The Jail of Night
Necropolis: Metropolis

by Paul Beakley

        Death is the most fiendish part of the Demiurge's curse.  It is
only a temporary escape from the Lie in which we live.
        Death and rebirth is an elegant system: our immortal and
indestructible souls are imprisoned in the Illusion we call "reality,"
our senses and godlike powers encased in weak flesh.  This flesh
eventually dies and our immortal soul seeks out the Inferno to be
"cleansed" of its memories, emotions and personality.  Humanity
never gains the foothold necessary to begin breaking through the
Illusion to find its way back to Metropolis, our homeland (see part
I: Metropolis by Night).
        Those who seek death receive only a temporary escape from
this worldy lie, for all souls are shuttled through the Inferno and
placed back into the Illusion.  However, there are those who escape
the searing flames of the Inferno and walk half in and out of the
Illusion.  They become Wraiths, unfortunate souls separated from
their flesh.
        Stories of Wraiths in the Jail of Night are about terror, pure
and simple. Wraiths are unable to re-enter our world and unwilling
to face the cleansing flames of the Inferno.  In the Shadowlands,
Wraiths are actively hunted by the minions of the Death Angels to
populate the armies of the dead that will march upon our Earth
when the Illusion falls.  There are also the unfortunate Wraiths
whose Shadows torment them until their pain calls to the master
torturers of the Inferno to release them.  Sometimes the restless dead
must face the beings from beyond death directly to protect their
loved ones among the living.
        This is the fourth part of the Jail of Night, an alternative World
of Darkness set in the cosmology of Kult.  Kult is a rich and
disturbing world in its own right, and readers are encouraged to
purchase and explore the original rules for more detailed
information.

The Moment of Death

        Death limits our existence to a few brief years in the Illusion. 
We have no memories of the past, and in our ignorance we cannot
make any plans. Our hopes are destroyed by forgetfulness.
        When we see our life passing before our eyes at the moment of
death, we are experiencing our mind systematically purging itself of
its knowledge.  The brain, being flesh, is as much a part of the
Demiurge's design as the rest of our body: the senses that do not
allow us to see the Truth, the emotions that do not allow us to
believe in our divinity, the flesh that does not allow us to live
forever.  While we are alive, we cannot trust what our brains tell us
about the world.  But then, most of us don't care -- or know to care.
        Our immortal soul, the Avatar that shapes reality (see part III:
Ascension is a Lie), is a remarkably powerful thing.  Perhaps it is
more powerful than the Demiurge Itself -- otherwise, why doesn't It
destroy us outright?  The truth is, our immortal soul cannot be
destroyed.  Every soul will exist forever -- but in what form?
        Usually, the soul passes through the Inferno, its identity is
seared away, and finally is reborn as an infant.  Guilty souls are
reborn as tormented sinners in the Inferno or their own private
Purgatories (see below) until they are cleansed of memory.  Then
there are the Wraiths, who continue to wander our world.
        There are several reasons the dead may remain in our world. 
Most often, something Awakens us to the true nature of the Illusion
at or shortly before the moment of death.  Particularly shocking
deaths, lengthy tortures, and events that completely shatter our
"sanity" and allow us to see the Truth -- even as our flesh fails us --
give us enough knowledge to fight the inevitable fall into the
Inferno.
        Some people suffer another kind of torture: psychic torment. 
Grief and regret are powerful forces.  Our cosmic egos seek to right
wrongs done in life, especially against those whom we instinctively
feel a "karmic" connection.  True love, love powerful enough to
survive beyond death, is the conversation between two immortal
Avatars.  It is powerful enough to keep us from the oblivion of the
Inferno.

The Shadow

        The dead who wander in our world, the Wraiths, must grapple
with one last curse of the Demiurge: their Shadow.  The Shadow in
the Jail of Night is the mechanism that imprisoned us in the Illusion
while we were alive.  It is fear incarnate.  Freed from the flesh, the
only facet of the Illusion that remains is this "package" of beliefs,
fears and mortal expectations.  This Shadow is attached to our mind
at birth, usually as we pass from the Inferno back into the Illusion.
        As in Wraith: the Oblivion, not all Shadows are alike.  It
grows and changes with us throughout our life, subtly adjusting to
keep our mind imprisoned by seeking out our greatest fears and
exploiting our learned beliefs.
        Because Wraiths exhibit an unusually strong resistance to final
destruction, the Shadow works to increase the power of our guilt
and regret. In the Shadowlands, our psyche calls out to the infernal
Nepharites through these emotions.  When a Nepharite steps out of
the Inferno, it creates for us a  Purgatory.  The Purgatories are
private hells in which our souls are further weakened until they fall
of their own accord into the Inferno.  Like the Harrowing in Wraith:
the Oblivion, Wraiths can escape these Purgatories somewhat
intact.  Most often, though, some part of them is lost in the process.

