in_nomine-digest Monday, November 11 2002 Volume 01 : Number 2857 In this digest: Re: IN> Not Really Laziness...is it?..Gabriel Request RE: IN> Not Really Laziness...is it?..Gabriel Request RE: IN> Not Really Laziness...is it?..Gabriel Request IN> Remembrances IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #2855 Re: IN> The Cathedral at the Gates of Heaven Re: IN>Cathedral of Death Question Re: IN> Superiors and AA Re: IN> Questions about Kyriotates Re: IN> Superiors and AA Re: IN> Remembrances Re: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #2855 Re: IN> A short Fic Re: IN> The Cathedral at the Gates of Heaven RE: IN> Remembrances RE: IN> Remembrances Re: IN> Remembrances Re: IN> Remembrances RE: IN> IN Wuxia: A New Song Combo Re: IN> Remembrances IN> Principality Re: IN> Principality IN> You know that you're in the Army of God when... Re: IN> You know that you're in the Army of God when... Re: IN> INverse Superior, The Big One -- Lucifer, Seraph Archangel of Light IN> Demons of Lucifer Re: IN> An interesting thought IN> Rule Britannia, Britannia Rules the Waves... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 03:27:17 +0800 From: "Jeffery Watkins" Subject: Re: IN> Not Really Laziness...is it?..Gabriel Request > >Any chance of a repost? I checked the digest page and it seems to cover > >only up to 2001. > http://www.sjgames.com/in-nomine/articles/new/digests/ > > (But I can't find the post there, either, regardless of the relevant > digests being present.) > > -EDG Thank you! While I hope its there somewhere, this also covers the time I was unknowingly unsubscribed and just thought the list was silent. My fault, hotmail was too full. Now I can catch up what I missed! *jumps for joy* Okay hop. I know I'm only recently walking without my cane now. =) Jeff =) Come visit where part of my insanity manifest at JCT; a very non-canon In Nomine is placed in the 23rd century setting of the Jovian Chronicles. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jctrinityRPG - -- _______________________________________________ Get your free email from http://mymail.operamail.com Powered by Outblaze ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 03:32:06 +0800 From: "Jeffery Watkins" Subject: RE: IN> Not Really Laziness...is it?..Gabriel Request > > http://www.sjgames.com/in-nomine/articles/new/digests/ > > > > (But I can't find the post there, either, regardless of the relevant > > digests being present.) > > > I cleverly downloaded the entirety of the archive, to better facilitate > searching. Try > http://www.sjgames.com/in-nomine/articles/new/digests/2578.txt. > > -- Chris > Eeep! I actually got the pyramid saying 'the world isn't ready for that page.' Is it because I am on a network or something? I'll try again on another computer when I have a chance. In anycase, thanks! Jeff =) Come visit where part of my insanity manifest at JCT; a very non-canon In Nomine is placed in the 23rd century setting of the Jovian Chronicles. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jctrinityRPG - -- _______________________________________________ Get your free email from http://mymail.operamail.com Powered by Outblaze ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 03:44:14 +0800 From: "Jeffery Watkins" Subject: RE: IN> Not Really Laziness...is it?..Gabriel Request > Weird that a post from the 17th showed up in a digest from the 23rd, though. > > -EDG That's it! Wahooo! Found it and thanks everyone for being so helpful! Jeff =) - -- _______________________________________________ Get your free email from http://mymail.operamail.com Powered by Outblaze ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 15:06:00 -0500 (EST) From: Ryan M Roth Subject: IN> Remembrances Shelly, a skinny 16 year old with very little business being this type of neighborhood at this hour, hugged the police blanket more tightly around her and tried to blot out the noise with her hands. It didn't help. She waited for the police to tell her she could go home. As she waited on the curb with the policemen buzzing around her, she tried to expain it all to herself. She wasn't having much luck. The night was full of sounds; harsh, glaring sounds that made the very air seem to throb in pain. It was getting quieter, slowly, but only very slowly. Shelly was sure she would be hearing things long after the sirens and commotion had stopped. Eventually, a detective came over to her and sat down. Shelly knew he was a detective because of the cheap suit he wore. "Miss Ashton, I'm Detective Miller. Officer Benton read me the statement you gave him, and I have a few more questions for you, and then I think we'll be able to take you home. Ok?" Shelly nodded. "Ok." The detective flipped through a notebook. "You said that, about a week ago, you got your learner's permit, and you decided to borrow your dad's car without permission tonight to practice, right?" Shelly nodded. She didn't care that she could get in trouble for driving without an adult. "You drove around for a while, and decided to try to handle the freeway, right?" Shelly nodded again. "But then you were forced to exit early because you weren't used to the freeway speeds, and found yourself in an unfamiliar area. As you tried to find your way back, all that chaos started." The detective gestured north, where several fire-gutted buildings were, less than 5 blocks away. The firemen had gotten the flames under control, and were content now to let the buildings burn themselves out. Shelly spoke up for the first time. "What...happened?" Images of 9/11 came to her. "It looks like it was just a really bad case of street gang warfare. Two large