in_nomine-digest Monday, August 20 2001 Volume 01 : Number 2340 In this digest: IN> Name that Demon! Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Fantasy Race. IN> Fantasy Race- Elementals IN> Fantasy month-Ozma visits heaven IN> Grigori question... Re: IN> And next... Re: IN> Grigori question... Re: IN> And next... Re: IN> Name that Demon! IN> Name that Demon IN> Fantasy Month - Liches IN> Correction IN> Re: A Question about the Resonance of Fate. Re: IN> And next... Re: IN> Name that Demon! Re: IN> Name that Demon! Re: IN> Name that Demon! Re: IN> And next... IN> Fantasy Month - Fantasy Race: Druedain ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 10:46:14 -0700 From: Vaughn Romero Subject: IN> Name that Demon! Don't change that channel! It's time for... NAME! THAT! DEMON! The game show where two lucky renegades square off in a test of demonic knowledge to see who joins the Horde and who joins... My special forces... I'm your host Lewis Cipher, and this week we take you to Kansas City, where some hard-working demon has successfully led a talking monkey to his Fate. Maybe you heard of ... The Pharmacist: A hard-working Christian man who decided to make a little extra cash from his cancer drugs. Our audience can find more information online using Internet Exploder, a Vaputech browser built to blast: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/18/national/18PHAR.html?searchpv=day01 And now, let's introduce our contestants. Megatron*, if you would, please. "Born with a taste a Freedom, this tasty dish was once a proud Lilim of the Beautiful Prince. Now she'd be lucky if He'd take her back or even take her from the back. Meet Hell's original Viagra, Mariah." "And stalking behind Mariah we have a former Stalker of Nightmares. There aren't enough sleeping pills on the planet to keep this Djinn's Boogie Man away. Meet the shade of things to come, Trebus." Mariah, Trebus, you know the rules. Our audience will present you with a list of demons that could be responsible for story of damnation you have heard. Your job is to decide which demon has really done the deed. Guess right and you may just grovel your way back to demonhood. Guess wrong and... well, this show gets good ratings for a reason. In the event of a tie, we will see you both back next week, competing for the very same prize one more time. Now to your choices. Consider this demon, submitted for your approval by one of our Lurkers: - ---- Fermen, Impudite of Factions Corporeal 1 : Strength 2 Agility 2 Ethereal 4 : Intelligence 8 Precision 8 Celestial 4 : Will 7 Perception 9 Attunements: Impudite of Factions Roles (8 pts): Doctor/3, Status/4, Charisma +1 Skills (20 pts): Chemistry/3, Detect Lies/2, Dodge/2, Emote/4, Fast-Talk/2, Knoweldge(Pharmacology)/2, Languages(Medical Latin)/1, Lying/2, Medicine/2 Songs (8 pts): Charm(all)/2, Light(Ethereal)/1, Motion(Celestial)/1 What better way to break humanity's faith in doctors than to be a doctor? Especially a doctor that is willing to buy diluted cancer treatments drugs. Of course, how does one go about getting such diluted drugs and not get caught? One convinces a pharmacist of the amazing money to be made with a new recipe. - ---- Sounds plausible doesn't it, but don't make a decision until you've seen our other entries by our illustrious audience. And our illustrious audience will participate won't they? *If God gets Metatron, then Lucifer should have Megatron (the transformer!) - - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - Vaughn Romero "Sometimes you just gotta go to eleven". ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 14:20:46 -0400 From: "Jason F. McBrayer" Subject: Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Fantasy Race. On Sat, Aug 18, 2001 at 11:34:50AM -0700, Bevan Thomas wrote: > > > > > >--- 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. Getting a little off-topic, but on Discworld, trolls are also made of stone, and become immobile (and thus indistinguishable from normal rocks) during the day or under high temperatures. The explanation here is that their brains are made of impure silicon; during the day it's too warm for them to superconduct. In their natural environment (high mountains), they're about as intelligent as humans, but at lower altitudes where they're more likely to meet humans, their brains don't function as efficiently, making them appear stupid. Constable Detritus of the Ankh-Morpork Watch wears a dwarf-made cooling fan on his helmet to offset this problem. ObIN: IN/Discworld? Well, with GURPS rules for