From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Thu Apr 30 06:11:59 1998 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 GAA30090 for ; Thu, 30 Apr 1998 06:11:58 -0500 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.8.7/8.8.5) id FAA19323 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Thu, 30 Apr 1998 05:58:06 -0500 Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 05:58:06 -0500 Message-Id: <199804301058.FAA19323@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 #738 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 Thursday, April 30 1998 Volume 01 : Number 738 In this digest: Re: IN> Abortion Re: IN> Re:abortion Re: IN> A possibly stupid question... IN> Falling Re: IN> The Demon of Gun Control Re: IN> Falling Re: IN>Demon Prince Auditions Re: IN> Falling IN> Re: Possible Angels/Demons of Abortion Re: IN> Falling Re: IN> Falling Re: IN> The Demon of Gun Control IN> Fade: GM: Ch1 15l: An Email while you speak IN> The Demon of Gun Control Re: IN> Falling Re: IN> Angels and Dicey Words IN> Hast plot seeds (100th light infantry contd.) Re: IN> num.corp. question IN> Abortion Demons ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 00:05:23 EDT From: Heretic103 Subject: Re: IN> Abortion In a message dated 4/29/98 8:19:09 PM Central Daylight Time, ebartley@enteract.com writes: << and presumably has told the angels this >> Never assume anything with him ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 00:06:35 EDT From: Heretic103 Subject: Re: IN> Re:abortion In a message dated 4/29/98 8:31:48 PM Central Daylight Time, enosh@io.com writes: << I agree on most points,but as a player and a GM I would be wary of Yves telling everyone when the actual "life occurs." I am sure he knows, if anyone does. But I don't want to tell my players, or have my GM telling me, that "this is when life begins." If it works in your games,I >> On second thought maybe this might be eli's area ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 00:00:51 EDT From: Heretic103 Subject: Re: IN> A possibly stupid question... In a message dated 4/29/98 1:21:21 PM Central Daylight Time, badger@eyrie.org writes: << Anyway...do Soldiers of God/Hell count as human for killing purposes? Ferinstance...if say, seven Soldiers of Hell jumped a Malakite, can the Malakite kill them without sending up an enormous flare that's sure t grab the attention of every single celstial for miles and miles? I assume that they _are_ considerd human, but an argument could be made that once you gain that extra force, you lose that protection... opinions? >> No question is stupid......except for that one :) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 00:18:53 -0400 From: Brandon Quina Subject: IN> Falling > Capture an Ofanite. Tie him up. Watch him get dissonant. Eventually, > he becomes aware that he can be free: all he has to do is > DESTROY. He can BLAST those chains. He can KILL his captors. He has > the power to get away, to be able to move again. Heh. > A Mercurian 'trips'. Suddenly, the Symphony won't tell him about > people any more. How can he make people happy if he doesn't know > anything about them? Well... he could *make* them open up to him. > They'd tell him anything, if they only knew that he was really their > friend. Hmmm. Intresting. Lets see if we can rationalize the other angels 'viewpoints' of falling. Seraphim loose the ability to discern the truth, and thus the ability to know what the Truth is. They are thrust into a word of uncertainty and lies. However, there is a way to pull through. A way to pull apart the curtain. INVENT the truth. Whatever I say is the truth, and because I 'create' the truth-- I know what it is. Others believe me, and thus, for now atlesat, this IS the truth. Another balseraph is borne. Cherubim loose the ability to forge a deep bond with someone or something. A bond that transcends time and space. A bond that even transcends the corporeal plane. In doing so, they've lost a very imporant part of their body. (and probally not for the first time, as they most likly lost something important to them that CAUSED the dissonance in the first place) They can, however, FORCE a bond to grow. FORCE the connection. Its not quite the same, though. Its the diffrence between making love and rape-- one is a beautiful thing, and the other is just the shameless pitiful fulfillment of an urge. In so perverting their nature, they have warped it and another Djinn is the result. Ofanim loose their connection to the motion and chaos of the universe. They loose their ability to be free. Now, there slow and apathetic compared to their former freedom. Above all, their so CONFINED. Everything is weighing down on them like a great weight. He has the power to destroy the weight, though. The power to rip apart the things that drag him down. The ability to be FREE again, his path never again to be blocked by anything. He never quite recaptures his former glory, however, and the resulting twist of his celestial nature is so great that his very form twists and manifests a