in_nomine-digest Friday, October 12 2001 Volume 01 : Number 2409 In this digest: IN> The Demon of Pond Scum - erratta Re: IN> Interesting Web Sites IN> Horror Month: proto-Superior Re: IN> Horror Month: Saminga's Minor Band Re: IN> Horror Month: Proto- Superior Re: IN> The Demon of Pond Scum Re: IN> Horror Month: proto-Superior Re: IN> Interesting Web Sites Re: IN> The Demon of Pond Scum IN> Horror: The Hollowers Re: IN> Horror: The Hollowers Re: IN> Horror Month: Proto- Superior Re: IN> The Demon of Pond Scum Re: IN> Lovers in Madness, Bound in straight jackets together Re: IN> How many Archangels does it take... IN> Grigori... (Re: Re: How many Archangels does it take...) Re: IN> How many Archangels does it take... Re: IN> The Demon of Pond Scum Re: IN> Horror Month: proto-Superior Re: IN> How many Archangels does it take... Re: IN> How many Archangels does it take... Human Words 0 (was Re: IN> How many Archangels does it take...) IN> Human Words 1 IN> Human Words 2 IN> Relic: The Deck Re: IN> The Demon of Pond Scum IN> Abimael ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 16:41:10 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> The Demon of Pond Scum - erratta Would have helped if I'd include all of his skills: Acrobatics/4, Climbing/1, Dodge/3, Move Silently/6, Swimming/3. James. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 07:05:36 -0400 From: Cameron McCurry Subject: Re: IN> Interesting Web Sites Sounds like there are a group of folks that have skipped their medication. Of course, you could take any event and make an apocalypes seed. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 21:57:16 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Horror Month: proto-Superior Bad boy that I am, I forgot to say that the original idea for a demon striking deals during near death experiences was not mine; Eric Henry suggested it to me, inspired by the Bargainers book(BNW). No matter, have a minor Servant: Billy Adams, 4 year old in the service of Deals With The Darkness. CORPOREAL FORCES: 3 Strength: 10 Agility: 2 ETHEREAL FORCES: 1 Intelligence: 1 Precision: 3 CELESTIAL FORCES: 1 Will: 2 Perception:2 Status: Rich Orphan/4. Skills: Area knowledge(Gates of Hell)/1, Climbing/1, Demonic/1, Fighting/1, Move Silently/1, Running/1. Billy's parents were Soldiers of Deals With The Darkness. Needing contact with their Superior, they trained Billy to be evil from birth; once they were sure that he was Damned, and that he could recite messages back without mistake, they drowned him. The Dweller sent him back - with an Infernal Force. A month later, they needed more information - they slit his throat. The Dweller sent him back - and Billy, with 3 Corporeal Forces, tore his parents apart. Six months have passed since then. Attempts to send Billy to an orphanage failed. He insisted that a local crime lord was his godfather; documents to that effect were forged and Billy was adopted. The crime lord had been hoping to get his hands on Billy's money - instead what he got was an incredibly skilled and professional killer. Looking harmless, and able to slip through a pet flap, Billy has already performed five assassinations flawlessly. His adoptive father is handling Billy's wealth, but is careful to ensure that Billy gets what he wants - although he must juggle this need against the prying of the child protection people, who really don't like the fact that a mobster has adopted Billy. Billy will be starting school next year - are there any Servitors of Children who don't have enough to do? And no, NOBODY knows what orders Billy got from Deals With The Darkness. James. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 05:34:37 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Horror Month: Saminga's Minor Band - --- Cameron McCurry wrote: > I deduced that much. Is there a write up or is that > still in the making? Ah, you caught me. I haven't written that one yet. 0:/ ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 "The surest way to keep a secret is to make people believe they already know the answer." - -- Fremen saying __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 05:38:35 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Horror Month: Proto- Superior - --- james walker wrote: > Asmodeus has never had > any interest in the 'Renegade' sitting on a hill in plain > view of Hades. Nice touch. It makes sense that Azzie wouldn't waste energy chasing a demon who doesn't bother to hide and is clearly serving the cause of Hell. ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 "The surest way to keep a secret is to make people believe they already know the answer." - -- Fremen saying __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 05:43:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> The Demon of Pond Scum - --- james walker wrote: > SCRIE > BALSERAPH OF DARK HUMOR > DEMON OF POND SCUM This guy is pathetic -- which is, I think, what you were aiming for. It would be interesting to see if the Malakim could stop laughing long enough to kill him. ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 "The surest way to keep a secret is to make people believe they already know the answer." - -- Fremen saying __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 05:45:50 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Horror Month: proto-Superior - --- james walker wrote: > Billy Adams, > 4 year old in the service of Deals With The Darkness. [twitch!] This one actually disturbs me more than his boss did. Now that's horror! ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 "The surest way to keep a secret is to make people believe they already know the answer." - -- Fremen saying __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 13:30:38 +0000 From: "Fallen Seraph" Subject: Re: IN> Interesting Web Sites lovely... one more bunch of religious nutcases screaming apocalypse. This could cause all sorts of chaos... hang on... what was that URL again? thewinds.org? Lord inquisitor, i think you should see this... Janus could be in BIG trouble here. :) Now theres a plot seed. Why would Janus want to spout off about this being the apocalypse, and is it merely coincidence that their prophet of doom is called Michael? Somewhere, deep in hell, Kobal is wetting himself with laughter - -FallenSeraph What? Is Man merely a mistake of God's? Or is God merely a mistake of Man's? http://eternalcity.freeservers.com ICQ: 110193631 _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 12:32:33 -0400 From: Mike Bruner Subject: Re: IN> The Demon of Pond Scum Actually, this guy, the Demon of Spam, and Furfur are good examples of demons making a fair amount of value out of weak or otherwise "bad" Words; I have to wonder if part of the humor to Kobal would be if this guy actually succeeded (certainly Gluttony probably brings a smile to his face when he remembers how well that little stunt worked). If you have any particularly creative players in a demonic campaign, you might consider the possibilities in sticking them with a weakish Word as a punishment for any little scheme of theirs which backfires in front of Lucifer (bonus points if the new Word is associated with the nature of the screw-up, of course) and seeing what they make of it. Leave them the possibility of upgrading their Word to a stronger one (i.e. Demon of Air Disasters to Demon of Disasters kind of thing) just in case the actual Word they have is too weak to use on its own, and you should have some good campaign possibilities. Obviously some players might be pissed if you "railroaded" them into something like that, so be careful and probably just try to use if they actually screw up in a way that can justify it. - -- Mike Bruner-- bruner@delaware.infi.net I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 13:26:36 -0400 From: Cameron McCurry Subject: IN> Horror: The Hollowers "So we finally got the proof right here," Joshua said as he looked over the documents. "This building isn't an Infernal Tether yet, but it has the potential to become one." The assembled angels and Soldiers nodded. The meeting had been going on for fifteen minutes and a plan of attack had been laid out. Joshua looked over the street map. The Malakite was quiet as he took in the location of the house. "I think our best approach is by the west. Hit them right at sunrise, go right in and catch them off guard. We do this fast enough, even the neighbors won't know we were there." In the house in question, an Impudite was sitting in a chair with her eyes closed. The other demons and Soldiers waited patiently around a table for her to speak. Without warning, the Taker's eyes snapped open. "Perfect. They've taken the bait. From what I heard, the angels will be attacking by sunrise. They are coming in on the west side. That gives us enough time to greet them appropriately." She glanced over at the Calabite that was grinning in anticipation of the upcoming battle. "The blonde one is named Joshua. He's the team's Malakite. He's yours." As the demons and Soldiers made preparations, the Impudite touched a pendant she wore around her neck. "You did good, my pet. Very good." Across town, a Soldier of Heaven wiped a tear from his eye as he screamed in his mind a warning to the angels that he could not say out loud. He numbly prepared for the trap that was being set for them. One of the more twisted ideas to come from the Prince of The War was the idea of making a Human Soldier a spy against the other side against their will. The method behind this is one of Hell's most closely guarded secrets and it only taught to a few Servitors of Ball and Asmodeus. The process is grotesque and painful. A captured Soldier of Heaven is stripped of his Ethereal Forces which are replaced with an equivalent amount of Forces taken from Renegade Demons. The Forces are linked to an item of jewelry such as a pendant or a ring that is worn by a demon. Through this link, the demon can hear and see things through the Soldier which provides some intelligence on the Host's activities. The end result has been called a