both, the pieces are certainly there. Ethereals and Small Gods are pretty similar, and Vetinari seems to embody the Game...but this could easily degenerate into a casting call, and besides, I think it's been discussed here before. - -- +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Jason F. McBrayer jmcbray@carcosa.net | | The scalloped tatters of the King in Yellow must hide Yhtill | | forever. R.W. Chambers _The King in Yellow_ | ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 15:11:02 -0400 From: "Charles Phipps" Subject: IN> Fantasy Race- Elementals Elementals David, Gabriel, Janus, and Oannes have not spoken of their wayward ethereal childer for many centuries and it requires extensive searching through the books of the Library to find the truth about these beings. Elementals were originally a unique choir that was presented to each of the Archangels upon their ascension for a purpose that is unfortunaely now obsolete. The Elementals were given the task of constructing the Earth and setting it's works in motion. The Giants, Dryads, Gnomes, and Stone Dwarves were David's preferred race who had the special task of crafting the beautiful gems, formations, lava tubes, and underground rivers that would keep the races above warm and well kept. Honest, forthright, and powerful of body they rang the tunnels below with the sounds of their diligence. They were ruled by Jezzerack the King under the Rock and Novalis the Lady of the Forrests. The Efreeti, Phoneixes, and Salamanders served similar functions for Gabriel as they heated the Earth's core and kept the waters forming life warm enough to support it. Flighty of nature, vain, and full of desires they put their natures to passionate undertakings under the direction of their firm Commander Belial. The Slyphs, Tempests, Pixies, and spirits of the air were ruled by Jean the Lord of Lightning and his consort Lurline the Lady of Rain. Under Janus these two noble Elohim who adopted one gender from the other to show their love as one Elohim were charged with preparing the first storms and ways of growth. Mischevious under Shana they were firmly held in line by their dour King. Oannes's people were the River Lords, the Water Nymphs, and the Tide Giants who rose up with tritons to command all of the seas. The water folk were the most varied of all with some being proud, regal, and strong like Oannes and others careless and free. Many encouraged life and gaurded the marine life under Jordi. Their commander was the Whispering Spirit whom some said was Oannes's own consort in the Earth's waters. This lifestyle was reasonably content and the Elemental choirs lived in a great fashion befitting what they considered the most important job in Heaven despite that officially they were of less importance and power than the Angels which had been designed by God and not presented as gifts. Unforunately around the dawn of humanity the unthinkable occured with the end of the Ice Age.... Thier position became obsolete. God's decree that they end all interference in mortal life applied to them as well and suddenly they were told to cease the creation of their gems, winds, and games with mortals that they played. The result played out roughly as you might expect with Belial taking the majority of his destructive warriors into battle with him in hopes of becoming the new Archangel of Fire who would not play succor to piddling humans with some pathetic job as messanger or barn warmer. Jezzerack was slain by his own second in command the Angel Magog who was repulsed by his indecision. While a third had joined Lucifer the majority of these evil beings did not survive the revolt being treated like canon fodder a great deal more of the elementals chose to remain neutral during the conflict and thus felt the wrath of Heaven when it was done. In the chronicles of Heaven page 333,333,726,286 paraghraph 87 verse 16 the book records "And The Lord spoke from the Heavens after it was done on the Archangel of Judgement's decision a reckoning must be had for those who did not fight for their God. Though no one speaks of the words that were said the meaning was clear and has always been seen since. For Punishment was that they be stripped of the essential angelic nature that sustained them. They would forever be denied Heaven and unable to enter it. They would also pay for their jealousy of losing the world to humans by being sustained only by whatever humanity chose to give them of thought and accord for their gifts. Otherwise these spirits would fade away into nothingness