discord that will *never* go away again. Another calabite is birthed. Elohim loose the ability to read emotions, and thus the ability to understand how others feel. In the absense of all other input, they have to rely on their own feelings and opinions. Why did god do this to them, they reason? Perhaps it was because they had been listening to THE WRONG opinions all this time? Yes, thats it. Maybe, just maybe, THEY are correct. Everyone else is wrong. Hmm. What to do about that. I know, I can *MAKE* them see things my way. Yes, thats what god wants me to do. He wants me to sway people to the 'right' side. Another habbalah is borne. Mercurians you covered quite nicely on your own. Kyriotate are the only ones that seem to get the shaft with your rules. I hate the fact that, with these rules as they stand-- a Kyriotate can only be an outcast for a maximum of 60 minutes. There must be a way to smoothly transfer from a gentle giving host who cares about his host and trys to keep everything as it was when he first came, to someone who see's how much he can mess up this mortals life. - -- (lore@tmgbbs.com) \|/// Zzzzzzzzzzzz Brandon Lance Quina (- -) ICQ Number: 6809944 ---ooO(_)Ooo--- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 00:33:21 -0400 From: Brandon Quina Subject: Re: IN> The Demon of Gun Control > NIGHT MUSIC SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!! NIGHT MUSIC > Psst...you should throw a spoiler notice up there just in case a GM is > using Austin in a game and doesn't want her players knowing any of the > celestials there yet. Eeek. :) Sorry. > Anyways, Christopher does NOT knwo what Drew is doing...it says so > clearly. It says that if any archangel found out what he was up to he > would get "walloped" by said archangel. Chris just hasn't talked to > him in a long while. Thats not the impression I got, and the description certainly isnt 'clear' on the matter. "And there's a question of just how long this can go on, because -- of all the celestials in Austin -- he's the one cloest to getting walloped by an Archangel." dosnt really seem to imply that he's in danger if they just know what he's doing. More like, if they figure out just how close he's come to the edge of falling, he'd end up outcast. He was granted his word, afterall, and Christopher presumably had something to do with that (in my IN, atleast, he most definatly would have had something to do with it). I can hardly see christopher 'ignorning' such a potentially horrible word for very long either. It also says, on page 101, that christophers angels will all know Druiel, though *may* not like him. Once again, it would filter down to christopher about what Druiel has been up to. So baiscally, I see him as being on christophers 'keep track of this guy' list. In my game, he ended up outcast soon after the furfur incident happened, and has mostly 'disappeared' from the stage. - -- (lore@tmgbbs.com) \|/// Zzzzzzzzzzzz Brandon Lance Quina (- -) ICQ Number: 6809944 ---ooO(_)Ooo--- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 00:45:16 -0400 From: Jesse Subject: Re: IN> Falling >Kyriotate are the only ones that seem to get the shaft with your >rules. I hate the fact that, with these rules as they stand-- a >Kyriotate can only be an outcast for a maximum of 60 minutes. The life expecdency for an outcast Malakite is less than 60 mintues. - -Jesse ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 22:04:07 -0500 From: "David C. Shadle" Subject: Re: IN>Demon Prince Auditions > Vapula: Whoever it was who played Dr. Strangelove That would be Peter Sellars BTW I think that the cigarette smoking man from the X-Files would be a great Asmodeus. Sorry I can't think of his name ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 01:08:29 -0400 From: Brandon Quina Subject: Re: IN> Falling > >Kyriotate are the only ones that seem to get the shaft with your > >rules. I hate the fact that, with these rules as they stand-- a > >Kyriotate can only be an outcast for a maximum of 60 minutes. > > The life expecdency for an outcast Malakite is less than 60 mintues. There is a diffrence between life expectency and a arbitrary limit. Afterall, it is 'conceivable' that a Malakite could FAR pass that limit of time and remain an outcast-- having not fallen. However, a kyriotate with 6 celestial forces 'dies' after 60 minutes using these optional rules. I dont know if I intend to use them, but I thought id point that out atleast. In canon In-Nomine there is no limit on Kyriotate outcasts, and im sure there's atleast a casual mention of an outcast Kyrio in one book... Or will be sooner or later.. Thus, its a radical departure to say that they either fall or die. And most importantly. Kyrio's arnt Malakim. ;) - -- (lore@tmgbbs.com) \|/// Zzzzzzzzzzzz Brandon Lance Quina (- -) ICQ Number: 6809944 ---ooO(_)Ooo--- ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 29 Apr 1998 10:29:16 -0800 From: Armand Subject: IN> Re: Possible Angels/Demons of Abortion >>That's all very interesting....and your subjective opinion. You're >>basically quoting the pro-life position and then stating for a fact that it >>must be correct (or seen by Heaven as being correct). >> >>The Angels and Demons of Abortion will be appearing shortly.... > >I don't want to see any angels or demons at all, esp. in canon. Such >a topic is way too hot a topic for something like In Nomine to deal with. >If you do want to talk about political hot topics please move it to a >different forum. I really, really don't want to see any such issues tear >apart the relative decorum we have on this list. > >-Jesse I'm sorry, but this whole idea cracks me up. Seems to me that a few months ago we were talking about whether or not SJGames was wussing out on the other major world religions. "I don't think that they want to deal with the controversy" "How can it be controversial? I'm a [insert religious background here], and I approve." etc. I think that those of us who wish to continue this dicussion ought to just label our messages so that those of a more "conservative" nature may delete before the offending Email is viewed. Armand, Ofanim who has seen and heard far worse ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 01:27:35 -0400 (EDT) From: Pee Kitty Subject: Re: IN> Falling On Thu, 30 Apr 1998, Brandon Quina wrote: > Kyriotate are the only ones that seem to get the shaft with your > rules. I hate the fact that, with these rules as they stand-- a > Kyriotate can only be an outcast for a maximum of 60 minutes. Simple...make one change to his rules. Kyriotates lose their multiplicity and ability to take someone over; they can enter a person with a successful resonance roll (it won't even be resisted), but they can't DO anything. They can literally just sit there, in the person, letting the person run everything. If the person walks away from the angel's friends, then he does. And the Kyrio can't do anything except either watch what's going on or leave the host. Anything, because he's not in control. AFter a bit, it'll become clear that he could just SHARE control with the host...all he'd have to do is just talk the host into walking back to his friends. Yeah, that's good. Now let's take that cab. Yeah...hey, this guy'll do anything I ask him to; this is great! I've always wanted to go eat at that fancy restaurant...how much money do you got on ya, pal? ........et al. Rev. Pee Kitty, of the order Malkavian-Dobbsian Meow! And finally, a special message to \|/ ____ \|/ anyone who thinks I give a damn... ~@-/ oO \-@~ /_( \__/ )_\ \__U_/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 01:38:54 -0400 From: Brandon Quina Subject: Re: IN> Falling > cab. Yeah...hey, this guy'll do anything I ask him to; this is great! > I've always wanted to go eat at that fancy restaurant...how much money > do you got on ya, pal? ........et al. Hmm. Good idea. However, one quick question. What would the 'crossing point' be. What would the Kyrio have to do to become a shedim. Maybe once the Kyrio 'pushes' his host into doing something that it dosnt want to do, thats when he becomes a Shedim. That would basically allow a happy medium. The kyrio has SOME ability to stay 'involved' in the game, but if he pushes it too far he ends up a Shedim. - -- (lore@tmgbbs.com) \|/// Zzzzzzzzzzzz Brandon Lance Quina (- -) ICQ Number: 6809944 ---ooO(_)Ooo--- ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 07:10:23 +0100 From: Jo Hart Subject: Re: IN> The Demon of Gun Control At 21:58 29/04/98 -0400, you wrote: >>>>I cannot agree. Not *any* topic. For my tastes, that's liberalising >Heaven a little too much. In the example of abortion, any angel >advocating the pro-choice approach should be well on his way to Falling, >IMHO. Although IN is played in various shades, there are some things >that are seen by Heaven as simply being 'wrong', and abortion has to be >one of them. Its murder after all. The ability of one human to knowingly >and willingly extinguish the life of another, and, even more, a complete >innocent at that (unless you believe in Original Sin).<<< > > >That's all very interesting....and your subjective opinion. You're >basically quoting the pro-life position and then stating for a fact that it >must be correct (or seen by Heaven as being correct). > >The Angels and Demons of Abortion will be appearing shortly.... > Interesting. Since theologians have been arguing for centuries about at which point the soul really does enter the body I don't see any special reason why angels wouldn't have differences of opinions about that too. For comparison: in Catholicism (and I assume all other branches of Christianity?) abortion is always wrong, in Judaism I think there is a view that it doesn't count as a seperate being until birth, and if you have to choose between the life of an unborn child and the life of its mother you are always supposed to choose the mother, even if she doesn't want you to. (I don't know about any of the other major religions) Whether or not you actually have angels for medical operations I really dunno. I suppose to encourage safer medical techniques