Hollower (From hollowing someone out) or a Mummer; an unwilling agent of Hell. The Soldier is unable to speak about what has been done to him or warn anyone about it. The Forces that are tied into the body prevent any of those actions from occurring. What is even worse, the Hollower is fully aware of when he is being watched by the demon that holds the link on the Forces. The poor soul goes through life knowing that he is betraying the side he swore to help. Heaven's reaction to this problem has been very harsh. Any demon found to be creating Hollowers is not even given a chance to beg for mercy. The only thing that might grant them a swift soul death is revealing who the Hollowers are in the area and even that is not enough of a guarantee. Michael and Novalis are working together on a way to remove the Infernal Forces from the Hollowers and have had some success to date. But in the meantime, Heaven is becoming cautious around the humans that serve them. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 11:05:56 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Horror: The Hollowers [hands Cameron AA Haagenti's Secret Gusto Cookie recipe] That was just too evil. ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 "The surest way to keep a secret is to make people believe they already know the answer." - -- Fremen saying __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 14:25:47 -0500 From: Earl Wajenberg Subject: Re: IN> Horror Month: Proto- Superior Interesting character. He almsot sounds like his own little corner of damnation, as separate as possible from Lucifer's Hell. Earl ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 15:16:22 -0400 From: "William J. Keith" Subject: Re: IN> The Demon of Pond Scum >Actually, this guy, the Demon of Spam, and Furfur are good examples of >demons making a fair amount of value out of weak or otherwise "bad" Words; I've also pondered whether demons who get Words like Pond Scum, Stale Bong Water, and Week-Old Pizza might all be secretly fighting like mad for one big prize Word that would include them all, and even possibly be big enough for a Princeship -- the Word of Disgust. >-- >Mike Bruner-- bruner@delaware.infi.net > >I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once. William ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 19:05:42 -0400 From: "Charles Phipps" Subject: Re: IN> Lovers in Madness, Bound in straight jackets together >Charles, you sometimes worry me. Just thought you should >know. };> Thank you, I really try. My only regret is that I didn't proof read these two first and I'd really like to see them end up in the In Nomine collection. Personally speaking I've already thought of a sequel to the adventure which I'm fairly sure will be quite tormentive though I'm not exactly sure how to handle it. Looking over Alice and Dear Philip I came to the conclusion Beleth's little heart might be trying to say something and when the pair get taken alive.... (Can you honestly imagine Blandine's reaction to the couple?) I'm going to reveal Beleth used forces culled from Blandine's dead angels as she used her own from her angels to warp the little attuned an together the two when brought together form a very interesting little dreamscape.... A psychic valentine if you will that only Blandine will recognize as a representation symbolically of her feelings still left for Blandine. Blandine if she will possess Alice for the Dreamscape can truly understand Beleth's feelings if she undergoes one last "run" through with Philip taking the part of Beleth. Of course what exactly the world is and what it will do to the pair (and any PCs Blandine wants to come along to help her think straight) is anybody's business. - -Charlie _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 11:10:35 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> How many Archangels does it take... At 12:24 AM -0400 10/10/01, William J. Keith wrote: >...to change a light bulb? No, wait, wrong post. I remember angelic/demonic lightbulb jokes at 3am one time... ("How many Calabim does it take to change a lightbulb?" "One, but it never gets _fixed_." ) >Okay, look. Khalid, Gabriel, Eli, Song, and Death are out of town at the >moment. But people have been getting raised Archangel and granted Words. >So, if it doesn't take the entire Seraphim Council to do it, what's the >minimum? Note that it's not clear if Death is out of town, or simply not doing much obvious on the corporeal plane -- the Grigori version of him isn't canon. (Heck, _I_ don't know what's canon for him; I don't think SJ's decided what he likes best for Death ideas!) So s/he might be showing up for Council meetings. So, apparently, the minimum is... the Council less Khalid, Gabriel, Eli, and Song. O:> Frankly, I suspect the minimum is Yves, but that's personal, not canon, and would be only relevant as a plot point. (It is, in the Superior Soap Opera, a plot point. But I digress.) And if I babble about my personal notions on stuff, it will digress down Soap Opera Lane (no relation