From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Sat Feb 3 17:57:16 2001 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 RAA30809 for ; Sat, 3 Feb 2001 17:57:15 -0600 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.9.3/8.9.1a) id RAA22055 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Sat, 3 Feb 2001 17:59:03 -0600 Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 17:59:03 -0600 Message-Id: <200102032359.RAA22055@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 #2044 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, February 3 2001 Volume 01 : Number 2044 In this digest: Re: IN> The Reason for the Fall (was Humans into Demons) Re: IN> Vassal of Stone. Re: IN> Transformation into a Demon-HELP! IN> February 2, 2001 (ML) Re: IN> Typical Moe Lane "I sorta Need to know in a hurry the answer to an odd question" request. IN> OK, so this one's weird. Sue me. :) Re: IN> OK, so this one's weird. Sue me. :) Re: IN> The Welcomers (A human trait) Re: IN> Transformation into a Demon-HELP! Re: IN> February 2, 2001 (MW Re: IN> February 1, 2001 (ML) Re: IN> February 2, 2001 (ML = Marmot Lover) IN> Resonance Rules Question IN> Malakites and Cheese Sandwiches Re: IN> Resonance Rules Question Re: IN> Malakites and Cheese Sandwiches IN> Kobal's Motivations IN> February 3, 2001 (ML) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 19:05:01 -0500 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> The Reason for the Fall (was Humans into Demons) At 1:02 AM -0500 2/1/01, Charles Phipps wrote: >[...] Andre may want to have >noncommited sexual acts with everything that moved, Actually, if you want _canon_, Superiors 2, IIRC, states that Andre basically had a crisis of faith. His Word, which had been joy and delight and GOODNESS in the Symphony, had suddenly turned into pain and anguish and a thing that he had never-ever wanted to inflict on anyone: the living embodiment (as celestials saw such things) of his Word, Blandine and Beleth, Cherubim and thus creatures of devotion... Were on opposite sides, and _not_ loving each other the way they should. Once Fallen, in his despair and pain, he sought a nature that would never hurt him again -- sensations, not emotions. Losing oneself in the flesh, and casting away the spirit. For the Flesh is willing, and the Spirit can hurt... >Beleth >wished to be the terrifyer not the defender because it was her word. And this one was in _The Marches_; canonically, Lucifer twisted her Word-nature against her, and convinced her that she _had_ to become stronger, and that Blandine was just keeping her as a pet. And as her Word was Fear, and she knew Fear well... I mean, if you _don't_ want canon, you don't have to have it. But don't confuse IMC with canon. O:> (Heck, there's Tattered. I think Moe kicked canon out the window and told it not to come sniffin' round his door again! Fun stuff there.) - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor RPG links; Random name list, Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 19:14:07 -0500 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Vassal of Stone. At 10:47 AM -0500 2/1/01, Earl Wajenberg wrote: >Elizabeth McCoy wrote: > >> >What happens if he jumps into the grand canyon and hits the >> >bottom? >> >> He breaks his legs from the abrupt de-acceleration (or otherwise >> goes squish), or just keeps falling... (IOW, it's not the rocks >> that hurt him; it's the _stopping_.) >> >> >What happens if demons roll a boulder over him? >> >> He goes "oof." Then he grins. > >You seem to be trying to differentiate between the rock hitting >the vassal and the vassal hitting the rock. But physically they're >the same thing. Physically, yes. Intent-wise, no. David is the Archangel of Stone. He protects against being harmed by his Word. He doesn't protect against jumping off tall buildings and going splat. He doesn't protect against _gravity_. (Or "did it to yourself" stupidity; walking away from it because you have 144 Body Hits, Agility 12 and Acrobatics/6, with an Acrobatics/6 talisman, on the other hand...) >If the vassal hitting the canyon bottom is >damaged by the deceleration inside his vessel, then he also ought >to be damaged by the ACceleration in his vessel when hit by >a rock. Oh, probably -- but it's not as severe, necessarily. If I had to have specific mechanics, I'd probably do something like, "Treat rock as styrofoam. It might sting, it might get in his way, it might even knock him down. But it's not going to _hurt_ him. On the other hand, fall from far enough and even landing on styrofoam's gonna hurt." - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor RPG links; Random name list, Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 19:45:41 -0500 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Transformation into a Demon-HELP! At 9:25 AM +0000 2/2/01, John Dallman wrote: >OTOH, provided it was explained to the Princes and selected servitors >beforehand, there's no reason why a few humans shouldn't /believe/ they've >become demons. Oh, that's evil. I like that. That's truly wicked. - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor RPG links; Random name list, Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 20:23:59 -0800 (PST) From: Maurice Lane Subject: IN> February 2, 2001 (ML) Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2001 07:11:46 -0500From: Marc Bowden Subject: Re: IN> Typical Moe Lane "I sorta Need to know in a hurry the answer to an odd question" request. - - --On Thursday, February 1, 2001 10:19 PM -0700 Tim Groth wrote:> >> I have a strange feeling I'm going to pay for this >>with my sanity.