in_nomine-digest Thursday, August 23 2001 Volume 01 : Number 2344 In this digest: Re: IN> Jordi's Wild Kingdom IN> Heretical Superior- Death Re: IN> Yet another heresy IN> Fantasy Month - Balrogs IN> Bechley Prison, Part II IN> The prison Re: IN> Heretical Superior- Death Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Balrogs IN> Fantasy Month- The Dreamer of Love Re: IN> Fantasy Month- The Dreamer of Love IN> Superiors and other-resonances (Re: Yet another heresy) IN> Mistaken Rapture -- not true, sorry [none] Re: IN> Jordi's Wild Kingdom ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 00:32:16 -0700 From: "Perry Lloyd" Subject: Re: IN> Jordi's Wild Kingdom > These are powerful Attunements (not sure I would trust > most PC's with Tiger and Shark). Not that I would either. I tend to write as a GM for other GMs. And seeing as how I never plan on my PCs ever being granted the rank of Master, their characters should never have an opportunity to use these powers. :-) Not that any of them play Jordians anyway. Three quibbles: > > Python -- this uses a tool, which I can't see Jordi > endorsing. I'd change it to a bonus to grappling damage. *cough* Monkeys use tools, as do Homo Sapiens; other species of animal have been identified as using simple tools as well. My first thought was for the character to transform into a flying snake, but that just seemed silly. Grappling damage bonus wasn't enough either, because the python can trap arms and legs and pin them to the victims sides, not the same as grappling with human limbs. > Tiger -- ignores penalties for low light? Cats, even > tigers, can't see in total darkness. I agree. Low light indictates the presence of light, just not a lot. I recommend modifying > it to include that provision, as in "ignores visiblility > penalties for low light up to but not including total > darkness." It's a distinction I've made in my gaming since I played Shadowrun. Low-light vision doesn't do crap in total darkness, for that you'd need Infravision, or Dark Vision (ala GURPS Supers) or some other inhuman ability to see without light. > Shark -- seems to me that this should only work while the > angel is in water. Then, logically, the others powers should only work when the possessor is on all fours, naked, and in the native element of the animal (plains, jungled, forest, etc). > Of course, all of this is MHO. certainly - -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 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 00:53:25 -0400 From: "Charles Phipps" Subject: IN> Heretical Superior- Death Mammok Demon Prince of Death "The Death of the Spirit is what makes the Life worth living." The suicide of Saminga set all of Hell afire with it's horror as simply one day the Demon Prince of Death walked into the Canyon of Worms and allowed himself to be devoured alive by the pitiful rememants of a hundred million damaged beyond repaired souls. Abbadon probably survived the resulting chaos of his death solely because few wanted the hassel of dealing with such a remote and soulless region and thanks to their Prince the servitors of Death had mostly been given a reputation as insane, stupid, and blatantly evil. The events which followed in Abaddon basically resembled a series of mob style acts of gang violence, favor trading, and usage of powerful occult knowledge until quite simply every single Duke of Saminga dissapeared. Lucifer came to the Citadel of Bones which was already being torn down to be replaced with a cold castle where he looked upon the skulls where every Duke had been imprisoned and presented the Count of Despair with the title of Prince of Death. Gradually the Princes of Hell have seen the huge mountains of decaying bodies piled up moaning at their state of living death, the Death Camps which function 24/7 relieving the worst horrors of the genocides of the Past, the Prisons where the elaborate death sentences are carried out at random with waiting for the inevitable the most horrible part. Worse though are the entombed whom are spirits of the Damned willingly resting within an endless graveyard that sucks the essence out of their bodies. Spirits which believe so much in their own oblivion that they give up their essence as if it were light passing through a transparent window. These horrors are just the reflection of Mammok's personality on the state of Hell. The Living have much more to fear from Mammok because his word does not merely encompass the physical aspect of Death but the metaphysical embracing of the oblivion of the spirit and ideals. In the