Itzpapalotl - Tree of the Tzitzimitl

Itzpapalotl - Tree of the Tzitzimitl - 9th Soul of the Glacier that Preserves
Protection of favoured races.

As one goes through Malfeas, it is occasionally possible to see what looks like a small layer, with closer inspection revealing it to be covered with iron trees and unlike any other layer of the demonic city. If one can actually reach the layer, they realise that it is not a part of Malfeas but a third circle demon - Itzpapalotl - who is one tree that has a tangle of roots forming the main body of the layer and all the trunks are just branches of one super tree. Another thing that will be noticed is the lack of demons, but instead there are several races from prehuman times, the Zrang, the Ebu gogo, the Yacuruna, the Pugot, the Empusa, and most notably, the Tzitzimitl. Itzpapalotl is patroness to these races, favouring the Tzitzimitl enough to grant them the rights of being her sole priestess and woodcutters in her domain, as well as letting them enforce their law all over Itzpapalotl's forest. They were her only inhabitants until the Crippling happened, then the other races moved from Buyel's realm to their new homeland, colonizing Itzpapalotl and accepting her as their new overlady. This makes the demoness proud, as she considers it her prerogative due to her representing J'Qeju's desire to see no species alter it's state of being or place in the cosmos. 

It was only due to this necessity that Itzpapalotl was not preserved with the other 3rd circle souls of the Glacier that Preserves. Ekilihclo used a similar excuse to also avoid preservation, leaving the Forest of the Tzitzimitl annoyed, particular due to the fact that it was so he could preserve humans, a species Itzpapalotl despises, due to their wretched betrayal of the Primordials and their loving of driving perfectly good species extinct for their ego. Itzpapalotl especially hates when humans summon her, as she is forced to take a form given to her by the Crippling; a puppet made of amber, crafted in the likeness of a beautiful maiden with moth wings, although a body of a dryad-like being made of salt can be seen acting as a skeletal structure underneath all of the amber. When summoned, Itzpapalotl is usually used get information about long lost species, teach their forgotten languages, help their ghosts to find some degree of peace, or giving mortals the forms and powers of a long lost species for whatever reason the summoner can conceive. The forest of the Tzitzimitl enjoys the last two, as part of her role is to restablish lost races whenever she can. She was given powers by J'Qeju that are not unlike those that operate Lethe, however, she is not as effective as the heavenly system, and spends most of her time trying to process even a handful of souls. As such, full scale warfare is banned within her lands.

Itzpapalotl is infact trying to rebuild several races in her spare time, using souls she has picked up over the years, and although she is nearing success with a race called the rokurokubi, but she can't quite finish this project. The Forest of the Tzitzimitl only enters Creation when a mere mortal figures out a secret of a lost species which draws one of their ghosts to their location, with the 3rd circle demon switching places with the human in order to try and convince the ghost to join her in Malfeas for another chance at life. Itzpapalotl's intimacies include her Yozi (thankful loyalty), the Tzitzimitl (always my kind), the other races that she protects (glorious dominator and protector), her dreams of bringing back lost races (hopeful expectation), a negative one to humanity (arrogant upstarts of little to no value), another negative one to Ekilihclo (why should he protect those traitors), one to forest creatures and moths (beauty of shared aesthetics) and mother figures without children (similar nature of patronage).

Associated Yozi:


J'Qeju


Associated 2nd Circle Demons:

Hariti, the Mother Tiger in All Vengeance - Expressive Soul of The Forest of the Tzitzimitl

Ceto, Creator of half-beautied life - Indulgent soul of The Forest of the Tzitzimitl

Pehtalka Puhst, the Maternal Anti-rudaali clothed in Memoirs of Uncounted Wards - Understanding Soul of The Forest of the Tzitzimitl


Associated 1st Circle Demons:

Bim'jaq, The Demon Rangers; Progeny of the Creator of half-beautied life

Chriek, They who Count the Pictures; Progeny of the Maternal Anti-rudaali clothed in Memoirs of Uncounted Wards

J'Quz, The Heat Eaters; Progeny of the Creator of half-beautied life

Rogehpleb, The Stealing Shadows; Progeny of the Creator of half-beautied life

Zak'kaqin'gim, The Chimeras Unknowable; Progeny of the Creator of half-beautied life


Associated Prehuman Races

Tzitzimitl

Pugot

Empusa

Ebu Gogo

Yacuruna

Zrang

Kingu - The Hunter Blizzard in Sand

Kingu - The Hunter Blizzard in Sand - 2nd Soul of the Glacier that Preserves
Wariness against Change.

