in_nomine-digest Saturday, September 1 2001 Volume 01 : Number 2353 In this digest: RE: IN> John the Baptist, he ain't. (But he *is* Cadre, among oth er things.) Re: IN> John the Baptist, he ain't. (But he *is* Cadre, among other things.) IN> Questions Re: IN> Questions Re: IN> Questions Re: IN> Questions Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Fantasy Race[s] Re: IN> Questions Re: IN> Questions Re: IN> Questions Re: IN> Questions IN> Off-Topic: Email Change IN> Re: On Lightning IN> Re: Ghoul Packs; + some zombi queries Re: IN> (fantasy) On dragons IN> September's Theme IN> Iron Rev 4 IN> Iron Rev 4: Temple On The Edge Of Yesterday IN> Stupid queston Re: IN> Stupid queston ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 08:50:48 -0400 From: "Adams, David" Subject: RE: IN> John the Baptist, he ain't. (But he *is* Cadre, among oth er things.) >I believe he's going to be at Arisia this year, and so will I if I can swing >the fundage. Now *this* is shaping up nicely. We could have a Flying Wedge of Arisian IN players at the rate we're going. I'm down. Just let me know when, where and how much. We could probably run a guerilla IN booth, or how's about a IN list booth. Dave "Yeah, we know canon, haven't seen him in these here parts for a while what can I do ya for?" ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 09:40:27 -0400 From: Jonathan Walton Subject: Re: IN> John the Baptist, he ain't. (But he *is* Cadre, among other things.) - --=======2F54327D======= Content-Type: text/plain; x-avg-checked=avg-ok-6D751F07; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit > > Okay, Moe, is he H. Beam Piper? It's the right > > initial, he > > wrote famously about parallel timelines, and he > > committed > > suicide. Why he'd be ticked and Janus, I don't > > know. > >Normally, I'd just post the Tattered webpage, but it's >being revamped at the moment... Hey! Now that was a low blow! You know, you can send me that "new edited material" any day now, Moe ... ;) I'm in the middle of moving to Beijing, thank-you-very-much, but if anything will persuade me to finish the Archangel of the Way and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, China will do it. Besides, I'll retreat to my computer and hack out Tattered HTML all day just to get my daily supply of English. In any case, if my ability to write coherently in this language starts disappearing in the coming weeks, you guys will know why. Later. Jonathan - --=======2F54327D======= Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-avg=cert; x-avg-checked=avg-ok-6D751F07 Content-Disposition: inline - --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.268 / Virus Database: 140 - Release Date: 8/7/01 - --=======2F54327D=======-- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 13:32:50 -0400 From: Adam Thomas Gieseler Subject: IN> Questions I'm a longtime fan of In Nomine who has finally taken the plunge and is starting a campaign this fall. I have a couple questions, though, that have come up in preparing for the game. Any assistance you guys could give is appreciated. 1) How are the body hits for Kyriotates and Shedim calculated? Just a page number in the main book is fine; I couldn't find the information but I'm sure it's there somewhere. 2) The Corporeal Players' Guide says that to be Hellsworn, a human must understand that he is pledging him or herself to Hell. How constrictive is this? I want to include in my campaign a preteenage girl who has been set up as a "magical girl" by a Balseraph of Nybbas, and given the Soundtrack attunement. (The Balseraph who came up with the idea is a Knight of Influence, and Nybbas was rather taken with the idea.) The CPG says that anyone with a diabolical Attunement is bound for Hell after death, but it also says that to be Hellsworn one has to understand what one is getting into. What happens if someone is given a Force or an Attunement who is unwilling or deluded? I may end up going the noncanon route for this, but anything you can tell me about how canon works, as well as what you personally would do if you were calling the shots, would be appreciated. That's all the questions I can think of for now. I may have more as I remember them. Thanks in advance. Adam Gieseler ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 10:46:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Questions - --- Adam Thomas Gieseler wrote: > 1) How are the body hits for Kyriotates and Shedim > calculated? I just use the Celestial's Str and treat the Host as a Vessel/1. > 2) The Corporeal Players' Guide says that to be > Hellsworn, a human must > understand that he is pledging him or herself to Hell. [snip] The > CPG says that anyone with a diabolical Attunement is > bound for Hell > after death, but it also says that to be Hellsworn one > has to understand > what one is getting into. What happens if someone is > given a Force or > an Attunement who is unwilling or deluded? If they're unwilling, it doesn't work. If they're deluded, that depends on how it was done. "No, you won't be damned for eternity," means that the victim isn't Hellsworn (and no Prince would grant an Attunement to someone who wasn't). "Yes, you'll go to Hell, but you'll have a position of privilege there," is a frequent lie. All Hellsworn know that they're damned, but many (possibly most) have no idea that demons hate them just as much as they hate the rest of humanity. ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 The next time someones says "Talk is cheap," remind them of how much Oprah Winfrey makes. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 12:53:30 -0500 From: EDG Subject: Re: IN> Questions As I'm not Beth, and don't have my books handy, these answers are Not Necessarily Canon. However, I'll give it a go. At 01:32 PM 8/31/01 -0400, you wrote: >1) How are the body hits for Kyriotates and Shedim calculated? Just a >page number in the main book is fine; I couldn't find the information but >I'm sure it's there somewhere. IIRC, Body Hits for Kyriotates and Shedim are calculated the same way as for everyone else. Substitute the body's Corporeal Forces for Vessel levels. (That's how I'd do it, anyway.) >2) The Corporeal Players' Guide says that to be Hellsworn, a human must >understand that he is pledging him or herself to Hell. How constrictive >is this? I want to include in my campaign a preteenage girl who has been >set up as a "magical girl" by a Balseraph of Nybbas, and given the >Soundtrack attunement. (The Balseraph who came up with the idea is a >Knight of Influence, and Nybbas was rather taken with the idea.) The CPG >says that anyone with a diabolical Attunement is bound for Hell after >death, but it also says that to be Hellsworn one has to understand what >one is getting into. What happens if someone is given a Force or an >Attunement who is unwilling or deluded? Again IIRC, there's a difference between being Hellsworn and being Hellbound. (For one thing, there are plenty of folks out there doing what they think is Right and who at the same time have met their fate but not their destiny.) Being Hellsworn means that you pledge allegiance to the Horde, and accept whatever assignments they might have in exchange for any gifts they are willing to give. IF you have not been given an infernal Attunement, this is a reversible condition. Being Hellbound means that you have been granted an infernal Attunement, or have met your Fate. The former here is irreversible (well - maybe a Divine Intervention after the character had sincerely repented could do it), the latter reversible if the character is willing to accept reincarnation or discorporation. If an infernal attunement will drag someone directly to Hell, why aren't the Princes out just throwing attunements around? Here's the catch: Attunements are an investment of power, and frankly, Princes might be powerful, but even they have a limited power base, after a fashion. Sooner or later, they'd run out of Attunements to give. More to the point, they have better things to do with their time than to spend the time (and remember - time works differently in the Celestial plane than it does on Earth) than sitting around, finding people without Infernal attunements, and grafting the power onto those people, AND worrying that they won't use the power to further the cause of good anyway. Better just to give them to the people they know are already faithfully serving them, and to the people they can afford to assign a demon to on a more-or-less permanent basis. That was the long answer. Here's the short one: Giving an attunement to someone doesn't necessarily make them Hellsworn. BUT - Princes are reluctant to spend the time and energy to attach an attunement to a person who's not already in their service. Thus, -usually- attunements are given to Hellsworn - but not always. Again - Not Necessarily Canon. - -EDG ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 14:31:17 -0400 From: Whistling in the Dark Subject: Re: IN> Questions At 10:46 AM -0700 8/31/01, Michael Walton wrote: >--- Adam Thomas Gieseler wrote: >> 1) How are the body hits for Kyriotates and Shedim >> calculated? > > I just use the Celestial's Str and treat the Host as a >Vessel/1. My house rule is to take the Host's Corporeal Forces and treat them as the Vessel level, the same way you compute Body Hits for a human. Yes, that means that if the Celestial has a markedly better Corporeal Forces than the human they'll take a lot more body hits than the human will. This makes more sense to me than a Kyriotate possessing a brawny human and having *less* body hits. For example. Let's assume Mandark the Kyriotate (4/2/3 Forces with a strength of 8) decides to possess Brock Mendez, a brawny human without much depth or agility (3/1/1, but also with a Strength of 8). Brock naturally has (Corporeal/3 + "Vessel/3") * 8 Body hits, or 48. (IN p.42) If we assume that