groups decided to try and murder each other, and at least one side had explosives with them. Was over pretty quick, though; most of them are dead or scattered. But that's not what we were talking about. The explosions started, and you lost control of the car and crashed it into a building. You got scared, so you tried to get away from the blasts you were hearing. You ran, but then this tall, fat guy stopped you. Correct?" Shelly nodded again, shaking a little. "I'm sorry, Miss Ashton. This won't take much longer. This guy grabbed your arm and forced you into the alley back there and said he was going to have fun with you. He got you to the rear of the alley, and tried to kiss you while you struggled to get away and called for help. And then..." The detective stopped. "And then, you 'hit' him." Tears were flowing down her cheeks as she nodded this time. "Miss Ashton, you must forgive me if I'm a little bit skeptical. The body we found, which matches a description of a known rapist, by the way, easily has more than a hundred and fifty pounds on you. And yet you are telling us that, with one punch, you caused this man to fly backwards more than fifteen feet, and put a huge dent in a garbage dumpster with his head. Are you sure that someone didn't help you? That you weren't a little confused? If someone did help you, they shouldn't be in any trouble if they were acting to save you." Shelly was looking down now, at the gutter, barely controlling the sobs. "It happened like I said." "Well, then, how did you get so strong?" Shelly looked up, confused, afraid, and shaken to her very core. "I..don't..know..." *** Most angels who don't think about it believe all Soldiers of God come to Heaven when they die. This isn't exactly true. Soldiers don't always find their way home. This has always been true. While being a Soldier of Hell virtually guarantees being Damned (there are, of course, a few expections), Soldiers of God get no such guarantee. They work, they fight, and eventually they die, but sometimes that soul doesn't show up at the Gates of Heaven. Some don't achieve their Destiny; some have a strong need to remain on Earth. Some just get lost. And so the Symphony sweeps them up into the reincarnation cycle. To be born again. But we are talking about Soldiers of God here. Many of whom have more than 5 forces. Soldiers who have learned to listen to the Symphony, learned to contol their Essence reserves. Soldiers who have been taught things, like Songs. Having such connections, such awareness of the nature of the Symphony affects the soul. Affect it in ways that the reincarnation process can't undo; only conceal. And, sometimes, when the Symphony is strongly Disturbed, the cloak that hides the past shifts aside for a moment, and a soul remembers what it could do before. MECHANICS: Remembrance is the rare phenomenon where a human, who in a previous life was a Soldier of God, accidentally triggers a supernatural effect that its previous life used to know. Effects include Symphonic Awareness (the most common memory), Essence Awareness and Control, and Songs. Once triggered, the human can, with experimentation, regain complete use of the skill. Further, once the gate is opened, it becomes easier to recall other skills the soul used to know. Given enough time, a human could remember all of his previous abilities. However, the set of triggers which cause a soul's first Remembrance are only very rarely brought together, so that many potential Remembering souls go through their entire lives without recalling their former abilities. The triggers can be complex, and are dependant on what skills the former life had. The first Remembrance trigger is always stress. The human in question must be emotionally agitated; 'fear for one's life' stress is more likely to cause a Remembrance than any other type. Second, in reaction to that stress, the human must be trying to do something in which one of his old skills would be helpful. Fighting may cause a first Remembrance of a Song of Might. Running might trigger Corporeal Motion. If the soul didn't know an appropriate song for the activity, the soul will spontaneously dump all his remaining Essence into the activity, and gain a flash of awareness as he does so. This can result in a first Remembrance of Essence Control. Third, the Symphony around the human must be strongly Distrubed. (The Symphony naturally acts to cloak past lives from mortal minds; when disturbed, this natural shield can crack briefly) The human needs to be in an area which has more than 30 notes of Disturbance echoing through it, or else be the target of an activity which is causing at least 10 notes of Disturbance (like being hit with a major Essence-powered Song, or being wounded by a Celestial). When these triggers all simultaneously occur, the human gets to make a Perception-roll. Success indicates a first Remembrance. The soul immediately regains Symphonic Awareness, and the old skill (if a Song) goes off as if it were sucessfully sung at a level of 1. If, thereafter, the human tries to practice the skill and repeat what he did, he must make a Perception roll at the end of each day of practicing. If he succeeds, he regains the skill at level/1 (and the skill activates). Also, if the human is practicing a Song and has not yet learned Essence Control, a second Perception roll at the end of each day is made. Success indicates that the human has remembered how to regulate his Essence reserves (note: if the human hasn't remembered how regulate Essence, any Song he succeeds in singing will automatically use all of his remaining Essence). Once the he has figured out how to sing the Song