As J'Qeju is shifted around the great layers of Malfeas, he is occasionally flipped off like a great big pancake, crashing into new layers and preserving new demons. Although the Glacier that Preserves will not change his flight plan, one of his 3rd circles, Kingu, will go ahead and scout the land to find anything that could stop preservation of the demon city. And Kingu is very effective at this. Kingu looks like a flying creature made completely out of eyes, serving as the heart of an eternal sandstorm. Or she should be. Due to the Crippling, her form is now half-warped, one side of her flying monster body is made out of tongues, noses and ears. Her sandstorm is now part blizzard, with swirling winds mixing the burning sands with the freezing snow to feel across whatever layer her Yozi is flying to. 

Kingu enjoys her work of finding possible escape routes from her master, and punishing any demon that still thinks that such an escape, or even any form of change, is a good idea. Kingu usually can't trap other 3rd Circle Demons, due to their roughly equal power levels, but she'll do everything in her power to ruin their escapes and mock their existences. However, Kingu's actions are not just pure sadism, being the most cautious aspect of J'Qeju, Kingu is merely trying to find any possible source of change in Malfeas that is within her power to limit and disable it, that is why she is not one of the Demon King of Winter's preserved souls after the Crippling. Although the Yozi cannot be directly harmed by even one of the Untouchable, Kingu still fears for her master and will do anything to remove the possibility of change against J'Qeju to keep him from getting annoying itches. However, Kingu does enjoy her work, possibility too much, and many 3rd circle and some lucky 2nd circle demons have vendettas against the Hunter Blizzard in Sand. As such, she mainly patrols the area around the Glacier that Preserves when the Yozi is in one place, striking down at those who cause any form of change and dragging them back to J'Qeju to stop them.

Kingu is summoned into Creation to spy on whole nations, with her sandstorm/blizzard form being able to feel across whole kingdoms at once. She is also skilled in measuring the plots and plans of others, especially if they involve a change to the social/cultural/political world her summoner or the conspirators. This is related to how she enters Creation whenever the Yozis start to sense a great shift in the cosmic order, leading her to be witness to the Aftershock War, the Usurpation, the Great Contagion and the recent disappearance of the Scarlet Empress followed by the release of the Solar shards, although she never interferes, as that would cause change, which she is ever weary of. When Kingu does enter Creature, she has to assume a most wretched form - one half like a tengu or a harpy, covered in marvellous golden feathers with particles of sand falling from her; the other half appears as an ugly human woman from the North, sun burned and covered in scars, and close examination of her arm and leg reveals that they were broken into place to make them function as human limbs. All of this is due to the Crippling, which also involved her feathers being plucked out 1 by 1, rolled into cylinders, glued tight (giving them their distinctive white colour) and shoved into her head to create her short cropped hair; all of her human body parts were made this way. Kingu has intimacies towards her Yozi (a watchman's loyalty), watchmen and spycatchers in general (respect for fellows), several negative ones to certain 2nd and 3rd Circle Demons (foolish escapees from the glories of eternal preservation), a hatred of change (loyalty to J'Qeju), cruel pranks (torturously good fun), the senses (my greatest possession) and sand (What I should be made of).


Yozi:


J'Qeju

Associated 2nd Circle Demons:

Aeaea, the Worm that stands to watch - Defining Soul of The Hunter Blizzard in Sand

Hveðrungr, the Laughing Horror - Indulgent Soul of The Hunter Blizzard in Sand


Associated 1st Circle Demons:

Akutav, The Disaster Diggers; Progeny of the Worm that stands to watch

lotnaidi, The Pokers; Progeny of the Laughing Horror

Phlegyas - The Volcano of Freezing Flame - 7th Soul of the Glacier that Preserves
Hatred of all that bring change (Exalts, Fair folk, Neverborn, etc.) 

A twisted mountain rises above a single plain in Malfeas, a cold demonless place, only inhabited by the hell damned elementals, as Phlegyas strikes down any demon for their arrogance of entering his realm. From his sides made of obsidian, Phlegyas bleeds his cold fire, which both burns and freezes it's targets. Which are many, as Phlegyas is wrathful side of J'Qeju, unmoving but also unwilling to accept any change to his domain that he didn't put in. When even something as minor as mouse enters his realm, the Volcano of Freezing Flame will throw a great piece of his unmitigated hate upon this disturbance to his realm's continuality. Phlegyas is however most angry at one type of thing, what he calls 'Agents of Change', which include Exalts, Fair Folk and the Neverborn. The first have been changed and desire more change for their own glory, the second are just want constant change for changes sake, and the last want to have the worst kind of
change - the kind of change that destroys the world for the end of all that is permanent. 