a Kyriotate has a Vessel/1, as you suggest here, Mandark with more Corporeal Forces ends up with (Corporeal/4 + Vessel/1) * 8 Body hits, or 40. So, Mandark, with a greater Corporeal presence supernaturally enhances Brock's body and he loses 8 Body hits for his trouble. If, on the other hand, we assume that Brock's "Vessel" level remains constant, we get Mandark's Body hits of (Corporeal/4 + Vessel/3) * 8 Body hits, or 56 -- a definite bump up. This seems more in keeping with the spirit of the Resonance. (Now, if Mandark had only 2 Corporeal Forces or a lower strength, Brock might well lose Body Hits when possessed, but that's another issue.) - -- Eric Alfred Burns - Impudite of Secrets -- or Mercurian of Revelation (candidate for the Word of Obscurity) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 15:14:27 -0400 From: "Jason F. McBrayer" Subject: Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Fantasy Race[s] On Thu, Aug 30, 2001 at 03:23:49PM +1100, james walker wrote: > > To finish off Fantasy Month, a few variations on zombis: > Great stuff, especially the ghouls. I'll have to steal this for the IN/AFMBE stuff I'm writing up (an AFMBE Deadworld based on IN and Samingan Word-victory). - -- +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | 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: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 15:23:32 -0400 From: Matthew Gerber Subject: Re: IN> Questions EDG wrote: > Being Hellsworn means that you pledge allegiance to the Horde, and > accept whatever assignments they might have in exchange for any gifts > they are willing to give. IF you have not been given an infernal > Attunement, this is a reversible condition. Being Hellbound means > that you have been granted an infernal Attunement, or have met your > Fate. The former here is irreversible (well - maybe a Divine > Intervention after the character had sincerely repented could do it), > the latter reversible if the character is willing to accept > reincarnation or discorporation. My understanding (also not necessarily correct) was that if you had an infernal Attunement and met your Destiny, the Angels of Final Judgement would pick you out of the crowd at the gates, surl at you for a while (whimper), strip the Attunement (ow) and kick you upstairs. Matt ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 16:42:17 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Questions At 1:32 PM -0400 8/31/01, Adam Thomas Gieseler wrote: >I'm a longtime fan of In Nomine who has finally taken the plunge and is >starting a campaign this fall. I have a couple questions, though, that >have come up in preparing for the game. Any assistance you guys could >give is appreciated. > >1) How are the body hits for Kyriotates and Shedim calculated? Just a >page number in the main book is fine; I couldn't find the information >but I'm sure it's there somewhere. It's in the APG, and probably the IPG... Use the host's Corporeal Forces as the 'vessel level.' Suggest a page-reference and enter this into www.sjgames.com/in-nomine/errata ... O:> >2) The Corporeal Players' Guide says that to be Hellsworn, a human must >understand that he is pledging him or herself to Hell. How constrictive >is this? Fairly -- though there _are_ some natural 6-Force humans. [...] >what one is getting into. What happens if someone is given a Force or >an Attunement who is unwilling or deluded? If a Force: the Force doesn't stick. If an attunement... I'd be tempted to let an -attunement- attach just fine. > I may end up going the noncanon route for this, but anything you can Non-canon works too. Gray canon would have something along the lines of... (Okay, okay, I've been watching _Soul Music_ recently; the baby likes the turtle...) "I'm giving my life to music!" Basically, swearing over oneself genuinely, without regard for the consequences. As a flavor thing, with little reflection in canon as of this time: Hellsworn _is_ a generic term for 'Soldier working for demons,' but not all Hellsworn are _really_ _sworn_ to Hell -- i.e., Hellbound. A few with a natural 6th Force are technically in control of their own fates and destinies. Not that this often matters, but it can. Another good reason, if you're a demon, not to let on that you've found a natural Soldier. (Besides the reason that if people don't know you've got one, they can't take it away for bad behavior.) - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor RPG links; Random name list, Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 16:44:17 -0400 From: Walter Milliken Subject: Re: IN> Questions At 13:32 -0400 8/31/01, Adam Thomas Gieseler wrote: >1) How are the body hits for Kyriotates and Shedim calculated? Just a >page number in the main book is fine; I couldn't find the information >but I'm sure it's there somewhere. It's on p. 55 of the APG (for Kyrios); I also thought it was in the main book errata or in the FAQ, but I can't find