eye of the new Prince it is not enough that all things must eventually grow old, decay, and die but they must prefer this state of cold emptiness to the warmth of eternal Life. It is this reason that Mammok's men promote every subculture with a strong atheistic bent, a strong sense of inevitable doom, and the poetry around acts of murder and infamy in the modern era. Humanity's suffering and oblivion must occur in grand horror but it must be done once all hope has been crushed first. While the undead are not nearly as routinely created as they once were they are still powerful agents who are given whatever they need to show the impotence of life before death. It is no surprise to any that Mammok for his personal desire to destroy human life is a Djinn but what may come as a great shock to many is that Mammok is a former servitor of Novalis. The Angel of Joy was once one of the most beautiful of Stars in Heaven but fell with the dawning horrors of the 20th century that Saminga showed to him personally was a century where the railing of the human spirit against horror was helpless to their desire to destroy more. With the knowledge of what he came to cause the Cherub who would feel nothing intends as Prince to make sure the entire world feels the same and much of Hell is watching. Mammok appears primarily as a handsome man with pale skin, sunken eyes usually disguised by mirror shades, and dressed in the attire of a man who embraces death be it a simple tuxedo, Vampire cape and wear, Undertakers garb, Government agent (Nazi, Chinese Communist, NSA uniform). Mammok has no particular sense of humor and insists on complete unwavering respect and efficency from his servants. Mammok rewards well with attunements, rites, distinctions and other tools to make the job of his servants easier but all the while it is apparent that to even his own soldiery the Demon Prince of Death intends to wear down his own men to becomming as cold and soulless as he is. Altered Dissonance While it is now possible for servitors of Death to give mortals what they need to survive it is no longer possible for them to give a person any reason to WANT to keep on living which is a subtle but distinct change. This makes Servitors of Death a strongly pessimistic, cynical, fatalistic, and frankly sadistic group....even more so than normal. Altered Band Attunements: Balseraph: A Balseraph may add his ethereal forces to any use of his resonance which will aid in a mortal's embrace of death and abandonment of life. Habbalah: Habbalah gain the ability to inflict despair as an emotion which renders suddenly all things in his life meaningless to his target for a number of minutes equal to their ethereal forces which can cause permanent lasting harm if capitalized on. During this period a mortal's willpower drops by a number equal to the Habbalah's success roll. Additional Servitor Attunements: Soul Castration This ability not only affects sexual ability but concievably anything else that mortals might take joy in from eating to his sight. While it cannot cause physically deliberating defects a demon who uses this ability can render a mortal incapable of finding joy in the world around him with one portion of his body for period of days equal to the demons combined forces. In order to use this ability the demon must win a resisted willpower check with the mortal for a point of essence per usage. The Silver Death This ability is truly insideous and one of the most vile powers currently in possesion of by Hell. For the mere expenditure of five points of essence a servitor of death can inflict a fatal disease upon a person which will feed off their ability to absorb the life giving essence of the Symphony and eventually kill them by lack of connection to it. Once a resisted willpower roll has been won a mortal inflicted with this ability can only be cured by the Demon in question who can remove it at will or a Superior as they lose one body hit per day that cannot be recovred by anything but the song of healing. Furthermore they will regain no essence so long as the Silver Death is flowing through their bodies. Finally as the disease progresses they will lose all ability to feel anything resembling emotion or enjoyment in life. This ability can actually be used on beings other than mortals which in the case of outcasts, renegades, and ethereals certainly fatal. Victems have been known to hallucinate silver running through their veins. Altered Distinctions Captain of the Heavy Heart Taken from the legend of Anubis weighing a mortals soul against a