> > I have the strange feeling you're not the only one. Lord, you write one Demon Prince of Cows and suddenly people start thinking that you only do weird things. I _do_ do normal writeups, you know. :) >Marc. Just Marc. >Elohite Angel of Salvation >("Behold! Be ye not afraid! I am a groundhog of the >Lord...") Heh. Good one. Moe Anyway... Vapula is very, very angry. It's mostly with himself, but he's ready to share some of it with his peers (and, of course, his own subordinates). It would seem that someone has stolen a march upon him. Someone has come up with a scheme that practically screams "VAPULA MADE ME!" to a wincing world, and now that someone is sitting back and letting the Prince of Technology take the flack for the side effects. Now, Vapula is used to getting heat for idiotic stunts, but he usually at least gets to actually _do_ them first. It isn't a pleasant experience. The worst bit was the idea was so obvious in retrospect. The Prince of Technology doesn't work too much with ethereals (they can't even be stapled together properly), but that's no excuse. Vapula is supposed to be helping the War effort, after all. Now, everyone who is anyone knows that not all the ethereal pantheons have completely broken with Heaven. Of the few 'neutrals', the Native American tribal spirits are both one of the hardest, and one of the easiest to attack: hard because Jordi himself keeps an eye on them, easy because he's got no backup. The trick is to distract him long enough to get a few good hits in, and what better way than to plant a mole? Sensitive readers may now wince in advance, given the date that this was written. Anyway, apparently somebody managed to grab a perfectly innocent ethereal ancestral spirit who managed to eke out a living from the American holiday of Groundhog Day. One would think that this isn't too noteworthy, except that the same somebody apparently also borrowed Yaotl (a fairly fractious and definitely nasty minor Aztec god) from Beleth's stable without asking her first. Still doesn't sound too interesting? Well, whomever it was that did this somehow managed to fuse the poor unfortunates together, slapped on a Force or twelve, and set the bugger loose. Apparently, normally the spirit's personality is dominant: however, at (apparently) random intervals Yaotl takes control. He's not enjoying the experience, by the way. It's making him tense. And we all know what Aztec deities do to relax, don't we? Heaven found out about this little problem after the split personality ran seriously amok through the ethereal plane and (wouldn't you know it?) headed for earth. Jordi is so infuriated that he's ready to spit teeth (preferably, someone else's): even those Archangels that could care less about some scruffy ethereals being flayed (i.e., most of them) are wincing at the idea of a fluffy, cuddly little mammal with a taste for wearing human skin. Some angels are about to get new marching orders pronto: no, separating the two ethereals isn't necessary, or even desired. Just kill them both and let God sort them out, presuming that He even cares. Hell has pretty much the same mission, oddly enough. Beleth wants Yaotl back (he's on contract), but everyone else just wants to shut this little monstrosity down before it makes the morning paper (and not the tabloids either, this time) with its shenanigans. If Hell has learned anything in twenty millennia, it's that "Mass numbers of ritualistic, serial murders by unknown assailants" equals "higher traffic at the church of your choice". Vapula especially wants this one taken down, albeit alive: he figures that he'll be able to analyze the critter and figure out who upstaged him. He'll be more than happy to give anybody (anybody) who looks like they can do the job the necessary tools - and what he doesn't hand out, his sidekick Sparky will. It took Vapula's keeper half a day to get out of the knot that a very irate Nybbas tied him into during the initial 'misunderstanding' about who caused this mess. Sparky, in fact, is almost as angry as Vapula... and he knows where all the really Make Things Go Boom devices are. Meanwhile, down on earth, the critter is kind of confused. It doesn't remember that it's sharing a body with a socially challenged