International Master Demonist Contest

International Master Demonist Contest 1684

Dates
Final date	24 Konil 1684
Host
Venue	The "Palace", Gathering Place
Presenter(s)	Master Lukas
Winner	Clancy DuPree, Mr Longhauler SUPREME
Participants
Number of entries	7

The First International Master Demonist Contest was organized by Master Lukas, the first International Master. Lukas earned the title by slaying Demon Queen Kizzy, and thus replaced her as the ceremonial head of the Community of Goetia. Serving as the International Master for over eleven years, Lukas decided in 1684 he wanted to retire. As there were no stipulations for how to pass on the title and responsibilities, Master Lukas discussed the possibility of a contest with the Conference of Cycle Families to select a new Master. He wanted the Conference to make sure that a new contest was held every 12 years.

Participants

Lukas requested that each cycle family send one participant to compete. He offered a few guidelines for how each family should select its participant: "The ideal demonist is comfortable being a demonist, they are proud to worship their demons, and speak confidently and engagingly. The ideal demonist is charismatic, and can function as the face of our entire Community. The Master Demonist should be steeped in the demonist lifestyle, knowledgeable of our history, aware of our persecution, and always striving to protect our way of life. The International Master must be unafraid of the other nations of this world, they must protect us and defend us. A Master must be respected by their cycle family, and must be able to earn the respect of the other families. A Master cannot condone the Old Ways or suffer those that do."

Titleholders

Contests were held among the turfed cycle families and their affiliated nomadic families in early 1684 to select one among them to represent them. These finalists would go on to participate in the International Contest held later in the year.

Titleholders for 1684
Title Patch	Eligible Families	Title	Winner	Home Venue
	Cliffbase CF, Boars, Horses, Eagles	Mr. Basecliff	Fred Gluck	Missie C's Bar and Parlor
	Navigators CF, Swifts, Horses	Mr. Sunset Coast	Lawrence Prout	DD's Dockside Dairy Bar
	Gateway CF, Oxen, Wolves, Boars	Ms. Gateway to the Best	Geraldine Costa	Lounge 68
	New Guard CF, Wolves, Eagles, Swifts	Mr. Gathering Place	Ash Prime	The "Palace" Annex Basement
	Crophaulers DF, Oxen	Mr. Longhauler SUPREME	Clancy DuPree	Exit 3 Park 'n Rest
	Troglonauts of Cibola, Bloodhounds, Oxen, Storm Petrels	Mx. Westwoods	Kris Pfizter	SIRenity Campground
	Gladius Demonist Society, Storm Petrels	Mr. Straight to Hell	Charles Krinkle	Attitude Check Check

Contest

The contest was held over a 5 day weekend in Gathering Place. Parts of the contest were held in private and other in public. Each day, Master Lukas would test the contestants on one of the five criteria he determined: Pride, Charisma, Knowledge, Fearless, and New Guard.

Pride Contests

The first day, the public was allowed to meet the participants. Master Lukas was to determine their pride, and rank each contestant. Each participant wore their finest clothing, full leather formal uniforms. Rankings:

1. Mr. Basecliff - Cliffbase CF outfitted him with their best attire, he wore Red to represent the Horses NF, of which is is full member. (7 points)
2. Mr. Gathering Place - Wore an extremely well fitted and tailored green uniform, likely imported from outside the Community. (6 points)
3. Ms. Gateway to the Best - Cinched to the gawds Mama! Her corset and leather dress impressed the judges. (5 points)
4. Mr. Longhauler SUPREME - Standard, well fitted, uniform. (4 points)
5. Mr. Sunset Coast - Standard uniform, trimmed with white of his Swift NF family. Boots unpolished. (3 points)
6. Mx. Westwoods - Nice-fitting uniform shirt, denim jeans instead of leather pants, sneakers instead of boots. Lack of full leather uniform and his low rankings caused a minor controversy among the New Wavers who demanded that full leather attire not be considered necessary for the full leather category. (2 points)
7. Mr. Straight to Hell - Barely any stage presence, oversized uniform, shirt not tucked in. (1 points)

Charisma

For the charisma portion, on the 2nd day, Lukas engaged all the participants in stage in a theological debate on demonism, challenging them and inviting them to change his mind on certain topics.