to Moe Lane) even more quickly. So I will end the post here. O:> Or not... At 8:11 AM -0400 10/10/01, Anthony Damiani wrote: > It may even be that God has delegated the power to elevate >angels specifically to the body known as the Seraphim Council (with some >sort of quorum and procedural rules applying), and even the same group >of celestials all getting together in their off hours and deciding to >make an Archangel couldn't do it, if they weren't acting in the capacity >of the council. Oh, that's a neat idea too. Special Songs to declare "This meeting of the Seraphim Council is Now In Session"... [...] >gatekeepers for some other object or process that can transform a >celestial into a superior (Mmm... I love the smell of MacGuffin in the >morning). .... (If Balseraphs hatched, does this mean that you could have Egg MacGuffins? ) (Which, I realize, happened slightly when the Last Egg of the Chinese Dragons showed up in the Superior Soap Opera. But I digress.) - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor RPG links; Random name list, Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 11:26:21 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: IN> Grigori... (Re: Re: How many Archangels does it take...) At 4:51 PM +0000 10/10/01, Fallen Seraph wrote: [...] >And if a Grigori AA did manage to grant a word/raise a new AA, this would >imply that God still acknowledges the Grigori, which would be a real kick in >the coils for Dominic... In a Bright setting, Dominic would probably take it as a sign that the Grigori (or at least some Grigori) had atoned enough (at least in God's eyes) and it was time to re-open the case. Starting with sending a triad or six down to try to find this new AA and the old AA, questioning them extensively (and their Servitors, if any) to discover if this was a holy act or if Lucifer were somehow involved*... (* "No, I'm sorry, I know that you're a Habbalite, but your title is PRINCE, not Archangel. Excuse me, I need to report back to my boss now.") Hey, look, instant plot seed for any multiple of 3 players! O:> (Or even 2 and an NPC.) Because, of course, any Princes who found out about it might be interested to find out if, say, this person could raise _Princes_ as well. Look, "Promotions Inna Box!" (Step right up, my fine Servitor, and be the first to be raised to my side... Mind, you'll owe me for it (and while you're the Servitor and I'm the Prince, I can bind you to that debt as well as any Lilim).) - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor RPG links; Random name list, Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 11:35:06 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> How many Archangels does it take... At 1:32 PM -0700 10/10/01, Sean McCarthy wrote: [...] >the process by which words are actually >awarded should probably be common knowledge in Heaven. I cannot imagine >the Word-granting process as a secret held by so many... especially when >Litheroy is one of them! This is something I'd want to work out for my own >game if no official answer is forthcoming. GMG, p. 31, mentions the Council attuning the celestial to its new Word. In personal campaigns, the process has been described as the Word-bound- to-be raising its voice (celestially), and singing the theme of the Word in question -- then joined by the massed voices of the entire Council (the Archangels adding in their Force-manipulation abilities to ensure the binding is correct), and the theme of the Word being woven into the self of the angel. Nice, powerful, moving experience, basically. O:> Mind, if that's the way it works, and for some reason it _doesn't_ work sometime, that would be a plot seed too. Maybe some PC is slated for a Word and... it doesn't work. Gee... What could be causing it? Does some unknown demon hold that Word, somehow keeping anyone else from getting it? (The Word of Monopolies might be one that could do that!) Is there a circle of sorcerers who have somehow tapped the power of a Word from the Symphony itself? Is there some other MacGuffin for the characters to chase after...? - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor RPG links; Random name list, Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 11:42:33 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> The Demon of Pond Scum At 4:29 PM +1100 10/11/01, james walker wrote: >Given that I haven't found a write-up of this guy elsewhere, I thought I'd >give it a bash: > >SCRIE >BALSERAPH OF DARK HUMOR >DEMON OF POND SCUM [...] >Kobal, of course, is still in hysterics. I can see why! Nifty! (Nitpick: why Limbo? Limbo is where the Heartless go...) - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor RPG links; Random name list, Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 11:44:48 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Horror Month: proto-Superior At 9:57 PM +1100 10/11/01, james walker wrote: [...] >Billy will be starting school next year - are there any Servitors of >Children who don't have enough to do? And if you have the Liber