feather the Captain of a Heavy Heart can tell just what is the most important thing to a person in his life. Relations: Mammok while certainly more congenial and attractive than Saminga actually repulses Andrephalus much more than the old Prince who at least had stupidity going for him. Mammok reciprocates because he believes that sexuality can never be completely debased as an emotion because it is the key to the creation of that life and unity that is anathema to him. Nybbas has offered up his aid towards his ally in Andrephalus also because Mammok has begun expanding heavily in media in order to aid his word's promotion and taking no particular steps to give the appearence he respects Saminga's dominion of it. Kobal and Haagenti have been lost as allies because of the man's drab and dreary personality but curiously his alliance with Baal, Belial has been strengthened. Asmodeus, Kronos, and Malphas have come also to have a grudging respect for a man who takes so personally the destrution of the human spirit and eventual life. With such powerful allies it may be sometime before Mammok is destroyed if ever though the deciding factor may be Lilith whom views Mammok as spreading a noose around all of freedom's pleasures Allies: Baal, Belial (Baal is allied to Mammok as is Asmodeus) Associated: Kronos, Asmodeus, Malphas (Malphas, Kronos, and Belial are associated with Mammok) Hostile: Haagenti, Andrephalus, Lilith, Valefor (Nybbas, Haagenti, and Lilith are hostile to Mammok) Enemy: Andrephalus (Mammok is Andrephalus's enemy) Additional/Altered Rites: * Kill a mortal who wants to die (euthanasia, convince them to commit suicide, execution of a remorseful fellon) * Kill five humans through means partially their fault-not necessarily all at once (sexually transmitted disease, drugs, encouraged anorexia, and taking risks) * Murder a mortal who truly loved life after breaking him Chance of Invocation: 2 +1 A human body lovingly prepared for the afterlife in a secular ceremony +2 A funeral where the deceased is believed to be better off dead (+3 if it's a New Orleans style one and the victem is in Hell) +3 A place of no hope (life or extensive prison wings, Goth clubs, Drug dens, certain nursing homes) +4 A Suicide (Assisted is +5 if not the Demon) +5 A Murder where the murderer is unrepentful +6 Places of massive death (Death row, concentration camps, abortion clinics, serial killers killing spots) Note: Curiously Mammok is actually subject to negative modifiers because of his distaste for life. Certainly after summoned he is willing to destroy these offensive things but considers it a mark of disrespect for his servitors to not take care of it beforehand. Destruction of these objects immediately adds their value bonus -1 to any invocation. - -1 A Crucifix is present (Jesus rising from the dead is the ultimate affront) - -2 Mortals enjoying life with no danger to themselves - -3 A house of healing (Drug Rehab, Trauma centers etc) - -4 A human life having been saved from the brink of death - -5 The presence of a joyous birth - -6 A mortal dying with a clean slate due to last rights or repentance - -Charlemagne Note: In the Phipp's heresy world both Pyria and Mamock are associated as they view each others actions as two sides of the same coin. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 00:50:04 -0700 From: "Perry Lloyd" Subject: Re: IN> Yet another heresy > --- Perry Lloyd wrote: > > Which version of Christianity does he > > compare those he judges to? Or does he Judge everyone > > according to their > > own standards - he can't, he's no Malakite. > > But he is an Archangel, which means that he has access to > the Resonance of _every_ Choir. Ergo, he can judge > everyone according to their own standards. Of course, I always forget that bit. That Archangels gain all the benefits of all the choirs without any of the drawbacks (except perhaps their own), which is why no archangels are ever deceived (because they can Seraph out any lies) and they can attune to the PCs without ever worrying about Dissonance for failing to protect them. On top of this, they ALL can be as fast as an Ofanite, and never worry about their Resonance backfiring on them, which is why they can catch up with Gabriel where ever she goes. Unless someone has officially declared that when an Archangel "emulates" another resonance, they suffer the Dissonance conditions of that Resonance, in which case I'm wrong about that. - -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 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 00:08:13 