Lionel Johnson was a decadent poet, and we’ve had some luck with those before, which is why we are fishing in his waters. He was part of Oscar Wilde’s set, indeed. He was the person who introduced Oscar Wilde to Lord Alfred Douglas, the young man who legally speaking, he debauched, leading to Wilde’s imprisonment, and was thought by people at the time, the breaking of his constitution and his death.
Johnson was a fervent Catholic, and simultaneously homosexual. This caused him deep spiritual angst. His part in the Wilde affair also caused him great grief. He expresses this angst in the following poem, which eventually, I will start up as a demonic Tempter.
It’s a view of what we call Oppression, which is when a particular demon fastens the mortal person and destroys their life by removing all their sources of pleasure. This was one medieval understanding of what we now call depression.
As a note for the Warhammer fans in the audience, yes, there is a link. Warhammer 40k in the early editions was full of little jokes, and Lion El Johnson, the Primarch of the Dark Angels, is a direct reference to this poet and his work. When you’re using this Tempter in the game, it doesn’t have to be homosexuality that is causing the angst in the player character, it can be any personally-perceived fault.
Dark Angel, with thine aching lust
To rid the world of penitence:
Malicious Angel, who still dost
My soul such subtle violence!
Because of the, no thought, no thing,
Abides for me undesecrate:
Dark Angel, ever on the wing,
Who never reachest me too late!
When music sounds, then changes thou
Its silvery to a sultry fire:
Nor will thine envious heart allow
Delight untortured by desire.
Through thee, the gracious Muses turn
To Furies, O mine Enemy!
And all the things of beauty burn
With flames of evil ecstasy.
Because of thee, the land of dreams
Becomes a gathering place of fears;
Until tormented slumber seems
One vehemence of useless tears.
When sunlight glows upon the flowers.
Or ripples down the dancing sea :
Thou, with thy troupe of passionate powers,
Beleaguerest, bewilderest me.
Within the breath of autumn woods,
Within the winter silences:
Though venomous spirits stirs and broods,
O master of impieties!
The ardour of red flame is thine,
And thine the steely soul of ice:
Thou poisonous the fair design
Of nature, with unfair device.
Apples of ashes, golden bright,
Waters of bitterness, how sweet:
O banquet of a foul delight,
Prepared for thee, dark Paraclete!
Thou art the whisper in the gloom,
The hinting tone, the haunting laugh:
Thou art the adorner of my tomb,
The minstrel of mine epitaph.
I fight thee in the Holy Name!
Yet, what thou dost, is what God saith:
Tempter! Should I escape thy flame,
Thou wilt have helped my soul from death:
The second death that never dies,
That cannot die when time is dead:
Live death, were from the lost soul cries,
Eternally uncomforted.
Dark Angel. with thine aching lust!
Of two defeats, of two despairs:
Less dread, a change. o drifting dust,
Than thine eternity of cares.
Do what thou wilt, thou shalt not so,
Dark Angel! triumph over me:
Lonely, unto the lone I go;
Divine, to the Divinity.
***
Just a note of explanation, the Paraclete is the Holy Spirit. It means the supernatural comforter.
Stats eventually.
Games From Folktales 
The Dark Angel
A Shedeh
Johnson’s dark angel can be modelled several ways, but here I’ve chosen to make it a shedeh, These are the personal tormentors attached to each person, similar and opposite to a guardian angel. It feeds, and is fed by, Johnson’s self-hatred. The Dark Angel does not have the protective power which usually stops the victims attacking or opposing shedim, but does not take physical form.
Order: Tempters – Shedim
Infernal Might 20 (Vim)
Size: Appears to be 0, when it choses to appear at all. It does not float on his shoulder like a cartoon character.
Virtues and Flaws: Weak Willed.
Confidence Score: 1 (3 points)
Characteristics: Int +1, Per +1, Pre +1, Com +1. Has no physical form.
Personality Traits: Selfish +5
Reputations: None.
Hierarchy: 0
Combat: n/a
Powers:
Apparition, 1 point, Init 0, Imaginem: Shedim may assume an illusory form that only their chosen victims can perceive. To victims, the form appears to be a real person in all respects.
Betrayal of the Heart, 2 points, Init 0, Mentem: Each use of this Power reveals to the demon one fact about the target to which he would never admit. Truly holy people may be immune to this Power, if they have no secrets, no matter how petty.
Crushing the Will, 2 points, Init 0, Mentem: This Power saps the will and vitality of its target, leaving them listless, less energetic, and withdrawn. All Personality Trait rolls suffer a -3 modifier, and the target may not spend Confidence Points to increase other rolls. Each use of this Power lasts until the victim has slept for at least six hours.
Obsession, 1 points, Init 0, Vim: This power is used only when there is a chink in the armor of virtue, through the indulgence in a venial sin. This allows the demon to impose its particular sin upon the target. Magic Resistance must be Penetrated, as normal. The victim is assaulted with sinful thoughts and acquires a Personality Trait to represent this. This Personality Trait has a score equal to the number of points used by the demon to activate the power. This becomes the target’s Obsession Trait. (Realms of Power: the Infernal, page 32). In this case it’s self-hatred fueled by religious guilt.
Wbispers Bebind the Back, 2 points, Init 0, Mentem: Just as the spell Pains of the Perpetual Worry, this Power gives the victim a nagging, taunting, painful emotion linked to his secret sins-a recurrent sense of anxiety that his secret will be uncovered and a suspicion that everyone already knows it and is taking about the target behind his back. This Power lasts for a month.
Soak: 0
Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, -1, -3, -5, Unconscious
Wound Penalties: N/A
Abilities: (City) Lore 6 (meeting places), Folk Ken 6 (homosexual subculture), Guile 6 (victim).
Weakness: Protected Group (victims who willingly and totally rejects the demon, fueling the rejection with a Confidence or Faith Point)
Vis: 4 pawns of Mentem: Victim’s tears of relief.
Source: Shedim, in Realms of Power: Infernal, p.57
Appearance: An attractive man that suits the victim’s aesthetic preferences.
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Add: Envisioning, 1 point, Init +0, Mentem: This Power allows a demon to appear in the dreams of a sleeping target. A demon cannot instantly make substantial changes to a dream, but instead gradually twists it to take on a darker and frightening tone, and can speak through any figure from the victim’s subconscious. This creature cannot use the more powerful version of Envisioning that causes waking dreams and seizures.
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