Chelniel

Chelniel is an Earthbound demon.

Biography

Little is known about the Picts, a prehistoric civilization that once lived in what is now Scotland. Kenneth mac Alpin conquered them in the ninth century, and few reliable records exist. Chelniel, of the house of Morningstar, remembers them. They summoned him up from Hell, after all.

Before the rebellion, Chelniel was a pioneer of the concept of leadership. The alpha wolf, the strongest ape, the lion who leads the pride — these creatures were the work of Chelniel and his Zaltu compatriots. But the angel with whom he most enjoyed working was one of the Ishhara, an Angel of Longing named Indina. Together, they provided the earliest humans with the means to be leaders and the inspiration to take the mantle of leadership. Of course, it didn’t work out that way — the earliest humans had no reason to lead, for they had no reason to be uncomfortable. It seemed clear to both Chelniel and Indina that for their work to culminate, humans would need to rise to a challenge. When Lucifer came looking for recruits, they saw their chance.

Despite the misery that followed, they were not disappointed in humanity. While the vast majority of them were weak, there were always a few who rose up and claimed the crown, the scepter or whatever else might be appropriate in the face of adversity. When these demons were cast into Hell, they felt that humanity would survive despite it all.

Chelniel found himself called from the Abyss and bound into a circle of stones around the same time that Geshua of Nazareth was born, hundreds of miles away. The people who summoned him had called out for a champion, someone to lead them in a war against another tribe. Chelniel refused to lead, of course, but he guided the tribe’s leaders to war and then watched as the humans killed each other with ferocity and tenacity that surprised even a demon.

For hundreds of years, the Picts worshipped Chelniel, calling on him for advice in times of strife, until finally their civilization fell. Always able to recognize the strongest of humans, Chelniel saw the end coming and asked that his stone circle be converted into a broch, a small stone tower of such strength that even a siege engine had difficulty breaking it. His circle was located on a hilltop far away from anything that invaders needed, and so like many of the other brochs, it remained standing for centuries.

While much of the lore of the Picts was lost, some of it survived to the modern age. As “modern paganism” rose in popularity, some of that lore was revealed to those who knew how to look. On a dark night in October of 1977, a small coven performed an ancient rite inside a small, stone tower in the Scottish Highlands. The fact that much of the rite was fabricated did not matter. Enough of the original ritual was intact, and Chelniel rose again.

The Cult

Chelniel’s followers fancy themselves warriors, but today’s culture has a somewhat different take on warriors than the Picts did. All of them know how to fight (and indeed, the Devil grants his loyal followers gifts to strengthen the body and rally others to their cause), but they cannot prove themselves by making war on other tribes. Similarly, attacking normal people is not a challenge (nor a viable means of spreading the cult). Chelniel was able to maintain the cult for two decades on the pretense of being some ancient, Celtic night-god, but in the late 1990s, his flock began to drift away. And then one night, during a ritual with an especially weak turnout, a creature attacked.

It was an immense, red-furred wolf-man, and it tore apart three of the cultists before anyone could react. Most of the others ran screaming, but one man drew his blade and screamed for the others to attack. Finally recognizing the spark of greatness in a human once again, Chelniel lent his power to the man and the cult slew the werewolf and took its skin. Finally, Chelniel had found a way to inspire his cult. They would hunt the creatures of darkness, not for any false pretenses of purity or doing God’s will, but simply for the glory of battle.

Over the next few years, the cult has spread across the British Isles. The majority of the Cult of Chelniel has never visited — or indeed does not know of — the broch in which their patron resides. Many of them, however, are accomplished hunters, and some even have ties to other similar organizations, such as the Society of Leopold . A few, those furthest removed from the demon, are even imbued individuals who have discovered the cult in their search for answers. Members of the Cult of Chelniel do not discriminate in its targets — anything supernatural will do — but they prefer beings that can satisfy their lust for battle. As such, vampires, werewolves and other demons tend to be their most common targets. The cult is very loosely organized, but most major cities in the British Isles have at least one cell, led by a thrall of Chelniel. These thralls are always gifted with the power to see through illusion and sense magic; Chelniel has never stopped searching for Indina.

Chelniel discourages his cult from hunting the Highlands around his broch, although he does maintain a cell of his finest warriors in a village nearby, under the watchful command of one of his demonic servants, Kroskyn. He tells the cult that any creatures in that area are subservient to him, but in fact, he knows that the creatures who stalk the nights in the Highlands of Scotland are the worst sorts of monsters. If they were to discover him, they might well be able to enslave him.

The Fallen

Chelniel takes a keen interest in the fallen. In fact, he is quite reasonable about sparing a demon’s life if the hapless demon gives up a portion of his True Name (provided the cell that attacks the given demon is in contact with Chelniel). Once this happens, Chelniel releases one of his two full-time demonic servants, Hajriel, to find the rest of the Name. Hajriel is a Devourer and a bloodhound par excellence, skilled at remaining invisible and ferreting out other demons. As one of the world’s very few Devourer Cryptics, he enjoys his work, and has, in fact, bought into Chelniel’s dogma about the strongest warrior being the fittest to lead and so on.

Chelniel’s other major servant is Kroskyn, a Scourge. Kroskyn is a former Angel of the Firmament, and is charged with keeping watch over the area surrounding Chelniel’s reliquary. While it would have taken a siege engine to destroy the stone circle in olden times, now all it would take is some explosives, and Chelniel worries that someday, some creatures seeking vengeance will track his cultists back to the broch and destroy it. Thus far, no one has come close to doing so, although Kroskyn, a Ravener, has killed various beings who have approached the area. Most recently, he slew a small circle of spellcasters seeking to use the area’s energy for their own purposes. Time will tell if any recriminations follow.

Chelniel has other demonic servitors scattered across the Isles, but he doesn’t attempt to rule them or use them for anything other than information. He recognizes that ruling over anyone, human or demon, too closely stifles their potential for inspired leadership, and he knows that this sudden flash of brilliance might save his life once again someday.

Character Sheet

Chelniel, The Stone-Circle
Nature: Director
Demeanor: Director
Attributes: Strength 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3, Charisma 5, Manipulation 4, Appearance 5, Perception 4, Intelligence 4, Wits 5
Abilities: Alertness 2, Awareness 3, Bureaucracy 3, Dodge 4, Empathy 2, Etiquette 3, Expression 3, Intimidation 4, Law 3, Leadership 4, Melee 3, Politics 5, Recall 3, Stealth 2, Subterfuge 5
Backgrounds: Cult 2, Eminence 5, Hoard 4, Mastery 3, Thralls 2, Worship 2
Relic Type: Location (30 Faith points)
Willpower: 9
Faith: 8
Torment: 10
Urges: Emotion 3, Flesh 2, Thought 4
Apocalyptic Features: Distracting Aura, Dread Gaze, Eyes of Fate, Frenzy, Horns, Huge Size, Relentless, Sense the Hidden
Grotesqueries: Abhorrent Sounds, Decay, Deformed Limbs, Eyes, Glow, Skin, Unstable, Vestigial Limbs
Lore: Beast 4, Celestials 5, Humanity 5, Violation 4, Radiance 5, Storms 4

Reference

• DTF: Demon: Earthbound, p. 156-157