in_nomine-digest Monday, February 17 2003 Volume 01 : Number 2967 In this digest: IN> Something for Valentine's day... Re: IN> Choir/Band Attunements Re: IN> Soul hits. Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) Re: IN> Ehehehe...hi? Re: IN> Something for Valentine's day... IN> Janus in Space Re: IN> The last flicker Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) Re: IN> Janus in Space Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) (Was: Something for Valentine's day...) Re: IN> Heretic Prince -- Saminga, Shedite Demon Prince of Death Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) (Was: Something for Valentine's day...) Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) Re: IN> The last flicker Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) (Was: Something for Valentine's day...) Re: IN> A table for GM entertainment Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) Re: IN> The last flicker IN> Essence Battery Re: IN> Choir/Band Attunements Re: IN> A table for GM entertainment Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) (Was: Something for Valentine's day...) IN> Celeste, part 1 Re: IN> Celeste, part 1 (math & music geeking) Re: IN> Celeste, part 1 Re: IN> Celeste, part 1 Re: IN> Celeste, part 1 Re: IN> Celeste, part 1 Re: IN> Celeste, part 1 Re: IN> Celeste, part 1 IN> Project: Metal Angel ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 16:58:08 -0500 From: BC Petery Subject: IN> Something for Valentine's day... > The actual tone of the relationship depends on the brightness setting of > your campaign The Tex Avery version please. Or is that why you gave her the Seduction skill? "Little Red Riding Hood You sure are looking good. You're everything that a Big Bad Wolf could want." ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 17:10:33 -0500 From: EDG Subject: Re: IN> Choir/Band Attunements At 09:34 PM 2/16/2003 +0000, you wrote: >But do you charge them 5 point/copy, or something more complex? Malakite of Stone: The thing about Malakite of Stone is that it doesn't have a duration. A Malakite of Stone can wait indefinitely for his enemies to leave, and in fact is almost expected to. Stone is patient, and it endures; these are the qualities that David is trying to invoke in his Malakim. Attempting to buy this attunement a second time tells David, "I'm not patient enough." Mechanically speaking? Because this is essentially invulnerability, and if you allow a PC to buy it multiple times, you'll end up with the following character: X Malakite of Stone Corporeal Forces: 4 Strength: 12 Agility: 4 Ethereal Forces: 1 Intelligence: 2 Precision: 2 Celestial Forces: 4 Will: 12 Perception: 4 Skills: Fighting/1 Attunements: Malakite of Stone, Malakite of Stone, Malakite of Stone, Malakite of Stone, Malakite of Stone, Malakite of Stone, Malakite of Stone, Malakite of Stone ...which wouldn't really be a good idea, IMESHO. Shedite of Fate: Shedim can only inhabit humans. The average human will *fail* his Will roll to resist the Shedite 35 out of 36 times. Even when the human succeeds, he has to beat the Shedite's check digit - and the Shedite gets to add the check digit of the roll he made to inhabit the human to his Will on any roll to convince the human to do something. Frankly, I don't know why Shedite of Fate *isn't* reduced to "use for 1 Essence"; under normal circumstances, it's almost worthless anyway. :) (The people who would be seriously affected by this attunement are Soldiers (average 1 in 6 chance of even succeeding at the Will roll, IF they put their extra Force into the Celestial realml), Saints (who not only have more Forces but the Blessed advantage), and undead (who can't go to Hell anyway, so why is Kronos interested in them?).) - -EDG ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 17:13:48 -0500 From: Michael Nutt Subject: Re: IN> Soul hits. > > What are some good tricks to get someone into > > their Celestial form? > > Really good sneezing powder? > > Seriously, there isn't a known way to force someone to > do this except with certain obscure artifacts. If there is, > it becomes too easy to tell celestials from humans, and > to kill celestials permanently. Well, there's the Corporeal Song of Banishing (Liber Canticorum, p. 62), not to mention some other ways that you can convince some celestial to do so. I don't know any way to do so without already knowing that someone's a celestial, though. I posted about some of the tricks several weeks ago, but here's a brief recap of some methods you might try... - -- Geas someone into doing it. - -- Threaten something extremely valuable to them or someone they care about. ( " I'm going to shoot your attuned's spouse if you don't go celestial right now." ) - -- Balseraphically convince them that it would be a really good idea to go celestial right now. - -- Kill a Shedite's host, or a Kyriotate's last one. - -- Find someone with Angry, Murderous, or Berserk Discords, and taunt them by going celestial yourself. Maybe they'll follow you. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 22:27:41 +0000 From: "carson young" Subject: Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) >ObIN: Has anyone ever considered a bizarre IN/Trav crossover, either >using GIN/GT or through some Unholy Hybrid of standard IN and one of t >the multitudinous other Traveller rules systems? I always thought that In Nomine Transhuman Space would be neat. If Jordi jumped on to the genetic experimenting thing when it got going, he could become the Patron of Genetically Altered Beings. This would make him ridiculously powerful in Transhuman Space, and I suspect he would become quite Vapula like. (It would also be nice to see that angel who wanted to be the angel of space exploration be the Archangel of Space in 2100.) Carson Young, Seraph of GM's _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: advanced junk mail protection and 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 16:40:11 -0600 From: "Prodigal" Subject: Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) From: "carson young" > > (It would also be nice to see that angel who wanted to be the angel of space > exploration be the Archangel of Space in 2100.) But would pushing save you from its terrible secret? ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:13:21 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Ehehehe...hi? Kim! You're back! Much rejoicing! =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

Smart knows what. Intelligence knows how. Wisdom knows why. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:15:24 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Something for Valentine's day... - --- Rolland Therrien wrote: > I would say that both Fenris and the Big Bad Wolf would > be mere offshoots of > the Primal Wolf, the primordial fear all men have of the > Wolf. If you had said Primal Predator, I'd agree with you. Primal Wolf... no, all men don't fear that. In Africa there aren't indigenous wolves. The Primal Lion is downright scary, though. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

Smart knows what. Intelligence knows how. Wisdom knows why. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:19:33 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: IN> Janus in Space - --- Christopher Pipinou wrote: > I'm having sudden bizarre images of Janus having the > Angel of Jump-6... I'm thinking that Janus' Word encompasses the Solar Wind. If that's the case, he -- not Jean -- is the logical choice for the patron AA of space travel. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

Smart knows what. Intelligence knows how. Wisdom knows why. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:21:55 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> The last flicker - --- Janet Anderson wrote: > Yes, but does Transubstantiation require perception the > way the Mercurian attunement does? I don't think so. Even if it does, Remnants can have Perception -- they just can't have it any higher than 2 (they can still buy up stats, IIRC). =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

Smart knows what. Intelligence knows how. Wisdom knows why. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 23:22:05 +0000 From: "carson young" Subject: Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) > > (It would also be nice to see that angel who wanted to be the angel of >space > > exploration be the Archangel of Space in 2100.) > >But would pushing save you from its terrible secret? I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. A space odyssey joke? totally over my head. Sorry. Carson Young, habbalite of GM's _________________________________________________________________ Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 18:28:32 -0500 From: EDG Subject: Re: IN> Janus in Space At 03:19 PM 2/16/2003 -0800, you wrote: > I'm thinking that Janus' Word encompasses the Solar Wind. > If that's the case, he -- not Jean -- is the logical >choice for the patron AA of space travel. Only if you're using solar sails. :) - -EDG ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:27:09 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) (Was: Something for Valentine's day...) - --- Phillip DesJardins wrote: > And how do the aliens fit in? I imagine the War has > been going on over there just as much as it has here? Maybe not. In his Space Trilogy C.S. Lewis posited that Earth was the only world where the dominant species Fell. If you go with that premise there is no War on other worlds (but such a premise is a good reason for Heaven to keep Earth isolated from the rest of the universe...). Another way to go at it is to have the familiar Superiors as only one of many contingents; each world has its own group of Superiors to conduct the War on that front. This really opens up possibilities -- Heaven may be winning on some worlds, Hell on others and still others have stalemates or situations like the one in Austin. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