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Fantasy Month - Balrogs The first Balrog was a Renegade Shedite who, without a host or any essence, was only saved from soul-death by a favourable Intervention. Laurence killed it personally, but it had already passed on the technique to other demons. A demon who has been shown how to do this (the knowledge is rare enough to count as a ritual) may, while in Celestial Form on the Corporeal Plane, anchor himself to the Corporeal as if he were a ghost. This costs the demon a Force, and imposes a level each of the Burning Touch & Darkness Discords. If the demon leaves the Corporeal plane for any reason he ceases to be a Balrog and must spend another Force on returning to regain his nature. He keeps the Discords. The demon it treated as a ghost for most purposes - he is limited to it's corporeal anchor and must spend a point of essence to interact with the physical world, as described in the CPH, and is immune to corporeal damage, even when manifesting. The first Balrog had developed a variant Numinous Corpus (Whip) which is known by all Balrogs; they also go out of their way to acquire Fiery Swords, partly for their usefulness and partly since 'all the other Balrogs have one'. Burning Touch Discord - When manifesting, the Balrog is surrounded by a burning flame which does levels of damage equal to it's level to anything touched by the Balrog. If the Balrog acquires a host or vessel, his body also takes (level) damage every round. The Discord seems to be related to the Malakite Discord of the same name. Darkness Discord- the demon absorbs light. Add three times this Discord to any attempt to see the demons Celestial Form; if the demon has a body, subtract the level of Discord from any vision rolls made by the demon. Numinous Corpus (Whip) - May only be learned by characters with the Burning Touch Discord (either version). The Song creates a flaming whip with a length equal to the performers Total Forces, which has an accuracy equal to his Ethereal Forces and a power equal to the Songs level. If the Song is known at a level >2, ethereal damage can be done with the Whip; at a level greater than 4, Celestial damage can be done, and characters in celestial form may be struck with the whip. (The final Soul hit of damage may not be done to a character protected by a body). A commmon variant of this Song allows the performer an extra attack, with the whip wielded in his off hand, but has whip will automatically attack whoever the performer is most annoyed with even if that is an ally, or the performer. Although popular with Baal and Beleth, Asmodeus is less happy with Balrogs, seeing them as a threat and potential renegades. He'd probably be even more unhappy if he knew that the first Balrog was created by a Divine Intervention... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 00:45:58 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Bechley Prison, Part II > From: "William J. Keith" > Subject: Re: IN> Bechley Prison > > Ooh. I'm wondering if by chance you read the "Iron Heights" special from > _The Flash_ recently, but whether or no this is a wonderful piece of work. Thanks. No, any inspiration would be from watching 'Porridge' may years ago or from thinking about In Nomine/St Trinian's cross-overs. > The setting is ripe for several possible themes, including: [snip] Yes, although I lack the appropriate knowledge, so the stuff I write-up will stay cinematic. > * recruiting -- demons might find the prison a virtual "crime college" for > Hellsworn, while angels might be interested in the guards. There'd probably be more SOG prisoners than Hellsworn, simply because they're less skilled at lying to the police/courts. > > All in all, most excellent. I think it will make an entertaining addition > to the game I'm GM'ing for Mundanes who are finding out about a new layer > to their world, and I'll try to remember to tell you how it went if/when we > run an adventure there. Please do. Hope the extras below help. > > William > From: Michael Walton < > This would make a great one-shot setting, say, for a > convention demo. Hmm, not a bad idea. Maybe Pheno next year. If someone wants to use it as a Con in the Us/Britain/where ever, go ahead. For some reason I want to keep writing about an In Nomine prison. Isn't there an In Nomine writing group somewhere? Does anyone know if they'd be interested in my adding this? Adventure seeds in prison: The Ox. Prison food is even worse than army food. One of the Sorcerers in the Reading Wing has a plan: he'll Summon an Imp, order