in_nomine-digest Sunday, August 26 2001 Volume 01 : Number 2348 In this digest: Re: IN> An interesting announcement IN> Valefor's Daughter Re: IN> Valefor's Daughter Re: IN> Valefor's Daughter IN> The Thief IN> Fantasy Month - Fantasy Race: Mermaids Re: IN> Valefor's Daughter Re: IN> Valefor's Daughter Re: IN> An interesting announcement Re: IN> Valefor's Daughter Re: IN> Valefor's Daughter IN> Beneficial Discords. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 01:37:42 +0100 From: "Genevieve Cogman" Subject: Re: IN> An interesting announcement I want the EPG, too, dammit . . . :) Genevieve Cogman maya@tcp.co.uk >On Fri, 24 Aug 2001, Christopher Gerkey wrote: >> I must admit, I'd rather see the EPG. >I'd rather see the EPG first, but given that this one is just a little >32-pager, I can see why this one got priority. Cheaper to print, and helps >promote the new "mini-book" concept. >But I'd still rather get the EPG. >Rev. Pee Kitty, of the order Malkavian-Dobbsian, Q4B4L! > Meow! ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2001 20:23:30 -0700 From: Charles E Smith Subject: IN> Valefor's Daughter Here's a quirky idea I came up with at two in the morning. :) - ---------------------------------------------------------------------- It is well-known in Hell that Valefor, Andrealphus, and Nybbas get along very well. The Demon Prince of Theft works with both of them to promote and enhance their Words while using them to steal the hopes and dreams of humanity every day, through every act of lustful taking or media babble that hurts innocent lives. So why would Valefor be jealous of either of them? In a word, their children. While visiting the Bordello in Shal-Mari, Valefor ran across the beautiful daughter of Andrealphus, famous for her legendary role in the corruption of the Grigori (to hear the legends tell it). On a visit to Perdition, he ran across Rex, the idiot son of the Prince of the Media. This got Valefor to thinking about how he could enhance his own image, and (with Nybbas's input), he came up with the idea for the ultimate femme fatale. She would be a master thief, an assassin, stylish, skilled, and daring. Having come up with this notion, Valefor returned to the Palazzo Furto and began work on his special Balseraph daughter, Valerie. Valerie was perfect, at least, that's what the Prince of Theft thought when he was done with her. The vessel he'd crafted, based on the handiwork of Lust, was flawlessly beautiful and looked damned good in skin-tight black leather. After she was trained by the very best, namely himself, and granted up to 16 Forces, powerful Songs, and all of Theft's attunements and Distinctions (no one said Hell is fair), he set Valerie loose in Hell and on Earth. The first theft of the daughter of the Demon Prince of Theft was in Hades, where she copied and downloaded the sensitive information from Asmodeus's personal computer and escaped without disturbing a single dust mote. When word got around, Asmodeus was furious, but Valerie eluded his best trackers, launching one-demon crime sprees across the mortal spheres, targeting Tethers of War, the Sword, the War, and Judgment. Her personal collection came to include an axe bestowed to a Malakite Master of Valor by Michael himself, several Judgment badges, an old, broken blade of one of Laurence's best Seraphim, now soul-dead, a shield once worn in battle by Laurence, and the horn of a Calabite Baron of Victory that had been ripped from its head by a mighty Cherub Master of Law, among many other things. Angels and demons alike cursed her name, while she gained a huge cult following in Stygia. Nybbas was quite pleased, especially since Valerie video-taped all her thefts and the tapes were played all over the Nybbas News Network, resulting in astronomical ratings. Those ratings only skyrocketed on the day when Valefor, in a personal interview, strode forward, rested a hand on her shadowy-black scales, and proudly acknowledged Valerie as his daughter. Valerie's notoriety wasn't without a price. After several raids on Tethers and several daring escapes, the angels began to collaborate. Word began to circulate through Hell of a massive score, of a meeting of the Archangels at the Heavenly Tether of Notre Dame in Paris. As hoped, Valerie's mind began to scheme. If she could hit the Archangels directly at their meeting and get it all on film, her reputation would go through the roof! Being a Balseraph, Valerie self-resonated herself into believing that she could do it. Even more, she believed that she could steal several things at once. First on her list was