maybe, and because there will be times when you have to choose between the life of the child and the life or sanity of the mother and you'd like to be able to do that without killing all of them. Or more nastily, what if some demon decides to impregnate someone (using the song of fruition)? jo ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 02:18:14 -0500 From: ehp Subject: IN> Fade: GM: Ch1 15l: An Email while you speak Karen is on the phone to Karlial, when her email flag lights up. When she gets around to reading it, it contains the following... Return Address: SaulA@Etherialskies.com Dear Karen, WELCOME!! Welcome to the Truth amongst the lies. As you greeted the Skies, now we greet you. We are currently on our "Late Night Advertising" tour to support our "Truth in Advertising" album, currently in the Top 40 indie album charts in several countries. CONTEST!! We are currently in the "Outback" of Australia as we agreed to play at a music festival in Darwin. There are still tickets available, and we can offer backstage passes to all our true fans who can answer the following easy questions (Gorgeous goth groupies apply in person to Kyle for a different set of questions!): Do you know why it happened? How did you determine our connection to it? Who is your superior? FUTURE PLANS!! As yet we have no plans of performing in your wonderful home town of Washington. But, if you get all your friends together to spam our E-mail, our destinies may intertwine! Meanwhile, negotiations are still underway for our next big project, a computer-animated video multi-single, with several different strands of the album separated to cater to the industrial fans, the ambient fans, and so forth. With a working title of "Babel", look for more info in our next newsletter. Farewell, friends! Ethereal Skies. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 03:19:59 -0400 From: David Edelstein Subject: IN> The Demon of Gun Control >>>I don't want to see any angels or demons at all, esp. in canon.<<< What I'm writing isn't canonical. As for not wanting to see them, feel free to delete the posts to the list that will have a clearly marked subject header: "Angels/Demons of Abortion". >>>Such a topic is way too hot a topic for something like In Nomine to deal with.<<< I disagree. In Nomine is an adult game. It might be too hot a topic for your group, and it might even be too hot a topic for anything to ever be published officially, but non-canonical hypothesizing is fair game. >>>If you do want to talk about political hot topics please move it to a different forum. I really, really don't want to see any such issues tear apart the relative decorum we have on this list.<<< I have no intention of talking about political hot topics, and I trust Elizabeth will properly deal with anyone who does. I'm simply going to post my own personal take on the Angels and Demons who would hold abortion-related Words. Others, of course, are free to do the same. That's entirely within the scope of In Nomine, and appropriate for this list. And as Elizabeth pointed out, we've been quite capable of discussing abortion within an In Nomine context before. - -David ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 10:10:16 +0100 (BST) From: Steve Jessop Subject: Re: IN> Falling On Thu, 30 Apr 1998, Brandon Quina wrote: > Hmm. Good idea. However, one quick question. What would the > 'crossing point' be. What would the Kyrio have to do to become > a shedim. I already play that Shedim can do three different things with their resonance: 'Inhabit': they sit in someone but have no effect on that person. 'Suggest': they speak to the person. 'Control': they make a resisted resonance roll to take direct control of the hosts actions. When I wrote the original 'falling' article, I hadn't really decided what to do with Kyrios, not having any as PCs. I'm now going to let them inhabit without falling, but certainly not control. I will probably allow 'suggest', but make it dissonant if the host reacts *too* badly to the shock. I'll also probably let Kyrios with vessels as attunements keep them, too, which makes it easier for them not to Fall. Steve. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 10:51:37 +0100 (BST) From: Steve Jessop Subject: Re: IN> Angels and Dicey Words I'll put a large IMO here, to avoid having to repeat it every sentence. > >>It hardly seems logical to me that any angel would support the existance > >>of guns. > > > It's made quite clear in Laurence's description that his Word as > Archangel was the Sword, in this case symbolising the weapon that he is > charged in forging the Host ... Well, yes, but the Sword is also very specifically a large sharp piece of metal that Laurence sticks into things, thereby making them bleed and die. That's *all* it was before he was promoted to AA, and NM says that his servitors are still hunters and questors, like he used to be. They kill bad things. Maybe not in your campaign, but in canon. The only reason a given Swordie won't use a gun is because he would rather kill things up