From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Thu Dec 7 20:09:04 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 UAA00583 for ; Thu, 7 Dec 2000 20:09:04 -0600 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.9.3/8.9.1a) id UAA27775 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Thu, 7 Dec 2000 20:10:57 -0600 Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 20:10:57 -0600 Message-Id: <200012080210.UAA27775@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 #1961 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, December 7 2000 Volume 01 : Number 1961 In this digest: Re: IN> LIL1: Luciferian Opinions Part 2 of 2 Re: IN> IOU Student Loan Dept. Re: IN>Pagan Mummies IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #1960 Re: IN> Supoeriors on the Couch - Myers-Briggs In-Nominated Re: IN> Superiors on the Couch - Myers-Briggs In-Nominated Re: IN> Demon(Possibly Demon Prince) of Hate Re: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #1960 IN> Going to Ground -- Report on Aberrant Lilim Behavior Re: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #1960 Re: IN> LIL1: Luciferian Opinions Part 2 of 2 IN> The Demon Prince of Corruption IN> Adventure Re: IN> LIL1: Luciferian Opinions Part 2 of 2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 14:41:20 -0500 From: Whistling in the Dark Subject: Re: IN> LIL1: Luciferian Opinions Part 2 of 2 At 11:10 AM -0800 12/7/00, Bevan Thomas wrote: >Once again, great stuff. Too many stuff talking about Kobal portrays him as >a half-baked comedian instead of the one of the most powerful superiors that >he is. The supreme joke has proven fruitless. Brilliant. Not not *not* that I mean to bring up a "who should play what Superior" thread, but when I write Kobal these days, I always envision Jerry Doyle playing Michael Garabaldi, from Babylon 5. He consistantly gets the best lines, has a perfect deadpan delivery, and the character has a supreme sense of irony. And he never laughs. And these days, both in Canon and in Whistlings QoH riffle, I don't think Kobal should laugh. Snort a bit maybe, but not laugh. And thanks for the kind words. - -- Eric Alfred Burns - Habbalite of Belaboring the Point ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 16:08:04 -0500 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> IOU Student Loan Dept. At 2:26 PM +0000 12/7/00, daiv@cruzio.com wrote: > >How much is a Geas worth in cold hard cash, per level? Whatever the traffic will bear. Bidding war!!!! >Do in a Darker, silly campaign, do Djinn attune to Library books? (flash back >to the scene with Conan the Librarian, and you begin to get the idea..) They might. };> Heck, there might _well_ be Djinn in the Library who are paying for sanctuary -- or just a place to brood out of the rain.... > - --Beth, Demon Princess of Nitpicking http://www.sjgames.com/in-nomine/articles/INChar/Demons/Prince.Beth.html ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 16:08:06 -0500 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN>Pagan Mummies At 3:07 PM +0000 12/7/00, Adam Benedict Canning wrote: [undead] >Can't one just send the Angel of the Chariot down to Transubstansiate >them. > >He's got no trouble taking up living humans. Even those that haven't >yet met thier destiny. Living humans. Can he take an undead? Interesting question. Convince the Seraphim Council it's worth the experiment.... (Canon? Canon? Where? Quick, hand me a napkin so I can wipe it off...) - --Beth, typing w/a uncoopertive baby (iolanthe) causing typos. "She's either babbling, or summoning Elder Gods. I'm not sure which." ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 13:06:44 -0800 (PST) From: Maurice Lane Subject: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #1960 Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 09:56:07 -0500 From: Whistling in the Dark Subject: IN> LIL1: Luciferian Opinions Part 1 of 2 >Belial: It hurts. It *hurts!* Damn it, don't you >understand? I can't get away from her! I can't get >*away* from her! I've got to make the fire hotter! >I've got to make the destruction *louder!* Destruction >--- *damn* that monkey woman for making Furfur >Destruction! *Damn* her! He was mine! And then he was >mine to *kill!* How dare she? How *dare* she? Don't >you see? It *hurts,* damn it! Damn Lilith! Damn >*Gabriel!* I can't get away! Excuse me. I want to take a moment to savor the above. (pause) Ahh.* Nicely done, Mr. Burns. As usual. When will it all go up on the site? :) Moe *Yes, petty and slightly disturbing of me, but what the heck. :) ===== In Nomine stuff: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 11/25/00 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products. http://shopping.