it into Limbo to form an Ox Vessel which can be slaughtered, cooked and eaten. Summoning the Imp won't be difficult, organising sending essence to Limbo will be fine; working out where in a prison to spit roast an ox will be more complicated. What ever is decided, the night before the Imp is due to return, some Remnants who've discovered what's going on will sent the Imp essence so that it can leave Limbo early. Of course, they're not strong enough to control an Ox, so the Imp will bolt for it, running through the prison trying to escape. Can the PC's catch the Ox before the guards twig? If not, "Bruises" will fudge the camera records, kill the Imp with his resonance and keep the Ox for himself. The prison is likely to devolve into civil war; apart from trying to lynch the thieves who brought the Imp out early, there's the possibility of the madder inmates (many of whom have the Gluttony Discord) trying to storm "Bruises" cell. Preventing any fatalities (which cannot be hidden from the guards, as remnants cannot be zombified) should be a high priority for anyone who likes keeping their privileges. Freedom of the Press. "Bruises" writes the prison newspaper and being a Servitor of the Media, does it well. Unfortunately, he lost his temper at his lawyer, and as part punishment for hospitalising him has been forbidden to work on the 'paper. General amusement at the thought of him earning Dissonance turned to horror when he revealed that he has a new project - taping the security cameras and smuggling the footage out via carrier gremlin. Any misdeeds of the characters are on film, and already out of the prison. "Bruises" doesn't want much; just find a way to get him his newspaper back. of course, if some else he's blackmailing finds a way to get him his newspaper back, then you'll need to find something else he wants. And a way to make sure he doesn't accept the bribe and then release the footage anyway! Respecting The Dead Some one is mummifying the more insane mundanes. Not a problem in itself, but a fair number are becoming vampires - the sight of prisoners catching fire and fleeing the sunlight when taken outside for daily exercise is probably the first the PC's know about the problem, which means that the guards know as well. Some careful investigation will reveal that they have been helping one of the Necromancers in his rituals for the last few years ad this is their pay off. Unfortunately, there's still over a hundred mundanes who have all 'earned' mummification; they're all crazy, and about half of them come out of the procedure as Vampires; the thought of an additional 50 blood suckers roaming the corridors should worry any inmate. And just rubbing out the Necromancer will tick off all 100 mundanes - a sizeable army. Doppelgangers Any escape attempts from Bechley attract the full attention of the police - and, much worse, attention from the other side. The simplest way to get around this is for a Sorcerer to Summon a demonling and have them trained in your mammerisms etc, and once they can play the part send them to Limbo to craft a duplicate Vessel. of course, this means house training a twerpy gremlin who has never been out of Hell before and hasn't a clue about how things are done on Earth; who almost certainly has a selection of disgusting habits; who will easily be conned by practical jokers into thinking/doing all sorts of stupid things; who after cottoning on will wreak havoc and then pretend that they were tricked into it by other inmates. And, of course, you need to keep the demonling secret from the guards - at least that won't be to difficult if the demonling has a rat or bird Vessel. Although if they see it they'll probably try to kill/capture it. Still, if you want to get out.... James. ------------------------------ Date: 22 Aug 2001 18:08:08 +0100 From: "Richard C Hanton-Rutherford" Subject: IN> The prison James, The prison material is amazing; never mind an IN campaign, I want to see this on TV. As people have already brought up comic book inspiration for IN, I suggest you read "Hellblazer: Hard Time" - an interesting perspective on the idea of supernatural events in prison. Not that you seem to need any more ideas, of course. Keep sending this stuff in, Richie H-R - -- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 10:25:31 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Heretical Superior- Death - --0-537419853-998501131=:21279 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline - --- Charles Phipps wrote: > Mammok > Demon Prince of Death Hmm... the Goth