Diabolism: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 04:17, December 31, 2020

Diabolism is the art of utilizing the demons and devils to perform esoteric feats. Those who utilize this form of magic exclusively are known as Diabolists and a gathering of diabolists is seen as a cabal.

Methodology[edit]

Diabolism involves binding and using Demons and is heavily frowned upon as the darkest of all arts available to use mainly because of the nature of demons.<ref>

Just how many Others were swarming in the trenches? I can assume there were tons of demons, imps, ghouls, boogeymen and goblins in them due to the sheer amount of awfulness, rottenness and corpses present, but just how severe was the issue? Were they in such abundance that practitioners being a Scourge, Goblin King or - dare I say - Diabolist profited off of it, or was there little to no real difference that the practitioner "meta" would change.

Violent and gross others likely thrived in the background in wartime. I see in this bullet point and in others that you keep going to demons and imps and including them in the same sentences as other practices. Don't do that. They are wholly, completely different and they have wholly different implications.

[...]

Assuming that Scourges, Diabolists, Practitioners specializing in Ghouls and Goblin Kings exploited the shit out of Trenches, then how could Germany have defeated such a large grouping of some of the meanest, most diabolical (no pun intended) practitioners the world had ever seen?

Don't do that! Stop. No. That isn't Pact. Not how trenches were a thing or approached, either. No. Demons aren't included in the same sentences and groupings as other Others. - Excerpt from comment in reddit.</ref> Practitioners of it are discriminated against and inquisitors actively hunt them down. It's stated that most diabolists die horrible deaths or join the firm, with a minority actually living long lives and dying clean deaths.

Some diabolists see themselves as a necessary evil, as someone must deal with the demons and devils roaming the world, while others are malicious and utilize the art for destructive means that can only be accomplished by using demons. Those who practice the art also accrue a heavy karmic debt with greater ease.<ref> - Excerpt from a comment on Reddit</ref>

Diabolists try to be extremally careful how they bind things otherwise things can go unbelievably bad, worse then death in many ways.<ref>Diabolism requires incredible precision and steep costs. To do it well, you have to be focused and in control, perfect in action and execution. Those who do it wrong are often the first victim. - Excerpt from a comment on Reddit</ref> The reason people work with demons in the first place is

Notable Diabolists[edit]

References[edit]