at level 1, he can continue to practice the song, making Perception rolls every day. Each success increases the level of the song, until it reaches the level it was orginally known at. Each success also triggers the Song; the soul may have to wait between practice sessions to allow his Essence to build back up. A Divine Intervention during practicing results in learning the skill at it's orginal level, and a dim memory of what other skills he used to have. At this point, the mortal might try to discover what other abilities they have. This is harder, since the soul has no knowledge of what other abilities it used to know. It also requires Disturbance, but the levels are reduced from the ones needed for the first Remembrance: an area of 10 notes of Disturbance, or being the target of a 3 note disturbance (which can be caused by the soul's own Song use). Once the Disturbance requirement is met, the soul can make a Perception roll, with a -3 penalty. Success results in the Song going off at level/1, and the ability to practice it (without the -3 penalty) until it is learned at its previous level. FINAL NOTES: Remembrances are almost always frightening for the human afflicted with them. Suddenly having Symphonic Awareness is frightening in and of itself; in addition, the human has no idea why they can do what they did. Should they decide to practice their old skills, they will invariably start to make repeated Distrubances (and more mundane distrubances) on their own, and will have no idea that there are demons and angels out there who can hear them. It is at this point that Hell and Heaven usually locate them. Heaven sees Remembering souls as lost comrades who must be rescued before Hell finds them. Heaven does it's best to locate them, educate them about what they are, and gives them the option of becoming Soldiers again. If a Remembering soul is given instruction, he can ignore -3 penalty for learning old skills. Since the time between the Soldier's death and his first Remembrance can span many lifetimes, sometimes souls pop up who remember very old or secret Songs. There is at least one recorded instance of a soul Remembering an Attunement as well; this was believed to be the result of a Divine Intervention. Hell sees Remembering souls as perfect Soldier of Hell material, with the extra spice of 'you fought us once, now you will serve us for Eternity'. Demons have become very proficient at using the mortal's ignorance of the War to their advantage. It is theorectially possible that a Soldier of an Ethereal God could undergo the Remembrance phenomenon, but to date there is no record of it ever happening. R. Roth ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 12:20:53 -0800 From: "Christopher Hughes" Subject: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #2855 >Now, as my GM is also reading this list and *is* aware of a few things >I'm pondering, he'll probably suggest I have multiple agendae here... >And he would be half-right, although it'd make sense on a level. As my one of my university's 2 (yep two) Latin majors, I must point out that agenda is technically already plural. It is not (as you use it) a feminine form using first declension endings (-a -ae -ae -am -a -ae -arum -is -as -is), but a neuter noun using second declension endings (-um -i -o -um -o -a -orum -is -a -is). It is the plural nominative (usually this case is used for the subject of a sentence) or accusative (which is usually used for the direct object) of the future pasasive participle, or gerund form of the verb ago, agere, egi, actum, meaning almost anything you want, but generally to do or drive, meaning in this usage (agenda) "the things which must be done" or "the things for doing". Sorry about that, had a classics geek attack. Lemme connect this to In Nomine somehow . . . . How about an Archangel of the Word (Ofanite? Seraph? Mercurian? Elohite? Bright Lilim? :-) ), opposed by Babel, the Demon Prince of Names (Balseraph)? And which Superiors would the Angel and Demon of Latin actually serve, if we ignore the two I just posited???? And, my final question: Is anyone still reading this and, if so, do they actually care? I apologize again, I'm sometimes a little . . . off. Gratias vos ago sed verbis his meis lexistis. The Gold Dust Woman ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 05:23:43 +0800 From: "Janet Anderson" Subject: Re: IN> The Cathedral at the Gates of Heaven Wonderful. Janet Anderson - -- _______________________________________________ Get your free email from http://www.graffiti.net Powered by Outblaze ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 16:46:59 -0500 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN>Cathedral of Death Question At 8:16 AM -0800 11/11/02, Michael Walton wrote: >[...] the Cathedral of Death is likely to be >someplace that most angels have never been. The gates, by >contrast, are a place that most angels would visit at some point. Unless, to all but humans and Seritors, the Gates are, well, gates. Kind of small, no depth, not much living space... (Canon? Nah. Heh heh heh...) - --Beth, arcangel@io.com / archangel@sjgames.com In Nomine Line Editor http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 16:56:40 -0500 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Superiors and AA At 10:46 AM -0800 11/11/02, Michael Walton wrote: >--- Elizabeth McCoy wrote: >> There's the Great Red Spot on Jupiter, [...] > It does change size periodically (though granted, not by >much), and the wind speed surely fluctuates. Besides >which, it satisfies Janus's Dissonance condition by >constantly changing its location relative to the "surface" >of