Various Infernum Queries

I'm a big fan of this setting, but there are a few questions I've been having.

First up, can anyone explain to me what the following are? I know they're directions and time-zones, but I can't find an explanation in any book.
Abmouth
Pitwards
Clockwise
Widdershins
Witching
False Dawn

Secondly, are Deceivers who choose a distinct gender able to bear half-demons? The sidebar on Demonic Pregnancies in the Half-Demon entry in the Book of the Tormentor's Antagonists section mentions "Succubi and female Deceivers", and the Noble Mutation of Gender in the same book says it can't be taken by Deceivers, Mortals, Malcubi or gendered Angels, but there's no mention in the Deceiver breed entry in Book of the Damned that they can create half-demons, while for Malcubi it's mentioned as part of their Allure Breed Mutation.

Third, the flavour text of the various books occasionally mentions what are obviously Random mutations, but they are often 'flavoured' differently to the game's version- for example, a Deceiver who clearly has the first two links of Flies, but who has maggots crawling across/out of his decaying flesh instead of being surrounded by flies, a demon covered in spiders, and a Fiend who speaks from a nest of cockroaches living in his muzzle. My question here is: would you allow a character to change the "fluff" of mutations like this? I mean, there's no real rule change, but I was just curious.

Fourth, for the Chain of Claws, do you have to take each of the subsequent links seperately for each limb, or do they apply to all limbs? I can understand needing to buy the (Enhanced/Retractile) Claws mutation once for each limb to have it, but needing to buy Rending Claws, which gives you the Rend special attack, seperately doesn't make any real sense to me.

Fifth, the 4th Breed mutation of the Beast causes them to become quadrapedal. My query is this; would it be valid to have it that the beast doesn't start going around on all fours but instead mutates in such a way that its hands aren't really free? Having legs fuse into a tail (especially if it has the Chain of the Carriage) and having to half-drag half-sliter, or hands twist into long, insectile barbs of bone (explaining the upgraded Claw damage), for example?

Finally, out of curioisty, have any Infernum GMs out there ever run a Free City campaign? If you have, did you ever come up with any ideas for Noble Mutations of the Heresy?
 
1. Abmouth is 'up' the slope of the Pit, towards the upper layers. Pitwards is down towards the ninth circle. Clockwise is travelling around the Pit from left to right, widdershins is from right to left.

Most layers on the Pit are illuminated twice each day - once as the Morningstar rises past them, and again as it falls back down. Witching is the period of twilight or darkness between these two periods of illumination. False Dawn is when the falling Morningstar comes back into view.

2. Yep, Deceivers can have kids.

3. Up to the GM, but in general, I'd encourage players to flavour their mutations as they wish.

4. As long as the demon has two claw attacks, he can take this link. Only one claw needs to reach the fifth Link.

5. This is just a flavour thing again - go for it.
 
Thanks for the answers Mongoose Gar. Can you tell me which book has the explanations for the directions (I forgot that Witching and False Dawn are in "Timekeeping in the Pit" in the front of Book of the Tormentor) and what page they're on?

So, for the Chain of Claws, do all of the subsequent mutations apply to all Claw attacks, or only Rending Claws? For example, if I earn the Burning Claws (spend iliaster to do Hellfire damage with a claw attack) does it apply to all my claw attacks or just one unless it's purchased multiple times?

Oh, and this is a question I meant to ask before: when a player demon receives a Random mutation, would it be unfair to allow a player to 'trade' the resultant mutation to instead advance one link along a random mutation chain already possessed? Like, if they had 2 links in Carriage and 1 in Hellfire and they rolled Chain of Filth, would it be unfair to let them swap the Filth's first link for either Carriage 3 or Hellfire 2?

Speaking of mutation chains, are there any chains where you can go along multiple branches? Because I always thought it'd make sense to let a character take both branches of the Chain of the Devourer, because one augments the gullet (Swallow Whole & Iron Stomach Prison) and the other the mouth (Distend Jaws, Vorpal Jaws).

Speaking of which, if I took the Swallow Whole mutation for that chain, would I be allowed to take the Vorpal Jaws mutation anyway or would I have to take Iron Stomach Prison if I decided to complete that chain?

