Brother Philangelus is a member of the Red Order.
Overview[]
A low-ranking monk of the Red Order, Brother Philangelous has witnessed first hand the dangers and compelling power of infernalism. While most of his brethren content themselves with accounts of the damned and glean the workings and motivations of demons second-hand, Philangelous has dared to track these horrors to their source. He never expected or planned to devote his life to such perilous studies, and he regularly laments the path his life has taken. His fall began after the execution of the heretic Genevria, when he joined his colleague and friend Brother Timothy to perform a routine investigation of a town suspected of hosting a demonic cult. The two wore plain brown robes instead of their distinctive scarlet vestments, passing themselves off as wandering pilgrims. They never expected danger, nor had their superiors in the Red Order prepared them for what they found. The cult had taken root in the settlement, claiming nearly all its inhabitants as worshippers of a fiend of unmatched brutality and malice. Brother Timothy perished horribly at the hands of the monster. Philangelous fled the damned settlement and appealed to the Church for reinforcements. Those reinforcements never came. Further entreaties brought only silence, but he waited patiently. That patience eroded along with his faith as he realized the Church would not avenge Timothy's death. He wondered at the reason and his fear led him to doubt and paranoia. Had minions of the demon infiltrated his own Order?
Philangelous sequestered himself in a remote monastery, growing ever more embittered and removed from his former zeal. In time, an agent of a demon found him and offered a text with a promise of answers. Philangelous resisted the temptation at first. He considered giving the book to his superiors, but feared reprisal if they suspected him of diabolism. Instead, he hid the book in the scriptorium until curiosity overpowered him. The servant of Hell spoke truth; the pages contained rites explaining how to bind a demon to service, with exacting directions on how to perform these rites.
Brother Philangelous does not realize that the rituals contained in the book are all to bind rivals of the demon who sent him the book, a covetous, power-hungry fiend seeking to recapture his former glory by destroying any opposition. Philangelous knows he could use the book. He knows enough now to perform the rites and believes correctly that he could succeed. He only waits for the opportunity, pledging himself to the dim hope that he has finally found a weapon against the courage of Hell and wondering why a demon gave him this power.
References[]
- DA: Devil's Due, p. 10-11, 141