Name: Zadkiel
Aliases: *Jegudiel
*Dr. Jasper Dial
*Mr. J
Age: 32 (Antediluvian)
Race: Tamer Angel (Archangel)
Wings: White Vulture Wings. Massive and powerful, adept at long-distance flight.
Social Status: Were it to be known that Zadkiel was still active in the world, it would be difficult to determine what his status might be. Having taken Jegudiel’s place, however, much of his status depends on who you ask. If you were to ask your average inner city pleb about ‘Jegudiel’ or ‘Zadkiel’, most wouldn’t have a clue in the world who the hell you were talking about. Nor, frankly, would most other people. Poking around after Mr. J, on the other hand, would give you some very different opinions.
Talk to anyone who’s never met the man and all they’ll tell you are rumors. That he’s some kind of freak, that he’s connected, that he runs some kind of cult treatment center or something, whatever. His name gets thrown around a lot and so does his card--most of the street kids have it, and most of the older guys do too. Plenty of agencies around the city refer to him, whether they’re supposed to or not. But he’s creepy, you know? Nobody gives something for nothing.
Talking to someone who’s in the program, though, is a different story. They may be an alcoholic bastard, they may be an ex-con working at your local grocery store, they may be some punk kid laying low from knocking over a convenience store, but ask them about Mr. J and they light up like Christmas. He’s the best thing that ever happened to them, he’s a miracle worker. He’s a saint. He
listens, man, he
gets it. Seriously, you should talk to him. Do you have his card? Take his card. Just meet the guy.
He’s everything you could ask for.
Relations: Mr. J has plenty of relations. He has relations with the cops, who know that if some deadbeat needs straightening out but might not need to go to jail, they should send him over. He has relations with the judges, who know that prison time just makes better criminals and that Mr. J sends in his compliance reports early. He has relations with the street kids, who tell you that three hots and a cot don’t come cheaper than they do at Mr. J’s and, hey, if you want to talk, he’ll listen. And if someone’s on your back, there’s no one better to send them to. He’ll clear it up, doesn’t matter what. He’s cool like that.
Frankly, Mr. J has all sorts of relations. “Jegudiel” only has a few, and those are the ones that know what he can do with a demon. There are plenty of demon hunters out there, but not many demon reformers, and he’s one of them. Bring him your poor, your desperate, your monstrous, and he makes them…
Well. Not so monstrous anymore.
Zadkiel has no relations. That’s exactly how he likes it.
General Activity: Mr. J spends most of his time at his center, i.e. the tenement building on Grace Street at the end of the J line. What does he do there? Anyone’s guess, really. Whatever it is social workers do when they’re not out, you know, social working. He runs some kind of housing program, or something, and he’s a pretty busy guy, but if you show up to talk, he’ll listen. And if you need somewhere to stay, or some food, or some clothes, he’s probably got those too--free of charge. He’s a sucker like that.
That a good deal of that time involves reprogramming demons doesn’t really concern anyone who doesn’t need to know. Redemption, after all, is a very private process.
Abilities: As an archangel, Zadkiel has access to all classifications of angelic abilities. As Jegudiel, however, he limits himself quite pointedly to the abilities that a tamer might have, and even then only at what would be considered an exceptional level for that. A master of manipulative, perceptive, and persuasive magics, Zadkiel’s commonly used abilities are far more subtle than your average Holy Avenger’s, but no less powerful for that. Though he rarely refers to his abilities in the specific, preferring to look at them as Gifts overall, a few have become more regular pieces of his roster:
The Long RoadAddiction is a terrible thing. It ruins lives, destroys families...and can be one of the most powerful ‘rehabilitative’ tools in Zadkiel’s arsenal. Though he would never phrase it as such, the ability to create and manipulate addiction is in some ways the core of Zadkiel’s ‘treatments’ when working with his human servants. By speaking with them and investing his essence into the conversational process, he is functionally able to access the reward center of their brain and create new pathways for activities, i.e. creating pleasant or positive associations for them that otherwise didn’t exist. It’s a slow process, though it works best on those who already have such addictive pathways carved into them, but by the end he is functionally able to create, alter, or manipulate addiction as he likes. It isn’t always pleasant--he can create withdrawal symptoms as easily as trigger pleasure--but it is quite effective. It functions on supernatural creatures as well, but they’re more likely to notice the investiture of essence required.
SuggestZadkiel prefers not to wield too direct a hand in matters. He fancies powers of suggestion, implanting desires, urges, needs, biases, and other such psychological slights to cause people to act ‘of their own volition’ on his behalf. These suggestions are implanted over the course of conversation, planting themselves like little seeds in a mind until they blossom. Though in many ways unpredictable--without directly controlling someone it is only probably rather than certain how they will act--Zadkiel is an impressive manipulator when he chooses to be. He commonly helps his subjects forget that this has occurred as part of the process, and it is very rare that someone is able to notice the process as it is happening or remember that it has.
CommandAngels carry with them the will of the Divine, and it is with this that Zadkiel speaks when he issues a Command. The most overt of his powers and in many ways his strongest, Command does what it implies: forces a subject to do as Zadkiel demands. They do so explicitly, immediately, and continue to have done so until he gives them leave. Unlike many of his other powers there is no preconception to be had, no subtlety in it--it is a direct supernatural assault, a compulsion as essence hard-wires nerves and hijacks motor function. The invested essence is powerful enough that resisting it is actively damaging to a foe, causing incredible pain and ultimately nerve damage should a subject resist. Prolonged or consistent use, however, can cause somewhat permanent personality damage as more and more of a person is overwritten to facilitate their orders.
