From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Wed Oct 18 18:44:59 2000 Return-Path: Received: from lists.io.com (lists.io.com [199.170.88.15]) by pyramid.sjgames.com (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id SAA28065 for ; Wed, 18 Oct 2000 18:44:58 -0500 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.9.3/8.9.1a) id SAA31813 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Wed, 18 Oct 2000 18:41:26 -0500 Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 18:41:26 -0500 Message-Id: <200010182341.SAA31813@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 #1856 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 Wednesday, October 18 2000 Volume 01 : Number 1856 In this digest: Re: IN> OT: s/he Re: IN> Dominic's Confessions: Day Eight Re: IN> Ethereal Vessel Cache IN> [ADMIN] Enough, enough. (Re: OT: s/he) Re: IN> Dominic's Confessions: Day Eight Re: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) IN> Dominic takes confession, day 9 IN> Laurence and, well, not exactly Renaissance Faires Re: IN> Dominic takes confession, day 9 Re: IN> Dominic's Confessions: Day Eight IN> Dominic's Confessions Re: IN> Dominic takes confession, day 9 Re: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) Re: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) Re: IN> Dominic takes confession, day 9 IN> Silly Url Re: IN> Laurence's blind spot Re: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) IN> Dominic's Confessions: Upon one of the Days. Re: IN> OT: s/he (Hmmm. AA of Goats?) Re: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) Re: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) Re: IN> Dominic's Confessions: Upon one of the Days. Re: IN> New Contest> Dominic's Confessions Re: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) IN> Dominic's Confessions : Day 10 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 10:02:02 -0500 From: Earl Wajenberg Subject: Re: IN> OT: s/he Whistling in the Dark wrote: > Many use the plural as defacto gender neutral these days, but I > agree with the above. (I.e. the suggestion by Charles Glasgow to use both "he" and "she" indifferently.) I recommend using "they" as the general personal pronoun. This usage is actually centuries old, used in both everyday speech and by recognizedly high-quality authors, and draws so little attention to itself that you may find it tumbling out of your own mouth unregarded. "I asked a friend about that, and they said..." To drag this back a little way toward IN, my own habit is to refer to celestials as "it," to underline their nonhumanity a little. Using "it" for people is also an old and acceptable usage, at least with regard to children in British English. I have read of "the child, it" in several British authors at least up into the 19040s. Earl ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 15:20:17 +0100 From: "Laurent" Subject: Re: IN> Dominic's Confessions: Day Eight > On the eighth day... > ... he ducked back into the shadows of the buildings, wiping the tear from his cheek. I liked it a lot!! Very good work! Though it wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I asked for it... Thanks, Laurent. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 10:44:31 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Ethereal Vessel Cache At 10:18 PM -0600 10/17/00, Tim Groth wrote: >How big is it? I seem to have misplaced my copy of the Marches. IIRC, there's nostated limit. - --Beth, typing w/a uncoopertive baby (iolanthe) causing typos. "She's either babbling, or summoning Elder Gods. I'm not sure which." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 10:47:14 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: IN> [ADMIN] Enough, enough. (Re: OT: s/he) Unless you're making a point about celestials (such as using "it" for them), enough with the s/he/they discussion. I've seen this on another mailing list recently, and have NO tolerance for it showing up here unless there is immediate and obvious In Nomine content. Got me? - --Beth, Djinn Princess of List Admin ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 09:42:57 -0600 From: "ben" Subject: Re: IN> Dominic's Confessions: Day Eight That was frickin-a awesome. :-) Heck, I wanna *use* that in a game. Benkobalfanboy ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 11:40:33 +0800 From: Whistling in the Dark Subject: Re: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) At 1:55 AM -0500 10/18/00, Charles Glasgow wrote: > >Not really. IIRC, there is a canonical example of something that possesses >Celestial Forces but has no soul and will just vanish forever when it >dies... undead. > >So Androids are Heaven's Undead. > >Well, it's a *theory*... Now there's a campaign seed for you.... After all, should the Children of Heaven be creating things -- *any* things -- that have no hope of Heaven? That have no soul? Note that if they *are* "Heavenly Undead," at least in classification or mechanics purposes, then Corporeal androids should be incapable of going to either Heaven or Hell for any purpose, the