the Cloak of Dominic. She planned on grabbing the Axe of Michael, the Sword of Laurence, maybe Khalid's blade too, while she was at it. The big score, of course, would be to actually swipe the Book of Names from Yves himself, preferably from his very hand. Having scouted the place for weeks, she set her plans in motion. And she was promptly caught. Thinking ahead (and gritting his teeth), Dominic consulted Janus. The Archangel of the Wind, knowing well that Valerie would be scouting for traps, took no plan of action until the day of the supposed meeting, save to have a hit-squad of his angels and Laurence's roaming around Paris, waiting for the signal to strike. On the day of the "conference", Janus gave the signal. His agents moved under cover of the Disturbance raised by his arrival and that of Dominic and Laurence. Several powerful Distincted, a swarm of lesser angels of the Sword, and the Archangels of Judgment, the Sword, and the Wind were far more than enough to subdue the shrieking Balseraph of Theft. Capture, failure, forced dissonance into Valerie's soul. Her lies, the delusion that she was uncatchable, crumbled around her. The notes from all the dissonance that she suddenly endured forced her to look at herself in the pure light of the Symphony. As Laurence prepared to strike down the squalling Balseraph, she suddenly screamed her repentance and, to everyone's amazement, all of the Seraphim present, including Dominic himself, verified it as True. Janus immediately went to Redeem her, thinking to claim her for the Wind. She Redeemed, but the result was not what anyone expected. When it was done, and a cleansed Seraph strode in the loci of the Tether of Notre Dame, she immediately announced that she would not serve the Wind, for it would lead her once more into temptation and perhaps to a Fall. A stunned Janus whirled in shock, while Laurence and Dominic gaped and the Servitors present stared with suspicion and anger at this arrogant Seraph who so dared defy an Archangel. Without any further warning, Valerie blew all of her Essence in an Invocation, begging an audience of, of all people, Zadkiel, the Archangel of Protection. When the Cherub Archangel arrived, Valerie threw herself at her feet, begging to be accepted into her service. A rather surprised Zadkiel accepted, taking Valerie and departing with her for her Citadel, and leaving her three colleagues to gape in confusion. Nowadays, Valerie works as Heaven's security consultant, providing protection against the very same Thieves she used to run with. She's not too popular in Windy circles, and the Servitors of Laurence, Michael, and Dominic still view her with deep suspicion, but for once in her life, she's happy and doing something she truly loves. So far, she has been able to avoid Earthly duty. Zadkiel feels, rightly, that Valerie's father will certainly want revenge on his wayward daughter... - ----------------------------------------------------------- Valerie Seraph of Protection Forces: 13 (she lost three in her Redemption) Corporeal Forces: 5 Strength: 8 Agility: 12 Ethereal Forces: 4 Intelligence: 8 Precision: 8 Celestial Forces: 5 Will: 8 Perception: 12 Attunements: Seraph of Protection, Malakite of Protection, Aura of Divinity. Songs: Corporeal Shields/4, Corporeal Forbidding/4, Corporeal Healing/3, Celestial Healing/5, Ethereal Harmony/4 Skills: Electronics/4, Emote/5, Savoir-Faire/6, Detect Lies/6, Knowledge (Thief tactics)/6, Computer Operation/6, Driving/6. Vessel/Role: None as yet. Zadkiel has not crafted a new one for her since her defection. Her previous vessel was a tall, leggy blonde with green eyes. Her level-six role then was as a cat burglar. ________________________________________________________________ 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: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 01:52:47 -0400 From: Daniel Sauve Subject: Re: IN> Valefor's Daughter On Sat, 25 Aug 2001 20:23:30 -0700, Charles E Smith wrote: >Here's a quirky idea I came up with at two in the morning. :) That was awesome! Here's your six points of esscence. Don't spend it all on one song. :) - -- Your GM Daniel Sauve (in nomine, shadowrun, earthdawn, hero unlimited) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 07:10:05 +0000 From: "Jo Hart" Subject: Re: IN> Valefor's Daughter >Capture, failure, forced dissonance into Valerie's soul. Her lies, the >delusion that she was uncatchable, crumbled around her. The notes from >all the dissonance that she suddenly endured forced her to look at >herself in the pure light of the Symphony. As Laurence prepared to strike >down the squalling Balseraph, she suddenly screamed her repentance and, >to everyone's amazement, all of the Seraphim present, including Dominic >himself, verified it as True. No way. She was *much* more fun as a master thief!!! Security consultants are boring. We want slinky demons in black leather. jo _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 20:01:50 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> The Thief Keep moving, move on - up the stairs, towards the jewel. The mansion was well defended, but no door could stop him... ~But I came in through the window!