BLACK SCHOOL

MEMBERSHIP: Daimon Hellstrom imposter, Jack Riley

PURPOSE: Devil Worship

AFFILIATIONS: Satan

ENEMIES: Gabriel Rosetti

BASE of OPERATIONS: Iceland;
US Branch in San Francisco, California

FIRST APPEARANCE: Hellstorm#1(April, 1993)

HISTORY:
(Hellstorm#1(fb)-BTS) - The Black School was allegedly founded in Iceland, beneath a lava rock formation known as the Black Castles. In these underground caverns, students, new clergymen among them, went to learn the black arts--arcane teachings on all manner of horrific subjects. The teacher is said to have been Satan himself. Graduates of the School went on to form their own Satanic cults.
At some point, it branched out to the USA, setting up a Black School in San Francisco, California.

BTS - Satan (Marduk Kurios) sent the demon who had posed as Daimon Hellstrom to lead the San Francisco branch of the Black School--in an effort to draw out the true Daimon Hellstrom.

(Hellstorm#1) - The demonic imposter led a number of capturing and ritual sacrificing of homeless people. Hellstorm (as he now called himself) learned of this and sent an anonymous note to Gabriel Rosetti, knowing he would investigate the School and try to stop it. Rosetti learned of the Black School from Avram Siegel, and infiltrated their number. However, Rosetti revealed himself when the demon imposter prepared to slay a woman. The imposter easily overpowered Rosetti and prepared to kill him, when Hellstorm revealed his presence, drove off the demon, and dispersed the cultists.

COMMENTS: Created by Rafael Nieves and Michael Bair.

While I often rave about Ellis and Manco's Hellstorm, I dug Nieves and Bair's too--same goes for Kaminski and Gross'!

What a name dropper Riley is (see below). Lovecraft would be proud!

Riley's "Grimoire" would most likely be a copy of the Grimorium Verum, an ancient occult text, nearly as powerful as the Darkhold, which was mentioned in Hellstorm#3. Or it could just be a name for any book of dark magic.

CLARIFICATIONS:
No known connection to

Satan-I think I've made my opinion abundantly clear on this subject.

Jack Riley

Formerly Father Riley--After being excommunicated from the Catholic Church, he became involved with the occult, specifically the Black School. He was instrumental in the plot to revive the Black School in the USA.
About a year later, Gabriel Rosetti confronted him at the San Francisco Airport, and questioned him about the Black School.
It is unclear whether Riley attended the ritual disrupted by Rosetti and Hellstorm, or if he was intimidated by Rosetti and so did not attend.

At Kennedy airport, Riley was met by his younger sister, Mariel, and her daughter Kim. He saw Hellstorm and mistakenly assumed Daimon to be after him. He rushed into a bathroom and, using his "Pocket Grimoire" cast a spell to summon some demons to protect him. The two demons possessed Mariel and Kim, and then attacked Hellstorm (and Riley when he got too near). The two women were eventually exorcised of their demons, but Jack Riley did not survive--whether from wounds from their attacks, or whether his soul was taken back to Hell with the possessed demons was not clear

Riley did have access to a book of black magic, but he knew just enough of the occult to be dangerous--to himself as well.

--Hellstorm#1 (Hellstorm#4, 5)

Mariel and Kim Riley

Younger sister and niece to Jack Riley, they had no knowledge of his involvement in the occult, or even of his excommunication. They met him at Kennedy airport, but when he summoned a demon to fight off Hellstrom, they became the hosts. They attacked Hellstorm, but also attacked Riley. The presence of these demons instigated the triggering of the dormant demon within another person at the airport, Jason Maldonado, who became Soulfire and attacked Hellstorm as well.
Hellstorm managed to help Soulfire shed the demonic influence on his actions, and then Soulfire joined him in fighting off and exorcising the two demon-possessed women.

While possessed by demons, they possessed superhuman strength and a few magical abilites.

--Hellstorm#4 (5

 

 

 

Last updated: 10/03/02.

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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