in_nomine-digest Sunday, August 19 2001 Volume 01 : Number 2339 In this digest: IN> [Fantasy] Elves ... and it's weird how this stuff dovetails, no? Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Fantasy Race. Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Novalis' Body Gaurd. Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Magical Swords Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Fantasy Race. IN> Re: Fantasy Swords. IN>A Question about the Resonances of Fate Re: IN> Re: digest #2334? Re: IN>A Question about the Resonances of Fate Re: IN>A Question about the Resonances of Fate Re: IN>A Question about the Resonances of Fate IN> Fantasy Month - Hoards-R-Us. IN> And next... Re: IN> And next... Re: IN> And next... Re: IN> And next... Re: IN> And next... IN> Next month's festivities Re: IN> Lost pilots ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 09:30:52 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: IN> [Fantasy] Elves ... and it's weird how this stuff dovetails, no? Of course, I should have been working on Tattered material this morning, but what can you do when the lightning strikes? It was write it or lose it*... :) Moe *Although I wish that it had waited until this evening... Elves Elves are one of the two archetypes (along with Humans) by which most other sentient races are defined: while very similar in body type to Humans, they can be distinguished by their height (average height is 5' 10''), thin frames and pointed ears. The Elves' preferred habitats are wooded areas or jungles, but can adapt readily to grasslands and coastal regions, and can live in a mountainous or desert environment with only a moderate amount of difficulty. They tend to produce quite a number of Soldiers. As a First Race (again, with Humanity), Elves have no special patron among the Archangels anymore: they are watched over by all of Heaven impartially. Indeed, many Archangels adopt an extremely laissez-faire attitude towards this race, almost to the point of negligence. It's almost as if Heaven is ambivalent towards Elves - which makes no real sense. After all, Elves are an intelligent, virtuous, resolute species, on the whole: they routinely display a stability and calmness that many Humans could only hope to imitate. Their original Archangelic agent-of-creation would be proud of the way that Elves have turned out. Indeed, Elves are almost perfect examples of what it means to be a Race of Light... Oh, right. That's why. Characteristics, Bonuses and Flaws Like most other Unbroken Races, Elves begin play with 5 Forces - but all Elves are assumed to have a potential for at least 6. It is a rare individual of this species that has not done so by his or her 200th birthday. Beginning Elves will have a minimum Agility of 2 and both Intelligence and Precision of 4 (before racial bonuses): they usually have a Will and Perception of 4, but this is not always the case. Maximum Forces for Saints: 15 Forces. Elves are quick (+2 to Agility) and accurate shots (+2 to Precision): early training gives them Move Silently/1, Ranged Weapons/1 (Bow), Savoir-Faire/1 and Tracking/1. Despite legend to the contrary, no Elf is immortal: none of them have ever managed to live forever. However, they do not age past a certain point (comparable to a contemporary Human in their mid 20's, or a modern human in their mid 30's), so it is easy to see how this legend could arise. Total points: 8. For the most part, Elves do not suffer much from psychological or physiological quirks, but they have one terrible burden: due to quirks in the current political scene, they are loathed by the forces of Hell. All Elves have an automatic -3 to all reaction rolls made by demons, Hellsworn, Undead and most of the Broken. The Elves reciprocate these feelings, to the point of having the Murderous/1 Disadvantage when dealing specifically with the above. Total points: - -8. Recommended skills: pretty much everything, with artistic and aesthetic skills emphasized over technical ones. Most Elves will have a point or two in either Singing or a Musical Instrument: Ranged Weapon/6 (Bow) is very, very common. Total Cost: 0. Psychology The fundamental aspect about Elves is that ... they abide. Being immune to the ravages of age, the species seems to lack the drive to aggressively push things along. This is not to say that Elves are passive victims of circumstance: they will act decisively to rectify a disadvantageous situation. It's just that they don't always act to make a good situation better. Also, Elves are much more likely to work around their environment, rather than alter their environment to taste. However, the species is not slothful: among other things, they enjoy a rich mental culture. Their society is based around their artists and craftsmen. While some Elvish s u b -cultures (usually those in Human or Goblin lands) may adopt feudal structures, most will simply develop the minimum amount of government necessary to allow them to get