Smart knows what. Intelligence knows how. Wisdom knows why. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:31:43 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Heretic Prince -- Saminga, Shedite Demon Prince of Death I like it. I think that the Calabite Attunement is a bit overpowered, though. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

Smart knows what. Intelligence knows how. Wisdom knows why. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:53:43 -0800 From: "Phillip DesJardins" Subject: Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) (Was: Something for Valentine's day...) > Another way to go at it is to have the familiar Superiors > as only one of many contingents; each world has its own > group of Superiors to conduct the War on that front. This > really opens up possibilities -- Heaven may be winning on > some worlds, Hell on others and still others have > stalemates or situations like the one in Austin. Okay, this is a concept I like. Now if only I had a few decades free to do writeups on the various races AND the Superiors on both ends of each front of the War. Think of how complicated the politics would be. How would the various forces cope once the races start inter-mingling? It would be a nightmare of legal boundaries. Laurence: "I am the Commander of the armies of the Host of Earth, Seldabar. You will remove your forces from my jurisdiction at once." Phillip, Mercurian of Novalis The Happy Shiny Mercurian ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 18:02:20 -0600 From: "Prodigal" Subject: Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) From: "carson young" > > > > > > (It would also be nice to see that angel who wanted to be the angel of > > >space exploration be the Archangel of Space in 2100.) > > > >But would pushing save you from its terrible secret? > > I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. Reference to a song that, among other things, has the line "Pushing will save you from the terrible secret of space." Sorry, sometimes I just get Really Obscure. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 18:48:47 -0800 From: "Joey's mail" Subject: Re: IN> The last flicker > --- Janet Anderson wrote: > > Yes, but does Transubstantiation require perception the > > way the Mercurian attunement does? > > I don't think so. Even if it does, Remnants can have > Perception -- they just can't have it any higher than 2 > (they can still buy up stats, IIRC). > The way I see it, Remnants keep a twisted, subconcious version of any ability that the GM (or player who designed him) finds appropriate. The Tangle Bearded Man (again, in the story in the Core Rules) used his resonance subconciously on the woman in the coffee shop; he would just get sudden flashes. An NPC remnant I used once unconciously attuned himself to a little girl. He would just feel oddly drawn to her at certain times, feeling that he HAD to protect the girl. This remnant kept his Mercurian of Fire attunement, and it was actually enhanced, as he could see specific acts that the people were committing (which the normal Mercurian of Fire attunement doesn't do.) I always figure that remnants just have "wild card" abilities that manifest in any way appropriate. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 00:12:33 GMT From: Ian Ward Subject: Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) (Was: Something for Valentine's day...) On Sun, 16 Feb 2003 15:27:09 -0800 (PST), Michael Walton wrote: >--- Phillip DesJardins wrote: >>And how do the aliens fit in? I imagine the War has >>been going on over there just as much as it has here? > >Maybe not. In his Space Trilogy C.S. Lewis posited that >Earth was the only world where the dominant species Fell. >If you go with that premise there is no War on other worlds >(but such a premise is a good reason for Heaven to keep >Earth isolated from the rest of the universe...). >Another way to go at it is to have the familiar Superiors >as only one of many contingents; each world has its own >group of Superiors to conduct the War on that front. This >really opens up possibilities -- Heaven may be winning on >some worlds, Hell on others and still others have >stalemates or situations like the one in Austin. Maybe I'm misreading or totally missing something, but this has always been my understanding of the canon In Nomine setting, that the Lower Heavens and the Archangels we know are connected only to Earth, and not any other planets out there. Sadly, I can't remember just where the text was implied this to me, though I've often wondered about it. I presume the same goes for the Marches as we know them, though the implications if the Marches stretch far across the solar system and galaxy, with all the possibilities of the imagination that brings, are interesting to say the least. While I don't recall anything similar being expressed or implied for Hell (the Upper Hells?), this is presumably the case for Lucifer et al also, though it is far from being clear in my understanding just how this would all fit together. I may be totally off the mark here, and would love for this whole area to be clarified by anyone either speaking (semi-)officially, or who's just read more of the available IN canon that I have... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 00:27 +0000 (GMT Standard Time) From: jgd@cix.co.uk (John Dallman) Subject: Re: IN> A table for GM entertainment In article <184401c2d603$c3d6b7b0$1602a8c0@ERUDITORUM>, ideaman@islagiatt.org (Prodigal) wrote: > Nice work, John. The "not exactly food" result was my particular > favorite. :) That's among the ones drawn from life on the streets of Cambridge, England. Indeed I've met 26 of them in one piece of street that's only about 100 yards long in the last eight years. Hmmm ... wonder whose Tether it is? - --- John Dallman jgd@cix.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 20:06:39 -0500 From: Tal Meta Subject: Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) Prodigal wrote: > Reference to a song that, among other things, has the line "Pushing will > save you from the terrible secret of space." > > Sorry, sometimes I just get Really Obscure. My son's favorite video. Gotta love those Lazy Martians. :) Of course, in IN terms, both the Pusher & the Shover Robot would be vessels for a Calabim, but whether in service of the Game or Technology I haven't decided... - -- talmeta@talmeta.net - Heretic, Dilettante, & God-Machine AIM - talmeta ICQ - 12594453 Homepage - "E-mail is not to be used to pass on information or data. It should be used only for company business." (Accounting manager, Electric Boat Company) ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Feb 2003 19:49:50 -0600 From: "Prodigal" Subject: Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) From: "Tal Meta" > > Of course, in IN terms, both the Pusher & the Shover Robot would be > vessels for a Calabim, but whether in service of the Game or Technology > I haven't decided... I figured on Dark Humor, personally. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 11:30:09 +0000 From: "Paul Kidd" Subject: Re: IN> The last flicker >From: Stephen Dunscombe >........that sounds like a challenge. ^____^ > >Now where'd I put my Karavsakkan notes..... Yea Gods what have I started :) _________________________________________________________________ It's fast, it's easy and it's free. Get MSN Messenger today! http://messenger.msn.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 07:05:40 -0500 From: BC Petery Subject: IN> Essence Battery > One does wonder if a GM would let someone dump mumblty Essence into the > performance and get a bonus to the CD, just like for weapons? For the dramatic conclusion of an adventure/campaign! And, if the players were clever enough to save that much Essence until the climax, they deserve to end it with a bang. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 06:38:34 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Choir/Band Attunements 5 CP per use seems reasonable to me. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

Smart knows what. Intelligence knows how. Wisdom knows why. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 06:40:00 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> A table for GM entertainment - --- Prodigal wrote: > Nice work, John. The "not exactly food" result was my > particular favorite. Indeed. Especially if the vendor says that the prices are like "cutting me own throat." =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

Smart knows what. Intelligence knows how. Wisdom knows why. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 06:46:03 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Angels... in... space! (Insert reverb) (Was: Something for Valentine's day...) - --- Phillip DesJardins wrote: > Okay, this is a concept I like. Now if only I had a > few decades free to > do writeups on the various races AND the Superiors on > both ends of each front of the War. Why do you think that I haven't even attempted this? IN is complicated enough with only one world. It is a neat idea, though. =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