same as the Undead are. The potential schisms here are lovely. After all, Jean would champion them as a natural development and progress in a new field -- one day, even mortals will build Androids, in his master plan. And they're so useful. Dominic, on the other hand, might well *equate* them with being Heavenly Undead -- and therefore heretical, leading to an Inquisition investigation of Jean and Jean's operation. Novalis might be divided -- both wanting to encourage the life of these new beings, yet torn about the creation of, essentially, slave labor that cannot go to Heaven. (Slave labor that can -- namely Angels -- are another story). Michael might simply be excited at the prospect, and Laurence may use them but actively dislike them (a soulless creature is, by definition, heretical in the eyes of Catholic law).... It's a fertile field for some heavy-duty campaigns. - -- I have a broken hand, so spelling errors, capitalization errors, and extremely slow response times should be treated as precious things, not errors, because I'm not about to correct them. Neener. Eric Alfred Burns - Habbalite of Belaboring the Point ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 15:59:46 GMT From: "Jo Hart" Subject: IN> Dominic takes confession, day 9 The archangel of judgement glided back down towards the nave of his cathedral, silencing a choir of relievers who stopped in unison to bow low as the he passed. As he reached the confessional, the evensong burst back into life in his wake. "Glory," they sang, "Glory to the Lord of Hosts, who creates the evening twilight. Glory to He who judges the world." Dominic settled the folds of his hood and turned back to nod gravely at them in acknowledgement. It was a heavy burden that had been entrusted to him, a responsibility that he strongly felt that no other angel in Heaven could even have contemplated. To labour for millenia without even a word of encouragement or approval from the Father, knowing that he would be hated and reviled behind his back, that angels would have to be dragged to prayer and to confession -- duties they should undertake willingly; it was a hard task. He paused for a moment of meditation on the nobility of his position and the difficulty of the tasks ahead, and ducked into the cubicle. There was a minute of silence. No, not quite silence. Someone in the other cubicle was fidgeting with something. "Speak," Dominic said finally, "And know that your confessions will be heard." "What about confessions will be heard?" asked a bright, mellifluous female voice. "My child, confession is a sacrament of penance by which your sins, of which there are probably many, may be heard, judged, and absolved before God. It is normal for supplicants to at least investigate the nature of the rite before seeking to benefit from it, in order to approach the serious matter of confession with an appropriate demeanor." "You sound very interested in appropriate demeanors," said the woman. " Would you like to talk about it?" Dominic could hear her tapping on something, perhaps long fingernails against the wooden chair. His resonance was picking up very little from the hidden speaker."Not at this time, child. Rather, I would hear your confession." There was another furious round of tapping and another pause. Then she said brightly, "Forgive me, for I have sinned." "I am listening, my child, " said the archangel. "In what way have you sinned?" "Does that question interest you?" The archangel glared at the inside of his cowl. Would it never end? "Indeed, child. I maintain an interest in the wellbeing of all of the host." "Can you elaborate on that?" she asked. A set of quick, businesslike footsteps rang out against the paving stones of the cathedral, approaching rapidly. "Their souls are in my keeping. Please continue with your confession." "Why do you say 'in your keeping?" "Their spiritual welfare was entrusted to me by the Master of the Universe. I am bound to that duty." "How long have you been bound --" Outside the confessional, someone cleared his (her?) throat meaningfully, and the woman's voice was cut off in mid-sentence. Dominic uttered a mental prayer -- "God give me strength" -- and opened the door. He would have recognised the austere figure in the white coat instantly, even if sparks had not been dancing and crackling about its hands. "You. Out. Now," said Jean coldly to the occupant of the other cubicle. A small Mercurian with eyes that shone like stars bowed his head, ducked out of the confessional, and knelt in front of the Archangel of Lightning. A Sony Vaio with extra speakers attached was cradled in his arms. "My Lord," he murmured, "She passed the Dominic test!!!" Jean pointed blandly towards the exit and snapped his fingers, and the smaller angel vanished in a flurry of sparks. He turned to Dominic and eyed him impassively for a moment. "Accept my apologies for the disruption, Most Holy," he said, without a trace of apology in his tone. "I rather think we should talk," stated the other archangel gravely, indicating the confessional. Jean