IN> Clarice, Lilim Princess of Ambition

[Moe Lane]

http://moeticae.typepad.com/weblog_licentiae_moeticae/2008/02/clarice-lilim-p.html

Clarice
Lilim Princess of Ambition

The world is there for the taking.


Such a tragedy, the death of Mammon - he was truly an inspiration to
Hell.  He showed such drive, such energy, such focus on promoting both
his Word and the War.  It was tragic how he lapsed first to despair,
and then suicide.  Tragic, and criminal: those that hounded him so
should have contemplated how so many vital operations of Hell were
jeopardized by their petty little internal quarrel with the Generous
Prince.  As it is, Mammon's loss can never be made good.

Still, one must move with the times.

Dissonance

At least once per day, demons serving Ambition must encourage another
person to do something to achieve her desires.  Note that it is not
dissonant for "good" desires to be encouraged, a fact that Asmodeus
has noted.  Theoretically, Clarice recognizes the "enlightened
self-interest" and "long-range strategy" defenses, but as a practical
matter rank-and-file Servitors will be thrown to the Game.  And a
Servitor won't know whether she's rank-and-file until she's put to
this particular test.

Organization

Clarice currently relies on a relatively small (but growing) group of
demons who have worked out that they are most likely to survive and
thrive by increasing Ambition's overall power, which should keep them
loyal for the foreseeable future.  A demon of Ambition can revel in
whatever titles that she desires - provided that she can handle the
responsibilities, which will be determined by the Princess.  How she
goes about handling her responsibilities, and who she uses for it, is
likewise up to the demon, with a small set of restrictions from her
Princess and a rather larger set from the Game.  Servitors of Ambition
are, in other words, still setting up their organization - or, put
another way, they are still trying to amalgamate a large number of
pocket empires into one, smoothly-running, group.  Servitors of
Ambition are less likely than Servitors of Greed to engage in internal
struggles with each other, but they are still more likely to do so
than the rest of Hell.

The Princess of Ambition also has control of Mammon's old
organization.  She is currently "processing" them; it is clear to
everyone involved that she is deliberately taking her time about it.
While not being formally admitted, it is generally accepted that
Clarice wishes to have a minimum of old grudges and conflicts brought
over from Greed to Ambition, and is thus giving Servitors from the
former group the opportunity to resolve matters.  It is argued that
this strategy is also yet another way for Ambition to demonstrate its
willingness to accommodate the Game and its long collective memory,
but that is firmly speculative.

It is also rumored that the long-term plan is for Mammon's financial
institutions to be spun off eventually to a new Demon of Greed (not a
Demon Prince), but that is even more speculative.

Band Attunements

Clarice "privately" considers almost all of Mammon's Band attunements
to be... useful enough, in their context, but overly specialized.
Wealth is a tool for her, not the prize, so while she will offer
Greed's old attunements as a prize for good service she much prefers
that her Servitors use her own.

Balseraph
A Balseraph of Ambition may use her resonance to ensure a favorable
reaction roll.  The CD is the higher of the Balseraph's Celestial
Forces or the CD of the successful resonance roll.  Supernatural
entities get to make a Will roll to recognize that they are being
affected, but neither successful resistance nor contradictory
activities done by the demon will cause her dissonance when using this
ability.

Djinn (Restricted)
Clarice would actually prefer not to have Djinn - they are notoriously
difficult to rouse to Ambition - but they are too useful.  She gives
them the ability to break their resonance without risk of dissonance,
should a "better" version of their attuned become available.  Clarice
uses Status as the rule of thumb for determining better/worse versions
of human beings.

Calabite (restricted)
Calabim of Ambition get one extra note of Essence from any of
Clarice's Rites, provided that they somehow manage to incorporate a
successful use of their resonance as a legitimate part of their
fulfillment of the Rite.

Habbalite
Those Punishers serving Ambition can block physical feelings of
discomfort and pain in anyone that they touch.  The effects last for
one day.  This will not, of course, prevent the target from hurting
himself; merely keep him from noticing for a while...

Lilim (restricted)
Clarice does not make Lilim.  Clarice does not know how to make Lilim.
 This has been made very clear to everyone.  She does, however, allow
them the ability to raise by one level (maximum still 6) any Geas
gathered in exchange for a favor that will fulfill the target's
ambitions.

Shedite
Shedim are slightly rarer than average in Ambition's service, as the
Princess apparently shares her lesser Sisters' distaste for the Band.
They may add their Ethereal Forces to their host's Emote and Fast-Talk
rolls (other Bands with this attunement may do the same to any person
that they are touching).

Impudite (Restricted)
Unsuccessful uses of the Charm ability by Impudites of Ambition will
only provide immunity to the target for (CD) minutes, not hours.

Servitor Attunements

Clarice does give out Mammon's old Servitor attunements; in fact, she
is becoming known as having something of a free hand when it comes to
bestowing the Cashing Out attunement upon demons of other Words who
have done Ambition a service.  Still, she has her own powers to
bestow.

