in_nomine-digest Monday, April 22 2002 Volume 01 : Number 2610 In this digest: IN> 20 Questions for Ex-Relievers IN> Lilim Celestial appearance IN> Seneschal Question IN> Evil Office Supplies IN> Misinformation IN> Chips IN> Princess of Cute IN> Sane Litheroy Re: IN> Chips IN> Two Groups ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 17:46:01 +1000 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> 20 Questions for Ex-Relievers A few questions to help you flesh out the back stories of your angels: Resonances: Did a Malakite ever chide you for some (minor) dishonourable (in)action? (eg forgetting to keep a promise, losing something, failing to turn up when you were supposed to meet someone/take part in a ceremony). If so, was he overly harsh, or did he just gently insist that you correct the situation? What was it? How did you make amends? What sort of things did the Malakim talk to you about, to help you refine your own code of honour? Did you ever (to your knowledge) have a Cherub attuned to you? Was it because you kept getting lost? Or as reassurance that you were protected? Or did you actually venture into places in Heaven (eg the Volcano) where it was possible for you to get hurt? When did you first realise that there were different factions in Heaven? Have you tried to do anything about this? Have you had any success? (Remember, even persuading two fellow relievers not to quarrel is a degree of success). Do you think the problem can be completely solved? If not, how long did it take you to come to that conclusion? Friends: Who were your friends as a fledgling? Did they choose the same Superior as you? Did a Mercurian ever have to sit you down and explain that while (incredibly overworked WordBound 'X') didn't dislike you, he was too busy to spend time with you? Have any of your friends Fallen or been Soulkilled in the centuries which have passed since you were created? Do you think of them often? How has this affected your feelings about demons? Did an Elohite helped you deal with the grief? What Words have taken in interest in you? (Remember, all Words need to recruit, and at the least, Children & Destiny will be interested in the relievers for their own sake) Have any of your friends chosen to serve a Superior Hostile or indifferent to your own? Do you still get to see them? Has this soured the friendship? When did you first meet one of the Redeemed? Did any of your questions about their Discord/where they were from/why they had an escort upset them? What did you think of their enthusiasm? Humans: What sort of Disadvantages did you see in the Blessed who had just arrived in Heaven? Did the humans act on them? How did you feel, react? Did you ever watch humans shed Disadvantages? Did you ever get to help them do so? What did the Blessed tell you about Earth? Did it worry you? How many of your assumptions about Earth were based on places like Commerce Park? Did you meet any 'famous' humans in Heaven? Were they famous in Heaven, or had their fame been purely Corporeal? Did you know that they were famous? Did that affect how they treated you? How did you react when you saw humans walking up Jacob's Ladder? Did you want to follow them? How many human friends have gone up the Ladder? How much do you miss them? Religion: When did people first discuss God in your presence? Have you ever participated in any of the religious services held in Heaven, and if so, of which religions? How has human religion benefited you(Remembering that you're only being taught it by the cream of the adherents of each religion)? When did you first find out what Dissonance was? Outcasting? Did you ever get a point of dissonance while a reliever? How? How did you get rid of it? Did Judgement ever talk to you? Were they just trying to discourage you from taking service with, say, Janus - or were they worried that you might be starting to go wrong? Hell: When did you first find out about the War? With the excitement of seeing Heaven's forces drilling, or hearing of a victory - or the grim news of a defeat? Did you ever look out over the Walls to see Hell for yourself? Did you ever search for signs of Diabolical plots in Heaven itself? If so, how did loyal angels react to having you snooping around & following them? Travel: Which Cathedrals did you visit while deciding on a Superior? Which were your favourites? How many events have you participated in(things like Novalis' party, The Sword's formal ceremonies)? Which deserted Cathedrals have you visited? Did you ever have anything stolen by a Windie? What did you do about it? Did you get it back? When did you first see a Traumatised angel? Was there someone there to explain what was going on? If not, did you try and help the angel? When was the concept of lying first explained to you? Did you understand why this would be done? What was your kneejerk reaction to the idea? Cheers, James. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 10:38:05 -0400 From: "Brian C. Petery" Subject: IN> Lilim Celestial appearance >And what does a Lilim look like who never had a vessel? * A Shetite! No wonder Lilim hate them so much! But seriously, I think that a Vessel is "standard issue" for Lilim. The IN rule book is vague on this. If a Vessel isn't part of the creation process Lilith would have to "give birth" in Hell or the Marches. In "The Final Trumpet," when Lilith is "fixing" Mira Klein, Lilith seems to doing it in Blandy's Tower. Cordially, BC Petery http://www15.brinkster.com/ugwump/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 10:48:13 -0400 From: "Brian C. Petery" Subject: IN> Seneschal Question "Where do Angels go when they die? They go to pieces." I got that out of a comic book called "Celestine." I think it was written by the guy that does Spawn. (I used to be a FanBoy! Now I can't remember his name. I'm so ashamed.) I've run out of things to say, BC Petery http://www15.brinkster.com/ugwump/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 11:05:29 -0400 From: "Brian C. Petery" Subject: IN> Evil Office Supplies >> Hey! That explains why my rassenfrassen stapler keeps >> spitting staples at my >> face! A Cali bite in the making. Anybody know how to >> exorcise office equipment? > There's a chant that works with computers; "Om Mani >Pentium" or something like that. };> I /KNEW/ Pentium was invented by Vapula! And Winblows was a joint project with Nybbas! Still it took Kobal to get the things to sell, they couldn't move them until they added a "Fun and Games" suite. Makes me glad we're an Apple crew. I can't think of a clever tagline, BC Petery http://www15.brinkster.com/ugwump/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 11:14:52 -0400 From: "Brian C. Petery" Subject: IN> Misinformation Inspiration! Presenting Pete, Demon of Evil Office Supplies! http://www15.brinkster.com/ugwump/IN/Pete.html =;>, BC Petery http://www15.brinkster.com/ugwump/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 14:53:11 -0400 From: "William J. Keith" Subject: IN> Chips Don't ask me where this string of ideas came from. Free association is the best explanation, I guess, although the word "anastomosing" is probably in there somewhere. Shedite Chips Simon scratched his head. The laptop seemed to be working fine. You didn't usually get a free laptop, but there had been that creepy guy that transferred title for... something... Simon couldn't remember exactly what, he'd kind of been not himself for the past couple of days. And there had been those two intense guys in the dark glasses who had seemed interested in the laptop, and had seemed ready to follow him home, until they lost interest for some reason and ran off after something he didn't see. Anyway, despite its odd provenance, it seemed to be an excellent computer. It still freaked him out a little that the thing could get T3 speeds over its modem, though. And insane flops. And that it had an OS he'd never heard of, although it seemed fairly intuitive in a braintwisting sort of way. And no brand name. And an apparently infinite battery. In fact, it had freaked him out enough that, against his better judgment, professional curiosity had gotten the better of him and he'd taken the laptop to his shop and opened it to peek inside. Green slime. Why green slime? How had green slime gotten in there, and why was the computer still working? Simon cleaned a bit of it out, but the underlying computer seemed to defy all decent rules of computing. Blast. Now the laptop had stopped working, dead. Oh well. Let's see if we can't cannibalize the processor.... - ---------- The laptop which houses a Vapulan Shedite is actually a fairly solid device. Unless you know Helltongue, it's completely impossible to program it directly, but it otherwise can run most commercially-available programs, has an efficient 'Net connection, and has a celestially infinite power life. Since so many of them are made and used so regularly, the bugs have actually been fairly well worked out. Well, except for it being inhabited by a demon who wants to damn every human on Earth, but a proper soul-killing will take care of that little problem and leave you with a perfectly usable laptop. Unfortunately, the laptop is not user-serviceable. The good news, though, is that various parts are in fact hellaciously compatible with man-made systems. Of particular interest is the motherboard. When inserted into an otherwise complete system made from parts available at or before the time the Shedite's laptop was created, it will connect and function (apparently) properly. It will push the performance envelope of the system, limited only by the other parts in its system, though it will not have the conveniently fast 'Net connection, infinite "battery" life or other celestially-powered abilities. It will, however, now take programming as if it were a commercial chipset (choose randomly from those compatible with the rest of the layout; this is now fixed). The motherboard conveys certain celestial features, as well. The computer can now be inhabited by any possessing entity. It will also, thanks to hardwiring from Vapula's designs, try to mask or fake any identifying information for itself when used to connect to the Internet, or for its user if a Mercurian (or, to a lesser extent, other Choirs, when the resonance might grant such clues) attempts to resonate them via "live media." Give any such attempt to resonate, or trace or identify the user or his origin, a penalty equal to the original Shedite's Celestial Forces. Naturally, the performance and protection has its downsides. One is that activities using the computer can be read as infernal, regardless of its user; TAINT_SEARCH will detect it, when possible, and it will also register on appropriate perceptive abilities, such as those of the Grigori. Secondly, Vaptech computers in the corporeal realm, if they contact the processor via corporeal means, essentially have root access, and can read and write all files. One final (some would say, serious) downside is that Vapula can still sense the location of such a device. Any time the computer is turned on(or every 