[ww80105] Manual of Exalted Power - Infernals.pdf - Vakermit.com

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As helpful and useful as akuma can be to the Infernal Exalted,
however, dealing with them can sometimes complicate
a Green Sun Prince’s work. The least problematic are those
akuma who belong to the architects of the Reclamation and
those Yozis’ lesser souls. Such demons need only tailor their
akuma’s Urges to fit in with a particular Green Sun Prince’s
Urge, and the akuma fall in line behind their Infernal. Yet,
even when that is the case, problems can still arise. If some
complication sheds new light on the mission that makes it
impossible or undesirable, only the Infernal Exalt is able of his
own volition to hold off and reassess. The akuma are unable to
defy their Urges, however, and must press on relentlessly until
their orders change. What’s more, akuma do not always work
well with outsider akuma whose powers come from different
demons. Those who fall under the hierarchy of a single Yozi
might be able to get their act reasonably together, especially
under a Green Sun Prince’s leadership, but those who hail
from different Yozis are less able to. Infernals can work out
their differences when their Yozis disagree; akuma can only
carry out their masters’ conflicts against one another.
Coordination is even more difficult when dealing with
akuma whose masters are or descend from Yozis not directly
involved in the Reclamation. Yozis such as Kimbery who
are allied with the architects often lend their akuma to the
concerted escape effort, but they all have their own agendas
as well. Pleas to have such demons lift counterproductive
orders from their akuma or hold off on certain orders until
Reclamation-serving goals are reached often fall on deaf ears.
The Yozis have racked up countless rivalries and enmities
among one another throughout these Ages of history, and
even the prospect of escaping the demon realm and returning
to the Games of Divinity is not enough to wash them
away. The Ebon Dragon works tirelessly to try to unite all the
akuma belonging to Hell behind the Reclamation effort, but
there is only so much he can do, especially with his wedding
drawing ever closer and dominating his attention.
CULTS IN CREATION
Once the first generation of Green Sun Princes had been
Exalted and indoctrinated, they were able to hit the ground
running in Creation thanks largely to the efforts of mortal
Yozi cultists. Those mortals who worship the Yozis of their
own free will understand that the world was unlawfully taken
from its rightful masters and that the only reasonable course
of action is to help the Yozis reclaim it. It would be naïve to
assume that every individual cultist is so motivated, of course.
Many mortals join Yozi cults because they’re pathetic, biddable
weaklings; others join up because they want power and
don’t care where it comes from. Nonetheless, the overarching
structure of each such cult is oriented in the right direction,
and they all work toward the goals the Yozis demand.
Green Sun Princes are often delivered to cult leaders
as either vaunted heroes of Hell or in the role of living embodiments
of a Yozi’s will. In so doing, they become the de
facto heads of those cults and any outside cells that report to
them. Worship in the cults is expected to expand to include
the Infernal Exalt in its prayers. All resources monetary, human
and otherwise are to be put at the Infernal’s disposal
to use as he sees fit. He is to be obeyed, protected and doted
on with the cult’s full will. Most Green Sun Princes enjoy
this level of authority and importance over several different
independent cult organizations, traveling between their
headquarters regularly to maintain ties and call upon their
aid as ongoing missions demand.
Naturally, the accession to the head of a cult goes smoothly
only when the Infernal is claimed by the Yozi who, in turn,
claims the worshipers of the cult. A Slayer, claimed by Malfeas,
has no problem taking over a cult dedicated to Malfeas, to
Ligier or to Sondok. Yet if that same Slayer wanted to take
over a cult dedicated to Octavian—who descends from She
Who Lives in Her Name—he would not have as easy a time
of it. If he wanted to take over such a cult in order to convert
it to the worship of his own Yozi or a component soul thereof,
he would have to overcome the resistance of the clergy and
the laity. If he installed himself at the head of such a cult but
didn’t try to convert it thus, he would likely suffer a backlash
of Torment from his own Yozi master.
Conflicts of that nature are almost nonexistent between
the architects of the Reclamation. Green Sun Princes tend
to leave each other’s masters’ cults alone in the name of
fostering cooperation. Wresting worship of the cults of allied
but non-aligned Yozis is rare as well. In honor of Dukantha’s
contribution to the Reclamation, for instance, none of the
architects of the Reclamation would be inclined to have their
operatives overthrow Kimbery’s cults or try to take over the
Lintha Family. If an Infernal Exalt should desire to make use
of the influence or wealth or power of a cult that belongs to
a demon not working with or toward the Reclamation, his
Yozi master is likely to encourage him to try to take it over.
Such activities help the architects of the Reclamation exert
pressure on their recalcitrant fellow prisoners or punish them
outright for failing to cooperate.
EQUIPMENT
Upon their acceptance into the rank of peer, the Green
Sun Princes are entitled to lavish amenities in the Demon
City. In addition to their traditional townhouses within the
Conventicle Malfeasant, they are also each granted palatial
brass-and-copper mansions elsewhere among the layers of
Malfeas’s strata, wide open to Ligier’s poison rays. These mansions
are constructed to the Infernals’ specifications, usually
within territory claimed by the same Yozis who claim their
Exaltations. (None of these mansions stand outside Malfeas
in the desert Cecelyne proper, but Cecelyne does claim plenty
of territory within Malfeas where her sands have blown in
through cracks in Malfeas’s wounded flesh.)
In order to keep them comfortable, the Infernals’ Yozi
masters impart to them a host of serfs to tend to their every
physical need, from angyalka entertainers to tomescu sparring
partners to marotte landscapers to agata personal transports to
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