Obstacles on the Way to Greatness
With a successful Perception roll, the holder of this attunement can
detect the person best in a position to thwart the demon's current
goal or ambition.

Triangle Trade (Demon of Envy)
The demon may look at any two people and know whether Person A has
something that Person B badly wants, or vice versa, or both.  On a
successful Perception roll, the demon will even know what those things
are.

Distinctions

As noted above, Clarice is flexible about titles.  Her Knights and
Barons are largely self-selected, with the caveat that if one cannot
immediately handle the workload implied then one will be swiftly
destroyed.  Rewards for being able to survive the experience include
three unique Rites per rank (allowing up to +4 Essence per day) - and
the right to whatever fancy title appeals.  Her Captains, on the other
hand, retain both the title and the powers of Mammon's Captains of the
Motherlode; they are also probably the most powerful faction in
Ambition's organization.  Clarice personally chooses new Captains:
Mammon's old Captains were the first ones processed from the old
organization.

There is an additional Distinction:

Demon of the Year
This is a half-step Distinction, and Clarice is very choosy about who
she gives it to.  The Princess has announced that, every year, a new
attunement based on one of her Servitor's ideas will be made available
to holders of this Distinction.  Once the year is up, the attunement
will be replaced with the new one, and so on.  The first one provided
was Triangle Trade, which at least suggests that suitably useful
attunements might be later made available in permanent form.


Relations

Clarice has chosen to ally herself with Asmodeus and Kronos, as
opposed to the Shal-Mari bloc of Princes.  Some whisper that she is
instead their creature; but she has so far been careful to at least
not appear too dependent upon them.

Allied: Asmodeus, Kronos (These two Princes are also Allied with Clarice)
Associated: Andrealphus, Beleth, Malphas, Nybbas, Vapula (Andrealphus,
Malphas, Nybbas, & Vapula are Associated with Clarice)
Neutral: Baal, Haagenti, Lilith, Valefor (Baal, Beleth, Kobal, Lilith,
& Valefor are Neutral to Clarice)
Hostile: Belial, Kobal (Belial and Haagenti are Hostile towards Clarice)

Andrealphus: "A pity that some of them have to grow up, isn't it?  I
found the contrast to be very exciting, though.  But she needs to
remember her friends."

Asmodeus: "This should prove to be more... straightforward... than the
previous arrangement.  As long as she is in control of her Word, of
course - Mammon's fate should be instructive on the inadvisability of
a Prince losing such control."

Baal: "I didn't care about Mammon, and I don't care about Clarice."

Beleth: "She wishes to be on better terms.  I have not the faintest
idea why, and less interest."

Belial: "They should have just given her to me to be her new boss.
Ambition Burns, doesn't it?"

Haagenti: "I think that she's scared of us.  Or maybe she's just
scared of me.  And I wanted Mammon for myself."

Kobal: "I guess that she wasn't a permanent secretary, after all.
Hey!  I wonder if she made Mammon the permanent secretary, right there
at the end... just a joke, sweetheart: no need to be irrational about
it.  I'm sure that we'll get along just swell."

Kronos: "Abandoning the point of damnation to focus obsessively on the
shinier tools of damnation was always Mammon's abiding flaw.  We will
at least not have to put up with that in his replacement."

Lilith:  (murmuring) "Wouldn't you like to know."

Malphas: "She loathes me personally, which is of course a shame - but
she is quite appreciative of my Word, and I hers, so I can only wish
that she was less prejudiced towards me and mine."

Nybbas: "Ambition!  Got to have it if you want to get anywhere with my
Word!  Talent, industry, skill - you can buy that.  But you can't buy
being hungry for it."

Saminga: "I have an ambition.  I don't expect her to help."

Valefor: "I never thought that I would ever say this about a Lilim who
managed to become a Princess, but she's... dull."

Vapula: "Her Word is a powerful motivator.  It should be entertaining
to see if she can live up to it."

Role in the War

Unlike Mammon, who seemed determined to profit from the War at the
cost of actually winning it - at least, that was the accepted
post-mortem conclusion - Clarice appears to have fully subordinated
her personal desires to the goal of achieving as swift a victory for
Hell as would be possible.  This is, of course, not really believed by
anyone not terminally naïve, but it remains true that Ambition's
Servitors are very much in the front lines of the War these days.
They concentrate on retail corruption of souls, trusting that enough
bad examples will encourage the rest of humanity to follow suit; flash
and celebrity is now merely a tool, not the goal.  And everything is a
matter for Ambition.

All of this implies a certain quick turnover in staff, but the
survivors are often very good indeed.

Rites
Clarice does not support Mammon's old Rites.   She finds them, in
fact, fairly stupid.  A Servitor may request one of Greed's Rites to
be reactivated in his particular case, but only as a part of a reward
for good service.

: Cause a person to cause harm to another for personal gain (twice per
day).  Note that a little harm is perfectly acceptable.