24 hours of uptime), roll 3d6. On any 17 or 18, Vapula becomes aware of the device and its use, and may take whatever action he desires. ********** Malakite Chips The two children crouched over the black object. "What is it, Jen?" "Looks like a feather." "Can't be, it's a rock." "Maybe it's a fossil." "Cool! I've never seen one that big." "It's pretty. I think I'll keep it." - ---------- These relics are extremely rare, since the process of their creation is rather tortuous. An angel must first know Numinous Corpus: Wings and have the Malakite of Stone attunement. Most such angels are of course Malakim of Stone, hence the name of the relics. The angel must sing NC: Wings and then take stone form while the Song is still in effect. Besides needing to get somewhere up high and then take stone form, there is the tactical use of having a larger than normal area protected by the Wings, even an enfolded human. Such a form can also be an effective block to a larger-than-normal-sized passage. Attempts to damage the angel in this form will, as usual, fail. However, because the Wings are provided by a Song and are not part of the angel's Vessel, cosmetic damage can be done to them (though no real harm, either in Body Hits or carving any kind of passage through). In such cases, obsidian-black feathers of perfect shape may occasionally be chipped away from the Wings. Also, David can (as painlessly as he wishes) take such a chip from the corporeal or celestial wings of any Malakite of Stone, including himself. (Additional abilities may certainly be conveyed by such Superior-level Chips.) The feathers can be of any size from primaries (0-point size) to down feathers (wearable). They can be tracked by the original owner, as if a Song of Affinity were in effect. While carried or worn, the wearer will in a desperate situation gain a tiny echo of the Malakite of Stone ability, corporeal, ethereal, or celestial: a corporeal Perfect Balance (if you don't have Compendium I, think "Olympic gymnast on a beam"), an etheral Unfazeable (think "Jeeves the Butler waiting patiently"), or a celestial 5 levels of Damage Resistance (I forget if this is an IN concept. Reduce damage from any attack to the body by 5.) The Syphonically Aware can instinctively recognize these abilities and choose when and which to use. The Game Master will decide (sympathetically, not maliciously) when the ability will take effect for a mundane who carries one. After a number of uses equal to the originating Malakite's Celestial Forces, the Chip loses all powers. There is one truly celestial ability, of use primarily to artificers. The Chip can be bound into a shield or armor with simple rituals -- sufficiently sincere prayer will do. (Yes, even a modern plastic riot shield could use this ability, although a stone feather in your riot shield might raise questions from your fellows in the force....) If the wearer ever takes damage that would have been lethal, the Chip shatters, and no damage reaches the wearer. This is as infinite an ability as the typical Malakite of Stone attunement is in the GM's campaign world. If the Chip was created by damaging an angel, the owner will probably go to some lengths to gain it back and put it to good use. If David created the Chip, proper ownership will rather give the owner a +1 bonus to reactions from Heaven-aligned spirits who recognize it. ********** Fishin' Chips Eli must have been enjoying a fishing trip. This relic appears to be a bag of ordinary snack food (pick a favorite kind; chips are a common form). When used to bait a hook, even the worst fisherman can catch enough for several good meals, assuming there are fish about; and any fish that has consumed this bait will have all the nutritive properties of manna. If caught and released, on the other hand, the fish will suffer no pain and will be extraordinarily healthy and long-lived. Kobal's version actually grants no extra fishing abilities; rather, it gives the user the ability to Speak with Fish for a few minutes when one is caught. The mental "sound" of a fish suddenly impaled with a hook and yanked out of its atmosphere has put more than one unsuspecting fisherman off of seafood for life. Jordi, it should be said, isn't particularly bothered by either relic. Eli's version can actually help a fish out, and Kobal's version can be seen as rather useful. William ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 18:30:58 -0400 From: "Brian C. Petery" Subject: IN> Princess of Cute Just made me think of something... Demon Prince of Toddlers? of Brats? of the Terible Twos? "Children and grandparents get along so well together because they have the same enemy -- the mother." -Claudette Colbert "On average, a 4 year old child asks 437 questions a day." -Source Unknown BC Petery http://www15.brinkster.com/ugwump/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 18:33:08 -0700 (PDT) From: W S Subject: IN> Sane Litheroy Hallo, denizens of this List. :) At my Game Master's behest, I've been looking at Litheroy- who, in his words, "invalidates what little political machinations still exist in Heaven, and most of what leaves Hell". I'm inclined to agree- his Master distinction, in particular, is insane (Know /every/ secret that impacts /anyone/ you look at?). Also, his emphasis as a student of ancient mysteries doesn't really fit with my idea of Revelations- Litheroy should be out /revealing/ things to the masses, and demonstrating how they can and should do such things themselves. So, I decided to re-write Litheroy, completely- tone