AVISO O SEGUNDO PENTECOSTÉS

I knew where he was, right behind the bleachers. From half a mile away, I knew it – I could hear him, I could smell him, I could taste him. I took my time; he wasn’t going anyplace.

“Gkkk,” he choked, coughing up blood – must have been from the pole through his chest. “Help me. “

“No can do, “said I. “Against the rules. “I sat down next to him and tousled h. it hair:

Sarcastic and disdainful, the Djinn don’t get excited. That would be admitting they cared about something besides themselves. Instead they move slowly, noncha- lantly, slouching through life without regard for anyone or anything. They just don’t give a damn.

RESONANCE

Prized for their dogged nature, Djinn are the infernal counterparts of the divine Cherubim, those eternally vigilant guardians of things held dear. Like a Cherub, a Djinn’s resonance is for the set of patterns he’s attuned himself to through physical contact. These patterns can be anything – a person, an object, a place. While the attunement lasts (usually less than a week), the perceptive Djinn will know its general location and condition.

1 4 3

BA N D S O F DE M O N S

The Shedim and the Djinn are notorious for their vicious distrust of one another. The Fleshless move freely and frequently from vessel to vessel, and the resonance of the Djinn can’t track them as reliably. The Shedim resent the fact that the Djinn would even try to keep track of them – and compound the Djinn’s feelings of impotence by making them the butt of nasty tricks.

DISSONANCE

The frustration which the Djinn feel about the Shedim just shows how much they really do care about things, no matter what their poker faces lead others to believe.

Djinn are in a constant struggle between their refusal to care about anything and their need to feel cared about, a sad relic of die Cherubic nature. Unlike a Cherub, who gains dissonance when the object of his attunement is hurt, the Djinn could care less about what happens to a pattern to which he’s attuned . . . but he can’t bring him- self to cause it harm by his own hand. The only exception is when a person to whom the Djinn is attuned asks the demon to do something. In this case, the ensuing may- hem doesn’t generate dissonance in the demon.

Unfortunately, since the Djinn give their celestial attentions without the caution of the Cherubim, this can cause them to fixate on the strangest things. It can also trap them in a net of divided loyalties. When disposing of an attunement, a Djinn may find he can’t get it out of his mind. His resonance begins to act like a Cherub’s, causing dissonance if he betrays the object of his irra- tional attachment. A Djinn’s obsession is his darkest secret, to be hidden until his infatuation begins to fade and his black heart returns to a state of tranquil apathy.

MANNER AND APPEARANCE

Djinn are the sort of demons most likely to be found alone in a dark corner, brooding. Their hearts are deso- late from pushing their naturally warm and sentimental souls away from divine glory. In the Pit, there are no greater cynics than the Djinn, brassy instruments of dia- bolical anger wailing lonely tunes in the night.

Their corporeal vessels tend to the stocky side, dense and strong. Most put no effort into their outward appearances, considering vanity a weakness and the opin- ions of others unimportant. Some are miserably, compulsively neat and organized.

In their celestial forms, Djinn appear as various dark animals, escapees from a surrealist’s dream. Only the hated Shedim look more hideous, a fact that the glower- ing, pessimistic Djinn never let the Shedim forget.

Djinn get along fairly well with their own kind. They’d never admit it, but they know that no one else can ever understand just how tough it is to be a Djinn.

1 4 4

BA N D S O F DE M O N S

GAME MECHANICS

With a touch, a Djinn may attune himself to as many patterns as he has Celestial Forces. The check digit of a successful resonance roll is the number of days the Djinn will be attuned to the object of his limited devotion. After that, the Djinn must again make physical contact to renew the attunement, though no roll is needed. But if the check digit of a successful resonance roll is a 6, then the attunement will stay with the Djinn until he makes a successful Mill roll to remove it. At any point, a Djinn may remove an attunement with a successful Will roll, minus the number of days left on that attunement.

A Djinn may use his resonance on an object to which he’s already attuned. See the Cherubim chart on p. 96 to determine the check digit’s game effects.

While attuned to something, the Djinn himself cannot cause it physical harm. If following his target’s desires brings it harm, and if the attuned person relieved the demon of responsibility, then the Djinn acquires no dissonance from the action.

When a Djinn fails a Will roll to remove an attune- ment, he gains a note of dissonance and loses himself in unholy, selfish devotion. For a number of days equal to the check digit of the failed roll, the Djinn’s resonance will act like a Cherub’s, causing him even more disso- nance if he betrays, denies or destroys the object. (See Cherubim, p. 94, for more details.) When the attunement finally fades, the dissonance generated by the devotion will fade as well.

CaLabIM