foreverafter." the terrible torment inflicted upon them to this day haunts them in the ethereal marches that they now make their home. The elementals today still hold elaborate courts and are among the most richest and powerful of the ethereal "gods" because they knew Heavens way so much and many of them resent their former home that they make elaborate claims about God that they know to be false. A few maintan ties with their old masters however; the Rock Giants remember Magog fondly, the Dwarves yet love David still despite their banishment, the Fire Speakers along with others mention Gabriel in their prayers, Belial still is seen as a hero by the Efreeti and is entertained with dreamshade's soul killing at their courts, Jean has secretly taken numerous electricity elementals back into his service, and former servitors of Oannes occasionally can still here the Whispering Spirit's tears and cries in storms for her lost lover. The Grigori ignored the outcast elementals and often befriended and even bedded them rather than counter them when they met. The elementals are not entirely without enemies however for Lurline despite being absolved punishment for her service to God chose to part with her lover Jean and not on friendly terms because emotion had come to cloud both regarding each other's choices. The Outcast Angel of Rain rules somewhere in the March still as the Lady of such faeries loyal to Heaven's cause and supposadly is responsible for the Blade Excalibur falling into the hands of Arthur and the enchantment of entire regions into fairy country. The Tsaydim thus view her as a holy grail of evil and one that all sharpen their blades to her name in hopes that the person Uriel commanded the Death of might be slaughtered along with all of her servants. To Laurence and Khalid such beings are similarly monstrous and need revengence upon though he knows them only of Uriel's tales and chance few encounters. For the most part they are not mentioned as it is ill advised to mention these like the Grigori or Lucifer in heaven, it invokes their memory of pain. - -Charlemagne _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 15:47:25 -0400 From: "Charles Phipps" Subject: IN> Fantasy month-Ozma visits heaven OCC: A redoing of an idea several months back. It's seriously twisted however. "Excuse me." a melodic beautiful voice spoke as she tapped Yves on the shoulder. "Pardon me Sir?" "Hmmm?" Yves looked up. "Yes I'd like to speak with the Seraphim Council sir." the beautiful young woman was a vision of loveliness and aristocracy, intoxicating in her purity. Two beautiful poppies with in each side of her hair and a silver wand in her hands she was bedecked with a golden crown that had a O with Z through it. "That would probably be advisable." Yves said with a smile, taking note of the great destiny that was in place. "Oh and could I speak with Mister Baum please while we're at it? It's been awhile....I brought Dorothy as well." the girl waved her wand slightly and Yves nodded. "I'm sure he'll be pleased to see you again as well." *** "Pardon me...miss..." Michael looked at his fellows, rather unsetled. "Ozma. O-Z-M-A." the Princess spelled it out. "Am I to get this straight that you and your fellow ethereals have..." Michael looked at the papers again. "Not just ethereals but the nice Tsaydim I persuaded to join in the action...they were in a very foul mood. Also a few dream-shades who were no longer content there....they wanted to visit relatives but were afraid they wouldn't be allowed to come back...also could you kindy call them "Dream Children". It's silly but I think it sounds better than ethereals." Ozma waved her wand smiling as Novalis nodded for the council. "Certainly." Novalis thought she was such a sweet little girl. "Yes you and your fellow Dream Children have gotten together and would like a charter from Heaven." Michael asked. "Yes with that nice Alien life form seeking project, the 100th anniversary of the books, and that nice band I'm fairly awash in essence and want to give some of it back. That unpleasant and tasteless man Nybbas has been flooding our lands with his prison show, australians, sex talk, and unsympathetic beings and I'd like to make it stop." Ozma said. "In exchange for allowing us access to and from Heaven we'll do our best to serve as protectors and gaurdians of mortals and inspirers of their dreams...and hopefully drive Beleth and her other foul dispositioned forces from the Marches." "Yes that is another question, how exactly is it that you can enter heaven...err