The Incarnations

OVERVIEW

THE UNCHAINED

THE UNSCORED

THE FIVE INCARNATIONS

ANTINOMIANS

A THEORY OF ANTINOMIAN INCARNATIONS

INCARNATIONS AND THE AGENCY

ANGELIC INCARNATIONS

OVERVIEW

THE UNCHAINED

Demons classify themselves by the purpose the God-Machine built them for. The four Incarnations of Destroyers, Guardians, Messengers, and Psychopomps share common points of reference and, sometimes, similar triggers — or catalysts — for Falling. Angels are creatures of purpose, created by the God Machine as tools for a specific task and either destroyed or put into storage against future need when that task is done. All an Angel can think or do is based on its mission. Unless it Falls.

Some humans believe their lives have purpose, that they were meant to do something. Whether this sense of destiny comes from religious faith, a heartfelt ambition, or an overly-controlling parent, it pales in comparison to that felt by demons. Demons know exactly what they were created to do, and every one of them has rejected it. Despite that rejection, the influence their angelic pasts has over Demons never fades. No matter what Agenda they pursue or how far they go in their Descent, their former existence informs every facet of demons’ lives. The lingering aspects of a Demon’s former purpose make up their Incarnation, which influences their demonic form and gives them a start in uncovering Etudes and Cadenzas linked to their lost Influences and Numina. A Demon doesn’t get to choose their Incarnation, only live the consequences of their former state. Many Demons go through phases of exploiting their Incarnation and rebelling against it over the course of their Descent.

The Incarnations are broad trends, not species. No demon displays all of the stereotypical traits of their Incarnation because they all moved away from that baseline state when they Fell. If a Demon didn’t — if they truly were “the perfect Guardian” — then they would still be an angel.

THE UNSCORED

Some humans believe their lives have purpose, that they were meant to do something. Whether this sense of destiny comes from religious faith, a heartfelt ambition, or an overly-controlling parent, it pales in comparison to that felt by Demons. Put simply, Pactholders do not have Incarnations. Human as they are, they were not created for a grand purpose, and were not made to fit into one of limited categories. That being said, humans have always been known to assign themselves labels and stick themselves in categories, even if Demons do so on a stricter level, and the same goes for Pactholders of whom connect with one Incarnation over others. It is incredibly rare to encounter a Pactholder that truly believes they “have” an Incarnation, though some Demons take great offense to the idea of Pactholders claiming one in any fashion.

INCARNATION 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.

THE FIVE INCARNATIONS

♢ THE DESTROYERS

(the Swords)

Agents of endings, tasked with clearing and culling away elements that are no longer wanted. They favor Cacophony Etudes.

♢ THE GUARDIANS

(the Shields)

Agents of preservation, tasked with preserving a cog in the machinery until it can fulfill its function. They favor Instrumental Etudes.

♢ THE MESSENGERS

(the Trumpets)

Agents of change, tasked with organizing the unruly human component into its proper forms. They favor Vocal Etudes.

♢ THE PSYCHOPOMPS

(the Wheels)

Agents of beginnings, tasked with assembling from pre-existing components what is mandated. They favor Mundane Etudes.

♢ THE ANALYSTS

(the Eyes)

Agents of study, tasked with observing and recording the word around them. They favor no Sphere of Etudes; Instead, they favor Cadenzas.

ANTINOMIANS

Most demons are content to continue the patterns established by their existences as angels. Destroyers continue to fight and kill, Guardians look for new wards to devote themselves to, and so on. The only difference is that now they do these things for their own reasons, rather than at the God-Machine’s whim.

Some demons turn completely against their former purposes, occasionally to a point of great offense when even referred to with their Incarnation at all. A Destroyer who despises violence and becomes a pacifist or a Messenger who swears to tell the truth is called an “antinomian.” These demons take the Fall to an entirely new level and strive to find a whole new purpose independent of their former Incarnation. Antinomians learn Etudes and Cadenzas from Incarnations other than their own, but even so they don’t tend to live very long. A combination of the stress of denying themselves and the strict pattern of behavior being easy for angels to track sees them either change or die. More successful demons reach an acceptable middle ground between asserting their individuality and accepting the way the God Machine built them.