the planet. Maybe it's a corporeal representation of the Groves... I.e., the entire locus is at the top, so if anyone wants to go there, they can, poof! O:> I hope it has the Tether Feature of allowing anyone to remain celestial within its bounds, indefinitely, though. Otherwise, it could be hard on vessels... - --Beth, arcangel@io.com / archangel@sjgames.com In Nomine Line Editor http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 16:59:48 -0500 From: Walter Milliken Subject: Re: IN> Questions about Kyriotates At 11:20 -0500 11/11/2002, Elizabeth McCoy wrote: >At 8:42 PM -0500 11/9/02, Rolland Therrien wrote: >>Hi, the first question is addressed to Beth, concerning the Gurps: In Nomine >>version of the Kyriotates. > >Oh, gods... I'll need to drag in Walter for this one, maybe. He's >the one who hacked the resonances. (I did the Songs and descriptive text.) And I should note that the GURPS IN version of Kyrios was one of the messier bits to convert. I fooled around with any number of schemes that didn't work very well, until I hit on the one that's in the book. >>It's when the two are put together that causes me confusion: A Domination >>can possess multiple hosts at once, and can split itself up to 9 ways at >>once, but the total power of all it's hosts is limited: It can possess 9 >>mice, 4-5 cats or one average human and a few small animals. There is, >>unfortunetly, no suggestions as to how a Kyrio could increase the number of >>Hosts he can control. > >There isn't? I thought that... Hrm, drat, I suppose it's not clearly >marked... Ooops. Yes, I thought the maximum was supposed to be the Kyrio's total levels of Power Investiture (=total Forces in normal IN), too. The GURPS Mindshare mechanics don't work entirely well with this, since there's a distinct point-cost jump in the power between 1-9 bodies and 10-100 (I think, may be 25) bodies. I ignored this entirely, and encourage G:IN GMs to ignore this cost increment too, since it's unlikely the number of instances will ever get much above 15-20; the logarithmic cost scale for Mindshare doesn't really make sense in this instance. The PC will pay plenty in increased stats and PI so that the number of hosts won't get out of hand. >Now, come to think of it, I _could_ suggest errating p. GIN55, so that it >says, instead of "9 ways," "(Power Investiture) ways" -- that would raise >the total number of IttyBitty hosts (as indeed happens in the original), >but combined with the limit of total (ST or IQ) not exceeding Will, >might produce something reasonable. I think this was originally my intent, though I don't recall if this got changed because it was too complex, or because I forgot to fix the value "9". It's certainly reasonable. But the Kyrio mechanics are already kind of complex.... - ---Walter ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 17:02:53 -0500 From: Walter Milliken Subject: Re: IN> Superiors and AA At 16:56 -0500 11/11/2002, Elizabeth McCoy wrote: >At 10:46 AM -0800 11/11/02, Michael Walton wrote: >>--- Elizabeth McCoy wrote: >>> There's the Great Red Spot on Jupiter, [...] ... >I hope it has the Tether Feature of allowing anyone to remain celestial >within its bounds, indefinitely, though. Otherwise, it could be hard >on vessels... Depends on whether they're *native* vessels. Terrestrial ones, yes, not a good idea there. - ---Walter ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 14:07:54 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Remembrances This is a great explanation for those adrenalin surges where people lift cars off of loved ones and such (call it an urban legend if you like -- in IN, it's real). =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

"There are two kinds of selfishness: the kind that says, 'I must do what will make me happy,' and the kind that says, 'You must do what will make me happy.' The first is good, the second is bad." - -- Kenton E. Sinner

__________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? U2 on LAUNCH - Exclusive greatest hits videos http://launch.yahoo.com/u2 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 14:11:04 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #2855 - --- Christopher Hughes wrote: > which > Superiors would the Angel and Demon of Latin actually > serve, if we ignore the two I just posited? If I had to guess, I'd say Jean (transferred from Raphael) and Asmodeus, respectively. Jean for the academia connection, Azzie for legalese. > Gratias vos ago sed verbis his meis lexistis. Tuus es virum! Well, sorta. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

"There are two kinds of selfishness: the kind that says, 'I must do what will make me happy,' and the kind that says, 'You must do what will make me happy.' The first is good, the second is bad." - -- Kenton E. Sinner

__________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? U2 on LAUNCH - Exclusive greatest hits videos http://launch.yahoo.com/u2 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 14:15:05 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> A short Fic Yep, that's how an Elohite of Fire would operate, all right. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

"There are two kinds of selfishness: the kind that says, 'I must do what will make me happy,' and the kind that says, 'You must do what will make me happy.' The first is good, the second is bad." - -- Kenton E. Sinner

