From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Sun Jun 22 01:34:59 1997 Return-Path: Received: from lists.io.com (lists.io.com [199.170.88.15]) by pyramid.sjgames.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id BAA29117 for ; Sun, 22 Jun 1997 01:34:59 -0500 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) id AAA10830 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Sun, 22 Jun 1997 00:09:46 -0500 Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 00:09:46 -0500 Message-Id: <199706220509.AAA10830@lists.io.com> From: owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com (in_nomine-digest) To: in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Subject: in_nomine-digest V1 #223 Reply-To: in_nomine-l@lists.io.com Sender: owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Errors-To: owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Precedence: bulk in_nomine-digest Sunday, June 22 1997 Volume 01 : Number 223 In this digest: IN> Angels and the Bomb? IN> Poetry corner (extended mix) IN> Dominic Ideas Re: Kyriofluff (Re: IN> Seeing Artifacts) Re: IN> big bombs!!!! IN> Cleaning up the Town re: IN> Let's try that again... fiction post Re: IN> big bombs!!!! Re: Kyriofluff (Re: IN> Seeing Artifacts) Re: IN> Outcast Questions Re: IN> Arches&Princes Re: IN> Arches&Princes IN> big bombs!!!! IN> Tethers IN> Malakim Re: IN> Let's try that again... fiction post Re: IN> Tethers Re: IN> Angels and the Bomb? Re: IN> Arches&Princes IN> Re: Fiction Post Re: IN> Re: Fiction Post IN> Have I mentioned I hate computers - last attempt at this bloody post... IN> Not exactly a WoD crossover... Re: IN> Angels and the Bomb? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 20:23:15 -0500 (CDT) From: Austin George Loomis Subject: IN> Angels and the Bomb? William S. Burroughs, among others, has proposed that an atomic bomb destroys souls as well as bodies -- in IN terms, it does celestial as well as corporeal damage. (And probably lots of it -- Power * mondo.) What does everyone else on the list think of that notion? And, to tie it into recent discussion, would a Bomb be able to damage a Superior? (Say you've invoked Baal while perched on a Doomsday Bomb, as mentioned on p.IN157, but the angels you invoked him to deal with detonate it [one of them's a Mal who figures Death Before Dishonor]. What effect does it have on you? On them? On the Prince of the War hisownbadself?) Austin George "Let the fireworks begin" Loomis ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 22:34:03 -0400 From: David Edelstein Subject: IN> Poetry corner (extended mix) Well, Mr. Smart was definitely no Milton. - -David ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Jun 1997 22:34:06 -0400 From: David Edelstein Subject: IN> Dominic Ideas >>> "Perhaps I should start trying to think out an idea where Dominic is actually the good guy..." That should be fairly easy. Write a plot where the true villain is grossly unjust. We all prefer mercy to justice, but our preference for justice over lying, cheating, theft, assault, or murder is at least as great.<<< Or write a plot where someone is being unfairly persecuted. Dominic and his angels don't just punish the guilty, they also defend the innocent. - -David (who thinks Dominic gets an awfully bad rap) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 16:01:03 +1300 From: Brian Logan Subject: Re: Kyriofluff (Re: IN> Seeing Artifacts) At 06:13 pm 20/06/97 -0400, Elizabeth McCoy wrote: >At 10:40 PM +1300 6/20/97, Brian Logan wrote: >>At 08:08 pm 16/06/97 -0400, Elizabeth McCoy wrote: >>>At 1:01 PM +1300 6/15/97, Brian Logan wrote: >>>>>>Hope the thoughts are useful. I'm feeling vague today. >>>>> >>>>>Oh, dear. Time to switch hosts? >>>> >>>>Ok, hands up all the kyrios on this list. >>> >>>How many hands do you want up? I mean, all of mine, or just >>>a few? >> >>Although Nybbas might have a basic rite promoting the internet, I don't >>think it is fair for Kyrios to use bandwidth by logging onto two accounts >>and emailing/IRCing themself/each other. > >Eeeeeweh! What Kyrio would work for *Nybbas*?? Not for, against. Use up so much bandwith to cause people to get annoyed with slow response times, busy provider signals etc and stop using the medium. Brian ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 97 00:58:02 UT From: "Hermes Trismegistus" Subject: Re: IN> big bombs!!!! >>I hope this doesn't offend anyone, this is just a question not ment to open a