in_nomine-digest Thursday, January 30 2003 Volume 01 : Number 2951 In this digest: Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) Re: IN> Angel (or Archangel) of Freedom? Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) IN> [fiction] Photographs in Time 4/? Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) IN> Last Laugh? (A Forgotten Pasts continuation) Re: IN> [fiction] Photographs in Time 4/? Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) IN> How many days to work off dissonance? Re: IN> How many days to work off dissonance? IN> Plot seed: Word Competition Re: IN> Last Laugh? (A Forgotten Pasts continuation) Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) Re: IN> How many days to work off dissonance? Re: IN> Plot seed: Word Competition IN> Cavalry (A Forgotten Pasts continuation) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 22:08:03 -0500 From: "Josh Moger" Subject: Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) >What would demons do with Divine technology? specifically medical tech? Corrupt and mass produce. >If a Mercurian essentially frenzies, for role-playing purposes, should you >allocate the dissonance one kill at a time or wait for the bloodbath to >end? 1- Frenzy? This ain't WoD. And remember, it's just humans who are off-limits. But if he does, then... 2- One at a time would slowly cripple him. At the end of the fight I'd just say that... 3- He looks around, sees the dead at his feet. When he attempts to invoke his Superior, it doesn't seem to sound right. He goes Celestial- only to realize that his wings have stretched skin and his halo has been replaced with horns. >How often do you have PCs talk with their Superiors? At the beginning and end of the mission generally. Superiors are usually deus ex machinae. Know how often you roll 111 or 666? That's about how many times you should choose to invoke. >How would a Superior respond to a request for healing a vessel's body hits? AA- All but Novalis, Yves, and Eli would probably just look at you, maybe give you a point of essence to call a cab with and walk away. Novalis might offer you a comforting pat (which would keep your vessel from dying if you're that low in hits. Yves might chuckle and offer you a cigarette (one time Relic, Song of Healing/6). Eli... uhmm... Eli would probably help you out, though depending on how might give you a temporary Discord (Paranoia, Surreal). DP- Would probably summon forth a pocket Lilim, and charge you a nice Geas. That's if they care enough. Saminga, Belial, Baal- would probably kill your vessel and use Trauma as your lesson for wasting their time. Lilith would just charge you a Geas/6 herself. >How would a Superior respond to a request for replenishing Essence? See above. Though Saminga, Belial, and Vapula might give you essence... and continue doing so until you spontaneously combust. One because he's there, one because he likes seeing the sparkly colors, and one just to see how much it takes. >How would a Superior respond to a request for a new vessel? an extra vessel? For a reward for AA's. Geas for Demon Princes. Extra vessel? Don't push your luck. >If character points are sort-of like "favor" with one's Superior, does >that mean celestials can't advance without their help? Including skills? Not necessairly. You can petition for such help, but you should be gaining character points via roleplaying and game success. Personal things, such as Skills, should just need in-game practise and character points to build. Josh ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 22:08:35 -0800 From: "Joey's mail" Subject: Re: IN> Angel (or Archangel) of Freedom? > Am I the only one who plays Lilith brightly? For that matter, I play a > pretty bright version of Lucifer -- he's not for *evil*, he's for the > *choice* that makes good worthwhile. He was frustrated with all the > holy-holy-holy in heaven when it didn't mean anything; it's meaningless to > be good when nobody's evil. Realizing this, he sacrificed himself to create > the distinction. Now he's stuck down in Hell with a bunch of loonies, not > happy exactly, but satisfied knowing what he's doing is worthwhile. He > could redeem, but he holds a grudge, and he's worried how bad things would > get if he wasn't keeping Hell's legions in check. Call him the loyal > opposition. *Someone* needs to run Hell, and he's good at it. > Lilith's the only creature in creation who *understands*. Yves probably > knows, and Eli might have figured it out, but Lilith's been there. She's > not allied with Hell so much as they're the only ones who will talk to her. > But she's generally honest, she always keeps her word, and she'll treat > everyone with the respect they deserve. Forget demons, you can't find many > *angels* you can say that about. > While I do play Lilith brightly, I think a Bright Lucifer sort of detracts from his character; while his ORIGINAL intentions could have been perfectly bright, his Fall brought him down quite a bit. He IS a Balseraph; he's a selfish liar, and he will always be motivated by selfishness. Lilith, however, is completely capable of being portrayed very bright. She may care about herself before others, but that doesn't mean she won't extend a hand to help someone else; she'll just ask for something in return. One of my GMs had Lilith freaking out because a Seraph of Lightning nearly destroyed a self-aware artificial intelligence; I think I like brighter Lilith better than the "Baby Killer" Lilith. Of course, it may just be because my mom rants about how Lilith shouldn't be portrayed as a negative figure in religion, but I still like it. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 19:37:46 -0800 (PST) From: zombi_bobb@muchneededrest.com Subject: Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) >>What would demons do with Divine technology? specifically medical tech? > > Corrupt and mass produce. > Fair enough, but how would they corrupt and mass produce a flesh-net(relic)? The idea is that it's two bars with a retracting net in one. You wrap the net around the wounded area and push Essence into it. Said Essence heals up x amount of body hits, x=I can't remember how many. >>If a Mercurian essentially frenzies, for role-playing purposes, should >> you allocate the dissonance one kill at a time or wait for the >> bloodbath to end? > > 1- Frenzy? This ain't WoD. And remember, it's just humans who are > off-limits. But if he does, then... > 2- One at a time would slowly cripple him. At the end of the fight I'd > just say that... > 3- He looks around, sees the dead at his feet. When he attempts to > invoke his Superior, it doesn't seem to sound right. He goes Celestial- > only to realize that his wings have stretched skin and his halo has been > replaced with horns. > What happened was the Mercurian stumbled upon a cross between a snuff-filming/cyber-surgery in the basement of a brothel and it broke his mind. The character had no idea humans could do this to each other and freaked out. He decided no one would leave and started shooting. Frenzy was the best word I could think up to describe it, had he rolled divine intervention, I would have had him become a Malakite, but slowness on my part and OOC convincing by another player made him stop what would have been an awesome character arc. I was just wondering how others would've handled it. > Josh Jim ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 22:47:16 -0800 From: Harukami Subject: IN> [fiction] Photographs in Time 4/? I've since written two more, so since I've finally gotten around to HTMLing them, I thought I'd send the links. ~ Laurence and Blandine - Courtly Not-Love ~ http://haru_in.tripod.com/courtly.html Note: I wasn't around on the INML during what I hear was a rather fantastic discussion on Laurence and Blandine as courtly lovers; The closest I came was to finding the "Here Comes The Bride (And She is P***ed!)" game seed on the INC. I thought it was fantastic, but it got me to thinking about the two of them, and the compatability - so this one's really all Moe's fault for getting me thinking. ^^ Great seed, Moe - I *like* it. ~ Jean - Green Pepper ~ http://haru_in.tripod.com/pepper.html ...I can't really explain that one. After reading a poem, I decided to explore the emotional overtones of vegitables. I blame the lack of sleep. ^_~ Harukami - ---- "A masterful plan. Not at all overblown, uninteresting, irrational, or completely guaranteed to fail." * Erik smiles innocently. "Why /thank/ you." http://haru_in.tripod.com/ Haru's IN page: Game logs, art, and fiction. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 22:53:47 -0500 From: "Josh Moger" Subject: Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) >> Corrupt and mass produce. >Fair enough, but how would they corrupt and mass produce a flesh-net(relic)? >The idea is that it's two bars with a retracting net in one. You wrap the >net around the wounded area and push Essence into it. Said Essence heals >up x amount of body hits, x=I can't remember how many. > Easy- attach a nifty little Infernal force... say from a Shedite. Each successful healing also bestows a nifty level of Disadvantage or Discord. Or causes Dissonance for Angels. >What happened was the Mercurian stumbled upon a cross between a >snuff-filming/cyber-surgery in the basement of a brothel and it broke his >mind. The character had no idea humans could do this to each other and >freaked out. He decided no one would leave and started shooting. Okay, unless he's Divine Fire, he's not going to leave there without one Heaven of an Intervention roll. Even with Divine Fire he'd probably be the first Mercurian with Merciful Discord branded into his soul. had he rolled divine >intervention, I would have had him become a Malakite, but slowness on my >part Canonically, the original Malakim were the only ones that have actually made the change (not talking about Relievers fledging or Malakim created from scratch), though this is of course up for rip and mangle if the campaign calls for it. However, when they became Malakim it was in ultimate service to Heaven. What the Mercurian did was against his very nature. Each gunshot had the metaphorical effect of shooting at his Heart. And eventually, a shot's going to land, the Heart will break, and if he's not Fallen, he's an Impudite resonance roll away from it. I don't know if the game mechanics would have been able to