maltheist, so it doesn't know why all of his compatriots ran away so quickly. Obviously, it needs to get back to its roots: luckily, one of the biggest 'rituals' is going to take place tomorrow. Embracing the spirit of Groundhog Day (pardon the pun) should clear its head. Yaotl has no problem with this plan, albeit for slightly different reasons (well, drastically different reasons). Should be one heck of a ceremony. PCs on either side would be well advised to ignore the politics this one time and just concentrate on seeing how much woodchuck they can chuck... sorry, wrong cliché. And, off to one side, a figure takes careful notes. Really, doing this was much easier than he thought - and even more useful. Vapula has been embarrassed, there's a bunch of angels and demons whose ability to transcend ideology has been revealed and duly noted (in triplicate), and everyone important is most assuredly more annoyed and less effective. All part of the Game. ===== In Nomine stuff: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 11/25/00 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2001 23:57:38 -0500 From: Mike Bruner Subject: Re: IN> Typical Moe Lane "I sorta Need to know in a hurry the answer to an odd question" request. >> Does anyone know whether groundhogs show up as any >> kind of supernatural figures in any mythology? Totem >> animal, god, demigod, avatar, divine messenger, >> anything at all would be good. > > Groudhog. > > Divine messenger. > > GROUNDHOG?! Well, there's probably a Cherub or two out there with an appropriate celestial form... - -- Mike Bruner-- bruner@delaware.infi.net "But soft, what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is AHHH THE SUN!!!" *FOOM* --Vampire theatre ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 23:51:30 -0800 (PST) From: Maurice Lane Subject: IN> OK, so this one's weird. Sue me. :) I would like to say, for the record, that I did _not_ actually originally think of this. Someone (who shall remain nameless) privately emailed me and suggested this concept. I do take full responsibility for the content, of course, and I suspect that whatever said helpful suggester expected, it wasn't this. :) Moe Jaeliel Elohite Vassal of Kids Angel of Gummi Bears Corporeal Forces: 3 Strength: 6 Agility: 6 Ethereal Forces: 4 Intelligence: 8 Precision: 8 Celestial Forces: 5 Will: 10 Perception: 10 Word-Forces: 3 Vessel: human female/3 Skills: Detect Lies/3, Dodge/3, Emote/6, Fighting/3, Medicine/6, Ranged Weapons/3 (shotgun) Songs: Form (Celestial/3), Light (Celestial/6), Harmony (Ethereal/6), Motion (Celestial/6), Shields (All/3) Role: "Margaret Billings, DDS" (Dentist/6, Status/4) Relic: Beard of Señor Nuñez/6 (same concept, different body) Attunements: Elohite of Children, Luck, Vassal of Kids, Angel of Gummi Bears Angel of Gummi Bears: once per day, Jaeliel can imbue a Gummi Bear with one Essence. Anyone who eats the Bear gets the Essence. Special Rite: : Eat a Gummi Bear. Jaeliel fails to see what, precisely, is so amusing. It is, of course, self-evident that her Word is neither powerful nor likely to ever become so. However, it is a worthwhile Word to have. While flavored gelatin candies may not be especially nutritious, they are greatly favored by human children as both culinary treats, as well as edible toys. It is extremely important that children be allowed opportunities to experience both sensory enjoyment and the emotion of anticipation - such subjective experiences can have a profound and beneficial effect on their future psychological development. Also, it is just as important that these emotions be not tainted with such Diabolical sensations as greed or immoderation: compared to, say, a packet of white sugar, a Gummi Bear is clearly a superior method of providing a subjectively pleasant taste experience. Furthermore, it is not sound doctrine, strategically speaking, to permit the forces of Hell to be unopposed in _any_ facet of human society. As it stands, Haagenti is already in a superior tactical position to promote his own unrealistic attitudes upon a segment of the population not yet experienced enough to note the logical flaws inherent in embracing such a subjective emotion as Gluttony. Jaeliel's mission, then, is clear: by providing a small but constant pressure, she (and others like her) can eventually counteract Haagenti's power by exerting a moderating force on humanity's appetites. Encourage humans while young to care about what they eat, and when adults they will have the mental discipline needed to better resist Gluttony's blandishments. Needless to say, the Prince of Gluttony will of course attempt to prevent the loss of his power. As his history and personality type has apparently taught him the value of encouraging fear in would-be adversaries, such countermeasures will naturally incorporate methodologies chosen for their shock value. While attempting to cause an Elohite to feel fear (or to cause a