in_nomine-digest Saturday, September 29 2001 Volume 01 : Number 2395 In this digest: Re: IN> The INC - well, since it's out there ... Re: IN> The singular of Lilim and other nomenclature IN> A Skulker Solution (Was Re: Breeding Skulkers) Re: IN> Superior Soap Opera IN> In WoD: Cainites Re: IN> A Skulker Solution (Was Re: Breeding Skulkers) Re: IN> The singular of Lilim and other nomenclature Re: IN> The singular of Lilim and other nomenclature Re: IN> The singular of Lilim and other nomenclature IN> Brass & Steel, an In Nomine MUSH Re: IN> In WoD: Cainites Re: IN> A Skulker Solution (Was Re: Breeding Skulkers) Re: IN> A Skulker Solution (Was Re: Breeding Skulkers) Re: IN> A Skulker Solution (Was Re: Breeding Skulkers) IN> Re:Skulker reproduction Re: IN> In WoD: Cainites Re: IN> In WoD: Cainites IN> The General Staff of the Host Re: IN> In Nomine Chicago ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 23:31:29 +0000 From: "Jo Hart" Subject: Re: IN> The INC - well, since it's out there ... > >I wouldn't have thought so before, but now I'm thinking the Demon of >Private E-Mail Sent to Public Forums is Malphasian. Demon of Mavs -- believe it. *wink* jo _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 01:51:08 +0100 From: Omentide Subject: Re: IN> The singular of Lilim and other nomenclature > > *I'd* like to free up the name "djinn" for use for a > > prominent race > > of Ethereals, the Arabic elf-equivalents. > > ELF equivalents?!? Hardly! The djinn in the 1,001 >Nights were at the very least capricious and at worst >actively malicious. Sounds much like the Sidhe to me. >Which fits with some of the older interpretations of the Fae, true. But >the Faerie were traditionally associated with the dead. Only some. >The djinn were nature spirits until Middle Eastern monotheism came along >and declared them demons. Again similar, although the Sidhe are far more than nature spirits. But then so are the Djinn. But I agree the Sidhe and the Djinn do not correlate well. And I would never use the term e-f in the presence of the Sidhe. Ashley. Ashley and Hilary omentide.omentide@virgin.net http://freespace.virgin.net/omentide.omentide ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 20:54:43 -0400 From: "Anthony Damiani" Subject: IN> A Skulker Solution (Was Re: Breeding Skulkers) This bothered me for a long, long time. There really isn't a good mechanical reason for prohibiting Hell from producing more Grigori shy of ruling that unlike normal celestials, the Grigori /only/ reproduce sexually, and even that has problems. One could say Hell has no grigori, but it seems rather unlikely that, once outcast from Heaven, NO Demon prince could offer a Grigori enough forces, attunements and distinctions to sign up-- if Hell wanted to breed 'em, the first breeder'd be almost as valuable to them as a Malakim. But I think I have a decent solution, The Demon Princes don't reproduce Skulkers because it keeps the Grigori out of Heaven. Sure, having the variety would be nice, but Lucifer, Baal Asmodeus are ultimately very, very well aware that if Hell kept right along producing Skulkers, or produced more to take advantage of the Grigori's status, eventually one of them would try to redeem. Novalis is already on record as thinking a permanent banishment is too severe. Yves isn't about to stand idly by if a hellborn Skulker walks into Heaven, repents his evil deeds, renounces his masters and begs to be redeemed: it'd be pretty farking dissonant. Michael isn't about to stand idly by while Hell produces hordes of servitors that heaven can't redeem, either-- it's militarily unacceptable (plus he's kinda cheesed at Dominic's judgement anyhow)-- and the pragmatic Elohim would undoubtedly stand by him. David's got an oath which binds him to "never abandon faith, even in the lowest of the fallen, until I have no choice"-- turning a skulker away would be dissonant. Even Dominic, who outcast the choir in the first place, would be hard pressed to justify keeping the permanent ban on Grigori in place when faced with a blameless hellborn skulker attempting to enter Heaven. Heaven will simply not allow Hell to breed a race of unredeemable anti-malakim servitors if it can prevent it. So, by choosing to put an edict into place banning the reproduction of Skulkers, Hell trades off a useful tool, but Heaven has to do the same /and/ they lose access to however many hundreds, thousands or millions of forces are occupied in the exiled grigori-- an entire eighth of the Host! Perhaps when there are sufficiently few outcast-grigori remaining (like, say, now), Lucifer will review this policy and consider revoking it, and letting the political turmoil in Heaven turn out as it may... Which is not to say one of the more rebellious princes-- Malphas, Saminga and Valefor spring to mind-- might not have a private squad stashed away. Heck, Kronos proves it's difficult to know what band a superior belongs to if he tries to conceal it-- ny of the post fall DPs could secretly be grigori... waiting... watching... skulking from the shadows... -ALD ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 22:38:33 -0300 From: pbarkow@is2.dal.ca Subject: Re: IN> Superior Soap Opera On 28 Sep 01, at 15:24, Elizabeth McCoy wrote: > Does that help? Don't forget about Eli's socks. "Whom can I blame, how can I function, When I am the source of my own destruction?" http://is2.dal.ca/~pbarkow/ Harbinger of Keener-sama Vice President DPG Official Fashion Consultant and Hentai of the DGML Shameless Faith/Buffy shipper. Lapsed Discordian Head of the Keiko-chanian faction Hug Guy ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 21:04:53 -0400 From: "Charles Phipps" Subject: IN> In WoD: Cainites *TOP SECRET* From: Benedict, Angel of Double Agents To: His most holy master Dominic the Lord of Judgement Re: The Cainite Race In lieu of your mission profile to examinine the records of Hell milord at length I have compiled a list of the information that describe the race termed Cainites (and by other Lexicon; Vampires, Kindred, and the Living Dead). This is by no means an exaustive profile of their history, biology, and race but provides I think information which may prove invaluable to angels who hope to meet such creatures and deal with them in a manner befitting their existence. At your request similar reports have been compiled for Yves's Library and the Commander of the Host with other report copies prepared for Archangels at your leisure. History The history of the Cainite race most appropriately begins with the Mortal Cain who like his parents was a prophet gifted with the ability to speak directly to the Almighty though given the Fall had yet to occur the Metatron's presence makes such issues less than difficult. After the regrettable incident of Cain's murder of Abel which is currently under reinvestigation to determine whether it was a sacraficial act or as Genesis describes jealousy Anti-Christ candidates> which Caine like Lilith was awakened to extreme power in the Symphony over. The Metatron's following orders also were that any mortal who harms Caine was to punished seven times over, a edict still respected to this day though it has never nor is never likely to be enforced. Due to the chaos of the Fall it is uncertain exactly what happened to Caine following the matter and explains in part why the Cherub assigned to watch him broke off his studies and returned to heaven. It was here that we can conclusively determine that the Fourth Mortal arrived at the present dwelling of the now conclusively identified sorceror Lilith . My conjecture is only vague at this point but I believe that Lilith taught Caine the songs which had been entrusted to her along with the sorcery she had managed to learn in the meantime (The songs Cainites use today seem to be bastardized forms of our own Heavengly ones with Presence a variant on Charm, Protean a variant on Jordian Song of Transformation, etc). More importantly here Caine learned I believe how to advance his connection to his Word. Caine's evil word fresh from the Fall as you know soon attracted the attention of the Archangels and a sort of aggressive redemption attempt was made on the mortal. In an attempt to punish Caine Michael gave the mortal a discodant fear of fire, Raphael a aversion to sunlight in what I believe to be a word pun (he would fear the Light until his repentance), and in a very controversial act the Archangel of Purity a dischord to thirst for Blood and what appears to be an attunement which prevents Decay in the body (well within his word). Oddly enough Gabriel seemed to take pity on Caine and gave him an oppurtunity to achieve a cleansing Now punished with the immense Dischord Caine soon fled Lilith's presence and we believe was promptly cursed further as Caine rebuked her "favors" to him and resisted some plan of hers. Speculation that Lilith was at the time Lucifer's lover, Caine is actually Lucifer's son through Eve , that Caine was being recruited by Lilith who somehow still had contact through song with Hell run rampant but in the end it was conclusive Lilith was abandoned and possibly even discordant herself (the possibility she was never human is still in debate milord despite your august testimony to the trueness of her state). What we do now however is that Caine dissapears for a number of years and it is believed he spent it developing his word. Next the "Demon of the Beast" (Though angel perhaps is also appropriate milord linquistically he is certainly corrupt) came to our attention as ruler of a small principality in the present day Iranian desert called Enoch. The Grigori of the Region's gross deleriliction of their duties for sexual pleasure, presence of large ammounts of demonic infestation worldwide , and in general the non-militant nature of the city-state account in part for the lack of dealing with it's horrofic nature I fear for so long. Descriptions of Caine's rule are brutal however as a imposed atheism and idolotry was enforced with blood sacrafice a common element. In other words it was not that much different than many city states of it's time but for it's undead rulers After several wars with Baal's