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Dec 2000 16:13:11 -0500 From: Earl Wajenberg Subject: Re: IN> Supoeriors on the Couch - Myers-Briggs In-Nominated Ryan Elias wrote: > So, all-in-all this gets a Very Nice, from me. And I would be very > interested if it were expanded this to include choirs, various > characters or what have you. Glad you liked it. As to choirs: If an Ophanite isn't an SP (Sanguine, action-oriented), there has to be some very good reason. Likewise, Malakim must be very heavy on SJ (Melancholic, duty- oriented) types. Cherubim would be mostly NF (Choleric, feeling-oriented) or SJ types, with -NFJ and -SFJ both very common among them. Seraphim would be mostly NT (Phlegmatic, thinking-oriented) and SJ types, with -NTJ and -STJ common. Elohim would be almost all NT types, I'd think, and heavy on the introverts. (Only 25% of humans are introverts.) Mercurians would be mostly NF (Choleric, feeling) types, though they might well show more diversity than other choirs, which fits their nearness to humanity. Kyriotates? Um... Also diverse, I'd think, but maybe heavy on the NF (feeling) and SP (action) types. Earl ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Dec 2000 16:22:49 -0500 From: Earl Wajenberg Subject: Re: IN> Superiors on the Couch - Myers-Briggs In-Nominated While I'm on the subject, here are my thoughts on the spiritual perspectives of the different temperaments (which would have roleplaying impact, if you assign the temperaments to choirs or Archangels, or their opposites): SP, Sanguine, action-oriented: Salvation is celebration and liberation. Damnation is frustration and slavery. SJ, Melancholic, duty-oriented: Salvation is reward and justification. Damnation is guilt and punishment. NT, Phlegmatic, thinking-oriented: Salvation is revelation and enlightenment. Damnation is error and delusion. NF, Choleric, feeling-oriented: Salvation is ecstasy and love. Damnation is conflict and hate. Earl ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Dec 2000 16:25:01 -0500 From: "Malachai Davidson" Subject: Re: IN> Demon(Possibly Demon Prince) of Hate >From: "Erich S. Arendall" > > could take that approach and have the wordbound serve Furfur A Habbalite of Hardcore with a sick little link Belial. This character could be part of the reason why there is so much friction between Belial and Furfur. Just picture it a Habbalite spurned by Belial, he sees Furfur and realizes the potential in him. No use of resonances none needed just a little sweet and rational whispering in the ear. Let simmer and next thing you know.... a new Prince who HATES Belial with a passion. I mean how can you not get the word of hate with a ploy like that. Granted don't let Furfur find out what you did to him but Lucifer eats that up like nobodies business. Heck properly done Furfur and his little brain would probably thank the Habbalite for showing him the light. Ahh I need to go before this gets out of hand. Malachai Demon of putting a burr in your saddle _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Dec 2000 22:00:35 From: "Charles Glasgow" Subject: Re: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #1960 >From: Maurice Lane >Reply-To: in_nomine-l@lists.io.com >To: in_nomine-l@lists.io.com >Subject: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #1960 >Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 13:06:44 -0800 (PST) [snip Belial's agony] >Excuse me. I want to take a moment to savor the >above. > >(pause) > >Ahh.* Second the motion. Let the bastard suffer! Hasta la bye-bye, hothead! [1] - -- Chuckg [1] I don't like him either. *g* _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 18:01:28 -0500 (EST) From: Emily Dresner-Thornber Subject: IN> Going to Ground -- Report on Aberrant Lilim Behavior The estimates by the Office of Cataloguing Demons in Hades, run by Fate, states that nearly 70% of all Lilim choose, within the first century of their existence, to join with a Demon Prince that most closely matches their temperament. From there, the numbers of those swearing fealty as "is right" is depressingly low. Only 5% of the remaining 30% join Princes after their first century, and the percentages dwindle from there. The Office of Cataloguing Demons documents that a vast majority of these Lilim claimed to have "enjoyed being in the Mother's service" or other such dodges. According to the Office for Scrutinizing Demonic Action, also in Hades, these Lilim are motivated in working off their birth geases in an effort to "embrace Freedom," but the studies point to a more sinister conclusion. The Office for the Vivisection of Demonic Beings in the Tartarus, run by Dr. Emalphas, a prominent Balseraph of Technology, has a different story to tell. The claim by the esteemed doctor is that a percentage of all Lilim forces come from Lilith herself, and those forces may be tainted with a taint of humanity, and this taint is what drives Lilim to keep themselves "Free" and out of the War itself. This taint, which the doctor insists should be purged by those afflicted with it, is the wedge between these unaffiliated Lilim and those that would take them into the proper order of things. The