__________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? U2 on LAUNCH - Exclusive greatest hits videos http://launch.yahoo.com/u2 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 14:17:34 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> The Cathedral at the Gates of Heaven Wow. [bows and hands over Essence] =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

"There are two kinds of selfishness: the kind that says, 'I must do what will make me happy,' and the kind that says, 'You must do what will make me happy.' The first is good, the second is bad." - -- Kenton E. Sinner

__________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? U2 on LAUNCH - Exclusive greatest hits videos http://launch.yahoo.com/u2 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 17:23:09 -0500 From: "Chris Bergstresser" Subject: RE: IN> Remembrances > -----Original Message----- > This is a great explanation for those adrenalin surges > where people lift cars off of loved ones and such (call it > an urban legend if you like -- in IN, it's real). I thought Kyrio's were a great explanation for these. - -- Chris ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 14:22:43 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: RE: IN> Remembrances - --- Chris Bergstresser wrote: > I thought Kyrio's were a great explanation for these. Oh, sure, ruin my fun, Chris. 0:> =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

"There are two kinds of selfishness: the kind that says, 'I must do what will make me happy,' and the kind that says, 'You must do what will make me happy.' The first is good, the second is bad." - -- Kenton E. Sinner

__________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? U2 on LAUNCH - Exclusive greatest hits videos http://launch.yahoo.com/u2 ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 15:25:08 -0700 From: sirea@softhome.net Subject: Re: IN> Remembrances *squee* stolen. This idea is well balanced, interesting, and a -great- plot starter for a Soldiers campaign (I... I have these powers... and these people are always chasing me, wanting me to come with them!). Nice work. --- Sirea, Free Cherub IST Destiny, Angel who Wanders, petitioner for the Word of Eternity (currently being ridden by Grapejuice, Renegade Shedite of the Game, and petitioner for the Word of Pranking Tightwads) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 15:26:31 -0700 From: sirea@softhome.net Subject: Re: IN> Remembrances Chris Bergstresser writes: >> -----Original Message----- >> This is a great explanation for those adrenalin surges >> where people lift cars off of loved ones and such (call it >> an urban legend if you like -- in IN, it's real). > > I thought Kyrio's were a great explanation for these. > > -- Chris Nah, let it be the humans for once :D let the angels wonder and the demons fear exactly how much potential mortals have. --- Sirea, Free Cherub IST Destiny, Angel who Wanders, petitioner for the Word of Eternity (currently being ridden by Grapejuice, Renegade Shedite of the Game, and petitioner for the Word of Pranking Tightwads) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 22:38:53 +0000 From: "Jarrod Carmichael" Subject: RE: IN> IN Wuxia: A New Song Combo >"I'm not a big fan of Song Combos -- it smacks of turning >Songs into just Way Kewl Powerz IMO -- but this could be >incorporated into a campaign pretty easily." > How DO Songs differ from Way Kewl Powerz? > Well, songs are flash enough without combos. They are only really appropriate for anime style campaigns or humourous campaigns. Nothing would kill a dark moment quicker than a player screaming "Flying devil fist stike prana". This is really Exalted's domain. Mallakai JC _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 17:07:20 -0500 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Remembrances At 3:06 PM -0500 11/11/02, Ryan M Roth wrote: [snip] Most keen. Something that Servitors of Destiny with the expanded attunements might be able to detect, too... - --Beth, arcangel@io.com / archangel@sjgames.com In Nomine Line Editor http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 18:48:42 -0500 (EST) From: "Christopher Anthony" Subject: IN> Principality I'm already nearing the 10k limit, so I'll just give you the link: http://heretech.mirrorscape.net/in-nomine/principality.txt - -EDG ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 08:26:26 +0800 From: "Jeffery Watkins" Subject: Re: IN> Principality That was simply magnificient! Bravo sir! Bravo! Jeff =) - -- _______________________________________________ Get your free email from http://mymail.operamail.com Powered by Outblaze ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Nov 2002 12:25:07 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> You know that you're in the Army of God when... You know that you're in the Army of God when... - - your boss thinks that swords are cutting edge technology... ...and his boss thinks that bronze swords were better... ...while *his* boss still isn't sold on this opposable thumbs business. - - when faced with a diplomatic crisis, you feel nostalgic for gunboats on the Yangtze river. - - every time people go on about the over population crisis, you feel guilty about stamping out human sacrifice. - - when Goths rave on about how cool vampires are, you suggest solving the problem with thermite. - - you reply to street preachers by saying "Really? That's not what He told me..." - - every time a child complains about monsters under their bed, you check - by firing a burst from your Uzi under the bed. - - you think that "Gentlemen prefer Blondes" is a treatise on how Malakim choose Vessels. (Yeah, that Norse look does have a certain appeal...) - - you start small talk with "You know, you remind me of your great-great-grandfather!" - - you loudly blame Fallen friends for foiling your plans, so that they'll get promoted. - - And they do the same for you. - - You tear down book store lists of "the greatest 100 books of all time!" and replace it with more accurate lists.... ....because it irks you that you can't buy good 5th Century Persian poetry any more. - - you tell people that the secret to the Kingdom of God is knowing where the good coffee shops are - and list the best ones in Heaven, giving directions. - - You think that the only good demon - is your mate Fred. - - You wonder how Racial Supremacy groups can even think that humans are in the top 10.... Cheers, James. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 21:21:21 -0500 From: Cameron McCurry Subject: Re: IN> You know that you're in the Army of God when... > - when Goths rave on about how cool vampires are, you suggest solving the > problem with thermite. I think that already makes me a Soldier (Although I prefer the term Marine of God thankyouverymuch). > - every time a child complains about monsters under their bed, you check - > by firing a burst from your Uzi under the bed. (If you are a Soldier of Nightmares, you might agree that there is a monster under the bed and they only eat children that cry.) Hmmm...let's see... - -You look through a list of Catholic Saints and gnash your teeth at the inaccuracies. - -Your memory gaps are through Kyriotates stopping over instead of alcohol consumption. - -You find facing the horrors of Hell far more preferable to family gatherings. - -You can argue with a straight face about how they are one and the same. - -When someone asked you what something was worth to you, you hauled off and puched them in the face (After putting on sunglasses first). - -You keep a list of excuses by your phone in case you need to miss work to fight a demon. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 19:20:04 -0800 From: "Emeth" Subject: Re: IN> INverse Superior, The Big One -- Lucifer, Seraph Archangel of Light What!? No lasers? Not even a little iddy biddy shark with a measly gigawatt laser? Is it too much to ask to have sharks with freaking lasers on their heads!?... Er, sorry... But seriously, given how much of a combat monster you've made INverse Michael, how exactly did Lucifer cast his scaly red hide out of Heaven in the first place? Was it not a mano-a-mano fight? I suppose the Master of Radiance Distinction goes a long way in a fight, but a good old fashioned Superior level Song of Celestial Light would have helped. The munchkin in me says The Archangel of Light should have a "To Look Upon Him is to Die" level Song of Celestial Light and provide a beefed up version of the normal Song for his Servitors. Vaughn ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 22:53:53 -0400 (EDT) From: Randy Finder Subject: IN> Demons of Lucifer In the INverse, it appears that there are celestials with DPMichael as their Superior. What would it be like in Canon if Lucifer actually had Demons of his own? Randolph Finder - -- Leadership, Friendship and Service - Alpha Phi Omega ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 23:20:09 -0500 From: Michael Nutt Subject: Re: IN> An interesting thought William J. Keith wrote: > As regards EDG's original idea: it's also canon (from Valefor's writeup, or > all things) that Jean or his angels worked with Nikola Tesla on an > "electrotherapy cure for cancer," which Valefor stole. It seems he stole > it so thoroughly that the effect was utterly irreproducible, since it has > never come up again since, which indicates to me that some supernatural > intervention rather like Oblivion had to occur. Since Jean surely keeps > excellent lab notes and demands the same of his Servitors working in > research, this seems implausible to me. I can imagine several situations where servitors of Jean might not keep lab notes. The Seraph of Jean attunement would serve as a perfectly functional replacement for notes, particularly if for some reason or other you don't happen to want everything written down -- maybe you don't want to take the time, or you're not convinced of the security of your notes, or you've got enough Pride that you'd like to keep your work private so you can make sure you get the credit, instead of someone who you are competing with. Sure, Jean might make a rule about keeping lab notes... but any group of PCs can provide insight into just how often a Superior's orders get followed to the letter. One major problem is that if the angel with the attunement gets soul-killed, or never comes out of Trauma, or Falls... well, any data that was in his head is gone. Maybe someone thought that risk was worth taking. Maybe they were wrong. > The best alternative I can think of is that, immediately after (or during > the process of) stealing the invention, human society changed (or was > changed) in such a way that Jean felt it was no longer advisable to release > the cure. This is the only way you could really pull off such a theft in a > permanent fashion, since frequently when people use "Let's steal > " as a plot device the plot frequently tends to > forget the likelihood that the victim will simply make the device again. Or you can eliminate the person who came up with the insight to create the technological doohickey, and obscure records to mislead anyone who tries to follow in the victim's footsteps. It might not be *permanent*, in the sense that nobody will ever be able to duplicate it ever again, but it might obscure the insight for an indefinite period of time. It's not easy to misdirect Seraphim with planted evidence, but if there's nothing else left, or you give them what they expect to see, you might pull it off. It's also a mistake to think that