close. Sounds logical to me. > Michael on the other hand walks a fine line. Unlike Baal whose Word is > specifically, The War, Micheal's is more encompassing. Baal's word means 'lots of people killing each other.' It generalises from 'The War' to 'large groups of people fighting' in the same way that Asmodeus' word generalises from 'The Game' to 'all nasty mind-games'. Michael's word means 'A cause so great, and an enemy so terrible, that violence is the only resort.' He doesn't like killing in general, but he does like killing genuine bad guys. They need to be killed, it's logical to kill them. It's not *nice*, because angels aren't *nice*. They'd have lost by now if they were. But to him it's necessary, and it's the right thing to do. He will put down his axe and his gun when the last demon collapses at his feet, either to expire or to repent, and not one second sooner. This is why he doesn't get on with Novalis. She's *nice*. Steve. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 11:00:08 +0100 From: "Hart, Joanna" Subject: IN> Hast plot seeds (100th light infantry contd.) [NB. There is a fairly constant trend here that the 100th are rather more dangerous to their own side than to any angels] Fragged - -- Summary: An away team from the 100th reports back to Baal that their local commanding officer has unfortunately been killed in a brush with angels of war. PCs are sent to take control of the team, bolster it out, find out what happened and if necessary take retaliatory action against the angels. (Probably works better if you have one PC demon of war that is nominated to take over the command) What Happened: The previous commanding officer was young, green and very enthusiastic. They did find evidence of a Michaelite placement, suspected to be a small tether, and the commanding officer was all for a full-scale assault. It had plans and everything. However, when the rest of the team heard about this, they decided direct action was called for, because the plans would have driven them into what they felt was certain death. The commander was ambushed and soulkilled by his own team in a self-preservation tactic. Then the balseraph wrote up the report for hell -- after all .. if it hadn't been for the angels of war then the commander wouldn't have needed to die so they were responsible for its death really. The team are nervous about meeting the PC reinforcements which Baal is sending, mainly because they have also been contacted by the Game locally and told that a couple of demons will be showing up to 'help investigations' - -- the other thing they don't know is that Baal ordered one of his military police to take a sniff round as well. Compared to everyone else, the MP is a very seasoned campaigner. Then of course there are the angels... PCs are shown by one of the team what they know about the angelic presence. If the Game demons are around then the team also express great enthusiasm for storming the place armed only with toothpicks and used tea-bags. Careful messaging between the demons and angels may produce the information that the angels have no idea what any of this is about -- there has been no assault recently although they are on a full alert. The MP turns up a bit later, works out immediately which is the most likely explanation and gathers the original team to tell them that 'hey, these things happen in a war' but they mustn't let the game, or the new demons find out. They'd figured this out already. It suggests a new scenario for them to tell the Game in which the ex-commander let slip that it was planning to go renegade so they had to kill it, but they didnt want to spoil morale in hell by passing that on... they were going to report it quietly later. (So their story changes appropriately). The MP makes it very clear however, that the price of its silence is that they DO need to show some success at taking this Angelic tether. Otherwise they might all be court-martialled and shot. So when PCs are gathering them all together for a planning meeting, they are forced to show willing and turn up ready to fight. However, if their new commander comes up with a plan which they think is suicidal, it may also meet with a stab in the back on the battlefield. *** Drug Wars - -- PCs become aware, either through mortal contacts or hearing disturbances or rumours, that there is some kind of shake-up going on in the local underworld which involves other celestials. Frailing (from the sample away team) has turned up and discovered that some servitor demons of Drugs have the local drug scene fairly well mapped out. Evidently this does not fit well with his own drug-supremo plans so in flaky Bal-of-War fashion he decides that his actual orders (find an archaeologist at the local university and convince it to come with them on a dig) can wait in favour of all out war. Right now. He has the beginnings of a competent gang, although none are soldiers, and managed to take out one of the drug demons in an ambush. His next move is to take out one of the mortal movers-and-shakers but willl do this in