nasty can of worms. If a demon used a weapon of mass destruction (Oklahoma bombing) how far would the ripples flow? how many miles? If you worked out a formula for the amount of collateral damage to buidings, combined witht the actual loss of life, that demon better be ready to get the Hell out of town (no pun intended). question for the big guns: Is it safe to assume that any angels/demons within a few cities distance would be aware of the bomb's detonation? question 2: If a demon commits an act of terrorism such as the Lockerbie disaster, by planting a bomb on the plane, is the disturbance in the Symphony centred on the location of the blast, or the location of the demon that caused it? This could be used by a cunning demon to make his getaway before the God Squad crash in. Kurt "Seeing is believing, hearing is receiving, a deaf and blind world that I don't believe in.." PWEI - Harry Dean Stanton ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 97 04:08:30 UT From: "Hermes Trismegistus" Subject: IN> Cleaning up the Town After maya suggested that someone should create a plot to throw a more positive light on our pal Dommie, I wondered whether it might be that a very straightforward situation that would cause Dominic's servants to put aside their prejudices for the common good. CLEANING UP THE TOWN The PCs: should all be either servants of Dominic, or related Angels "loaned" to Dominic to assist his Servitors. So this would probably exclude servitors of Gabriel, Eli and Novalis, to name a few. The Setting: anywhere, anytime. I'd love to set this game in the Wild West, where the PCs are deputy Sheriffs, and the demons are the bandits living out in the desert, and the good thing about IN is that the setting isn't really set in concrete. The conflicts would be between local ranchers (with servitors of Michael leading them) and the bandits... The Buildup: there has been several small ripples passing through the Symphony in the last few weeks, and Dominic is getting anxious. He knows there are servitors of Michael active in the city, and he suspects that they are close to falling (or becoming Outcasts). So Dom has sent his Servitors (the PCs) in to report on happenings in town. The Real Deal: There are servants of Baal and Saminga working together in the town, increasing gang violence and opening up the drugs market (creating more crime and violence). Fortunately, neither of the Princes have managed to get a Demon into a position of power within the city, so they are reduced to sponsoring street crime and violence. Why Baal is really involved in this plot is anyone's guess, but it will become clear to the PCs that he is gunning for Michael's angels as a sideline to his real agenda. The trick is to keep the PCs suspicious of Michael's servitors at first, as Baal wants it to look like they are antagonising gang rivalry between skinheads and homeboys. The Antagonists: Servitors of Baal and Saminga (should have about 11 forces, they are more experienced than the PCs and will not be easy to defeat). make them Word Bound (Gang War or Drug Dealing, etc) if the PCs are experienced. Servitors of Michael, who will be potential allies of the PCs, if they believe they are not the source of the problem. It should be noted that the Servitors of Baal and Saminga will be posing as members of one of the homeboy gangs, antagonising the skinheads working for Michael. The New Broom: Once the PCs are in town, they will be witnesses to some of the violence, namely skinheads breaking into homes of the homies, mugging them, and one murder. There will be a confrontation between the servitors of Michael and the PCs, who should be persuaded that it is not the Michaelites behind the wars, but that they are fighting the demonics (even though they are causing their share of the disturbances). The PCs are then free to track down the servants of Baal and Saminga and attempt to deal with them as they see fit. This will require the help of the servants of Michael (and given Michael's attitude to Dom this won't be easy to get). OK, so it's probably a violence-orientated scenario, but the servants of Dommie should side with the forces of god (even given the state of affairs between Michael and Dominic), and gives them the chance to work against Hell rather than rooting out heresy within their own ranks. Kurt doombu@msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 97 04:20:16 UT From: "Hermes Trismegistus" Subject: re: IN> Let's try