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 Diabolism is the art of utilizing the [[Demon|demons]] and devils to perform esoteric feats. Those who utilize this form of magic exclusively are known as '''Diabolists''' and a gathering of diabolists is seen as a '''cabal'''.
 ==Methodology==
-Diabolism involves binding and using [[Demon]]s and is heavily frowned upon as the darkest of all arts available to use because of the nature of demons. [[Practitioner]]s of it are discriminated against and [[Inquisitor|inquisitors]] actively hunt them down. It's stated that most diabolists die horrible deaths or join the firm, with a minority actually living long lives and dying clean deaths.
+Diabolism involves binding and using [[Demon]]s and is heavily frowned upon as the darkest of all arts available to use mainly because of the nature of demons.<ref>
+:Just how many Others were swarming in the trenches? I can assume there were tons of demons, imps, ghouls, boogeymen and goblins in them due to the sheer amount of awfulness, rottenness and corpses present, but just how severe was the issue? Were they in such abundance that practitioners being a Scourge, Goblin King or - dare I say - Diabolist profited off of it, or was there little to no real difference that the practitioner "meta" would change.<br>
+Violent and gross others likely thrived in the background in wartime. I see in this bullet point and in others that you keep going to demons and imps and including them in the same sentences as other practices. Don't do that. They are wholly, completely different and they have wholly different implications.<br><br>[...]<br><br>
+:Assuming that Scourges, '''Diabolists''', Practitioners specializing in Ghouls and Goblin Kings exploited the shit out of Trenches, then how could Germany have defeated such a large grouping of some of the meanest, '''most diabolical''' (no pun intended) practitioners the world had ever seen?<br>
+Don't do that! Stop. No. That isn't Pact. Not how trenches were a thing or approached, either. No. Demons aren't included in the same sentences and groupings as other Others. - [https://www.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/8upije/_/e1i7fda/ Excerpt] from comment in reddit.</ref> [[Practitioner]]s of it are discriminated against and [[Inquisitor|inquisitors]] actively hunt them down. It's stated that most diabolists die horrible deaths or join the firm, with a minority actually living long lives and dying clean deaths.
-Some diabolists see themselves as a necessary evil, as someone must deal with the demons and devils roaming the world, while others are malicious and utilize the art for destructive means that can only be accomplished by using demons. Those who practice the art also accrue a heavy [[Karma|karmic debt]] with greater ease.
+Some diabolists see themselves as a necessary evil, as someone must deal with the demons and devils roaming the world, while others are malicious and utilize the art for destructive means that can only be accomplished by using demons. Those who practice the art also accrue a heavy [[Karma|karmic debt]] with greater ease.<ref> - [https://www.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/7z4rk0/_/dumdi6a/ Excerpt] from a comment on Reddit</ref>
+Diabolists try to be extremally careful how they bind things otherwise things can go unbelievably bad, worse then death in many ways.<ref>Diabolism requires incredible precision and steep costs. To do it well, you have to be focused and in control, perfect in action and execution. Those who do it wrong are often the first victim. - [https://www.reddit.com/r/Parahumans/comments/7z4rk0/_/dumdi6a/ Excerpt] from a comment on Reddit</ref> The reason people work with demons in the first place is
 ==Notable Diabolists==
 *[[Rose Thorburn Senior| Roselyn Thorburn]]
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 *[[Ms. Lewis]]
 *[[Mr. Levinn]]
+<!--I think you're missing some key things here.
+Diabolism requires incredible precision and steep costs. To do it well, you have to be focused and in control, perfect in action and execution. Those who do it wrong are often the first victim.
+The greatest danger is not "This idiot doesn't know what he's doing with this thing", but "We left this guy alone too long and he figured out how to protect himself."
+It's not that Blake had weapons. He had the manuals and resources to build them. In this scenario, if you're a major country and the small, desperate, bedraggled country is trying to put together weapons- very possibly to use against you? Well, you're in a situation to apply pressure and interfere so they can't build things right and if they try they'll blow themselves up. Their neighbors might suffer a bit, but they've been aware of this possibility for a long time and have taken some measures to control the damage.
+But in this scenario, they assessed things, then targeted, isolated, and eliminated the person with the power (Molly) - someone they knew lacked teeth, since many of them grew up with her or grew up watching her. They were surprised when someone else automatically took the position after that. Someone they didn't know, couldn't trust 100%, and who they were divided on removing, given the likelihood that someone less kind would inherit the title.
+I'm curious what scenario you see unfolding here. What do you think Blake might've done that he didn't? Specifically, I mean.
+Answering some other points from the page:
+'''Bad Karma''' - Keep in mind that the 'radiation' and bad karma is a large part of both why people are so unwilling to sit on their laurels and leave Blake be, and why things are so non-stop shitty and intense for Blake. It vastly increases the odds he'll blow himself up vs. blow others up, should he try something big that would solve his problems (like trying to blow up his enemies by calling Ornias or something). Demons fuck with the rules a bit, so they can go against these ebbs and flows, but the ebbs and flows of Karma and recognizing that the universe is giving you a penalty kick against this tired goalkeeper is something that a lot of practitioners have become used to playing along with.
+'''The difficulty of binding'''<blockquote></blockquote>Each movement of the demon is a time you have to actually get involved, be there, deal with the ambient radiation and peripheral risks, and amass bad karma, so you're more likely to slip up, make mistakes, or get unlucky. Then you have to redo the bindings, spend all necessary resources, work around ambient effects of the demon's presence (did its departure destroy the floor? Cause a part of the ceiling to cave in?) and do it without making any mistakes or getting very unlucky. Rinse, repeat, ad infinitum.
+Make one mistake or fail to keep up? Get interrupted (because you interacted with demons and have bad karma) while on your way to the next circle? By something as innocuous as getting t-boned while driving and not being able to get out of the hospital promptly? You might face a fate worse than anything your enemies might do to you.
+'''Rationalism''' - I'd just like to note that I very much appreciate the inherent irony in someone saying Blake should assess his options, gather information, and prepare... yet jumping to 'Blake/the Town should have done this' before finishing the story. ;)-->
+{{Reflist}}
 [[Category:Practices]]