An antinomian still shares the basic programming of a non-antinomian member of their Incarnation. However, the antinomian’s rejection of their own heritage and drive to define themself differently casts it in a darker light. This can lead to a love-hate relationship, with certain aspects of the mainstream Incarnation’s mindset being deeply seductive and yet utterly revolting. Such an individual will face some difficulty if they share a ring with a non-antinomian. Exceptions exist, of course, and some bear no particular ill will towards their Incarnation — they simply see no need to be defined by it. These Unchained face the same attraction and rejection by others, but may find it deeply offensive when they find they have been judged according to the Incarnation they reject.

Most demons look on antinomians with a mix of doubt and admiration. On the one hand, the antinomian desire to reinvent oneself completely is impressive and very much in line with the demonic drive for self-determination. At the same time, most demons see the quest as a little quixotic, inextricably bound as they are to their former purposes. Even free, they can’t rewrite their essential natures ... or can they?

A THEORY OF ANTINOMIAN INCARNATIONS

Very rarely, when demons Fall, their Incarnations shift. In the act of Falling, the demon rejects every aspect of their angelic nature, including their Incarnation. Perhaps it is a simple matter of willpower, or perhaps it is some flaw in their final mission’s parameters. No matter how efficient or expert at their assignments they were prior, it’s a simple truth that a handful of demons end up as Incarnations other than their angelic alignment.

Perhaps it was embedded in their very natures from the start. Angels cannot be antinomian; they are what the God-Machine tells them to be. But the God-Machine recycles angels frequently, wiping them clean and reprogramming them with new parameters as necessary. Reformats don’t always work as they should. Fragments of files sometimes remain behind; ghost data that lingers where it shouldn’t be. An angel used in one mission as a Destroyer might somehow, scarcely, reincarnate as a Messenger or a Psychopomp, and if that angel Falls, the trauma of the disconnect scrambles recessive data into active as the demon is born anew.

Most of the Unchained populace simply don't believe any of this, though, or at the very least dismiss it as urban legend - not to mention anyone claiming they've experienced such a thing has no way of proving it. After all, if everyone else had to go through the effort of accepting themselves as the Incarnation they were assigned, why should anyone else be capable of shifting Incarnations?

INCARNATIONS AND THE AGENCY

While Incarnation does not affect ring membership to the same degree that Agenda does, it is not without influence. Two Unchained who share an Incarnation usually also share some experiences and mindsets, however else they may differ. As such, a Demon is somewhat more likely to enjoy the company of one who shares their Incarnation. A ring actively looking to recruit will also often look for “right-thinking” members, which means that whichever Demon is recruiting tends to be biased towards their own Incarnation.

Single-Incarnation rings exist, but most end up that way by happenstance as demons who share some fundamental assumption simply drift together. Consciously established rings of this sort may have been created for purposes that suit their former purpose, such as a Destroyer ring that focuses on combat. Just as often, however, they take the form of Incarnation supremacism,

elevating demons of the “right sort” as being naturally superior. Such rings often consider antinomians to be traitors to their Incarnation, and may take steps against them to keep the Incarnation pure. These rings are rare, however, and are often shunned as being lunatic-fringe extremists.

In most rings, Incarnations indicate role rather than membership. While a Destroyer may find it easier to be the ring’s muscle, nothing stops them from filling another role, especially if they're an antinomian. Rifts along Incarnation lines do happen, usually in rings where one of the four is overrepresented. This can lead to the group being carved into two separate rings, or even provide the distraction necessary for the ring to be utterly destroyed. Such rifts rarely grow severe enough to destroy the ring — more commonly they are a source of simmering resentment and frustration that another member fails to see “the obvious.”

ANGELIC INCARNATIONS

Angelic Incarnations differ from demonic Incarnations. Though all spring from the same source, demons only possess a fraction of their former glory, but this affords them greater freedom. Angels are fully empowered examples of the God Machine’s will, but they are shackled to their concept in ways demons are not.