Hi All,
I"m working on a story involving jealousy and sickness, and would love your thoughts on the type of demon that might be at the root of it. (Or is it a dark fae?)
The origin: A strong-willed young princess from Granada is wed to the young, spoiled Emir of Palma. When she catches him continuing to use the royal family harem, she turns to one of her sorceror advisors for aid. He is a fundamentalist, and not very keen on sexual transgressions, and decides to summon a demon to eliminate the temptation: He "infects" the harem with a type of incubus that leaves behind a wasting disease in the victim it rides, which will wither all the beauty of the young women. The problem is that the demon he summons is more powerful than he thought, and the disease spreads, first to other brothels, and then to the general population.
For gameplay purposes, I'm thinking that the characters catch wind of this strange disease, track it to it's source (or "patient zero") and then fight or banish the demon. The goal of the story is to get the characters to meet the new royal family, perhaps this sorceror as well, and get them involved in some of the politics of town.
I'm trying to classify this demon (is it an Incubus, or something else), or figure out if it's a dark fae.
Prostitutes throughout the city become sick, gaining long-term fatigue from the demon. But as the disease spreads to the general population, the new fundamentalist Almohads in town are going to try to clamp down, which causes large unrest. Different political and social factions in the city are going to try to solve the situation, while the characters get to the root of the problem.
I envision the Demon has some sort of "lair," and sends out small, separate coagulations of itself to the different brothels in order to infect them. The women at first are inflamed with a feverish lust. The demon feeds on this, and each male visitor's climax makes the demonlings stronger. (does this sound like vitality to you?) But as the disease continues it's progress, the women wither and become useless to the demon, and the demonling jumps to another victim, probably traveling with the male to his next conquest. This is how the disease demonlings spread to the general population.
The reason to have the Demon have a lair is so that the characters can confront it with magic, without breaking the code. I'm not convinced yet that this is a good enough reason for the demon to be stationary.
I know what the effect is, but I'm trying to figure out what the demon's goal is. If I can classify this demon it might help me define it's goals more. Thoughts?
Does the sorceror still have it bound, and the demon is trying to break free? If so, does this story work within the general Ars Magica rules of warding etc.? Could the demonlings get out of the ward, while the demon itself is bound? Can this be explained away with strange Muslim spirit magic...?
As stated before, the demon is the maguffin... the real point of the story is to get the characters embroiled in local politics, making allies and enemies and contacts along the way. EX. The princess, the head of the fundamentalist guards, the local priest, a crime boss who's seeing his profits dwindle as the fundamentalists enact martial law. So I see the battle with the demon to involve the sorceror somehow, which leads to a future magical contact. Perhaps the sorceror is captured by the demon, and the characters have to rescue him. Perhaps the sorceror is being tortured in a room of lust, but manages to get the characters to retrieve his book of True Names, so that he can send the demon back. Or perhaps the sorceror is sitting in his tower, calmly, watching all the impure souls wither away, and finds it divine justice. The characters have to convince him to act, or steal his book. (Hmnmm... is this demon actually an avenging angel?)
I know I've thrown a bunch of information out here. I invite any and all thoughts. Thanks!
--Eric