From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Sun Jun 10 16:12:37 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 QAA19115 for ; Sun, 10 Jun 2001 16:12:37 -0500 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.9.3/8.9.1a) id QAA09568 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Sun, 10 Jun 2001 16:10:00 -0500 Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 16:10:00 -0500 Message-Id: <200106102110.QAA09568@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 #2258 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 Sunday, June 10 2001 Volume 01 : Number 2258 In this digest: Re: IN> I probably need to be told "NO" in a firm voice for this one... RE: IN> Carrot Juice is Murder Re: IN> I probably need to be told "NO" in a firm voice for this one... Re: IN> I probably need to be told "NO" in a firm voice for this one... IN> IN: question about vessel death Re: IN> IN: question about vessel death Re: IN> IN: question about vessel death Re: IN> IN: question about vessel death Re: IN> IN: question about vessel death Re: IN> IN: question about vessel death Re: IN> IN: question about vessel death IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #2257 IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #2257 IN> Embassies of Flowers IN> MarcFest: New Servitor IN> Reaping what one sows... Re: IN> Cute comic ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2001 08:52:56 -0500 From: "Prodigal" Subject: Re: IN> I probably need to be told "NO" in a firm voice for this one... From: "Maurice Lane" > > Naming Lilim of Heresy after ex-girlfriends is a > really stupid idea on at least three different levels, > right? At least. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 09 Jun 2001 14:05:04 From: "Janet Anderson" Subject: RE: IN> Carrot Juice is Murder > Oh, my. This is good. This is _really_ good. Of all >the comedy IN bits I've seen recently, this is definately >in the top ranks. I can just imagine David getting the >report that one of Novalis' Servitors is running around >killing vegetarians... *ROTFL* (So can I.) Janet Anderson _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 09 Jun 2001 14:23:11 From: "Janet Anderson" Subject: Re: IN> I probably need to be told "NO" in a firm voice for this one... >Naming Lilim of Heresy after ex-girlfriends is a >really stupid idea on at least three different levels, >right? > >:) > >Moe > Only if a) the ex-girlfriends will ever find out or b) your girlfriend will object. At the moment, I'm using two (real, living) English professors as NPC Soldiers of God. I'm not using their real names, but the Irish one has an Irish name and the one with a medieval-sounding real name is named "Austringer." (Last week, while I was online with my PBEM, I typed the heading "Professor Austringer" on a post, looked up from my terminal, and saw the actual professor waving at me as he walked past. I didn't say anything; I just waved back.) Janet Anderson _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2001 10:27:33 -0400 From: Jason Schneiderman Subject: Re: IN> I probably need to be told "NO" in a firm voice for this one... >I was planning to write up a few NPCs for Oops, and I >just need to check something regarding Servitors of >Maurice, DP of Heresy: > >Naming Lilim of Heresy after ex-girlfriends is a >really stupid idea on at least three different levels, >right? It's a petty thrill with a long, long history in gaming. [1] It's a quick jolt of smug. Other than that, it's harmless. Jason [1] Back to Gygax, and his "debi" monster. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2001 17:15:08 -0400 From: John S Hawkins Subject: IN> IN: question about vessel death Hi there...I'm new to the list, but I've been lurking for a bit. I was wondering if someone could clear up a bit of confusion for me. In the discussion of corporeal death, it says that the celestial reforms near their heart, possibly shellshocked. Fine so far. But what I'm wondering is what happens to the vessel? Can you just 're-grow' it for an essence? If so, then what about celestials with 2+ vessels? The rules state that you can cheat death if you have another vessel you can escape to RIGHT NOW. But if you can reform your vessel, then this means that short of an atomic bomb, few things could force a celestial with two vessels to ever die. On a related note, this would imply that you could heal faster by allowing one vessel to die, then double switching back to it... So given all that, I'm wondering if maybe you just lose the vessel PERMANENTLY. But that seems pretty harsh...what's the accepted way of dealing with death? (I own most of the source material, so references are gladly accepted if I'm just missing something here...) Thanks! - -John ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 09 Jun 2001 14:29:57 -0700 From: Kish Subject: Re: IN> IN: question about vessel death John S Hawkins wrote: > > Hi there...I'm new to the list, but I've been lurking for a bit. I was > wondering if someone could clear up a bit of confusion for me. In the > discussion of corporeal death, it