Princess?" Jean asked curiously. "Why not?" Ozma asked. *** Well that was particularly how the ball started rolling and nobody is actually fairly sure what went on from there. It's not often that a Fairy Princess visits Heaven and makes a request of her fellow faeries both Disneyfied and ancient and it's not often that the Council passes a bill which probably would make Uriel spin in the Higher Heavens.... But no one disobeys Ozma. Forming the Royal Ozian Army of Heaven Ozma has chosen those ethereals of people's happy dreams and lives such as imaginary friends, whimsies of stories where good is honest and forthright but not bloody, and other people endangered of destruction by a lack of essence and placed them under the care of Blandine who dolls out their essence. Ozma being a fairly new ethereal herself though that is subject to debate (see below) was able to appeal to the new dreams of humanity with frightening ease from the great clockwork armies of Asimov to even ancient Seelie fey who had worn tired to the horrofic burden giving up what few new children were born to them by Beleth entailed. From Lewis Carol to Arthurian lore (despite their horrible icky penchant toward violence) to Harry Potter Ozma's crusade of service to Heaven has caused a major power shift in the Marches. Unfortunately this has also made her presently at the top of Beleth's list. No less than nineteen seperate attempts on her life have been made by either her or Ethereals who consider allying with Heaven the equivalent of Israel making overtures to former Nazi officers for investment oppurtunities in Jerusalem. Not only have none suceeded but some say that more all have promptly joined Ozma. All this of course wouldn't be possible if Ozma were not able to enter Heaven but she has done so and not only that has supposady redeemed demons with her wand, creaed new ethereals, and possibly even bestowed attunements. Few are at present taking this seriously in Heaven but Blandine after meeting with Novalis left privatly very disturbed and it is noticed that Ozma tolerates no souls with evil intent around her. I mean who would ever believe that the First action of Uriel upon his return would be to inspire a female character in a Author's for him to embody so she could learn how to rule ethereal's peacefully? - -Charlemagne _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 16:51:12 -0400 From: "S.D." Subject: IN> Grigori question... Actually, *Fallen* Grigori question. All the major Bands/Choirs have several names - Hebrew/common, 'old', and 'modern', is the way I break it up. (Seraphim are also Trisagionists and Most Holy, Mercurians are also Intercessionists and Friends of Man, Habbalah are also Horrors and Punishers, Calabim are also Freaks and Destroyers, etc.) What are the other names for the Skulkers? (If there are any in canon.) If there aren't canon ones, does anyone have any suggestions for the Hebrew/common name? ~S.D. Ryukage http://fly.to/sd_nexus ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Down to the earth I fell With dripping wings Heavy things won't fly And the sky might catch on fire And burn the axis of the world... 'Tonight and the Rest of My Life', Nina Gordon ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 18:55:00 -0400 (EDT) From: "Rev. Pee Kitty" Subject: Re: IN> And next... On Sun, 19 Aug 2001, Whistling in the Dark 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? > > 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... Ooooo... I *like* that one. We'd have to make sure to mention the former Servitor's Word and position within the heirarchy... - -- Rev. Pee Kitty, of the order Malkavian-Dobbsian, Q4B4L! Meow! It is a sad commentary on today's society that this .sig file must be considered "offensive" simply because it contains the word "fuck". ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 17:44:29 -0400 From: "William J. Keith" Subject: Re: IN> Grigori question... >Actually, *Fallen* Grigori question. > >All the major Bands/Choirs have several names - Hebrew/common, 'old', and >'modern', is the way I break it up. (Seraphim are also Trisagionists and >Most Holy, Mercurians are also Intercessionists and Friends of Man, >Habbalah are also Horrors and Punishers, Calabim are also Freaks and >Destroyers, etc.) > >What are the other names for the Skulkers? (If there are any in canon.) If >there aren't canon ones, does anyone have any suggestions for the >Hebrew/common name? There is even less information on Fallen Grigori than there is on the Grigori. Since as near as I can