new targets, he increases his spending on flagellant devotions, to pay for his sins. As he becomes fixated on the usefulness of fire as a business tool, the merchant permanently employs three flagellants as personal wellsprings of forgiveness. He hides them in a cottage in the woods, but they have families, and these families gossip.

Another merchant begins mixing adulterants into the bread he sells in the market. This is pretty common practice, but some adulterants, like ergot-infected wheat and chalk, cause sickness. As people sicken, the characters notice that all the victims have bought food at a particular place. Characters with criminal connections can discover the merchant by seeking out the sources of his adulterated flour. As the merchant has fallen more deeply under the influence of the flagellant cult, his demand for adulterants has risen to such an extent that local criminals know his Reputation as a bulk buyer.

Claiming Miracles

The leaders of the cult start publicly performing miracles. This cannot occur in towns, where the Dominion is too strong, and cannot be regular, because the demons have only so much Might to spread among their followers. As the Church, nobility, and magi attack the flagellants, some of these leaders are removed, and the fewer there are, the more regularly each can perform miraculous feats.

Characters who conclude that all of these prophets are being powered by a single demon may decide to strike at several simultaneously. This is an excellent strategy, because although the most powerful demons can move swiftly from place to place, they simply can't be everywhere, in their full power, at the same time. Individual magi may attack individual false prophets, or the magi can form a network of alliances, and send their allies against some of the others. Unless the characters take intricate precautions, a large alliance is likely to be perceived by a minor demon, allowing the targets to prepare.

The greater their success, the weaker the flagellant cult is in the characters' region. If the cult is shattered in the region around the covenant, this region becomes a centre of resistance to the flagellant movement. It is a staging area for crusaders, but does not suffer invasion, during the later phases of the scheme. If the covenant has co-ordinated the destruction of the cult in this area, it can use the influence this grants it to protect a few covenants in areas that the crusaders invade.

Blood–Soaked Rags

Many flagellants are, by this stage, heretics, but Fabrico spreads the heresy more widely. He uses his powers to make false miracles, and spreads the idea that rags soaked in the blood of flagellants are relics. Many of the users of these relics are women, and they are generally activated by wiping the blood into the user's eyes.

Many of those who have performed this ritual believe they have developed a Divine power of vision. Actually, it gives demons an easier way to use the Evocation power to lead followers into sin. A person who personally makes a bloody-rag relic, and voluntarily wipes it on her eyes, creates a hole in her spiritual defenses. She must make a Personality trait roll against an Ease Factor of 9 to resist the demon's promptings.

The blood on the rags may also be poisoned, which further spreads plague. In some flagellant groups, Bufonia exhorts followers to make these relics. She gives them a special "holy oil" to sprinkle over the rags, and then encourages her victims to protect their communities by throwing the rags into wells and storing them in granaries.

Story Seed: Manufactory of Bloodied Rags

Grogs and companion-level characters can patrol towns, removing these infected cloths, and investigate who is planting them. Arranging groups of locals to covertly watch neighborhoods and drive away rag-spreaders is an effective countermeasure to this strategy of the cult.

In the local area, the player characters may uncover and destroy a secret manufactory for these cloths. It is an abandoned building where flagellants take turns whipping themselves while seated on a floor covered in filthy bed sheets. Another acolyte cuts the sheets into palm sized pieces at the end of each day. These are then taken away, and sprinkled with "holy oil." The rags are smuggled to supporters in nearby towns for distribution. If the player characters attack this site, bodiless demons possess the acolytes, assisting them in combat, and then animating their bodies after death.

Letter From an Angel

Some groups of flagellants begin to read a letter, said to be delivered by an angel, before each procession. The letter is a false relic. It makes it easy for the procession to find passage around obstacles. It also contains unclear and symbolic passages. Fabrico uses these to direct his followers, by placing these marks and signs in the places they come to, signaling that they should destroy, occupy, or venerate a thing.

Player characters who discover what is written in the angelic letter can use these signs to confuse the flagellants and frustrate their leaders. Even those who have been personally visited by angels cannot countermand a letter written by God himself and delivered by his messenger. In some groups, the contents of the letters change occasionally, to give new directions once earlier goals have been achieved. Magi can take advantage of this by composing new instructions. Forgers require an original letter to copy and the materials to be included in the copy. They must make an Intelligence + Finesse roll or a Dexterity + Craft roll against an Ease Factor of 9.

The leader of a flagellant group is likely to obey the instructions, but will obey

them more zealously if they are in a tone similar to those he has already received: they must stoke his Pride. This meddling certainly bring the magi to the attention of Fabrico. He may not report their meddling to Abaissier, if he thinks they are useful allies against his master.

