Novalis, Demon Princess of Flowers

Novalis, Demon Princess of Flowers

The world is a garden, where all may sleep without any cares, once they've been led inside and shown how.

What, you thought Falling would make her more violent? Foolish, that. She's seen the error of her ways. It wasn't that she was too resistant to violence, but only that she pursued peace in all the wrong ways. Violence is action, aggression, caring about other people and what they do enough that you would attack them, caring enough about yourself that you would defend yourself against other attacks. But she knows better, now.

She just wants to make you happy. If you're happy, you won't be running around trying to be all...active. You can just sit right here, where it's comfortable. Lie down, go to sleep... Isn't everything much easier that way? Lie under the flowers and let all your cares drift away like pollen on the wind. Someone else will take care of things, or maybe nobody will, but you won't care anymore either way...

These days, Novalis' Servitors will hand you drugs with a smile, and you'll be smiling too once they're done with you. It may take a bit of time strapped down somewhere before you figure out how to cooperate, but don't worry: Flowers is very, very patient. Like ivy growing over stone, you'll be fluffy and green too once they're done with you, no matter how much time it takes. You might be a babbling idiot too, but you'll be a happy, relaxed one.

Most of Fleurity's former Servitors have taken refuge with Novalis, ever since she smashed the upstart little pseudo-angel princeling and took over his domain. Those that did have learned to be much, much more careful with what sorts of drugs they pass around. On the plus side, their new Superior is surprisingly cheerful for a Djinn. On the minus side, if you seem a little too concerned with the wrong things, you might find yourself strapped down in front of a very understanding, happy psychologist yourself, until you're happy and relaxed whether you want to be or not...

The Secret Garden is Novalis's principality in Hell, and it's a beautiful place. Weeping willows shade dim gardens, soft grass covers the ground, and every structure built into the garden is subtle, beautiful, almost growing out of the soil. Souls sleep beneath the trees, curled up around trunks or alone, but never, ever with anyone else. The waking souls smile (if a bit nervously sometimes) and reassure any passing demon that they're fine, fine, everything is fine, they're not worried about anything at all. Demons who walk the paths of this place move carefully, and smile. Everyone smiles around here. But not at each other. You wouldn't want to imply you cared.

The center of the Secret Garden holds fields of flowers, divided up by high fences that twist around until you're never sure which direction you're walking. Novalis waits in the center of the hedge maze, resting on a bed of ivy. Please don't step on the flowers on your way there. She wouldn't like that.

Dissonance: Mostly unchanged. Except that she defines "necessary" and "violence" a bit differently, these days. After all, there's nothing wrong with strapping someone down and injecting things into them if it's for their own good, right?

Band Attunements:

Balseraphs: As with the Seraph of Flowers attunement, except the peaceful feeling is also exceptionally apathetic. Not only are you peaceful, but you won't care what's happening to anyone else: the Will roll applies both to violent actions and to interfering with what's being done to anyone other than yourself.

Djinn: Djinn of Novalis may add a penalty equal to their Ethereal Forces with a touch to anyone attempting to resist the effects of a drug. This penalty is doubled for someone they are attuned to.

Calabim: Novalis has little use for inherently violent creatures such as these, and the few Calabim who work for her also incur dissonance if they use their resonance against any sentient being. They act as enforcers of her peace, and can use their resonance to blast away Strength instead of Body Hits, to a minumum of 1; the effect lasts for hours equal to the check digit. This does not affect the victim's total Body Hits.

Habbalah: The Habbalah who serve Flowers may increase the potency of any drug they touch by five-fold, so long as the drug does not typically inspire violence or too much action. (That is, marijuana is fine, but speed is right out.)

Lilim: These Daughters are experts in distracting people from the cares of the world, including any responsibilities. Once a day, they may cause someone to forget any duties or responsibilities for a number of hours equal to the check digit. This may be resisted with a Will roll, with a penalty equal to the Lilim's Celestial Forces.

Shedim: When in celestial form, a Shedite of Novalis may possess a plant as a Kyriotate of Flowers would, but cannot move it in any way. However, if the Shedite remains in the plant for at least two hours, it will begin to corrupt the body of the plant until anyone eating it or its fruit, or breathing in the pollen, will react as if they had ingested a mild sedative. (This corruption does count as 'corrupting its host' for the day!)

Impudites: Novalis appreciates her Impudites almost as much as her Djinn. They receive a bonus to their Charm attempts equal to their Celestial Forces, and a +2 bonus to their Psychology skill.

Servitor Attunements:

Hakuna Matata: A Servitor with this attunement can once a day, at the cost of one Essence, inflict bubbly, care-free, self-centered optimism on one person (resisted by a Will roll), for hours equal to the check digit of the failed Will roll. (If no attempt to resist is made, the duration is automatically six hours.) Friends being slaughtered? Hey, look on the bright side: it isn't you! Forgot to pick up your kids from daycare? Awww, it'll be a good learning experience for them. A person afflicted with this will be very, very happy and completely unconcerned with the needs of anyone around them until it wears off. Victims may make another Will roll to throw it off whenever they notice a loved one is being seriously threatened. A successful hit by any other emotion from a Habbalite will also break the effect. Resonating one of these victims tends to unnerve Elohim.

Lullaby: Put one person to sleep immediately (Will minus the Servitor's Ethereal Forces to resist), or put everyone in a ten-yard radius to sleep immediately (Will to resist).

Green Thumb: If a demon presents someone with a bouquet or planted cutting from plants he has tended himself at least three times in the last week, the recipient will begin to forget whatever they care about the most. This effect may be resisted with Will (and once resisted, may not be attempted again by the same demon on the same person), but an additional gift on each consequitive will strengthen the process. On the first day, the person will simply be easily distracted from what they originally cared about; after a week of failed resistance, a formerly devoted husband won't even remember his wife's name. The effect wears off at the same rate that it was created.

Distinctions:

Knight of Roses: It's sometimes necessary to be strict to wean a person off of what they care too much for. Once a day the demon may cover the object of someone's great affection with tiny, invisible thorns, such that it's painful to touch that person or thing. These will only be felt by the targeted person who had such great affection for the afflicted object.

Captain of Poppies: As with the Balseraph attunement, but the effect lingers in any place the demon spent at least an hour, for 10 minutes x Ethereal Forces.

Baron of Daisies: They only have your best interests in mind... These demons may make a Psychology roll to convince anyone that something is bad for them and ought to be abandoned immediately (Will to resist). Anything at all. Your job, your family, your left arm... (The Will roll has a bonus of the victim's Celestial Forces to resist if following the suggestion would result in immediate bodily harm.)

Relations:

Allied: Andrealphus
Associated: Haagenti, Nybbas
Hostile: Kobal, Beleth, Baal
Enemy: Saminga

Basic Rites:
Convince someone to take a particular mood relaxant or sedative for the first time.
Tend to plants for an hour.

Chance of Invocation: 2

Invocation Modifiers:
+1 A handful of sleeping pills.
+2 A much-used abandoned toy.
+3 An opium den, with at least five people participating inside.
+4 Someone (other than the demon) in a straight-jacket.
+5 A large garden, untended for at least a year.
+6 An angelic Orphan of Flowers. (This will stack with the straight-jacket if the Orphan is the one in it.)


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