shrugged. "Very well, but make it brief. The trappings of your religious preferences are of little interest or use to me." The pair settled themselves inside the carved wooden cubicles, a certain tension evident in the air even to the Seraph. "You have created artificial intelligence?," Dominic asked. "What of it?" "It seems to me," said the archangel of judgement heavily, "That this would be a good time for you to unburden your soul of anything you wish to confess before myself and before God. Are you attempting to recreate man in your own image, brother?" "No." "Yet we had agreed in council that this 'technology' was inappropriate." Jean snorted ungraciously. "Spare me the rhetoric," he said. "I had strike teams sent to kill two researchers last week to prevent humans from discovering faster-than-light travel, one destroyed for brain transplants, and yet another for AI. This week I have to deal personally with some petty tinkerer who has split the electron. I'm perfectly well able to determine which technologies are and aren't appropriate without the 'guidance' of a band of lunatic halo'ed do-gooders who can't think and wave swords at the same time." "I see, brother," said Dominic softly. "Your opinions are noted." "However. On reflection, I do wish to avail myself of the seal of the confessional." There was a long pregnant pause. Both of the archangels remained inhumanly still, and everything fell silent other than the distant sound of voices rising in prayer. "I have conspired with the enemy," Jean stated. "I have futhered the lesser evil in order to better combat the greater evil." "I ... see. And do you repent yourself of this action, brother?" "No." Again Dominic paused, frozen to the core. His resonance revealed nothing about the speaker. "Please continue," he whispered icily. "That was all. It occurs to me that this confessional procedure is not only antiquated but also wasteful of your valuable time. Had you considered installing facilities to allow remote confessions?" "With whom did you conspire, brother?" Silence fell over the confessional again, a long soft silence that swallowed the small rooms. After some minutes, Dominic opened the door and stepped outside. The other cubicle was empty. As the archangel's hand brushed against the round metal doorhandle, it gave him a nasty shock. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 16:25:57 GMT From: "Janet Anderson" Subject: IN> Laurence and, well, not exactly Renaissance Faires I have an idea regarding Laurence, an Angel of Tournaments (not as powerful as he used to be) and an appropriate venue.* I hope to have it finished by this weekend. Janet Anderson *Yes, Moe, of course *that* appropriate venue. Don't steal this idea until I finish with it. Then you can. _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 12:56:09 -0400 From: "Jason F. McBrayer" Subject: Re: IN> Dominic takes confession, day 9 Bwahahahahah! M-x psychoanalyze-seraph RET - -- +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Jason F. McBrayer jmcbray@carcosa.net | | The scalloped tatters of the King in Yellow must hide Yhtill | | forever. R.W. Chambers _The King in Yellow_ | ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 12:18:32 -0500 From: "Prodigal" Subject: Re: IN> Dominic's Confessions: Day Eight Wow. Beautiful work... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 13:19:05 -0400 From: "Charles Phipps" Subject: IN> Dominic's Confessions Dominic thought a long time about Kobal's confession on the Eighth day and while he was pratically sure it was joke....no it had to be one of Dark Humor's twisted senses of humor....didn't it? Dominic sighed and looked at his hourglass underneath his robes, the device ticking away sands until the new Millineum. It was the ninth day and thus still a week until his next day of rest. It was then he noticed that his confessional was on fire. Dominic blinked as two servants of Yves cast songs of cooling on the confessional so he could enter safely. Given the display Dominic had a very good idea who was inside and thus quickly went inside to get the person's confession. Gabrielle: Multi-Eyed cloaked servant of the Scales, he who gives decisions in place of a God who exists all around but is never seen, taker of in his name sins who dwells among us....I have to confess what lies beneath my ineffability as surely as it lies under yon cloak. Dominic looked at Gabrielle for a long momment puzzling through that. Dominic: Eh? Gabrielle: I come to confess something horrendeous, mind boggling, and dark to something that was akin to the Darkest screaming violations of the Symphony without being so. Dominic stared blinking his multi-eyes. Dominic: Go on.... Gabrielle: CAN YOU TRULY STAND THE TRUTH HOODED ONE!? Can you accept the burden of knowledge!? Is it in your spirit to acknoledge your nakedness before the Lord and the powerless you have before him to judge me....and serve as MY conduit for redemption? Gabrielle pointed a fiery finger at Dominic. Dominic: Yes Yes indeed.... Gabrielle: Very well so be unto you the truth....I