worshipers at this time the City State was destroyed in the joint effort between yourself, Oannes, and the World Forger in the Flood to eradicate the affair. However Caine appears to have survived in no small part because of Uriel's attunement...worse by this time he had refined his wod so that his forces could be passed on and create mortal "Cainites" of a kind very similar to himself. Caine seems to have had a moment of conscience (I express grave doubts personally here) and abandoned his progeny who as you know have remained a perpetual thorn in Heaven's collective side. Physiology A Cainite is not "undead" as Saminga terms the word belonging not in the Ethereal Realms of the Dead or one of Saminga's undead creations . In truth a Canite is just as living as any other particular mortal and just as capable of achieving his destiny or fate like any other mortal. In truth a better means of describing Cainite is that of a peculiar inbetween of a Hellsworn and a Sorceror with several characteristics similar to Samingan Undead . The "ritual" for creating a "Cainian Vampire" is a relatively simple one most insideous in it's design that it merely requires the drinking fully of a mortal's blood and the replacing of it with the blood of a Cainite. It is difficult to asscertain the exact process but from what we've observed using Vapulan records and observation of the process with Elohim that a Force is removed from Caine's Princely form (or possibly one of his 15 descendants) and bestowed upon the person below. This makes Cainites traditionally much stronger, smarter, and more socially adept than the average mortal though no more than many soldiers. Because the effect is a transfer of Caine's forces a physic connection has been postulated that too many inbetweens spoils the transfer This is perhaps of course the best evidence we have that Caine is still in Hell's employ and likely plotting something terrible with his thousands of years of experience to aid him . Cainites also suffer from the Discords Bezerker at least at 3/ along with Caine's curses and occasionally another discord that is associated with his children...one of the reasons the race is noted for it's violence and strangness....they are all severely discordant by any standards ! As Hellsworn even if they have no choice they're discords often push many to their fate and those that do not are immediately descended to Hell where the Angels of Final Judgement weigh them like any other soldiers of the Devil. The Gabrielite Ritual of Golconda however has finally been analyzized and evidence now suggests that if a Vampire can locate a Angel to summon her the Fire Maiden (Or any other archangel) can lead the being through a process very similar to the redemption of a Demon. This "Dreamdance" if survived cleanses a Cainite of a all discord he suffers yet does not affect his forces or songs or aging attunement at all...leaving a very powerful soldier for God. A Similiar process may simply restore humanity at the being's request. Hell Relations Despite initial fears and my own suspcions about the "Antedeluvians" and Caine there is actually precacious little evidence that the majority of Cainites are working for or even know of Hell. An organization of Kindred known as the Sabbat are in a great deal of contact with agents of Saminga often nonstop with a few agents of allied Princes (Fleurity, Belial, and Fufur in particular) also in contact with the "vampires". In truth the Sabbat while an evil organization is against Hell as much officially as we so they require less direct intervention by us than initially one might suspect. The Most Direct enemies of Angels to encounter are the Baali who as the name suggests are direct servants of the Demon Prince Baal. The organization is pitifully small by standards but serve as powerful Hellish soldiers for the Demon Prince with sorcery a great deal of focus for them. Aside from the Sorcerors Tremere whose aid to Hapithas is immense and unknowing the majority of Cainites again pay little attention to Hell but for their own damnation. In Conclusion In lieu of the disasterous attempt by the Archangel Laurence (no disrespect intended to the Commander of the Host) to eliminate Cainites from the world with a concentrated collective effort of angels in collusion with Church officials that resulted in countless innocent deaths and merely the increased cooperation/militancy of the Cainite race it is this Angel's opinion that subtler methods be used in dealing with the danger of the Vampire. Logistically speaking the Average Cainite is no match for an Angel either in intelligence, power, or will but the same can be said of a demon While individual efforts can and should be made to deal with their evil the majority simply are no more evil than a great deal of the humans alive today and we risk a great deal of hampering to our efforts by public action against them. Their own war, humanity, and containment efforts should instead be rellied on to keep them from becomming an epedemic. A certain amount of pity should also be felt even if mercy is a bit