Bezariel, "The Blood Angel" was a demon summoned by Joseph Stranvitch, a Celestial Chorus mage, and became the general to Baba Yaga's Army of the Void. By Demon: The Fallen, he was reclassified as an 'Earthbound'.
Biography[]
In the long days of the War of Wrath, Loyalist angels feared the Halaku as no other. The Angels of the Second World had become the Slayers, the very incarnations of death, and they knew how to tread worlds that God Himself had never seen. Every war has its heroes and its reviled warriors (often the same people fill both roles), and during the War of Wrath, Bezariel was no exception.
Bezariel was one of the Namtar, an Angel of Death. After the Fall, he quickly became embittered with his task of reaping mortal souls and attempted to make himself look as appealing as possible to his hapless charges. But no matter how innocent a face he constructed, he could not ease their fear and pain upon death. As the war wore on, Bezariel fought against the Host with a bitter determination. He wanted humanity to love and trust him as the Abelites had loved the Loyalist angels.
And yet, for all their dread prowess in battle and skill in opening gateways to other realms, the Halaku were cast into the Abyss like all the other rebels, Bezariel among them. As the years wore on, the Slayers were the demons least often freed as Earthbound. Perhaps God placed extra safeguards against freeing the realm-walkers from Hell, or perhaps they had simply kept their names and natures so well hidden from humanity that the mystics didn’t know how to call them up.
In fact, it wasn’t until the late 20th century that Bezariel was freed from his prison, by the hand of a mortal wizard called Joseph Stranvitch. Stranvitch, however, was not acting on his own. Bezariel found himself pressed into service by an undying creature of such surpassing evil that the demon nearly paled in comparison. This witch, called Baba Yaga in human legend, mumbled her ill-conceived plans to Bezariel. They involved forging pacts with other supernatural beings and draining the land of its holy power.
Bezariel was unimpressed. He knew the price of such hubris all too well, but he was in no hurry to return to Hell. When Baba Yaga bade him collect spiritual energy from the land, he did so. When she gave him the power to warp the bodies of the living into mindless slaves, he used it. When she gave him an army of wretched spirits to command, he played the role of general. All the while, his Torment grew, until by the time Baba Yaga met her death. Just less than a decade after Bezariel arrived from Hell, he had become completely consumed by his Torment.
Bezariel knew that something was coming, of course. Stranvitch, with whom Bezariel had kept some contact, had been murdered along with the rest of his sorcerous companions. The Blood Angel was a creature of fate and death, so he could sense it coming, even for a being as powerful as the Iron Hag. In considering the future, Bezariel realized that if Baba Yaga were to die, he would certainly have problems. She was responsible for much of his power. In fact, he did not even have a reliquary, being accustomed to Russia’s unique spiritual condition sustaining him. In the days before destiny finally caught up with Baba Yaga, Bezariel chose an earthly resting place — a ritual dagger hidden behind a wall in Mikailovsky Castle (now a St. Petersburg museum).
His mistress’s death did not send Bezariel screaming back into Hell (as he thought it might) but merely freed him from any and all dominance. He faced a greater problem, however. He had been sustained thus far not by the Faith of mortals but by the raw power of Baba Yaga’s magic. His only plan for this instance was to rely on Stranvitch’s devotion, but he and his followers were already dead. With his mistress and his potential slaves gone, Bezariel he felt himself growing steadily weaker.
Bezariel knew that he would not be able to survive on Earth long without followers, but his experiences with mortals in the last few years had largely been limited to flaying them and taking their souls for the Hag. With her dead, he assumed that their souls were gone and feared that he would soon fall into stasis or perish. And then, a miracle occurred — the Maelstrom.
Bezariel felt the turmoil in the lands of the dead and reached out to absorb as much of that energy as possible. As the ghosts of mortals were flung far and wide, destroyed and even blown back into bodies (some still living, others decaying) Bezariel watched in delight as Hell cracked and many of the fallen escaped. A few wound up in Russia, and Bezariel wasted no time invoking them. He drew three of them to his side before they could get their bearings and, using the knowledge of the country gleaned from years at the side of the Little Grandmother, began finding and suborning some of the few cults that remained in her service. It was a desperate strategy, but it seems to be working. After all, the alternative is Hell.
The Cult[]
Bezariel's cult, such as it is, consists mainly of former worshippers and servants of Baba Yaga. Fortunately for the Blood Angel, the Hag kept her worshippers largely in the dark about the nature of their mistress - she needed their Faith as much as the demon, if for a different reason. Bezariel knows that more of these cells of followers exist across Russia, and he likewise knows that other unholy beings might already have suborned them. He sees them as his right, however, and he intends to retake the Faith of those mortals and find a way to roam Russia as a spirit once again.
The largest cult is centered in Saint Petersburg, and it numbers about 20. Bezariel has made packs with a few, but the results have been less than satisfactory. Years of spiritual taint from Baba Yaga have altered the demon's ability to grant power to mortals, and his thralls tend to grow steadily more psychotic after making the pact. In his cult, based as it is on human sacrifice and torture, this is rarely a bad thing, of course.
Bezariel's methods, like Baba Yaga's before him, might prove a bit too heavy handed for the modern world, but that remains to be seen. In the meantime, his followers devote their Faith to the Blood Angel, a god of pain and beauty who tells them that only in the moment of excruciating agony can life truly be appreciated.
The Demons[]
Three demons appeared in St. Petersburg in the wake of the Maelstrom, and Bezariel quickly snapped them up as servants. None of them are very powerful on their own, and Russia holds many supernatural dangers. Bezariel, however, is a veritable expert in the whiles and ways of these beasts, so the demons he has suborned find it beneficial to obey him.
The first is Marash, a Devil who burned with Holy Fire in better days. Like many of his House, he excels in playing to the masses, and it is he who leads the cult and performs the sacrifices. Unlike Bezariel himself, Marash has taken well to making pacts, and several of the cultists (as well as many everyday mortals) now supply him with Faith. Given a bit of time, Maash could easily become more powerful than Bezariel, but he also realizes that he needs the Blood Angel's protection from the supernatural guardians of Russia. Marash is a true Faustian, and he understand the need to be used occasionally.
A Malefactor named Yrreck acts as Bezariel's personal bodyguard. A former Angel of the Earth, Yrreck is a Luciferan who wants nothing more than to go to America and search for his lofty hero. Bezariel promises that he would like nothing better than to find the Morningstar, but he cautions Yrreck that travel is dangerous for the fallen. (In fact, this promise is a lie; Bezariel hasn't even thought about his former leader in years.) Yrreck accepts the assurance - as Bezariel knows his True Name, he has little choice - but Marash notes his compatriot's true goals.
Bezariel's third demonic servant is less of a servant and more a confidante. During the War, Bezariel and Neriel were friends, even lovers in some sense of the word. Like Bezariel, Neriel was an Angel of Death, but she didn't feel the sting of mortals' fear as keenly as her lover. After being released from Hell, she was initially overjoyed to find Bezariel again - then horrified at what he'd become. She stays with him in part because he knows her True Name and could probably call her back, and in part because she desperately wants to redeem him. She holds out little true hope, however. While she once knew his True Name, his association with Baba Yaga has so warped Bezariel that even this essential part of him has grown tarnished and corrupted.
Image[]
The most beautiful young man imaginable.
Character Sheet[]
References[]
- WTA: Rage Across Russia, p. 95
- WTA: A World of Rage, p. 77
- DTF: Demon: Earthbound, p. 148-149