didst forget to tell Sodekai this morrow that I wanted to sponser a young Olfalim for a word. I corrected it but momments past. Dominic waited a few momments after that as the fire was continually being smoothed around his confessional by the Yves servitors....after a full minute of silence, Dominic looked at Gabrielle. Dominic: That's it? Gabrielle: Yay. Dominic briefly wondered if it would be innappropriate to fill the cathedral with profanity but he decided against it on sheer grounds it would require another confession. Dominic: Your sure Lady Gabrielle? No....book tampering or abandoning servitors or smiting someone who didn't deserve it? Gabrielle: Nay my concience there is clear. *GASP* FATHER I DO THY BIDDING! The side of the confessional Gabrielle was on then exploding reigning down burning embers on Dominic's cathedral. Dominic simply sighed and waved his hands in a holy gesture towards Gabrielle's flying form. "Your forgiven in his name. Say three our fathers and an act of contrition." Dominic at that point left his confessional to get contact Saint Joseph for a new confession booth....stopping only to dance about when he realized his cloak was on fire. - -Charlemagne ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 13:49:09 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Dominic takes confession, day 9 At 3:59 PM +0000 10/18/00, Jo Hart wrote: >"I have conspired with the enemy," Jean stated. "I have futhered the lesser >evil in order to better combat the greater evil." > >"I ... see. And do you repent yourself of this action, brother?" > >"No." [Jean . o O (If I were going to _repent_ it, I wouldn't have _done_ it. DUH.)] - --Beth, typing w/a uncoopertive baby (iolanthe) causing typos. "She's either babbling, or summoning Elder Gods. I'm not sure which." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 12:48:29 -0500 From: David Edelstein Subject: Re: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) Perry Lloyd wrote: > Hrm . . . again, another flaw of In Nomine. In order to have Will or > Perception, one *must* possess a soul. -sigh- A feature, not a bug. In Nomine is a theological game based on pseudo-Judeo-Christian mythology. It makes perfect sense to link the soul to such things as Will and Perception. - -David ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 10:46:36 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 11:43:11 -0500 From: EDG Subject: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) >I'm finally getting ready to start putting The Robots >of Jean up on a website. While I work, here's a >tidbit from the overall arc. > >I hope you enjoy it. ^_^ > >- -EDG > >*** > >ANDROIDS Nice, unusual and fraught with potential mayhem. I'll leave the philosophical debates over the soul to the others (from my POV, leaving it open is just paying homage to a fine old tradition in robotic SF), and instead add a little something that you might find useful. Or not. :) Moe P.S. Nice Dominic Confession, BTW. :) P.P.S. This is still fairly chaotic: I was making it up as I went along (no books). Any errors will be cheerfully noted and corrected (or renamed 'features'). Numinous Corpus (Plasticman) Not that Jean calls it that, mind you: he much prefers "Quicksilver". Unfortunately, he didn't discover this Song, so he doesn't get to dictate the formal name. The Song allows the singer to essentially mold and stretch his, her or its flesh for ten minutes (one hour at level/4 and above). For each level of the Song, the subject may stretch out 12 inches. 'Hand to hand' attacks have a -2 to Power, but +1 to Accuracy: the negative modifier goes away at level/4 and above. At any level, the subject is infinitely flexible, can roll up into a literal ball, and so forth: note that clothing isn't affected, and the subject's body will attempt to go back to it's original shape at the end of the Song. If the vessel of the Singer is inorganic, they may use this Song to penetrate a substance of roughly the same composition: this can mean anything from +3 to hits inflicted to the same bonus in repair or maintenance rolls. This trick is unavailable to organic life forms, but the ability to mold your body so that you can see what you're doing for a change is usually worth +2 to repair rolls anyway. Bonus: Lightning (, Mending) Available: Eli, Jean, (Jaymiel.) Andrealphus, Valefor and Vapula would be good demonic candidates to have this Song, but it's too new as written. (ignore below, if so desired - it's pure egoboo.) This Song appeared as the result of a marathon cartoon-a-thon between Francis, Mercurian of Creation, and his boss. They were watching vintage first season Superfriends, and had gotten to the episode where Plasticman showed up to retrieve a mouse from a computer. A chance comment from Francis about how his girlfriend could use repairmen with that ability ended up, six months later, with Eli teaching him the above Song. Naturally, Francis gave it to Jaymiel (AA of Mending, and aforementioned girlfriend [long story]), who in turn gave it to Da... I mean, Jean. He's found that his androids find it _very_ useful, and has even gotten marginally less colder towards Francis as a result. Marginally. ===== In Nomine stuff: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Everything else (not that there is, right now): http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/main.html Last updated 9/5/00 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE. http://im.