~ 'A window is just a sort of door, the window sill a sort of doorway. Besides, we got through, so it must be so." .... he easily avoided the guards and alarms. He stood before the jewel. Pressure sensitive display case? Oh yes, that's why he was here. He removed a small electronic device from his cat suit and attached it to the base of the display case, above the wiring. A small green light appeared on the device. Good. He pressed on the display case - no alarm. Replacing the jewel with a fake did not trip the alarm, nor did poking or prodding the case. Good. The police would find the device, and spread the word of it's existence, warning each other and security firms of its' threat. Corrupt officers would sell the plans of the device to criminals and Vapula's latest toy would become standard equipment for thieves. But only if he was detected. He removed a mobile phone from his belt and dialled in an anonymous tip-off to the police, and waited patiently in the shadows. ~But how will this get me back my name?~ 'Later, little one, later.' ~But he stole my NAME! He stole me! I was as nothing!~ Without the excitement of the theft to distract him, his mind wandered. His fingers wandered, searching his neck for the bloody stump, remembering the pain of beheading. But the skin was smooth, his fingers traced their way up to his ears. He saw his reflection in the windows - so strange he looked, with his unique head sitting on his shoulders. Unique? The one and only, but the same as everyone else's. He sighed. Where were the police? Lights came on; the guards were conducting a room by room search - warned by the police perhaps. Finally they entered the display room. Tired and bored, they could not react in time to the Thief, who sped past them. He dodged up the stairs, around a corner - ah! A security camera! And an antique vase - why did humans put those in corridors, so easily broken, still not my loss. He removed a long, thin torch from his belt, making sure sure that it would be obvious to the camera. A security guard came around the corner, and saw the Thief, a long barrelled item in his hand - the Thief dived through a door as the guard fired, the bullet destroying the vase. ~How that get me my name? Destruction isn't theft. Ruining the guards career isn't theft. Besides, we ate Rapine; why bother with him now?~ 'We have a Soldier applying to become a security guard here. Ruining this guards reputation lets us steal his job for our Soldier.' The Thief continued to run; the room he had entered had no other exits besides the window. Dropping the torch (its' would help ruin the guards' reputation) he ducked out through the window, and standing on the sill, leapt up to the window above - a jump only the finest athletes could have achieved. He could have dropped to the ground and slipped away, but this was more impressive. ~What are you doing? I don't understand. [sigh] I've understood so little since Uriel hacked off my head.~ The Thief wrenched open the window and rolled into the room. As he crossed the room, the door opened and a guard entered. A quick punch knocked the guard out cold; a few minutes work later the Thief left the room, dressed as a guard. The guard was tied up in a corner in his underwear. It was important to leave guards looking foolish - he couldn't allow someone who worked for a living to have any self-respect, after all. 'Now do you understand?' asked the second presence. He was worried about the first presence, it hadn't ever recovered from the beheading. Still... ~Yes, I think so. What shall we steal now? This mansion would make a good temple. Can we steal it? I need a temple. But Wind stole them all, he stole my worshippers, he stole my name, he stole, he stole....