along with their lives. As a result, Humans and Goblins who settle in Elvish lands will often find themselves somehow gently jockeyed into running things. Elves prefer to play to their strengths, and let other races play to theirs. Of course, would-be tyrants quickly find themselves, well, dead. One of the Elves' strengths is their seemingly universal ability to put an arrow in a sparrow's eye at 40 yards. It should be obvious from the above that the Elves do not generally form nation-states: they develop distinct cultures, of course, but political unification only occurs when it's necessary, and quietly dropped when it isn't needed anymore. Of course, such ad hoc alliances can persist indefinitely: there is one forest region where the Elves have been banded together in opposition to a particularly annoying Orcish slave clan for the last six centuries. Said alliance, despite its age and stability, will still not long survive the last Orc still standing. Ecology Elves find woodlands and jungles most congenial places to live, and their eating habits reflect this. Their diet tends to be fruits, nuts, a variety of domesticated native plants/small mammals (including quite a few that plains dwellers would never have considered worth the trouble), fungi, snakes and insects. Wise adventurers soon learn to never ask what's in the stew: wiser ones don't watch a forest/jungle Elf cook or forage for food. It tastes good and it'll keep you going: just leave it at that. Of course, Elves in other regions will have a varied diet (Elves by the ocean will fish and keep extensive kelp farms; Elves in other species' nations will eat what their neighbors eat, with a slightly different spicing). In general, though, there are frankly few wholesome foods that an Elf won't eat, or serve up with an honestly innocent smile. Role in the War Considering what Elves can bring to the table (the species are ready-made Soldiers, after all), it's amazing that they aren't recruited more by Heaven. There are several problems, of course: first, the species is somewhat infertile by Human standards. Soldiers do not always have long lifespans, and Elven society cannot handle the loss of too much genetic material. The Host has worked upon the problem, but are hampered by the extreme stability of the original design. That's the second problem - and the real one, actually. Well, not the design: more like the designer. You see, calling Elves and Humans 'God Races' is actually a bit of a misnomer. The first members of both species were animated directly by the Almighty (in opposition to later Unbroken Races, which were animated by His loyal servants), but the original design was done by Archangels. Humans were a composite effort by Eli, Gabriel and Raphael. Elves were designed by the Archangel of Light. From his point of view, Elves were a perfect adaptation of sentient life to Earth. They were self-aware individuals with free will that could be counted upon to adapt to complicated situations, rather than barging across them with shortsighted exuberance. They also showed a seemly respect and deference for their superiors, which was always nice. Of course, when God decided to animate both finalists in the contest, as a loyal servant the Archangel of Light did not even think of complaining ... at first. After all, someone had to live in the plains: that was an unavoidable weakness of the Elves, and this was an acceptable compromise. The Archangel of Light even adapted Elvish genes to be crossbreed with Humanity: he no doubt believed that his design would win out in the resulting genetic battle. Unfortunately, s u b sequent events unfolded, resulting in the eventual Eden Experiment. The Archangel of Light was responsible for Lilith's inclusion in the first version of the Experiment, thinking that her superior design would demonstrate Humanity's fundamental flaws. Unfortunately, her refusal to play resulted in an all-Human Experiment (Elves were to have their own Experiment, but the War interfered). This angered the Archangel - although he later decided that it had all worked out for the worst anyway - and when the First Rebellion erupted, Lucifer was outraged to discovered that most of his personal creations refused to obey him. Lucifer had created too well, it seems. Hell has never forgiven the Elves since that day - and many in Heaven find it hard to completely trust them. After all, they are creations of the now-Prince of Darkness, and they were indirectly responsible for the at least part of the mess that was the Eden Experiment, and Lilith (the only corporeal Superior on either side) was originally an Elf. Seraphim can detect the Truth that Elves are firmly committed to the side of God, and the species have never shown any group tendency towards serving Hell... ....but it still is a little uncomfortable at times. Of course, the Archangels do not feel this way. The Seraphim Archangels are secure enough in their perceptions to recruit Elvish Soldiers and