says that the celestial reforms near > their heart, possibly shellshocked. Fine so far. But what I'm > wondering is what happens to the vessel? It's dead. Left behind on Earth, likely to be given a funeral and buried. > So given all that, I'm wondering if maybe you just lose the vessel > PERMANENTLY. Yes. - -- Kish ICQ# 28085879 AIM Kish K M ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2001 15:50:25 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> IN: question about vessel death - --- Kish wrote: > > So given all that, I'm wondering if maybe you just > lose the vessel > > PERMANENTLY. > > Yes. Yup. However, once you're out of Trauma, you've got some options. Well, more like your Superior has got some options. If you died in the line of duty (especially while doing something nice for your side), then getting a new vessel isn't going to be too much of a hassle: in fact, if your death was above and beyond the line of duty, there's no reason why you can't get a better one. Screwing up, OTOH, might mean that you get the low end of the stick when it comes to vessel-reassignment. That's life in the majors. What complicates this issue is the problem with Roles. Vessel-death will usually eradicate them, unless the death wasn't a public one and the cleanup crews manage to, well, clean everything up. It's also harder to create Roles than it is to create vessels. Moe PS Thanks, BTW. This gave me an idea. :) ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 06/05/01(this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2001 19:01:59 -0400 From: John S Hawkins Subject: Re: IN> IN: question about vessel death On Sat, Jun 09, 2001 at 02:29:57PM -0700, Kish wrote: > It's dead. Left behind on Earth, likely to be given a funeral and > buried. > > > So given all that, I'm wondering if maybe you just lose the vessel > > PERMANENTLY. > > Yes. Okay, that makes sense. Then how do you deal with a player who's out his only vessel? If she's got character points lying around, fine, but say a character gets slaughtered while fighting the good fight the first time out...do you folks have established methods for dealing with that? In other games, the obvious answer's just to go make a new character. But in IN that seems silly, given that losing a vessel is just a hair worse than having a song stripped from you...i.e. not the end of the world (or more relevantly the character). Thoughts? I appologize, btw, if these questions are not appropriate for the list. It seems like the obvious place to ask them, in abstract, but I note that all the posts I've seen in the past few weeks have been things like sharing background material and such... Cheers, John ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2001 19:03:52 -0400 From: John S Hawkins Subject: Re: IN> IN: question about vessel death Ahah. Interesting, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks. - -John On Sat, Jun 09, 2001 at 03:50:25PM -0700, Maurice Lane wrote: > > --- Kish wrote: > > > > So given all that, I'm wondering if maybe you just > > lose the vessel > > > PERMANENTLY. > > > > Yes. > > Yup. However, once you're out of Trauma, you've got > some options. Well, more like your Superior has got > some options. If you died in the line of duty > (especially while doing something nice for your side), > then getting a new vessel isn't going to be too much > of a hassle: in fact, if your death was above and > beyond the line of duty, there's no reason why you > can't get a better one. Screwing up, OTOH, might mean > that you get the low end of the stick when it comes to > vessel-reassignment. That's life in the majors. > > What complicates this issue is the problem with Roles. > Vessel-death will usually eradicate them, unless the > death wasn't a public one and the cleanup crews manage > to, well, clean everything up. It's also harder to > create Roles than it is to create vessels. > > Moe > > PS Thanks, BTW. This gave me an idea. :) > > ===== > Liber Licentiae Moeticae: > http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html > > Last updated 06/05/01(this is usually way out of date) > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 > a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ > ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 09 Jun 2001 16:42:21 -0700 From: Ryan Elias Subject: Re: IN> IN: question about vessel death John S Hawkins wrote: > Okay, that makes sense. Then how do you deal with a player who's out > his only vessel? If she's got character points lying around, fine, but > say a character gets slaughtered while fighting the good fight the first > time out...do you folks have established methods for dealing with that? > In other games, the obvious answer's just to go make a new character. > But in IN that seems silly, given that losing a vessel is just a hair > worse than having a song stripped from you...i.e. not the end of the > world (or more relevantly the character). Thoughts? Kish hit the nail on the head, pretty much. One thing that might be added, though, is that a lack of a vessel is pretty much the only