that again... fiction post biBmcm9tIHVuZGVyIHRoZSBzZWF0LCBjcmFuayB0aGUgc3RlcmVvIHRvID Just checking on this... was this how everyone else got this message, or just me (it might be the encoding of the mail server at fault), but if not, can it be reposted? ExIGFuZCBhaW0g dGhlIGNhYiByaWdodCBhdCB0aGVtLCBUaHVuZGVyIGJ1YmJsaW5nIHVwIGluIG15IHRocm9h dC4NCURhbW4gLSAgSSBtZWFuLCBkYXJuLCBJIGxvdmUgbXkgam9iLg0AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Kurt maybe it's a Zombi of Saminga narrating :) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 00:09:40 -0600 (MDT) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: Re: IN> big bombs!!!! > Good God, the ripples would criss-cross the globe! I don't even want to > think how long the echoes would last. That's what the Soldiers of Hell > are for... Oh, posh...I definitely want to think how long the echoes could last. THINK what you could get away with while all the Angels flock to that one city and pummel the poor suckers set up to actually do the bombing... Be a dandy adventure idea, actually; Baal and Saminga set up a couple of small teams around the globe, each doing a major act of terrorism killing a couple hundred people. Malakim handily wipe out those teams (if the actual explosions don't, depending on how that goes), other groups working under Princes like Baal, Malphas - the potential to wreak terror might even get Beleth involved on the corporeal side of things, which would make for a nice, confusing twist - all go to work, not having to worry about covering up Songs, Essence expenditure, etc.... (Actually, an even MORE amusing concept is if the major ripples start going off all over the place, Angels start rushing to and fro to find out what the heck is going on...and every one of the initial, traceable emergencies turns out to be a coordinated ritual Song of Thunder. Well, not EVERY one, there's bound to be one real explosion in there or Belial would have a fit.) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 00:16:27 -0600 (MDT) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: Re: Kyriofluff (Re: IN> Seeing Artifacts) > Eeeeeweh! What Kyrio would work for *Nybbas*?? A very, VERY clever one, of course. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 00:21:31 -0600 (MDT) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: Re: IN> Outcast Questions > >their attunements. Am I correct, then, that Outcast Malakim of Gabriel can > >still wreathe their hands in green flame? (Right before the other Malakim > >take them out, of course...) > Force-strip a Malakite before kicking him out, unless Things Are Very > Strange And Plot-Filled), *does* get to do what he used to... > Until the other Malakim show up and say, "Joe, we hate to do this, > but." Which is why my Outcast Malakite was from Blandine before. They're very good at hiding... (Granted, if he made the mistake of getting on HER side of the Marches again, that wouldn't hold up long, but he can skulk around Beleth's when he needs to and even pick off annoying demons once in a while, for old time's sake.) But, barring Malakim, I doubt most Superiors actually would take the Attunements away, particularly on the note that Outcasting can happen without your Superior actually kicking you Out. In most cases, however, an Outcast Malakite is best off working it so he becomes a Remnant ASAP... ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 00:44:46 -0600 (MDT) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: Re: IN> Arches&Princes > Stupid Demon A: I jump Haagenti with my Ultra-Cool-Super-Mondo- > Level6-Sword-of-Smiting! > GM: He eats you. A few moments later he spits out the sword and > picks his teeth with it. > You see? The Princes are so far beyond Force-9 angels > and demons that it is _never_ a contest. If it was, they would Ooh, say, bad example. Haagenti was a Familiar once..by the description, it doesn't even sound like it was all that long ago, at least in the grand scheme of things. Kobal guided him through some "growth spurts" and...suddenly he pops around and devours SEVERAL Princes? Sloth is the only one mentioned, so maybe he only went after comparatively `easy' targets like that, but...while Force 9 Celestials are certainly outclassed beyond description, Haagenti in particular does seem to hold out the thought that any Celestial - even an Imp or Reliever - can aspire to challenge a Superior... ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 00:38:47 -0600 (MDT) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: Re: IN> Arches&Princes John Karakash noted; > To put it into perspective: Godzilla and Mothra are fighting > over (and through and under) Tokyo, but this time, there are two > sets of little army trucks... one for each side (a schism within > the japanese military?) All those armies could, at best, annoy > one of the Big Guys... but that could be critical during a battle Hey! Gammarauders! Wow..I haven't played that in ages. Which means, I suppose, there may actually be poor, deprived souls around who don't know about 'em. Huh. Well, to describe it a bit, since it would be a dandy way of exemplifying a Superior on the mortal plane... They had giant mutant animals with huge weapons and special powers. They also had units of soldiers, tanks, and whatnot. The regular army units are referred to, officially, as "Popcorn"...they can add a minute amount to your roll in a fight, but except in truly mass quantities, are hardly even worth bothering with except against each other... So, if there's any confusion left, just remember...when Baal and Laurence finally meet, hoards of Malakim and Calabim supporting them are effectively Popcorn. Yum. (Just hope it doesn't get Haagenti's attention...) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 07:44:26 -0400 From: Adam Canning Subject: IN> big bombs!!!! >From: "Paul F. Strack" On Fri, 20 Jun 1997 gibsonc@nku.edu wrote: > I hope this doesn't offend anyone, this is just a question not ment to > open a nasty can of worms. If a demon used a weapon of mass destruction > (Oklahoma bombing) how far would the ripples flow? how many miles? The death of 220 humans can be heard planet wide by the average Celestial. An Oklahoma style slaying of 160 might only be heard in the Western Hemisphere, though Perceptive Celestials in India would pick it up as well. Paul < Not to mention serveral hundred forces of concrete and office machinery. while it's not up to to the small town blown up in earlier postings this is still something most celestials would hear on the moon and the echos would last for weeks. Adam Dahak@Compuserve.Com Genisis 19:24-25 Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 07:44:20 -0400 From: Adam Canning Subject: IN> Tethers From: Walter Milliken >The place I actually live is about 60 miles from Boston, and is a "small city" of 25,000 people; there are less than 100,000 people within 20 miles. We wouldn't have even a single celestial in our city! < Does where you live have a Cathedral? This is after all in England one of the three or four conditions for a place to be a city. Any thing else is a town or village and where you live sounds to be on the upper end of village or suburb. And Yes somwe English Cities are smaller than some English Towns . If I remember Rightly KIng's Lynn ids a City but Reading is a Town despite being larger. Remember of course that celestials are probably going to be found more often in major conurbations because you find more people in a given raedius which means more opportunities to encourage your superiors word. This doesn't of course mean that the celestials don't commute. But Demons go where there are people to tempt and angels follow to protect/harass them. So While I don't live in London by about the same distance that you don't live in boston any campaign I run is more likely to be centred here than their Despite the posibliities of Reading Jail being a Tether to Andrealphus because any angel assigned to cover the Thames Valley is likely to spend his time watching London which after all has a population in the Millions rather than Reading or Basingstoke which have populations in the Hundreds of Thousands. The exceptions would likely be due to historic activity i.e. Tethers, The Meonia Swords, etc. Those sort of exceptions are more likely over this side of the Atlantic than on yours simply because of the greater historical population densities. Turin and the shroud are likely to have been the center of more gambits than Boston simply because the shroud has been in turin longer than Boston has exisisted and it is probably a major artifact of some form.Since it seems from the rules that both sides are short on trustworthy minions to sen to the corporal world the chance is any low population density area will have few celestials due to a lack of supply. Soldiers on the other hand seem easier to come by. All this goes out the window if one side or the other discovers a reason to send agents to an area.