Servitorum, you can drag in just about anyone through that poor little Creationer's link... O:> Nice'n evil. >And no, NOBODY knows what orders Billy got from Deals With The Darkness. Heh heh heh. - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor RPG links; Random name list, Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 22:20:11 -0300 From: pbarkow@is2.dal.ca Subject: Re: IN> How many Archangels does it take... On 11 Oct 01, at 11:10, Elizabeth McCoy wrote: > And if I babble about my personal notions on stuff, it will digress > down Soap Opera Lane (no relation to Moe Lane) even more quickly. So > I will end the post here. O:> Why do you seem to regard posting about the Superior Soap Opera to be negative? I don't know about the rest of the list but I always enjoy reading it. "You cut my foot off!" "I apologize. I meant to cut off your head." 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: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 22:15:52 -0400 From: "Eric Bertish" Subject: Re: IN> How many Archangels does it take... > Oh, that's a neat idea too. Special Songs to declare "This meeting of > the Seraphim Council is Now In Session"... Wouldn't that be the Trisagion? - -- Casca Who keeps imagining a Seraph babershop quartet singing "Holy, Holy, Holy" ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 19:40:29 -0700 From: Sean McCarthy Subject: Human Words 0 (was Re: IN> How many Archangels does it take...) Our spies report that on 11:35 AM 10/11/2001 -0400, Elizabeth McCoy said: >Mind, if that's the way it works, and for some reason it _doesn't_ work >sometime, that would be a plot seed too. Maybe some PC is slated for a >Word and... it doesn't work. Gee... What could be causing it? Does some >unknown demon hold that Word, somehow keeping anyone else from getting >it? (The Word of Monopolies might be one that could do that!) Is there >a circle of sorcerers who have somehow tapped the power of a Word from >the Symphony itself? Is there some other MacGuffin for the characters >to chase after...? Hmm. To quote from Fantasmic, "Imagine THIS!" Everyone knows you cannot give a human a Word. That is, itself, correct. YOU cannot. Even if you are Lucifer. The human has to grant themselves the Word. Not by fiat, but by working to make themselves synonymous in the Symphony with a concept. Such that when reality itself looks up a Word in the Great Dictionary, your name is right there. You also have to have the degree of enlightenment necessary to recognize this happening and step into the place you briefly belong. Given a lengthy life, an unusual grasp of the Symphony from the inside and the chance to do really earthshaking things, any human could have a Word. The astute among you will realize humans seldom have any one of these things and are unlikely to have all three. Very true. Some say God's plan was for humans to better themselves over time until they reached this kind of perfection. That is why most humans reincarnate upon death. Adam, Lilith and Eve were different, of course. They represented a peek to the back of the book. Even if they were not examples of the apotheosis(in more than one sense) of humanity -- which they might have been -- they certainly represent humans much further down the path of development. Lilith has a Word. She wandered, studying the world. She devoted herself from her creation to a concept. She perceived matters now clouded to humans, or perhaps not yet clarified. She then did something that shook the firmament and made a huge difference in everything that came after. You heard Lucifer offered her infernal power and the Word of Freedom if she did as he requested. You heard that from demons, didn't you? Otherwise, from someone who heard it from someone who...it doesn't matter. Demons lie. Including Lucifer. Especially Lucifer. Lucifer didn't grant Lilith a Word because he could not... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 19:41:38 -0700 From: Sean McCarthy Subject: IN> Human Words 1 (With apologies to the creators of Unknown Armies, because I feel I might have boosted part of this idea unknowingly (and armingly?)) Heaven and Hell have Words and such words can be shared. Fire. Cities. Death. The reason the sharing is possible (if ill-advised) is because each side only 'uses' part of a Word. It isn't a perfect division, see the whole Gabriel/Belial mess for proof. Yet it is a division. Good and Evil. Angels and Demons. Destiny and Fate. Humans are another matter. They are the focus of the Symphony. They are what matters and, most importantly, they are not inherently on either side. If a human takes a Word, they take the whole thing. Neither Lucifer nor all the Host can give that Word...there isn't anything left over to give. Nor can they take the Word away. Let's talk about Sorcery. Sorcery as represented in the books is fine by itself. There are, however, other ways for humans to gain power. Remember what I said about long life, hard study and special circumstances being necessary to take a Word? All