~ The Thief rushed through the halls, searching for himself, pretending to be a good guard, easily avoiding showing his face in the security cameras. He worked his way towards the front entrance, and stepped outside, looking as self-important and embarrassed as he could. There was no one outside. Time to leave. And Valefor asked himself: what was the most appropriate way for the Prince of Theft, to leave? Hardly stylish, but appropriate enough, he supposed. He hotwired a security van. And Janus, the Roman god of Doorways, drove off into the night. James. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 20:49:24 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Fantasy Month - Fantasy Race: Mermaids Two separate though related races of Mermaids exist. 'True' Mermaids are descended from dolphins and a rogue Grigori; 'lesser' mermaids are descended from dugongs and one or more ethereals. Only 'True' Mermaids have their name capitalised in Heaven's records. The two races cannot interbreed, but tend to be fascinated by each other; friendships and doomed romances between the species are common. All True Mermaids have six or more Forces; those who lack the potential for a 6th Force acquire it anyway and become Nephallim. The deeds of these Nephallim gave rise to the legends of the Sirens. Because of their ancestry, Dominic has forbidden the Archangels to recruit the Mermaids; Mermaids are exclusively Soldiers of Song. She freely grants the Celestial Connection Attunement to any Mermaid who Masters the Singing skill. True Mermaids add their charisma to the CD of any Singing roll, including improving Sotto Voce Song performances. Mermaids may have up to six levels of charisma, and only Sirens may have negative Charisma; even an Ugly Stick cannot reduce a Mermaids charisma below zero. They cannot be Sorcerers, necromancers or Alchemists, but can be Enchanters. Mermaids cannot walk, obviously, but move in water at the same speed as a dolphin. Their role in the War is not clear, but seems to be related to the Grigori need to watch for demons; Mermaids frequently alert Jordi's Seraphim to the presence of demons in the oceans. Lesser mermaids are indistinguishable from dugongs unless the observer is Symphonically Aware. The Symphonically Aware will see the image of a mermaid imprinted over the dugong. These mermaids have between four and six Forces; they must have a minimum of 3 Corporeal Forces, but as few as zero Ethereal or Celestial Forces. A mermaid with six Forces can learn Corporeal Songs. Poseidon claims to be king of the mermaids, and the few mermaid rebellions were crushed long ago. He requires mermaids to guard his Tethers, and watches them closely. James. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 06:29:55 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> Valefor's Daughter - --- Jo Hart wrote: > No way. She was *much* more fun as a master thief!!! > Security consultants > are boring. We want slinky demons in black leather. Well, I have two, contradictory responses to that: 1) When your dad's the Demon Prince of Theft and you're feeling those rebellious adolescent attitudes taking over, there's nothing guaranteed to be more annoying than to embrace the side of Virtue.* 2) How do you know that she isn't planning to accomplish her original mission anyway? True, Dominic's usually good at catching these things, but if anyone could manifest the necessary schizophrenia needed to Redeem under false pretenses, it'd be someone created from the personal Forces of an entity widely rumored to be both an AA and a DP. :) Moe "Not that I'm saying that anything's wrong with 'slinky' and 'black leather', mind..." Lane *But she really needs an inappropriate boyfriend. She should be dating ... hmmm ... David. Yeah. _That'd_ make Valefor's face turn magenta... :) ===== 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, 26 Aug 2001 12:23:28 -0400 (EDT) From: "Rev. Pee Kitty" Subject: Re: IN> Valefor's Daughter On Sat, 25 Aug 2001, Charles E Smith wrote: > Here's a quirky idea I came up with at two in the morning. :) Good one. > When it was done, and a cleansed Seraph strode in the loci of the Tether > of Notre Dame, she immediately announced that she would not serve the > Wind, for it would lead her once more into temptation and perhaps to a > Fall. A stunned Janus whirled in shock, while Laurence and Dominic gaped > and the Servitors present stared with suspicion and anger at this > arrogant Seraph who so dared defy an Archangel. > She's not > too popular in Windy circles, and the Servitors of Laurence, Michael, and > Dominic still view her with deep suspicion I definitely disagree with this portrayal here, though. Unless you're running a pretty dark game, I'd imagine that the Archangels present would have been somewhat surprised by her statement, but then accepted it as Truthful and been