For, you see, a Maragal could be anyone: your Band mate, your coworkers, your immediate boss, your favorite sex partner: anyone.

In fact, a Maragal could be you.

A Maragal's resonance is for mimicry, in a way. They are very malleable demons, who (when provided with the appropriate Ethereal Forces) can duplicate any other Major band's appearance, nature and resonance. In fact, if they get all the Ethereal Forces from a specific demon, they can duplicate that demon precisely, down to Attunements, memory, Songs and Skills. A Maragal has almost no sense of self on its own, so the process results in the perfect sleeper agent. The Maragal will act exactly like the old demon, and no one will suspect anything different … until a trigger event. At that point, the rudimentary personality of the Maragal resurfaces, calls in Asmodeus' secret police, and patiently waits for debriefing, and the removal of the aggravating personality.

Until the next time it is called into service.

Maragalim tend not to last too long in Asmodeus' service: usually, one accomplishes three or four missions before it is broken down into it's component Forces and recycled to make another Maragal. This is because if a Maragal is used too long, it begins to develop a real personality of its own.

This is a problem because, while a Maragal in deep cover does not consciously remember that it is an agent, it does subconsciously … and because the subconscious personality doesn't particularly want to cease to exist, it will attempt to survive. Even if survival means doing things not consistent with the cover personality. Asmodeus cannot use fresh Forces to create a Maragal (see below), so there is a possibility that the Maragal might have subconscious access to all sorts of Songs or Skills. In any stress situation where the cover personality cannot handle a particular problem, the Maragal must make a Will Roll or subconsciously attempt to access its hidden abilities. Whether successful or not, the attempt causes dissonance.

If there is an actual Song or Skill down there somewhere, the cover personality is usually delighted, and naturally tries to use its "natural talent" at every opportunity. This causes the dissonance to mount quickly, until it is converted into Discord. At that point, the Maragal's control snaps and the demon realizes that he's an unwitting agent for Asmodeus … whose forces are moving in quickly to collect him. Luckily for the demon, Maragalim don't have Hearts.

Those that manage to survive often seek Redemption. Unfortunately, few live through it. However, Dominic has been successful often enough that he has been able to create a minor Choir of his own: the Emphatics, angels capable of reading the emotions and thoughts of those around them. Emphatics are Dominic's most merciful Servitors of Judgement, as their ability to get inside another's head usually makes them highly sympathetic and understanding. Unfortunately, the constant press of other's minds and feelings causes some Emphatics to snap from the strain: when they Fall, Asmodeus is happy to give them the oblivion they crave.

Maragalim do not fledge, nor can they reproduce normally. Asmodeus hit upon the method of creating them during his unsuccessful research in reverse-engineering Lilim.

To construct a Maragal, Asmodeus needs a Force from every major Band of demon (Lilim Forces are the hardest to acquire, which is one reason why he's so keen on catching Renegade Tempters). At least one of these Forces must be Ethereal (and only one), but there are no other restrictions on type. The result is a featureless humanoid with barely enough volition to move (Intelligence 1, Precision 3).

Next, a demon that is associated with the group that Asmodeus wishes to infiltrate is kidnapped and brought to the Halls of Loyalty, where his Attunements, Distinctions and Ethereal Forces are delicately stripped away and transplanted onto the Maragal. Asmodeus has to personally oversee the procedure for it to work. The reduced demon is then kept alive with specialized artifacts, thus preventing the demon's Heart from shattering (and alerting his Prince that something has gone wrong). The Maragal is now primed with the "donor's" memories and abilities, and has its short-term memories blanked. Asmodeus usually arranges matters so that the Maragal 'wakes up' somewhere with a blurred recollection of a party or minor accident.

The Maragal then makes his way back to its compatriots, seemingly (even to itself) unchanged. It then goes about its daily business, with no overt or covert indication that it is a spy … until Asmodeus activates it, or it encounters a pre-determined triggering event. The rudimentary personality then calls in the nearest internal security team (using the Band Attunement listed below) and waits for debriefing. Asmodeus will remove the borrowed Forces and abilities, graft them back onto the demon, and add another defendant to the show trial.

Sometimes, when it becomes clear that the original demon was not involved in treason, the Maragal will be recalled, the demon will be restored and allowed to go about his business.

Sometimes.

Maragalim are not really meant to be available to PCs: they are effectively a monster race suitable for injecting a note of horror into In Nomine. They have no real personality, will or goals, and any demon that discovers its existence will obliterate it immediately, secure in the knowledge that his Prince will cover his back, no questions asked (Princes hate Maragalim, and it's in their best interest to publicly discourage the practice of using them).

Handling subconscious skills and abilities can be tricky. As this is not normally a Band available to PCs, the GM who wishes to allow one should simply determine 10 points worth of useful Songs and Skills (Attunements and Distinctions are highly unlikely to survive, though a Renegade Maragal may certainly have a delusion that they possess either). Once the Maragal has become Discordant, these added abilities (even ones that had not previously surfaced) become freely available. Frankly, the Renegade will need all the help that it can get.

Running a PC Maragal is a delicate matter: many PCs will legitimately object to suddenly having a favorite character warped beyond recognition, and there aren't many benefits to starting out play with a demon that everybody else (including the other PCs) is actively looking for. A PC Maragalim may be suitable for a Renegade campaign, but that would require special handling on the part of the GM, and an understanding by the player that the PC may not last very long.

The temptation may be strong for a GM to decide that an existing PC is actually a Maragal that is about to snap under the strain, but that's really only suitable in a very dark, low-contrast campaign. The player, once his or her true nature is revealed, will be in direct opposition to the rest of the party, and cannot hope to have things go back to normal. Some groups might enjoy the resulting war of wits (and wholesale slaughter), but other groups will not.

A Maragal's connection with the demon they have replaced allows them to completely replace the demon's life. If they get killed, they show up at the original demon's Heart. Summoning rituals will affect them as if they were the original demon. They are subject to the original demon's Word and Band dissonance requirements (and any Discord that results solely from violating either will not cause the Maragal to suddenly realize its true nature). Not even the original demon's Prince will recognize the switch, unless they are suspicious enough to examine the Maragal closely.

Maragalim of the Game also have the ability to issue a silent command to be retrieved, once a particular triggering event occurs. The triggering event differs for each mission, but is usually the point where it is obvious that the demons that it watches have moved from speculation and planning to action. This incidentally also 'wakes up' the rudimentary Maragal personality, which is usually barely capable of keeping a low profile until the Game's forces can close in.

No other Prince has Maragalim in service, although most of them have taken apart a few in an attempt to duplicate Asmodeus' production methods. So far, they haven’t been able to reproduce the trick.