What surprises many is that Phlegyas' realm is not inhabited by his 2nd circle demons or the progeny or any sort of common demon. Instead it is inhabited by 'Shiqqs', 1st circle demons of his own creation, and a horde of fire elementals that have sworn allegiance to the Volcano of Freezing Flame. This is linked to how the 3rd circle demon enters Creation; when a fire elemental is bound to a human master and driven to a point of anger, desperation and self-doubt that they see no way out and wish to die, Phlegyas will manifest as a cloud of smoke with a wispy, but hypnotic, voice. He offers the elemental a chance for freedom, in exchange for become a spirit of cold fire, a thing damned to Malfeas and an enemy of Yu Shan. If they accept, the fire elemental will be empowered and broken free of what every magic binds them to the human, allowing the spirit to act on the anger built up over time. The other things that dwell in the Volcano's plain are a collection of Fair Folk and Dragon Bloods that Phlegyas keeps as prisoners to amuse his elementals and demons in there off time. Their cathartic attacks on his imprisoned enemies keeps the rage of the Unquestionable in check, and occasionally gets a chuckle from him. This laughter can create pyroclastic flows that drive the victims insane while chilling them to the bone and yet be warm encouragement for his followers.

Phlegyas is usually summoned for his raw destructive power, being able to make volcanoes erupt on demand, or create infernal coronas that are fuelled by constant rage to block off all Exalts, Fair Folk and direct servants of the Neverborn from any fortress ,city or location the summoner desires. The Volcano of Freezing Flame take the form of an armless man, whose face matches the greatest annoyance in the summoner's social circle, covered in open wounds which bleed tendrals of his cold fire to act as limbs. These are all results of the Crippling, and the constant stream of fire keeps J'Qeju from just preserving the Volcano of Freezing Flame as it burns into his master's glacial form. The intimacies of Phlegyas include one to his Yozi (glorious anger to a fellow victim), anger (addiction to both the experience and the show), fire (PYROMANIA!), volcanoes (ccccooooooolllll!!!!!) fire elementals and the shiqqs (concern of a wrathful overlord), negative ones to Exalts, Fair Folk and Neverborn (Hatred to the agents of change) and the destruction he cause to defend his land (A glorious necessity to defend my realm).

Associated Yozi:

J;Qeju

Associated 1st Circle Demons:

Shiqq, the Burning Vendettas; Progeny of The Volcano of Freezing Flame

Beyul - Valley Beyond The Great Imprisonment

Beyul - Valley Beyond The Great Imprisonment - 10th Soul of the Glacier that Preserves
Love of excluded lands unaltered by the world.

Beyul's home is a valley beyond the reach of normal mortals or demons, it's not even within Malfeas. When J'Qeju was dragged with his brethren to be imprisoned in the demon city, Beyul was simply bound to her home valley. The Glacier that Preserves chose to let this soul reside in the same pocket dimension that it always resided in, untouched by the Primordial War, a last paradise for the 3rd Circles to relax when the Yozis let them take a luxury break away from their prison. Beyul remembers those days fondly, when she was hostess and steward at the same time, partying with her fellow demons while limiting their effect on her home. Once she had several races that fled Creation as the Solars tried to exterminate them living in the valley, with it's magnificent gardens and immense mansions, but all that is now lost. When the Crippling happened, Beyul's valley, as a part of her very being; entered an apocalyptic time when every tree burned down and the rivers turned to ash filled blood. Most of the inhabitants either died off or made an Exodus to Itzpapalotl, hoping for some mercy from the Tree of Tzitzmitl. Beyul was only spared being preserved by J'Qeju due to her nature being a land untouched, and as such, any change to her would further damage her land and could potential hurt the Demon King of Winter and kill the Valley Beyond The Great Imprisonment.

Beyul's humanoid form is now that of an old crone, with a peg leg, a withered arm and a balding scalp all dressed in the rags of a once glorious ball gown. She was ashamed of how she was no longer a paragon of a beautiful nature spirit, and this nearly cost her a chance to enter Creation. For when a nation completely separated from the rest of Creation and curses heaven for letting outside powers interfere with their small world and that hell would be a better protector. She has only entered Creation once, to protect the Land of Yaenma. This small state was visited by Beyul during the Great Contagion. The demoness used her powers to seal the kingdom off from the devastating plague, quarantine provinces and create a magic boundary to hold off the later Fair Folk invasion. However, Beyul usually is used to sealing palace sized areas for prisons, pleasure houses, secret nurseries and safehouses; so an act of that magnitude bound herself and the kingdom together, meaning that while she cannot enter the rest of Creation on her own volition, she can enter Yaenma during Calibration, and all sorts of doorways exist in the kingdom to her secret valley. This demonic presence has effect the culture of Yaenma as it now has reject all gods, elementals and Exalts and only serves the Yozis, particularly J'Qeju, through their demonic patron Beyul. One still has to cross the Endless Desert for eight days to cross between, but the Valley Beyond the Great Imprisonment and the Glacier that Preserve are tied together by a river that crosses Cecelyne, which demon cultist of Yaenma use as a pilgrimage path at certain times of the year to visit the demon city.