it either place right now. It *should* be in one or the other.... The formula uses the host's Strength * (Corporeal Forces + Toughness) to compute the Body Hits for that host, in place of Strength * (Corporeal Forces + Vessel level) for regular celestials. >2) The Corporeal Players' Guide says that to be Hellsworn, a human must >understand that he is pledging him or herself to Hell. How constrictive >is this? I want to include in my campaign a preteenage girl who has >been set up as a "magical girl" by a Balseraph of Nybbas, and given the >Soundtrack attunement. (The Balseraph who came up with the idea is a >Knight of Influence, and Nybbas was rather taken with the idea.) The >CPG says that anyone with a diabolical Attunement is bound for Hell >after death, but it also says that to be Hellsworn one has to understand >what one is getting into. What happens if someone is given a Force or >an Attunement who is unwilling or deluded? This is mainly a GM call. In general, for someone to wind up in Hell, they have to make *some* conscious choice to do something bad. Becoming Hellsworn thus requires a choice, which must be *reasonably* informed. The potential Soldier can be lied to about most everything about Hell, but they have to know that's who they're working for, and that they'll wind up there when they die. But the demon can tell them that "Hell is really a nice place", or anything else, as long as they say it's Hell. (Balseraph resonance would make things iffy, though -- the person should be free to disbelieve Hell-prop, or they're not really making a free choice.) Or so I interpret it. Caveat Emptor.... I believe it's canon (probably GMG) that even Superiors can't force an attunement on someone without their consent (I suppose this could be gained through deception, though). As I understand it, Servitors of the Superior have already given their consent, through binding to that Superior, so specific consent isn't needed in that common case. Personally, I'd probably allow such a thing to happen in my game, without the girl becoming officially Hellsworn. The girl would probably be influenced towards Hell by the connection, but she might be saved if she somehow managed to do good rather than ill with the attunement (measured by all the effects of her actions, not just her personal intentions). Most likely, she couldn't reach Heaven without an Archangel stripping her of the attunement before death; otherwise I'd rule that she'd either be pulled to Hell, merely disperse on death, or maybe (if I wanted to be generous) re-incarnate without the attunement attached to her next self. Which would happen would depend a lot on how she used the attunement. - ---Walter ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 23:27:13 +0100 From: "Dave" Subject: Re: IN> Questions - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Walter Milliken" To: Sent: Friday, August 31, 2001 9:44 PM Subject: Re: IN> Questions > At 13:32 -0400 8/31/01, Adam Thomas Gieseler wrote: > >1) How are the body hits for Kyriotates and Shedim calculated? Just a > >page number in the main book is fine; I couldn't find the information > >but I'm sure it's there somewhere. Not having the Canon ruling, and more than a few players playing Shedim, I ruled that they bought Vessel levels at character creation but it acted like Toughness. Like I can be bothered to work out which mortal sap has how many forces with the amount of babbling monkeys my players get through in a night! Dave Next game. Roll on the Mossad agents they don't know are gunning for them yet >:) ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 19:25:44 -0400 (EDT) From: Emily Dresner Subject: IN> Off-Topic: Email Change Since a bunch of people like to deluge me in email that I never get around to answering... Because of various bits of madness, created by Rhythms, the Demon of Failed DSL Providers, I'm moving my "main" email to my work email. If you want to get ahold of me, I'm at edresner@nfr.com. Emily K. Dresner-Thornber Senior Software Engineer NFR Security, Inc. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2001 11:16:53 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Re: On Lightning Interesting posts. If we end up with Jeanathon for September, it should go well. James. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2001 11:15:02 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Re: Ghoul Packs; + some zombi queries > From: Earl Wajenberg > > Centuries-old zombi packs, eh? Given that they're basically *dead*, > won't it become a pack of roving skeletons fairly soon, unless > some body knows the Song of Healing or an equivalent trick? Only if they don't manage to munch three people each day - zombis only decay if they don't fulfil their Need. And, of course, CorpHealing is one of the most common Songs taught to Soldiers, so many zombified Soldiers would have it. On 'equivalent tricks' has anyone considered what happens if Saminga's Natural Causes Attunement is used on Undead or a Shedite's Corpse? As I read it, the body should be completely healed (which would suit Saminga, as he doesn't need to hand out Songs of Healing as often) but I could be wrong. Also, zombis have any Songs learned by human; what about attunements? I'm assuming that angelic attunements are destroyed (given they're lost if an angel Falls, and the zombi is composed of diabolical Forces), but what about demonic/ethereal ones? Particularly relevant - the Ethereal Connection Attunement, given that Beleth hands it out to her dream Soldiers, and many Pagan Soldiers have it. Thoughts? James. > From: Michael Walton > Subject: Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Fantasy Race[s] > > - --- james walker wrote: >> GHOULS > > James, you have succeeded in making Zombis even ickier. > My hat is off. > From: "Jeffery Watkins" > > wow, WoW, WOW! That was fantastic. Thank you. This goes great with the > "Saminga's Bloodknights" plotline I have going on, where Saminga is > assembling an undead version of the Hellsworn. Using GURPS Bloodtypes and > other sources, each Bloodknight group will be composed of a type of undead. > Many thanks, this was very creative and well written. I liked how you > grouped them, how their organization works and the other types of Zombies. > They aren't just for shooting up as mindless hordes. > > Jeffery Thank You! I'm looking forward to seeing "Saminga's BloodKnights" - sounds fun! > From: Daniel Sauve > Subject: Re: IN> Fantasy Month - Fantasy Race[s] > > On Thu, 30 Aug 2001 15:23:49 +1100, "james walker" > wrote: > >>To finish off Fantasy Month, a few variations on zombis: > (Shudders, wordlessly hands over 3 esscense and a "Summon Eli for Free" card.) > - -- Thank you - I could use the essence! And I promise not to use it create a zombi - if nothing else, having Eli use the zombi as an improvised weapon to beat me to death would be upsetting! James. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 11:21:50 -0400 From: "Rolland Therrien" Subject: Re: IN> (fantasy) On dragons - -----Original Message----- From: in_nomine-digest To: in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Date: Friday, August 31, 2001 8:54 AM Subject: in_nomine-digest V1 #2352 >Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2001 09:27:46 +0000 >From: "Jo Hart" >Subject: Re: IN> (fantasy) On dragons > >>From: "Rolland Therrien" >> >>I'd assume Belial would be publicly challenging either Prince's claim on >>the >>control of Dragons, since they're Obviously destructive Fire-based >>creatures, and so are under HIS dominion. Maybe he's planning on >>dissecting >>a few of the less controllable Dragons, so as to give some of his better >>Servitors Dragon-shaped Vessels. > >That's a good thought. Since his word loosely covers anything destructive, >he isn't limited to those that have fire-based powers. (From what I can >gather, mythological dragons either breathe fire or poison if they breathe >anything at all -- other breath-weapons are a D&D invention.) Although he'd >need to be sure he really had his dragons under control -- and they are >notoriously difficult to handle; wouldn't do to be burned by one's own >weapons, after all. > >I'd reckon that any of the Princes would happily recruit any useful entity >that they encountered. A slinky dragon-lady could keep Andrealphas amused >for awhile. Malphas would be intrigued by a hydra. Mammon loves hoarders, >and dragons would be a natural fit, as long as the dragon didn't try to >steal from the Prince of Greed, or prevent him from poking through its hoard >when he felt the urge. A dragon who could be taught to collect ghosts or >renegade demons for its "hoard" might be popular with Asmodeus (especially >for hunting down renegades who flee to the Marches.) Vapula probably wants >to initiate a #3 BBD (build better dragons) project, since the first two >failed so spectacularly. > >The main reason I singled out Baal and Beleth is that I figure they're the >most likely to be arrogant enough to stake a claim to ALL dragons found. >Beleth because they're ethereals, and Baal because he is the general of >Hell's Armed Forces and tends to throw his weight around when it comes to >claiming anything with any military potential at all. You know, this got me to thinking... The "Default" imagery for the Seraphim and Balseraph is to picture them as Winged Serpents (feathered for Angels, leathery for Demons), but what if the "Winged Serpent" naming was just an incorrect translation? What if Seraphim/Balseraphim resembled another king of winged, serpentine reptile? What if Seraphs and Balseraphs looked like Dragon-like creatures? Dragons in most major myths tend to be associated with snakes in many ways; Wyrms are described as snake-like, asian dragons have serpentine bodies, etc. What if legends of Dragons were in fact distorted visions of Seraphim and Balseraphs? Me, I could definetly see the likes of Michael, Baal, Dominic and Mammon as draconic serpents: Michael as a strong, powerful golden dragon, Dominic as a dark, looking drake wrapped in his own wings, Baal a dark and fiersome wyrm, Mammon a hoarding wyvern, etc... Any opinions on this? ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2001 00:26:56 -0400 From: "William J. Keith" Subject: IN> September's Theme The winner is "Successors." Had I voted for IN Science Fiction instead of Jeanathon (not too far apart), there would have been a tie, but I wouldn't do that to the list. O:^) We should probably figure out a regular method of doing this for next month. Not that I'm averse to doing it again, but I'm just Joe Listmember. ;^) William ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2001 01:03:42 -0400 From: "Eric Bertish" Subject: IN> Iron Rev 4 Yeah, I know I should be doing this around the middle of the month, but I wanted to let the Americans take advantage of the Labor Day weekend. For this version of the popular contest, I want to infect you with my particular brand of insanity -- err, that it, try something different. Instead of giving simple nouns as ingredients, I will quote verses from popular songs. The images these lyrics suggest will hopefully inspire some creative entries. First, the rules: 1. 10k limit. 2. All canonical material allowed. 3. Deadline for submissions is11:59:59 GMT, 15 Sept 01. Voting will proceed for the week following, with the winner announced 24 Sept 01. Now, the ingredients: 1. "This is the noise that keeps me awake/ my head explodes and my body aches" -- Garbage, _Push It_ 2. "Too bad dark languages rarely survive." -- Poe, _Hey Pretty_ 3. "Now get in the pit and try to love someone!" -- Kid Rock, _Bawitdaba_ Hopefully, this will work. If confusion reigns, I'll explain a bit more thoroughly. Good luck and happy cooking! - -- Casca "...I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him were seraphs, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying...At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke." -- Isaiah 6:2,4 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2001 03:12:33 -0500 From: EDG Subject: IN> Iron Rev 4: Temple On The Edge Of Yesterday I'm not sure if this quite qualifies: it depends a lot on a group that doesn't appear in canon. I hope it works, though. - -EDG Temple on the Edge of Yesterday An Iron Rev 4 entry by EDG BACKGROUND Even in the most golden of ages, there must be darkness to counter light. Andrealphus was a good and just Archangel, once upon a time. His servitors, for the most part, promoted love and charity, kindness toward one's fellows, and general good will; conflict was, to them, anathema. There are always the few who see differently, however, and rather than petition for a change in Superior, these few in the ranks of Love sought each other out and formed a cabal: call them simply the Society. The Society firmly believed in the tenets of love: that one should love one's neighbor, and be charitable. Their methods, however, left room for question, as their main focus was to enforce love, to create and drive it rather than letting it grow through time. Of course, this applied not only to love between others, but to their own love - and let it not be said that they did not love everyone they met - and to the love given them by others. (It has, in the most hushed voices by those who know, been speculated that these were the proto-Impudites.) The Society did, however, manage to keep itself a secret for a very long time, its servitors being very careful among other angels to not reveal themselves. There were rumors, which bolstered the ranks of the Society slightly during its tenure, but for the most part, the entire Host was kept in the dark about the operation (an especially amazing feat considering the abilities of Mercurians). This, in part, led to the Society's downfall; nobody knew to arrest the development of what would soon become Discordant traits in the angels in question. For the angels who made up the Society soon decided that love included worship, and began to ask of their beloved "followers" the construction of small temples, built into hills or mountain passes so as to be inconspicuous. This was still all well and good, until the worship at the temples began generating Essence - and not pure Essence, but Essence tainted by its association with the false gods that the Society's angels had built themselves up to be. Still the angels in the Society managed to keep themselves a secret, though it was becoming difficult to hide; they became ever more proud, their love for their worshipers turning to love for worship itself. It stopped mattering who came to worship, so long as someone did. The angels even decided to reward their followers, with small Songs and - in at least on case - a Rite belonging to the Word that one of the angels had (Kindness In The Form Of Physical Contribution is the closest