of a stretch. Recommend promoting social reform among Cainites by sending angelic infiltrators as Jean is to be contacted for possible inocculations to immunize humanity against "the Embrace" and the seeking of Caine out. It is the theory of this Angel that once destroyed Caine there will be no further possibility of Vampire Creation... Which leads to the question Milord Commander whether you are willing to violate the Metatron's commandment. OCC: Cainite character generation 7 forces at Start, 8 to 9 for elders, up to 18 (!!!) for Antedeluvians Discords: Many with all having Need (Blood), Corpselike, Bezerker, Sunlight bane, Fear (Fire), Fear (Sunlight), and the "clan weakness" at 3/ Songs: Cainites can learn corporeal and ethereal songs called "Disciplines" but not celestial or normal songs for some reason unless they become soldiers. "Advanced" versions of the songs are available for those who can learn them as well but require extensive ammounts of attributes and experience. Attunements: Immortality (Cainite simply does not age), Pumping Up (Essence can be used to pump up attributes past forces maximum for a short while), Healing (same) Special Rites (Usuable an unlimited amount per day) * Drink a pint of blood - -Charlemagne _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 19:37:15 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> A Skulker Solution (Was Re: Breeding Skulkers) - --- Anthony Damiani wrote: This solution works for me, but I feel obligated to point out that > Perhaps when there are sufficiently few outcast->grigori remaining (like, say, now), Lucifer will >review this policy and consider revoking it, and >letting the political turmoil in Heaven turn out as >it may... has as an assumption that the Grigori Archangels are unable to create new Servitors anywhere except in Heaven. A reasonable assumption, true, but if so, then Eli can't, either, and apparently there's a certain consensus that not letting Eli fire off Servitors whenever he feels like it isn't much fun. (heresy) Personally, I think that every human's really a Grigori - except me (or, in Darker campaigns, _you_*). The Nephelim thing's just blackwing propaganda. (/heresy) Moe *Yes, _you_. I'm talking to _you_. It's wonderful, really: we can even joke about it, and you'll never /really/ believe it. Except at 3 AM, of course. ;) ===== 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!? Listen to your Yahoo! Mail messages from any phone. http://phone.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 19:59:01 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> The singular of Lilim and other nomenclature I need the URL to Robb Kidd's new webpage (it seems to have disappeared from my bookmarks). Fairly quickly. :) Moe ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 07/29/01(this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Listen to your Yahoo! Mail messages from any phone. http://phone.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 23:31:53 -0400 From: "Eric Bertish" Subject: Re: IN> The singular of Lilim and other nomenclature >I need the URL to Robb Kidd's new webpage (it seems to >have disappeared from my bookmarks). http://www.web-melange.org:81/in-nomine/index.html >Fairly quickly. :) Fast enough? - -- Casca _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 20:45:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> The singular of Lilim and other nomenclature - --- Eric Bertish wrote: > > >I need the URL to Robb Kidd's new webpage (it seems > to > >have disappeared from my bookmarks). > > http://www.web-melange.org:81/in-nomine/index.html > > >Fairly quickly. :) > > Fast enough? Just in time, actually: the Tori Amos CD is half over. Moe ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 07/29/01(this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Listen to your Yahoo! Mail messages from any phone. http://phone.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 23:56:08 -0400 From: "Jamie LaFountain" Subject: IN> Brass & Steel, an In Nomine MUSH Hey guys. I wanted to let you know about our In Nomine MUSH called Brass & Steel. We're set in modern day Kansas City, Missouri and use a 1:1 time scale coinciding with the actual date. We try our best, within reason and good taste, to use real KCMO news items in the game world. Please do come check us out. It is completely free to play on our game. We never charge and we don't have advertising of any kind. Just a bunch of guys running a game they enjoy as a hobby. The telnet address of Brass & Steel is swing.erisian.net 2323 or 216.127.139.7 2323. Later. Jamie ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 04:36:21 +0000 From: "cassandra benner" Subject: Re: IN> In WoD: Cainites >*TOP SECRET* >Re: The Cainite Race This is incredibly cool, and it fits well as well. It now means however that i dont have to write up stuff about some rogue impudites of death who can only get essence by drinking blood. Oh well. Toodles Cas *where you come from is gone, where you're going was never there, and where you are aint no good unless you can get