true. However, the beauty of humans is manifold. They do not have to take the whole Word. Much as with celestials, they can be tuned in to a Word without actually holding it. The difference here is that humans don't get tuned by Superiors. They tune themselves. The quest for a Word, for a human, is a process of accumulation. Different humans have different perceptions, of course. None today are so naturally qualified and familiar with the Symphony as Lilith was then. Humans aren't there yet. So they have many, many ideas about how to do this. Two are especially worth noting. One theory is that becoming in tune with the Word is becoming the Word. This is 'correct' as Celestials perceive it. I probably don't need to explain this. This is how Celestials and Words interact. Janus IS Wind...and he acts as Wind acts, can do what Wind does. The other theory more closely resembles Servitors and the Words they Serve. You become part of the Word, the Word becomes part of you. More and more, if you do it right. But this link doesn't make you the Word or give you its power directly. It allows you to carry out certain actions, like Rites, for power. Essence. The Word of Death, for example, wants things to die and decay. It also wants things to end in a general sense and it wants a great many other things. Want is deceptive, yes, like saying two atoms want to bond or that fusion once started wants to continue. It isn't a conscious thing. It is just the way these things are. But humans can take advantage of freon wanting to become a liquid under certain circumstances...and they can take advantage of Death wanting these things. Take a natural event, even cause a natural event. Position yourself just the right way and when it happens, you can siphon off some of the energy. Use your own power generation metaphor here. Congratulations, now you have the energy to Do Something. You might spend it the normal human way...you probably have learned to control that if you have gotten this far. You might use it to power a Song. A song you came across in your travels or research, most likely. Of course, you have been studying your Word, so you probably came across a related Song. Something in theme. Not necessarily, though. Celestials could be really surprised when that Death magic practitioner heals a puppy. Or conjures up lunch. Or when the Lust magic practitioner turns the marrow of their vessels' bones to molten lead... ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 19:40:35 -0700 From: Sean McCarthy Subject: IN> Human Words 2 What kind of campaign you have determines how you might use this stuff. Here are a few factors to skew the brightness, contrast and other knobs: Progress: Is this how humans were supposed to go? Lilith was the first one who did this and it's known what Heaven thinks of HER... What does Heaven think? Most importantly, what if Heaven thinks the wrong thing? But...surely the Archangel of Destiny would not let that happen... Exclusivity(Human): If a Celestial is given part of a Word, or even if one or more on each side is, it probably doesn't use up enough to render the humans involved powerless. That would be boring, if only because many of the neat words are already taken. Would a human taking a Word lock out all other humans? Again, it's kind of boring. Maybe it's like a metaphysical game of King of the Hill...there can be only one, but that one can keep changing. Or maybe not: Perhaps there will only be one human, ever, who takes a given Word. See WordLock, below. Exclusivity(Celestial): If enough humans have partial attunement to a Word, is that enough to stop a Celestial from being given that Word? What does Hell do about that if it does happen? Perhaps the pogrom against non-Infernal Sorcery is there for a very good reason... For a real scare, what happens if a human can take a Word after a Celestial already has part of it? It probably can't happen. If it could, though ... would the Celestial lose their Word? If so, both Heaven and Hell would probably have factions spending a lot of time keeping those pesky humans away from the major Words. What if a human came to embody War ... to the exclusion of Michael? Alternatively, assume that God Given Words are the ones that cannot be stripped this way. That puts the demons and all the newer Wordbound in a bad spot, but at least you can always kill Humans... or can you? WordLock: What if killing a human doesn't help? Once a human takes a Word, that word is Taken and Done With. Killing the human just means that Word in all its potential, positive and negative, is lost. That would be bad, right? Maybe if the human passes on in a natural, Symphonic way, they free up the Word on the way out. But if you kill -9 the human, they depart ungracefully leaving the Word still locked. Anyone have the root password to reboot the Symphony? As a final choice, perhaps humans can still take Words from each other under the right circumstances under any of these rulesets. Knowledge(Celestial): Maybe, perhaps, possibly...there's nothing definite here. Does