good doctor also claims that he has invented a remedy to repair all Lilim, and that in trials, it has only killed 30% of his subjects. This taint may be the heart of the matter. Those who are created of more forces of Lilith's, or, more to the point, those forces which are essentially hers and not claimed from another source, than the rest of their makeup may be tainted by a taste of humanity. Therefore, they may feel motivated to stay further away from joining the other Princes as their Sisters. Worse, there may be something more sinister at work. The Office of Cataloguing Demons has a statistic that, while in high debate, may shed more light on Lilim motivations than previously studied. It seems that a percentage of those Lilim who do not affiliate themselves with a Prince do something called "Going to Ground," to use the Shal-Mari colloquialism. These Lilim, who possess no Heart, ascend up the ladder of tethers to the world of flesh and disappear into the sea of humanity, never to be seen or heard from again. Another point of debate is if the Lilim who have "Gone to Ground" are actually, in fact, Renegade. Report #1678372 from a Habbalite-Djinn pain who worked on stalking one of these Lilim for over three years stated that, when they captured the creature, it not only claimed to be working for Lilith, but that it was "waiting." In fact, collusion with Lilith proved that the Lilim's claims were correct, and the duo were summarily executed for their poor performance. But the question remains from that report: was the Lilim Renegade and merely protected by her Mother to save face, or was the Lilim in some kind of deep cover for her Mother? This question is exasperated by Lilith's insistence on holding a minimum of one hour's worth of geas on every child, regardless of the child's affiliation with a Prince or affiliation with herself. It is unclear if Lilith holds these geases to maintain a semblance of control over her children, or to maintain plausible deniability whenever investigation comes to call. Lilith herself has not given any clue, claiming that her Free children are her problem and are of no consequence to others. A report stolen from Dominicans working on this same problem (Report #2876493, "Investigations on Grey Lilim and Humanity") sheds few answers, which may have been caused by the angels' untimely demise at the hands of the group in charge of overseeing this investigation. It seems the angels have made a long-term study of these particular creatures who have "Gone to Ground." The above report claims these Lilim make every effort to blend in with human beings. They eschew the use of essence, they take roles that are beneath notice of an easy scan of a crowd, and they move on from place to place like nomads. The most likely location for discovering beings such as these are in the inner cities, where they take jobs as bartenders, wait staff, butlers, and other lower class service positions. From the angelic study, it seems that these Lilim are more interested in anonymity than in collecting geases. It is almost as if they are waiting. But what are they waiting for? Furthermore, another report collected from the angels (Report #5876723, "Bright Lilim Impulses") collected from a recently reclaimed tether of Destiny claims that those who wish to defect are also not immune from the impulses their Sisters share to disappear among humanity. From the tattered remains of the report - the last several pages were burned in the raid, unfortunately - it claims that strenuous efforts must be made to keep these Lilim among humanity and tagged by a Cherub at all time. This information was passed on to the Game for later use in tracking these traitors and eliminating them. The reasoning behind these creatures insistence on avoiding their duty to the War to spend their lives with the fleshlings has so far eluded the efforts of the best researchers Fate and Technology have to offer. Is there something unique about Lilith's forces that drive Lilim to attempt to "rejoin their brethren" human beings? Is this programming on the part of Lilith to create spies that are undetectable by most means employed by the War and the Game? Is this part of an elaborate plot, orchestrated en masse by these Lilim and Lilith herself to undermine the War? Worse, there are worries among the Fallen that these Lilim may have access to knowledge that those in power do not - important songs, artifacts, and rituals that they may be gathering from the human beings for an assault. Their long-term strategy may be to collect information hidden from us by the humans and return it to their mother. Most troubling is their probable access to the forbidden Song of Fruition. There is evidence, collected by an Impudite-Djinn team of the Game, that these Lilim may be seeking a way to replicate themselves without the aid of their mother, or to create a method to extend their race through means other than those approved by the Most