Prince. Interesting concept. I had one major problem, though; > The Silver Death This seems WAY overpowered for a Servitor Attunement -- more like a Distinction. Even the Essence cost doesn't make up for that; Heavenly Judgement costs 7 and isn't as nasty as this. ===== 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/ - --0-537419853-998501131=:21279-- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 10:28:33 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Balrogs - --0-2133477495-998501313=:77934 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline - --- james walker wrote: > Asmodeus is less happy with Balrogs, > seeing them as a threat and potential renegades. He'd > probably be even more > unhappy if he knew that the first Balrog was created by a > Divine Intervention... Now _that_ was uncalled for. 0:> ===== 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/ - --0-2133477495-998501313=:77934-- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 18:17:36 -0400 From: "Charles Phipps" Subject: IN> Fantasy Month- The Dreamer of Love (A character from my own campaign mentioned in the PBEM I'm currently playing in-another reworking) Milo Starling Dreamshade Cor-2 Str-4 Agi-4 Eth-3 Int-6 Pre-6 Cel-2 Will-3 Per-5 Artifact: Book of Fairy Tales (Celestial Song of Motion-To and through Marches Only 6/), Umbrella Talisman (Flamming Sword 3/), Goggles of Truth (Seraph Attunement attached to them 3/) Skills: Artistic Ability (Storytelling) 5/, Marches Lore 4/, Dodge 3/, Savoir Faire 2/, Small Weapon (Umbrella Sword) 4/ Songs: Dreams (Corporeal 3/), Protection (Corporeal 3/), Wings 3/ Attunements: None The Dreamer of Love is something of a legend amongst the inhabitants of the Marches and quite possibly one of the most major embarassments that Heaven currently has going for it along with the Angel of Faeries. The Dreamer of Love's history is fairly provincial as he was born a sickly lawyer's son in England around 1893 and on his deathbed of sickness at thirteen was approached by a Seraph of Eli to continue on with his life as a soldier of God. Milo agreed to this request and soon was in the service of Eli and later Blandine when the former Archangel made his rather stunning exit from Heavengly politics. Their duties in the Marches were primarily visiting dreamers of faeries and other strange ethereals and keeping them from being corrupted by the forces of Beleth and her evil armies. Extremely sucessful at their duties as well the situation came a bit to a head when a Princess of the Unseelie Court refused to pay her tithe to Beleth around the time Milo was nearing his thirtieth birthday in the Marches. Making a secret pact with Heaven the Princess Zoam was assigned the soldier and his angelic friend. The Seraph of Dreams was to fight against the Nightmare assaisins going after her Royal Highness while Milo was set to gaurd her as well. What was unexpected was that the two would hit it off so well. Milo was despite British sentiments that had been formed by the time he was a youth had spent the majority of his life in a variety of Dream Realms and possesed an imagination quite unlike any that most men had. The Princess was possesed also of all the elusive qualities that Milo had come to desire in a mate including the slightest bit a rebellious spirit against Heaven but neither evil or painful but potential for a world that he had never seen before. Well to make a long story short Milo completed his destiny and saved the Princess from Death at the cost of his own life.... and didn't go to Heaven. Milo having preferred to stick around the land of the Marches after Death considers it his moral duty as a good Christian to continue to perservere against the evil forces of Beleth and somewhat wrongly refers to himself as a "Saint" despite his unconcious rebellion against Heaven. Still deeply in love with the Princess he has undertaken a "quest" in the old time knight style to free all of the Unseelie from the wrath of Evil Princess Beleth. It should be noted that Milo is of more concern than he might appear because a lost soldier to the Marches who deserves Heaven is very personal smack to the face of the Archangels and the dangerous work he is doing gives ever rise to the possibility they might lose one of God's blessed to soul-death. Also thanks to his extended service Milo has in his possesion several very powerful artifacts taken from dead angels or dead demons who took them from dead angels that he is deceptively stronger than his opponents might think. In any case it hasn't helped the reputation