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 13:33:39 +0800 From: Whistling in the Dark Subject: Re: IN> Dominic takes confession, day 9 Jo? You are *way* too cool. - -- I have a broken hand, so spelling errors, capitalization errors, and extremely slow response times should be treated as precious things, not errors, because I'm not about to correct them. Neener. Eric Alfred Burns - Habbalite of Belaboring the Point ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 18:57:01 +0100 From: "Laurent" Subject: IN> Silly Url It's probably a classic for most of you, but here's another silly URL: http://www.askjesus.org/ to "jesusify" the Web... it works quite well on the "So you've decided to be evil" site: http://members.tripod.com/~mrpuzuzu/index.html Laurent. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 14:43:48 -0400 (EDT) From: "Rev. Pee Kitty" Subject: Re: IN> Laurence's blind spot On Tue, 17 Oct 2000, Charles Glasgow wrote: > The other failures listed were of the same pattern -- great in theory, > flopped like a dead whale in practice, 'cause Laurence forgot to allow for a > margin of error. Hey, give little Larry a break, though... he's still brand new at this! You've got to admit, the kid's been catching on pretty quick. I think he might even hit his full potential before the new century's up.... - -- Rev. Pee Kitty, of the order Malkavian-Dobbsian, Q4B4L! Meow! "Cold is God's way of telling us to burn more Catholics." -- Lady Whiteadder, Blackadder II ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 13:00:57 -0500 From: Matt Trent Subject: Re: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) Perry Lloyd wrote: > > >Interesting. So any old angel with the right training can > >make an android? Contrast this with celestials, which can > >only be made by Superiors or God, or human and animal souls, > >which can only be made by God. > > Hrm . . . again, another flaw of In Nomine. In order to have Will or > Perception, one *must* possess a soul. -sigh- Not really, you can have up to three total points of will and perception before you get a "soul" and note that even though most animals don't have that oh, so necessary celestial force, they do go to heaven by default. So the logic isn't consist, and I feel free to GM hand wave what I want to happen. - -- Matt Trent Jaded Cynics Inc. "Subtraction is the key to making a difference." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 14:32:14 +0800 From: Whistling in the Dark Subject: IN> Dominic's Confessions: Upon one of the Days. Dominic heard many confessions, of course. Each day since beginning this procedure, Dominic had heard from many in Heaven's Host. Of course, as an Archangel, this was not difficult. He could be in many places, he could do many things, he could be many people. Now, he heard the confession of a teary-eyed reliever, expecting to have the Archangel smite it, but too burdened with the Sin of Avarice to do otherwise. He listened to the confession of a powerful Word-Bound, who had acted as the enemy would to trap them, but now felt the pains of his methods. He heard from the mighty and the weak, the high and the low. The contrite and the profane. It was, he reflected, why one needed confession in the first place. And perhaps there was perspective to be found. He settled in the booth, and quietly heard another enter on the other side. "Forgive me father," the voice whispered, "for I have sinned. I have never confessed." "I see," Dominic said, smoothly. He had heard several who said the same. The giving and taking of Confessions, while always a function of Judgement, was new throughout Heaven -- at least in this form. "You may tell me your sins, my child, and I might give you penance and redeem them. In Judgement's Name and the Lord's." There was a long pause. "My Son?" Dominic prompted. "I... must confess the Sin of Doubt," the voice whispered. "Doubt?" "Yes... doubt in myself. In my choices. In my methods. Doubt that I have done right, though I do so in the name of righteousness." "I see. Can you give examples of this doubt?" "It is... not a thing for examples. I must present the image of confidence. I must forever be resolute. Yet I doubt. Yet to present a false image is... not a lie, perhaps, but enough of one that it is wrong. I must confess that sin." Ah. A Seraph. He had heard such confessions before. Several needed to be shriven merely for the sin of possessing Roles against Divine Truth. Dominic himself was a Seraph. He could understand this. "I see," he said quietly. "So you have doubted, but are compelled to show no doubt, my Child?" "Yes." "What more is there to confess, child?" "Pride." "I see? In