Dark. The recommendation is to continue to collect the evidence from the angels as well as expending agents to keep watch over those whose geases are running out and may feel motivated to permanently side line themselves from the War. Precautions must be taken to ensure that there are no overstepped bounds and no servitors expended needlessly in getting to the bottom of this mystery. - Frederick, Impudite of Fate - -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Emily K. Dresner-Thornber -- http://www.nodonut.com/zenith ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 07 Dec 2000 22:00:35 From: "Charles Glasgow" Subject: Re: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #1960 >From: Maurice Lane >Reply-To: in_nomine-l@lists.io.com >To: in_nomine-l@lists.io.com >Subject: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #1960 >Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 13:06:44 -0800 (PST) [snip Belial's agony] >Excuse me. I want to take a moment to savor the >above. > >(pause) > >Ahh.* Second the motion. Let the bastard suffer! Hasta la bye-bye, hothead! [1] - -- Chuckg [1] I don't like him either. *g* _____________________________________________________________________________________ Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 15:38:40 -0800 From: "Bevan Thomas" Subject: Re: IN> LIL1: Luciferian Opinions Part 2 of 2 I've only seen Babylon 5 around five or six times, but Garabaldi is a great character. On the subject of Kobal.... I noticed that the official party line is that his big thing is to humiliate people in a humerous way. Franquently, though a potent word, I don't think that humiliation should warrent being one of the major demon princes, and the former opposite number to Yves! I prefer the Arkham Asylum-type Joker, obsessed with finding the perfect joke (by Celestial standards of-course), and I think you handled that well. By the way, as far comedies are concerned, humiliation is "light" humor (Faulty Towers, Mr. Bean, etc..., people acting the fool). Black humor is something different alltogether. The way I see it, Kobal's the sort of person who would hang all the boardmembers of Disney in their boardroom to make an artistic statement on how TV is dead. Big sense of irony, but not big on knee slapping gufaws. - ----- Original Message ----- From: Whistling in the Dark To: Cc: Sent: Thursday, December 07, 2000 11:41 AM Subject: Re: IN> LIL1: Luciferian Opinions Part 2 of 2 > At 11:10 AM -0800 12/7/00, Bevan Thomas wrote: > >Once again, great stuff. Too many stuff talking about Kobal portrays him as > >a half-baked comedian instead of the one of the most powerful superiors that > >he is. The supreme joke has proven fruitless. Brilliant. > > Not not *not* that I mean to bring up a "who should play what > Superior" thread, but when I write Kobal these days, I always > envision Jerry Doyle playing Michael Garabaldi, from Babylon 5. He > consistantly gets the best lines, has a perfect deadpan delivery, and > the character has a supreme sense of irony. And he never laughs. > > And these days, both in Canon and in Whistlings QoH riffle, I don't > think Kobal should laugh. Snort a bit maybe, but not laugh. > > And thanks for the kind words. > -- > Eric Alfred Burns - > > Habbalite of Belaboring the Point ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 19:44:23 -0500 From: "Charles Phipps" Subject: IN> The Demon Prince of Corruption The Beast "I have only one commandment, love me above all others and with all your heart and soul" The Beast has emerged from the Lower Hells and let all of reality tremble to the name of the living destruction of all things pure and holy. No one in Hell can remember the Calabim servitor whom would have caused enough destruction and death of the spirit to become a new demon prince for Lucifer but nonetheless a third Prince now wears the crown of Legion and Beezlebub, ruleing over a principality that may be the lower hells themselves. The Beast appears to be a sharply handsome man in his early thirties wearing a business suit that seems to be vaguely unsettling designed in ways that are not apparent until you realize that each thread contains a microscopic soul bound to it of those who would not serve him....it appears extremely stylish from a distance or simply close up though. Burned into his left hand like a concentration camp marker is the number 666 which he takes no efforts to conceal but barely even acknowledges the presence of. Rumors of another more terrible form combining the worst of humanity's nightmares and perhaps the form of a ten headed dragon are as yet unheard of but those around Hell are as always, paranoid. The Beast's emergence in Hell has caused quite a stir and he has attracted a great deal of servitors whom he sorts through regurarely....simply put if you do not pass the tests that he demands of you....then you will be destroyed. He is a generous Prince but he demands complete and undying