[ww80105] Manual of Exalted Power - Infernals.pdf - Vakermit.com
[ww80105] Manual of Exalted Power - Infernals.pdf - Vakermit.com
[ww80105] Manual of Exalted Power - Infernals.pdf - Vakermit.com
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serf tenements and lower-class citizen neighborhoods. When<br />
the need for a gathering place became apparent, Malfeas<br />
absorbed and crushed the previous structures (and their<br />
inhabitants) and raised an enormous tumor <strong>of</strong> verdigriscovered<br />
brass from where they had been. The tumor took<br />
the shape <strong>of</strong> a city-sized stupa surrounded by a wall <strong>of</strong> jagged,<br />
interlocking black bones. A torii <strong>of</strong> petrified flesh frames the<br />
only doorway into the structure, and a hideously writhing<br />
nerve ending as large as a baobab tree sprouts from the top,<br />
collecting Ligier’s green light.<br />
Of all the denizens <strong>of</strong> the Demon City, only the Green<br />
Sun Princes and the humaniform jouten <strong>of</strong> the architects <strong>of</strong><br />
the Reclamation are allowed free access to the Conventicle<br />
Malfeasant. No stranger, citizen, serf or sacrifice may enter<br />
without the permission <strong>of</strong> a Yozi or Infernal Exalt. Whenever<br />
someone tries to enter without permission, the petrified flesh<br />
<strong>of</strong> the threshold torii flows shut behind them like the closing <strong>of</strong><br />
a living orifice. When the torii folds open again, the would-be<br />
intruder is nowhere to be found. Something similar happens<br />
when Third Circle demons or jouten <strong>of</strong> other, non-aligned Yozis<br />
try to enter the Conventicle without permission. The torii<br />
closes and opens again instantly, at which point the wouldbe<br />
interloper emerges. From the intruder’s point <strong>of</strong> view, the<br />
transition is instantaneous. He steps through the archway only<br />
to find himself outside facing the opposite direction.<br />
Within, the Conventicle is vast—possibly even larger<br />
than it is on the outside. Its interior<br />
appears to be a hollow dome inside<br />
which a small city has been constructed. The nerve ending<br />
that stands out from the center <strong>of</strong> the ro<strong>of</strong> runs down into<br />
the walls and the floors <strong>of</strong> every interior structure, casting<br />
Ligier’s light so that everyone inside can see. Around the<br />
perimeter <strong>of</strong> the interior <strong>of</strong> the dome are 50 lavish, fully<br />
furnished townhouses, one for each <strong>of</strong> the Infernal <strong>Exalted</strong>.<br />
Each townhouse has a private door that allows egress from<br />
the stupa, but no matter which door a visitor uses to exit the<br />
stupa, he emerges from the same lone portal on the structure’s<br />
exterior. Inside the ring <strong>of</strong> townhouses, closer to the center,<br />
is a band <strong>of</strong> brothels, gaming parlors, theaters, restaurants and<br />
other social amenities designed to cater to the tastes <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Green Sun Princes. These establishments are run by demons<br />
specifically brought in or excreted by Malfeas directly for that<br />
purpose. Particularly popular gathering places include the<br />
temples to each <strong>of</strong> the architects <strong>of</strong> the Reclamation—spaced<br />
equidistantly around the circumference <strong>of</strong> that inner circle—<br />
the one internal glass library <strong>of</strong> Orabilis, the Menagerie <strong>of</strong><br />
Servile Failures, Theatre Outré, the baths and a pavilion<br />
containing several gates <strong>of</strong> inauspicious passage.<br />
At the center <strong>of</strong> the Conventicle Malfeasant is the<br />
gathering place <strong>of</strong> the Infernal Thing. It constitutes a modest<br />
amphitheater with risers <strong>of</strong> Malfean bone, a canopy lattice<br />
<strong>of</strong> tarnished brass filaments and a floor <strong>of</strong> greenish sand. It<br />
is easily large enough to ac<strong>com</strong>modate all the Green Sun<br />
Princes, all the humaniform jouten <strong>of</strong> the architects <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Reclamation, all the human-sized bodies <strong>of</strong> their primary Third<br />
Circle souls and a sizeable retinue <strong>of</strong> lesser demons, akuma or<br />
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