RedactOne of Zadkiel’s more fearsome abilities, Redact allows him to remove the memories of those he comes in contact with. The ability requires concentration and proximity, but with effort he can remove a subject’s memories of the last few minutes as if they were never there. With more effort and prolonged touch, he can remove and alter even older memories, though this is more complicated and requires sustained contact and an uninterrupted environment. Altering a memory is easier for him than removing it entirely--those that meet with him rarely remember that he has wings, for example, though they likely know that they went and saw him. They may not remember what he has Commanded of them, of course, but then again, that might be better for everyone.
Yearning, BurningZadkiel’s primary ‘offensive’ ability, it is reserved for those who absorb the essence of others--functionally, demons. With physical contact, Zadkiel can imbue them with the essence of his soul until it shines from their eyes, their mouth, their fingertips. He can fill them with such power and such purpose that it scorches them from the inside out, burning away at what it is that makes them who and what they are until nothing remains. The pain of the process is incredible, excruciating--enough so that it can and does take more than a small psychological toll on its victims, and it is Zadkiel’s punishment of choice for demons who resist his will. Overuse of it can and will cause permanent damage to a subject’s persona, boiling away memory and wickedness until only an empty, virtuous (and obedient) shell is left. This, of course, is why Rubra and Alba are quite as obedient as they are--there’s nothing left of them not to be.
InvestZadkiel believes in empowering those who seek to do good with the power to do so. Should they open themselves to him, he is more than capable of investing a good portion of his supernatural might in a willing receptacle until they burn with purpose and power. He may invest any and all of his supernatural capabilities to them (though he pointedly never allows them to control others as he can), but in turn they serve as a raw conduit to him. His essence within them makes them highly susceptible to his powers, and resistance to his Commands or his Yearning, Burning melts away in the face of what they have already allowed inside themselves. Once Invested, it is only by his will that a subject is freed--they are his, body and soul, until he relinquishes them.
Equipment:Zadkiel himself doesn’t maintain equipment. He does, on the other hand, maintain connections with a good deal of his...clients, for lack of a better word, who do. At any given time most of what he has on him is his clothes and his wallet (which admittedly contains a sizable credit card and bank account courtesy of his established non-profit), though he also usually has both Rubra and Alba handy.
As for the rest of his demons, well...he prefers not to use them.
Not if he doesn’t have to.
Rubra & AlbaA pair of Hellions who were well known for preying on the weak and powerless of the city, they were Zadkiel-as-Jegudiel’s first conquests and have survived as something akin to living testaments to what happens to bad boys and girls. Disguised as a pair of very nearly mute personal assistants, they were once some of the worst influence peddlers on the map before he dispatched them and bent them entirely to his will. Now they act as his right and left hands, sometimes literally, as well as bodyguards. They are more than a match for most surface demons and easily the equal of most Hellions as well, Alba strong enough to shatter spines and pulp bones and Rubra an expert at absorbing and redirecting essence.
Personality: Wouldn't you like to know.
Biography:Zadkiel, Archangel of Mercy. A creature of compassion and wisdom, calm and serene, a voice of reason and ease on the Council for centuries. Before the Great War, when all was calm, he was one of the many that served great works and directed the angels in service of others. He felt it was their duty, their directive, and though rarely did he take to the field so as not to deprive others of the opportunity to grow he demonstrated when necessary that strength and might did not have to mean slaughter and that even demons in all their wickedness were part of creation and worthy of dignity.
And then…the Demonic Parasite.
It began as an experiment between Zadkiel and two others on the council, a method of controlling demons by tricking them into investing such essence as to turn them towards angelic ends. Why destroy, the reasoning went, when you could repurpose? But when it was proposed at the Council proper Zadkiel was horrified to find it slated instead to be applied to angels, those of them who were considered ‘too rebellious’ or ‘too difficult’ to engender both strength and dominance. What, with an army of obedient angels beneath them, couldn’t the host of heaven accomplish? Without infighting, without pettiness and pride, how better could they serve and steward the world? Though at first Zadkiel resisted, upon seeing the damage done by dissonance within the choir he eventually bowed his head and assented the wisdom of the council. To this day he feels it is his greatest sin, one he struggles with still to this day.
Though at first effective, it became clear enough that the Council had no interest in quelling dissent or bringing rogues to heel--they wanted nothing more and nothing less than control, and it wasn’t long before Zadkiel realized as such. Unwilling to speak out lest he lose a hand in reigning in the Council’s actions, it wasn’t until Lucien’s rebellion in 2014 that he was able to free himself from such bondage.
It happened as such things do--by providence. As Lucien began his sortie and the Council began to fall beneath him, the Tamer Jegudiel who had been Zadkiel’s confidant flew to him and begged to be taken in his place. Though unwilling to allow such sacrifice, Jegudiel’s plea moved him to assent. He invested himself in the Tamer, who threw himself into battle with the rest of the council, and fled. As the traitor’s blade cut through his doppleganger Zadkiel felt such pain as he had never before, his powers greatly weakened, and to his shame he hid for those long years until he had regained his strength. He did as he could as “Jegudiel”, playing Tamer against the demons in support of humanity, until finally he began to feel his old self again.
Now, in the city of Loom, he contemplates and debates his return. Soon, he feels, it may well be time to reveal himself. There may be need of him again.