of Eli and is worrying his old friend in Heaven half to death. - -Charlemange _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 18:32:26 -0400 From: "Jeffery Watkins" Subject: Re: IN> Fantasy Month- The Dreamer of Love That was very nice (I was going to sweet, but in my day---boy does that sound like I am ancient or what--guys didn't say such things). Thanks for sharing that character with us. It touched the romantic in me. Jeffery _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 19:29:04 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: IN> Superiors and other-resonances (Re: Yet another heresy) At 12:50 AM -0700 8/22/01, Perry Lloyd wrote: >Of course, I always forget that bit. That Archangels gain all the benefits >of all the choirs without any of the drawbacks (except perhaps their own), >which is why no archangels are ever deceived (because they can Seraph out >any lies) and they can attune to the PCs without ever worrying about >Dissonance for failing to protect them. On top of this, they ALL can be as >fast as an Ofanite, and never worry about their Resonance backfiring on >them, which is why they can catch up with Gabriel where ever she goes. I have, in my own little universe over here, generally determined that a Superior using its own resonance has, well, the Superior-level version of it. (We will not talk about Andrealphus and Impudite Charm here, _plus_ Word-leakage.) So while other Superiors can access the resonances of other Choirs (or Bands), probably with successes better than Servitors can reasonably hope to achieve consistently, they're not as good as a Superior of _that_ Choir (or Band). So Dominic can turn into a rippling of black cloak with Ofanite resonance, and he'll probably catch up with any _normal_ Ofanite, but Gabriel and Janus just go VOOM beyond that. On the other hand, he'd keep up with Eli using Ofanite resonance -- if he could _find_ him... (He might have problems keeping up with Jean, though -- if there are any conductive materials around. *zot* ) So, for various reasons, Lilith is in Japan, looking for an Outcast, and (luckath'dice) Dominic shows up, and they're doing a little round of "What are you doing here?" "How much do you want to know?" at each other, when the disturbance echoes show up. Bamf, bamf, Celestial Motion to get closer, and they show up virtually at the same moment nearby. Lilith, who is dressed in a schoolgirl vessel and fuku in the spirit of the locale, does an anime (Corporeal Motion assisted) bounce off the wall of the alley. Dominic does a _ripple_ of black cloak along the ground. In the spirit of dramatic tension, she catches up before he bamfs off with the Outcast they were both after. But I really liked the image. If only I could animate... - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor RPG links; Random name list, Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 21:53:16 -0500 From: David Edelstein Subject: IN> Mistaken Rapture -- not true, sorry Alas, the recent amusing story about the woman who allegedly killed herself in a "mistaken rapture" turns out to be yet another Internet urban legend: http://www.snopes2.com/religion/rapture.htm - -David ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 22:53:48 -0400 From: "Charles Phipps" Subject: [none] "Pretty Pretty little angel come to mamma so I can taste of your flesh." Baba Yaga said walking up close to the Seraph of Destiny who backed away ever so slightly. "Forgive me Grandmother of Russia but I am very cold and pallid of flesh and not at all delicious. I fear I have not come here for dinner Lady but actually history." the Seraph tried to be polite as he recognized that was the key to dealing with the woman politely termed the Hag. "Mmmmmm pretty angel you want to know Gramma's history?" Baba Yaga wet her lips and began leading the Seraph back to her chicken hutt. "If you please I would like very much to know the history of all...err Ogres." The Seraph of Destiny choked down a gulp as he passed a stew pot with a leg sticking out of it. "Are you sure you won't stay for dinner pretty?" The Hag smiled. "I'm a vegetarian." The Seraph said truthfully. "Eewwww how disgusting." Baba Yaga hissed before taking a seat in a huge rocking chair and starting her motions. "Very well I will tell you the tale of how we ogres came to be." *** The Ogres whose bones have commonly been confused and mistaken for Cro Mag, who sightings have given rise to the legend of the Sasquatch, and whose prints have given birth to Big Foot are race whose tragic doom is mourned by absolutely