Smart knows what. Intelligence knows how. Wisdom knows why. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 12:06:14 -0500 From: "Eric Bertish" Subject: IN> Celeste, part 1 Celeste Kyriotate Archangel of the Aether "The World is closer than you think." Celeste is a new Archangel, but is a very old Wordbound. Indeed, the concepts underlying her Word have existed for centuries; perspective and illusion have been an essential component of art since its conception. However, it is only recently that mathematics and science have advanced sufficiently to become thematically congruent with "The space that is not" or, more prosaically, "Where you are when you're on the telephone." Let us not forget that music theory is base-8 math. Dissonance It is Dissonant for angels of the Aether to choose to be unreachable or unfindable. Celeste represents the breakdown of barriers, both physical and social; to isolate oneself is anathema to an Aetherite. They do not hide; instead they stay one step ahead of their enemies, frequently taunting them to keep up. Choir Attunements (all Restricted) Seraphim Capable of seeing the Truth through infinite dimensions, Seraphim of the Aether can see through (or, more accurately, "around") objects, effectively giving them x-ray vision. Only Celestial Shields is proof against such observation. (Other songs or attunements may be immune to this, at the GM's discretion.) Range of sight is unchanged (but see Line of Sight, below). Cherubim Celeste's Guardians have a unique method of protecting their charges: the Cherub may either instantly step to their side, or pull the attuned to him. This requires a successful Resonance roll and causes Disturbance equal to the Corporeal Forces of the one who is moved, who appears within CD feet of the other. The Songs of Ethereal Shields and Celestial Seals prevent this effect. Ofanim Wheels of the Aether love their jobs. With a successful Resonance roll, they may move instantly to any spot they can perceive (reproductions will not work), without having to cross the intervening space. This line-of-sight teleport costs 1 Essence per use. Any song which prevents Celestial Motion is proof against this attunement. Elohim Elohim of the Aether are aware, more than most, that their viewpoint is not the only viewpoint. For 1 Essence, an Elohite serving Celeste can "piggyback" on the perspective of someone that they can sense (through hearing, touch, sight, or scent), experiencing life through that person's senses for minutes equal to the Elohite's Celestial Forces. This gives the Elohite no control whatsoever, and while this attunement is active they get no sensory input from their own vessel: they simply gain a new perspective for a while. This can be ended prematurely just by concentrating - or it can be extended, by spending another Essence and hopping to another person that the *host* can sense. An Elohite of the Aether can continue to switch between perspectives until he runs out of Essence; whenever he lets the duration lapse, runs out of Essence, or consciously ends the attunement, he returns to his body immediately, with no sense of disorientation. Malakim Virtues of Celeste are not daunted by such paltry tactics as "wearing armor" or "taking cover". Their attacks, both close and ranged, bypass armor and/or protection. Only Songs of Shields are impenetrable to these warriors. (This does not damage the armor; the Malakite is, in effect, targeting where the armor isn't. Shields is a special case because it, like all Songs which utilize the universal Symphony, is assumed to be n-dimensional.) Kyriotates Aether's Thrones may manifest the link that binds their consciousness across hosts and allow others to traverse it like a Tether. For 1 Essence, the Kyriotate creates a pseudo-Tether between any two of its hosts which lasts for 1 round and can transport a number of Forces equal to its own. Additional Essence must be expended to maintain this portal for multiple rounds. This generates Disturbance equal to the Corporeal Forces of those transiting if corporeal, or total Forces if in Celestial form. Mercurians Celeste's Mercurians are adept at exploring the web of relationships which bind everyone. After successfully Resonating an individual, the Mercurian may then Resonate on those individuals who were perceived as related to that individual, and so forth. These subsequent rolls may not have a CD in excess of that first, primary roll; a CD of 1 disallows further linking. No one likes playing the "Kevin Bacon" game with these angels. Servitor Attunements Line of Sight The angel with this attunement can fine-tune his vision. He can zoom in on anything within his field of vision, to an almost microscopic degree, simply by concentrating; a macroscopic view is more difficult, and requires a successful Perception roll to give the angel a panoramic view. Use of this attunement to zoom in grants a bonus to any roll made to search an area by the user's Celestial Forces, but penalizes any attempt to use Perception on a general scan of an area; using the attunement to zoom out has the opposite effect. (Essentially, zooming in grants +CelF to Search but -CelF to Spot, while zooming out grants +CelF to Spot and -CelF to Search.) There's No Place Like Home An angel with this attunement can designate a single location as "home". At any time thereafter, the angel can return "home" by spending 1 Essence; no disturbance is caused except that the