Servitor of Children to no longer attend to his, her or its duty) has a extremely low success rate, Jaeliel recognizes that it will be difficult to oppose Haagenti while lodged in his stomach. Therefore, several straightforward precautions are necessary in order to minimize any danger. The first, of course, is to make certain that her Role (a family dentist) is never involved in missions involving her Word. Second, and almost as necessary, is the need for strong defenses, offenses and mobility. Jaeliel has therefore practiced all three: while this may not prove sufficient to survive an encounter with Haagenti, it does minimize the risk represented by his Servitors. Since receiving her Word, Jaeliel has removed seven Servitors of Gluttony (two permanently) from the corporeal plane. This has provided an increased reputation among the surviving members of Gluttony's organization: in fact, one captured demon commented that his Prince was now looking forward to seeing whether Jaeliel's Word would affect the taste of her soul. Of course, Jaeliel found this information to be critical in her decision to remove said captive from the Symphony. As a further means of protection, the Elohite petitioned her Archangel to provide her with a variant of the Senor Nunez relic (said variant providing her with an appearance similar to the one used in her usual missions to strengthen her Word). Christopher, having already demonstrated positive feedback for her actions, showed no hesitation in complying. Jaeliel finds highly bemusing the fact that this disguise remains effective. After all, her usual corporeal form only differs from her usual clandestine one in such immaterial matters as gender, apparent age, height, weight and skin color. The angel is not about to point out the perception problems apparently universal among her enemies, however. All in all, Jaeliel sees no reason not to state that, objectively speaking, she has sufficiently proven the utility of her Word to Heaven. Really, she fails to see precisely what is so amusing about all of this. ===== In Nomine stuff: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 11/25/00 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 02:57:50 -0500 From: "Aaron Medwin" Subject: Re: IN> OK, so this one's weird. Sue me. :) From: "Maurice Lane" > Jaeliel > Elohite Vassal of Kids > Angel of Gummi Bears > Relic: Beard of Señor Nuñez/6 (same concept, > different body) What? No Gummi Berry juice? No reference at all to the old Disney Gummi Bears cartoon at all? I'm kinda disappointed. - -Aaron Medwin ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 07:25:28 -0800 (PST) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> The Welcomers (A human trait) Date: Thu, 1 Feb 2001 23:19:12 -0500 From: "William J. Keith" Subject: IN> The Welcomers (A human trait) >The Welcomers I thought that this was neat, with one quibble. It makes more sense to me that possessing Welcomers would require allocating only half as many Forces as usual (rounding down, minimum 1), rather than a fixed 1 Force. This way, there's still a difference between possessing Welcomer 3year old and Welcomer 1st Generation Child of the Grigori Super-Soldier. :) Again, neat. Moe ===== In Nomine stuff: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 11/25/00 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 07:33:04 -0800 (PST) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> Transformation into a Demon-HELP! Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 09:25 +0000 (GMT Standard Time) From: jgd@cix.co.uk (John Dallman) Subject: Re: IN> Transformation into a Demon-HELP! >OTOH, provided it was explained to the Princes and >selected servitors beforehand, there's no reason why >a few humans shouldn't /believe/ they've become >demons. Oh, that's just _nasty_. And probably a favorite Balseraph party trick. "All right, let's all go swimming in the Lake of Fire!" "Err..." "What's the matter, Beria? You're not _afraid_, are you? You're a demon now, after all: show that you can stand the heat, and Belial will give you a job in a second. Tell me, have you considered what Band you want to fledge as? Now, Punisher is the obvious choice, sure, but _I_ think that you'd make a great Lilim..." Carefully done, that could present days of entertainment. :) Moe ===== 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: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 07:38:12 -0800 (PST) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> February 2, 2001 (MW Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2001 05:48:28 -0800 (PST) From: Michael Walton Subject: IN> February 2, 2001 (MW) > I meant to write up a Wiccan in honor of >Candlemas. When I started writing, this is what came out. So much for goodintentions. 