[ Say they discover the local museum has a relic in it or a local has an important Fate or Destiny] and the side notices them taking an intrest. both sides are likely to maintan a presence, one because it saw an advantage and the other to oppose them and then later just because the other side has people there [even if neither side remembers why]. For example Yves has descovered that one of the students at the local school's destiny is to become the most compassionate nurse in history and that her Fate is to rot in a Malaysian prison cell on drug smuggling charges. At that point for example he sends one or more angels in to watch over her. some demon notices them and his boss goes "Wonder what they are doing there?.." and sends in a minion or two to find out and mess it up. The guardian angel notices them one way or other and calls for help and things just escalatefrom there up to a level that the area would not normally have. but due to the percieved value of the location to the other side both sides feel it necessary to maintain a presence in the area even after the true cause has left for University. Adam Dahak@Compuserve.Com "Some think they see their hope to advance tied to their neighbour's Fall" Dante's Purgatorio ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 08:56:27 -0400 From: David Edelstein Subject: IN> Malakim >>>But then figure that's a 4 Precision as well -- wouldn't you drop to a 3 Intelligence (still not stupid, but not as "bright" as some other celestials) to get a 5 Precision -- for those Small Weapons, Ranged Weapons, Throwing...<<< If I was a munchkin, maybe. Or if my concept required him to be not too bright. >>>No, they're not stupid on a *human* scale, but the mechanics do promote them being somewhat less than the average celestial.<<< The average Malakite probably has a lower intelligence than the average Seraph. I don't think the mechanics promote the Malakim as being "the dumb Choir". My point was that even being "not stupid on a *human* scale" means they aren't going to act like dimwitted combat machines. - -David ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 09:20:49 -0500 (CDT) From: Donald G Bixler Subject: Re: IN> Let's try that again... fiction post Could you try sending a version in plain text, please. The M$ file tried to blow up my newsreader... Oops da Ogre, or at least a copy to me mudgb4@uxa.ecn.bgu.edu ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 11:34:59 -0400 (EDT) From: gibsonc@nku.edu Subject: Re: IN> Tethers > Walter Milliken wrote: > > > The place I actually live is about 60 miles from Boston, and is a "small > > city" of 25,000 people; there are less than 100,000 people within 20 > > miles. We wouldn't have even a single celestial in our city! > > > > Most US cities are only a few hundred thousand people -- I'd think most > > of them would have a few dozen celestials, though. If you make them too > > uncommon, only the very largest cities will have celestial communities > > at all. I don't think that's the goal of In Nomine. > > Good point. I tend to extrapolate too much in comparisons between > Australia and the US. It's easy to assume that all American cities are > sprawling metropolises the size of New York, because that's the sort of > media image that we see over here. Our capital cities are actually > pretty damn big, it turns out, but because they're in Australia, they > can't _possibly_ be as big/interesting/important as a US city. > Reverse provincialism. Ain't it great? > I live in Cincinatti, and we have four tethers here. Jahon ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 11:40:20 -0400 From: John Maurer Subject: Re: IN> Angels and the Bomb? At 08:23 PM 6/20/97 -0500, Austin George Loomis wrote: >would a Bomb be able to damage a Superior? If they were foolish enough to stick around. >(Say you've invoked Baal while perched on a Doomsday Bomb, as mentioned >on p.IN157, but the angels you invoked him to deal with detonate it [one >of them's a Mal who figures Death Before Dishonor]. What effect does >it have on you? On them? On the Prince of the War hisownbadself?) I wager that AA/DP's don't just appear without looking at the situation. If I were Baal and someone summoned me, *I* would see where I was going first. If I saw a group of angels there with a bomb, I just wouldn't show up. If AA/DP's DON'T have the ability to look in on the situation before hand, or say the