Claudine

Mercurian Ambassador of Flowers (Novalis)

Angel of Forgiveness

Adapted by: "Austin G. Loomis" <aoomis@ocean.otr.usm.edu>

[The following writeup is based on a _Magna Veritas_ Archangel created by Erick-Noel "Baron Samedi" Bouchard (aac503@agora.ulaval.ca, bouche@magellan.umontreal.ca). The Archangel is in turn based on his good friend Claudine Allen (callen@poynting.phy.ulaval.ca), who (I'm sure) will forgive me if I screwed this up. Anything you like about the writeup can ultimately be credited to one of them; anything you hate is probably my own fault for not getting my own copy of INS/MV before I tried to translate a character from it. If you'd like to see the original, she's at http://mat.ulaval.ca/jfducre/claudine.htm -- part of Le Royaume des Morts de Baron Samedi (Baron Samedi's Realm of the Dead).]

Forces: 11

Corporeal 3  Strength 4       Agility 8
Ethereal  5  Intelligence 10  Precision 10 (Mind 50)
Celestial 4  Will 12          Perception 6 (Soul 48)

Vessel:

Human/1 (charisma +2) [Body 16], Role: Student/4

Skills:

Artistry (folk dance)/3, Chemistry/1, Cooking (Precision)/2, Emote/1, Fast-Talk/2, Suffer Fools Gladly (Will)/3 [As Claudine has no skill in Lying...]

Songs:

Charm (Corporeal/3, Ethereal/2, Celestial/2), Dreams (Corporeal/3, Celestial/2), Harmony (Corporeal/2, Ethereal/3, Celestial/3), Light (Corporeal/1), Projection (Corporeal)

Attunements:

Seraph of Novalis, Cherub of Novalis, Elohite of Novalis, Mercurian of Novalis, Crown of Joy, Master of Peace, Angel of Repentance, Divine Forgiveness (see below)

Discord: Lustful/2

Special Rites:

Special Attunement:

Divine Forgiveness -- With one Essence and a Will roll, the angel can awaken remorse in the heart of any human who's done wrong. For minutes equal to the angel's Celestial Forces, the target will feel a profound sense of Guilt, apologizing ceaselessly and attempting to make amends for what he has done. Additional Essence may be spent to increase the number of people affected. Only humans are affected by this attunement.

The bar was dark, and cigarette smoke was drifting in the air. With a casual gesture, the young woman calmly loosened the strings of her bonnet as she listened to the rantings of the people around her:

"...don't mean to brag, of course, but it's not always obvious how to survive surrounded by so many idiots, especially when one's a superior being like myself. People are nothing really. Now you, even if you are an inferior being, you're very well-evolved..."

"...uncool. What do you want me to do, that you're telling me that? The point is this -- I do what I want, but I don't believe I'm as bad as others may think. True artists are always misunderstood. Ahoy then! Anyone wanna go to Subway?"

"...an imaginary individual, of course, whose name I shall withhold to avoid damage to his reputation. Let us call him T__. I shall spare you his description, since without doubt such ludicrousness would be able to give birth in your infantile gullets to a pure flame of crystallized genius. For, you see, unlike my colleagues here, I do not take myself for a superior being. Not at all. I am a superior being, and I have not the hypocrisy to deny it. And as a sign of my generosity, I advise you, mere mortal, to take the benefit of the pure intelligence of my genius..."

"...oh yes, old man. Your wisdom is so colossal, and we've all got the grand fortune to listen to you, even me, a poor naive child who'll never have your intellect. Yeah, right."

"...the b***ards, I'm gonna trash their boring Chronicle. They're all going to be up s*** creek. Five times already, I talked to my Primogen, he wanted to come with us himself, but I told him, `Don't do that, we need spies on *their* side too!' My Elder is proud of me anyway, 'cuz out of the whole Clan, I'm the one that's brought him the most information. I told you how I've got that magic dagger? Next time, I'm gonna Obfuscate and bash 'em in the back when they're not looking. Then, with my Disciplines, I'm going to dig two graves, the other for..."

