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Infernalists (MTAs)

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See also: Infernalism (WOD) (disambiguation)

Infernalists are satanic worshipping Nephandi that seek Descension through pacts with Demons. They're the youngest and most diverse major sect of Nephandi to currently exist within the Modern nights.

Overview[]

Infernalist Nephandi traditional cultish demon worshippers: The bloody altar, the black candles, the Second Pentacle of Saturn etched upon the floor while a Goetic demon bellows and young virgins bleed their lives away at their feet. It seems silly in this day and age, but the Old Ways sometimes really do work best. For Infernalist Nephandi, the future rests upon the past. And no sect, in that past, earned greater dread than those who dealt with demons in the night.

More of a collection of sects than a unified sect in itself, Infernalist Nephandi wrangle the blackest of old Black Arts. They are, to those who know about the Fallen at all, the public face, so to speak, of the Eaters of the Weak. And yet, in the modern era, that face is composed largely of unAwakened dregs and a handful of mages who crave the way things used to be.

History[]

Dark Ages[]

Main article: Nephandi#Dark Ages: The Broken Chain

Renaissance[]

Main article: Nephandi#Renaissance: The Witch Craze

Modern Nights[]

Conventional lore portrays the Infernalists as soul-bound servitors to hell-spawned powers. In return for demonic pacts, these desperate mortals subvert their rivals, gather slaves, and throw endless victims into various infernos in order to please the Lords of the Pit. Eventually, it’s said, those Lords will rise and reclaim the Earth taken from them by the angels of God. Until that time, their Fallen servants will keep the fires burning in hopes of their speedy, but not too speedy, return.

One can see the power of their ideas back in the Middle Ages, but now, in the harsh glare of nuclear weapons, cell phones, and the internet, it looks more like a music video than something an Awakened mage should fear. Which is why the Infernalist Nephandi have been steadily declining in numbers and influence since the turn of the 20th century. Although their theatrical deviltry won a warm spot in the hearts of Decadent and Romantic artists during the occult revival of the 1800s, it paled in comparison to the mechanized carnage of the First World War and the many upheavals that followed in its wake. The shadow side of the counterculture era led to an Infernalist revival in the 1960s and 70s, but their star has faded (perhaps literally) in the decades since then.

And yet… Of all the Fallen, Infernalists best understand the ancient rituals of Goetia and the Arts of Demonology. The Qlippoth is an essential element of their training, and their Litanies are the most arcane yet comprehensive collections of lightless esoterica. Like the Hermetic Order with which they share so many Arts, secrets, protocols and members, Infernalist Nephandi lean heavily upon traditions that still support their weight because those structures were built to last. If nothing else, Infernal Nephandi are methodical, organized, and often surprisingly patient. No other sect places so much importance on Nephandic titles and their associated status protocols. Where Malfeans sneer at hierarchy and K'llasshaa stare into hungry skies, Infernalists recite the rituals properly, knowing that a missed or mangled word means death.

Organisation[]

A supreme dedication to the Lords of the Pit in their many forms seems to be the defining characteristic of Infernal Nephandi and their wretched dregs. Under that rubric, the details depend largely upon the demonic patron worshipped and seriousness with which the Fallen take their devilish devotions.

In the old days, there wasn’t much question about the seriousness of their intentions. Although the “demon worship” aspect of Infernalist magi appears to have greatly exaggerated, the Fallen would rarely dare to sneer in the faces of their infernal Patrons. Defiance is an admirable quality, true, but one that’s far less satisfying when you’ve got a literal devil prodding at you. Thus, Infernalists, even now, treat their rites with great seriousness. You never can tell when a summoned devil might arrive with an attitude even worse than usual.

As mentioned above, Infernalists tend to take the traditional Nephandi titles more seriously than other Fallen mages do. It’s rare to hear an Ironhand or Exie refer to a “prelate” with a straight face; to an Infernalist, however, that prelate is Prelate Sandar Azrael Thorn, and don’t you ever forget it. Dregs and initiates have their proper place at the bottom of the heap, and only grand accomplishments or advancement through death will rate a rise in status within the cult.

Status within a given cult depends a great deal on the number of members, the purpose of the cult in question, and the achievements of Awakened members. The non-Awakened members, meanwhile, remain support staff and demon fodder until and unless they prove themselves capable of better things. Night-Folk allies, of course, hold much higher status than the human rabble; even then, however, the mages within a cult consider themselves superior to any mere vampire or beast-thing, even if they never say as much anywhere that vampire or beast-thing could hear them.

Goal[]

According to expectations, Infernal cults strive more toward global Descent than toward personal Descent; when the rites are over, though, the goals tend to be the other way around. Behind a façade of eternal dedication to the end of all things, Fallen Infernalists tend to retreat into solitary explorations of the Qlippoth, seeking self-godhood over human extermination. When they achieve the power to do so, these Nephandic Masters craft Realms of their own design; until that time, many of them set up shop in secluded locations, chasing the Nightside in its earthly aspects instead of Otherworldly exile.

Tactics[]

In contrast to their capricious counterparts, Infernal Nephandi observe a rational approach to evil — the malign but predictable realm of Satanic devils and Goetic demonology. A profound sense of order pervades their approach, epitomized by the Qlippothic Tree of Knowledge and its systemic passage from raw sensuality to transcendent perfection. Infernalists respect classical demonology because it makes sense out of perceived chaos.