The Intimacies of Beyul include her Yozi (Loving fear of a distant father figure), the kingdom of Yaenma (The Love of a wise mother like Kimbery), the species that once dwelled in her land (longing), one to Cecelyne (making my exile possible), a negative one to explorers (going to places untouched), to secret places and faraway lands (jealous admiration), peoples separated from the wider world (desire to parent over) and her former glory and beauty (desire to go back to the good old days).

Associated Yozi:

J'Qeju


Associated 2nd Circle Demons:

Elymas, the Demon Prophet - Messenger Soul of Valley Beyond The Great Imprisonment


Associated 1st Circle Demons:


Clothro, The Keys that Float between Worlds; Progeny of the Demon prophet


Knout, The Flagellant Lemmings; Progeny of the Demon prophet



Associated Humans:
Yaenma

Ekilihclo - Palace of The Unchanged

Ekilihclo - Palace of The Unchanged - 3rd Soul of the Glacier that Preserves
Love of Beings Unchanged in their Innate nature.

Ekilihclo loves mortals, dragon kings, and Most Mountain Folk. He despises Exalts, the Olchilike and Chaos Seers, as they were a perfectly good individual and turned into completely different beings. If he could, the Palace of the Unchanged would keep all mortal beings as the babies they were born as, but even he cannot stop time, so Ekilihclo accepts these beings as they age. This acceptance goes so far that within the floating palace that is his main body, Ekilihclo keeps a population of mortals who were trapped in Malfeas and lets them live in relative comfort and safety. Whole generations have grown and died here, and Ekilihclo is proud that not one of them has Exalted. However, his patronage of mortals has only lead him to be furious as the Yozis as the plans for Infernal Exalted becomes more and more apparent, and while the Palace cannot face down any of those former Primordials, he'll prepare his wards to avoid interference from these new Chosen of Hell.

Ekilihclo is a flying palace made of Brass and Unicorn Bone, designed to resist assault in not only the 3 mortal dimensions but many, many more that even Exalts cannot imagine. His mortal form is of a king of great beauty, but a kind of beauty mortals can also achieve, except for a single, and now broken, horn on his forehead. The horn is the only remaining scar from the Crippling, as one of his many powers allows Ekilihclo to undo scars, mutations and body modification on any target. Why he didn't do it to the other 3rd circle souls of J'Qeju is unknown, but it is the least miraculous of his powers. He can banish any possessing spirit, cure Mountain Folk of being a Chaos Seer and temporarily suppress the powers of an Exalt. However, Ekilihclo's greatest power is Seal Upon Exaltation, which is linked to how he enters Creation. If any mortal beats an Exalt in their specialised field, such as out casting a twilight sorcerer or winning a debate against an eclipse, and announces that they refuse any Exaltation, The Palace of the Unchanged will appear before the mortal and place the Seal Upon Exaltation on the human's soul, ensuring that they cannot Exalt unless they change their mind on the Chosen and become a radically different person from when they accepted the seal. This has lead Ekilihclo to be the viewed as the closest a demon can become to being good in the eyes of the Immaculate Faith.

The main reasons to summon Ekilihclo are to deal with either an Exalt, an Olchilike or a Chaos Seer. He is also summoned to stop mortals from Exalting using his Seal Upon Exaltation. However, his Intimacies should be considered when summoning Ekilihclo; to his Yozi (Loyalty of a servant to an exiled master), to mortals (adoration of their unchanged nature), several negative ones to Exalts, Olchilike and Chaos Seers (a mix of pit, disgust and pure fury), another negative one to those who give out Exaltations, especially the Unconquered Sun but not including the Yozis (Rage at destroying the original mortal
states of humans), to not being attack (to protect himself and his wards) and to his beautiful appearance (pure, unmitigated vanity of what has not changed).

Associated Yozi:


J'Qeju


Associated  2nd Circles Demons:

Ligeia, Siren of the Dead - Messenger Soul of the Palace of The Unchanged


Gyushi, Repairman to the Broken - Wisdom Soul of the Palace of The Unchanged


Associated 1st Circle Demons:

Elimi, The Unliving Deals; Progeny of the Siren of the Dead

Wanemep'hou, The Anteater Repairmen; Progeny of the Repairman to the Broken

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