(Created by: Peter Frederick <peterf@geko.net.au>)
Dear List,
Watching TV the last few days I have been seeing an ad for this week's episode of Goosebumps, a teen-horror show, which seemed to revolve around the idea that garden gnomes were creatures of evil hiding amongst us. Inspired to remove this slur on the good name of our garden watching friends I came up with the following.
"To watch over and to protect."
A long time ago a young Kyriotate serving the Archangel David was assigned to protect a community from harm, both diabolic and mundane. With the help of other servitors of David he convinced the community that they could gain protection from the perils of the physical and spiritual world by making small guardian figures in the shapes of animals and people. With a special attunement granted to him by David he took up residence in the figurines and fulfilled his task of watching over the community.
Rumours of that safe haven and their guardian figures spread across the world, prompting other communities to make similar figurines. Other Kyriotates approached Duranthane requesting to become his servitors and protect other communities as he had done. The ranks of his followers grew until he was awarded his Word. All of Duranthane's Celestial Servitors are Kyriotates, for reasons that will become obvious.
due to their very specialised nature, Servitors of the Angel of Garden Statuary may gain dissonance by two methods. First, a servitor of the Angel of Garden Statuary gains dissonance whenever the community he is assigned or has chosen to protect comes under attack (referee's decision) without him making all efforts to protect it. Second, one point of dissonance for each day spent possessing a host other than a piece of garden or architectural ornamentation.
Duranthane provides his Servitors with only one attunement, which Duranthane has improved on since David originally gave it to him.
Servitors of Garden Statuary can inhabit as hosts any piece of garden or architectural ornamentation. They may inhabit a statue for up to 10 minutes times their Celestial forces, but not animate it, unless the statue is a figure of a person or animal of less than 3 feet in height or length (whichever is greater). If inhabiting a 3 foot or less figure of a person or animal the Angel may possess the figure for Check Digit of their Resonance Roll in days. They may animate the "guardian figures," treating them as level 1 vessels if made of wood, plaster, concrete or metal, level 2 if made of stone. A Servitor of the Angel of Garden Statuary gains no dissonance for damage to a such a vessel while actively defending his assigned or chosen community.
due to their very specialised role Servitors of the Angel of Garden Statuary have access to only one rite. To regain one essence spend 12 hours possessing your full capacity of guardian figures without animating any.
Duranthane is seen by most to be a stalwart and solid, if slightly odd, defender of God's Plan, particularly by David, Lawrence and Michael. He gets on quite well with Novalis, because of their common interest in gardens. He and Eli are cordial, but Duranthane continues to resist Eli's suggestions as to "more interesting" garden statuary.
Duranthane is very directed for a Kyriotate. He takes his job very seriously, all the more so for its seeming ludicrousness in a modern world. He knows that many do not feel that the Choir of **Possessors** does its part at the front lines of the War and feels partly responsible to hold up his fellow Kyriotates' reputation on that score. He provides his Servitors with a relatively large amount of support, often dropping in for a chat without being summoned, but accepts few excuses for failure.
due to the effectiveness of Duranthane's servitors many diabolic agents have been forced to recruit "gnome-knapping" teams who remove possible hosts of an Angel of Garden Statuary from a locality before any action takes place there. Duranthane has also recruited a corps of highly loyal gnome-knappers who provide alibis for gnomes lost in action or taken by diabolic forces, often sending the gnome's owners reassuring letters accompanied by carefully posed photos of a stand-in gnome at various easily identifiable places far from the lost gnome's home.
Duranthane is interestd in his Servitors, but is very busy.