bomb was disguised as a refrigerator or something. The converation would probably go something like this: Angels: All right Baal, we've got a bomb and aren't afraid to use it. Lets make a deal. Baal: What do you want to tell me before you die. At the very least, Baal could probably dissapear to whereever he came from before the bomb was detonated If the Malakite got Baal summoned and then instantly detonated the bomb, my guess is it does not do celestial dammage. If it does, Baal will survive it and the PCs won't. Speaks "He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice." -- Albert Einstein ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 11:43:58 -0400 (EDT) From: gibsonc@nku.edu Subject: Re: IN> Arches&Princes > > Stupid Demon A: I jump Haagenti with my Ultra-Cool-Super-Mondo- > > Level6-Sword-of-Smiting! > > GM: He eats you. A few moments later he spits out the sword and > > picks his teeth with it. > > You see? The Princes are so far beyond Force-9 angels > > and demons that it is _never_ a contest. If it was, they would > Ooh, say, bad example. Haagenti was a Familiar once..by the > description, it doesn't even sound like it was all that long ago, at least > in the grand scheme of things. Kobal guided him through some "growth > spurts" and...suddenly he pops around and devours SEVERAL Princes? Sloth > is the only one mentioned, so maybe he only went after comparatively > `easy' targets like that, but...while Force 9 Celestials are certainly > outclassed beyond description, Haagenti in particular does seem to hold > out the thought that any Celestial - even an Imp or Reliever - can aspire > to challenge a Superior... This is in regards to those who said the problem with AD&D and others and giving stats means players feel they should be allowed to kill them etc. The problem is not the players its the DM. One wrote, something like, I rolled a 20 with my vorpal blade I should decapitate Thor. Why would you be with Thor? If the book gave us stats for superiors and the players were wanting to use them against the gm, he should get another group. Or simply say the book is wrong. I am running the game for my group and I would like the stats for myself so I know how much higher the superiors are. The games are great if you have a DM with backbone enough to say, "Look this powergaming shit ain't happening." Or like what happened in our last planescape group. One player went around asking for magical items, and some guy sold him a ring of swimming for 200 gps. He drowned. If players are trying to powergame, bring the smack down or get a group who wants to play. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 14:16:30 -0500 From: rbeall@fdldotnet.com (Grim88) Subject: IN> Re: Fiction Post The first time you sent it, it came through fine. The second time was pure garbage. Good story, btw, though if you want to get it published, I'm not so sure its a good idea to a general, or not-so-general public read it before hand. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 08:51:07 +1000 From: "Patrick O'Duffy" Subject: Re: IN> Re: Fiction Post Grim88 wrote: > > The first time you sent it, it came through fine. The second time was pure > garbage. Good story, btw, though if you want to get it published, I'm not so > sure its a good idea to a general, or not-so-general public read it before hand. Oh, this isn't up to publishable standard (at least, not in my view). This was my 'audition' piece, and I just wanted to let other people have a look. - -- Patrick O'Duffy, Brisbane, Australia Jazz crowd, walking 'round the gallery, Walking 'round the gallery: "Where'd all the dip go? Where'd all the dip go? "Where'd all the dip go? Is there any more red wine? "Any more red wine? Where'd all the dip go?" ANDY PRIEBOY, "The New York Debut of an LA Artist" ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 08:54:04 +1000 From: "Patrick O'Duffy" Subject: IN> Have I mentioned I hate computers - last attempt at this bloody post... Okay. No messing around with attachments, no word processors. I'm just going to paste the wretched thing into the message and let fly. If this doesn't work, my head will explode. It's under the .sig, if you dare to look. - -- Patrick O'Duffy, Brisbane, Australia Jazz crowd, walking 'round the gallery, Walking 'round the gallery: "Where'd all the dip go? Where'd all the dip go? "Where'd all the dip go? Is there any more red wine? "Any more red wine? Where'd all the dip go?" ANDY