Race: Demon-Kind
Age: Antediluvian
True Form: Ah, the Gibbering Eternity itself! One's true skin in all it's malignant splendor! Bedlam's face is that of the incomprehensible, beyond the realm of sanity. It is not a truly physical thing, but rather a sentient nightmare. A body of pure, infinite black. It spans either the whole of the sky, devouring stars and moon, or leeks in through the shadows of the darkest corners. Solid and liquid, gaseous yet not, there is no way to describe the ever changing. He is known best for his Eye, a single, terrible Eye in the shape of a twirling star. Today it would be called a pentagram, having several misrepresentations, but in the oldest of times, this Star was the symbol of Dreams. And what precious, delectable dreams they were! Best devoured with a smile, twisting and heinous, which may span the endlessness of his form. However, just as his other shape, this one too is subject to change.
Infernal Powers:
- The Mad Infinity- Bedlam is, of course, a Demon of Madness. In fact, he is the oldest surviving one to date. As such, his abilities all center around aspects of the mind. To him, the waking world is but only a grand curtain, meant to be pushed aside for his magnificent shows. He infects dreams and pollutes them into nightmares, twists passions into obsessions, corrupts desire into deviancy, and warps rational thought into utter lunacy. Those who exist in his presence will find their perception of reality.... victim to change. Walls bleed, skies fall, stars burn the heavens, and the world comes crashing down around them. Of course, this is only in their minds. But if you hear it, taste it, smell it, feel, see, and believe it.... How can it not be your reality? His powers of madness may even infect demons, but only those of lesser rank than he.
- Your Heart's Desire- No thought or want escapes his notice when it comes to the mortal mind. Bedlam need not see into your subconscious, for he breeds there. It is here that your gift of creation dwells, and it was he who granted you this gift. Suffice to say, Bedlam can easily gaze into your thoughts, memories, desires, and intentions. Even those you don't realize are yours...
- The Psychosphere- Perhaps the greatest of his accomplishments is his unrestricted access to the Psychosphere, the ever-twisting subconsciousness of all humanity. The Collective Madness of Mankind, if you will. It is a realm of Dreams and Nightmares, where every joy, sorrow, hatred, desire, fear, and obsession dwell in eternal chaos. Lesser demons may tap into this hellspace, such as the Incubi & Succubi, but none may delve nor dwell here. None, except for Bedlam. As a eater of dreams, he too once only dipped into the great Dreamscape, but through desperation to survive, he long ago tore his way fully into this wondrous dimension of madness. Now, this place is his to roam, as a bird does the sky or a fish takes to the sea. Here, every human alive casts a Shadow of themselves, the recently dead still linger as Ghosts, and powerful, terrible moments in history still leave bloody Echoes to forever stain the heart and mind. It is through these shadows that he enters the mind, now. Possession is possible, but far too simple, too boring for his tastes. No, Bedlam prefers subtlety. Giggling to himself ceaselessly as to how he touches the minds and dreams of thousands of humans every day, driving them to madness. And while it is true that his Kindred do not leave such shadows within the Psychosphere for him to find, the Demon Hunters are as little more than any other monkey...
- Mischief By Proxy- Bedlam plays the game of the survivor, and the best way to survive is to not be present at all. Thus comes one of the greatest of his tools; the Proxy. Through the Shadows of the Psychosphere, the Star-Eyed Demon slithers down into the minds of others and bridges the gap between the dream world and reality. Through this, he may act as though physically present, even manifesting his true power, so long as the Proxy remains within the nearby proximity. This is not possession, per se, as he has no actual direct control of the body who's mind in which he lingers. In fact, the Proxy often has no idea it's being used as such, though there are signs. Whispers, voices, a gruesome, meaty popping sound resonating from deep within one's head, as if something is burrowing deeper inside.... These are all minor, tho. More extreme reactions usually involve copious amounts of blood escaping from various facial orifices. Eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. It is not a flawless system, however. Should the Proxy be killed, Bedlams connection to reality unravels, his power vanishing as if it never were. Tho as the name suggests, this is rather harmless to the Demon itself. Proxies share no more connection with Bedlam than a pawn, to be used when convenient and discarded just the same.