English translation). Now the followers were bringing sacrifices to the hillside temples, and the taint grew stronger. Then Lucifer rebelled against God, and as one the angels of the Society sided with him against Heaven and the humans among whom they had become unable to differentiate. They were cast from Heaven with the rest of the rebels, and as a last, terrified act, the Society destroyed its temples, attempting to hide what they had done. The tainted Essence flow vanished, and all that remained were hidden ruins, broken inscriptions among ravaged altars and fallen columns. CONCEPT The angels of the Society were still only that when they destroyed their temples; they had no true propensity for destruction. They therefore did an excellent job of eliminating the proof of their misdeeds - but not a perfect job. In fact, one temple still stands, guarded by the descendant of one of the Society's original worshipers. He is the eldest son of the eldest son in a cycle going back to the days before civilization. Call him the Guardian. The Guardian is ready to fight to the death to preserve his dead religion. There has been no communication from the gods for some time (on the order of twenty thousand years), but he loves them nonetheless; each month he makes a sacrifice to them, in the hopes that someday, they will respond with new teachings and new power. If the Society were still around (and they are not; according to Hell's records, all members who survived the Fall are now long dead), they might notice something that the Guardian does not: his is the three hundredth generation of protectors of this single, simple temple. Also notable is the fact that his father, the former Guardian and 299th generation, has just died. Threes tend to be significant in mythology and folklore. This is not a case where truth deviates from the standard set by years of storytelling. After three hundred generations of absolute devotion and dedication, this temple has formed a Tether to Love in Heaven. Understandably, this is causing some consternation. There are obvious benefits to the PCs who get there and figure out what's going on; if they can get by the Guardian (with strength, cunning, or charm), the great onyx slab behind the altar will explain everything, being as it is inscribed (in faded celestial) with the True Names of each member of the Society, plus the founding tenets that brought them together. Andrealphus is, of course, still interested in the activities of his centuries-dead followers, but many of the other Demon Princes (notably Malphas and Kronos) will pay dearly for information on this temple. Interestingly, so will Blandine and Marc, each of whom has an interest in this sort of thing. There's one catch: the celestial isn't only faded, it's tainted just like the Essence. Every day for a week, anyone who reads the writing on the slab (celestial or human; it seems to make no difference) must make a Will roll, with a cumulative penalty of -1 per day, or begin to espouse the beliefs held by the Society in general. (If the character succeeds for a week straight, the taint is lifted.) This is an unconscious change in belief, and will not be noticed by the character - treat it as a Discord, of a level equal to the penalty when the character failed the roll (maximum 6). If it is pointed out to the character, she may make another Will roll at the same penalty to shake off the belief for good; this may be attempted as many times as necessary, but only once per day. Actually, there's another catch: Hell's records aren't quite complete. Shomshek, formerly a Cherub of Love and a member of the Society, and now a Renegade Djinn of Lust, has been hanging around the temple ever since word of the Tether got out. His current favored vessel is that of a large cat, black with silver striping along the shoulders, which can be seen prowling through the grasses around the temple. He is not particularly protective of the Guardian - he is, after all, attuned to the man - but will defend the temple to the death against its destruction. ------------------------------ Date: 01 Sep 2001 10:15:07 +0100 From: "Richard C Hanton-Rutherford" Subject: IN> Stupid queston Sorry for asking a stupid question, but I'm pretty new to the list. Could anyone quickly explain this Iron Rev business? Cheers, - -- ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2001 10:38:34 -0400 From: "Eric Bertish" Subject: Re: IN> Stupid queston > Sorry for asking a stupid question, but I'm pretty new to the list. Could anyone quickly explain this Iron Rev business? Soitenly. The idea is to create an adventure seed based upon three common elements. The trick is to make yours as different from everyone else's as possible. For an example of how we did it last time, go to http://www.ishware.com/prodigal/IronRev/IR2.htm and look at the entries. - -- Casca ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2353 ********************************