way to 'kill' a Celestial; it takes a great deal of effort (fancy songs, abject stupidity or expensive relics) to catch and hold someone in celestial form, let alone soul kill 'em. Now, there was a rather lengthy and heated debate about whether character death should play a part in any game on Pyramid recently (the final conclusion being 'maybe' ^_^), but if plays a part in your games, denying the character a replacement vessel is the closest you're likely to come in IN. And, realistically, an angel who blows an operation completely, getting Soldiers killed and whatnot, is not likely to be sent back down to Earth. The threat of permanent reassignment can carry the same threat as death does in another game, making sure that the players know that their actions can carry serious consequences. Reminds them that although they're effectively immortal, they're not invulnerable. YMMV, of course. Many GMs don't like to kill off characters under any circumstances, and certainly wouldn't go out of their way to do so. S'all good. > I appologize, btw, if these questions are not appropriate for the list. > It seems like the obvious place to ask them, in abstract, but I note > that all the posts I've seen in the past few weeks have been things like > sharing background material and such... I wouldn't worry about it. Not that I'm list admin or nothing, but Q&A is definately one of the prime functions of any mailing list, I would think (certainly of this one). That said, no one will be mad at you if you send in some background material as well ^_^ Cheers, Ryan ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 09 Jun 2001 19:03:19 -0500 From: David Edelstein Subject: Re: IN> IN: question about vessel death John S Hawkins wrote: > Okay, that makes sense. Then how do you deal with a player who's out > his only vessel? If she's got character points lying around, fine, but > say a character gets slaughtered while fighting the good fight the first > time out...do you folks have established methods for dealing with that? The GMG has some guidelines. Basically, if the Servitor lost a vessel doing his job intelligently, it will probably be replaced by his Superior. If he lost it doing something stupid, he might get a cheaper vessel, or even not be allowed back on Earth for a while. > But in IN that seems silly, given that losing a vessel is just a hair > worse than having a song stripped from you... Actually, much worse than that -- that's why celestials go into Trauma. But not as bad as dying for mortals. - -David ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 10:56:53 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #2257 - ---------- >From: owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com (in_nomine-digest) >To: in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com >Subject: in_nomine-digest V1 #2257 >Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 12:25 AM > > Penny for Your Thoughts SO useful for Seraphim! Discover the Truth no matter what they say! > > Wages of Syntax [snicker]. Taxing the sin of illiteracy! James. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 11:43:05 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #2257 > Naming Lilim of Heresy after ex-girlfriends is a > really stupid idea on at least three different levels, > right? Officially? http://www.gamespy.com/comics/dorktower/comics/gamespy/GameSpy061.html Of course, you can if you wish; just remember that even if she kills you we expect you to keep posting stuff. You could always get it out of your system by writing up the Demon of Pranks on Ex's. James. ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 9 Jun 2001 22:33:41 -0700 From: edenesque@juno.com Subject: IN> Embassies of Flowers I just had an idea. Elizabeth was kind enough to let me read through some of her Betharan stories, and something in chapter 9 gave me an idea. Novalis is the most peaceful and diplomatic of all Archangels, right? The idea that hit me is this: how about embassies? They would be places of neutrality, where angels of Flowers and perhaps Lightning and Destiny could work to learn what motivates demons so that they could be better Redeemed. I imagine the interactions would be different for each Word. Secrets: Angels of Flowers exposing their own secrets, to convince the Alemish that trust is a good thing. As progress is made, they might bring in Revelation-Servitors to complete the process, teaching the value of openness and good-will. Lust: The policy here is load up on the Mercurians. Who better than the Friends of Man to teach the value of love and honesty in relationships? A few months of constant exposure to Mercurians of Flowers with the Crown of Joy attunement and they'll be begging to crawl to Flowers for forgiveness. The Game: Trade's psychologists would get their money's worth here. Convincing the Gamesters that life is not a Game would be no easy chore. One strategy might be to assign each Gamester at one of these embassies a Cherub of Flowers. The overdoses of love should break them down, and what's left can be turned over to