anyone know? Perhaps no celestial. The reason Lilith is alive and to some degree courted by both sides could be that NOBODY (even her!) knows the answers to all the questions posed by this... I'm tired and my pizza should arrive soon. I go now...please let me know what you think. Sean ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 22:47:23 -0500 From: EDG Subject: IN> Relic: The Deck Lucifer, Prince of Hell, employs Kobal not only as a Demon Prince but - on occasion - as a jester. Typically the antics of the Prince of Dark Humor provide Lucifer with a moment's entertainment at best, but - again, on occasion - something that Kobal says or does provides the First Balseraph with an idea for a bit of more... lasting... fun. The Deck is a result of one of these ideas. The Deck appears to be a simple 54-card deck of playing cards (4 suits of 13 cards each, plus the jokers), slightly worn. In fact, it's even marked with the imprints of one of the more popular brands. However, this Deck is completely unique, in that if a demon manages to get hold of the deck and draw a card, he is immediately granted a vacant Word. There are, of course, complications. Each suit has its own characteristics: the Words borne by Hearts tend to relate to Lust, Dark Humor, Factions, and Nightmares; Clubs carry Words relating to Cruelty, Hardcore, Gluttony, and (oddly) Technology; Spades contain Words relating to the War, the Game, Fate, and Drugs; and Diamonds' Words have to do with Greed, Theft, the Media, and Freedom. In addition, each card has a value; the higher the value of the card, the better the Word. Aces vary in value; they score the highest among Hearts and Diamonds, but lowest among Spades and Clubs. Then there are the Jokers. The Joker with the manufacturer's imprint is the best card in the deck; if drawn, the demon is immediately granted a Superior-status Word. The Joker without the imprint is a different story indeed: drawing it immediately evokes a Will roll, at -1 for every attunement beyond the first and every Distinction the demon has. Success simply means that all attunements (except for the demon's Prince's Band attunement) and all distinctions are stripped; failure indicates immediate, irrevocable recycling of the demon's Forces. In the overwhelming majority of cases, the Deck disappears immediately after it's used, teleporting (with Celestial Motion) to a random location (and "reshuffling"; every time the Deck is used, new Words are bound to the cards). However, if the user knows what the deck is (a difficult task) and how to use it, he can generate some fairly odd effects. The primary effect is to *combine* Words - by concentrating, the user can hold off the effects of the first card until a second card is drawn, thereby mingling the Words and creating a new, unique Word. However, there are two exceptions to *this*: if one of the cards drawn is the imprint Joker, then only that card takes effect. If one of them is the non-imprint Joker, then the user does *not* get a Will roll to avoid being destroyed. The Deck will have no effect on non-demons of any sort. To them, the Deck is just an ordinary set of playing cards, albeit one that cannot be destroyed (a clue to its infernal nature). Cost: The Deck has no concrete cost, and cannot be bought. It is a unique relic, and is best used as a plot device. It cannot be harmed or destroyed, and contains (at the very least) the Celestial Song of Motion. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2001 22:50:44 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> The Demon of Pond Scum - --- james walker wrote: > Given that I haven't found a write-up of this guy > elsewhere, I thought I'd > give it a bash: > > SCRIE > BALSERAPH OF DARK HUMOR > DEMON OF POND SCUM Cool concept ... but don't count out Scrie yet, OK? If (LEVEL 10 NON-CANON ALERT, LEVEL OMEGA-23!!!!!) .... Cows can be a Superior-level Word, then Pond Scum won't be far behind. Hmmm... ;) (/LEVEL 10 NON-CANON ALERT, LEVEL OMEGA-23!!!!!) Moe "Yes, I'm afraid so" Lane ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 09/28/01(this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 12 Oct 2001 16:10:04 +0800 From: Manny Nepomuceno Subject: IN> Abimael (sigh) Come on, don't tell me you haven't wanted to do something like this...it's cheesy, yes, but sometimes the cheese just needs to flow. ;) Manny Neps http://www.geocities.com/angeloffools Abimael Malakite Archangel "Archangel of the Hundred" The world is a battlefield on which we must prove ourselves. The story, at least as far as it is known in Heaven: Abimael appeared, one day, at the gates of Heaven, with ten other angels never seen within its walls. They were not Redeemed demons. They were not fledged relievers. They were simply angels who had never been in Heaven. The new Archangel made straight for the Council Spires, with his guard trailing at his heels. Addressing the Seraphim Council, he declared himself and announced that he would be recruiting Servitors from his fellows' ranks: ninety in all, across