Essence expenditure sounds in both the departed location and "home". The angel must be on the same plane as his "home" location in order to use this attunement, but may have one "home" on each plane. The angel may designate a new "home" at the cost of the old with a successful Perception roll. Distinctions Vassal of The Aether Knowing that the Symphony encompasses all dimensions, the angel halves all range penalties for combat and Resonance. Friend of Transition Aether's Friends realize that going Celestial is not a state change, but simply a transition to a higher dimensional state. Once they understand this, they may assume Celestial form for no Essence cost (though a Will roll is still required). Master of Co-location These angels are capable of being in multiple places at once, for is not the Symphony everywhere and nowhere simultaneously? They do not suffer range penalties for anything; everything is 'point blank' for them, including melee combat and touch-based abilities. Basic Rites (underlying rationale) * Call someone long-distance (ignore the actual distance between people) * Lose yourself in starshine (the far-away suddenly become close) * Cross a border (traversing a relevant distance with ease) Chance of Invocation: 3 Invocation Modifiers +1 A telephone or telescope +2 An M.C. Escher drawing +3 Recite, from memory and without error, the transporter sequence from Star Trek: the Next Generation's Technical Manual +4 An optical illusion regarding perspective (real, not drawn or photographed) +5 An n-dimensional mathematical proof +6 A tesseract (Relations will come in part 2, with history & personality) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 09:48:01 -0800 (PST) From: Jennifer Shih Subject: Re: IN> Celeste, part 1 (math & music geeking) - --- Eric Bertish wrote: > Celeste > Kyriotate Archangel of the Aether [snip] > Let us not forget that music theory is base-8 math. I fear you are mistaken, sir. It is, perhaps, marginally simpler to analyze music theory in octal, but that is solely because 8 is a power of 2. Similar advantages can be obtained by working in binary or hexadecimal. Or perhaps you meant to say "modulo 8" rather than "base-8"? That is even less true. First of all, there are only 7 discrete notes in the octave; the initial and final notes are both "do". Secondly, that entire construct is based on the conventional western 7-note scale. Adding the black keys produces a 12-note scale. Music has also been composed with pentatonic scales, and with other variations. Human perceptions of music are partially learned; most humans respond to the harmonies that they grew up with. The universal factor is the ratios of the frequencies. Notes that are an octave apart have frequencies that differ by a factor of 2; that is, a ratio of 2:1. The smaller harmonious intervals correspond to other simple fractions: 2/3 or 3/4, say. None of this has anything to do with either base-8 or modulo-8 math. It would be more accurate to say, "Let us not forget that music theory is the mathematics of fractions." - -Jennifer, waxing mathematical __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 10:06:38 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Celeste, part 1 Oy, Casca, this one's really out there (no pun intended for once). Some interesting stuff, though. The Kyrio Attunement concerns me for game balance reasons (instant/ portable Tether, anyone?). =====

Michael Walton, #US2002023848

Smart knows what. Intelligence knows how. Wisdom knows why. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 13:17:54 -0500 From: EDG Subject: Re: IN> Celeste, part 1 At 10:06 AM 2/17/2003 -0800, you wrote: >The Kyrio Attunement concerns me for game balance reasons >(instant/portable Tether, anyone?). Not really. Note the wording: "any two of its hosts". This is really more of a limited Celestial Song of Motion, usable on the Corporeal plane. - -EDG ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 13:25:49 -0500 From: "Eric Bertish" Subject: Re: IN> Celeste, part 1 > >The Kyrio Attunement concerns me for game balance reasons > >(instant/portable Tether, anyone?). > > Not really. Note the wording: "any two of its hosts". This is really more > of a limited Celestial Song of Motion, usable on the Corporeal plane. Then there's the Forces limitation and the Essence cost. Here's an explanation I wrote for one of my proofreaders: Kenny Kyriotate, a 9 Force angel, is having his ass handed to him by Bastard Balseraph, but his friends are across town. Fortunately, Kenny has a host with them, and they can come help. Kenny spends the Essence and activates the attunement. Round 1 = 1 Essence = 9-Force Stan steps through Round 2 = +1 Essence = 9-Force Kyle steps through Round 3 = +1 Essence = 10 Force Eric (Beeeeeefcaaaake!) tries to step through and fails, because Kenny is only 9 Forces. Disturbance: 3+9+9=21. - -- Casca ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 