Death and Other Supernatural Creatures

        When Vampires finally experience the Final Death, they are
marked for "special" treatment in the Inferno.  Because they carry
the curse of their family line (see part I: Metropolis by Night), they
are treated as members of that family by the Demiurge.  While this
might seem "unfair" to newer vampires, the Jail of Night simply is
not a fair place.  The "special" treatment vampires receive upon
death involves a Purgatory created to force confession for their sins
in life, as well as their sins when they ruled Metropolis.  Younger
vampires are simply destroyed in this process, as their elders have
most certainly not told them the whole truth of their curse.
        Werewolves are entirely removed from the Demiurge's curse. 
When they die, the Garou's soul is brought back into Gaia's celestial
form.  However, Black Spiral Dancers may be so poisoned by the
Demiurge's Illusion (see part II: The Apocalypse is Over) that Gaia
may refuse their souls.  These unfortunate beings are most often
kept out of the Inferno by the Death Angels and given new roles
after death as Purgatides, Razides, Nepharites and legionnaires in
the armies of the dead.
        Mages lose their power over the Sixth Lore, reality magick,
when the die. Since they cannot affect the physical world, their
power to shape the Illusion is moot.  However, they -- like all of the
walking dead -- have similar powers, the Arcanos, at their disposal. 
While not nearly so powerful as reality magick, the walking dead
can use Arcanos to affect the Illusion of the living.
        Mummies are a unique case.  They appear to have avoided the
curse of the Demiurge entirely.  While they still live within the Jail,
the process of mummification involves "tricking" the Shadow into
disassociating itself from the psyche when the subject first dies. 
The result is a being who dies only to reform its own flesh and be
born again.  With their Shadow banished after their first death, the
only thing that keeps a mummy within the Illusion is the physical
limitations of their senses and brains, the inherent weakness of their
hardware.  Because they don't have the Shadow to reinforce the
Illusion, many mummies find their way into Metropolis.

Geography of the Afterlife

The Shadowlands

        The Shadowlands of the Jail of Night are very similar to those
of Wraith. Disembodied souls wander our world, but they are as
trapped in the Illusion even in death as they were in life.  They
continue to perceive the Lie as truth, but their perspective is warped:
without the physical "hard wiring" the Demiurge has given us to
perceive the world in our limited way, Wraiths can only perceive the
Illusion based on their memories of the world. Fetters hold power
because they are stable elements in the memory of the Wraith.  They
are the only facets that do not change, even as the world changes
around them.
        During their struggle against their Shadow, or simply because
they have more time on their hands than mortals, Wraiths often see
through the Illusion into Metropolis.  Once there, Shadows have a
much harder time re-convincing the psyche of the Lie.  Metropolis
is filled with millenia of accumulated dead souls who are entirely
removed from the Illusion.  See part I: Necropolis: Metropolis for
more information on Metropolis.

The Inferno

        The Inferno is the reality that our torture chambers, prisons and
mental hospitals are a small visible part of.  When the Illusion
crumbles in these places, they look into the Inferno.  It is the home
of the Death Angels and their servants.
        While the Inferno may have existed long before the Demiurge
invaded it -- as It did Gaia to create the Illusion (see part II: The
Apocalypse is Over) -- its role in reality now is to cleanse our souls
of the memory of our lives.
        Every person arrives in a different part of the Inferno, but there
are some consistent elements.  Usually, it is filled with devilish
machines, burning furnaces, unbearable prison cells and unrelenting
tormentors.  Most of Inferno consists of halls and rooms, connected
by stairs, elevators, shafts and corridors.  In some places there are
cities and lifeless landscapes.
        Purgatides are the condemned creatures who are tormented in
Inferno. There, they have physical bodies like those they had in life,
but they appear burned, scarred and mutilated.  They cannot leave
the Inferno other than by possessing a living person.  Wraiths who
finally succumb to the Inferno become Purgatides before being
reborn into the Illusion.
        The tormentors of Inferno are the Razides.  These are
half-mechanical creatures with bodies of black iron melded with
muscle tissue, glass and wire.  These Razides are to the Death
Angels as the Lictors are to the Archons.  Either in Inferno or our
world, the Razides are usually the devoted servants of the Death
Angels.  When they enter our world, though, they are as much a
part of the Illusion as the Lictors. They take on human form so the
Illusion remains intact.
        The Inferno has a few openings into our reality, but it is
primarily accessible only from the Shadowlands.  There are some
permanent openings into the Inferno, places of psychic torment in
our world so shocking that the Illusion has collapsed just a little. 
Perceiving the Inferno actually involves nothing more than
adjusting ones senses.  This adjustment can be learned, or it can
happen unconsciously in all the usual Jail of Night fashions: death,
torture, perversion, and so on.  Anything that breaks our mind's
pattern.
        The soul, when it first escapes the flesh, instinctively seeks out
the Inferno.  Sometimes the Shadow tricks it into believing it is
Paradise. Sometimes its own guilt seeks atonement.  Some cults
suggest that humanity -- like the Kindred aristocrats -- committed
some kind of Original Sin, which led the Demiurge to banish our
race into this reality.  Knowledge of this Original Sin is revealed to
us at the moment of death, so the belief goes, and is so horrible that
we seek out the Inferno and blissful oblivion.
         With belief in God and Hell in our modern world slowly
vanishing, guilty souls often get in direct contact with Nepharites to
atone for their sins (or The Sin, as the case may be).  These
malevolent creatures create small, personal aspects of the Inferno --
called Purgatories -- for these souls.