away from it* http://groups.yahoo.com/group/inmundi http://groups.yahoo.com/group/semperin http://groups.yahoo.com/group/inveritas http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Infabula http://communities.msn.co.uk/ADD http://www.drunkendwarfinn.co.uk http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ADandD_Stuff6 _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 05:19:35 +0000 From: "Jo Hart" Subject: Re: IN> A Skulker Solution (Was Re: Breeding Skulkers) >has as an assumption that the Grigori Archangels are >unable to create new Servitors anywhere except in >Heaven. > Archangels might think it was unnecessarily cruel to create a servitor who would be automatically outcast, and sentenced to wander without rest and without hope of returning to heaven ... And if Eli was a force majeure in actually *outcasting* the Grigori, he's not going to be the first to create one. It does all hang together :) jo _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 00:25:45 -0400 From: damienw@juno.com Subject: Re: IN> A Skulker Solution (Was Re: Breeding Skulkers) On Fri, 28 Sep 2001 19:37:15 -0700 (PDT) Maurice Lane writes: > A reasonable assumption, true, but if so, then Eli > can't, either, and apparently there's a certain > consensus that not letting Eli fire off Servitors > whenever he feels like it isn't much fun. Well, Eli could be an easy exception. He IS the AA of *Creation*, after all; if he can't create anything, anywhere, there's not much point, is there? - --- damienw[et]juno.com "To kill a man between panels is to condemn him to a thousand deaths." - Scott McCloud ________________________________________________________________ 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/web/. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 00:59:53 -0700 From: Sean McCarthy Subject: Re: IN> A Skulker Solution (Was Re: Breeding Skulkers) Our spies report that on 08:54 PM 9/28/2001 -0400, Anthony Damiani said: > This bothered me for a long, long time. There really isn't a >good mechanical reason for prohibiting Hell from producing more Grigori >shy of ruling that unlike normal celestials, the Grigori /only/ >reproduce sexually, and even that has problems. One could say Hell has >no grigori, but it seems rather unlikely that, once outcast from Heaven, >NO Demon prince could offer a Grigori enough forces, attunements and >distinctions to sign up-- if Hell wanted to breed 'em, the first >breeder'd be almost as valuable to them as a Malakim. My take on the Grigori has always been that they accepted outcasting as a group on moral grounds. I believe that given the nature of Judgement and Heaven, any one Grigori willing to admit what if anything it did wrong and beg to be allowed to redeem itself would not have been perpetually cast out. Of course, there's always the angle that Dominc was Moved By The Presence when he made his decision...or had been Lied To By Lucifer, or some other reason for no one being allowed to get off with mere eternal floor-waxing duty. Sean ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 13:18:29 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Re:Skulker reproduction >>You have one Skulker. You have many other demons. Using the 'Celestial >>Reproduction rules', IPG P84-84 (and double check with APGp84-86) you find >>that if the Skulker donates more Forces to the child demon than the other >>parent, then the bubba demon's band is automatically Skulker. Replace > > Oh, nifty. That's evil. That's really evil. I'm trying to see if there's > any legit way to scream foul on that and I don't think so. Evil. O:> High praise indeed! > Mind, what's to say that the Princes haven't _already_ done this, and > they all have a hidden army of Skulkers, er, skulking about... Absolutely nothing. Of course, Asmodeus may have claimed them as a personal minor choir, which would explain why no other DP has any/no one knows about them; or that He opposes the existence of the Band on the grounds that he can't keep track of them. Or both! > From: "Jo Hart" > > It may just be that none of the fallen Grigori have yet been discovered by > Hell. After all, they had been awfully good at hiding on Earth, and there's > no special reason to think they'd be in a hurry to swap one set of > autocratic masters for another. Fair call; however for a project of this value it would be worth arranging for a Grigori to Fall; it's comparatively easy given that Grigori get dissonance for not reporting diabolical activity; you can work out their approximate location by checking which schemes are thwarted, and then search. And, until the Disturbance rules for The Marches are fixed*, any Grigori who enters The Marches is going to plunge like a stone, as they'll detect EVERY diabolical disturbance in the entire plane - so they can be taken down using the Ethereal Song of Sleep. James. *in, say, the Ethereal Players Guide? :-) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 14:48:47 -0400 From: Daniel Sauve Subject: Re: IN> In WoD: Cainites On Fri, 28 Sep 2001 21:04:53 -0400, "Charles Phipps" wrote: >*TOP