what?" "I... had the hubris to believe that... the very Fall could be prevented. That it was under control. When it happened, I had the... *have* the hubris to blame myself." "The Fall itself?" Dominic leaned over, the Inquisitor coming to the fore, even in the Confessional. "How could you be responsible for the Fall? You must explain this." "All will be explained, Father. But... not now. You will understand the truth of it soon. Please...." "Mm. It is hard for me to shrive you your sins when you will not elaborate on them, my Son. This is the Confessional -- your place to admit your wrongdoings and learn the penance to redeem yourself." "...I do not know if I deserve Redemption. I have come so far, Father...." The voice was still a whisper, but there were perhaps tears in it. "You must believe in the Lord and in the work we do in his Name, Child. You must have Faith. If you lack Faith, you lack the Lord. That way lies the path of the Outcast." "I know... I know... I have faith in the Lord, Father. But can I have Faith in myself?" "A selfish attitude. You yourself are not God, and must never mistake yourself for the Lord. You must always remember -- as must we all -- that the Lord has set us to our tasks, and we must perform them. In His holy name, of course, but never setting ourselves above the work." "Then... I must confess a sin of selfishness too, Father." "So I see. So I hear." Dominic took a breath. "Must you confess more, Child?" "Perhaps... but... that will be for another day, Father. I have duties." "You place your own duties before the state of your Angelic soul?" Dominic asked, perhaps sharply. "I would not wish to." "That isn't an answer." "This is a confessional, Father. You will know me outside the Confessional. If you must, I will submit to any investigation." Dominic opened his mouth, then closed it. The penitent had the right of it. Itself commendable. The Most Just must remember that Justice sometimes was dependent upon time and place. "Very well," he said. "You must recite the Prayers of your faith through the night. You must eat nor drink for a fortnight. You must examine the core of your doubt and weigh whether you are fit for your duties." At that, Dominic could hear quiet tears. He continued. "You must make yourself known to the Archangel of Judgement, that he might investigate your claims of responsibility in the Fall. And you must prostrate yourself in prayer for no less than one full month, that you remember that God is in the Higher Heavens and you are not, and you are not he, but instead do his work, in the name of Selflessness." The tears slowly stopped. "I will do these things, Father." "Then go, my Son. The Lord will Bless you. Sin no more." The door opened, slowly, and Dominic, his Cloak and Hood around him, slowly emerged from the Confessional. His bearing was, as always, inscrutable. "Your... pardon, Most Just?" Dominic turned, to see a Servitor of the Sword behind him. "I was waiting," he said. "Shall I return later? To confess?" Dominic pointed silently to the confessional box. The penitent's side was open, the confessor's was closed. "Oh... I had thought...." "Your confessor awaits, Wheel. Enter." The Archangel turned, and made his way from the Cathedral. And elsewhere, he sat in darkness, about to hear the confessions of an Ofanite. And elsewhere he heard more confessions. And elsewhere others of Dominic were visiting his Servitors as he did. But this Dominic made his way out of the Cathedral, to perform his Penance as a good Servitor of the Lord should. And Sin no more. And do his Duty. And release Selfishness and Pride. But not let his charges falter. But never mistake his will and judgement for the Lord's. But yet, to be the Lord's Judgement. He spoke to no others as he walked. - -- I have a broken hand, so spelling errors, capitalization errors, and extremely slow response times should be treated as precious things, not errors, because I'm not about to correct them. Neener. Eric Alfred Burns - Habbalite of Belaboring the Point ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 11:34:48 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> OT: s/he (Hmmm. AA of Goats?) Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 01:51:49 +0800 From: Whistling in the Dark Subject: Re: IN> OT: s/he >Moe, on the other hand, is a power unto himself. I'm >just glad he didn't find a way to use the word "goat" >as a pronoun. Actually, G.O.A.T.* (Generic Oxy-nitrogen Atmosphere Tooluser) seems reasonably inclusive of most sentient life - the kind that'll compete with us for real estate, at least. Now, I prefer the Corporeally Organized Wisdom-Seekers** as a proper designation, but I can understand that others may prefer goater identifier to be a bit more generic... :) Moe *I we you you goat goatey, goater **C.O.W.S. Made you look. :) ===== In Nomine stuff: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Everything else (not that there is, right now): http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/main.html Last updated 9/5/00 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE. http://im.