Chance for Invocation: 2

Invocation Modifiers
+1 A badly written self-help book
+2 A politician's private journal of names, phone numbers, and desires
+3 A bottle of poison
+4 A person who has murdered for personal gain
+5 The central council chamber of any national assembly
+6 The authentic crown of any currently ruling king or queen

History and Personality

Clarice.  Quiet, quiet little Clarice.

Drop-dead gorgeous, of course - Mammon would insist on nothing less
for his personal secretary - but not what you'd call outgoing, or
expressive, or even independent-minded.  She was just there, and had
been since time out of mind.  In fact, the Prince of Greed himself
sometimes seemed to forget that Clarice was actually sentient; it was
notorious that his primary use of her was as a portable storage of all
the information that might be useful to Greed, but certainly not worth
Mammon's own infinitely valuable regard.  Clarice was just another
possession, acquired because she matched the Prince's current décor
and kept because she was useful enough.  And the truly pathetic part
about it all was in how she simply accepted this, as if this were her
expected lot in life.  Many demons over the millennia had tried to
suborn or seduce her; all had failed.  Clarice was simply too dull to
be anything except slavishly loyal to her Prince.

It was thus a peculiarly sadistic tragedy that she was the one to
encounter the Prince's corpse.

It had been a bad week for Greed: bank shortages, a few Tethers
disrupted, several important Servitors defecting (one successfully) -
and, worst of all, a random security audit by the Game.  Clarice
herself had been "requested" to come in and have a routine three-day
interrogation under the lights, which was of course a slap in the
Prince's face right there.  As if Mammon would be fool enough to tell
his secretary anything that might be used against him!  He depended on
her for her memory, not her discretion, judgment, or ability to
reason.  Clearly, they were all against him, and in such a petty
fashion, too... but enough petty insults and slights, piled up, can
crack stone or steel.  Or even a Prince's Will.

All in all, it must have been tragic for Clarice to return to her
master's sanctum, only to find him slain by his own hand, his
shattered Heart still placed where he could adore it.

The internecine warfare that promptly took place in Greed raged from
Mulciber's to the Bullring, with everything from lawsuits to pitched
battles between mercenaries.  The Cartel shattered under the strain,
as factions of old, powerful financial firms beggared themselves in
order to destroy suddenly-hated rivals.  Many Servitors of Greed
attempted to flee; fewer succeeded, and not a few were preemptively
picked up by the Game.  And throughout it all, Clarice and her staff
kept Mammon's Head Office inviolate and protected.  It soon became
clear that the Head Office was the only place that was any sort of
refuge for a Servitor of Greed at a disadvantage - and many of them
were.

Eventually, of course, the fighting died down; one faction of Greed
finally got enough of an upper hand to break the others to its will.
It took longer for one demon of that faction to kick down enough of
his compatriots to credibly claim Mammon's mantle.  It took almost no
time at all for that demon to be crushed out of existence (to the
point of his very name being lost) when he attempted to take
possession of the Head Office: Lucifer had already determined that
Clarice - quiet, quiet little Clarice - was eminently suitable to be
made Mammon's successor, and it took only a few exceptionally public
displays of overwhelming violence against the slow of brain for the
rest of Greed's old organization to agree.

And no, nobody's quite sure whether she had planned this all along.
It seems impossible on its face; how does one fool a Demon Prince for
this long?  For that matter, how does one go from being a regular
demon to a Princess in one move?  Since her apotheosis, Clarice has
demonstrated the power drive and relentlessness associated with her
Word, to be sure - but did she really have it beforehand?  Was her old
aura of diffidence and banality merely a poise?  She is not especially
outgoing, even now: very businesslike, very goal-oriented, certainly
highly self-controlled... but not outgoing.

It's all very bemusing.


Principality: The New Quarter (Hades)

Ambition's financial offices still maintain addresses in Shal-Mari, as
does Mulciber's.  Considerable amounts of funds, time, and effort have
been spent in creating and maintaining Greed's old infrastructure
there, after all; it seems pointless to waste all of that.  However,
Ambition's administrative complex has been moved to Hades, where it is
growing by leaps and bounds in the area that was cleared for it.

Given a location equally accessible to the Soul Yards, the Halls of
Loyalty, and the Archive - this should tell you a good deal about the
favor that Clarice enjoys with Asmodeus and Kronos - the New Quarter
bustles.  Ambition's tastes run to impressively large symbols of
excess, so cavernscrapers are the rule; roughly three-quarters of them
are still vacant, but the Princess clearly intends to vigorously
expand her organization quickly.  The New Quarter is also one of the
comparatively few places where a damned soul can almost relax: demons
charge them 1 Essence per day to be allowed to stay and actively work
on Ambition's behalf for a 12 hour shift.  Very, very, very clever
damned souls can parlay this into an actual full-time job, which pays
nothing - but does exempt the soul from being taxed for Essence.  The
New Quarter is also probably the only place in Hell where the old,
ignored Revolutionary-era rules against casually tormenting the damned
are actually enforced.  It's not that Clarice cares about the talking
monkeys, you understand: it's that she's interested in results, and
happy to provide both the Game and Fate with the opportunity to engage
in social experimentation.