From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Sat Oct 28 19:57:28 2000 Return-Path: Received: from lists.io.com (majordom@lists.io.com [199.170.88.15]) by pyramid.sjgames.com (8.9.3/8.9.3) with ESMTP id TAA23027 for ; Sat, 28 Oct 2000 19:57:27 -0500 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.9.3/8.9.1a) id TAA08250 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Sat, 28 Oct 2000 19:56:46 -0500 Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 19:56:46 -0500 Message-Id: <200010290056.TAA08250@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 #1885 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 Saturday, October 28 2000 Volume 01 : Number 1885 In this digest: Re: IN> Gebbeleth: Demon Prince of Secrets (Deceased, Background) IN> The Late Demogorgon Re: IN> Gebbeleth: Demon Prince of Secrets (Deceased, Background) Re: IN> Gebbeleth: Demon Prince of Secrets (Deceased, Background) IN> Well, if it's Superiors Weekend... Re: IN> Well, if it's Superiors Weekend... Re: IN> Mariel, Demon Princess of Oblivion Re: IN> Reign of Steel Re: IN> Reign of Steel IN> The Celestial Name of the Grigori Re: IN> Re: Sidekicks Re: IN> Sidekicks Re: IN> Well, if it's Superiors Weekend... Re: IN> Well, if it's Superiors Weekend... Re: IN> Re: Ancient Malakim Re: IN> Re: Balakim Re: IN> Re: Balakim Re: IN> Higher Heavens High -- The Misfits Re: IN> Re: Sidekicks Re: IN> Mariel, Demon Princess of Oblivion (Deceased), background Re: IN> Re: Sidekicks ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 14:10:19 -0400 From: Douglas Muir Subject: Re: IN> Gebbeleth: Demon Prince of Secrets (Deceased, Background) >>Well, I know of at least five other proto-canon dead Superiors waiting for >>their chance to run the Line Editor's gauntlet: David Edelstein's Raphael, >>Uriel, and Genubath, and my Mariel and Meserach. > >Gebby's not proto-canon, per se. I assume that unless we were >discussing a purely dead Superiors book that each Superior writeup >would need to be two pages or so, so the background would need lots >of trimming and the mechanics would need considerable tweaking. Our esteemed Line Editor told me (back in February or so) to assume that a Dead Superior writeup would be two pages -- about 1200 words or so, same format as the main IN book. I have Mariel and Meserach writeups of this length on file with her against that distant future day. These longer writeups are just for fun, and against the odd chance that someone might want a longer one sometime... but for now, the 1000-1500 word writeup is probably the way to go. (Line Editor, any update on this since February? I wouldn't think...) >>Mariel, Princess of Oblivion, devoured by Haagenti. Band unknown, but I >>have her as a Habbalite. > >You know, I could have sworn I'd mentioned her as a Djinn in Sup4, as >part of the precursors. (flippety flip) Nope. >The nce thing is, I can put my Djinn trauma child out, and not >converge on you Habbalite a'tall. Kewl. Doug M. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 14:20:30 -0400 From: Douglas Muir Subject: IN> The Late Demogorgon >>Well, canonically, becoming a Superior is a state-change, though the >>exact cause of that change is a little vague. > >Oh, I know that. That's why I said it wasn't truly canon. I guess my >only point is Demogorgon might have been on the cusp of that state >change when Belial destroyed him. By a Curious Coincidence, that's exactly how I have things in my campaign: Belial attacked almost at the instant that Demogorgon was achieving Princehood. Further, IMC Demogorgon survived Belial's assault... it was Force-stripped nearly down to imp-size, but it managed to crawl away under cover of the final detonation. And it eventually Redeemed, to become the mysterious Penitent... But that's another story. Doug M. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 14:27:19 -0400 From: Whistling in the Dark Subject: Re: IN> Gebbeleth: Demon Prince of Secrets (Deceased, Background) At 2:10 PM -0400 10/28/00, Douglas Muir wrote: >Our esteemed Line Editor told me (back in February or so) to assume that a >Dead Superior writeup would be two pages -- about 1200 words or so, same >format as the main IN book. Exactly. I just needed to point that out, what since we were discussing it. My Gebbeleth submission wouldn't be what was put on this list. >I have Mariel and Meserach writeups of this length on file with her >against that distant future day. These longer writeups are just for >fun, and against the odd chance that someone might want a longer one >sometime... Very cool -- going to do a Meserach extended dance mix? There's one I've been hoping to see sometime. >(flippety flip) Nope. I know, I checked too. It's just weird. Have I fallen into a strange parallel universe, where my kitten is really Sarah Impudite, not Sarah Kyriotate? Hm. She *is* sleeping on my foot and purring. That could be a charm attempt or an Essence grab.... > - -- Eric Alfred Burns - Habbalite of Belaboring the Point ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 14:30:15 -0400 From: Douglas Muir Subject: Re: IN> Gebbeleth: Demon Prince of Secrets (Deceased, Background) >Very cool -- going to do a Meserach extended dance mix? There's one >I've been hoping to see sometime. When and if I find the time. I also have a brief sketch of Oannes around somewhere. (Kyriotate, BTW. Came to me in a vision). >I know, I checked too. It's just weird. Have I fallen into a strange >parallel universe, where my kitten is really Sarah Impudite, not >Sarah Kyriotate? > > Kittens vary, but most cats are Habbalah. "We will get along much better when you realize that I Am God..." Doug M. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 13:06:26 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: IN> Well, if it's Superiors Weekend... ... I might as well add mine. :) At the moment, this is an officially unofficial "rough draft". I'm happy with the writeup, as much as any writer can be with any work: I'm just concerned that it would be incomprehensible to anyone who hasn't played a Certain RPG. Anyway, you can find said Superior at http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine/paranoia/Computer.htm its personality at http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine/paranoia/CompHis.htm its Principality at http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine/paranoia/AlpCom.htm and what all the other Princes are doing about it at http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine/paranoia/ACSecSoc.htm As usual, any suggestions would be most helpful. :) Moe (SAW) Kyriotate of Destiny Petitioner for the Word of This Writeup based on 2nd Edition, as 5th Edition Paranoia is an Abomination before the Lord. ===== 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: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 15:21:12 -0500 From: "Charles Glasgow" Subject: Re: IN> Well, if it's Superiors Weekend... - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Maurice Lane" To: Sent: Saturday, October 28, 2000 3:06 PM Subject: IN> Well, if it's Superiors Weekend... [snip] > As usual, any suggestions would be most helpful. :) *ROTFLMBOPMPSTCAWTN* My first suggestion, Moe, is that you get professional help. *Immediately*. Or, to quote our beloved, all-wise, and always possessed of infinitely good taste listadmin... [1] "Owwwwwww. OWWWWWWWWWW. *OWWWWWWWWWW.* You're hurting me." - -- Chuckg [1] Now *that's* how you do a Bootlicking roll, people. *snigger* ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 13:23:26 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> Mariel, Demon Princess of Oblivion Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 04:36:36 -0400From: Douglas Muir Subject: IN> Mariel, Demon Princess of Oblivion (Deceased), background Well done. I especially liked how nicely it meshed with Gebbeleth. Da**it, now I really want historical Superiors. But do I want S5 first? Arrgggh... ;) Moe ===== 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: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 16:15:55 -0500 From: Santiago Subject: Re: IN> Reign of Steel >As for why she (or any other Superior, for that matter) doesn't just >go celestial and waltz through a Zonemind's defenses to destroy the >supercomputer at the core... > >Alter the RoS background a tad so that the various Zoneminds are >utterly paranoid about revealing their true locations (and that's >_besides_ the 2-5 backups they've got hidden away). Give them more >"suicide traps" -- things that happen if they stop pinging their >'bots for too long, which will be fatal to large numbers of humans. >(Saminga wouldn't care, but a lot of other Princes would remember >their objective is to corrupt humanity, not kill it.) The first thing that I though when I read Reign of Steel was that it should really be impossible to take out a Zonemind, because none would actually be so stupid as to have a single core. Instead, they'd be distributed systems, with massive redundancy, spread across thousands of computing nodes over a vast area. Basically, there'd be no need for any subservient computers--each Zonemind would actually be part of every computing system under its control, possibly even all the mobile robots. And, for safety, enough parts of it to recreate the whole would be shielded even against a worldwide cataclysmic EMP blast. Using this logic, the Lucifer AI might actually be running as some form of virus or trojan horse, stealing cycles from all the other Zoneminds to support itself... - -- Santiago ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 16:36:13 -0500 From: "Charles Glasgow" Subject: Re: IN> Reign of Steel - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Santiago" To: Sent: Saturday, October 28, 2000 4:15 PM Subject: Re: IN> Reign of Steel > The first thing that I though when I read Reign of Steel was > that it should really be impossible to take out a Zonemind, because > none would actually be so stupid as to have a single core. Actually, all of them -- except Zaire, which made a slight booboo [1] -- have at least one extra computer core, each one of which is a full duplicate of its original computer core. Recent "short-term memory" is backed up to all the other cores every 24-48 hours, while the backup core(s) are maintained in a continually inactive state. Should the active Zonemind core miss one or more periodic checkins, the backup core(s) are programmed to automatically boot. However, a Zonemind's "backup" is quite literally a full duplicate facility, lock stock and robofac -- IOW, a true full-sized duplicate of the original Zonemind. As such, it's bleedin' expensive, and no Zonemind is known to operate more than one. Then again, given that Zoneminds tend to situate themselves in places like Cheyenne Mountain, they don't really feel the need... > Instead, they'd be distributed systems, with massive redundancy, spread across > thousands of computing nodes over a vast area. Basically, there'd be > no need for any subservient computers--each Zonemind would actually > be part of every computing system under its control, possibly even > all the mobile robots. Well, you can do that way if you wish, but I'm going to try and come up with a rationalization as to why the original way written really works. *DM handwave* Since the conditions for producing machine sentience are still not entirely known -- the zoneminds know how to monkey-copy the original accident that created Overmind, but that's about it [2] -- they're stuck with only doing what they know [3]. And what they know is how to create machine sentience inside one single large isolated mainframe, because that's what Overmind originally was -- a "black project" Philippines military research computer that was specifically intended *not* to be part of any wide-area networks. Remember, AI is *not* a mature technology in the Reign of Steel universe, it's still pretty new. Plus, except for Brisbane and possibly London, there hasn't been any major incentive to pay for all the research necessary... the only practical way to take out a Zonemind's citadel is with nuclear weapons (*and* you have to know where the backup is), and their citadels have been spending the defense budget on *other* ways to stop nukes. Plus, all the Zoneminds have an iron-clad Mutual-Assured Destruction policy [4] ... and the human resistance is kinda short on nukes. > And, for safety, enough parts of it to > recreate the whole would be shielded even against a worldwide > cataclysmic EMP blast. IIRC, Zonemind computer cores already use optical computing technology... plus, of course, putting the whole facility X thousand feet underground works pretty well as well... > Using this logic, the Lucifer AI might > actually be running as some form of virus or trojan horse, stealing > cycles from all the other Zoneminds to support itself... I liked the theory that had Lucifer as a non-sentient neural-net remote-controlled mouthpiece for Zonemind Tranquility [5], myself... - -- Chuckg [1] Zonemind Zaire had somehow gotten the idea that its backup site had spontaneously come on line and was plotting against it -- so it nuked its own backup. And given that backups are *expensive*, as well as Zaire's paranoia, it has yet to build another one. Then again, Zaire is ot-nay oo-tay ight-bray as Zoneminds go... [2] As evidence, I submit the Superbot Revolt in Zone Tokyo. If the conditions for producing machine sentience were fully known/controllable by the Zoneminds, Zonemind Tokyo would never have *accidentally* created several mobile Overseer-class AIs that are right now giving him a royal pain in his robotic tsuchis. [3] I'm sure Zone Brisbane is working on distributed computing for Zoneminds, however. And maybe that's also what's keeping Zone London so busy and so mysteriously withdrawn... it's experimenting... .. but who knows if they're finished yet? "Not I.", says the sourcebook... [4] If Zonemind A ever nukes Zonemind B, Zoneminds C through Z will immediately proceed to gang up on A and blow it off the face of the universe. And they *mean* it. [5] The only fully sentient Zonemind that did *not* go insane -- it's still on the side of the humans. However, it's stuck on an abandoned military base on the Moon, there already is a Zonemind Luna that's *supposed* to be running all Lunar-surface operations, and if any of the other Zoneminds ever find out its there its going to catch falling asteroids with its teeth... so Zonemind Tranquility has to keep its head *way* down while it tries to Help Fix The Mess... ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 18:27:41 -0400 From: Jonathan Walton Subject: IN> The Celestial Name of the Grigori This all began with that pesky sentence: "The Seraphim Council believes even speaking the name of the Grigori disturbs the Symphony." (IN p105) The list has even brought up the strangeness of this statement a few times. Since the Seraphim Council consists mostly of, you guessed it, Seraphim and Archangels who can resonate like Seraphim, wouldn't they know whether the name of the Grigori disturbs the Symphony or not? Also, how would something like that make sense? What would be the reason that a simple name should disturb the Symphony? In an effort to come up with a possible answer to these questions, I drafted this article for the Grigori Netbook, Choir8 (which is now defunct, due to lack of interest). Not wanting a good idea to die with the Netbook, I revised this for the list (and possibly the IN Collection). Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. The Celestial Name of the Grigori When Dominic sentenced the Grigori to exile, part of the declared punishment was for the name of the choir to be forever stripped from the Book of Names, one of the most important volumes in Yves' Library. Though possessing a special bond with Yves' Seraphim (IN p134), the Book of Names is as ancient as the earth itself, for Yves had used it during the creation of the world to record the names everything in existence. It is even rumored that, at one time, the Book of Names contained at least one of the true names of God. As the universe filled with new creatures, objects, and places, Yves had diligently written new names into the book, in effect naming the new things in the Celestial tongue as well as recording their existence. Everything that existed (and possibly a few things that didn't) had a line somewhere in the Book of Names. There were no exceptions, even for demons, horrible crimes, or Lucifer himself. Everything that was was in the Book of Names. Erasing the Grigori from the Book of Names would be an unprecidented act. No only would it be the ultimate disgrace, basically implying that the entire choir should never have existed in the first place, it also would have the effect of removing the choir's name from the Celestial tongue, making the word literally ineffable. Other angels would actually find themselves unable to speak of the "Grigori." Once the choir was stripped from the Book, they would only ever be "the Watchers," possessing a title but never again having a true name of their own. Erasing the name of the Eighth Choir from the Book of Names was unthinkable to Yves. As the creator of the Book, he understood completely what this would mean and he stubbornly opposed the Archangel of Judgment on this point. He appealed the sentence, but the Seraphim Council upheld Dominic's decision. Many Word-bound and even a few Archangels actually liked the idea. If other angels were not able to even talk about the Grigori and the choirs past indulgences, then maybe that would keep others from following in their footsteps. Still, the Archangel of Destiny would not submit to Dominic's ruling, something Judgement found impossible to tolerate. If Yves started suddenly being immune to the commands of the Seraphim Council, other more "dangerous" Archangels might follow his example and the Council's authority would be hindered. Dominic even considered putting pressure on Yves by demanding that the Council strip him of the Word of Destiny unless he submitted to their ruling. Of course this would never happen. The Council wasn't even sure if it was possible to separate Yves from Destiny and wasn't about to try. Finally, after stalling for as long as he could (about a thousand years), Yves submitted. Some say he feared opening a division among the leaders of Heaven. And so it was that the Grigori were finally removed from the Book of Names. Every Celestial, from the highest Archangel to the lowest imp, found that they could no longer pronounce the true name of the choir in the Celestial language. The Grigori became "the Watchers," if they were spoken of at all. Celestials could still remember the old name and think of it, if they were so inclined, but the word simply did not exist for them to say. Demons didn't notice the change very quickly, of course, because they had long referred to the Grigori by a corrupted name, fashioned in Dark Tongue. However, when rumors leaked out about the choir's harsh sentence, many demons struggled to remember the old name, in case it had some special power over the newly outcast angels. Of the eldest Demon Princes, some had never even heard the Celestial name of the Grigori, having not been in Heaven since the fall and with little reason to converse with angels in the Celestial tongue. To the distress of both sides, all Celestials soon discovered that the name was now impossible to learn, simply because it could not be communicated at all. No written shorthand of the choir's name was sufficient enough to communicate something unpronouncable. Since any written abbreviation of the Celestial Tongue is a vague representation of Celestial communication, writing the name of the Eighth Choir was only useful in reminding those who once knew the name of approximately what it sounded like. In