tell the only substantial canon information is in GURPS: In Nomine, which I have, I feel confident in saying that a secondary or third name does not exist. Not knowing Hebrew, I can offer no additional names there for a "formal" Band name... a tertiary name for the Band, since such things are casual and tend to refer to a trait of the Choir or Band, might refer to the reason for the Choir's Outcasting and the Falls of many of its members: "Dissipant," or "Hedonist." > ~S.D. Ryukage William ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 17:55:58 -0400 From: "William J. Keith" 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 I like the Jeanathon idea. Gadgets! Mecha! Cyberspace! Yeah! William ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 19:33:20 -0400 (EDT) From: "Rev. Pee Kitty" Subject: Re: IN> Name that Demon! On Sun, 19 Aug 2001, Vaughn Romero wrote: > http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/18/national/18PHAR.html?searchpv=day01 > > Now to your choices. Consider this demon, submitted for your approval by one > of our Lurkers: Good possibility... though you forgot to give him a vessel. :) > Sounds plausible doesn't it, but don't make a decision until you've seen our > other entries by our illustrious audience. And our illustrious audience will > participate won't they? Right you are, Lew! In fact, we have another candidate for your consideration right over here near the announcing booth! Perhaps THIS is the demon you're looking for... _______ Sirrihan Djinn of Drugs Corporeal Forces: 2 (Strength 5, Agility 3) Ethereal Forces: 3 (Intelligence 8, Precision 4) Celestial Forces: 4 (Willpower 9, Perception 7) Vessel: Grandfatherly-Looking Male/2 (Charisma +1, "Friendly") Role: Part-time Pharmaceutical Assistant/3 (Status/2) Skills: Chemistry/3, Detect Lies/1, Dodge/3, Driving/1, Emote/3, Fast-Talk/2, Fighting/1, Knowledge (Pharmacology/2), Lying/2, Medicine/2 Songs: Charm (Celestial/2), Form (Ethereal/2, Celestial/1) Attunements: Djinn of Drugs "But wait!" you cry, "Fleurity isn't into drugs that you can't abuse!" It is precisely that attitude which Sirrihan is attempting to remedy. By gradually expanding the concept of drug abuse into including the profit to be made by misselling, mislabelling, or misappropriating common pharmaceuticals, Sirrihan hopes to open a whole new avenue for his Prince's Word. It may even be worth a Baronship. And what better, more truthworthy Role than as the kindly old retired pharmacist, now just working a few days a week to occupy his time and suppliment his monthly pension? _______ Could that be the one? Maybe yes, maybe no, but don't answer yet! Let's see who ELSE we can find in the audience tonight on... NAME THAT DEMON! Next? - -- Rev. Pee Kitty, of the order Malkavian-Dobbsian, Q4B4L! Meow! When you're having a bad day, remember: It takes 42 muscles to frown, but only 4 to pull the trigger of a decent sniper rifle. ------------------------------ Date: 20 Aug 2001 00:40:22 +0100 From: "Richard C Hanton-Rutherford" Subject: IN> Name that Demon Any minute now we should..... hold on, I'm getting something now. It sounds like we have another candidate in our lttle rogues gallery. Megatron, over to you. Thanks, Lewis. Let's see what we've got you for you tonight. Judith, Lilim of Nightmares Corporeal Forces - 2 (Strength 3, Agility 5) Ethereal Forces - 2 (Intelligence 6, Precision 2) Celestial Forces - 5 (Will 12, Perception 10) Vessels - Friendly, middle aged woman/3, Young male doctor/2 Role - Local housewife/6, Status/1 Skills - Emote/4, Fast-Talk/5, Lying/6, Seduction/4 Songs - Attraction (Eth/6), Dreams (Eth/4, Cel/6), Form (Cel/4), Desire/4, NC (Plates/5, Arms/4, Wings/4), Revulsion (Eth/5), Self (Corp/2) Attunements - Lilim of Nightmares, Dream Walking, Terror Perhaps far from the classic image of a Nightmare demon, Judith is well known and liked in her neighbourhood, and she always has stories to tell. She'll reassure the old people that they have nothing to fear from the burglar who's been strangling old people in their beds (a burglar they'd never heard of until Judith told them), and she'll always be happy to tell the little children stories about monsters, and ghosts who steal boys and girls away in the night. Judith is known and loved by her neighbours and, in return, she keeps them all absolutely terrified. Only recently Judith was talking to the nice old Pharmacist, telling him that he had nothing to fear from the brutal gangs who were smashing up Pharmacies and stealing their drugs, when an idea occurred to her. Among