Zoroastrian magus, in search of the 'enemy' Options

[pbangarth]

So, I am working up a character, and need some help. I don't have a name for him yet, so for now, let's call him Fall Guy. See below for why. The fellow is a Zoroastrian tradition magician. While the SM description makes it clear that Mentor Spirits are extremely rare in this tradition, I have given this guy the Adversary Mentor spirit.

Fall Guy believes himself to be a fallen angel, immersed in the cosmic battle between good and evil that is at the core of the Zoroastrian tradition. Whether a campaign in which this character might play would have such beings, and allow Fall Guy to actually -be- a fallen angel is pertinent but not necessary to my question. It could simply be a psychosis of his.

Fall Guy believes his acceptance of the Adversary as a Mentor Spirit has placed him into the situation of having to earn his way back into the angelic fold. He is using his Adversarial nature as a guide for the way he interacts with those he deems agents of evil. He doesn't know exactly how he got down to Earth, but assumes this is part of his trial. Here on Earth he must wrestle with the 'demons' (servants of Ahriman) and prove himself.

He sees himself as a 'good guy', so he has the minor Pacifist Quality. I see him as having a strong protective/support element in his magic. Counterspelling, Healing... that sort of thing. I may give him one Restricted Gear Quality to represent an item he 'brought with him to Earth'. I would give him the Vendetta Quality if I could find an appropriate Enemy for him.

I would like to have an Enemy (as per RC) for Fall Guy that qualifies in his mind as servants of the Evil One. Now, the Horrors would perfectly fit the character of entity against which he would strive, and if he ever encounters them he will certainly willingly challenge them, but they don't fit the characteristics necessary to make an Enemy group.

Looking through the various magical groups in SM, I don't see anything I like. In the two Threats books, I see potential candidates in the Black Lodge and the Aleph Society. Given Fall Guy's background, I would rather have something with an Asian, or even Middle-Eastern flavour.

Any ideas? Go beyond the above limits if you have something cool.

[Kanada Ten]

The Black Chrysanthemum?

[Riley37]

That's an intriguing PC concept. I hope your fellow players are up to workng with it; if they're in "it's all about killing and looting and levelling up" gaming style, eventually it won't make sense for your PC to travel with theirs.

How about a corp? Most or all of them are pretty much about immediate gain, at expense of anyone, and certainly willing to lie, and encourage materialism at the expense of spiritualism. Aztech is easy, but its geographic capital is in the Americas. Maybe one particular corp's misdeeds have come to Fall Guy's attention, or perhaps he thinks the AAA Council is an Ahrimanic cabal... and that Ahriman pretty much has Ahura Mazda on the ropes for control of humanity on Earth.

Perhaps he thinks that he's trying to rejoin the losing side? Or that this is the era before the big comeback of Persian concepts of honor, justice and honesty?

What does he think of Arab Muslim view of magic, and the dragon that destroyed a city?

[Demonseed Elite]

Here's an idea: Ibn Eisa, his New Islamic Jihad, and particularly his shedim, the Jinn. The last we heard of the NIJ, they were being hunted in 2065, but there's no reason to believe they are gone or that they have not made a resurgence in the past few years.

[pbangarth]

That's a possibility, thanks. Where else besides Year of the Comet is the NIJ discussed?

The Shedim themselves would also be very handy enemies, but I can't figure a way to use them in the Enemy Quality.

[Demonseed Elite]

The NIJ is also mentioned in Shadows of Asia and System Failure. I'm not sure where else they are discussed, but there might be other places.

[Wesley Street]

NIJ is very briefly touched on in Shadows of Europe in relation to the EuroWars.

[MK Ultra]

You may also considder the Spirit Bane: Shedim quality, if you go for Eisa (or Blood Spirits, Toxic Spirits, Bugs - if you go for something else). But beware, one of the other PCs in a DS-Game has it and it´s not as much fun to be swarmed by these grave robbers, as it may sound (IMG:style_emoticons/default/nyahnyah.gif)

EDIT: you can find a nice -if short- piece of fiction involving the NIJ in Feral Cities (the one at the beginning of the chapter dealing with Sarajevo and other places in brief).
Loose Aliances has some good material on the NIJ and you can learn some ugly stuff about Master Shedim in Threats 2.

[pbangarth]

Thanks, folks. Some good ideas here. I will post him when I am done.

[Falconer]

I also think the 'sun' mentor is a decent thematic pick for zoroastrian... the whole perfectionist and demanding teacher thing (and the need to spend 2 edge to reduce/negate a glitch is pretty stiff).

(NB: typically.. I made up a new char today for a game... 9 dice... and critically glitched the very first roll!)