Five hours already she'd been listening to their boasting and their jeremiads. Interrupting them all, she stood, spread out her arms, and said to them with a tender smile:

"My poor little ones, I understand how hard your lives have been. In your heart of hearts, you are all just little children suffering from your wounds. Come here."

The five Servitors of Malphas fell silent in an instant. Then, one by one, they approached her with a suspicious air. They stared at her an instant in the most perfect silence. The first collapsed in sobs then, followed by a second, then the entire Troupe were weeping at her feet. Claudine took them in her arms and comforted them in her gentle voice. Once again, the Angel had conquered.


A servitor of Novalis, Claudine earned her Word in 1995 after forgiving the torturers who'd spent six hours of atrocity making a martyr of her vessel.

She manifests in a vessel that looks like a Beauceronne (see below) of 18 years, dressed in traditional Quebecois woman's garb (white bonnet, checked dress and ankle boots). Her debonair gentleness shines around her and warms the hearts of the most unfortunate. She makes her gentle and loving Superior look like a skinhead Malakite of David by comparison.

[Beauceron(ne): a native of la Beauce, a quasi-mythic region in southern Quebec. (It appears to have been named for the Beauce in France, or maybe vice versa.) Since I promised Claudine to leave it in peace, along with her little hometown, I'll say no more about it. - bouche]

God calls on Claudine when martyrs need her support, or again to restore impenitent sinners to reason. Formerly a Servitor of Guy (the Angel of Medicine), she's still on excellent terms with him and they often form a common front against the diabolical forces. She loves everyone, even demons, to the point where it can get frankly discouraging... (But we'll forgive her this little fault.)

[(As seen in the INS/MV Superior writeups...)

What Claudine thinks of...

Mortals: I love them all and I forgive them.
Animals: I forgive them too.
Violence: It's not very nice, but I forgive you anyway. Promise me you won't do it again?
Politics: ...can be interesting, but it needs care not to hurt other people.
Order and discipline: It's not a big thing, but I still forgive you (sorry -- force of habit)..
Other Archangels: They're all wonderful people and they're all my friends.
Servitors: I love them all, except when they're naughty, and even then I always find a way to forgive them.]

Distinctions

As an Ambassador, Claudine has been empowered by Novalis to grant her own distinctions, usually in parallel with her servitor's advancement through the ranks of Flowers.

Vassal of the Penitent:

The angel can detect the degree of a person's guilt (including the Guilt Discord or disadvantage) as for the Elohite of Judgment attunement..

Friend of the Martyrs:

The angel can cleanse a mortal of his guilt (each level of Guilt removed costs one Essence, up to a maximum of the angel's Celestial Forces).

Master of Repentance:

The angel can now use the power of Divine Forgiveness on ethereal and diabolical spirits (though not on major gods or Demon Princes -- they're still too big for this, as they are for Yves' Divine Logic attunement or the ArchDean's "And the Truth Shall Set You Free").

Allied: Blandine, Novalis, Zadkiel
Associated: Everyone else, except sometimes...
Neutral: David, Laurence, Michael

Chance of Invocation: 4

As an Ambassador holding an important Word, Claudine has been given the Archangelic power to respond instantly to invocations. She herself has a natural bonus of +4 to summon Novalis.

Invocation Modifiers:

+1: Feeding a stray dog
+2: Helping an unfortunate mortal
+3: Turning the other cheek when struck
+4: Forgiving a sworn enemy
+5: Reconciling typical members of two violently opposed ideologies, e.g. the Green Party and the Libertarians [*]
+6: Getting Bill Clinton to forgive Rush Limbaugh and/or vice-versa [*]

[*] In the original, these were respectively "Convert a Federalist" and "The repentance of Pierre-Elliot Trudeau." You can use those if you want...


(Back to Angels)
(Back to Angels By Superior)