devotion to him and all of his servitors that he creates and fledges hold a sort of religeous like awe for him that while they may plot and destroy each other or even fellow demons, treachery against him seems unthinkable. Surprisingly the Beast has attracted in an extremely short ammount of time, a very large ammount of Hellsworn and is more likely to grant them songs, sorcery, and rites than any other Prince. It is said he has even appeared to certain mortals who have tried to summon him and he has granted them great power in exchange for a simple eternity of servitude. Dissonance It is dissonant for a servitor of the Beast to aid the cause of Heaven in any possible way and those who knowingly do so are summarily destroyed by the Beast. Band Attunements The Beast is more generous than most Princes in dealing out attunements to his servitors given the high standards that he holds his followers too, Referees should bear in mind this when awarding players with gifts from the Beast as he expects fully to be repaid in loyalty and with the screaming death of light in the world....and regurarely. Balseraphs Balseraphs of the Beast are granted a extremely disturbing ability to use their attunement on more than one person at a time. For every force that the Balseraph posseses he may use his resonance on an additional subject, though he still has to overcome his will to convince him of the rightness of his cause. Djinn Djinn of the Beast are allowed to love their attuned...specifically love them in such a way that they become mirror images of their Hellish master. An attuned of a Djinn of the Beast can only be one at a time but he will serve the Djinn as an equivalent servant equal to his Celestial forces for as long as the attunement lasts unservingly. This charm can affect any mortal and many mortals are horrofied by what they do under the "charm" of the Djinn. Calabim Calabim of the Beast are blessed with the power to destroy beliefs and dearly held truths instead of merely destroy objects. A calabim with a sucessful resonance roll can attack a subjects willpower and if they inflict the ammount of damage equal to their willpower, their belief in the validity of a belief is destroyed. It takes a great deal of time to destroy entire world views as many are built on a variety of factors but an Angel that believes God is dead is much more uncertain than an Angel who fights for other things. Given enough time though, even the most pious and holy man will lose all faith. Habbalah Habbalah of the Beast always have their resonance twisted to the most destructive ammounts imaginable to a victem's soul. A angry emotion may instead of exploding against a friend to cause him to kill may fester and nurse until he destroys the friend's every love, companion, and life. A desire to seduce may become a desire to addict or rape. Habbalah of the Beast are often extraordinarily patient demons for reinforcing the most horrid of corruptions...and view their Superior as not unlike God. Lilim Lilim of Corruption know instantly the price of someone to willingly serve Hellish ends. This actually relies on what the mortal concieves of what would willingly slide him into corruption and his main weakness so some mortals must be "softened" up a bit before the resonance gives a definative answer or sin to exploit. Shedim Shedim of Corruption possess a most disturbing ability that they can possess permanently the body of any mortal that has fufilled their Fate and "toss" the mortals soul out directly to Hell. This may also be done to Hellsworn and harming the body causes no dissonance, making Shedim of the Beast especially feared. The body once berift of a demon soul or human soul promptly dies upon exit. Impudites Possesed of an uncanny charisma the Impudites who serve Corruption and can charm and steal the essence from groups of people rather than mere single individuals. For every force the Impudite posseses he can do his resonance on one extra personage. Servitor Attunements Eyes of the Devil A Servitor of the Beast can look into the soul of any being and tell at a glance exactly what his worst sin is and weakness. A resonance roll similar to Angels is given with each sucess revealing more about the subject. An alchohalic would instantly be revealed for what he is and that he once struck his wife in a drunken rage. A angel of Michael might be revealed to have a passion for human females and a belief in his own infaliability....while even a murder seventy years old might be unearthed by the Corruptor. Corrupting Sight For the cost of three essence a Servitor of the Beast can bind a subject for a day with the complete and utter selfishness of the Symphony with will rolls required to think anything beyond the attention to one's own needs and desires. In effect the being becomes a sociopath as all demons innately are. Corrupting Sight will not innately cause any human to serve the darkness but like any drug once tasted; the