bear out the miracle, even with the aforementioned ability to reshape canon. Josh ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 20:13:27 -0800 (PST) From: zombi_bobb@muchneededrest.com Subject: Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) > Canonically, the original Malakim were the only ones that have actually > made the change (not talking about Relievers fledging or Malakim created > from scratch), though this is of course up for rip and mangle if the > campaign calls for it. However, when they became Malakim it was in > ultimate service to Heaven. What the Mercurian did was against his very > nature. Each gunshot had the metaphorical effect of shooting at his > Heart. And eventually, a shot's going to land, the Heart will break, > and if he's not Fallen, he's an Impudite resonance roll away from it. I > don't know if the game mechanics would have been able to bear out the > miracle, even with the aforementioned ability to reshape canon. > > > Josh Yeah, but it just would have looked cool. Revulsion and shock wash across his face as he takes in what's happening. Just as the demons and Hellsworn start reacting, the Mercurian brings up his gun and starts shooting all while his bright white wings flush black from back to tips. Only in my film-making dreams. A fall would've looked just as cool, though. Jim ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 23:23:52 -0500 From: "Josh Moger" Subject: Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) >Yeah, but it just would have looked cool. Revulsion and shock wash across >his face as he takes in what's happening. Just as the demons and Hellsworn >start reacting, the Mercurian brings up his gun and starts shooting all >while his bright white wings flush black from back to tips. > >Only in my film-making dreams. A fall would've looked just as cool, though. > >Jim Especially if you've got this scene right afterwards: ~~~~ I threw down the gun. I could still feel the heat in my hand. The smoke in the air was almost as tangible as the shattering of my Heart... so fast... so permanent for something so precious... when I was shooting the gun. I looked into myself, ignoring the bleeding Discordant scars on my soul and tried to see if I had it in me to cry. I didn't. Not anymore. I heard a sound behind me. Turning around, I saw him. He had come for me. I bowed my head, imagining the horns I would soon see sprouting from my forehead and walked to him. Laughing, he opened the way... Cursing, I followed him... Into Hell. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 23:28:35 -0500 From: Michael Nutt Subject: Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) >> "Descending" means traveling from Heaven >> OR Hell to the corporeal, and you can only do so >> to either the spot you ascended from most recently, >> or you can travel down a Tether to a fixed endpoint. > > I didn't know about that first portion, I assumed one > could descend anywhere, where did I miss that? Core book, p. 54, under "Returning to the Corporeal Plane". There are actually a few other cases that I left out before -- your Superior can put you somewhere else, if he chooses, and you can follow someone else down to the Corporeal Plane, too. [Tether capacities material snipped] > And I take it that this is all explained in Liber Castellorum. Yup. It's a really useful purchase, but it does require a GM to actually consider the defaults for his campaign, and what effect those will have on game play. > How do you convey the importance in not exposing the War, and > what kind of punishments are suitable for when PCs do so > (Judgement or otherwise)? First off, speaking strictly from a meta-gaming standpoint, the GM needs to discuss it with the players beforehand, and make sure that everyone's on the same page about disturbance and mayhem. If your players are all coming up with Mercurians of Novalis, and spending hours coming up with backstories about the interactions of their characters with the mundanes around them, you'll have no issues. If instead, they're searching all the books for ways to talk you into letting them carry plasma rifles... well, maybe you should play something else. I personally like to use "Men In Black"-esque justifications; explain that letting mundanes know about the War will warp it in ways that totally outweigh any short-term gains. Keep in mind that excessive interference by celestials will warp Fates and Destinies, and that's really what the War is about. If they are relaxing over a beer after shooting up an entire block, you might have a local servitor of Kronos call their cellphones to brag about how they pushed a crucial mortal over to his Fate, and that the demon got a major reward... and he owes it all to their hamfisted work. Lay it on so thick that it will *almost* convince the players that maybe they'd rather play D&D instead -- embarrassing them and rubbing their noses in it helps the point sink in. Having their own Superiors deny them rewards and belittle their performance works well, too. Being told that "obviously, you're not quite ready for *really* important missions, so here's something you can do to get off my shit-list" has a sting to it that will get through