the spectrum of Words and factions, until his host stood at one hundred angels. It was, he claimed, his mandate from God. And he allowed the Seraphim among them to resonate him, to determine the Truth of the matter. And it was True; God himself had decreed it. Abimael would be allowed to recruit from among the Servitors of his fellow Archangels. Drawing a deep breath, Abimael next requested that these Servitors be permitted to retain all their old rites, attunements, and Distinctions, as Abimael himself had none to offer them. There was some confusion about this, until Abimael revealed that he had no Word to bind them to. It took several days for the furor to die down. When his time in the Council was over, he and his ten chosen angels began to move about Heaven, speaking to select celestials. Three days later, the Hundred was complete, and Heaven's newest Archangel took up residence in a wing of Laurence's Cathedral. Hell's learned, to its detriment, that Wordless didn't mean worthless. Abimael himself would often join the fray alongside his Servitors, and it's rumored that he's even thrown a Demon Prince or two back into Hell (most speculate that Haagenti and Mammon were the Princes in question, but not a few have noticed that Belial and Saminga have been particularly cranky lately.) The Hundred were not bound to a Word, but they were certainly bound to each other...and bringing in more demons to take down the angels simply meant that the Sword or War had more time to respond to Abimael's call for support. Since then, however, some of the Hundred have been soul-killed in battle. Abimael has not so far replaced them: when asked about this, he says that he is uninterested in doing so. God only gave him one hundred angels for a reason, and while he doesn't really understand God's logic or rationale, he's going to fulfill his end of the bargain. Dissonance It is dissonant for a Servitor of Abimael to withdraw from combat from demons. It is also dissonant for a Servitor of Abimael to refuse a request for assistance from another of the Hundred. By some feat no Archangel has yet been able to duplicate, Abimael's Servitors are also freed from their original Archangel's dissonance conditions. Choir Attunements Abimael offers no Choir Attunements. However, all of his Servitors have the ability to recognize fellow angels of the Hundred on sight, regardless of vessel or host, and to recognize the Truth or falsehood of any communication from a fellow angel of the Hundred. Servitor Attunements Abimael offers no Servitor Attunements. Distinctions Abimael offers no Distinctions. Organization To be a Servitor of Abimael is to be a member of one of Heaven's most highly regarded organizations. Even Servitors of Flowers respect the Hundred, seeing the work they do. Some of the Hundred protect hospitals, orphanages, and charities, while others hunt demons. It has been noted that Servitors of Abimael do tend to petition their old Archangels for boons on behalf of peers that would normally have no access to such boons. It's not unknown for a former Servitor of Creation to have attunements from Gabriel, extra rites from Novalis, a distinction from Zadkiel, and access to one or two of Jean's artifacts. Abimael makes no secret of his agenda: to kill or redeem as many diabolicals as he can before himself dying. His angels are just as fanatical. The Hundred treat themselves as members of a brotherhood, and act accordingly: the only exception to this rule are the ten angels who followed Abimael into the Council Spires. They have all since been Distincted (at least Master-level distinctions) by other Archangels, and act as Abimael's lieutenants when he is unavailable. This rarely happens even celestial politics can't keep Abimael away from the corporeal plane and the task of killing demons. Since he's clearly under a death sentence, given by God himself, the other Archangels grant him a great deal of latitude. Rites No one is really sure where Abimael gets his Essence, but it seems he always has enough to share with his Servitors. - - Slay a demon. - - Bring a demon to accept redemption (+2 Essence). - - Discover an Infernal Tether. - - Destroy an Infernal Tether (+3 Essence). Relations Abimael gets along very, very well with his peers. After all, he didn't take too many of their Servitors, and he does excellent work even the Order of the Eternal Sword takes pointers from angels of the Hundred. Strangely enough, the only Archangel who seems uninfluenced by Abimael's charisma and daring is Yves, who admits to relying on faith when dealing with the Archangel of the Hundred. Allied: Michael, Laurence Associated: All else, except Neutral: Yves Chance of Invocation: 8 Invocation Modifiers: +1 A demon within line-of-sight +2 A meeting involving at least three demons +3 A meeting involving at least ten demons +4 A demonic Tether +5 A pitched battle with agents of Hell +6 A pitched battle where a Demon Prince is involved ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2409 ********************************