1. Ms. Gateway to the Best - Challenged the male-dominated community despite over half of Goetics not identifying as male. (7+5 points)
2. Mr. Straight to Hell - Called for a greater need for mental health support in the Community, citing a near-total lack of mental health professionals, creating a vacuum that allows predatory Old Guard "masters" to take advantage of younger acolytes. (6+1 points)
3. Mr. Longhauler SUPREME - Suggested a demonist crusade across southwestern Cibola to purge the Vanics. (5+4 points)
4. Mx. Westwoods - Proposed a "Middle Guard" that preserved certain old guard traditions within the context of New Way demonism. (4+2 points)
5. Mr. Basecliff - Challenged the Community to accept and worship deities more benevolent than traditional demons. (3+7 points)
6. Mr. Gathering Place - Wanted to allow non-demonists to settle in Goetia to provide specialized or luxury services. (2+6 points)
7. Mr. Sunset Coast - Called for unity among the Community in a generic speech. (1+3 points)

Knowledge

Private, one on one, interviews between Lukas and each contestant during which Lukas quizzed them on their knowledge of demonist practices, history, and current affairs. Summaries of the contestant's performance was kept secret, but astute observers at that evening's cocktail hours noted several things:

1. Mr. Straight to Hell - Seemed to stand next to Lukas for most of the evening, Krinkle is the oldest competitor and likely knows most of the Community's history through first hand experience. (7+6+1 points)
2. Mr. Longhauler SUPREME - Clancy DuPree is known have a Master's degree in political science and was assumed to do well in this category.(6+5+4 points)
3. Ms. Gateway to the Best - Gateway CF has served as de facto recordkeepers of the Community for awhile now and they have a strong oral history tradition.(5+7+5 points)
4. Mx. Westwoods - Kris was expected to do well but not too great, they are well-known as being proficient in a small number of demonic rituals, but lack breadth or awareness of current affairs.(4+4+2 points)
5. Mr. Basecliff - Expected to rise to mediocrity, solely based on the Cliffbase CF culture of traditions.(3+3+7 points)
6. Mr. Gathering Place - Although very taboo to mention, Ash Prime has only lived in the Community for less than a year, and many do not consider that he has put in enough time for the community.(2+2+6 points)
7. Mr. Sunset Coast - Anyone who hears more than two words come out of Lawrence Prout's mouth knows that he likely placed dead last in this category.(1+1+3 points)

Fearless

To prove they were fearless, each participant appeared solo on stage in "Gathering Place attire" (swimsuit category) and were forced to answer a random question.

1. Mr. Gathering Place - Q: How would you spread the good word of demonism? A: What is good? There's no good, or bad, in demonism. Demonism is pure worship of the self, however that may be. The demons we worship are mere reflections on either traits we value in ourselves, or want to develop in ourselves. I'd continue to my own authentic self, but LOUDER and more IN YOUR FACE about it! (7+2+2+6 points)
2. Mr. Longhauler SUPREME - Q: What's the single greatest threat to Goetia? A: Vanicism. It is antithetical to our cause, our morals, and our customs. I'd gather up all the families I could and drive south to rough them up!(6+6+5+4 points)
3. Mr. Basecliff - Q: Is there a limit to modernization and globalization that the Community should not cross? A: Yes, and only because demonism is largely incompatible with the rest of the world. If the Community can work with the outside world without compromising any of our Community's customs, then we can work. We have a good arrangement with Waffel Plains.(5+3+3+7 points)
4. Ms. Gateway to the Best - Q: Should demonist communities outside of Goetia be allowed to organize into families, send representatives to the CCF, and compete in this contest? A: If they meet the same criteria that the current families do, and agree to follow the Taboos established by the Community, I see no reason why not.(4+5+7+5 points)
5. Mx. Westwoods - Q: Hypothetical, the leaders of the New Guard propose to abolish the worship of all demons and begin to shun active demon worshipers, how would you, as the next IMD, handle it? A: If that is what the members of the family decide and vote on, how am I to disagree?(3+4+4+2 points)
6. Mr. Sunset Coast - Q: Describe if, or how, you'd expand the Community? A: Um, well you um see, um, uh.. set up... um.. like a new family compound, and such? Like in one of those ruined... uh.. deserted? Uh cities?(2+1+1+3 points)
7. Mr. Straight to Hell - Q: How do you reconcile your previous, and long-time full membership with The Saints CF and now suddenly being an outspoken opponent of the Old Ways? A: Uhhh. Wow. Um. I'm a little shocked by the question. All I can say is that it's just the way things were in The Saints.(1+7+6+1 points)

New Guard

Each contestant, solo on stage, had to recite a 10-15 minute speech on how they would use the Master Demonist title to continue to root out the evil old guarders, promote the New Way of Demonism, protect the Community from the outside.