Back From the Dead

Abaissier and Fabrico craft complicated visions in which some of the leaders of their groups die, but are then restored to life by praying to, and through the power of, their angels. These are simply complicated waking dreams, but the servants do not realize it, particularly once they are told they have been resurrected for a special purpose, because they are so close to the heart of God. Only one leader in each geographic area is given this treatment: the demons would prefer each thought himself uniquely blessed, or at least the first to be so blessed.

Characters who believe they have been returned from the dead are told they are saints, and may ordain priests, outside of the Church hierarchy. At the point where false priests are being ordained, all support for those groups of flagellants within the Church is destroyed. The Church rapidly decides to eliminate them, with armed force if necessary.

Story Seed: Removing the Saints of Flagellation

When the false saints begin to create false priests, it is obvious to anyone with the tiniest understanding of the Church that reprisal is inevitable. Player characters who become aware of the false ordinations know that desperate action may be required. Individual false saints can be detained or killed, which shifts the Church's focus to other areas.

Killing a false saint requires the characters to discern where he is hiding and overcome his defenses. The "saints" may be protected by mundane noblemen. Some are also protected by possessed flagellant followers or (unbeknownst to them) demonically tainted animals.

The false saints are difficult to reason

with, but a suitably pious character may convince one that he is a victim of demonic corruption. This is possible with a contested roll of stress die + Communication + Theology + false saint's Pride roll if the player character's score exceeds the saint's by at least 6. Characters who can demonstrate to the flagellant saint that he is defended by demonic animals can add 6 to their total.

A penitent false saint might surrender to the Church, and be placed in a nunnery or monastery, but some local bishops will want the heretic put to death. A repentant false saint unable to surrender to the Church might find shelter and employment with the Order.

Some flagellant groups oppose the false saints. This group of flagellants retains sufficient support in the Church that it is not eliminated in the inevitable purge. If Abaissier is careful, he can keep this portion of the movement bubbling along, training heretics for a few more years.

Some nobles who are already on poor terms with the Church side with the false saints. Other nobles are able both to follow the flagellants (and so ignore many of the Church's decrees), while retaining some link to the Church by making war on the nobles who shelter the false saints. Similarly, parts of the Order support the "loyal" flagellants.

Story Seed: Discrediting Loyal Flagellant Groups

Player characters can disrupt the rest of the cult by finding proof that the opposition to the false saints is a strategic pose. They can do this in several ways:

• Senior members of each half of the cult occasionally meet. Player characters who determine where this is, and can take witnesses from the Church to the event, destroy the cult's mask of obedience to orthodoxy.
• A very few members of the "loyal" group have themselves been told by

the demons that they are saints. If captured and put to the question by churchmen, they are so Proud that they are unable to maintain the humble lie of obedience.

• A nobleman visited by a false angel has also been granted a true vision by the Archangel Michael. He leads his followers into battle against the nobles who serve the demons. His initial attacks are against noblemen tied to the "loyal" faction. But rival nobles, disguised to protect their identities, ally with the false saints and muster with the visionary noble's enemies. If the player characters help the noble to win his battle, he can take the disguised nobles, or their bodies, to the Church authorities, demonstrating that the two halves of the cult act together.
• Characters who uncover evidence sufficient to destroy the remains of the cult may rouse Abaissier to make a personal assault on them.

The demonic collaborators can revive the cult by finding the remnants of destroyed cells. The devotees are told that they have passed a test from God, and that their suffering has brought them close to the heart of God. From these groups the demons, either collaboratively or singly, seek to create new secret societies, beginning the entire cycle again. This may also lead to further feuding between the two demons, when Abaissier discovers some of Fabrico's cults.

Story Seed: Cult Revival

If the player characters detect these groups, they can deal with them personally, or report them to the Church If they deal with them personally, the characters discover leads which allow the demons to be confronted. If they report the cells, then the Church eliminates them, and the player characters develop stronger ties with the local Church. The demons may treat the player characters as enemies, avoid risking resources near them in future, or both.

The following story ideas can be used at any stage in the development of the flagellant cult.

Attacking the Pious

There are many pious monks, even saints, who are flagellants. Once the player characters have shown themselves to be enemies of the flagellant cult, Abaissier attempts to trick the player characters into attacking the truly pious. Player characters can tell truly pious flagellants by their other actions, and by their attitude toward flagellation. Flagellation used moderately, voluntarily or as prescribed by a bishop, and which is treated as a punishment or used as a way of focusing the attention, rather than a way of earning merit with God, is permitted. Penances that are done instead of atonement are not permitted.

If the player characters avoid the snares of the demons, the pious allies they create may be useful. Some can dispute with the leaders of the flagellants. Others can teach common flagellants their errors, and draw them back to the Church, or even into monastic life.