typical style by turning up to the man's apartment for a tete-a-tete, snorting cocaine in the bathroom and then letting rip on the guy and his wife and children with a semi-automatic pistol. It will be loud, it will be wacky, it will involve unnecessary amounts of blood and violence. If no-one else can stop him, he will proceed to use his balseraph mind tricks to consolidate other gangs, throw some truly intense parties, neutralise as many other demons of drugs as he can find, unless they knuckle under .. and only then will he possibly consider actually looking for the academic. If he feels outgunned by angelic presence, or by other organised crime reaction to his 'coup' then he'll send back for the rest of the team to help, without telling them that this is in fact all his own fault. He acts as much as possible like a stereotyped druglord. *** Theft and the single Impudite - -- A soldier reports to one of the PCs superiors or senior angels that she may have cause to be worried about a friend who is being inveigled into criminal activities. She was reluctant to bring the celestials into this because her friend has been having a really hard time lately, but from some of the things she says, she suspects there may be demonic involvement. El Tamami (from the sample away team) has managed to hook up with some demons of Theft as part of its latest wheeler-dealer scheme. It has set itself up as a slum landlord in a bad area of town, draining its tenants of essence as well as cash, but it is also using its new mortal contacts to fence goods, and case out likely burglary sites in return for going easy on the rent. They love the demon, naturally -- where else could you find such an easygoing landlord?, and he is so good about replacing broken lightbulbs and finding new carpets for them. It is also quite popular with the theft demons, as a stationary go-between who can help advise on what stolen goods are easiest to sell on these days. It is actually also in contact with an angel of the wind, who it is also advising on what the theft demons are doing and is actively trying to sell both sides out to each other and profit from the deal. *** Break for the Border - -- [This is a bit specific on the geography, I'm afraid] Destiny (or Fate) sends the PCs off to investigate a strange ripple in the symphony which has been observed on exactly the same night every year at the same time in a remote area of the Scottish borders. It hasn't been properly investigated yet because it is a very quiet disturbance, and didn;t seem to be all that significant. Still, they might as well clear it all up. Inhabitants of a local village have reported seeing strange figures marching through the mists, that turned out to be hallucinations, and having odd dreams on or about that same night. The infamous 9th legion, together with the demons of the 100th infantry didn't actually go renegade. They were involved in a battle with warlike ethereals during which some strange ethereal relic was used that softened the boundary between the corporeal world and the marches -- it also broke celestial hearts if pointed at the right vessel. The entire legion found itself stranded in the far marches. The demons realised where they were , although not that they were heartbroken, but also that it seemed reasonably quiet and safe so was probably a good excuse for some overdue furlough. What they didn't realise was how quickly time was passing in the corporeal world, until some lost ethereal stumbled across them, fleeing the purity crusade. Also.. when they did try to leave, the fabric of the symphony was so fluid about them, this far out, that they simply weren't able to do it. They could have returned to hell through the marches but were (rightly) wary of being shot as deserters now that they knew how much time had passed. The mortals have long since died, even with the extreme time dilation, but the demons have co-ordinated their efforts to try to break back to the corporeal world, using the banner as a focus. They have been successful enough that they can _almost_ feel the corporeal ground under their feet. However, the time dilation is such that although this seems continuous to the demons, it is a brief annual event to the mortals. Dreams are disturbed, as you might expect when people mess with the marches. However, the banner itself recently got sucked into the veil between the far marches and the scottish borders. This seems to have strengthed the nascent gateway. Celestials of dream and nightmare have also noticed this oddness from the Marches side. gateways between the far marches and the corporeal plane? Not without their sayso! Can the PCs find a way to communicate with the demons? Can they find their way out into the right part of the far marches to actually locate them? Will the demons actually go renegade now? Can this odd new gateway be turned into a tether and if so, whose will it be? What happened to the banner? Why is the flag of the European Community exactly the same as the colours of the infernal 100th light infantry? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 05:15:34 -0500 (CDT) From: Titus 3 11 Subject: Re: IN> num.corp. question Being a new, overly-enthused IN player/GM, I have been reading and pondering to what could be considered an obsessive level. This has lead me to the belief that follows: Acid is, from a rule-mongering perspective, the best combat song, with accuracy and power equal to its level (compare to claws - power equal to level, accuracy +1/+0). Would one of the few, but powerful and skilled, demons of nitpicking or angels of the archives set me straight? Much as it humilates me to say "I spit acid at the drug dealers head," the stupid song is pretty powerful. Thanks all, Enosh Malakim of Creation In service to Christopher ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 06:45:25 -0400 From: David Edelstein Subject: IN> Abortion Demons "Well, I guess you're pleased with yourself!" the demon spat, storming over to the other demon's table in Shal-Mari. He was practically frothing already. "Hello Hiram. Tired of doing the Lord's work on Earth?" The Habbalite sneered. "Spare me your sarcasm, whore! So your side won another victory in the Supreme Court. Don't imagine for a minute that you'll stop us!" "Oh, I don't. Although I rather thought the presentation by the lawyer from Catholics for Life was more effective than your little demonstration outside. Don't you think the bloody fetuses are getting a little passé?" The first demon's mutilated face twisted into a snarl. "Legal blathering and the nattering of intellectuals are the tactics upon which the Host relies. I know what really inspires righteous outrage, and I have minions who will prove _far_ more effective than those insipid Heavenly automatons!" "Another bombing? You're really not very original. But whatever....you know I'll still be in business no matter what." The Habbalite stood there, glowering for a few seconds, then said "That's what I really don't understand about you, Kasha. It would be in your own best interests to support me. I know you help scores of women murder their children, and collect Geases for the service. You must get a lot more Geases of much higher value in places where it's illegal!" The Demon of Abortion gave the Habbalite a beatific smile. "Who said a Lilim can't take a stand because it's the right thing to do?" =============================================================== Hiram Demon of Pro-Lifers Habbalite Captain of Factions Corporeal Forces - 3 (Strength 8, Agility 4) Ethereal Forces - 4 (Intelligence 8, Precision 8) Celestial Forces - 6 (Will 12, Perception 12) Vessels: Human/4 Role: Rev. Hiram Blackwell, Pro-Life Activist/4, Status 3 Skills: Driving/2, Emote/6, Fast-Talk/4, Fighting/3, Knowledge (Abortionists/3, Pro-Life Organizations/6), Lockpicking/1, Ranged Weapon (Rifle/2) Songs: Acid/5, Charm (Corporeal/4, Ethereal/4, Celestial/4), Entropy (Corporeal/3), Motion (Ethereal/5, Celestial/3) Attunements: Habbalite of Factions, Balseraph of Factions, Polarize, Captain of the Broken Promise, Demon of Pro-Lifers Servant: Tony Makowski (former Soldier of God)/3 Special Attunement: Hiram can make a Perception roll to find out if a woman has ever had an abortion. He also adds his Ethereal Forces to any resonance roll against someone who is even moderately pro-life. Special Rites: Start a pro-life demonstration; shut down an abortion clinic; prevent an abortion from happening by any means possible. - --------------------------------------------------------------------- Hiram has been a fast-riser in Malphas' hierarchy. The Prince of Factions was quick to see the potential for abortion to become a powderkeg issue, but while he had Servitors working on both sides of the debate to keep it incendiary and violent, he couldn't find quite the right demon to make it _his_ issue, and seize the potential for major Word-territory. When a low-ranking Habbalite of Factions spontaneously decided, as part of his Habbalite delusion, that God wanted him to punish abortionists and women who had abortions, Malphas took notice. He was quite pleased with Hiram's work, promoted him to Knight after he factionalized several Right-to-Life organizations into more extreme and violent splinter groups, and finally felt the Habbalite was ready to go before Lucifer for a Word after Hiram's innovations in large part led to "Pro-Lifer" becoming a synonym for violent fanatic in many peoples' minds. Hiram was promoted to Captain after he corrupted a Soldier of God who once served Laurence, turning the devout Catholic increasingly fanatical, until he was willing to use bombs and guns in the "war to save babies." This is one of many reasons why Shachim, the Angel of the Unborn, wants Hiram's head. Hiram, of course, is quite sincere in his belief that abortion is a sin, and that he's doing the Lord's work by trying to prevent it. Every human being is born to suffer, after all, so why should countless unborn babies be spared that fate by their selfish mothers? Only God and His appointed angels should decide when a mortal's