the old people of her aquaintance, Cancer was the cause of countless nights in Beleth's side of the marches. If they were to find out the pharmacist, a trusted and respected figure in the area, had been making money off selling diluted Cancer treatments to corrupt doctors, their terror would be almost tangible. All it took then was to do a little favour for the man (a song of Attraction to make the 17 year old girl he was in love with feel the same way), and (in a different vessel) encourage him to make a bit of money on the side. A phone call to the newspaper office then ensured a wave of fear and distrust. Is this nasty little lady the demon responsible? We'll see. - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Richie H-R - -- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 18:41:30 -0500 (CDT) From: Benjamin Acosta Subject: IN> Fantasy Month - Liches Just thought I'd wade into Fanstasy Month waters by In Nominizing an old D&D mainstay. The Lich The Lich is probably one of the highest forms of Undead, the type of creature that all necronmancers aspiring to immortality (which pretty much means all of them) long to become. Surprising to many, liches were not a creation of Saminga, but a development of independent sorcerors. Saminga himself is said to wish to limit the creation of liches, as the considerable advantages they possess when compared to other undead give them a distressing degree of independence and autonomy. Becoming a Lich The road to becoming a lich is not easy. If it were, there wouldn't be any mummies and vampires around. The rituals for becoming a lich are obscure, not only due to suppression by those who serve Heaven, but also because those who know such secrets are loathe to share them. Why help create potential rivals. So those who seek to become a lich either has to spend a long time retrieving rare and lost tomes, hoping to find the method, or reinvent it for himself. Due to this, lichdom is a very exclusive club. The method of becoming a Lich is actually a synthesis of two rituals. The first is the creation of a phylactery, which will serve to anchor the lich's soul to the world. A variation of the Create Spirit Anchor ritual, Create Phylactery (Focus/6) has a base time of 1 day for each of the subject's Forces, and an Essene cost of twice the subject's Forces. If one is performing this ritual on another, then the subject as well as the performer may contribute Essence to pay the cost. Once the ritual is successfully completed, a link will have been forged. If the subject dies before the second ritual is performed, he automaticaly becomes a ghost, without having to make a Will roll or lose a Force. The phylactery becomes the ghost's corporeal anchor. Once the phylactery has been created, the second ritual can be performed. Similar to the Create Mummy ritual, the Create Lich ritual transforms a subject's living body into an undead vessel, while binding it and his Forces to the phylactery. If the ritual is successful, then the subject has become a lich. If something goes wrong, then like in the Create Mummy ritual the subject has a chance to save himself, but instead of becoming a vampire, he successfully manages to bind the stray Force and becmoes a mummy. Lichdom The biggest advantage of lichdom compared to other forms of undeath is that the destruction of one's body does not bring about the Final Death of disbandment. Instead, when a lich is physically slain his soul coelesces inside his phylactery, which acts like a Heart except on the coporeal plane. Like a slain celestial, a lich has the chance of suffering Trauma when such an event occurs. The only way to bring Final Death to a lich is to somehow locate and destroy his phylactery. As the knot which holds a lich's soul together, once it is destroyed the lich will dispand, it's Forces scattering to the Symphony. Once a lich has recovered from any Trauma it might have suffered, it has the opportunity to reassemble it's vessel and walk the world again. Like a celestial in Limbo (see Heaven and Hell), a disembodied lich has the ability to store excess Essence beyond it's normal Force capacity only for the purposes of reassembling its vessel. Note that key word, reassemble. Unlike a celestial in Limbo, a lich is not free to create any type of vessel it wants, but can only remake its original undead body. That's because the ritual of transformation irrevocably bonded the lich's body as well as Forces to his phylactery. When a lich attempts to regain a corporeal form, it's not creating a new vessel, but merely