freedom from consience, guilt, and other "weaknesses" is an addictive one. Distinctions Knight of Sin A knight of sin can determine, at a glance, just how far along the path to Hell a person is and whether or not he is considering redemption seriously. Captain of the Darkness A Captain of the Darkness can remove with a touch a person's feelings of concience, remorse, and guilt for as long as they will it. Baron of Armageddon A demon who achieves Baronial rank in the forces of the Beast are gifted with the "Mark of the Beast" which gives them the power to compell all lesser demons or Hellsworn about them with a sucessful resisted resonance check. Once control is established a Baron of Armageddon does not need to re-enforce it and in order to break free of the control, a subject can roll his willpower once per hour to try and overcome the other demons intial roll. A 666 on this roll gaurentees that a demon will not break free of the Baron's control until Armageddon (or perhaps after it)...unless other higher forces arrive. Above the rank of Baron, the Beast has the rank of Ten Kings who serve him and each who are gifted with great power, rites, wealth, and it is believed unique attunements suited to their type of combat. The Beast is said to maintain a consort whom has command over the ten Kings but this is likely just revelations snipping. Relations: The appearence of another Prince of Corruption has caused quite a stir in both Heaven and Hell and the reactions tend toward the extreme about what to be done with him. Needless to say, most in Heaven want his head asap and the Pro-Armageddon Princes tend toward the positive...if a bit unsettled. Allied: Baal, Kronos Associated: Malphas, Asmodeus, Nybbas, Vapula, Lilith Neutral: Andrephalus, Saminga, Fleurity, Fufur, Beleth, Belial, Haagenti Hostile: Kobal, Valefor (Lilith is Hostile to him) Enemy: Only the Host Basic Rites: * Slay or Corrupt an innocent * Swear someone into the willing service of Hell (+2 essence) * Advance the approaching cause of Armageddon in some way (slay an angel, arm a group of humans with technology they cannot comprehend, gain significant mortal power for Hell-ST's call as the rite is very perculiar) Chance of Invocation: 5 +1 A prayer to him +2 A unrepentant sin done by an angel or mortal +3 A person losing his faith in God +4 A person who willingly embraces Evil +5 A person willingly embracing Hell or worship of him +6 100 people gathered together in celebration of the Beast Thoughts? - -Charlemagne ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 21:00:35 -0500 From: "William J. Keith" Subject: IN> Adventure PLAYERS: Bear in mind, the text below pretty much explains everything about the adventure. If you think you'd be interested in exploring a peculiar case of identity, point your GM to this post. Setting: The PC angels are engaged in regular activities when help is suddenly offered. It is best if they, or demons with whom they are engaged, are creating Disturbance, which will lure the strangers in. It will need to be fairly obvious which side is the angels for the plot to work. Once all this is established, the strangers who have offered to help will join them and, as subtly as possible, begin asking questions about the PCs' lives and experiences. Though any tests will reveal them as full-fledged angels, they will seem surprised at virtually any supernaturally-oriented information the PCs offer, though they will hide this as best they can. Their own origins they will attempt to keep shrouded, but their unusual creation will eventually become known, most likely through and then new problems will arise. Here is the story: There once was a man called O-bed-niah, who had a great lust for forbidden wisdom, and secret sinful knowledge, but his lust paled beside that of the master whom he served, a prince of demons called Vapula. This Vapula, mad beyond the ken of humans, sought to know -- what would happen if he gave to humans, his most secret and loyal servants, the power held only by the princes of demons and Satan himself, the power to create demonkind, and commanded them to use it for his own purposes? So Vapula gathered his most loyal human servants, men who groveled before him and begged of him wisdom most foul, and he gave it unto them. For years he abused their flesh in rituals of pain and agony, until they grew hard and tough; he whispered to them dark wisdom, until their minds grew crafty and cunning; he taught them of the theology of demons, until their spirits grew black with selfishness and evil. And then he gave them a power of the spirit world and taught them a high ritual, and commanded them: Make for me demonlings, imps and gremlins and things that crawl in the dust and worship Satan. And from their own beings they made for him demonlings, imps and gremlins and things that crawled in the dust and worshiped Satan; but they did not worship Vapula, knowing him not. And Vapula was angered, and