Known Cults[]

The New Rite Church[]

The New Rite Church provides a pseudo-Christian gloss over an innately Satanic approach. Inspired by the Prosperity Gospel heresy, founder William “Billy Buck” Buchannan established the NRC in 1985, following what he later claimed was a visitation from the Archangel Michael. Billy Buck was dead broke at the time, staring at an eviction notice through tears over his wife leaving him for another man; the part he doesn’t tell folks involves the black eyes and broken jaw his wife had at the time, and the fact that the “other man” was her brother, who’d come to take her away from Billy Buck’s coked-out rages. Ol’ Billy swore on the head of his daughter Anne Marie that he would do anything to kick the habit, keep his home, and get back on his feet as a better, stronger, richer man.

Billy Buck did receive a vision, all right, but that shining visitor was a manifestation of Lucifer, not Michael. The Morning Star touched Billy’s head and heart, purged his addiction, and instructed him to found a church in the name of his New Rite. This, Billy did. When he died of a brain hemorrhage in 2005, after receiving commendation from the president for his good works, Billy Buck discovered the price of the bargain he had made. Oh, well — it was fun while it lasted.

Having grown from a prayer circle in the back of a public library, the New Rite Church now boasts a megachurch complex with a food court and a shopping mall filled with Christ-oriented goodies. The New Rite Gospel Media Mission includes a syndicated radio show, cable programs and a YouTube channel, and over 80,000 supporters across North America. Its New Rite Gospel is one of selfishness and greed, couched in verses that came from no Christian Bible. The leaders of the church — Jerry Lee Brooks, Esme Williams, and Magnus Jefferson Tate III — are Infernalist Nephandi of considerable wealth, charisma, and political clout. They say all the right things to keep their audience hooked, but the biblical Christ would beat them out the door of their church with his own cross if he heard the things they say in his name. The New Rite Gospel is all about making yourself wealthy, and unchristian as that might be, it’s a mighty popular message nowadays.

The Cauldron of Banjoko[]

The Cauldron of Banjoko fights the militants of Boko Haram. While this would seem at first glance to be an admirable thing, the Cauldron is not a humanitarian force for good in a war-torn region. Named for Banjoko — a demonic ogbanje spirit of a dead and angry child whose name means “Don’t Ever Leave Me” — the Cauldron of Banjoko includes over 200 guerilla-warfare soldiers, nearly all of whom are under 18 years old, and nearly a third of whom have not yet reached puberty. Infused with magickal strength, stealth, and near immunity to harm, the Cauldron’s skirmishers prefer to take their prey alive whenever possible.

Once those prisoners have been secured where their comrades cannot reach them, the “Banjoko Children” skin their captives, torture them with dirt rubbed into their bodies, and then burn the captives alive in honor of Banjoko’s name. For obvious reasons, even Boko Haram fears Banjoko’s devotees.

Led by a teenaged Nephandus known only as Ekong (“War”), the Cauldron gathers survivors of Boko Haram attacks. Occasionally, the cult kidnaps children from families that have never known misfortune, and then initiates them with meals of heavily drugged snake meat. Soldiers from Boko Haram insist that the true Lord of the Cauldron is not Banjoko, it’s Iblis, the Satanic Outcast, and his followers have not been children for a long and bloody time.

The Lodge of the Crimson Goat[]

The Lodge of the Crimson Goat occupies a small-yet-significant place in the medievalist neopagan network of North America and Western Europe. After a serious of secretly murderous “witch wars” that included actual black magick and the bloody invocation of demonic servitors, the Lodge carved out a territory across the upper U.S. Midwest and parts of the Alberta and Saskatchewan regions of Canada. The Lodge’s reach now extends across several covens, festival grounds, and vagabond trails. Composed mostly of runaway teens and a handful of older “dirty kids” who live by their wits on the road, the Lodge signifies its presence with spray-painted murals of a stylized Pentacle of Baphomet. Despite that name and emblem, though, the Lodge (which represents symbolic fellowship, not a physical structure) is vehemently not associated with the Goatkids sect; it was, in fact, a dispute with them over the true nature of Baphomet that led to that witch war in the first place.

Although the cult’s former leader, Erzebet Red Crow, died in the final skirmish, her ghost (trapped within her skull) still advises her consorts Jon Crane, Felicity Running Deer, and Jacob Laterne with regards to their future plans, their Otherworldly obligations, and the matter of keeping her soul safe from Jadrax, Fiend of Secrets, the demon to which it was promised some years ago. As things are, Jadrax has yet to collect that debt. When he does, however, the next round of supernatural fireworks might not go as well for the Lodge as the last one did.

Dark Luminaries[]

Given the big targets painted across their heads by their devotion to the most obvious approach to Nephandism, the smarter Infernalists keep a low profile. Even so, certain names resonate through Awakened gossip even when the people themselves remain hidden from sight. Those infamous diabolists include:

Gallery[]

References[]

Mage: The Ascension Nephandi Sects
Major Sects Infernalists • Malfeans • K'llasshaa
Minor Sects Baphies • Obliviates • Heralds of Basilisk • Ironhands • Mammonites
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