Judgement. The War: This would be delicate. Bring lots of Seraphim of Flowers, preferably some Masters of Peace, and keep the Baalites under the Seraphic attunement for a few months, *then* bring the Michaelites in to whip them into shape. Nightmares: Psychologists would be needed here, for the deep mental scars. Make sure the Flower-staff all have Crown of Joy as well, and call upon the help of Dreams when needed. Fire: Keep them in fireproof clothes and rooms and under the Seraphim of Flowers' control until you can find some reasonable Gabrielites to explain all about how Belial stole half the Word of Fire and Gabriel's interpretation of it is correct. Drugs: Expose them to lots of lectures from the Malakim of Children on why drugs are bad. Guilt-trip them to Redemption. Hardcore: Another fine case for having Seraphim of Flowers and Masters of Peace on hand. Heavy sedation, cold-turkey withdrawal from all violent music and T.V., and patient therapists are a must with these Servitors. Gluttony: In this case, having Michaelites apply heavy discipline and a strict diet is a good thing. You can preach to them after they're exhausted and hungry. Dark Humor: Have someone break out the highlight reels from the days when Kobal was Laughter, and any rational Celestial will surely see why Dark Humor is bad. Fate: Mercurians of Fire, Dreams, and Creation should be brought in to show just how much potenial humans have *before* you bring in the Destinarians to preach at Fate's minions. Freedom: Seraphim and Destiny-Servitors should explain the joys of serving Heaven to these Servitors. Cruelty: Have the Mercurians of Flowers explain why cruelty brings only loneliness and anguish...after Judgement slaps the will-shackles on Magog's people. Patience and cheer are a must. Factions: Expose them to films and cartoons of people working together to solve problems they couldn't alone....five or six times an hour, every hour, before bringing in the Mercurians of Flowers for the sermon. Greed: Have the Servitors of Trade, Stone, and Destiny explain the lonely Fate that awaits the greedy. They'll come around eventually. The Media: Have the Gabrielites ready with the footage of humans who have committed horrible acts because of the Media's influence...all while the Cherubim and Seraphim preach and sermonize to their patient (preferably when the patient is under a Crown of Joy). Death/Technology: Take these Servitors on discreetly guarded nature walks to show them the beauties of nature. Bringing along the Animals-Servitors is a good idea too. Once they see what they're giving up, they'll come around. Theft: Have the Destinarians and the Traders continually lecture on the evils of taking what isn't yours. Bring in Children-Servitors if need be. What do you think? Its' late and I'm tired, so the spelling may not be perfect. ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 00:13:51 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: IN> MarcFest: New Servitor No, not really. More of a nod to that show than anything else: otherwise, he'd be a Kyriotate. :) Moe Scott Mercurian Friend of the Shareholders Corporeal Forces: 4 Strength: 6 Agility: 10 Ethereal Forces: 5 Intelligence:10 Precision: 10 Celestial Forces: 6 Will: 12 Perception: 12 Vessel: as needed, but always level/4 or above Skills: Chemistry/1, Dodge/6, Emote/6, Fast-Talk/6, Fighting/1, Knowledge (Law/1, History/1), Language/1 (varies), Lying/6, Move Silently/1, Ranged Weapons (pistol/2), Savoir-Faire/2 Songs: Charm (Ethereal/3, Celestial/3), Form (Corporeal/2, Celestial/6), Friendship (Corporeal/3), Light (Celestial/3), Motion (Celestial/5), Sleep (Ethereal/3), Shields (Corporeal/3, Ethereal/2, Celestial/2) Attunements: Mercurian of Trade, Malakite of Trade, Mercurian of Judgement, Mercurian of Lightning, Divine Contract, Head of a Pin, Friend of the Shareholders Role: See below. Think of him as the ultimate temp. You see, one of the problems with fighting a secret War is that you have to (mostly) work within the system. Among other things, that means that you can't openly take advantage of any special abilities that you might have - like, say, coming back from the dead. People tend to notice that. Thus, killing a human agent (or sending someone with a Role into Trauma) is an excellent method of neutralizing the enemy's ability to project force. Using that agent/persona in that specific situation has been made impossible, irrevocably. Unless, of course, you use a stopgap. Scott is one of Marc's best troubleshooters. His area of expertise is in the short-term impersonation of slain Soldiers or Servitors until Heaven can replace the former and/or reinsert the latter. It is not an easy job: the Mercurian is usually jumping into a extreme crisis situation without a proper briefing or preparation, having to trust in his (considerable) ability to lie, bluff and generally fight a verbal holding action until the Host can resolve matters. Add to that the fact that he almost always has to deal with whoever killed his predecessor, and quite possibly the _corpse_ of his predecessor (at