Purgatories

        Modern society does not live with the concept of God, Heaven
or Hell in its daily consciousness.  Our souls still seek atonement
for our sins, though. When we are in greatest need for this
atonement -- either in life or at the moment of death -- our desire
summons a Nepharite.
        This infernal being creates a Purgatory from the subject's
memories, fears and desires.  There, the subject is tormented until
all memories of the previous existence have been purged or become
meaningless.
        Every Purgatory is its own world, existing next to our own
world but not connected to any other hell.  Purgatories can exist for
centuries -- as long as it takes for the cleansing to be completed. 
They can be entered from our world by anyone who is sensitive to
the fact of the Illusion, living or dead.  These pocket dimensions are
created at the location of the subject's death, and can be entered
there.  In other words, Purgatories are a sort of ongoing,
semi-permanent Harrowing.
        In all outer respects, the Purgatory retains the form of the
sinner's death scene.  Someone wandering into a Purgatory may not
even know they have left the Illusion.  Once inside, though, it
becomes apparent that it's been warped by the memories and
nightmare's of the sinner's life.

Stygia

        Stygia is the dark reflection of Metropolis, a sort of
Shadowland of our primordial reality.  This vast, evil city is home
for the Death Angels, who rule from citadels very much like those
of their Archon counterparts.
        Stygia exists at the center of the Inferno, and can be reached by
anyone in the Inferno.  Entering Stygia is much like entering
Metropolis from our reality: a hidden staircase or elevator shaft may
lead the unwitting traveler there, but a perception shift is what is
really needed.  Since the Inferno itself is already such a shocking,
terrifying place, Stygia truly is an incomprehensibly alien
environment.