effect, the living Celestials who knew the choir's name before it was erased would be the only ones who would ever know it. Fittingly, Gebbeleth was overjoyed, and, with the help of Mariel, quickly began to destroy all knowledge of the name, turning it into the ultimate secret. Over the resulting millenia, most angels forgot the Celestial name of the Grigori completely, as the name instantly fell out of use. A few angels, outraged with Heaven's treatment of it's own children, tried their hardest to keep the name alive within their own minds, waging their own silent protest. Still, as far as was known, there was no possible use in knowing a name that was unusable, so there was no great need for most angels to struggle to hold on to the memory. Presently, only a select few, outside of the remaining Grigori themselves, remember the choir's true name. It has even passed from the memory of many of the remaining Watchers, some of whom have forgotten most of the Celestial language. The Celestial Tongue is only speakable in Celestial form, something the Grigori rarely take and so they have little use for. The Ineffable Name and the Symphony Since the Celestial name of the Grigori is the only thing to have ever been stripped from Yves' Book of Names, it has a quite unique relationship with the Symphony. The Grigori obviously exist as concepts within the Symphony itself, yet a word for them does not exist in the Celestial language. Normally, this causes no major problems. Certain sorcerous rituals that require the Celestial name of a choir may not work on the Watchers, but that causes them no undue concern. The complications arise when a being tries to speak that which is unspeakable. There is something fundamentally wrong about a being in Celestial form trying to pronounce the name of the Eighth Choir. First of all, the name doesn't exist to be spoken, so, while the Celestial may make all the motions of attempting to say something, nothing will come of it. Secondly, there is something incongruent about a being trying to impose into the Symphony a name that doesn't exist. In trying to say the Celestial name of the Grigori, a Celestial is attempting to enforce his own will upon the Symphony and do something impossible. In response, the Symphony attempts to bend itself around the given interloper and maintain the order by not allowing impossible things. The result is something purely unintentional: noise. Speaking the Ineffable Attempting to say the ineffable name causes a degree of Symphonic disturbance equal to the total Forces of the being attempting it, since the greater a Celestial's Forces, the more clout he has with the Symphony, and so the Symphony must therefore bend more to accommodate him. However, this distrubance is not of any normal variety and in a separate category from all other Symphonic disruptions. In many ways, it would not even be catagorized as "disturbance" by most Celestial authorities, but the Grigori know better. The Eighth Choir's special connection to the Symphony means that they are the only ones who can hear the disturbance caused by the intonation of their name, though it is even difficult for them. Grigori can sense this disturbance only using their normal range of perception and not the expanded range allowed by their resonance. In this way, this atypical disturbance is treated like emotional disturbance, which they sense in the same way. However, the Watchers can easily distinguish between emotional disturbances and those caused by their ineffable name with a Perception roll. Complicating matters, Archangels, who are able to emulate the resonance of any of the eight choirs of angels, can also sense this disturbance if they happen to be in the area. It is unknown whether Demon Princes can emulate the resonance of the Skulkers (fallen Grigori), but it would be rather unlikely for any of them to think of the idea, much less know how to go about doing it. The only exception would be any former Archangels among the Dark Grigori who would easily manage since it would be their own resonance. Who's Knows and What They Do With It It can be easily assumed that 99.99999% of Celestials, Saints, Bodhisattvas, Soldiers, Sorcerors, and Ethereals know nothing of the lost Celestial name of the Watchers. So the question may be asked, who does know of the name and its effects on the Symphony? The Grigori know, certainly, but they're not telling anyone about its effects (and they certainly can't tell the ineffable name to anyone who doesn't already know it). From time to time, members of the Eighth Choir use their Celestial name to contact each other or warn of Celestials intent on robbing them of their mysteries. Any remaining Grigori Archangels would be able to use this knowledge to cause great disturbances reaching across hundreds of miles, but would undoubtably chose not to, not wanting to take the chance of drawing unwanted attention from a listening Archangel. Yves certainly knows, but he's