to anybody except the most ruthless munchkin. Having their Superiors point out what the consequences of their actions were doesn't help, either; this is a situation where playing up the political angles within each side really helps. If their actions embarrassed Michael enough that he lost a vote on some question about the progress of the War... well, he'll make his displeasure obvious enough. > Other questions, since I'm asking them: > > What would demons do with Divine technology? specifically medical > tech? Depends on the demon, really. Not all demons are out to kill large numbers of people... and sufficiently advanced medical technology could prove to be a quite useful tool in manipulating some humans. For example, what if you can cure a condition that was previously believed incurable? Wouldn't someone owe you BIG for that? > If a Mercurian essentially frenzies, for role-playing purposes, > should you allocate the dissonance one kill at a time or wait > for the bloodbath to end? A Mercurian takes a point of dissonance every time he's violent towards a human. If he punches a human three times, there's three points of dissonance. Rules for making dissonance rolls and converting dissonance into discord are in the core book on pp. 57-61. > How often do you have PCs talk with their Superiors? Not often. I prefer to have them assigned a corporeal contact that they report into and consult for advice -- after all, if they keep bothering Superiors, then they're obviously not ready to be assigned to independent action. I'd be suspicious of any situation where a PC contacts his Superior more than once a month or so, unless it's to report "Mission complete; ready for new orders". Keep in mind that an invocation of a Superior doesn't have to result in a full manifestation, too -- if the situation can be handled with a phone call, or a dove alighting on the PC's shoulder with a short written message, don't hesitate to go with that. > How would a Superior respond to a request for healing a vessel's body hits? > How would a Superior respond to a request for replenishing Essence? How urgent is the situation, and why hasn't the PC made arrangements already for medical support? Depending on how critical the situation was, a Superior might heal him completely, replenish his store of Essence, and bestow a powerful weapon on him... but if it was a trivial situation, he might instantly decide that someone who would waste his time like that needs to be taken off Earth duty. > How is Essence-transferring handled? Where is it possible? Where isn't it? > How would a Superior respond to a request for a new vessel? an extra vessel? > If character points are sort-of like "favor" with one's Superior, does > that mean celestials can't advance without their help? Including skills? > If not, why does a vessel cost so much Essence (GM's Guide), but not > nearly as many equivalent character points? > > Those are all of my questions for now, > Jim > > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 23:43:11 -0500 From: Michael Nutt Subject: Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) Ack... sorry about that; had a system glitch, and it automatically sent the message draft upon system restart. Anyway, about the rest of your questions... > How is Essence-transferring handled? Where is it possible? > Where isn't it? Core book, p. 50. Basically, it can be done anywhere. > How would a Superior respond to a request for a new vessel? > An extra vessel? Depends on the character's service so far. If he needs a replacement for one unavoidably lost in the line of duty, most Superiors will replace it with nothing more than a warning to "Be more careful!" If you've built up favor (reflected by XP), then you can beg a boon of the boss. > If character points are sort-of like "favor" with one's Superior, > does that mean celestials can't advance without their help? > Including skills? > If not, why does a vessel cost so much Essence (GM's Guide), > but not nearly as many equivalent character points? GM's call. Personally, I allow abilities that a PC already has to be improved without a Superior's intercession, and you can also get new skills by paying the points, although I require a valid in-game reason that you would have learned such a skill -- you don't learn Sanskrit without careful study and practice, for instance. Vessels built with Essence are, IIRC, a way to get a celestial out of Limbo, and as such can't really be compared with the normal method of acquiring them. - -- Michael ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2003 22:02:52 -0800 From: "Emeth" Subject: IN> Last Laugh? (A Forgotten Pasts continuation) I now continue my theft of Ryan M Roth's Forgotten Pasts story. You can find the original story here: http://www.columbia.edu/~rmr48/pasts.html Let's see what our anti-heroes Scapegoat and Liza the Free Lilim have gotten themselves into this time. - -Vaughn * * * "Is that the entirety of the message?" "Yes, Grand Prince." "Kaiser Soze. I see that your Prince has taken a most noble name. I will be interested to see if he can live up to it. "He is infamous for his resourcefulness, Grand Prince." "Indeed, but infamy can be such a fleeting