0:> Amazing how that happens, huh? BTW, I'm spelling Candlemas properly _now_. Spelling it with a second s was what led me to Nigel. Excuse me, Nygel. ;) >Jasmine Delacroix >Sorcerer of Love Nice one. Tell me, how does Andre (or more likely, his Servitors) feel about her? Moe ===== In Nomine stuff: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 11/25/00 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 07:47:02 -0800 (PST) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> February 1, 2001 (ML) Date: Fri, 02 Feb 2001 10:03:31 -0500 From: Earl Wajenberg Subject: Re: IN> February 1, 2001 (ML) >So what do Nigel and his Triad think of Stryper and >other Christian heavymetal bands? That Laurence should get out and stay out of the music business and concentrate on what he's good at, like killing demons. The Triad, in order to demonstrate the Truth of this attitude, went so far as to take their Superior to an actual Christian heavy metal concert...* Moe *I'm sorry. I've tried listening to that stuff, and it makes me squirm. I decided to avoid fulminating about it in the original writeup though, because I recognize that it _is_ just my personal opinion, not necessarily the Truth. If anyone wants to make them buddies with the Christian heavymetallers, go ahead. :) ===== In Nomine stuff: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 11/25/00 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 13:03:59 -0600 From: Santiago Subject: Re: IN> February 2, 2001 (ML = Marmot Lover) > >PCs on either side would be well advised to ignore the politics this >one time and just concentrate on seeing how much woodchuck they can >chuck... sorry, wrong cliche. Actually, groundhogs, woodchucks, and marmots are all the same thing by different names. - -- Santiago ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 03 Feb 2001 12:31:02 -0800 From: "Uria Lomvia" Subject: IN> Resonance Rules Question Greetings! Regarding the Mercurians' resonance: If the Mercurian detects "geographic and cultural origins" on a demon in a human vessel, the resonance reveals that the subject is a demon, right? Uria Who needs Cupid? Matchmaker.com is the place to meet somebody. FREE Two-week Trial Membership at http://www.matchmaker.com/home?rs=200015 ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 20:32 +0000 (GMT Standard Time) From: jgd@cix.co.uk (John Dallman) Subject: IN> Malakites and Cheese Sandwiches This came up in the course of play: how /do/ various kinds of Malakim go about eating a cheese sandwich? Dreams: with caution - cheese can lead to dreams, or nightmares. Stone: The trouble is getting it to strike first. Offensive aromas can count, though. Judgement: "Canadian Cheddar? Cheddar is not in Canada, so it is clearly lying." Creation: "Well, needs some pickles... parma ham would be nice, and I've got a really great idea for a new sort of cheese. How about blamange?" Fire: Toasted. The Wind: In Seattle. Unless you were already in Seattle, in which case, there's this great little deli in New York. Lightning: In accordance with all relevant standards, procedures, objectives, and guidelines. In that order. Animals: Wolf it down. The Sword: Surprisingly normally, once they've finished cutting it up. Trade: Bought at a discount; we've got a relationship to build, here. War: Dead. Flowers: Only if the cheese is vegetarian. Destiny: "Cheese. Yes, of course..." - --- John Dallman jgd@cix.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 14:39:43 -0600 From: "Charles Glasgow" Subject: Re: IN> Resonance Rules Question - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Uria Lomvia" To: Sent: Saturday, February 03, 2001 2:31 PM Subject: IN> Resonance Rules Question > Greetings! > > Regarding the Mercurians' resonance: If the Mercurian detects "geographic and cultural origins" > on a demon in a human vessel, the resonance reveals that the subject is a demon, right? That one is covered under the In Nomine FAQ at: http://www.sjgames.com/in-nomine/faq/celestial_faq.html#rule-angels-mercuria ns-004 - -- Chuckg ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 15:44:12 -0500 From: Jason Schneiderman Subject: Re: IN> Malakites and Cheese Sandwiches >This came up in the course of play: how /do/ various kinds of Malakim go >about eating a cheese sandwich? > >Dreams: with caution - cheese can lead to dreams, or nightmares. "I wear the cheese; it does not wear me." * * * * * Jason Schneiderman jadasc@ma.ultranet.