destroyed the little demons, and dashed from his servants' minds that power of the spirit world, and the knowledge of the high ritual. But O-bed-niah, who had a great lust for forbidden wisdom, abased himself before his master, and declared: See, Master, I am thine unto death and beyond -- grant me leave to keep this power, and learn others, to serve thee better. But his true desire was to know more of the deep and forbidden things. And Vapula knew this, and laughed mightily, and said unto him, No, and dashed the knowledge from his servant's mind even as he abased himself before him. And from that hour O-bed-niah's heart was turned against his master, and was toiled in the darkness which his master had taught unto him, of the theology of demons, and of the dark wisdom. That day O-bed-niah set forth into the world, seeking knowledge of sorcery and magics, that he might regain some of the power which had been his. And he came across a young man, who smiled at him, and said, Wherefore art thou so angry and bitter? And O-bed-niah's heart was lightened, though he knew not why, and he spoke to the young man as a brother, telling him of the things which his master had done unto him, and why he was now embittered against him. And the young man spoke unto him, telling him why the dark wisdom he had learned was as dust, for it led only to error, and taught him of the wisdom of Solomon, which glorifies God, and lives for ever and ever. And O-bed-niah's heart was lightened. Again he spoke unto him, telling him why the theology of demons was worse than dust, for it led only to damnation, and taught him of the truth of the higher realms, which leads to salvation, and is God's for ever and ever. And O-bed-niah's heart was lifted of its burdens entirely, and he said unto the young man, surely thou art blessed of God, to be so wise, when I have spent so many years seeking knowledge from demons and am older by many years than thou, yet knew so little before I came to thee. But the young man only smiled again, and said, Older am I by far than thee, and he touched O-bed-niah, and the scars of the cursed rituals were gone from his body. And O-bed-niah knew that he had spoken with an angel. Straightway he bowed low before the angel, and would have abased himself, but the angel said, Abase thyself not; for even God requires only humility in prayer before Him, and I am only His humble servant. So the man said, What can I do, to thank God for the wondrous gift I have received today? And the angel smiled for the third time, and said, Use His gifts wisely, to glorify God Our Father, who hath ordered all things; And on the instant vanished up into Heaven. And O-bed-niah rose up from where he had bowed, and knew that he had received a gift, a gift of the spiritual power which had been his once before. From that day he set forth to understand the wisdom which God gives to men through the sights of their own eyes, and in the fullness of their hearts. He practiced asceticisms, and mortification of the flesh, to strengthen his body; and he studied diligently of all studies wherein he found beauty and joy, to strengthen his mind; and he prayed often, thanking God for his life and his redemption and thinking on the ways of God in the world, which strengthened his spirit. And his studies brought forth in his mind once more that ritual which the prince of demons had taught him, but in his new awareness he saw it as a thing of God. So he used the ritual, making of his own being a little angel, and commanded him to go into the world, and serve God the Father, who had created all things. And the little angel pronounced its joy, and did this thing. For many years O-bed-niah practiced his asceticisms, and his studies, and his prayer, to improve himself, and when he felt ready once more, he created another little angel. The life of O-bed-niah was five score and three years; and then he died. And the eight angels he had made sorrowed, and had him buried, and went forth into the world, serving God as best they could. And over the years, they grew, and came into their own, each as he thought best to serve God. One of them grew to join the choir of the Seraphim, and one the Cherubim; one the Ofanim, and one the Elohim; one became a Malakite, and another a Kyriotate, and another a Mercurian, and another a Grigori. And to this day they wander the Earth, obeying their father's command and following their natures to glorify God and His holy name. - ----------- In layman's terms, here's the quick and dirty: a soldier of Vapula was given some infernal Forces, the Celestial Song of Life, and the ability to use it, so Vapula could see what would happen. He didn't like the results, and wiped the knowledge away. This got the guy angry, so he left, found Eli, got saved, got the Song and the ability to use it again, and got some new Forces the honest way. He started making relievers whenever he got enough new Forces, eventually making eight, and then