thing. One must always be on guard against the imitators and the petty jealousies of the unworthy." "He is wary, but he likes to please his public, Grand Prince. Lately, however, I wonder if even that it is enough for him." "Only a fool pursues the fickle tastes of the public. One who spends his time catering to the whims and wishes of others is inevitably torn apart by those conflicting desires. Real power, young Scapegoat, comes from dictating those desires. Someone with power takes away the choices that do not suit his purposes. You remove the choice for others to see you in any other way but powerful. Do you understand what I am telling you?" "Not entirely, Grand Prince." "You may understand in time, Scapegoat, but by then it may be too late. Your Lord has sent me a message, and I shall give him a reply. You may tell your lord the following: The rules can be rewritten, secrets can be revealed, but Fate cannot be undone... What is that Infernal cackling, Scapegoat?" "My cell phone, Grand Prince. It appears my boss is calling to speak with you...Hruk!..." "Master of Mockery, your timing, as always, is impeccable. I was just giving your messenger my reply." "...Gah!...Baak!...Khla!" "I'm afraid he is a little choked up right now, so let me be the one to tell you. I can't take what you're offering. Things have changed." "...Rhah...Ga...khhhl..." "Oh really? And what would that be?" "...hkk..." "Of course, he had to know what would happen to him. He did know the rules, after all. Well now, that would leave us rather exposed wouldn't it." "...h..." "What exactly do you propose to do?" "..." "Scapegoat? You would trust him with this? I would think that you'd want to handle this personally." "..." "Very well. We'll see if he lives up to his name. Let's hope that this one learns not to keep such valuable information from his Superiors." "Gah! Ha! Ha! ... Thank you Grand Prince...huh...huh." "Your Prince has another mission for you Scapegoat. I trust you understand it's importance?" "Yes! Yes, Grand Prince." "Just make sure that the Old Dog finds his evidence. He's a real stickler for such details. And Scapegoat. You'd better hurry. You have about... Ah, I love it when they run." * * * "Hello?" "Hi. I need to speak to a Servitor of Revelations, please." "Wha--who is this?" "A friend. I've got some info that you guys could really use. Of course, it won't come cheap." "One moment please." "No! Damn it! I hate it when they put me on hold... Come on fluff wings, you're not going to bother to trace the call are you? I'm not that stupid... OK, I'll speak slowly and use small words so you can understand me. The line. Is secure. You. Cannot. Trace it. I. Have information. You..." "What kind of information are you talking about?" "Who is this? What's your name?" "I am Hazael. I am what you requested. Who am I speaking with?" "No freebies for conformers. If you want my name, you pay for it like everyone else." "Very well, tell me about the information you want to trade." "By now, you know I am speaking the truth. I have information and it is something that you and your kind could benefit from." "Yes, I know this." "Then let's get down to business shall we? I have a name - two names actually - that have a most curious connection. In exchange for these names and their connection I have several demands..." "You are in danger..." "First... what are you talking about? Are you threatening me?" "No, that was not a threat. It was a warning. Some kind of danger surrounds you..." "Hello, halo head, can we stick to the topic at hand here? I don't need you telling me the obvious. I'm always in danger." "Perhaps you should tell me one of names now." "Sorry Charlie, no names without a deal." "What are your terms then?" "First, I want some vessels - brand spanking new ones - none of those recycled jobs. Second, I want some high-end artifacts. Specifically, I want a Body Bag, a pair of Cool Shades, and a relic with the Corporeal Song of Form... Did you get that? Some freak is making a ruckus over here..." * * * Alright Scapegoat this is your big chance. Impress the big man himself or end up a Djinn-shaped chew toy. She's close. Right in there. A cyber cafe, how lamely cliche. Lilim: can't love 'em, can't leave 'em alone. "Hi there, I'm looking for my wife. Five seven, black hair, green eyes, slept with every nerd in here. Yeah her. Oh thanks. Hang tight junior, the nice man has decided to share mama's teat with you." Yeah good choice monkey boy. Take a five minute break and remember my face. We can't have our star eye-witness getting hurt. How did Boss know that I would need to attune to her all those months ago? He must have known about the investigations and had the Game piece followed. Which led us to our little green tattle tail here. Maybe she'll need a big strong Prince to protect her when she wakes up. Can you keep a secret, hon? Obviously not, or you wouldn't be today's punch line. Whew. Madame Lilith is going to be pissed. Good thing it's not my vessel's face that's going to be caught on film today. If there's one thing I've learned, it's don't do a damning thing until you've designated a scapegoat. Alright. Show time. "Honey! I've put up with your whoring around for too long! If you've got to blow something, try this!" Run! What was that count again? Oh that's right. The rhyme... Asmodeus and Alaemon hanging from a tree R-O-T-T-I-N-G One you dupe, the other you disparage But Liza gets a bomb in a ... * * * "Third, I want a... baby carriage?...What in the ni..." "...Hello? Are you there? What was that noise? Hello? Are you still on the line? There was some kind of loud bang. I didn't hear what you said. It sounded like you said 'baby carriage.' Hello?...Hello..." ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 03:47:33 -0800 (PST) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> [fiction] Photographs in Time 4/? - --- Harukami wrote: > I've since written two more, so since I've finally > gotten around to HTMLing > them, I thought I'd send the links. > > ~ Laurence and Blandine - Courtly Not-Love ~ > http://haru_in.tripod.com/courtly.html :blink: :blink: I'd be more eloquent, but I'm currently wrestling with the idea given to me by this snapshort. Thanks! Moe ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 01/21/03 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 08:03:06 -0500 From: EDG Subject: Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) At 10:08 PM 1/29/2003 -0500, Josh Moger wrote: >At the beginning and end of the mission generally. Superiors are usually >deus ex machinae. Know how often you roll 111 or 666? That's about how >many times you should choose to invoke. So, like, one to three times a session, then? (In Moe's game, I think one per session is the average. ... of course, we seem to run into Archangels at *least* that often, so I suppose your point is valid. In Eric's game... well, I've seen a session where three Interventions were rolled, but then, an Intervention is about twice as likely in Eric's game.) - -EDG New Discord: Intervention Magnet (Celestial) This Discord essentially increases the chance of its victim incurring a negative Intervention; as such, it is almost never inflicted by Superiors, and almost always removed when the victim's Superior notices it. (There are, of course, exceptions among the Princes, some of whom think it's funny.) The basic Interventions are never affected; having this Discord at level 1 simply means slight interference with Essence collection, and level 6 - aside from the increased difficulty in Essence collection - is effectively identical to level 5. Whenever the affected Celestial rolls, if the same number comes up on all three dice, and the number is equal to or less than the level of this Discord, the roll counts as a negative Intervention. (Again, positive Interventions are never affected; regardless of the level of this Discord, a 111 is always a positive Intervention for angels, and a 666 is always a positive Intervention for demons.) If the sufferer Falls or redeems, the polarity of this Discord changes (in other words, a fallen angel will now get Divine Interventions on matched rolls). ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 17:09:05 +0100 (CET) From: Unni Solaas Subject: IN> How many days to work off dissonance? Hullo, I have this idea that it takes one week of Tether-work/meditation to get rid of one note of dissonance. But I can't seem to find it in any of the books. Am I blind? Delusional? Could someone please point me in the right direction? :) - -- language, n; an intangible artificial construct for obscuring one's meanings and intentions to others. -ppint. Unni Solaas ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 11:20:19 -0500 From: EDG Subject: Re: IN> How many days to work off dissonance? At 05:09 PM 1/30/2003 +0100, Unni Solaas wrote: >I have this idea that it takes one week of Tether-work/meditation to get >rid of one note of dissonance. But I can't seem to find it in any of the >books. Am I blind? Delusional? Could someone please point me in the right >direction? :) In Nomine, p. 59. The non-boxed text at the bottom deals with removing dissonance; the second column, second paragraph of the boxed text has the "one week" reference you're looking for. - -EDG ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 08:49:15 -0800 From: "Phillip DesJardins" Subject: IN> Plot seed: Word Competition Simple little plot seed I thought of recently, that actually started as a pair of demononic characters and worked from there. Doesn't really have a title yet. So you've got a Word. That's great. It's a sign you've been doing well and that Someone Down There thinks you're worth a little effort. And I'm sure if this were Heaven that'd be great. They'd give you some paltry gift and expect for that to be it. But no, this is Hell, so we have higher aspirations, not to mention standards. And that means that you've set your sights on something bigger. A Word's only good so long as it's taking your somewhere, right? This was the thought running through the minds of three demons: Harhas, a Habbalite of Kronos and Demon of Unecessary Risk-taking; Chesil, Balseraph of Haagenti and Demon of Eating Things You Probably Really Shouldn't; and Mikloth, a Lilith working under Kobal as the Demon of Retroactive Idiocy (Lit: "That which sounded like a reasonable idea at the time"). And, as great minds