SECRET* Swiped. Thanks, Charles. - -- Your GM Daniel Sauve (in nomine, shadowrun, earthdawn, hero unlimited) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 12:27:15 -0700 From: "Bevan Thomas" Subject: Re: IN> In WoD: Cainites I think it would make more sense if the archangels giving the various curses were changed. In the Book of Nod, Michael is the archangel of fire, Raphael is the archangel of the dawn, Uriel is death, and Gabriel is mercy (another rendition of the Cainite legend places Michael as fire, Uriel as light, Gabriel as vengeance, and Raphael as mercy). In In Nomine, the archangels have different dominions (Words), so I vote it be changed as follows: Gabriel as archangel of fire gives the fire discord, Uriel as archnangel of purity gives the Cainites a vulnerability to the pure light of the sun, the archangel of death makes the vampires feed on death (their need for blood), and Novalis gives them Golconda. - -Bevan - ------- "We've always been under siege. The 'Real World' keeps shoving us into corners -- so we've built some worlds of our own. Now whoever's controlling this... wants to take those worlds away. Well, I call that interplanetary war." -T. Campbell, "Fans: the Fandom Menace" _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 29 Sep 2001 23:33 +0100 (BST) From: jgd@cix.co.uk (John Dallman) Subject: IN> The General Staff of the Host This is one of Laurence's more significant, if obscure, organisations. He inherited it from Uriel, who had the original version from Michael. It's a collection of Angels and Saints whose basic job is to attend to details of organising The War, and to make plans for contingencies. Laurence heads the Staff himself, of course - Superior multi-presence can be most helpful - and since he gives most of the orders that come out of its work, many angels don't really register its existence. Most of the members are drawn from the war faction of heaven, with War and The Sword most strongly represented. Since it runs the Host's liaison with the organisations of all Archangels - it can be quite difficult to distinguish from Laurence's personal following at times - it does have representatives of all major and many minor Archangels. Much of what it does is basically uninteresting logistics and planning for way-out happenstance, but there are a few sections that PCs engaged in regaining forces after an accident, or otherwise temporarily unsuited to corporeal or ethereal service might be assigned to. The Grand Strategy Group can be fun, in a cerebral sort of way. It thinks about the ways the War is being fought, and what might be effective variations. Naturally, it gets hamstrung by incomplete information much of the time, but it also has occasional bright ideas. It produces some very /odd/ requests for intelligence data on occasion, which could also make interesting scenarios. Trustworthy servitors of Creation are popular here; Windies would be welcome if they could stay on one subject long enough. Some of their planning papers, especially from the Contrarian Cells, make very interesting reading. The Military Strategy Group is more focused. It has many task forces, each dealing with some identifiable front, geographic location, or other large aspect of the War. It tries to find the best ways to fight in its bailiwick, and to get the resources that seem to be needed. Laurencians are the characteristic operators here, plus any Word-bound angel related to the subject at hand. The Operational Artists is a nickname, but it stuck, given that the proper name for this level in the Staff is MSG Operational Resource Group. The groups at this level deal with personnel and resource assignments and try to keep track of what's actually happened after the orders have been given. Unsnarling conflicts of interest between overlapping OA groups is a never-ending task. Everyone has goodwill, everyone knows they're on the same side, and everyone is sure that their problem is the most important. Servitors of Judgement can actually be nearly popular here, given their ability to arbitrate. - --- John Dallman jgd@cix.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2001 00:28:12 From: "Perry Lloyd" Subject: Re: IN> In Nomine Chicago >Very nice history summary. Only... > >I see on your page that "Accompanied by a Servitor of Janus, Christopher >Columbus sails to the Americas in 1742." Is that a typo? Especially >since the American Revolution happens on schedule in 1776, a bare >34 years later... > >Earl No, no typo, I just wanted to push things back a bit dammit I hate when I do that. grrrrrrr . . . thnx, tho - -Perry perrylloyd@hotmail.com pl312993@oak.cats.ohiou.edu http://www.geocities.com/perrylloyd/ "And that's the hardest thing for a human being to do - be wrong. Do you know that people would rather die than be wrong?" - --from A Matter For Men by David Gerrold _________________________________________________________________ Téléchargez MSN Explorer gratuitement à l'adresse http://explorer.msn.fr/intl.asp ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2395 ********************************