The Angels of Death

        The Death Angels rule over all aspects of death and the
underworld.  They are the dark reflections of the Archons (although
they claim the Archons are but light shadows of themselves),
representing each of the sins of mankind. As the Demiurge created
the Archons, Astaroth -- the dark shadow of the Demiurge --
created Its ten Death Angels.
        Like the Archons, the Death Angels are not beings per se so
much as concepts incarnate.  Wherever they appear in our world,
their concept floods the very fabric of reality.  Human rights
atrocities of our world -- everything from torture to starvation -- can
usually be attributed to the presence of a Death Angel.  While the
Archons protect the Illusion, the Death Angels tear it down.
        When the Demiurge vanished from reality (see part I:
Metropolis by Night), his shadow Astaroth followed him into the
Abyss.  Its followers believe It did this because the existence of one
relies on the existence of the other. With no Demiurge to battle
against, Astaroth had no reason to exist.
        But Astaroth appears to have adjusted.  It returned from the
Abyss, the search for Its Shadow a failure.  Astaroth would not tell
anyone -- even Its most trusted Death Angels -- what It saw.  Now,
Astaroth finds Itself the most powerful being in all Reality.  Upon
return from the Abyss, Astaroth took ten legions of ten thousand
sinners from the Inferno and came to our world to conquer
Metropolis.
        This was the single greatest threat to the Illusion the Archons
had ever faced.  In the wake of their missing lord, the remaining six
Archons struggled to reorganize control of the Illusion and stop the
onslaught of Astaroth's minions.  Today, it appears both "sides"
have reached a sort of equilibrium.  The world is now filled with
demons, angels, lictors and razides all manipulating humanity
behind the scenes as both sides continue their war.
        When Astaroth's forces were thinned from Inferno, Its despotic
Death Angels struggled for power there as well.  Some escaped
Inferno to our world, looking to carve a little piece of Hell on Earth. 
Some continue to serve Astaroth in Its plan to draw Metropolis into
the Inferno via our reality, thus completing his goal of cosmic
domination.  In the Jail of Night, these beings and their servants,
both living and Infernal, represent some of the greatest dangers to
Wraiths who have escaped the curse of the Inferno.
        The Angels of Death are:
        Thaumiel: the Unjust Ruler.  This is the mightiest of the Death
Angels, the shadow of Kether, and represents despotism.  He
influences our reality through tyrants, dictators and warlords. 
About half the world's armies are under direct control of Thaumiel,
while the Archon Netzach controls the other half.  This incredibly
powerful Death Angel is the greatest threat to Astaroth, which
cannot destroy him.  In the days following the end of the cold war,
Thaumiel has discovered renewed power in our reality as his tyrants
have begun small wars around the globe.  Those who die in these
wars are immediately captured by Thaumiel's razides after death
and conscripted into his army of death.
        Chagidiel: the Bloodstained Patriarch.  This shadow of
Chokmah (one of the four missing Archons) is the personification of
incest, the assault of fathers on their children.  He acts through
orphanages and other institutions which claim to act in the best
interests of children. Chagidiel's citadel is a prison camp for dead
children in Inferno, where the human servants of the Death Angel
and their victims are tortured into mindless submission.
        Sathariel: the Devastating Mother.  This is the horror of the
original chaos, the devouring mother who eats her children.  The
shadow of Binah, Sathariel works through political and religious
extremists throughout the world.  Her goal is chaos, destruction and
dehumanization.  Those who serve Sathariel are often unconscious
they are doing so.  They simply fulfill their urge for destruction. 
Wraiths who discover Sathariel's dark citadel in Stygia suffer the
same effects as humans who wander into the Gaia-realm (see part
II: The Apocalypse is Over): the dissolution of self, of culture and
intelligence.
        Gamichicoth: the False Rescuer.  Operating through dishonest
human rights protection groups, Gamichicoth is the personification
of hunger, the hunger which paralyses and defeats us and makes us
inhuman.  When he is in control of aid organizations like the UN,
he ships poisoned food and and useless technology.  Gamichicoth's
razides hold high positions in Pentex (see part II: the Apocalype is
Over).
        Golab: the Torturer. One of the most powerful Angels of
Death, Golab is the mirror of Geburah.  He makes no attempt to
teach through punishment, instead enjoying an almost sexual
fulfillment through delivering pain and humiliation.  He operates
through death patrols, torturers and police.  His servants are eager
to please him, for they have fallen under the spell that makes the
victim love the torturer.
        Togarini: Protector of the Death Mages.  This is Tiphareth's
dark shadow, representing twisted beauty.  When Astaroth vanished
in search of the Demiurge, Togarini tried to rebel.  He was easily
defeated and escaped final annihilation by hiding in our reality.  He
personifies Death: not Death as a liberator but Death captured in
unlife.  Togarini enhances his power by capturing Wraiths in the
Shadowlands and in their Purgatories.  Euthanatos mages and
practitioners of the forbidden Death Lore magicks (see sidebar) are
often influenced by this Death Angel.
        Hareb-Seraph: the Raven of the Battlefields.  This Death
Angel is the distorted image of Netzach, the victor.  Hareb-Seraph
is the meaningless battle without a victor.  Through continued
skirmishes around the world, Hareb-Seraph increases the power of
Astaroth by providing an endless supply of doomed legionnaires.
        Samael: the Avenger.  Samael is one of the most powerful
Death Angels.  He is the shadow of Hod, the blind retaliation that
destroys both the avenger and the victim.  He promotes vendettas
within the Mafia and other crime organizations.  He has many,
many human servants in our reality.  Samael's power increases
without control, because none of the other Death Angels or Archons
want to face him.  He never forgets an insult or an injury.
        Gamaliel: Perverted Sexuality.  This being is the perverted
image of Yesod, sexuality as a destroyer instead of a creator.  He
works through sadists and other sexual perverts, rapists and shrewd
business people in the sex industry.  Both the servants and victims
of Gamaliel are drawn into his citadel in Stygia after death, to be
later converted into servants or spirits and returned to our world.
        Nahemoth: the Defiled World.  The shadow of Malkuth,
Nahemoth represents apathy.  When he had more power, Nahemoth
caused us to fear the future.  Now that Malkuth has begun helping
humanity destroy the Illusion through technology and learning,
Nahemoth has become the least powerful Death Angel.