least, at first) ... well, he usually pulls off the impersonation, but it can get very hairy, very fast. It doesn't help matters much that he always gets the really tough missions: if it looks impossible, you send for Scott. Scott is a figure of legend among his fellow Servitors: he's universally considered by them to be either extremely good, or extremely lucky, or both. He has such a reputation, in fact, that he's sometimes called in on emergencies that do not impinge on Trade: Dominic and Jean have both rewarded him for his exemplary service on their behalf. The former would no doubt like to recruit him (the Inquisition can always use another infiltrator), but the Mercurian prefers his current Superior: Marc is more interested in results than in methods, within reason. The Mercurian is an interesting character study: he simultaneously hates and loves his job. Scott's average preparation time is roughly a minute and a half, and a good portion of that involves a hurried assumption of the deceased's face and body type via the Celestial Song of Form. The rest of that period usually involves grabbing the corpse's wallet to peruse as quickly as possible. The unavoidable lack of hard initial data has nearly gotten the angel killed more than once ... but Scott can't deny that the rush that comes from tap-dancing on the lip of a metaphorical cliff isn't tasty. In fact, it's practically addictive. He often feels a pang of regret when the mission is over: he was just starting to get the hang of things... PCs will either encounter Scott in a specific mission, or else between them. If they're in the vicinity, they may be called in to help dispose of inconvenient bodies, or else generally run interference until things can be fixed. They'll find that the Mercurian is very nice about returning favors: considering that he's on excellent terms with his Archangel, this can prove to be extremely useful. If they encounter Scott between missions, he'll probably be slumped at some Heavenly cafe, exceptionally relaxed ... until his beeper goes off. Somehow helping him _then_ is probably an even better idea: Scott treats every scrap of useful initial information about his latest mission as being more precious than rubies, and acts accordingly to those who provide him with such largesse. Of course, make his life /harder/, and he'll remember that, too... ===== Liber Licentiae Moeticae: http://www.stormloader.com/users/moelane/innomine.html Last updated 06/05/01(this is usually way out of date) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 07:51:50 From: "Michael Cleveland" Subject: IN> Reaping what one sows... Dominic knew that there was something wrong today. The council session wasn't running very long as yet - there had been nothing that would have set off any warning bells in his mind. And yet, there was an uneasiness, a tension in his scales that he just couldn't shake. Laurence was at the podium discussing the planned counterattack on several Infernal Tethers. Flowers had taken several substantial hits lately, losing four Tethers in a series of raids from the enemy. Dominic was not pleased by that, although losses were never pleasant to hear about. It represented a concerted assault on one particular superior, and that sort of attention demanded more than a small amount of attention in kind. Who precisely was responsible had not yet been established, but his suspicions were running towards Valefor or Belial. Both of them had a special propensity for 'plucking flowers'... Speaking of Flowers, Novalis was somewhat quieter than usual. Granted, even she had to realize that a military response was required in this situation, but by now he'd come to expect a few mild barbs to have been tossed out at Laurence. Perhaps it was simply her acknowledgement that violence had become necessary, but his finely-tuned senses told him that there was something more to it... Michael was pacing around the chamber, making irritated comments and picking apart Laurence's arguments left and right. Now _that_ was unusual - Michael typically kept his criticisms of Laurence private. Something _was_ going on here, and Michael had managed to pick up on it as well. Walking over to his choir-mate, Dominic shifted in his cloak somewhat uncomfortably, then steeled himself to the task at hand... Speaking quietly, "Michael, perhaps it is just our lack of communication, but unless you see something that I do not, Laurence's plans do seem sound." Michael shrugged and grunted quietly. Pressing on, "Michael... (sighing) what is it? You feel something, as do I." Michael looked over at Dominic, with his typical look of revulsion, then turned back to look at Laurence as he spoke. "I... hear something. I don't know what it is, but something's coming. Here. Started out slowly a few hours ago, but I feel it speeding up. I... I don't know what it is, but I do not like it, Dominic. Dominic waited a moment, then began to move off. "Nor do I, Michael." Novalis had gotten up from her seat and had begun moving around the council chamber. As she walked by Dominic, he heard her