Saints without a second thought, Jordi likes them as proper stewards of nature, and the rest will take on recruits happily enough - but there is still a slight hesitation among regular angels at times. Many members of the Host are more than happy to find an excuse to not worry or think overmuch about Elves - an attitude that occasionally has led to tragedy. You see, Hell has certainly not forgotten about them. Elves and Hell Mostly the relationship is that of bitter enemies: Lucifer has a long memory, and hates his former children worse than he does Humans: Humans may be worthless scum, but they never betrayed him. This antipathy has spread among the Horde, and even to their corporeal servants. Elves learn fast that death is better than capture by Hell. However, there is a small - very, very small - faction of Elvish society that secretly obeys their old designer. They are descended mostly from those Elves that sided with Lucifer during the Rebellion, leavened by more recent converts. For them, the Prince of Darkness retains a fragment of what might almost be considered affection - they are immune to Hell's antipathy, and are treated somewhat better when they arrive in Hell. In exchange for such mercy, they are expected to help shatter Elvish society once and for all. Most of these Light Elves serve Lilith, as she can offer them Freedom from responsibility and conscience. Baal and Asmodeus pick up a few, as well. ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 07/29/01(this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 11:06:22 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Fantasy Race. - --- james walker wrote: > Trolls Finally, someone explains why they turned to stone in sunlight. ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 What came first -- the orange, or the color? __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 11:07:26 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Novalis' Body Gaurd. - --- james walker wrote: > ENT Yikes! No wonder the Ents were so scary! ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 What came first -- the orange, or the color? __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 11:12:02 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Magical Swords - --- james walker wrote: > Weren't you always just a little suspicious about how > many magical swords > there are in fantasy worlds? Yes, and this is an excellent take on it. Nicely done. ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 What came first -- the orange, or the color? __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 11:34:50 -0700 From: "Bevan Thomas" Subject: Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Fantasy Race. > > >--- james walker wrote: > > Trolls > > Finally, someone explains why they turned to stone in sunlight. > Actually, in Nordic mythology (and Tolkien for that matter), it's due to the fact that they were made from rock. I assume that the Sun, as the embodiment of the light of truth, reveals their nature, thereby transforming them back into the rock they were formed of. Gnomes suffer from that too in Norse mythology. - -Bevan - ------- "We've always been under siege. The 'Real World' keeps shoving us into corners -- so we've built some worlds of our own. Now whoever's controlling this... wants to take those worlds away. Well, I call that interplanetary war." -T. Campbell, "Fans: the Fandom Menace" _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 09:54:47 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Re: Fantasy Swords. > - --- Richard C Hanton-Rutherford > wrote: >> I really _really_ like this. > > Indeed. Mind if I add this to my Fantasy page? > Suitably attributed, of course. > > Moe Of course you can. Thanks. James. P.S. I vaguely recall some plan to assemble the Fantasy Month contributions onto a site; what was that all about? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 19:05:09 -0700 From: Charles E Smith Subject: IN>A Question about the Resonances of Fate I have a quote from a player in a game I'm GMing. I've settled it as best I could for my campaign, but I felt that the rule writers should see this for future revisions. >>>**Which gives us a very significant question, actually: Kronos has a link to the Symphony, something no other Infernal has. His Balseraphs gain the Resonance and Dissonance of a Choir as the result of this link. Trick is, if this is truly the aspect of the Choir, then they should be able to use their Resonances over media, just as real angels can. (Their Balseraph Resonances would still be limited, I think, being "truly" infernal.) <<< So what do you think? ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 19:06:08 -0700 From: Charles E Smith Subject: Re: IN> Re: digest #2334? Looks like a case of missing digests. Is anyone else having this problem, or is it just me? I think me and Orc are going to have to have a little talk ... *polishes knuckles*<<< Yeah, I'm having this problem too. :/ ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 18 Aug 2001 19:25:03 -0700 From: Kish Subject: Re: IN>A Question about the Resonances of Fate Charles E Smith wrote: > > I have a quote from a player in a game I'm GMing. I've settled it as best > I could for my campaign, but I felt that the rule writers should see this > for future revisions. > > >>>**Which gives us a very significant question, actually: Kronos has > a > link to the Symphony, something no other Infernal has. His Balseraphs > gain > the Resonance and Dissonance of a Choir as the result of this link. Trick > > is, if this is truly the aspect of the Choir, then they should be able to > > use their Resonances over media, just as real angels can. (Their > Balseraph > Resonances would still be limited, I think, being "truly" infernal.) <<< > > So what do you think? Can demons not use their resonances over media? ....Was it ever suggested Kronos' Balseraphs can't use their angelic resonances over media? - -- Kish ICQ# 28085879 AIM Kish K M ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 00:54:14 -0400 From: "William J. Keith" Subject: Re: IN>A Question about the Resonances of Fate >Can demons not use their resonances over media? > >...Was it ever suggested Kronos' Balseraphs can't use their angelic >resonances over media? > >-- > Kish Demons can use their Resonances over live media, but not on recordings. Since Kronos' Balseraph Resonance is described as "emulating" the Resonance of a Choir... hmm. I'm trying to reach for a canon answer and finding it murky. I suppose it could easily depend on how effective you want demons to be overall... and how "right" Lucifer is. If the Balseraph is masquerading as an angel, and its Resonance wouldn't work on recorded media, this would be a test you could use to penetrate the disguise. Would you allow the existence of such a test? Can a lie be so effective that it takes on all measurable aspects of the Truth? Can it in this way become the Truth? My take: Kronos' Balseraph Resonance is a lie, obviously -- the demon is still a demon, and it is still fundamentally selfish, even though it has a small link to the Symphony. Since it is this selfishness that prevents demons from using their regular Resonances on recordings, it prevents a Balseraph of Fate from using his "false Resonance" on recorded media as well. If they could read recordings, I would call that a lower-contrast game, since a demon can more closely approximate an angelic state. It could quite possibly be darker as well. William ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 03:49:54 -0400 (EDT) From: "Rev. Pee Kitty" Subject: Re: IN>A Question about the Resonances of Fate On Sat, 18 Aug 2001, Charles E Smith wrote: > is, if this is truly the aspect of the Choir, then they should be able to > use their Resonances over media, just as real angels can. (Their > Balseraph Resonances would still be limited, I think, being "truly" > infernal.) > > So what do you think? I think that's a good question, and I'm amazed that no one's come up with it before. Beth? - -- Rev. Pee Kitty, of the order Malkavian-Dobbsian, Q4B4L! Meow! Information is not knowledge. Knowledge is not wisdom. Wisdom is not truth. Truth is not beauty. Beauty is not love. Love is not music. Music is _the best_. -- Frank Zappa, "Packard Goose" ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 23:49:22 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Fantasy Month - Hoards-R-Us. Dragons, Mummies, Liches, Sorcerers - all need a hoard of gold and jewels. Otherwise where's the point? That's Mammon's thought, anyway. He needed somewhere to store his corporeal wealth, the monsters weren't doing anything, and he was able to persuade Baal that it would encourage Heaven's Soldiers to get themselves killed fighting monsters. Whenever a monster becomes sufficiently powerful, the Sharks encourage it to obsess over a specific precious or semi-precious substance. The sharks have already bought up most of the substance at low prices; the monster rapidly acquires the rest by raiding human settlements, creating an artificial shortage. Their greatest success has been getting Western Dragons to obsess over gems and jewels, turning common carbon crystals into items worth dying, or killing for. The monster is a mercenary in the service of Greed; whenever the Sharks need something done they pay freely from their hoards. They might as well - they know the location of the hoard, and intend to plunder it the moment the monster dies; the items aren't so much given as loaned, and the monster is basically working for the right to serve as a security guard for the Mammonites wealth. Of course, every now and again some wretched hero manages to slay the monster and loot the hoard. At that point the Sharks move in, and help the hero squander his hoard. It's no mistake that heroes end up poor quickly - Greed's finest salesmen can easily fleece a hero of everything in a day or two. In addition to selling shoddy goods, vast quantities of alcohol and the company of attractive women, the Sharks locate every beggar or urchin for miles and set them to work on the poor hero. Of course, the beggars don't get to keep the wealth, but at least they get to hold it for a little while before handing it over to the demons. And of course, a bard or three will be on hand to sing the praises of the hero - for a substantial fee. James. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 00:05:41 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> And next... > From: Daniel Sauve > Subject: IN> August is FANTASY MONTH! > > By the power invested in me by my own penial glad, I declare August IN/ Fantasy > cross over month! 'twas fun. So what's September going to be? Lilith Fair got suggested as an option by Phillip Des Jardins - are there any other bids? James. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 07:25:12 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> And next... - --- james walker wrote: > 'twas fun. So what's September going to be? My vote is for either Jordimania or Jeanathon. Heck, both at once. :) Moe ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 07/29/01(this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger http://phonecard.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 15:47 +0100 (BST) From: jgd@cix.co.uk (John Dallman) Subject: Re: IN> And next... In article <200108191413.AAA08315@smtp.canberra.net.au>, jdwalker@cybermac.com.au (james walker) wrote: > 'twas fun. So what's September going to be? Lilith Fair got suggested > as an option by Phillip Des Jardins - are there any other bids? Cyberpunk? A world where Vapula got well out of control in alliance with Mamon, but with slightly better sanity than V usually manages. - --- John Dallman jgd@cix.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 10:59:40 -0400 From: Whistling in the Dark Subject: Re: IN> And next... At 12:05 AM +1100 8/20/01, james walker wrote: > > From: Daniel Sauve >> Subject: IN> August is FANTASY MONTH! >> >> By the power invested in me by my own penial glad, I declare August IN/ >Fantasy >> cross over month! > > >'twas fun. So what's September going to be? Lilith Fair got suggested as an >option by Phillip Des Jardins - are there any other bids? > >James. Successors. Imagine that the Superiors and major Word-Bound of both sides get knocked off, one by one, and their roles are taken up by new Word-Bound. Here's the chance to take new views of War, of the Media, of Technology and Greed, and so on and so on... - -- Eric Alfred Burns - Impudite of Secrets -- or Mercurian of Revelation (candidate for the Word of Obscurity) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 12:08:23 -0400 From: Daniel Sauve Subject: Re: IN> And next... On Sun, 19 Aug 2001 10:59:40 -0400, Whistling in the Dark wrote: >Successors. Imagine that the Superiors and major Word-Bound of both >sides get knocked off, one by one, and their roles are taken up by >new Word-Bound. Here's the chance to take new views of War, of the >Media, of Technology and Greed, and so on and so on... This or Lilith fair. THIS really GETS MY VOTE! - -- Leavin' it Open, I remain Binky Delirious Raven, AKA Daniel Sauve http://www.livejournal.com/users/deleriousraven/ AIM: dreamfylerahs /Yahoo!: ahsdreamflyer /Odigo: Delirious /ICQ # 53874855 Afternoon talkshow literacy levels: http://www.fadetoblack.com/moron-a-thon/ - -- "If you love what you do, you'll never work another day in your life." -- Unknown - -- [I am Sigfreud J. Ascii, The Living Sig. (be afraid) ] 6679 sigs made. ------------------------------ Date: 19 Aug 2001 17:24:09 +0100 From: "Richard C Hanton-Rutherford" Subject: IN> Next month's festivities I like the 'successors' idea, but what about New Words? Some kind of catastrophe in the symhony drains the existing Words of power, and heaven and hell both need to find new words (and all obvious associated words are powerless too, so Baal can't just become 'the Battle'. You could use the old superiors with new words, or make new superiors entirely. Richie H-R - -- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 12:29:06 -0700 From: "Perry Lloyd" Subject: Re: IN> Lost pilots I have starting having a local Lilim of > Gluttony getting him to try and eat away his guilt (eat whenever he feels > guilty or bad about the dead pilots). My question is before I make one up, > is there an established demon of lost soldiers or an appropriate one to also > drive him further down? I'd say check out: http://www.incyclopedia.org/ 'cause it lists all NPCs presented in the books, but it's currently inaccessible. Maybe it's just being updated. - -Perry perrylloyd@hotmail.com pl312993@oak.cats.ohiou.edu http://www.geocities.com/perrylloyd "As long as people will accept crap, it will be financially profitable to dispense it. " - --Dick Cavett ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2339 ********************************