not telling anyone. He may possibly have used the name at one time or another to contact the Watchers or warn them (any Superior attempting to speak the name makes enough disturbance that every Grigori within 300 miles knows something dangerous is up). He may have also shared knowledge of the name's effects with some of his most trusted Word-Bound, but, then again, he may not have. Yves is a mysterious one and may feel that specific information is too dangerous (to the Grigori and others) to be trusted even to his closest servitors. It is quite possible that Gabriel knows, but just what she would do with that knowledge in her current state is beyond anyone to speculate. Likewise, Eli probably knows as well and may be using that knowledge to contact the Watchers during his current fling on earth. If Dominic know the effects of his pronouncement, he is deadly silent about it. He has not, to anyone's knowledge, used the Celestial name to lure the Grigori's attention. He is, for all appearances, finished with the choir, having seen their punishment through and charged with dissonance not to persecute them further. Finally, Michael would be the final Archangel old enough to remember the name yet discreet enough to keep the secret. He might have considered telling David, his closest ally, but the Archangel of Stone may have been thought a little too blunt for such delicate matters. If Michael does use the name to contact the Grigori, then it must be only used for his most secret operatives. There may even be a few Grigori (or maybe even just one) who still serves War in a capacity that is completely subtle and unknown. For really ancient angels who might remember the Celestial name of the Watchers, most of them are unlikely to know the effect of the name on the Symphony. However, since some have held onto that knowledge out of friendship and loyalty to the fallen choir, a select few have been let in on the secret by the Grigori themselves. In this way, a very small network has developed among angels who can contact the Watchers through use of their Celestial name. I hope this sparks some ideas among the rest of you. Can anyone think of other issues that I have not discussed or additional ideas and concepts that should be included in the write up? Later. Jonathan. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 18:33:01 -0400 From: Douglas Muir Subject: Re: IN> Re: Sidekicks >Pochereth >Malakite Master of Peace >Angel of Necessary Violence I liked this one. (But he's still got his original Stoner oaths, looks like... wouldn't he have changed at least one of them when he changed Superiors?) >Angel of Necessary Violence: Pochereth will always >know if there's a practical way out of a situation >that doesnít involve attacking someone. And what a handy attunement for a Servitor of Flowers that is. I'd expect him to be handing it around a lot. Mind you -- what happens when his attunement tells him "no way out but violence"... but he hasn't yet tried talking, as his Dissonance condition requires? Wince, eat the point of Dissonance, and attack? But then he gets _two_ points, because of his Oath... ow. Oh, and I particularly liked: >He's one of those very >few Word-bound out there who has little interest in >promoting his Word. In fact, he'd be very happy to >see his Word ultimately become unnecessary. That this >would mean his death is immaterial. A world where no >violence was necessary would be worth it. Now _that's_ an honorable angel. Doug M. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 15:43:38 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> Sidekicks Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 14:08:08 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: IN> Sidekicks > Here's my entry into the "Sidekicks" contest. >He's designed to be suitable for use as a sponsor for >angelic PC's - or a big stick with which to threaten >demonic PC's. >Coleon >Cherub of Protection >Angel of Bodyguards I like him. Nice and looming. :) Moe ===== 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: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 19:07:42 -0400 From: "Jason F. McBrayer" Subject: Re: IN> Well, if it's Superiors Weekend... On Sat, Oct 28, 2000 at 01:06:26PM -0700, Maurice Lane wrote: > I'm happy with the writeup, as much as any writer can be with any > work: I'm just concerned that it would be incomprehensible to anyone > who hasn't played a Certain RPG. Anyway, you can find said Superior > at My personal take on In Nomine Paranoia (which I never wrote up) was Orc, the Shedite Prince of the Computer. The idea was that during the MegaWhoops, Orc overextended itself trying to protect the networks and network technicians it was possessing. It ended up Falling, and becoming a very Paranoid Shedite, with its consciousness fragmented by simultaneously possessing several Alpha Simplex nodes. Its power grew by virtue of the fact that it was the only thing holding the remains of