Pandemonium

Like all the Supernal Realms, the exact nature of Pandemonium is somewhat subjective. The most common realm experienced by arriving Mastigos is that of a vast network of caverns, without end or outside, populated by a horde of unruly, deformed creatures; the demons of Pandemonium. This great maze has no true beginning or end, but winds on and on through throngs of madcap beasts, stretching on into eternity. The pathways and passages are inconstant; they shift from visit to visit, but there are some constant features, although they shift in size, shape and appearance; these are demon kingdoms, and though their exact nature shifts, their theme remains invariable for those who can see them for what they are; the kingdoms of the seven Vices.

Pandemonium is often compared to the idea of the ‘shadow’ of the ‘collective subconscious’, a place of rejected ideas and fallen ideals. Thus, the demons of Pandemonium are identified by scholars from other Paths as ‘fallen’ reflections of creatures native to their Path; fallen angels, Unseelie fae, rabid beasts, or malevolent dead. Others believe the realm to be a vision of a possible future; a mass Awakening of humanity without the necessary mental discipline. Each demon is viewed as a human wielding power beyond their understanding and control, their darkest desires and basest urges expressed through their unWise use of magic.

Many mages see the Supernal Realms as stages along the soul’s journey to absolute transcendence, vital steps that must be taken before ascension to what truly lies beyond the Fallen and Supernal Worlds. If this is the case, than Pandemonium is the place of penitence, where the soul is purged of its sins, derangements, cares, obsessions, and attachments to the material world. The moment the soul arrives in this realm, packs of demons descend on it, screeching and clamouring with joy as they tear them apart. This torture is not malicious in aspect, though the demons seem to enjoy it; they are a form of spiritual surgery, a way of cutting out the bad parts. There is no anaesthetic for this surgery, no peaceful sleep while the demons work; the victim has lived too long in ignorance of the pain he has caused others and must now feel its full force. Without this, the soul cannot have empathy, cannot share in the souls of others, and so cannot rise into true unity with them.

Arcana of Pandemonium

Mind

The subtle expression of Pandemonium. The Realm of Pandemonium is a place of scourging. The purpose of this place is to cleanse a soul of its sins through ritual punishment, before it can move on to other Realms. As such, the powers of Pandemonium must reach inside the minds of arrivals, to lay bare all their sins, worldly attachments and neuroses for systematic purging. The patrons of the Mastigos grant this power to those mages who would wield it in their own name. The Arcanum of Mind bestows mastery over telepathy, mental control, communication, and the nuances of dreams and Astral Space.

Space

The gross expression of Pandemonium. The Abode of Demons is a prison for the soul, and although no sentence to its depths is permanent, escape cannot be allowed, lest a soul evade scourging by the wardens and enter whatever lies beyond the Realms Supernal still tainted by vice and materialism. The Realm’s security system is simple yet effective; escape is literally impossible as the Realm’s tunnels curve back in on themselves in impossible directions, and any who attempts to flee winds up precisely where they were before. This power is made available to wielders of Pandemonaic energy via the Arcanum of Space. Those who learn the secrets of this Arcanum can draw on scrying, teleportation, wards, and conjuration.

Matter - Inferior

There are a number of theories amongst the Warlocks as to why their power over Matter is diminished. Some believe that it is due to a lack of metaphysical weight in the Realm to contain or obstruct one’s actions. Others think that matter is seen as inimical to demons because it is the only thing that can bind them, and that it is not truly present in Pandemonium. Still others theorise that Pandemonium is ‘denser’ than the other Supernal Realms, and this weight draws it closer to the Material Realm; thus, some of the Material Realm’s laws act on Pandemonium. Matter cannot easily be manipulated by Mastigos, as this theory would have it, because the Realm is partially affected by the laws of Fallen World matter. Whatever the cause, the Mastigos cannot easily wield the Arcanum of Matter.

Inhabitants

The Demons

The principal natives of Pandemonium are, as the realm’s name would suggest, the Demons. These creatures are the keepers, wardens, and torturers of Pandemonium, and they take immense pleasure from their work, stripping down the neuroses of their victims and cutting out the malevolent or corrupted parts. Many mages see their role as a form of surgery to remove a cancer, though said tumour exists within the subject’s soul rather than body.

Pandemonium’s name means ‘The Place of All Demons” in Latin, and this is most certainly true of the Realm. It swarms with great hordes of Demons in all shapes and sizes, embodying all sorts of vice and sin and derangement that has ever needed purging from a mortal and even more besides. These creatures rend and punish the sinful in their Realm, but offer assistance and counsel to Awakening mages (most of the time).

The nature of the Demons is open to debate amongst Pandemonaic scholars. Some Warlocks believe that their Supernal patrons are the exiled or corrupted creatures of other Paths, be they the fallen angels, the rabid beasts, the debased Unseelie or the shades of evil dead. Others say they represent a potential future, a mass Awakening of humanity without the proper discipline and Wisdom to guide them. Each Demon is thus seen as a human wielding unspeakable power without control or restraint, given over wholly to their basest desires and urges. The Demons themselves offer up no solutions to the Awakened, as meaningful contact with them in their own realm after Awakening is a feat that only the archmasters have even a hope of achieving.

The Oracle of the Iron Gauntlet

Ahriman

A mysterious and malicious being, the entity known to modern mages as Ahriman is the spiritual avatar of the darker, negative aspects of Pandemonium. According to Atlantean mythology, he was responsible for the creation of the sole Aeon of Pandemonium, the three-headed dragon king Dahhak. He is a trickster by nature, skilled at the arts of twisting words and bargains.

Ahriman takes his modern name from the avatar of evil in Zoroastrian cosmology, a being more properly called Angra Mainyu. His hypothetical opposite, an avatar of the lighter side of Pandemonium, can then be theorised to be called Ohrmazd, an abbreviated form of the name of the supreme deity of good, Ahura Mazda.

References

• Tome of the Watchtowers, pp. 52-53
• Astral Realms, pp. 107-108