think alike, they have all managed to petition for the same Word: Poor Decision Making. It's a Word that they each think suits them well and that all three respective Princes would enjoy having under their auspices. The Lightbringer, in his infamous, err, infinite wisdom has proposed a simple test to determine which of the three will recieve this Word: They are to be taken to (insert name of where your game is taking place here). Each of them has been bugged with a special attunement from Nybbas (Who 'volunteered' to help Lucifer for this) which allows Lucifer to watch their every movement so long as they are withing line of sight of any visual media and listen in on them through similar means. The task: They have 24 hours. In that time they must ruin as many lives as possible. The catch? Given the Word they're all going for, they only score for the victim if they suffer as a result of the choices they made. Manipulation, subterfuge and sabatoge are fine, but the victim has to go along with the idea. And now of course is where the players get involved. I personally think this works best as a angelic scenario, with the players trying to put a stop to this and protect as many people as they can (And when the opposition is three low-level but respectable Wordbound that can be difficult). As Demons, they would probably represent various Princes allied or opposed to any of the contestants, trying to rig things one way or the other. Not too blatantly; the Morning Star is watching, after all. Comments? I do plan on doing write-ups for the three demons in the near future. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 09:35:24 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Last Laugh? (A Forgotten Pasts continuation) RIBLMHO! The rhyme alone was worth it. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

Smart knows what. Intelligence knows how. Wisdom knows why. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 09:39:57 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN>Answers make more questions (was Re: IN> Ascending Headaches) - --- EDG wrote: > New Discord: Intervention Magnet (Celestial) [blinks] This is so... _evil_. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

Smart knows what. Intelligence knows how. Wisdom knows why. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 09:48:35 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> How many days to work off dissonance? - --- Unni Solaas wrote: > I have this idea that it takes one week of > Tether-work/meditation to get > rid of one note of dissonance. But I can't seem to find > it in any of the books. Core rules, p. 59, in the sidebar on Tethers. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

Smart knows what. Intelligence knows how. Wisdom knows why. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 09:51:40 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Plot seed: Word Competition This would be a good convention scenario. It goes in my file. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

Smart knows what. Intelligence knows how. Wisdom knows why. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 13:21:32 -0500 (EST) From: Ryan M Roth Subject: IN> Cavalry (A Forgotten Pasts continuation) The fiction duel continues... - - Ryan R. On Wed, 29 Jan 2003, Emeth/Vaughn wrote: > I now continue my theft of Ryan M Roth's > Forgotten Pasts story. You can find the original story here: > http://www.columbia.edu/~rmr48/pasts.html > > Let's see what our anti-heroes Scapegoat and Liza the Free Lilim have > gotten themselves into this time. > > -Vaughn > *** Liza saw it coming. That, at least, was something. Another something was that her attacker was a little careless. He had just shoved the over-sized carriage toward her and bolted. He hadn't seen the extended chair leg which was stuck out just far enough to catch the big wheel of the carriage. The thing stopped rolling about seven feet from her table. And yet another thing was the cafe owner's sense of style. While it was a internet cafe, the owner had decided, probably in an effort to make his place stand out from the other inet-cafes in the city, to avoid the standard 'techno' decor. No thin metal and plastic furniture here. Instead we have thick oak tables, heavy plush chairs and a very solid bar. It was this bar Liza tried to dive behind. Tried. She got her head and most of her torso behind the thing before the blast caught her. It whipped her head around and slammed it into the aforementioned solid bar, while tearing through her legs. She collapsed in a bleeding heap, still clutching her cell phone. "Damn..." she thought, as she lost consciousness. *** > > "...Hello? Are you there? What was that noise? Hello? Are you still on > the line? There was some kind of loud bang. I didn't hear what you > said. It sounded like you said 'baby carriage.' Hello?...Hello..." > Hazael turned to his companion. "Go." It was all the instruction Martin needed. The part of him that was with Hazael continued to probe the communication links of the city remotely from the Tether's mainframe, but the majority of him was surging down those same links, tracing the cell's signature and locating a convenient