quickly take in a breath, then slowly let it out again. Turning to look at her, Dominic spoke up. "Is something troubling you, Novalis? You seem... somewhat quiet today." When Novalis turned around, Dominic could clearly see that she had been crying, even as she smiled at him. "I... I'm somewhat worked up about everything that's happened, but I think I'll be all right." Unconsciously, Dominic had reached out with his resonance the moment before, and what he heard bothered him. She had obviously told the truth as she knew it, but he could feel the Symphony warbling slightly as she spoke. _Something_ was wrong, all right, but there was no way to figure it out at the moment. Somewhat more cautiously, "Are you certain that you are all right, Novalis? If... if there there is anything that I can..." Novalis cut him off with a finger to his lips. "Hey, I'm fine. Dominic, trust me, if I had a problem that I didn't think I could deal with, I'd..." Novalis's voice trailed off for a moment - Dominic could see her lip trembling slightly before she spoke again. "Look, I... I've lost a few Servitors lately. It's getting to me a little, but I'm sure I'll..." Dominic stopped her with a finger to her chest. "What is going on, Novalis?" Novalis sighed slightly, then straightened up stiffly, then relaxed again. "Well, the part that Larry isn't aware of is that I _do_ know who's responsible for this. Asmodeus didn't just destroy the Tethers, he also went out of his way to capture everyone in them." Dominic stepped back, shocked. "Why didn't you tell anybody this, Novalis? Novalis shrugged. "It's my problem, and I'll deal with it. I don't need... "Novalis, how are we supposed to help you if you keep things... Novalis glared at Dominic forcefully. In a much stronger tone of voice than he had ever heard Novalis use, "It is _my_ problem, and _I_ will deal with him, Dominic. I do _not_ need your sympathy, or your pity, or your condescension. I _can_ deal with it." Dominic stepped back, shocked. This didn't make sense - he'd _never_ seen Novalis like this. Novalis was _fuming_ - this was positively unheard of. As he watched Novalis's retreating back, he thought about making an issue of it when he felt an attempt at a summoning. Irritated, he initiated the mental contact - "Report." After a second, a voice came into his head. "Sir, I'm sorry but I thought you should hear about this. One of the local Malakim of Destiny that I work with was doing surveillance of a Game Tether in the area, when he reported that a large group of angels were being brought up through the Tether to the corporeal... "Continue." "Well, um... they're all Servitors of Flowers from the looks of it. But that's not precisely why I called. Asmodeus is there. In person. And he's started executing them Celestially, or convincing them to Jump. He's gone through at least 50 so far, and he's got more. Lots more, sir. The rest of the Triad is in favor of attempting to break it up, but we need authorization to do so, sir." Dominic looked over quickly at Novalis - she was leaning against a wall, rubbing her hands on her temples, moving her lips. This was bad - he could see the touch of Dissonance on her soul, and he didn't have to be an Elohim to see the anger radiating off of her. Laurence had actually left the podium and was walking over to see what was the matter, and several of the other Archangels were beginning to come this way as well. Shooting a quick look to Yves and Laurence, he opened an Ethereal tongues to the two of them - "Novalis is in real and direct danger. I need a strike force to drop to where one of my triads is for an assault on a Game Tether." Seeing both of them nod, Dominic reopened the mental contact to his Servitor. "Hold your positions. Reinforcements are in route now." Looking over at Laurence for a moment, he spoke again. "ETA on reinforcements is four minutes. Once reinforcements are on site, you are to secure the prisoners. Use whatever it takes." Then he broke the transmission to go to Novalis. Novalis was shaking with rage by the time he reached her. Dominic place a hand on her shoulder, "Novalis, help is on the way for your Servitors. We will..." She shook his hand off of her shoulder. "Will what? Deal with the problem? Make it stop? How? We push one thrust back and they start three more in its place, Dominic. Don't tell me that - you'll just make yourself Fall. It's never that simple, you..." A voice from behind Dominic spoke. "Oh, come on Novy. We'll make it happen." As Dominic whirled to face a familiar voice, a white-winged angel in ripped jeans and a psychedelic shirt swept past the cloaked Archangel to lean on the wall next to Novalis. Novalis turned towards the newcomer, wrapping him in a hug as she buried her face in his shoulder. "Eli, I can't, I.. I.. they're doing it all over again! I can't let him, but I can't just go and..." Novalis started to break down crying as Eli stood there smoothing her hair and trying to soothe her. In his head, Dominic heard the voice of the Archangel of Creation, as loudly in his mind as his voice was quiet