Difference between revisions of "Diabolist Debate"

Latest revision as of 15:30, 2 November 2015

Within the Immaculate Order, demons remain a highly contentious matter. All certainly agree that demons are dangerous, that they cannot be allowed to roam free, and that mortals should not truck with them... the Immaculate Texts speak grave warnings on such matters. But the sorcerous practice of summoning and binding demons with the oaths they made in surrender requires more detailed consideration.

Some (particularly those monks drawn from House Cathak) believe that demons were imprisoned in Hell by the Unconquered Sun, and that it is not the place of any, including the enlightened Dragonblooded, to remove them, even if bound in service. Some (tending to be found in monks originating from House Ledaal) believe that demon summoning is a responsibility, that the oaths sworn by the Yozi promising service were meant to be exercised, that binding those sworn is justly punishing them as Sol Invictus intended. And some (most often monks rooted in House Mnemon) see the summoning of demons as a right, the oaths that bind them imposed not for their effect on demons but their use to the Princes of the Earth. The use of demons by the Dragonblooded, hold such monks, allows the faithful to devote themselves more fully to their own enlightenment.

The terms for those who study and summon demons hold political meaning because of this. There are three terms commonly used for those who work with demons: Demonologist, Diabolist, and Infernalist. The divisions between the three can be fluid, but in general terms the Demonologist is one who spends much time studying demons, the Diabolist one who makes heavy use of summoned demons, and the Infernalist is one who has been corrupted and now works in support of demons (as part of a Yozi Cult or otherwise). The worst form of Infernalist, spoken of in ancient texts, is one who has given themselves body and soul to Hell... the Immaculate Texts do not speak of these directly, though state that even their evils pale next to those of the Anathema.

In general to the House of Cathak demonologists are demon-hunters, who study their weaknesses and banishment but not their summoning. Any sorcerer who summons demons at all is a Diabolist (which is a term of insult), and ought be constantly observed and judged by those around her for signs of Infernalism. Within House Ledaal, sorcerers who deal with and summon demons are Demonologists, 'Diabolist' reserved for Outcastes or as a warning to Dynasts whose intimacies with their bound servants risk social embarrassment... this is a broad term, House Ledaal refraining from the 'Infernalist' label even for its scions who have run off to the Threshold in the arms of their Neomah lovers. House Mnemon, oft target of the Diabolist term as insult, takes a more literal view: as do the Cathaks, the Mnemons hold that Diabolists summon and use demons, all demon-summoners are diabolists. But they do not consider the term at all insulting. To accuse a Mnemon of Infernalism, however, is taken as a grave insult indeed.