exit point nearby. "Heck of a secure line you've got, lady," he thought as he easily circumvented the security barriers in his way. "I could've found you the day I fledged." He exited from the broken phone line that was next to the cafe's register in a shower of sparks. Not for the first time, he was thankful for the attunements Jean had gifted him with. He emerged in celestial form, and began to look around. The Disturbance was the first thing he noticed. At least five people were dead, along with the property damage. Martin could hear sirens approaching, but the humans nearby hadn't reacted to the situation yet. That gave him some time. He homed in on the cell phone signal and found Liza behind the bar. Her vessel was in the process of bleeding out. "Can't have that, miss," he thought as he took over her vessel. Martin/Liza sat up. Her legs weren't working right. Martin/Liza noted that the Disturbance was still reverberating around the area, and so risked a little Corporeal Healing. After standing up, he/she noted the arrival of the EMTs and decided that the humans could take care of their own. One Celestial Motion Song later, and he/she was gone. *** Scapegoat turned the corner and pushed himself against it. He was breathing fast; it was quite a rush, both with the adrenaline and the Essence. He laughed...he loved embarrassing people. The Symphony was still ringing, so it took a while before there was anything else he could perceive. Then he realized the pain. "Damnation!" he thought. He had forgotten to shake off his attunement to her before rolling his baby at her. Dissonance burned through him, and it was a while before he felt anything other than pain. "At least," he thought, "at least I know I got her." That is when he noticed. His attunement -- he could still feel her. Here, on Earth. Which meant... Dread coiled up and wrapped itself around his heart. "No...not funny...not FUNNY!" Changing vessels, he headed back to the cafe. He had to make sure she didn't talk to anyone. The alternative was....no, there was no alternative. Not for him. *** Liza woke up and didn't know where she was. She tried to sit up, but restraints held her down. She was dimly aware that she was still on Earth. She looked around. And saw a tall, lanky nerd, sitting at a desk full of computer monitors, looking back at her. He waved at her. "Hi! I'm Martin. Pleased to meet you." "Where am I?" "Safe enough. From baby carriages, anyway." He laughed. She decided that she hated him. "Let me go. Now." She tried to sound intimidating. It didn't really work. "Sorry, I can't do that. Hazael's on his way down now. Like most Revelation types, he is very eager to hear what you have to say." "You--you're not Revelation?" "Me? Nah. I'm Lightning. We both operate out of the same Tether -- one of California's most influential 'freedom of information on the Internet' groups. But you knew that already, or else you wouldn't known how to get ahold of us." Liza became aware that everything Martin was saying was being repeated on the monitors behind him. "You're one of those Kyrio---things!" "Well, yes. How do you think I found you so quickly?" Anger, now. "Listen here, if I find out you so much as touched my vessel, I'm going to---" "--do what?" It was a new voice. Liza looked over as Hazael entered the room. His bearing and presence seemed to radiate some kind of power. "One might think even someone like you would be grateful to one would has just saved your life and soul." "Let me out of here!" "Miss, we still have much to discuss. And I have it on good authority that you Need to tell us something..." Hazael indicated the door. "Wha--" Liza started, as another women entered the room, snapping bubblegum and wearing an indecently cheerful expression. "I'm Mary. How you doing, Sis?" she said. Great, thought Liza. Juuuuust _perfect_. Damn you Barthanc. Damn you for getting me involved in this. *** The CSI team was still going through the rubble when Detective Timmons entered with his partner. His rookie partner was still talking as Timmons looked around. "...is what he says, anyway. Some crazy boyfriend with a bunch of C4 or something in a stroller. Must of really hated his girlfriend." "Hmmm." "So I guess this case will be pretty simple, then. We just need to find out who he was dating, and trace the relationship back to him. A dozen people saw him running away." "And yet..." "What?" "Where is she?" "Who?" "The woman. The target. Look -- if he pushed it from there, then he must have been aiming for someone over here." Timmons indicated the blasted table fragments. "The EMTs didn't find anyone over here, not even body parts. She's gone." "Oh. How did she manage to walk away from this?" "I don't know." Timmons grabbed a CSI. "Let me see what you collected from this area." The CSI indicated a collection of bagged evidence. Donning gloves, Timmons sorted through it. "Hello..." "Got something?" "It looks like a file folder of some kind. Most of it's burned though..." Timmons began reading what he could, and than looked up at his partner, puzzled. "Do you know who or what 'Valefor' is?" *** ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2951 ********************************