1. Mr. Longhauler SUPREME - "We are demonists. We worship demons. We've been vilified, shunned, killed, relocated, and forcibly converted, for YEARS. We were forced to hide because of the fear of others. Because others merely assumed we were bad, just because we worshiped differently. They had no proof that our ways were dangerous, they just assumed. Now, we have taken the cloak off from us and are finding our way in the world. The Community is a safe destination for demonists. While we had to hid and defend ourselves for generations, an actual evil religion was allowed to flourish across the globe. Yes, I'm talking about Vanicism. And yes, I was serious when I suggested a crusade against them. I am dead. fucking. serious. The Old Ways of demonism are vanic. A crusade against the Vanics to the south WILL root out the remaining Old Guarders among us. We'll be protected by making them fear us again, and this time they will have a legitimate reason to fear us." (28 points)
2. Ms. Gateway to the Best - "The best way forward for the Community is to also pay our attention to demonists outside our Community. There are only about 36 thousand of us here. There are perhaps hundred of thousands of practicing demonist across the world. We need to support our brothers and sisters, and expand the definition of our Community to include ALL demonists who wish to associate with us." (27 points)
3. Mr. Gathering Place - "You know me! I'm from GP! We don't take kindly to old guarders and I'll make damn sure there won't be one left in the Community by the next time we have this contest. The New Way is THE way for Demonism. I'm your guy for new way. I'm the future of demonism. You don't need a motorcycle, or self-mutilation, or weirdly specific subservience, or even to know all the right rituals. It helps to learn them! But anyone can be Demonist, if they act as demonist in their heart. The new way is cool, exciting, and is getting a LOT of attention on the socials of a lot of 20-30 year olds in some of the older, more stuffy nations and religions. We gotta capitalize on that dissatisfaction and turn them on to demonism! There's a lot of room in the Community if we just let it happen! (22 points)
4. Mr. Basecliff - "Stay the course. Lukas has served as an amazing IMD, and it would be an honor to follow in his footsteps. He held us steady for years after losing our queen. How do you hold a community together that was, at one time, being held together by an actual demon queen? Lukas did it. He did it with a soft and kind approach. Firm against the Old Guarders, but otherwise neutral in all things. That's the purpose of the IMD... stay the course, speak only when necessary, and hold us together. Nothing fancy, just keep things moving at an appropriately moderate pace."(22 points)
5. Mr. Straight to Hell - "I'm a Gladius member. We work in the mines. It's honest, hard work. You know what we dig up out of the ground? Gold. Like, a lot of gold. I bet you've never seen gold unless you saw it in your old life. We just give it to the outsiders and they are supposed to give us an equal amount of goods. I don't trust outsiders to give us our fair shake. And I bet there's some Old Guarders out there in the Navigators hoarding the gold or the goods! I'd protect us by cutting off the middleman and just using our gold for ourselves!(18 points)
6. Mx. Westwoods - "A systematic overhaul of demonic ritual practice. Standardization! Our religion is a mess of half-assed ideas, half-baked innuendos, and a pantheon copy and pasted from the "bad guys" of other religions. Restart, reboot, and redo it all! I just, I just can't believe how much of a mess this whole thing is, we've been doing this for... hundreds of years? Okay, maybe the fact that we were scattered around the world explains some of the inconsistencies, but let's *clap* do *clap* better *clap* people! Make ME your new demon pope, and I will sort it all out for us. (15 points)
7. Mr. Sunset Coast - "I think I'd like to be Master Demonist for these reasons: One, I think I am smart and handsome. Two, people tend to follow smart and handsome people. Therefore, in summation and conclusion, three... people will follow me. Oh, and I take direction very well, so maybe like the other title holders could help me out? They all had pretty kick ass ideas. (8 points)

Final Results

Master Lukas took the stage at the final night of the contest. "This has been beyond my wildest dreams. I'm so grateful to the Families for organizing their title contests and sending this excellent crop of candidates. Now that we have all out candidates on stage, I'd like to thank and dismiss our lower scoring candidates and excuse them backstage. Mr Sunset Coast! Mx Westwoods! Mr Straight to Hell! Thank you all for making this a great and competitive inaugural International Master Demonist Contest!"

"Now, it's clear this was a tough contest. We have a tie for 2nd Runner-up. They both did an excellent job! Mr Basecliff and Mr Gathering Place! Congratulations!!"

"We're left with Ms Gateway to the Best and Mr Longhauler SUPREME. One of them will become the next International Master or Mistress Demonist! It was a stunning competition, and I hope it comforts the runner-up to know that there was only 1 point difference between these two. But, it's been a long time serving as your IMD, and I enjoyed every minute of, from the moment I stood over Kizzy's finally lifeless corpse, to now standing in front of all of you. Thank you. And with that, I am pleased to announce, your new IMD... CLANCY DUPREE! MISTER LONGHAULER SUPREME! Congratulations!!!"

Second Contest

The Second International Master Demonist Contest is scheduled to be held in 1696. In order to give individual titleholders more time to tour the Community and gain support among a wider array of Goetics, the various cycle families began holding their individual title contests in 1693.