him down a bit, change his focus, and slacken his dissonance conditions. So, without Further Ado... - --- Litheroy, the Seraph Archangel of Revelations "The world is a mystery- explore it, reveal it, understand it." Litheroy is one of the several 'declining' Archangels, whose Word in the modern day has simply lost some of it's old relevance and power. Granted his Word during the great debates about the nature of Man on the ball of rock called Earth, he decided, in most un-Seraph like manor, to really try and understand God's greatest creation- in particular, their tendency for self-deception. The Fall came as a shock to him- and Gebbilith's Princehood seemed like an almost direct challenge. The Council made him an Archangel soon after. Over the years, the idea of Revelations has changed it's precise meaning from place to place- but humanity's maddening tendency to withhold the truth and make life more complicated for itself has, if anything, only worsened. Litheroy envinces little concern about this- he feels confident that, with enough time, he'll work out just why people do it. And then he can set about really getting them to change. The recent upswing in rapid information dissemenation via the computerized networks of the Information Age has brought him a tremendous rush of new vitality, however- energy that he primarily uses to help Jean fight to keep the Internet a medium of information, rather than disinformation, exchange. Not an easy task- crackers are demonized by the Media. And while Linux and the Open Source Movement is, at once more and less successful than they had hoped. Traditionally, Litheroy would manifest as an elderly figure, with stringy white hair and a thin beard. His clothing would be rumpled, and his eyes piercingly bright. He has recently adopted a new form, however- since the Sixties, he's been taking on a consideribly younger figure, that of a youth in his twenties- especially pale and wearing glasses. And usally sporting a Linux logo on his shirt. Choir Attunements Seraphim (Restricted): The Seraphim of Revelations are among the most difficult creatures to keep a secret from in existance- their resonance is considered to be automatically active with a check digit of 1 when anyone lies to them to directly conceal something. Cherubim: The Guardians of Revelations primarily protect those humans who bring Revelations to humanity- as such, with a successful Perception check, they can sense anyone who acts primarily as a teacher or researcher. Ofanite: The Wheels are charged with delivering the truth behind a secret to the four corners of Creation with all due haste. When they have a such message to deliver, the angel may add twice his Celestial Forces to his base movement rate- normal bonuses for Running stack. Elohim (Restricted): The Powers of Revelations are charged with determining the worth of a revelation- while all truths are precious, some revelations are more valuable to some people than to others. In addition to whatever else an Elohim's Resonance picks up, they know how the target will likely react to one true revelation. Malakite: The Virtues of Revelations despise the half-truths and lies that others delude themselves with, and see that sheen of self-delusion in others. With a succesful Perception check, the angel senses a self-deception someone is practicing, the severity equal to the check digit (1 being minor; 'It was just one class I skipped'. 3 being moderate: 'I'm not drunk yet'. 6 being extreme: 'I can't have just committed murder'). This is also handy for noticing Balseraphs... Kyriotate (Partially Restricted): Kyrioates of Revelations tend to be used in unusal, special cases. While possessing a mortal, such an angel can automatically remember anything that the mortal has /forgotten/. (Usable by any angel with the Song of Possession). Mercurian (Restricted): The Intercessionists of Revelations understand the difference between social lies and real untruths, but they also know that the quickest way to posion a relationship is through deciets and misdirection. They can use their resonance to hear lies a mortal tells to those he considers friends, as if they were a Seraphim. Note that they are unable to use their normal resonance while such a truth sense is active. Superior Dissonance: It is dissonant for the Servitors of Revelations to keep a harmful secret. This doesn't include either trully minor things ('It was Jeff who picked up that dollar you left out!'), nor does it include revealing the Servitor's angelic nature- or from maintaining a Role. Attunements: Bibliomancy: A favored means of divination, this Attunement allows the attuned to sometimes glean a useful piece of information from seeming randomness. They spend three Essence and open a book to a random page, placing their finger on a passage (also at random). This passage is usally something useful to the attuned, although it may not always be obviously applicible (DM's discretion). This attunement can also take other forms, such as Kaballah or other forms of numeromancy, I Ching, or or even newspaper astrology. Recently, it was even found that the Fortune command could be used... The Truth: This Attunment is more rarely granted, although it can also be a very powerful tool. By spending 1 Essence, the Attuned will hear the Truth in the next statement they are told. They can not be decieved in this statement- only a Balseraph has any chance, and the Attuned has a bonus equal to his Celestial Forces to resist. Distinctions Friend of Inspiration: Friends are capable of spreading revelations to others- in such a way that they can't be refuted. When they want, a Friend can explain a truth in a way that duplicates the Divine Logic Attunement. Vassal of Ephiany: By spending 1 Essence, the Vassals of Ephiany automatically succeed with a Check Digit of 6 any non-supernatural Perception check (this includes Perception based skills, but NOT Resonances!). This can also help with some tasks which involve Precision- DM's discretion, although I would recommend a +1 to 3 to the target number and the CD. Master of Unmasking: As the Vassal of Ephiany, but the supernatural perception spreads to all allies within a dozen feet of the invoker. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Games - play chess, backgammon, pool and more http://games.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 21:55:00 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> Chips OK, those were weird. Neat, mind you, but weird. Did you consider anything for Zadkiel - after all, she's probably fond enough of cops.* Moe *You know. CHiPS. ;) ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 04/13/02(this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Games - play chess, backgammon, pool and more http://games.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Apr 2002 22:07:40 +1000 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Two Groups Humans - die. Not a problem in and of itself: on the contrary, many Celestials consider it a good thing. But as any human can bond themselves to an artifact, and the Symphonically Aware can make artifacts, this does result in artifacts scattered around the Corporeal Plane, far from the humans who owned them. Both Heaven and Hell take advantage of this. BEQUESTS: Bequests is the name of a small clearing house run by Trade. They busily buy up Artifacts from those who find them but cannot or will not bond the artifact: then Cherubs of Trade (and of Creation - may of Eli's Cherubs have ended up working for Bequests) tracks down the original owner. Assuming that the owner was human, and is in Heaven, arranging for the transfer of the artifact is fairly simple - most humans will gladly trade an item they can no longer use in return for a Cherub being attuned to a loved one for the remainder of that person's life. Similarly, if the human is going to be reincarnated, the artifact is simply stored until they return. Of course, nothing can be done if the human has disbanded; the artifact must be bonded the hard way. Complications arise when the human is either Hell or The Marches. Although angels are not permitted to deal with Ethereals without permission, humans can. Negotiations by Trade are normally conducted via mundane Lucid Dreamers employed on temporary contract by Trade. Fortunately, most artifacts created by Dreamshades during their mortal life are Talismans, which the mundanes can use: the ethereals rarely guess that they have been dealing with Heaven. If the artifacts owner is in Hell, things are more difficult, and it's rare for these items to be bonded. As often as not, they end up sitting in a Tether waiting for a solution. However, Trade doesn't waste resources; Demons assume that it won't be difficult to bully a Damned soul into transferring ownership of the artifact after the demon has acquired it, so Malakim use these artifacts as bait to encourage diabolical attacks which they can ambush. Overhearing a Seraph comment that a stash of artifacts are going to be transferred from one Tether to another, and that the bureaucrat in charge of security has refused to authorise any extra guards, is too much for most demons to resist: one more reason why Trade has been defeating Greed. However - there are rumours. Nothing substantiated, of course. And nothing actually unethical. But...that one about Trade hiring a Sorcerer to Summon & bind a Djinn, which was used to contact the Damned; contrary to the laws of Heaven, yes, but if they did, surely they'd just be fighting the War? Strengthening Heaven? Of course, the fact that these artifacts are being continually moved from Tether to Tether while trolling for demons means that it's difficult for Judgement to confirm that all of the artifacts are still there - especially as very occasionally one is captured by Hell. Mort Prise Greed's answer to Bequests, Mort Prise takes a more pro-active stance towards humans with artifacts. Those who are too useful to mug/kill are lured towards Damnation - minor Word Bound routinely sell their Rites to these individuals, and have developed worship Rites to trap those who are not Symphonically Aware. Where ever possible, the human is persuaded to formally sell their soul so as to guarantee Greed possession. Despite this, Mort Prise often finds themselves with an artifact whose owner is in Heaven - or a different Principality, which is sometimes worse. After all, if the owner is in Heaven, the item can often be sold (at an extortionate rate) to an angel whose Superior hates one of Mammon's rivals in Hell. If the owner is held by one of Mammon's enemies, things get uglier. As such, Mort Prise is a regular employer of (Free) Lilim, with ownership of artifacts travelling from sister to sister until residing safely with the Bank. Dealing with Ethereals and Dreamshades is somewhat easier for Mort Prise - they tend to think of it as dealing with Nightmare's backwater slums. The desperation their 'customers' feel makes for one-sided transactions. James. ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2610 ********************************