PRIEBOY, "The New York Debut of an LA Artist" - ----------------------------------------------------------------- Whippin' Through the Windy City I've got John Zorn turned up to 11 inside my cab - the Naked City album - - and he's doin' that bit where he says hey, screw melody, and just goes berserk on the keyboard for a while, and that's when Dr Callahan walks out of the O'Hare Airport lounge. I flick the Vacant sign on, drive up a bit and pull in right in front of him. "Yo, man, you need a cab?" I ask as I crank the volume down (oh well), pop the trunk and get out. He looks startled - maybe by the music, maybe by my arrival, maybe by the (very natty) dreadlocks my Vessel sports - and he stands there confused by a second as I grab his suitcase and stick in the trunk. I make a motion towards his attache case, and with that he snaps to, picks it up and gets into the back of the cab. I got my eyes peeled for the Bad Guys as I climb into the front and head out of the parking lot at about 5 miles over the limit, which is stupid-slow, but I don't wanna attract attention. "Umm.. the Illinois Institute of Technology, please." Callahan settles back into his seat as I get onto Highway 90 and jack the speed up to 100, which is a whole lot better for this little Ofanim's peace of mind. I can see him checking out my driver ID as we dodge around the traffic. Randall Jones, it says (which is close enough to the truth), with a very nice photo of me doing a sorta Ray Charles smile for the camera. Very reassurin', that smile, and I can see him relaxin' in his seat - which is as good a cue as any to bump our speed up by another five miles. "So, man, you goin' to that symposium on renewable energy sources?" He looks surprised. "Well, yes.... I'm surprised you've heard about it. I chuckle. "Hey dude, just 'cos I drive a cab don't mean I'm ignorant." He blushes. Actually, bein' well-read sorta comes with the territory, since Yves doesn't employ you as a Servitor of Destiny unless you're prepared to hang out in libraries a lot. Callahan seems kinda embarrassed by his faux pas, so I take advantage of his silence to turn up the volume on my tape deck a bit, and John Zorn gives way to the bhangra techno on the B-side. From Hi-90 we get to the JFK Expressway, rippin' down into Chicago, and I've got one eye on the road ahead, one on the rearview checkin' for any sign of the Bad Guys. Soon we get close to the city, and I'm feelin' confident enough to check Callahan's credentials. See, I got the call about the Doc from Monique over in LA, but the Bad Guys gunned her down in the phone booth while she was givin' me the word from Yves. Bastard demons. Anyway, I wasn't too sure if this was the guy, since that part of the message got drowned out by gunfire. I look at him in the rearview, and let a note of Essence bleed into my perception. It was him, all right. The Doc's destiny was etched into his eyes, in the lines of his face. A paper at this symposium on clean nuclear power, a research program at MIT following, with a serious drop in nuclear pollution coming down the pipe in about thirty years. That's good for humanity, and that means Downstairs was against it. Hell wanted this guy 86-ed pretty bad. Not with me at the wheel. No chance in Heaven. Bad news is, I may have alerted the opposition with that off-note, because as we go from JFK onto Dan Ryan, a dark-green Yugo starts tailing us. Gotta be the Bad Guys - who else is gonna drive a Yugo? It sits on my tail for six blocks before coming closer through the traffic. "Yo, Doc," I say, and Callahan looks up from his notes, "I think we got some carjackers on our tail." "What?" "High crime area, man. Fasten your belt, I'll try and shake 'em." With that I ram down the pedal, the needle leaps over 130, and we leave a layer of rubber on the road. The Yugo drops back for a bit, but starts catchin' up as I spin the wheel and detour towards Chinatown, duckin' and weavin' through downtown traffic. Callahan jostles around in his belt, and looks at me like I'm crazy. The Yugo comes up close, rammin' my cab and droppin' back. They do it again, Doc is panicin', and my cab makes protestin' sounds. I start singin', pourin' Essence outside the cab and pullin' winds around the cab to protect us. Callahan freaks "What're you... how can you be singing at a time like this? We're going to die!" "Be cool, man. No-one's dyin' in my cab." The Yugo gets buffetted back by the winds, fallin' back as I cut through