summoning the components of it's old one back and reassembling it. This limitation does come with one advanage. Depending on the state of the lich's slain body, one might get a discount on the Essence cost to recreate it. A body that has been left mostly intact only takes 50% of what it would normally cost to recreate. One that has been dismembered is discounted to 75%. A body which has been totally incinerated or otherwise scattered to its component molecules costs the normal amount of Essence to reassemble. When the reassembly takes place, the remains of the lich fade from wherever they are, and coelesce in the vicinity of the lich's phylactery. The other main advantage of lichdom to other forms of undeath is that a lich is no longer bound to the limits of its potential Forces. Like Blessed and Damned souls, a Lich has the capacity to grow the maximum number of Forces a human is capable of having. Thus, an extremely ancient lich can be quite powerful. Role in the War Rare but powerful, Liches tend to be wild cards and loose canons in The War. The fact they tend to be incredibly selfish and have few moral qualms would seem to make their very existence a benefit to Hell. But the advantages they have over other undead make any attempts to work with liches extremely problematic. Hell's biggest problem is that there's almost no way to force them to obey. Their souls are bound to the Corporeal Plane, so there's no threat of retribution in the afterlife for them. And unlike other undead, slaying them doesn't destroy them permenently, but merely sets them back. One would have a way to coerce them if they could gain possession of his phylactery, but it's a big if. Liches, being the powerful, clever, and ruthless undead sorcerors that they are, tend to hide their phylacteries where none can find them, guarded by the most elaborate security arrangements and most potent wards they can muster. With all the precautions they take, it's a wonder any have been destroyed at all. With no reliable way to force cooperation from a lich, Hell is forced to deal with them on their own terms. Sometimes it works out for a while. Often, the lich is uppity and follows it's own goals, sometimes to the detriment of many Princes. One of the most famous examples the latter is the Lich King of Anzar, who united numerous factions of the Broken Races, as well as enticing or binding demonlings and even full-fledged demons into his service as part of his bid to conquer the world. This disrupted the plans of many a Prince, who found their resources comandeered by this upstart Dark Lord. If he hadn't happen to have been destroyed by a valiant band of heroes then he might have succeeded, and would still be controlling beings and resources which belonged to Hell. With that kind of record, it's no wonder Hell has ambivalent feelings about liches. Ben, Elohite of Eli Angel of Neat Ideas ------------------------------ Date: 20 Aug 2001 00:54:22 +0100 From: "Richard C Hanton-Rutherford" Subject: IN> Correction My retard computer seems to have missed a line in my last posting (at least, I'm blaming the computer). It should read "Judith is known and loved by all of her neighbours - and in return, she keeps them absolutely terrified". Sorry. Richie H-R - -- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 10:21:16 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Re: A Question about the Resonance 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? I'd say no, for a simple reason - the Balseraph is using his resonance to persuade the Symphony that he's an angel. As he can't use his demonic resonance on the recording, he can't get it to believe that he's an angel, therefore no angelic resonance. James. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 19:43:09 -0500 (CDT) From: Benjamin Acosta Subject: Re: IN> And next... Quoting in_nomine-digest : > 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? Well, there's always a Back to School issue. Or if one wants to do genre stuff, how about Pulp? Lost cities, fabulous inventions, two-fisted heroes, and sinister villains, In Nomine style. Ben, Elohite of Eli Angel of Neat Ideas ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 20:58:30 -0400 From: Cameron McCurry Subject: Re: IN> Name that Demon! > > http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/18/national/18PHAR.html?searchpv=day01 For the benefit of those of us who choose not to register with the NY Times, is the article printed out anywhere else? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 23:29:18 -0400 (EDT) From: "Rev. Pee Kitty" Subject: Re: IN> Name that Demon! On Sun, 19 Aug 2001, Cameron McCurry wrote: > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/18/national/18PHAR.html?searchpv=day01 > > For the benefit of those of us who choose not to register with the NY Times, > is the article printed out anywhere else? Just put in a fake email address, make up a username and password, and only use it once. You don't have to confirm the email or anything. - -- Rev. Pee Kitty, of the order Malkavian-Dobbsian, Q4B4L! Meow! And finally, a special message to \|/ ____ \|/ anyone who thinks I give a damn... ~@-/ oO \-@~ /_( \__/ )_\ \__U_/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 23:32:47 -0400 From: "Jason F. McBrayer" Subject: Re: IN> Name that Demon! On Sun, Aug 19, 2001 at 11:29:18PM -0400, Rev. Pee Kitty wrote: > On Sun, 19 Aug 2001, Cameron McCurry wrote: > > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/18/national/18PHAR.html?searchpv=day01 > > For the benefit of those of us who choose not to register with the NY Times, > > is the article printed out anywhere else? > Just put in a fake email address, make up a username and password, and > only use it once. You don't have to confirm the email or anything. Or better yet, use username fnord, password fnord. - -- +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Jason F. McBrayer jmcbray@carcosa.net | | The scalloped tatters of the King in Yellow must hide Yhtill | | forever. R.W. Chambers _The King in Yellow_ | ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 19 Aug 2001 23:10:46 -0500 From: "Prodigal" Subject: Re: IN> And next... From: "Benjamin Acosta" > > Or if one wants to do genre stuff, how about Pulp? Lost cities, fabulous > inventions, two-fisted heroes, and sinister villains, In Nomine style. Ooooh, I like it. I just wish my copy of Adventure! would hurry up and get here already... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 16:51:43 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Fantasy Month - Fantasy Race: Druedain When Heaven discovered the existence of the Broken Races, a great deal of energy was expended trying to heal them - nearly as much as was spent trying to destroy them. Heaven had some success, but found that the generations of inbreeding had corrupted the races nearly as badly as Hell's influence. Eventually, they abandoned the attempt, leaving half-repaired mortals roaming the globe. The Druedain are the failed attempt to restore Orcs. Built like orangutans but no more hairy than humans, they prefer to live in the wilderness, far from the other races. They have a stone age culture; common skills include Ranged weapon(Short bow), Survival(region) and Knowledge (Natural Poisons). About 10% of the Druedain can acquire a 6th Force; these Druedain are taught enchantment and the Corporeal Song of Sacrifice by the their elders. The Druedain may only enchant stone items; they concentrate on creating Talismans but are famed for their ability to create golems. The golems created by the Druedain are invariably made of stone, and are more powerful than normal; a Druedain may invest 1 or more of his Corporeal Forces into the creation at no extra cost in time or materials. The Druedain still has access to these Forces, however, if the Golem is destroyed the Druedain takes damage equal to the body hits he would lose permanently if he had lost the Forces (and assuming that the attributes lost all came from his Strength). A Golem created by a Druedain can only have Corporeal Forces. The Orcish Disadvantages were stripped from the Druedain during Heaven's attempt to repair them. A Druedain may use the Corporeal Song of Sacrifice on an Orc to regain those Disadvantages; if he does so he is indistinguishable from an orc, and the orc appears to be a Druedain. Attempts to use this ability to infiltrate the Orcs have invariably failed, due to the hatred orcs have of other tribes of orcs. Where it is useful is when an orc wishes to changes sides in the war. If a dying Druedain can be persuaded to use the Song on the Orc, and then goes to Heaven while the Song is still in effect, the Disadvantages are destroyed by the Light of Heaven. Unfortunately, the Druedain do not know this, as the corpse retains those Disadvantages, and they believe that the performer has become an orc permanently. Nonetheless, many dying elders are prepared to do this, hoping that their sacrifice will strengthen their tribe. James. ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2340 ********************************