any generic servitor of Lightning will be able to match a particular leap of insight; if you eliminate one key research team, you might make continuing a particular project so expensive in terms of resources required that it might get shelved indefinitely. Maybe Jean's bio-electrical specialist teams were busy doing something else that had an even higher priority, or Valefor's interference left the project in such a shambles that there just weren't enough trained researchers to plausibly pull it off as a human project. Heaven doesn't have infinite resources, nor does Hell. - -- Michael ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 11 Nov 2002 20:59:00 -0800 (PST) From: Maurice Lane Subject: IN> Rule Britannia, Britannia Rules the Waves... It was in the back of my head for a while now... and now it's not. Comments welcome, as always. :) Moe The Sisterhood of the Waves Despite the name, this organization accepts both men and women in its ranks (although the leadership positions are traditionally reserved for females). In its heyday, members of the Sisterhood could be found throughout the British Empire: with the loss of Britain's overseas possessions, the group has retreated to the United Kingdom, with a few cells in Canada (and one beleaguered one in Hong Kong). This has not really affected the Sisterhood's core, however. Purpose and Goals To keep the British Isles free of foreign invaders. Organization and Membership The Sisterhood of the Waves is fairly small (about 500 active members in the United Kingdom, with another couple of hundred abroad): the organization is based around a group of families that have kept their secret for literally millennia. Recruits from the outside are fairly rare, if only because it's hard for the Sisterhood to recognize likely candidates. All Sisters (note that this is a genderless designation) must have at least six Forces: the Sisterhood has developed elaborate tests and rituals that can determine suitable initiates. Unfortunately, said rituals are family-specific, which makes it difficult for the organization to expand. As partial compensation, most of the families involved in the Sisterhood have a much higher proportion of six Force humans. Those in Heaven that are aware of the group involve past Grigori involvement; indeed, it may even be true. The hierarchy is fairly informal: each family has a leader (usually female) who handles local activities. A group of ten of the most influential families is traditionally vetted with supervising national and international affairs: they in turn choose one of their own number to make the final decisions. Currently, the 'leader' of the Sisterhood is one Dame Frances Hodges, a seventy-five year old grandmother who lives quite comfortably in her Glasgow flat with three cats, one dog, two parakeets... and a innocuous-looking button wired to some very illicit high explosives embedded in the Chunnel. She also knits. The Sisterhood is a very secret organization - if only on the corporeal plane. Unlike the vast majority of secret societies and conspiratorial groups, its members have never been interested much in amassing temporal power or influence; it is possibly the only group of its kind in history to be primarily orientated towards a defensive posture. Its members tend to be wealthy, although not notably so: the men folk of the group gravitate towards the middle-upper ranks of civil and military service, while the women concentrate in the social arena. It's an open question about which sex is more effective. Abilities and Resources As mentioned earlier, all active members of the Sisterhood are six Force humans: their initiation rituals also provide Symphonic Awareness. Aside from this, members seem to have access to the Songs of Dreams, Healing, Motion, Shields, Storms, Tongues... and Water. Most Sisters may only perform the Corporeal versions of said Songs, but Sisters with Ethereal Connection are not unknown and one with Celestial Connection has been discovered on at least three separate occasions. How they have accomplished this is apparently clouded by Superior-level ineffability: inquiries to the relevant Heavenly authorities are not answered. Interestingly enough, the Sisterhood's claim to millennia of continual existence is valid: its ceremonial language is clearly an early variant of Indo-European (with the inevitable loan words) and its archives are a historian's dream. Some of the scrolls and documents held by the Sisterhood only otherwise exist in Yves' Library, and the recorded organizational history goes back for at least two thousand years. Quite a few Sisters have used this advantage to carve out for themselves some very respectable academic positions. Celestial Relationships Heaven The Sisterhood is quite firmly in Heaven's zone of influence, if not complete control. The Seraphim Council has determined that the organization should be allowed to fulfill its core mission without undue influence or interference. Whether this is due to enlightened policy on the Host's part (as opposed to caution over the ineffability issue) is a matter for some debate. Sisters are still Soldiers of God, however. They retain contact with Heaven, are aware of the War and will assist the Host in whatever operations take place on their part of the corporeal plane. The Sisterhood usually works with Destiny, Stone and Trade; it took the Sword centuries to work past the institutional prejudice caused by the Anglican schism, and the damage from that is still not completely healed. War has some contacts, but both the Sisters and Michael are tight-lipped about it. Hell The existence of the Sisterhood is hardly