with Novalis. "Dominic. What in the name of the Almighty is going on here? I could feel her screaming half a world away from here. Tell me what..." Novalis picked her head up, and shook it for a moment. "I can't make it stop, Nikki. I can't make him stop. I can't. It's not what I am, but I've got to do something. I..." She started moving around the council chamber, shaking her head. Dominic followed her a few steps behind, uncertain of what to do. "Novalis, we will deal with Asmodeus. We will make him stop. We will make him pay for what he has done to you. Have no doubt about that. He _will_ pay." Novalis stopped and looked down. "You're right, Dominic." From behind him, he felt a very strong surge of fear, although he couldn't be certain of where it came from. Then, "Oh baby, baby, baby! Come on... come on, I know what you're thinking, don't even think about it, come on... we can deal with this, Novy! Don't you..." Dominic started forward quickly. "Novalis, you need to calm down. Isn't that what you're always telling me to do? Come on, please. Don't do this..." Novalis reached out her hand towards Dominic, then thrust it out to her side as a scythe appeared in her hand. Looking up at Dominic with burning eyes, "It's done." With a shriek of utter rage, Novalis turned and leapt towards the council podium, disappearing with a thunderclap before she reached it. A few moments of stunned silence passed before Dominic spoke. "My God." Nothing else needed to be said. - --------------------- Asmodeus was quite pleased - so far, over a hundred flowers had been plucked from the ranks of Heaven, and 12 of them had gone so far as to switch their loyalties. 'Not a bad day so far...' he thought. 'I doubt that Novalis will actually do something directly, but...' The thought was suddenly interrupted when a screeching roar rang out through the Cacophony, alerting him to the impending entrance of another Superior on the Corporeal plane. 'Hmmm... Novalis must have convinced Janus or Michael to step in. No one else is that blatant.' Hearing heavy footsteps echoing from the hallway, Asmodeus stood up from his seat and moved into the doorway. Turning to look down the hallway, he put a mocking smile on his face. "Ah, Lady Novalis - what a... pleasure to see... you..." His voice trailed off as he felt the Power of his Word fall into place, telling him who and what he was dealing with - File Number - #RDP005(New File) - See #AA23 Name - Novalis Band - Djinn Status - Renegade (Superior) Word - Unidentified - (Linguistic Best Fit - Thorns) Mental State - Murderous Rage Dissonance - Negligable Threat Rating - Extreme Asmodeus' head began to swim with the rapid influx of information - 'Novalis? Fallen? My, this is... this is... Oh...' Paling as he saw the figure advancing on him, he started pulling up essence and power for the fight that he knew was going to be on him in a matter of seconds. Even though the memory of his Fall was somewhat dulled by the passage of the millenia, he could still remember the transcendent rage that he had felt immediately afterwards, and how the strength it had given him had allowed himself to fight his way to the top of the pecking order... Minutes later, as the building was falling in him around and he felt something cold and metal sliding through his Vessel's neck, he thought of something that chilled him even more than the feeling of Corporeal death - the thought that if he had calculated things slightly more precisely, he could have predicted this... In essence, the thought that he had just outplayed himself... _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 10 Jun 2001 16:38:01 -0700 From: "Perry Lloyd" Subject: Re: IN> Cute comic - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Elizabeth McCoy" To: Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2001 2:50 PM Subject: Re: IN> Cute comic > At 5:22 AM -0700 6/7/01, Perry Lloyd wrote: > >http://comics.com/comics/roseisrose/archive/roseisrose-20010603.html > > > >I had no idea that relievers could *do* that sort of thing! > > What made you think that the Guardian Angel was a _reliever_? Clearly > he's the kid brother to the Angels of Final Judgment who stand guard at > the gates of Hell. Mind, what this means about that kids destiny is > pretty impressive... > > (lessee... Take it away from _Rose is Rose_... Little kid. Big destiny. > Scary fate. (Or maybe just horrifyingly scary fate, or somehow Lucifer's > unknown CelFruition offspring.) Huge guardian angel. Who has been recently > attacked by nasty demon. Both lost, in Trauma and/or Remnant and/or > soul-killed entire. PCs only angels/demons in the area to protect the kid > from the next wave/be the next wave...) ha ha ha - -Perry, KFC perrylloyd@hotmail.com pl312993@oak.cats.ohiou.edu NEW WEB PAGE!!!!!! http://www.geocities.com/perrylloyd "The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out. " - --Chinese Proverb ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2258 ******************************** The material here is (C) 2001 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.