he died. The relievers stuck around, continuing to serve God as best they could, and keeping the secret of their existence -- they knew their Dad had been in some trouble in his younger days, but they didn't know what it had been, and they figured secrecy was a good policy. Eventually they fledged, and now they had their Choir resonances, but still no attunements, whether Choir or Servitor. They have no Hearts, and go to Limbo when their vessels are killed. They serve no Superior now alive, and Obedniah will be difficult to find if at all. (It's possible he's in Heaven, maybe the Upper Heavens, possible that he hasn't arrived yet, and possible that the good he did was just enough to balance out his earlier evil, so he either dispersed or reincarnated. GM's pick.) None of them have Fallen, practically never having *heard* of Dissonance, much less experienced it, and all of them are almost stereotypes of their Choir natures: The Seraph won't even tell half-truths. The Cherub has been to Limbo any number of times protecting humans who needed it, and he's a terror in fight. The Ofanite refuses to even sit down, and can at best be persuaded to slow down to a calm pacing. The Elohite weighs things, sometimes until the others have already finished the job, and studied a long time with their father to gain knowledge of many skills -- he, having the perceived favor of their father, is the de facto leader, the angels not experienced with Heaven's classifications. The Malakite's oaths are the standard two, plus "Never let blasphemy against God in my presence go unchallenged" and "Help out clergy whenever I see them in trouble," and he's a serious demon-chaser who loves a good fight. The Kyriotate refuses to possess any human unless utterly, immediately necessary, and so will often be found in a multitude of animals at any given moment. Unless he's absolutely sure, the Mercurian might not even raise his hand against a demon in a Vessel. The Grigori doesn't know about his Choir's outcasting, but just watches and listens as he thinks he's supposed to, although he cares a great deal for humans. Secrecy in mind, they have been wandering the Earth for some centuries now, and have only the barest knowledge that there's even a War on. Oh, they're aware demons exist, since they fight them on a semi-regular basis, and other angels too -- they've worked with some on a very limited scale -- but they think other angels were born just like they were, except for the really old angels the Bible talks about that God made. Their knowledge of most celestial matters is limited to what they've learned from a few hundred years of regularly attending Mass and fighting the occasional demon. That is to say, virtually nothing. When they meet the PCs, the group is just now getting around to agreeing that maybe it would be a good idea to make contact with some of these other angels and compare notes on their service to God, to see if maybe they could improve on what they're doing -- and the answers to some of the questions will shock them, although they'll try to hide it under much more innocuous questions. Things they'll privately wonder about: The PCs got made by an *Archangel*? What's a Heart, the way it's being said? What's a Servitor? What's an Attunement? What's a Word? What's a Tether? And so forth. It's not normal for an angel not serve anyone, or so most of Heaven will think. Eli isn't around to explain why he gave a former Soldier of Vapula a Celestial connection, especially when he knew the man might remember and be able to reconstruct a Song that could create angels. Therefore, once all the information comes out, the question *still* remains of what exactly they're going to want to do with these aberrations, who may or may not be interested in becoming a full Servitor of an Archangel. William ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 7 Dec 2000 21:07:33 -0500 From: Whistling in the Dark Subject: Re: IN> LIL1: Luciferian Opinions Part 2 of 2 At 11:10 AM -0800 12/7/00, Bevan Thomas wrote: >Once again, great stuff. Too many stuff talking about Kobal portrays him as >a half-baked comedian instead of the one of the most powerful superiors that >he is. The supreme joke has proven fruitless. Brilliant. Not not *not* that I mean to bring up a "who should play what Superior" thread, but when I write Kobal these days, I always envision Jerry Doyle playing Michael Garabaldi, from Babylon 5. He consistantly gets the best lines, has a perfect deadpan delivery, and the character has a supreme sense of irony. And he never laughs. And these days, both in Canon and in Whistlings QoH riffle, I don't think Kobal should laugh. Snort a bit maybe, but not laugh. And thanks for the kind words. - -- Eric Alfred Burns - Habbalite of Belaboring the Point ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #1961 ******************************** The material here is (C) 2000 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.