existence should come to an end. Hiram delights in terrorizing both abortion workers and women who have had abortions, filling them with feelings of such guilt and horror that many become suicidal, and others become traumatized converts to the pro-life cause. Most demons regard Hiram with the same bemused contempt with which they regard all Habbalah. Hell in general couldn't care less about abortion as a moral issue. Hiram has either not noticed or simply dismissed as irrelevant the fact that Malphas is no more concerned about the rights of the unborn than he is concerned about the rights of toenail fungus. - --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kasha Demon of Abortion Free Lilim Corporeal Forces - 4 (Strength 8, Agility 8) Ethereal Forces - 5 (Intelligence 12, Precision 8) Celestial Forces - 6 (Will 12, Perception 12) Vessels: Human/4, Human/2 (both adult females, one with Charisma +2, the other Charisma +1) Skills: Dodge/2, Driving/3, Emote/2, Escape/4, Fast-Talk/6, Knowledge (Abortionists/6, Abortion methods/6), Lying/2, Medicine/4 Songs: Affinity (Celestial/6), Form (Corporeal/3, Ethereal/3, Celestial/3), Healing (Corporeal/5, Ethereal/2, Celestial/2), Motion (Celestial/6), Projection (Corporeal/3), Shields (Ethereal/3, Celestial/3), Tongues (Corporeal/4) Attunements: Lilim of Lust, Polarize, Knight of the Dead, Demon of Abortion Special Attunement: As the Demon of Abortion, Kasha can cause a spontaneous abortion by spending 2 Essence. This does not create a disturbance (except for the Essence expenditure), but the subject must be willing. Such abortions are always quick and effective. Special Rites: Assist in or perform an abortion; convince a woman to have an abortion. - --------------------------------------------------------------------- Kasha is one of the few Word-bound Free Lilim in Hell, and one of very few to have been sponsored for a Word by Lilith herself (Lilith did collect a Geas for this, of course). Lilith sees Kasha's Word as being closely tied to her own, and so Kasha "serves" the Word of Freedom to a degree....like many Free Lilim, she enjoys the use of Lilith's Rites and accepts her dissonance conditions. Kasha's status is assured both by the special favor she enjoys with Lilith, and the services she has performed for many Princes, earning her several attunements, and also thoroughly entangling her in a web of Geases. Asmodeus has classified Kasha as being as "safe" as any Free Lilim can be, thoroughly indebted to Hell and showing no signs of climbing her way out of infernal society. She doesn't spend much time in Hell, though; like most Lilim, she prefers Earth, and particularly the vast network of women (and men who got their girlfriends in trouble...) who owe her Geases for helping them out of "sticky situations." Kasha supports unrestricted abortion on demand, no questions asked. She sees her Word as granting freedom for women, freedom for society, and freedom from all obligations or moral considerations.... She doesn't hate children, or revel in the death of fetuses, she just considers them irrelevant in the equation. A child is a leech that demands your time and energy for years; if anyone is insane enough to _want_ to devote themselves to something that offers no payback (none that's meaningful to a Lilim, anyway), that's their choice, but Kasha can't imagine why anyone would think a helpless and useless cluster of tissue should have a claim over a free-willed being's body. Andrealphus likes Kasha, as the easy availability of abortion removes an obstacle for his Servitors by removing one of the negative consequences of casual sex. He gave her a good deal on his Lilim Band attunement. Malphas paid her for a multi-year project (which involved his own pro-life Servitor Hiram) with his Polarize attunement. Saminga was initially peeved that a Free Lilim had a Word he felt should be his. Having Saminga peeved at you tends to be unhealthy for Free Lilim, but with Lilith's help, she managed to make a deal with the Prince of Death; she engineers at least 100 deaths a year during botched abortions, making them as bloody and grotesque as possible. She sees this as helping her Word, by horrifying people into wanting safe and legal abortions. Saminga was satisfied, and in fact was so pleased by the arrangement, and by her body count, that he Knighted her. (Saminga sees abortion as promoting Death; the fact that aborted fetuses don't send any souls to Hell is irrelevant to him. Saminga, as has been frequently noted, is a simpleton.) Kasha and Maranel, the Angel of Abortion, have never met. Both would prefer to keep it that way. In an uneasy and perverse way, they support the same Word, but their outlooks are vastly different, and the Malakite would certainly feel obligated to destroy the demon. It is more certain, however, that both of them would be quite happy to see Hiram squashed. ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #738 ******************************* The material here is (C) 1997 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.