18 Feb 2003 02:29:06 +0800 From: "Janet Anderson" Subject: Re: IN> Celeste, part 1 > Basic Rites (underlying rationale) > * Call someone long-distance (ignore the actual distance between people) Does e-mail count? (It doesn't usually involve a long-distance call, but ...) Janet Anderson ************************************************* Seraph: What do we want to do if he turns out to be an infernal? Malakite: I'm kinda hoping we don't find that out definitively. Leaving a long string of bodies behind us isn't a really good idea. - -- _______________________________________________ Get your free email from http://www.graffiti.net Powered by Outblaze ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 13:40:39 -0500 From: "Eric Bertish" Subject: Re: IN> Celeste, part 1 > > * Call someone long-distance (ignore the actual distance between people) > > Does e-mail count? (It doesn't usually involve a long-distance call, but ...) I typically leave this up the the GM, but in my game I would say no. This is because a telephone call gives the illusion of being next to the person, while e-mail does not. While it is indeed possible to have a conversation through email, and things like IM allow real-time talking, the fact that you have to type reinforces the artificiality of the situation. - -- Casca ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 11:06:14 -0800 From: Kim Kondratieff Subject: Re: IN> Celeste, part 1 > There's No Place Like Home > An angel with this attunement can designate a single location as > "home". > At any time thereafter, the angel can return "home" by spending 1 > Essence; > no disturbance is caused except that the Essence expenditure sounds in > both > the departed location and "home". The angel must be on the same plane > as > his "home" location in order to use this attunement, but may have one > "home" > on each plane. The angel may designate a new "home" at the cost of the > old > with a successful Perception roll. Home designated with @link me=here? *bricks herself summarily* Good write-up, though! I like the twist on the Aether as 'the space that is no space'. And the +6 modifier is a tesseract, eh? My AIM SN is Tesseract Seraph...hm, curiouser and curiouser. ;) - --Kim Angel of Random Enthusiasm ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Feb 2003 12:09:06 -0700 From: sirea@softhome.net Subject: IN> Project: Metal Angel (Warning! Warning! Brightness meter turned down to -10! Warning!) The room was hot and fetid, the air reeked of metal and burnt flesh. Oil dripped from the cracked plaster walls, and blood stained the concrete ground a deep shade of yellow. Steam poured from thousand's of tiny vents, and the large lights above flickered on and off randomly, each time illuminating the fact that they were crawling with loathsome insects. In the center of the room was a man, tall and bald, crouched over a large granite table, working with quiet fervor on a mass of metal and flesh before him. The man wiped greasy sweat from his scarred forehead, eyes squinting in the poor light. His hands moved deftly, and he constantly mumbled to himself, humming small catches of song from days long dead. His bloodshot eyes lit up and his hands slowed when the mass of metal and feathers before him began to move, and he let out a content groan. He stroked the abomination before him, crooning softly in the humid twilight. The creature on the table let out a pained gurgle, that sounded like blood and meat being forced through a rusted grinder. The man only smiled happily, and pressed a few protruding switches. The mass of flesh slumped off the table and righted itself up, moaning and giving off mechanical beeps. The man stood before it, and bent down to whisper in the creatures ear. "State your name, Choir, and Word." The creature turned five bleeding eyes, made of incredibly complex cyborg components, and opened it's jaw painfully to speak. In a low, mechanical gurgle, it stated- "I-ii-i-iii amJuviel SERAPHseraph o-o-of of T-t-tTech-tt-TechnololoLOGY." The man smiled, and gently stroked the stuttering beasts head, and nodded to himself knowingly. "And your purpose...?" The "Seraph" twisted it's serpentine head, metal gears grating against bone and blood, and it let out a low cry of agony, before it responded. "TTTo... *BZZT* t-tt-o se-r-rrrve *ERROR* t-to se-rve A-aa-A-nd DESTROY." The man took his head off the creatures head, and wiped his hands on his greasy white lab coat, before writing a few things down, and turning back to his beautiful creation. Vapula was pleased he had been successful. One soul-dead Seraph of the Sword, a few specially made celestial-corporeal mechanical components, some crafty hand work... and Vapula had his first successful angelic cyborg. Indeed, Lucifer would be pleased. The Genius Archangel turned from the Seraph, and walked from the room humming a broken tune to himself in delight. Production would start