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 16:34:49 -0600 From: Santiago Subject: IN> Kobal's Motivations Erzebehl started slightly as the secretary called his name; it was time for his audience with his Prince. He was either about to get promoted, or find himself in really deep shit. He thought he'd been doing good work recently, but you never can tell... He tried to retain his composure as he stepped into Kobal's office, but found himself glancing about nervously. "Go on, sit down," the ancient impudite intoned, gesturing vaguely at the chair in front of the large desk. "I've been looking over your record, Erzebehl. On the whole, you seem to doing pretty good, or should I say evil." Erzebehl felt 90% of the tension escape from his body in that instant. Kobal continued to page through a folder which Erzebehl thought must be his personal file. "Yes, nice and eager, a real go-getter...though, I'd like to talk to you about this body count you've managed to rack up in the past few months..." Erzebehl's tension came shooting back, and brought several of its friends with it. "I think you may not be getting at the essence of the sort of organization I try to run here, the basic precepts of Dark Humor, if you will." Erzebehl's tension got on the phone and started inviting over everyone it knew. "Now, it's not that I *mind* killing people, it's just that I seldom find it useful. It's so cliched." "Well..." Erzebehl began to speak, hoping to present some sort of case against his instant reduction to a puddle of goo. "Eh, eh, eh." Kobal shushed him with a wave of his hand. "I'll grant that you do it in creative ways; I haven't seen most of these tricks for several years, if not decades." (Ahh, the art of damning with faint praise.) "And some of them were rather funny. But, what I want to know is why?" "Excuse me, sir?" "Why did you kill these people? What did you hope to accomplish? Talk to me, Erzebehl. Let me see your motivation." "I, uh..." the young demonling stammered out, "It seemed funny at the time...sir." "But what do you mean by 'funny'? What is humor? Go on, don't be afraid to lecture to your old man--I'll take insolency over idiocy any day." "Well, I tried to set up situations that were different from the norm, either bizarre or disgusting or seemingly innocuous, then add a twist. Death is a good twist because people take it seriously, unlike they do Saminga." The faint upward twitch of the corner of Kobal's mouth on hearing that jab let Erzebehl know that he could still salvage himself. "When a fluffy pink bunny rabbit mauls someone, or when a sewer lid cracks and sends someone plummeting to their death, it's so unexpected that it's funny." "Okay, I'll grant you that, but who's your audience?" "I'm not certain I understand you, boss." "Humor isn't something that exists on its own. It needs an audience. The nature of the audience defines the humor that can exist. That crack about Saminga, would you tell it to Belial? No, he wouldn't get it. Would you tell it to the Morningstar? Perhaps, if the mood was right. Would you tell it to Set? Not if you wanted to live. Humor is created for an audience. You may be part of the audience or you may not. But, if you're the only member of that audience, it's kind of pointless--an exercise in intellectual wankery. So, getting back to your record, what did those death gags accomplish? The victim is dead; in time, he may find his death humorous, or he may not. He may become resentful, jealous of those that didn't succumb to such trivialities. That's good, that's what Fate is all about. BUT, and it's a big but, he's already dead! Oops, too late." Erzebehl, turned somewhat red and shrank down in his chair. "What about everyone else? What are their reactions? 'Oh, how shocking!' 'I can't believe it.' Some people will laugh, but most will find it so tragic that they won't, or not for long. They'll feel *sympathy* for the poor bastard. They'll commiserate with each other, form groups to prevent this. Is that what you want? Everyone bonding together and getting all weepy?" "Um, no, sir." "You have to be subtle. Big tragedies bring people together. Little tragedies make one person suffer, but not enough to make other people feel sorry for them. They have their own problems. Other people's problems distract them from their own. Laughing at your neighbor's misfortune helps to take away the pain from yours, but only for a little while, and it makes your neighbor feel like shit. Maybe they'll get depressed. Even better, maybe they'll get angry and do something back to you in exchange. Cycles of escalating psychotic vengeance, with everyone laughing all the way to the grave, that's what we want. We don't want bonding, we want people making each other miserable. Then, we don't even have to do anything! We can just sit back and be the audience to their misfortune. Do you see? Dark Humor--that is the true path to Fate, by little indirect steps, one at a time." "Alright, sir, I understand. I'll do better now, I'm certain." "Not so fast, Erzebehl, I'm not through with you yet." "Oh, damn." "Don't worry; I like you. You've got potential, you just need a little training, that's all. If didn't think you we were worth anything, I'd have traded you to Saminga or the Vaputech beta-testing program by now. I want you to go to Earth, and make this guy's life miserable." Kobal pitched a glossy polaroid across the desk. "His name's Larry, and your job is see to it that he's living through Hell each and every day of his life. However, you are not allow him to get hurt. You'll be his