The Agendas

OVERVIEW

THE UNCHAINED

THE UNSCORED

THE FOUR AGENDAS

MULTIPLE AGENDAS

AGENDAS AND THE AGENCY

AGENDAS THE DESCENT

OVERVIEW

THE UNCHAINED

One moment before a demon Falls, they are a loyal angel. Nobody is prepared for this, since the only way to prepare is to already have Fallen. The mortal state is a far cry from the comfortably numb and predictable existence of an angel. No matter how adaptable or resilient the individual demon is, they will need some way to get a handle on their new situation. No Unchained comes into mortality with an Agenda already chosen. Each must choose their own path for themselves.

That’s where the Agendas come in. Each Agenda is as much a way to approach one’s new existence as a social club or a collection of survival resources. Rational reasons exist to support all of them, and while most demons find one that suits them and stick to it, it’s not all that uncommon to switch as one finds a new perspective on things. A small minority follows no Agenda, and a larger minority belongs to several. Agenda membership is fluid, not static, and changing Agendas completely or flirting with new ones is fairly common.

THE UNSCORED

A demon’s Agenda is more than just a political affiliation or a philosophy. It is a method by which the demon intends to achieve something that they can’t buy, steal, or create — freedom. Pactholders, on the other hand, stem first from a mortal element, and do not Fall into this world needing to protect themselves from a Maker innately, nor are they thrust into mortality at a climactic point. Still, many Unscored adhere to or prefer a particular agenda in some way, typically the one that most aligns with their personality or one whose methods resonate strongly with their preferences. Some Pactholders inherit the Agenda of their respective Unchained passenger, whether willingly or through the Demon’s own machinations, while others may tend towards a completely different Agenda than their Demon. Pactholders are also more likely to take on the labels of more than one Agenda than their Demon counterparts, and equally just as likely to find their place among the Uncalled. A Pactholder’s agenda in comparison to an Unchained, then, is akin to a Lifestyle, rather than a Method. Note, too, that Symphonic scholars have long since concluded that the difference between a Pactholder's Agenda and their Demon's Agenda is among the leading causes of Resonance issues.

Of course, Unchained society is as divided on the idea of Pactholders claiming Agendas as they are with anything else. Some Demons may value a human’s insight on the nature of Agendas, as someone who has always been mortal, while others may consider them imposters or pretenders that could never fully understand why a Demon choses an Agenda, nor the personal journey that some experience when choosing one.

AGENDA CLEFS

CLEFS: Ancient symbols used to denote a formal Agenda or Incarnation. Their makers have long been lost to the ravages of time and Gears.

PACT GEAR

THE FOUR AGENDAS

♢ THE INQUISITORS

(the Watchers, the Paranoids)

Dedicated scholars, intelligence analysts, and paranoid conspiracy theorists with affinities for mental insight who believe knowledge holds the key to the Descent and Hell. The Inquisitors have a knack for leaps of logic, deduction, pessimism, and lateral thinking.

♢ THE INTEGRATORS

(the Idealists, the Turncoats)

Those longing for their old existences as angels, repentant sinners, fanatical traitors, and pragmatic beings looking to rejoin the God-Machine on their own terms. Through insight into the angelic psyche, Integrators have an advantage in encounters with their un-Fallen brethren.

♢ THE SABOTEURS

(the Soldiers, the Thugs)

Passionate warriors, mindless berserkers, deadly accurate assassins, at war with the God Machine, and seeking to take out their rage on their nemesis. The Saboteurs have a keen eye for the cracks in the façade of order and are adept at exploiting them, taking advantage of the resulting chaos.

♢ THE TEMPTERS

(the Builders, the Decadents)

Hedonists, Epicurean devotees of life, builders and creators who wish to gain the power and resources needed to create a Hell for themselves, hidden away from the God-Machine. The Tempters know someone who knows someone everywhere, and some may expect VIP treatment wherever they go.