- True Illusions- Bedlam does not have the power to actually alter reality, but rather hide the truth behind a lie. As such, he is one of the greatest liars. Bedlam can project Illusions, usually via Proxy, so real, they fully seem to interact with our world. Should he wish, they even appear to have demonic auras, making it nigh impossible to tell the real from the false. And although he can not truly hide his aura, he can prevent the minds of others, even demons, from acknowledging it's existence for short periods. As briefly mentioned, Bedlam survives through elusiveness and trickery. He's managed to remain unnoticed by his own kind for eons. When it comes to hiding from the eyes of demons, there truly is none better suited.
- Parasite of the Mind- Prey is hunted best at its food source. Any hunter or predator knows this. If prey truly wants to remain undetected by those higher on the food chain, it must adapt and find succor wherever it can. Bedlam has done just so. Strikingly similar to how the Demon Spirits of the Hunters survives by feeding from a single soul, Bedlam need not consume the mortal souls of others. His connection to the Psychosphere instead allows him to feed from the souls and minds of hundreds at once, unnoticed. Sipping, never gulping, just as the bound weaklings of the hunters do, but from many, many glasses. In truth, it is far from victim-less. As one might expect, the results of his feedings are.... unhealthy for one's mental state. Thousands of people are committed every single day across the Earth, and Bedlam is the cause for most of it. Not all, heavens no. You meat-monkeys are more than capable of driving each other batty without need of crediting him. Bedlam simply greases the wheels and watches the show...
- Waiting, Slumbering, Dreaming, Festering...- There is one, and only one, way to call one's self a true survivor. Cheat death. The prolonging of life and the avoidance of destruction at any cost. Doing whatever you must to persist against your enemies, and prevent your own extinction. So Cometh Thy Host. Hosts are not Proxies. Hosts are different. Hosts are special. Only one may be chosen at any point, and Bedlam is very particular about whom so he chooses. He reaches into their minds directly, delving deep into the dark crevice between thought and memory, and their he leaves his mark. His infernal touch corrupts, pollutes, and rots away a nice little home for him, a safe haven should the worst happen. It is a deep link between the mortal meat and he, ensuring an all-but unbreakable connection. Their mind may bear this hellish taint for some time before it starts to falter, falling into a deep psychosis. This bond weakens Bedlam dearly as the Host degrades, and should one never be used, he must discard it before too long and seek another. The reward is safety. Should Bedlam's demon-form be destroyed, his demonic essence will refuse to dissipate. Instead retreating to that dark place he made within the Host to be reformed, rebirthed anew, and eager to crawl out and back into the Psychosphere for protection. There is a terrible cost to this, however. As said, the connection slowly weakens Bedlam, and forcefully severing it is crippling to both parties. And should he be slain without a Host, or were the Host to be slain while he slumbers within, well.... There is only so much one can do against the inevitable. It should be noted, however, that Hosts are rarely willing.
- Demonic Trickery- As practically all of his kind, Bedlam possesses the staples of infernal power. Minor telekinesis, vocal mimicry, clairvoyant visions of the near future, pyrokinetic abilities, the ability to project an aura of fear and dread, able to speak any language that has ever existed forwards or backwards, etc etc.
Fell Gifts:
The King In Yellow- But what could this be? To mortal minds still shackled by the bindings of the rational, it is but only a bundle of aged, yellow rags, swaddling nothing in the slightest. Perhaps someday you will let your eyes be opened....
Thine True Name:
Feeding Habits: As mentioned above, Bedlam does not consume souls entirely. Rather, he corrupts the mind and feeds from the soul's torment as his succor. Sociopaths, psychopaths, the demented, the paranoid, the majority of most lunatics are simply fine dining to him. Like his namesake, Asylums and Sanitariums make for excellent feeding grounds.
Dreams, Desires, & Depravity: There is a Great Game at play, children. A marvelous, magical game for the souls of you all. It is a game that's been played since time began, since the Earth first cracked into a sea of Fire and Brimstone at the banishment of the Luminant One, the Enlightened. It is a game that must end. But what is it that Bedlam, sweet Bedlam, wants from the game? Only to ask a single question. Why must it end? This world, so chaotic and colorful, is full of wonders and endless entertainment. The plight of mankind in the face of ceaseless temptation, to bear witness as they all buckle under the weight of their own Sin. A delight to behold for endless eons, to be sure! Why, then, must it end? The humans, forever enjoyable to watch scurry, fight against their masters, these Demons that shackle their lives. They want so dearly to be free of them, but they never will. Humans can not succeed, it is in their nature to fall.