quite willing to help her find her appropriate place in Heaven. I can't see them being quite so petty, I suppose. > Songs: Corporeal Shields/4, Corporeal Forbidding/4, Corporeal Healing/3, > Celestial Healing/5, Ethereal Harmony/4 Naw, gotta throw on some of those secret Theft songs! Concealment at the very least.... - -- Rev. Pee Kitty, of the order Malkavian-Dobbsian, Q4B4L! Meow! We're not a mind control cult full of answers, and we're not a humor magazine that Earth ad agencies want to run ads in. We're just... us. -- Ivan Stang ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 12:40:26 -0400 From: Mike Bruner Subject: Re: IN> An interesting announcement >I want the EPG, too, dammit . . . :) Forget that, I want it ALL! The EPG, the Anime guide, more Superiors books, anything they can put out for IN!! :) (And a local group to game with; my DM's going off to college so I'm stuck looking for an RPG game again...) - -- Mike Bruner-- bruner@delaware.infi.net I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 16:40:46 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Valefor's Daughter At 6:29 AM -0700 8/26/01, Maurice Lane wrote: [...] >*But she really needs an inappropriate boyfriend. She >should be dating ... hmmm ... David. Mooooeeeeeee....... - --Beth, typing w/a uncoopertive baby (iolanthe) causing typos. arcangel is nursing a trout with ARMS! ARMS that reach out and try to pound the keyboard! You say "And teeth. Ow." ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 22:09:36 +0000 From: "Jo Hart" Subject: Re: IN> Valefor's Daughter >From: Maurice Lane >Reply-To: in_nomine-l@lists.io.com >To: in_nomine-l@lists.io.com >Subject: Re: IN> Valefor's Daughter >Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2001 06:29:55 -0700 (PDT) > >--- Jo Hart wrote: > > > No way. She was *much* more fun as a master thief!!! > > Security consultants > > are boring. We want slinky demons in black leather. > >Well, I have two, contradictory responses to that: > >1) When your dad's the Demon Prince of Theft and >you're feeling those rebellious adolescent attitudes >taking over, there's nothing guaranteed to be more >annoying than to embrace the side of Virtue.* > >2) How do you know that she isn't planning to >accomplish her original mission anyway? I was thinking more as a GM. I'd rather have the PCs interact with a slinky catwoman style demonic masterthief than a virtuous penitent. Redemption is a nice IC story, but sometimes it's much more fun to use demons in game. It can be easy to think up a character you like and dramatic to throw unrepentent demons into the mix, without too much backstory involving having met archangels. jo _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2001 11:19:01 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Beneficial Discords. > From: "Rev. Pee Kitty" wrote: >> On Thu, 23 Aug 2001, james walker wrote: > >> 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. > > My only point of contention is that these Discords' positive side effects > almost balance out the negative effects. I can't see any other way to do > it, though (Attunements would have to be granted from someone)... Yes, that's why I went with Discords. There are actually a number of Discords which can be very beneficial to the character; Bound for a Dreams and Merciful for Flowers are the most obvious examples. Given that Discords can have varying values depending on type (eg Vulnerability) why not Discords which cost Character Points rather than being worth them? After all, Character Points are supposed to represent 'brownie points' with your Superior; toleration of a Discord would be a reasonable thing to spend them on. As an example: a Malakite of Blandine wants a level of Bound, as this makes it harder for him to get Dissonance and means that if he's ethereally 'killed' he doesn't have to risk acquiring a less pleasant Discord. It's well thought out, and so Blandine might agree, and arrange for Judgement to leave him alone; however it is a) more work for her & b) a bit defeatist, as it assumes that he needs help to avoid dissonance/will lose combats - so she's not as willing to grant favours in future. Developing useful Discords would be an interesting project for Technology. Discords which are actively useful would probably require Songs/essence expenditure to acquire, rather than converting dissonance (ie cost cp). Still, this could result in Calabim of technology turning up at some point in the future. > Neat writeup. Thanks! James. ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2348 ********************************