civilization together. By the time it unified Alpha Complex, it was powerful enough to be offered a Principality by Lucifer. I had an idea for a resonance rider, mostly just for Orc, but presumably it would be his Shedite of the Computer attunement: a Shedite of the Computer can posess hosts up to its total forces (as a Kyriotate), including computer and robot hosts. However, the separate fragments can't communicate with each other (and may end up plotting behind each others' back). If a fragment drops its host, it is rejoined with whatever Forces the Shedite has free. And of course, servitors of the Computer would get six clone^H^H^H^H^HVessels for free ;) - -- +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | 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: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 18:16:19 -0500 From: "Prodigal" Subject: Re: IN> Well, if it's Superiors Weekend... From: "Jason F. McBrayer" > > My personal take on In Nomine Paranoia (which I never wrote up) was > Orc, the Shedite Prince of the Computer. This would make a really sick crossover with IN: Reign of Steel, now that I think of it... ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 16:46:21 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Re: Ancient Malakim - --- Jonathan Walton wrote: > If there are really > really old Malakim who once were angels of other choirs, that gives > them a totally unique perspective on the Symphony. Dead on target, Jonathan. As to the campaign seed, it's true that you're not Moe. Then again, we're not even sure that Moe is. };> ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 "I wondered why somebody didn't do something. Then I realized that I was somebody." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE. http://im.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 19:53:05 -0400 From: "William J. Keith" Subject: Re: IN> Re: Balakim > - Balatates: Like the Balfanim, except their scales are multi-colored >and they're more compacted in appearance. Sort of like how a Snake would >look like if you tied it into several knots, but that they knots keep >moving around. I checked the FAQ on this, and it doesn't seem to address the question. So: despite their well-known fear at the possibility of another Legion, Hell seems to have a renewable source of demons with the ability to possess multiple bodies... namely, Balseraphs of Fate with the Kyriotate resonance. Can they really possess multiple bodies, or are they too self-centered to do so? If they can... well, one assumes that an extremely close eye is kept on these beings? >- Tafka J. >= Balseraph of Fate, Marquis of Delusions of Grandeur ># http://www.thrifty.net/~tafkaj/in-nomine And while I'm on the subject of making weird celestials... has Hell ever tried to kidnap a Malakite before he took his oaths? Preferably one that hadn't fledged, but had just been created... a quick visit by Alaemon to erase their few hours of memory, and then a boosted use of Balseraph resonance... just long enough to get them to take four oaths with a decidedly demonic bent. They haven't Fallen... they don't generate Dissonance by violating their Oaths... they might by violating their Superiors' Dissonance conditions, but then someone like Eli's Malakim, or Laurence's (they've never received a direct order yet) could get around that. With careful monitoring by a Prince to inflict a point of Dissonance any time the brainwashed sap violates his Dissonance Conditions, and strict orders not to tell any angel what he is... plus isolation to keep him from figuring out that he's not like the other kiddies in the schoolyard... well, a guy might just manage to keep it up for quite a long time. It's rather a lot to invest for just one unstable warrior, but hey, it might even be worth it. Kobal might do it just for kicks. Vapula might work out a standardized process for doing it to get some warriors. Wonder what would happen? :^) William ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 19:02:23 -0500 From: "Charles Glasgow" Subject: Re: IN> Re: Balakim - ----- Original Message ----- From: "William J. Keith" To: Sent: Saturday, October 28, 2000 6:53 PM Subject: Re: IN> Re: Balakim [snip] > And while I'm on the subject of making weird celestials... has Hell ever > tried to kidnap a Malakite before he took his oaths? Given that this would require sneaking into Heaven unnoticed and then getting back out still unnoticed... while carrying a wildly struggling Malakite... .. err, isn't likely that they tried. > Preferably one that hadn't fledged, but had just been created... Errr... a Malakite that has just been created is a Malakite who is in the direct physical presence of the Archangel that created him. Who did Hell *send* on this raiding party -- Kronos and Baal? As for a reliever fledging... except for relievers of Creation, they've already got Superior dissonance conditions. Plus, they've got a *lot* more than a "few hours" of memory