The Repentant Devil
"He looks younger than most Devils, but he is significantly older. His gaze is blank and yellow, a wall against speculation. He grooms his sideburns artfully, and knows how to be tactful with less seasoned members of the crew."[1] "I have studied the souls of men and of angels, I have extracted the penitence of Saints, I have removed the knowledge-lust from an Astronomer through a borehole in the back of his head. I have seethed a Crown Princess' sister in mares' milk until there was no more jealousy in her."[2]
The Repentant Devil is a senior devil who claims to reject the infernal practices of his kind.
Really Repentant?
"He looks younger than most of his kind, but he is not. His eyes are pale fire, and his cheekbones are gaunt as a parliamentarian's sense of decency. "I can't say I'm sorry for the company," he tells you after a pint at the Singing Mandrake, "But I shan't be here forever. So do make the most of me." He makes no comment on your own soul, and seems entirely disinterested in its contents. "Don't worry," he says, "You're safe with me.""[3]
The Repentant Devil is an odd fellow. Unlike most devils, he is blunt as a hammer and honest as a saint, but is also rather rude and very vocal about the fact that he's "seen it all." The Devil also seems to have little interest in the soul trade.
In 1897, during the Feast of the Exceptional Rose, he paid a visit to London, having fallen out of favor with the Brass Embassy and the rest of his kind. During this time, he was known as the Impenitent Devil.Cite error: The opening <ref> tag is malformed or has a bad name
By 1906 in the Sunless Skies timeline, he has taken up residence in Port Avon, desperately looking for a way out.[4] He is also being stalked and harassed by mysterious individuals who seem to want to hire him for some mysterious purpose.[5]
The Repentant Devil also has an interest in the Avid Horizon's Home Office, and wants to improve things there to prove that it is "a testament to the folly of honest work."[6] His strategy seems to consist of keeping the orderlies as drunk and high as they can possibly get,[7] and to liven things up for them a bit with fireworks displays and other amusements.[8]
WHERE'S THE SOUL SAUCE
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""Control what something consumes," he says, "and you control what it is. The feeding of stars is a delicate art. I had spent centuries in cultivating them, studying their palates, watching for evidence of their responsive growth. I had influence. Now, how much can any Devil say the same?""[9]
The Repentant Devil was the original inventor of the soul purification techniques that the devils now perform at Carillon, though he considers the Carillon devils to be completely incompetent at their jobs.[10] His methods conflict with those of the Presiding Deviless, as he focuses on making souls nice and yummy for the Judgements, while the Deviless considers that method outdated and instead prefers to purify the soul for the patient's sake. All things considered, the Devil's methods ultimately prove superior.[11]
The people pursuing the Devil are actually agents of the Blue Kingdom, the High Wilderness's kingdom of the dead, still ruled over by a sun. They would like the Devil to cook souls for the Azure in Sky Barnet.[12]
History
"Winged, burning, elliptical. This being could throttle a volcano, could summon back a comet from aphelion."[13]
The Repentant Devil is very, very old. So old, in fact, that he predates the rebellion against the Judgements for which his people were exiled to Parabola; thus he was likely among the devils that passed through Caduceus.[14] Before the rebellion, he served for centuries as a favored cook for the Judgements, and he used his position to influence things in whatever way he could.[9] In fact, he considers the rebellion to be a waste of time and something that was doomed to fail,[15] and he looks down on the Well of the Wolf as a "celebration of defeat".[16]
Underneath his skin, the Devil is somewhat of an abomination, a being far above his bee-like brethren; he is similar in description to the Saints of Hell.[13] During his time as a denizen of Hell, he had a friend known as the Baroness, who belonged to the old aristocracy of Hell.[17] Later on, the Repentant Devil betrayed the aristocracy and worked with the republican devils to overthrow them, considering it something to keep him occupied, as his age left him with an extreme sense of boredom.[18]
