DEMON

Photograph taken by PRIMUS operative of a group of Initiates participating in a ceremony

The origins of DEMON are obscure, even to superheroic mystics. It arose in 1925 as a Satanic cult in the United States, but under whose direction no one knows for sure. It remained mostly quiet through the Second World War, though cult members are said to have been involved in some bizarre crimes in New York City during the 1930s.

In the 1950s, DEMON revealed its true colors, adopting garb and methods similar to other villainous organizations and attempting to conquer the world — but with mystic power instead of technology. No one really took the group seriously until the 1968 theft of the Basilisk Orb, an ancient artifact of vast, but poorly understood, arcane power. With the Orb in hand, the leaders of DEMON, a group apparently known as the Inner Circle, nearly did take over the world. Only concerted action by several superheroes and a young UNTIL stopped them, and in the process the Orb was lost again and has never re-appeared.

Its defeat in the Orb incident hit DEMON hard, costing it many members and much prestige in the underworld and Mystic World. For over a decade it struggled, often suffering additional losses at the hands of costumed do-gooders and the likes of UNTIL. But a major victory in 1981, when it lured several high-ranking UNTIL agents and four superheroes into a trap and slew them all in a bloody sacrifice to the gods of the underworld, brought DEMON a flood of new recruits and vaulted it into the Department of Defense’s Superhuman Survey as a “Top Ten Most Dangerous Organization” — a ranking from which it has rarely fallen since.

Repeated encounters with DEMON have given the world’s superheroes some insight into the workings of the organization, though much about it remains unknown. DEMON apparently has four ranks: Brother (or Sister); Initiate of the Mysteries; Morbane; and at the very top, the Inner Circle. Brothers (and Sisters) are the rank-and-file of the organization, the vast majority of members who participate in rituals (sometimes as the sacrifices!), serve as shock troops in battles against superheroes and PRIMUS, and the like. They are led by the Initiates, who serve DEMON as both priests and field commanders. They intercede with the Lower Powers on DEMON’s behalf, command Brothers in battle, and perform similar tasks of importance. As a badge of office, each Initiate carries a Golden Wand that can harm those it touches.

Initiates who show true talent, power, skill, and guile may eventually learn enough to be inducted into the ranks of the Morbanes. Every Morbane is a sorcerer of great power and dark wisdom, able to cast many spells and, typically, to stand against the average superhero in a one-on-one confrontation. Morbanes usually work by themselves, presumably according to the dictates of the Inner Circle; two or more of them together in one place at one time is cause for concern. In addition to his arsenal of spells, each one carries an Enchanted Mace and a Soul Gem, both quite useful in battle.

At the pinnacle of DEMON is the Inner Circle, about which outsiders (and even Initiates) know almost nothing. Depending on which expert you ask, it ranges in size from three to two dozen, works together at all times or spends far too much energy on infighting, and exerts great magical power or simply commands the Morbanes through their Soul Gems. Given its undoubted cleverness, abilities, and resources, it’s unlikely anyone will discover the truth about the Inner Circle anytime soon.

At present, it is believed that an occultist by the name of Luther Black is the head of DEMON though this has yet to be substantiated.

Originally published in Champions Universe by Steven S. Long and Darren Watts. ™ and © Hero Games, Inc., 2002.

Brujeria, The

The Qliphotic Tree of Shadows, polar opposite of the Qabbalistic Tree of Life

What little is known of the cult known as the Brujeria (Spanish: “Witchcraft”) has been pieced together from conflicts between the group and the super-hero community over a period of many years. The cult was founded by silent-film actress Alicia Thompson in 1915. While working on Broadway, the seventeen year old Thompson made the acquaintance of many of New York’s rich and powerful. One of these individuals was Charles Francis Knox, the head of the local lodge of the Circle of the Scarlet Moon. Knox took Thompson as his mistress and acolyte, initiating her into mysteries of the Circle usually reserved for high-ranking members. Unfortunately for him, Thompson proved to be both more talented in the ways of the mystic arts than he but also far more ambitious than he could ever have imagined.

Draining Knox of his occult powers, Thompson killed the weakened Knox with a lethal spell and then usurped his place as Archdruid of the New York Lodge. With the Circle left in disarray after their battle with the Archmage of the time, her coup went unopposed. However, the High Coven never recognized Thompson’s authority as Archdruid nor her group as a lodge within the Circle’s organizational structure. Now called the Order of the Eye, Thompson’s organization grew rapidly during the First World War with new lodges forming in Boston, Chicago, Hudson City, San Fransisco and Vibora Bay. Despite the influx of initiates into the Order, Thompson kept it out of the public eye although the kidnappings of seven children in the New York area in 1919 are said to have been perpetrated by members of the New York lodge.

During the Roaring Twenties, Thompson, now a successful Hollywood actress, relocated the Grand Lodge of the Order to Los Angeles. Despite setbacks, such as the utter destruction of the Hudson City lodge at the hands of the enigmatic costumed crimefighter the Raven, the Order had grown to rival the Circle of the Scarlet Moon: by 1929, it could boast twelve lodges across the continental United States and over 1,000 members from all walks of life.

Artist’s rendition of the arch-fiend Na’amah (Hebrew: נַעֲמָה‎‎; “pleasant”), a succubus second only to Lilith in power

With a secure power base, Thompson decided to set her sights on global domination. Acquiring the Basilisk Orb, an ancient artifact of vast eldritch power, Thompson and her husband, Ricardo Vargas, would have succeeded in opening a portal into our world for the Qliphotic entity Na’amah had it not been for the intervention of the costumed vigilante Black Mask VII, alias Chicago police officer Jason Ward. The Chicago lodge caught fire in the ensuing conflict, forcing Thompson and Vargas to flee without the Orb, which Ward had retrieved before the lodge burned to the ground. Before dying from his injuries, Ward entrusted the Orb to the mysterious Doctor Arcane.

Psychically traumatized by the occult backlash of the failed ritual, Thompson began to become increasingly unbalanced. The reclusive Vargas returned to Venezuela with his wife. Now the sole head of the organization he renamed the Brujeria, Vargas tried in vain to restore Thompson to her former self. It was thought that her death in 1933 had also signaled the death of the Brujeria. However, evidence acquired by metahuman and supernatural heroes around the world over the last twenty years suggest that the Brujeria are in fact more powerful than ever before.