to erase... plus, it's possible that a part of fledging as a Malakite is taking the oaths, at least the first two oaths that are standard to all Malakim. - -- Chuckg ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 17:25:48 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Higher Heavens High -- The Misfits - --- Casca wrote: > (Okay, I got a bit punny with the names. Sue me.) Consider yourself sued. o:> > > In every school, there are people who defy categorization. > I'd like someone with a better grasp of Islam to do Khalid, the > foreign exchange student. ;) OK, I'll attempt it. Khalid (Freshman) is one of HHH's foreign exchange students. He hails from the Holy Land itself -- he grew up in Jerusalem. Since Khalid saw so much division and religious persecution during his childhood, he's very sensitive to the beliefs of others. Khalid is himself a devout Muslim, but he's not intolerant of other faiths. In fact, he'd rather deal with a devout practitioner of almost any religion (Satanism being the one glaring exception) than a lukewarm Muslim. Khalid secretly has a grudge against Larry. The two played football on the same time while Larry was an exchange student in Israel. Khalid thinks that he's a better player than his old teammate. And let's not forget... Sadie Kiel (Sophomore) has unofficially been voted as Everybody's Big Sister. When Hawg shows up to shake down the younger kids for their lunch money or a Freshman is in danger of being beaten up by an upperclassman, Sadie is often there to even up the odds. Despite being petite, Sadie has an intimidating presence that makes all but the toughest of bullies think twice about messing with her. Those who do mess with her rarely repeat the mistake. ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 "I wondered why somebody didn't do something. Then I realized that I was somebody." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE. http://im.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 17:43:50 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Re: Sidekicks - --- Maurice Lane wrote: > Pochereth > Malakite Master of Peace > Angel of Necessary Violence I am visually the look on David's face as Pochereth announces his desire to serve Novalis... ah yes! That alone was worth the price of admission. ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 "I wondered why somebody didn't do something. Then I realized that I was somebody." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE. http://im.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 17:46:08 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Mariel, Demon Princess of Oblivion (Deceased), background - --- Douglas Muir wrote: > MARIEL > Demon Princess of Oblivion > > "The World is a horrible mistake. It should not be, or, better yet, > it should never have been." This is a great quote. It captures the mindset of the Princess of Oblivion like nothing else I've seen. Thx, Doug! ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 "I wondered why somebody didn't do something. Then I realized that I was somebody." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE. http://im.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2000 19:54:37 -0500 From: "Charles Glasgow" Subject: Re: IN> Re: Sidekicks - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Maurice Lane" To: Sent: Friday, October 27, 2000 11:42 PM Subject: IN> Re: Sidekicks [snip] > [...] An aggravating > and annoying ploy, to be sure, but David had > postulated that Novalis would sit still for it... and > he was right. The smile never even faltered as she > voted with the rest of the Seraphim Council to give > Pochereth the Word. > That - or the fact that Michael smiled ruefully at the > entire episode - really should have set off warning > bells in David's head. Those two understand each other *far* too well.... *evil chuckle* [1] > It didn't: in fact, the Archangel of Stone didn't even > realize that things weren't going according to plan until > a mere century and a half later, when Pochereth came to > David and politely announced that he wished to serve the > Archangel of Flowers. Nybbas -- "He WHAT? David did WHAT kind of a spit-take? And you DIDN'T HAVE ANY CAMERAS ROLLING ON IT? OUT! OUT! GET OUT OF MY OFFICE BEFORE I STRIP YOU BACK DOWN TO A SNOTLING, YOU !@%!@#%!@%!@ MORON!!! AND YOU'LL NEVER EAT LUNCH IN THIS TOWN AGAIN!" > David was tempted to refuse. but the story was already > out, and he had no wish to look petty, even if he was feeling > petty. He hasn't talked to Pochereth since, although he declined > to strip the angel's Attunements. Possibly the Archangel > still expects his errant Servitor to see the light > someday. Don't hold your breath, Dave... *g* - -- Chuckg [1] And I *ain't* referring to David... ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #1885 ******************************** The material here is (C) 2000 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.