♢ THE UNCALLED

(the Wanderers, the Strays)

While Unchained who subscribe to no Agenda are uncommon, they aren’t rare enough to raise eyebrows. Some may see the Uncalled as those who give up a source of allies and thus may face more hardship as a result, while the more chauvinistic Unchained may consider the Uncalled to be spineless or uncommitted. While a portion of the Uncalled purposely desire to rid themselves of the labels that come with the Agendas, it is just as likely one may be floating through a transitory, uncertain period of self discovery. Some Uncalled aspire to feel and be as human as possible, throwing away Agenda for good and even devising ways of fooling reality into thinking they're truly human. The Uncalled can also be referred to as "Agendaless"

MULTIPLE AGENDAS

Some Unchained belong to more than one Agenda. Those who break bread with multiple may not be completely trusted by any of them, but symphonic society generally recognizes that you need all the allies you can find; those who maintain more than one agenda are valued for their resources. Demons with multiple loyalties are often used as go-betweens between their respective Rings and Agencies when it’s needed, although it is usually not a formal assignment.

Inquisitor-Integrators often find a common ground in the search for knowledge. After all, combining both goals gives them twice the chance to succeed.
Inquisitor-Saboteurs often buy into the Saboteurs’ warlike stance and consider themselves military intelligence or secret agents.
Inquisitor-Tempters find that acquisition of contacts, money, and knowledge go hand-in-hand. By joining both Agendas, they find a synergy that transcends either one.
Integrator-Saboteurs may seem a contradiction in terms, and indeed are fairly rare. They’re often characterized by despair — the struggle is hopeless, but I will do my part and keep the enemy at bay until I can retire. They may also simply be conflicted.
Integrator-Tempters, much like Inquisitor-Tempters, find that there is a nice synergy between the Idealists’ search for a way to return to grace and the Builders’ acquisition of power — both advance the other.
Saboteur-Tempters are often the archetypal raucous soldiers: “Eat, drink, be merry, for tomorrow you may die!” Others are more like cutthroat businessmen, wielding their clout as a weapon in the war against the God-Machine.

AGENDAS AND THE AGENCY

The individual demon’s Agenda is generally more important than his Incarnation when it comes to symphonic groups. Few rings and agencies form based on the members’ purpose under the God-Machine, but it’s quite common for them to form for the purpose of destroying the God-Machine (for example). Ultimately, the ring and the agency is a group of demons working together for their own mutual benefit, and one’s Agenda provides a solid long-term objective that can help stabilize and unify the members.

That said, these groups are still nebulous and unorganized. They’re philosophies and ideologies, not organizations, and so they permit a great deal of unorthodoxy and disagreement. An Agenda-based group may look foolproof on paper, but reality is messy. Sometimes disagreement between two demons who both agree that the God-Machine needs to be destroyed but not on how to do it can be more bitter than if they had disagreed completely. It is also very common for established groups to associate themselves with one overarching Agenda with which to generally define their intentions, while its members may not all identify personally with said Agenda - perhaps even its majority in some cases.

Agenda-based rings and agencies formed by or primarily populated with Pactholders tend to see less conflict on this matter than their Unchained counterparts due to a human's innate differences when interacting with the concept of an Agenda. On the flip side, some demons believe that rings and agencies dominated by Pactholders with wildly opposing agenda preferences and lifestyles swing the opposite way with far more disagreements.

AGENDAS THE DESCENT

Hell. To most demons, this word represents hope. Just what that means, however, is a topic of bitter disagreement. On one point, most agree: Hell is the state of being outside the God-Machine’s power. While individual demons have highly personal views of Hell, each Agenda has a majority opinion among its members — the agreed-upon ideological basis on which even unorthodox members have to take a position.

Not all demons agree with their Agendas’ main philosophies where Hell is concerned. Many have their own individual views, sometimes even borrowing them from other Agendas; those who subscribe to two Agendas tend to either mix-and-match, coming up with something truly eclectic, or accept both views as being equally valid. Common to nearly all is that they view Hell as being something deeply, keenly desirable. Hell is the light at the end of the tunnel — the final respite, the last victory, the guiding light that keeps the Unchained going when everything seems to be turned against them.

Hell, to Pactholders, is both different to that of the Unchained concept of Hell, and yet widely similar. They are more likely to see Hell outside of their Agendas’ main philosophies. For Pactholders, Hell manifests most commonly in two ways: in how they react to becoming aware of the symphony, and how they utilize their newfound powers as an extension to their human lives. Some also see it as a legacy, or a spiritual obligation that they must fulfill.