With the Chain of Lies, there are three 'branches' for the 4th link. The thing is, only 2 of those have the .# designator (4.1 and 4.2) and the two fifth links are both developments of those branches. Seeing as how there are spelling/word mistakes in some other locations (in Book of the Conquerer, the Lost Tower is referred to as the "lost power" at one point, and it is said to rest on Toil rather than on Emptiness), is this a misprint? Does the Chain of Lies actually have 6 links, with the 4th link coming with the drawback the demon takes 1D4 damage if it tells the truth?

One last question: I know plasm restores iliaster on a 1:1 basis (drink one 'point' of plasm to regain 1 iliaster), but how much iliaster does Agony, Strain and Sorrow restore, if any? Also, precisely how can these "greater hellbroths" be produced from multiple souls?
 
I can't give page references, I'm afraid - I don't have my Infernum books to hand, so I'm working from the original manuscripts.

Directions in the Pit are in Travel & Survival in the Book of the Damned.

Previous links apply only to one claw each time.

Non-random mutations are a GM call, but I'd allow a player to improve a previous random mutation instead of rolling again if the player wanted to progress along the link.

Again, taking both branches of a chain is a GM call.

Oops...hmm. Assume that the first IV link is IV.III and has no fifth link.

Agony restores 5 iliaster, Strain one iliaster, and Sorrow gives back 10 points of iliaster. You can make Hellbroths from multiple souls by torturing them in the same way and pooling the iliaster produced.
 
More questions from me...
*While an Artificer is using the Possess Machine power of its Breed chain, does it need iliaster?

*Similarly, while an Artificer is possessing a machine, is it capable of manipulating its superstructure? For example, extending 'pseudopods' of metal and circuitry to assimilate raw materials in order to repair damage (which takes a Craft check, naturally), or manipulating its interior structure to try and kill the foolish mortals who just tried to take cover inside the "empty" tank? (I have this weird image, ever since seeing 28 Weeks Later, of a group of humans running into a possessed tank, which promptly seals itself shut and rocks several times before going still... and vomiting a geyser of gore out of its barrel...) Then again, maybe I've been playing too much 40K- have Daemon Engines on the brain.

*An Artificer possessing a machine suffers injury when its host is damaged- if the machine is repaired, does the demon heal as well?

*Demons don't need to eat any substance other than iliaster, correct? Do they need to drink water either?

*The Book of the Conquerer, in the section detailing with creating domains, has a section on natural features. One of those features is rivers- my question here is "just what kinds of fluid can be present in an infernal river"? Beyond the fact that if the domain is situated near one of the Great Rivers (Phlegton, Acheron, Styx, Lethe, Cocytus) then the river is automatically a tribulatory of the Great River in question, the book doesn't say what kinds of fluid can be present.

*Do Deceivers have a natural weapon? The Breed entry in Book of the Damned says no, but Desahj, the Spymaster of Dis in Book of the Conquerer, has a Claw attack listed in its entry, despite not having any links of the Chain of Claws.

*Speaking of which, do the Chains of Claws and the Devourer have any effect on a demon/character who doesn't already have a Claw/Bite attack? My opinion was that the first links would *give* the character a Claw/Bite attack doing the normal damage for a creature their size- perhaps one size category lower.

*Can anyone tell me where to find the explanation for size modifiers? Because I haven't been able to do so.

*This isn't really a question, but why does the Hulk have a Primary Attack of Claw and a Secondary of Bite? Wouldn't a Slam attack be more appropriate for a creature of raging destructive force?
 
This is something that just came to me: can anyone tell me what Corruption Level demons are by default? Their entry in the Races section says 15, while Corruption says they're CrL 20.
 
Here's a question I really do need advice on. When a Lictat noble with the Chain of the Usurper's Thief of Power mutation conquers a rival demon's domain, it may 'steal' a number of noble mutations from that rival equal to the amount of territory conquered (so a Lictat invader who makes a Barony from an Earl's land would 'steal' three noble mutations).

My question is: how does that happen if the Usurper chooses to use Thief of Power? Does the Usurper...

A: gain the appropriate amount of Noble Mutations as symbols of power? For example, a Lictat Usurps a Barony from a Haimon Earl with the complete Chain of the Dead, gaining the bonuses and abilities of Soulshaping, Cohere and King of the Dead, even though these are mutations of another House?

B: denies the Usurped access to the appropriate amount of mutations?

If the truth is A, then what happens if the Usurper either loses its conquered lands or gives the territory it claimed to one or more loyal followers?
 
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