soon. Every angel they killed could now be remade... into something beautiful. When the mad Habbalite left the room, and locked the door, the Seraph only stared at where he had stood before. It's five working eyes flickered a sickly red in the pale light of the room, and it's two metal wings clicked and shot off sparks. Suddenly, a part of it's memory bank came to life... and a small part of it, the part that was soul-killed long ago, realized for one horrible moment, what it had become. The guards outside the room did their best to ignore the inhuman weeping that came from within. *PROJECT: METAL SERAPHIM* Well, if Vapula has his way, it'll be metal Cherubim, Ofanim, Elohim, and so on eventually. It had always been a fantasy of Vapula's to take the soul-slain Forces of angel's (SO much better than demonic Forces...) and somehow bring them to life, as beautiful symbols of his Word, combining the corporeal and celestial into a mechanical wonder. Everyone thought (not unusually) that he was mad, that it could never work. It was too far fetched -- he couldn't possibly succeed. He succeeded. Vapula took the Forces of the soul-slain Juviel, a Seraph Master of the Armies of God, and worked to put them together again into a suitable mechanical "vessel" of sorts. After numerous failed tries, the Mad Prince finally found something that would work -- by allowing the angelic Forces to be held together in an infernal mechanical construct, the former angel could be "resurrected" as one of Vapula's own, and allowed to once again interact as a functional being. Depends on what you define as functional though. Metal Angels (as Vapula calls them) are twisted abominations -- half angel and half infernal machine. They are like normal angel's of their appropriate Choir, except for the following -- one, they cannot use their resonance any longer, but they -are- subject to their original Choir dissonance conditions, and the Technology Word dissonance. So far, each one has started with a few terrible Discords (Stuttering, Celestial Deafness, Damaged Sense, and many Ethereal Discords are most common), and every day the angel gains a point of dissonance. If the angel reaches "critical mass" (fails a Dissonance roll and Falls) they shut down, and the Forces expel themselves from the construct. The former angel will not recall who or what they were (but most often, they have brief moments of painful insight, much lie a Remnant, but much worse). Celestially, the creature looks hideous -- many celestials will be stunned upon seeing them. They resemble their former Choir form, but seem to have large amounts of messily grafted mechanical, bio-organic, and cybernetic attachments. Each Metal Angel starts with each of the Songs of Machines (which they can use to heal themselves) at a level equal to their appropriate Forces. Vapula has even managed to make Choir attunements for each one, but only for his Word so far. Only the (Metal)Seraph of Technology one functions so far. (Metal)Seraph of Technology (Restricted!): Much like the Knight Distinction, the Seraph can touch any machine and know what it was made for, how it works, and any problems it may have. Metal Angels can be given vessels, but they must be cybernetic ones made by Vapula, so that the angel can keep a stable connection flow between their held-together Forces and the infernal construct. This has made... sightings of a Metal Angel in a vessel very easy, and quite discomforting. Celestially, Metal Angels ar much like a variant of Living Artifacts... they can enter Heaven, and the Light does not harm them (but every day they spend in Heaven they accumulate -2- dissonance, not one). They regain Essence at dawn -or- dusk, the GM chooses this for every day. Lastly... and most sadly... if a Metal Angel has his Prime Directives toyed with (which only experienced angels of Lightning or demons of Technology can do), OR if the Metal Angel is presented with irrefutable evidence of it's past existence (a loved one, it's former Superior, etc) it "goes nuclear", and will go berserk, with the former personality of the angel and the Directives it is programmed with fighting for control of the Forces being held together. Often, the angel simply dies on the spot, Forces scattering away, or it goes on a murderous rampage until it is killed. Vapula has plans to make as many of these creatures as he can, and perfect their performance as best he can, until all the "little kinks" are worked out. Vapula doesn't know what he's getting himself into, as usual though... he can't expect the whole of the Host to come down on his head for this atrocity, and after a few emotional episodes with real angels and old loved ones resurrected as mechanical monsters, he may have to discontinue the project (or try it on demons, which will be much harder) or face dire consequences. ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2967 ********************************