personal guardian angel, heh. Oh, and this here little imp'll tag along filming the whole thing, which I intend to broadcast opposite 'Who wants to have a million essence?' and 'Survivor: Abbadon'. Remember, your audience is watching..." - -- Santiago ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 15:55:25 -0800 (PST) From: Maurice Lane Subject: IN> February 3, 2001 (ML) A little far afield, but then a strict interpetation of the calendar will make the project ethereal-heavy anyway. :) Moe Jacob Balseraph of Greed Corporeal Forces: 3 Strength: 6 Agility: 6 Ethereal Forces: 4* Intelligence: 8 Precision: 8 Celestial Forces: 5 Will: 11 Perception: 9 *This number is the base amount of Forces. When on a mission, Jacob has 5, or sometimes 6, Ethereal Forces. Vessel: random/2 Skills: Dodge/3, Emote/3, Fast Talk/3, Fighting/3, Ranged Weapon/3 (pistol) Songs: Charm (Celestial/3), Distortion/3, Form (Celestial/6), Hunger (Ethereal/3), Motion (Corporeal/3), Nimbus (Corporeal/3, Ethereal/3), Numinous Corpus (Wings/3**), Shields (All/1), Tongues (Ethereal/3) **This variant NC does not reflect Jacob's celestial heritage. Attunements: Balseraph of Greed, Only the Best, Art of the Deal Jacob looks upon those who complain about his Prince with contempt. Obviously, they just aren't trying hard enough. Jacob has a perfectly acceptable working relationship with Mammon. Of course, by anyone else's standards it looks more like that they're giving each other the shaft, but that's Balseraph psychology for you. Jacob has a very simple trick, but he's turned it into a real winner. He combs through the souls in Hell owned by Greed until he finds one that still has suitably gullible living associates. Soul in tow, he goes to his Prince and has the mortal's Ethereal Forces transferred to him. He then signs out a vessel that looks close enough to the soul's corporeal visage (it's amazing how few body types are needed to make this scheme practical), and hits the corporeal plane. From there, it's playtime. Jacob is very big on making a moderately large splash to begin with, then keeping a low profile afterwards. Between his resonance, his new memories and his special Songs, the demon can easily get the average financier or businessman to believe that Jacob is indeed (insert name here), come back from the dead to warn of peril / give reassurance about the afterlife. Done properly, the target will either completely change his or her behavior, or reaffirm it: it all depends on whether Jacob is trying to either corrupt the good, or nail down the evil. The human may not realize that the 'good counsel' being given to him or her will instead result in damnation, but that's not Jacob's problem. Meanwhile, the Balseraph is also going to be doing his best to divert surplus funds ('surplus' meaning 'anything not nailed down', of course) to Mammon's accounts. It seems that humans will sign anything that's put in front of them, often without reading it. Technically, having a human unknowingly sign a contract indicating that he's Mammon's after he dies is fraud, but so what? More mundanely, getting the human to contribute to 'charities' actually controlled by Greed's organization is child's play. Infiltrating Soldiers of Greed into the victim's corporate structure has also proven quite profitable, in the long term. The best part is that the victim keeps quiet about the visitation: after all, people will look funny at someone claiming to have been visited by the blessed dead. Best to keep one's mouth smugly shut. Officially, Jacob gets 10% of the profits. Naturally, the Generous Prince's fudging the books so that it's more like 3%: just as naturally, Jacob's skimming off the top anyway. It actually all evens out in the end, and that's rare among Mammon's people. Jacob is definitely one of Greed's rising stars. In fact, he's starting to attract attention from outside his Word: Kronos himself has shown some interest in Jacob's operation. The fact that the Prince of Fate could care less about raking in the cash is proving to be most interesting to the Balseraph. More work, but infinitely higher returns. He's on the verge of deciding to defect. Jacob should be quite successful as a Servitor of Fate, actually... right up to the point where the Malakim of Destiny rapid-response squad eviscerates him. Yves' people don't find this sort of behavior amusing at all. The only reason why they haven't taken him down yet is because Mammon is (despite Heavenly prejudices) strictly minor league. With the resources of Fate behind him, Jacob could be a nightmare, so it's best if he gets removed from the board fast. Just like everyone else who has ever tried this trick. ===== In Nomine stuff: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 11/25/00 (this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2044 ******************************** The material here is (C) 2001 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.