The Power of Death

        In the Jail of Night, death literally is just another state of mind. 
When the body is destroyed, the soul lives on, either to be
annihilated in the Inferno or to wander within our reality avoiding
that fateful day.  As a result, death and the power of the dead is
everywhere.
        The Angels of Death and their servants, the razides, are as
pervasive in our reality as the Archons and their lictors.  They
manipulate our lives, our governments, our societies.  In these final
years of war between the archons and death angels, the power of
death is increased by every murder, suicide and disease. 
Meanwhile, the Illusion is weakened as more of these lost souls
flood our world.
        While all the Death Angels influence our world, Thaumiel and
Golab are the most active Death Angels in the Illusion.  Thaumiel
builds his power by recruiting many, many enfants around the
world before their cauls are removed.  His razides exist in hospitals,
war-torn areas, and countries stricken with starvation and disease to
optimize the slavery.  When Thaumiel's forces attack, the
countryside runs wild with hordes of the living dead.  His goal is
tyranny, and his methods are sometimes less than subtle.
        Golab has become Astaroth's most favored Death Angel. 
When Astaroth Itself roams our world, It is said to have 666
different names and forms.  These forms, usually somewhat human
and always terrifyingly powerful, are assisted by Golab, who
tortures the victims of Astaroth until they become blind servants to
the cause.  Golab blindly follows Astaroth on our earth, dreaming
up progressively more gruesome torture methods.
        Wraiths, when they do not find themselves immediately
captured by one of the Death Angel's servants, often find
themselves trying to foil these foul beings' plans on our world.  
Anyone can fall subject to their attentions. However, strong
emotions -- especially fear, hatred, lust and so on -- can summon
these beings out of the Inferno.  When they arrive in force, not even
the most powerful Wraith can stop them from bringing Hell on
Earth.

Next issue: Changelings are scarier than you thought!  The final
installment of the Jail of Night.

Sidebar

Lore Magick: 

The Lore of Death

        This branch of Lore magick, one of the most prevalent in our
reality, is usually practiced by servants of the Death Angels and
various lictors.  It involves communion with, and animation of, the
dead.  It is powerful magick, and its practitioners are often driven to
the edge of madness -- both by the rituals required (which often
require handling, even intercourse with, corpses) and the secrets
whispered when the dead return.  Humanity, caught in its jail of the
flesh, instinctively knows the searing Inferno awaits it just on the
other side of death

Level 1

        See Through Death -- The conjurer creates a window through
which he can see into another's death and into the realms of the
dead: the Inferno, Purgatories and Stygia.  He can also physically
enter these places.
        Manipulate Death -- The conjurer can manipulate the dead. 
Effects include speaking to the dead, animating corpses, controlling
the living dead and force reincarnation into a waiting, living host.

Level 2

        Summon Creature of Death -- The conjurer can summon one of
the creatures of death: Wraiths, Death Angels, Razides, Nepharites
or Purgatides.  Difficulty is based on the creature's power.
        Bind Creature of Death -- The conjurer can force a creature of
death to obey him for seven days and nights.
        Expel Creature of Death -- The conjurer can return a creature
of death to the realms beyond death: the Inferno, Stygia,
Purgatories, etc.
        Exorcise Creature of Death -- The conjurer can cast out a
creature of death which possesses a human being, place or object.

Level 3

        Hades Walk -- The conjurer can freely walk between our
reality and the various realms of the dead.
        Body Change -- The conjurer can take over another person's
body and force the other person's soul to enter his own body.  If the
conjurer botches this spell, his soul is cast into the Inferno.

Level 4

        Prolong Life -- The conjurer can "steal" life force from other
creatures. Treat as the Early Withdrawal Arcanos in Wraith: the
Oblivion.
        Voodoo Ritual -- The conjurer can create a doll incorporating
some of the victim's hair, blood or flesh.  Anything that happens to
the doll will then happen to the victim.

Level 5

        Putrefy Other's Body -- The conjurer can make another living
person's body rot. This decay cannot be stopped once it has started. 
While most people go insane early in the process, some have
embalmed themselves to avoid total annihilation.

A special note from Paul: THIS DOES NOT PUT THE SERIES IN
THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.  I STILL OWN ALL RIGHTS TO THIS
SERIES. IF I FIND THE SERIES POSTED ANYWHERE ELSE
YOU WILL BE WRITTEN OUT OF THE INHERITANCE!

Copyright 1995 - Paul Beakley.  If you wish to redistribute or
repost this file, please contact the writer at muaddib@mailhost.
primenet.com