So the Bonny Brothers & Sisters of Bedlam are destined to win this game, then? It seems inevitable. But what would the world become then? If greed, lust, wrath, pride, gluttony, envy, and sloth were to hold unquestioning dominance in their lives? If avarice and chaos befell them completely? The world would descend into madness, surely. Beautiful, wonderful, delightful madness! But... would it be beautiful? Truly? Does not beauty shine best in bitter contrast of it's opposite? In a world of Madness, would not the Mad be the Sane? Would Chaos not become the new Order? Humans would be bound by their sins, doomed to fall to the same kinds over and over again. No will to fight them, no pressure to break free. The same, eternal, never ending cycle to repeat ad infinitum until the sun dies. The world would be so very.... boring. What reason, truly then, would someone the likes of Bedlam ever want such a world to emerge?
No. The Game Must Continue. And it is time that Bedlam, too, played his hand in it.
Marvelous pieces have been made by the humans. Dark-souled orphans filled with broken angels, to fight his Infernal Divine kindred. Yes, magnificent pieces, indeed. Not enough on their own, no... Not at all. They are few in number, and still are made but from humble, chewy, stretchy flesh. In time, they will die, whilst the Demons are forever. But if the proper moves were made, the right words said... A foothold. A pause in the ever-marching Machinations of Fate to halt the inevitable... The prolonging of the Great Game. Yes. These pieces will do nicely. And so it stands that Bedlam goes against his darling daemon kind. In odds to make an untrusting and bittersweet "alliance" with the man-made monsters to spill the blood of his Brothers & Sisters. Like all demons, he has his own devices at work, but all his plans, all his games, are hinged crucially on the success and manipulation of these.... Demon Hunters....
The Fun And Games Must Continue.
Ancient Knowledge: Nowhere, in even the most Ancient of Tomes and Manuscripts is it written of a Demon bearing the name of Bedlam. However, there is scant references to a similar being from times as ancient as Babylon. A Great Dream-Eater, Harbinger of Madness and Deceit, Ghul'Naziel plagued the lands for hundreds of years, eventually spreading to the Kingdoms of Israel. As it is written, he was one of the Seventy-Two Great and Terrible Evils to be bound and destroyed by The Key of Solomon, but history is often mistaken. In truth, the Demon Ghul'Naziel had foreseen such a fate. Desperate to escape such shackles, he turned to the only realm he knew to be beyond any man or demon's reach. The realm through which he fed, now his only salvation. Countless days and nights did he assault the barrier between worlds, bleeding his soul as one would their knuckles against a wall, till finally the barrier gave way.
Nearly all Great Demons failed to escape the Key, but Ghul'Naziel succeeded. The price for this was.... dire. His power was shattered, his being in ruins. He drifted softly through the dream as only a fragmented memory, seemingly destined to be forgotten. Slowly did he regain his taste for dreams, and through strange eons learned to culture such hunger into a sophisticated form. Through our thoughts and dreams he watched the world, seeing those of his kind powerful enough to resist the Key brought down and crippled for their defiance. They escaped the bindings, only to succumb to the Natural Selection of Demon-Kind. Ghul'Naziel now knew his destined fate should ever he be found, and so stayed in the dream world. Slowly, much too slowly, his power and memories returned to him. He sees the world today, and how the Game has evolved. He sees what is to come, and wants none of it.
He has maintained touch with our world, through our dreams and those without sanity. He attributes himself to inspiring all great artists and works of creation, for such things can be born only from mad thoughts. Indeed, he never truly left this world, but this is his first true emergence in little under three-thousand years. Ghul'Naziel, Bedlam, is a powerful demon, to be sure. However his slothful grazing has left him vastly outclassed by many of his kind. His skills in mischief and knowledge of his Kindred's plans make him indispensable and dangerous to their Grand Designs, but his own schemes would fall terribly short were he to rely solely on himself. And so come the half-soul Demon Spawn of Eisenhorn. Yes, such perfect pieces... Now, how to proceed with introductions?