Angering Rival Demons

Widespread movements like this wash over and destroy the plots of other demons. This has bought Abaissier potent enemies. If the storyguide wishes to make the cult more difficult to defeat, these can be suborned by Abaissier, much like Fabrico, and made into fractious lieutenants.

There are several features of the cult that allow the player characters to investigate it, once it has become widespread.

Magi with an interest in history may be able, through extensive research into Infernal Lore, to uncover information about earlier flagellant heretics. Initially it is very difficult, from the sort of limited information available in most parts of the Order, to find a specific demon likely to be responsible for those ancient cults. There are specialists within the Order who can be consulted, and might be able to discover the signs of Abaissier's involvement. This allows the specialist to predict the early stages of the cult's development. After Abaissier and Fabrico come to terms and begin to work together, however, the historical precedent for the demon's behavior breaks.

After the flagellants begin to wear uniforms, the order's specialist can identify Abaissier more easily. He is proud, and typically signs his work. The red mark on the flagellant uniforms is one he has employed as a cultic symbol before.

Virtually all members of the cult believe they are doing wonderful things on behalf of the rest of the world. They have suffered so much that they must be free of all blame, and the leftover suffering contributes to the wellbeing of everyone else. They are saving the world one bloody welt at a time, and are happy to share this good news with whoever is willing to listen.

The leaders of the cult are doing work that is too important for casual disruption. They believe they have been singled out for rare honor by God. If approached by someone who could aid their work, and who plays on their spiritual Pride, they feel it is their duty to describe their visitations. They cannot reveal everything their angel has told them, for he has said not to, but they are able to describe him in sufficient detail that characters skilled in Infernal Lore can determine that he's an Angel of Punishment.

In the early stages, the cult supports itself with the goods of the flagellants and by accepting alms. Once the processions increase in size, they also take whatever they require, extorting useful goods from towns and receiving support from mysterious benefactors. Player characters who track down the sources of the food, shoes, clothes, jeweled crosses, robes, and other supplies used by the processions can learn two significant things.

First, some of the durable supplies have been gradually accumulated and stored for years, which is both unprofitable and, according to Church teaching, sinful. Some of the rarer items, like the processional crosses, have been sourced from artisans in distant countries. This may be the first hint the player characters receive of a Europewide conspiracy. Some of the supplies have not yet been used, and the destruction of its caches limits the activity of the cult.

Second, the players may also find out how these goods are distributed, which allows them to discover which nobles and churchmen are secretly supporting the flagellants. This knowledge is important when the crackdown against the flagellants begins. These secret supporters place themselves at the spearhead of the effort to stamp out the cult, while secretly sabotaging that crusade.

At several points in the demons' scheme, bands of flagellants fall out with each other. Characters offering assistance to one side may be given information about the other. Since the two sides are likely identical in organization and operation, this provides a clear understanding of how the cult works.

The Redcaps are perhaps the first people in Europe to notice that the same mes-

sage is being expounded in many places simultaneously. This implies the supernatural coordination of the cult's message. Its widespread distribution is, however, a weakness. Redcaps communicate with each other, but the leaders of the flagellants do not. This may provide the player

characters with a significant advantage.

Redcaps, or other agents, can casually question participants in many areas of Europe, then pool the information these discussions provide. The cult members do not share information, and so cannot notice that the cult, as a whole, is being systematically interrogated. Player characters who embrace slow, careful information gathering across many of the cult's cells can build up a fair idea of the cult's structure and aims, without alarming its members or their demonic sponsors.

There are many ways in which the characters can deal with Abaissier's plots.

Once the characters are sure that a demon is causing the problem, they may draw it into direct confrontation. Abaissier is a demon of Pride. It underestimates the danger the player characters represent, and can be goaded into battle. Alternatively, player characters might draw out Fabrico instead. His destruction does not end the cult, but erodes its popular appeal. This forces the cult, over time, to return to a cellular, secretive structure.

The Cult is fueled by many factors, and each of these can be undermined to weaken the flagellants. Pious character may dispute with the demon's charismatic dupes. If they can be humbled and returned to orthodox practice, the cult crumbles. Characters can help offset the difficulties that lead people to join the flagellation cult, such as famine and disease. Prophecies can be proven false.

A large enough lie can also end the cult. Most flagellants believe they are expiating the sins of the world, to bring an end to the punishments meted out by God. A false miracle, supported by supernatural effects, which suggests that God is satisfied and urges mortals to return to the regular ministrations of the Church, may disrupt the cult.

Comedy is also a powerful weapon against the cult. One of the historical attempts to rekindle the flagellation movement was destroyed when the procession's participants were mocked as stupid by the laypeople of Rome.