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 13:34:43 -0500 From: EDG Subject: Re: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) At 12:46 PM 10/18/00, you wrote: >... >At any level, the subject is infinitely flexible, can >roll up into a literal ball, and so forth: note that >... Ah, Maru Mari. Would a Metroid be the ur-Impudite? Mother Brain as Vapula, Ridley a Balseraph of Technology while Kraid is a Djinn... and Samus Aran, of course, the Malakite of Fire. - -EDG P.S. Very nice, Moe. May I steal it? ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 15:25:05 EDT From: BillionSix@aol.com Subject: Re: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) In a message dated 10/18/00 1:56:44 AM Central Daylight Time, cglasgow@hotmail.com writes: << Not really. IIRC, there is a canonical example of something that possesses Celestial Forces but has no soul and will just vanish forever when it dies... undead. >> Undead have sould, they are just inextricably bound to the body. (As a Saminga fan, I know this. BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!) Reverend Brian A. Rogers BillionSix@aol.com ICQ# 22544590 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 14:27:24 -0500 From: "Charles Glasgow" Subject: Re: IN> Dominic's Confessions: Upon one of the Days. - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Whistling in the Dark" To: Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2000 1:32 AM Subject: IN> Dominic's Confessions: Upon one of the Days. > Dominic heard many confessions, of course. Each day since beginning > this procedure, Dominic had heard from many in Heaven's Host. Of > course, as an Archangel, this was not difficult. He could be in many > places, he could do many things, he could be many people. [snip] > "Your confessor awaits, Wheel. Enter." The Archangel turned, and made > his way from the Cathedral. And elsewhere, he sat in darkness, about > to hear the confessions of an Ofanite. And elsewhere he heard more > confessions. And elsewhere others of Dominic were visiting his > Servitors as he did. But this Dominic made his way out of the > Cathedral, to perform his Penance as a good Servitor of the Lord > should. > > And Sin no more. And do his Duty. And release Selfishness and Pride. > But not let his charges falter. But never mistake his will and > judgement for the Lord's. But yet, to be the Lord's Judgement. > > He spoke to no others as he walked. I think the contest just ended, folks. If this ain't the winning entry, then God alone knows what could possibly be. Bravo, sir. - -- Chuckg ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Oct 2000 14:28:55 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> New Contest> Dominic's Confessions Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2000 23:56:03 GMT From: "Daniel Gallagher" Subject: Re: IN> New Contest> Dominic's Confessions >I’d first like to say the Bronwen was the creation of >Moe Lane and I apologize greatly for using her >without his permission Thanks for the concern, but if it's on my webpage, assume permission for nonmonetary use. If I've posted it here, assume permission for nonmonetary use. Any exceptions will be duly noted, and mostly involve (hopefully) stuff I want to publish anyway. :) I _would_ appreciate at least a nod towards attribution in fora outside of this one, and that anything essentially rewritten is so noted (BTW, if anything I've tossed out so far is broken, feel free to let me know, and WHY. Feedback is a big-time N-word with me), but as long as money ain't changing hands, use, fold, spindle and mutilate all you want. :) ===== In Nomine stuff: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Everything else (not that there is, right now): http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/main.html Last updated 9/5/00 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE. http://im.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: 18 Oct 2000 21:29:44 -0000 From: "Chris Rose" Subject: Re: IN> The Robots of Jean: Androids (beta) >The Undead have souls, just they are inextricably (is that he righ >tword?...sorry if it isnt, not thinking well tonight, cold plus drowsy flu >medicine= not a good manner in which to write big words) bound to their >vessels, such that when the vessel is destroyed so too is the soul. > >Azrael/Demigouge Want a more interesting take on this one ? The soul is inextricably bound to the body. Even though life functions have ceased, the sould is -=still=- bound to the body - or however much is left of it after you take into account decomposition ... An eternity locked in a casket underground, and you can't even scream ..... - --- Chris ________________________________________________________________ Get Email, News, Links and The Best Selection at http://AnimeNation.