a secret to Hell, of course: if nothing else, the faint trickle of Damned Sisters would take care of that. However, the diffuse organization of the group makes it difficult for Hell to infiltrate and/or destroy it. There is also the earlier-mentioned issue of Superior-level ineffability about the whole situation: this does nothing to aid Diabolical activity. Finally, there is the problem that the Sisterhood is precisely ruthless towards their (rare) Fated traitors as one would expect an organization of worried grandmothers to be: there's been a whisper or two that the punishment for treason involves grim matriarchs, a captured Coffin of Undeath and a large wooden stake... However, possibly the most potent defense of the Sisterhood is the fact that it seems to have such a narrow focus. After all, when it comes down to it... does anyone besides Baal actually care too much about invading Great Britain? For that matter, the Demon Prince of the War has derived a great many benefits from having an unconquered British Isles present to muddy the waters of European politics. There's even a reasonable chance that he might continue to do so in the future. Why rock the boat? Other The Sisterhood can be quite tolerant towards ethereals, all things considered; after all, some of them have been living in the British Isles for millennia, and are willing to defend it at need. This has led to some disputes with the Host, but nothing that can't be worked past. Needless to say, foreign ethereals had better be on their best behavior. There is one other 'other', as it were. There are a lot of weird things that seem to be associated with the Sisterhood, from their remarkable cultural longevity to the odd haze of ineffability surrounding them to their anomalous access to metaphysical power. There's also a suggestion or two that they might have some sort of access to Oannes' old resources, or possibly an Orphan Servitor or two, or possibly even... No, it couldn't be: Oannes is Truly dead. There isn't even a chance for a Remnant: everyone knows that soul-killed Kyriotates and Shedim don't leave behind that sort of residue. Surely that's even true for Superiors, right? Right? History The basic story of the Sisterhood is well known to the Host: they are descended from Oannes' first Soldiers. The Archangel of the Waters was always fond of the British Isles: in the days when Superiors could operate more openly, she had the island chain as her primary base. Naturally, the Archangel recruited among local tribes for assistants. Fully one third of the current Sisterhood can reasonably claim descent from those original Soldiers. The death of Oannes caused these first Soldiers to become dispersed: Heaven was not really prepared for the aftereffects of the Thera explosion, and by the time that anyone thought to look for them, her servants in the Isles had been apparently been destroyed or scattered to the four winds. Heaven eventually stopped really looking for them after a few years. However, the groups that would later become the Sisterhood still survived, although it took almost a thousand years before a researcher of Knowledge stumbled across a set of interrelated tribes with highly distorted customs. The realignment of these tribes with the forces of Heaven was not particularly difficult: they had retained the essential civility and selflessness over the intervening time period, and were quite prepared to rejoin the War against Hell. They made (and make) quite good Soldiers, which is one reason why Uriel used them extensively during the Roman period. Unfortunately, the Sisterhood did not quite appreciate the honor; both the Republic and Empire were at times not too solicitous of the native population, and the eventual withdrawal of Rome from Britain had disastrous effects on the Isles. The Sisterhood eventually decided that they would have to work to keep England free from similar invasions. It has gotten quite good at it, too: it is no accident that no foreign army has stood on English soil since 1066. Indeed, the only reason for that particular aberration was that the Sisterhood had not quite recovered from the disruptions of the Roman withdrawal. Even that invasion ended in an essential victory for the Sisterhood: thanks in no little part from their efforts, the Norman invaders were assimilated into the existing framework of the Isles and transformed into Englishmen (and Englishwomen, of course). Everybody else has frankly had their heads handed to them. The British Isles have always enjoyed the natural protection of the sea, and the Sisterhood is apparently able to improve on those protections at need. The storm that disrupted the Armada was no accident. Neither was the 'Protestant Wind', or a hundred different stormy days that persuaded Napoleon and Hitler to hold off the invasion for just one more day, or the acceptable weather that permitted the D-Day invasions, or a thousand less-publicized examples. For that matter, what temporal power that the Sisterhood has is currently invested in retarding the current integration of both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland into the European Union. They also plan to vaporize the Chunnel at the first sign of real trouble, as well. Not that they have anything against foreigners, you understand. They just have this thing about foreigners telling the English/Scottish/Irish/Welsh what to do: the bloody Americans are quite enough, thank you - even if they are cousins, of a sort. ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 09/18/02 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? 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