no one but certain demons. In fact routinely in Heaven many request that parties of Malakim be assemble in the Halls of the Sword and the Refuges of the Groves to hunt down and destroy the very last pockets of the race but thus far interference from Novalis has made the issue sound entirely too close to genocide for most angel's liking. Still very few people who have encountered Homo Monstrous have anything particularly good to say about them during these moments and those who know their heritage have even less so to say. Unsurprisingly the Ogre traces it's parentage back to the twisted Nephilim whose gigantic stature and angelic parentage allowed them to run a horrofic muck among normal humans who had no defense against their songs, strength, and near invunerability. The Great Flood was designed to destroy the Nephilim because the mixing of human and angelic blood was seen as a terrible affront to the free will of humanity and the eradication of it all was of top priority to Heaven lest God bring down his wrath. Unfortunately the Nephilim despite the sudden loss of their patronage in the Grigori had a select few allies they had made with a highly amused Hell. Genubath the Demon Prince of Rapine, Beelzebub the Demon Prince of Corruption, and Baal the Demon Prince of the War signed a pact with the Baba Yaga nephilim and her twelve sons, two daughters (also named Baba Yaga) that all fruits of themselves would forever belong to Hell. In exchange the three demon Princes made sure that they survived the flood by hiding them in caves and on mountains. The Ogres spread from their refuge in the Flood and moved since across the world where they're cannibalistic lifestyle has always placed them in infamy among mortal men. Every Ogre born because he was a child of the Symphony was symphonically aware and centuries of incest, rape, and abominable practices kept most ogres from ever being anything than their chosen mission as agents of Hell. Because Ogres resembled so much normal humans you may be surprised to know that they have been always located in plain sight working against mankind. Grendel and his Mother whom haunted the Viking lands of Beowulf, the Oni of Japan, Goliath the Destroyer whose death at the hands of David was one of the great accomplishments of the boy king, but also the Ogre worked among much larger armies who were willing to overlook unsavory habits and the Mongols, Huns, and Vikings all had those who could trace their blood back to the Hag. Unfortunately time was not kind to the Ogre as with the Fall of Beelzebub with Rome the triumph of the Ogre over Civilization lost them the men who were willing to pay for their services rather than annhilate them outright. Genubath's death at the hands of Valefor was even worse because the Calabim prince had no style for the burning and pillaging an ogre enjoyed. The modern era has signalled to Baal the advent of technology and brain over brute force and thus their third patron has come to ignore them. Dying out very slowly the only saving grace remaining to the Ogres may ironically be in the female Lilith who has taken a shine to the hideous but powerful in bewitching magics Ogresses. The voracious nature of these evil has attracted the attention also of Haagenti who considers Ogre's "his kind of people" so what will happen to these strange folk now is anybody's guess. Ogre Cor-4 Str-10 Agil-6 Eth-1 Int-1 Pre-3 Cel-3 Will-9 Per-3 Skills: Fighting (innate) 3/, Dodge (innate) 2/ Songs: (The Corporeal Song of Dreams, Form, and otherwise are very popular) Attunements: Usually none though most Ogresses have Sorcery of various sorts - -Charlemagne _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 02:53:38 -0400 (EDT) From: "Rev. Pee Kitty" Subject: Re: IN> Jordi's Wild Kingdom On Mon, 20 Aug 2001, Perry Lloyd wrote: > Because you don't get to choose which Attunement you receive, for one. > Also, if you do the math, Frog's leap (at Str 10) gives up a 30ft jump > straight UP, and 50 feet across, more than the Tiger. Furthermore, it's > Jordi's grade 3 angels getting these powers, his Masters of the Creature > Within. They -should- be sick powerful, SFAIK. Well, from that POV then, why would Jordi ever bother giving out the weaker attunements when the stronger ones are far better? There *is* an in-game reason for play balance, after all... - -- Rev. Pee Kitty, of the order Malkavian-Dobbsian, Q4B4L! Meow! "Human germ!" -- Shrapnel (Decepticon), _Transformers: The Movie_ ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2344 ********************************