an empty side street. I keep singin', reachin' out a hand of Essence and grabbin' a street sign as we scream past, pullin' it down behind up into the Yugo's path. It brakes hard to avoid a crash, and I do a spin onto Roosevelt Road and head for the Institute, dodgin' traffic like a salmon swimmin' upstream. We get to the college, Yugo somewhere out of sight. I screech to a halt at the door of the Symposium centre, jump out and pull out Callahan's suitcase. He struggles out, still in shock. "You... my god... call the police!" "They're too busy, man, don't wanna bother them. You just go give your paper." He gives me the hairy eyeball. "You're crazy! I'm... I'm going to report you!" I shrug as I get back in the cab. "Your call, man. I'm just doin' my job. Hey - no charge, okay?" He stares at me as I peel out. Mortals - too uptight. Still, I don't expect gratitude - not for bulldozin' them into a higher purpose they might not want to fulfill. The Yugo is just coming into the Institute parking lot. I grab my sawn-off shotgun from under the seat, crank the stereo to 11 and aim the cab right at them, Thunder bubbling up in my throat. Damn - I mean, darn, I love my job. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Jun 1997 09:42:50 +1000 From: "Patrick O'Duffy" Subject: IN> Not exactly a WoD crossover... G'day. So there's a Camarilla group operating in my city - you know, the live-action Vampire game - and it's run by friends of mine, so I decide to play. I put together a character, and decide to form a society dedicated to battling supernatural evil. All I have to do is decide what to call it. There's Twin Peaks - "The Bookhouse Boys". No. Shakespeare - "Band of Brothers" or "Society of St Crispian" from Henry V. No. Religion - 'Order of St George" or "Georgians". No. Finally I look at IN NOMINE, think about Uriel for a while (no), and then while almost asleep, it hits me. "The Gregorian Society", shortened to "Gregori" for those in the know. If anyone at the game asks, I'll tell them where the inpsiration came from. - -- Patrick O'Duffy, Brisbane, Australia Jazz crowd, walking 'round the gallery, Walking 'round the gallery: "Where'd all the dip go? Where'd all the dip go? "Where'd all the dip go? Is there any more red wine? "Any more red wine? Where'd all the dip go?" ANDY PRIEBOY, "The New York Debut of an LA Artist" ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Jun 1997 21:08:29 -0600 (MDT) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: Re: IN> Angels and the Bomb? > If the Malakite got Baal summoned and then instantly detonated the bomb, my > guess is it does not do celestial dammage. If it does, Baal will survive it > and the PCs won't. Hm..just speaking for myself, I have to admit; if the players were actually able and willing to set a trap like that up, and were willing to give their lives for it, I'd be inclined to let them kill Baal, or at least have a chance at it. Just getting the setup should be a major campaign - enough, to say the least, for the players to get attached to their characters - particularly with them constantly being sent off on other jobs their Superiors consider more likely and more important just at the moment...("Yes, it's a fine goal, but Baal's not going anywhere, so deliver this now and get back to that tomorrow...er, wait, no, there's that gathering in Istanbul I'll need you at tomorrow, but you'll be working with Ezekiel there and he has some contacts in the defense industry. If all goes well, maybe he can help. Now, here's the box, off you go.") When they've finally got everything coordinated..the hardest part probably being in getting some Servitor of the War to do the summoning...then, sure. Boom; angels go poof, Baal dies if all goes well, and Hells armies are set back. Heaven gains ground. Within a week, Lucifer has Vernon, Demon Prince of Deep Blue, promoted out from under Vapula, who can calculate about a bazillion potential responses to everything he does in half a second, in charge of Hell's Armies, and Michael and Lawrence are grumbling about how Baal, at least, was a familiar face and had some kind of honor... (Though Heaven should get a pretty good bonus out of it...enough that the players don't feel entirely jilted, but not so much they think it's worth doing again. ) ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #223 ******************************* The material here is (C) 1997 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.