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Oct 2000 00:27:55 +0100 From: "Genevieve Cogman" Subject: IN> Dominic's Confessions : Day 10 The bloom is off the rose, meditated the Archangel of Judgement as he smoothly flowed across the cathedral floor. The gilt is off the gingerbread . . . Sometimes I ponder the essential nature of Judgement, and I wonder, what's the bloody point? The distant singing of the choir lifted his mood. Surely it is the service of God. Do I ask why I have been given this task, or do I rather strive to complete it? The second. Without a doubt. He stepped into the confessional, seeing that the door on the penitent's side was already closed. As his own door shut behind him, he bowed his head for a moment in prayer. Silence hung in the air. "Speak, my child. Your confessor awaits." His mellifluous Seraphic tones rang inside the booth like polished crystal, a liquid expression of Truth. There was a beep from the other booth. It sounded uncommonly like a mobile phone. There was also, now Dominic came to think of it, a certain fragrance in the air, differing uncomfortably from the odour of the incense outside. "It's Opium," a voice purred from the other booth. "I might have known you wouldn't recognise it, pet." Dominic's back stiffened. "Prince of Hell." His voice could have replaced Arctic ice and caused the Pole to reach hitherly unknown levels of absolute zero. "Do you desire to confess your sins?" "Actually, yes." The voice was a living thing, a tangible movement against the skin, silk in the air, flawed dangerous amber. "Will you hear my confession, Father?" Dominic raised an eyebrow, knowing that he could not be seen. "Do you present it in humility and contriteness, Prince of Lust? He who comes before God with a full heart, God will not turn away." An unlooked-for hope blossomed briefly in his heart. "Speak, my son. I listen." There was an artistic sigh from the other booth. "What is a confession, ultimately? I confess weariness, pet. Oh. Father. So sorry. Father, my pet. I confess ennui. I confess a jaded spirit and a no-less-jaded body. Far more jaded, if you want me to be really frank." The voice dropped to a whisper. "Shall I?" It hinted nameless depravities, it tempted, and it was a pollution of the Heavenly air. Dominic lowered his head and closed his eyes. Another failure. Another mockery. As he said, "Speak, my son, and say what you wish," he wept within himself for the loss of one who had once been an Archangel. Surprisingly, Andrealphus was silent for a long moment. When the Beautiful Prince spoke, his voice was ragged with the long edges of desperation. It still held the power to mesmerise and seduce, but that was a mere quality of its nature now, and not its primary impetus. "I hate you," he said. "Hate," said the Archangel of Judgement, "is a sin." "So is Lust." There was a sigh. "So is it all. And, Dominic, my brother who once embraced me, sometimes I listen to my Symphony, and do you know what is at the centre? Nothing. Nothing at all. How dare you still hold? All of you. What is it that you have which keeps you whole? What kind of misplaced hope, mistaken faith . . ." He broke off. "It was easier once. Shake hands forever, cancel all our vows . . ." Dominic recognised the quotation. Half in hope, half in fear, he replied, "Now, if thou would'st, when all have given him over, from life to death thou mightst him yet recover. Andrealphus." "That isn't why I'm here." The Prince's voice regained its earlier smoothness. "I have made a confession. You know that if I take your penance, it'll only be to amuse myself, don't you?" It had been a mistake to hope. Dominic schooled his voice to calm patience. "Nonetheless, my son, I will give it to you if you ask me. I am your confessor, and you have come to me to confess your sins." Silence hung in the air, like the fumes of the incense outside, like the light of the long sunbeams, as much a part of the essence of Heaven as the ceaseless music and praise of God. "I came," Andrealphus whispered, nothing human in his voice any more, only a desperate hunger and grief, "because you are so beautiful." There was a single click from the penitent's cubicle, and the sense of another's presence was gone. The silence enfolded Heaven again, wrapping around the Archangel of Judgement as he remembered the days before the Fall, and grieved once more for what was lost. - --- (for those who are curious, the quotations come from the following sonnet, which is by Drayton:) Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part. Nay, I have done, you get no more of me. And I am glad, yea glad with all my heart That thus so cleanly I myself can free. Shake hands forever, cancel all our vows, And when we meet at any time again, Be it not seen in either of our brows That we one jot of former love retain. Now at the last gasp of Love's latest breath, When, his pulse failing, Passion speechless lies, When Faith is kneeling by his bed of death, And Innocence is closing up his eyes -- Now, if thou wouldst, when all have given him over, From death to life thou mightst him yet recover. - --- ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #1856 ******************************** The material here is (C) 2000 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.