From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Thu Jul 19 07:43:40 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 HAA30012 for ; Thu, 19 Jul 2001 07:43:40 -0500 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.9.3/8.9.1a) id HAA07003 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Thu, 19 Jul 2001 07:43:11 -0500 Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 07:43:11 -0500 Message-Id: <200107191243.HAA07003@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 #2307 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, July 19 2001 Volume 01 : Number 2307 In this digest: Re: IN> Attunements & Rites Re: IN> Consider Fate... IN> WWIN Resurrection Re: IN> Attunements & Rites RE: IN> Attunements & Rites Re: IN> Consider Fate... IN> Re:Attunements & Rites. IN> Ahriman, supperior oppinions and notes IN> Thoughts on Ahriman Re: IN> Thoughts on Ahriman Re: IN> Thoughts on Ahriman Re: IN> Thoughts on Ahriman IN> The Online Conspiracy Re: IN> A controversial relic Re: IN> Thoughts on Ahriman ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 19:45:36 -0400 From: "William J. Keith" Subject: Re: IN> Attunements & Rites >As an additional ability, an angel may use this attunement to encourage >growth in plant life. Treat as either a Song of Corporeal Healing or >Entropy, as appropriate, with the angel's Ethereal Forces serving as the CD. >This use costs no Essence and generates no Disturbance. A person or two has written to the list about how this isn't a particularly useful effect. However, I refer you to -- believe it or not -- GURPS: Wizards, under the "Overlord" description, Gloria Incandia in particular. To wit, it can be very useful to be able to encourage plant growth, depending on your position. If Beth will pardon a direct quote, "it is far more useful for a monarch to be able to double crop yield than to wither his enemy's limbs!" The usefulness of the Attunement depends on its speed and range. the Corporeal Song of Entropy can be used to age an object several years; would you allow a grove of trees to be aged a single year? Would a grove of fruit trees thus aged produce a new harvest? If the angel spends several Essence, could a field of corn grow, ripen, and be made ready for reaping in a few days? Imagine the effects of a troop of angels with this Attunement heading into a land of famine! Even if the Attunement only works on the smaller scale, the second half of the Attunement still has many uses, even in play. A flower in a pot, precious to a human, brought back from the faded brink to luscious health, can be no end of morale booster. I refer you to E.T. for an example. Several days of work could restore or bring forth a garden, and any Novalite will tell you the beneficial effects a garden can have on individuals, families, or even an entire neighborhood. So no, it's not exactly a short-term "wow"; it can still be a useful, even character-central, ability for a Novalite. William ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 02:14:37 +0100 From: Rhodri James Subject: Re: IN> Consider Fate... In article <5.1.0.14.0.20010718064637.00a133b0@pop-server.nc.rr.com>, Jonathan Walton wrote: > > > 2). Time travel does really weird things to English > > > grammar. :) > > > >Damn straight. When Steve Jackson and John M Ford set off to write GURPS > >Time Travel, I hoped that they would build some extensions to English for > >the purpose. I was disappointed, but there's always another edition to > >hope for. > It's usually best to keep everything in present tense when talking about > beings (such as Yves and Kronos) who live in time. Though I like the > idea of them living backwards, I'm reminded of the part at the end of > Rev 5 which has Yves basically walking across time. That too would let > him know what's going to happen at the end, but still be anywhere (and > anywhen) he wanted in the War. To make grammer deal with this, you can > just say "Yves helps Gabriel found Islam," or "Yves puts up a good show > in stopping the Apocalypse," since Yves can be at any of those points > in time at any given moment of his own existence. Confused? This is the approach that Continuum (one of the few thoroughly thought-out time-travel systems around) takes. Use present tense for almost anything in the third person. Using past and future tenses implies that you are talking about personal history and future (what Continuum terms Age and Yet) rather than global past and future (Up and Down). It seems to work. - -- Rhodri James *-* Wildebeeste herder to the masses If you don't know who I work for, you can't misattribute my words to them ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 22:03:27 -0400 From: Jonathan Walton Subject: IN> WWIN Resurrection Hey all, I don't know if Moe sicked Belial on me or what, but one of my many In Nomine projects is finally ready to do some damage. World Weavers In Nomine, one of the oldest continually-running places to play In Nomine online, has gotten new management, a new look, something of a new personality, and is up and ready to find some new people to play In Nomine with us. "WWIN" is _the_ resource for people who are unable to find a local game or just want to feed their growing In Nomine addiction. Unlike other PBeM games, WWIN is always looking for new players, runs quick Training groups to get everyone familiar with our style, and makes it easy for active & determined players to eventually run games of their own. With people like Charles E. Smith, Cameron McCurry, Amanda Kilgore, and Chris Holland currently running games for us, it's looking to be a good year. So, if you're interested in being a part of what we do, take a look at our website, http://www.havencomm.com/~wwin/ , which has information about how to get in touch with us about playing. Also, I'm the World Admin, so e-mailing me with questions or anything else is always a good idea. Look forward to playing with you guys. Jonathan WWIN World Admin P.S. Also, when another of my various projects gets done, namely Moe's "Tattered Symphony Netbook," look for WWIN to run the first Tattered PBeM. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 21:25:58 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> Attunements & Rites - --- "William J. Keith" wrote: > Hmm... come to think of it, the writeup technically > says *any* celestial... > I guess if a demon manages to complete the hajj with > sincere faith, though, > he's close enough. ;^) I suspect that if a demon managed to do the above, describing him as a 'demon' might not be accurate anymore... :) Moe ===== 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 http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2001 22:57:59 -0600 From: "Julian Mensch" Subject: RE: IN> Attunements & Rites - --- "William J. Keith" wrote: > Hmm... come to think of it, the writeup technically > says *any* celestial... > I guess if a demon manages to complete the hajj with > sincere faith, though, > he's close enough. ;^) I suspect that if a demon managed to do the above, describing him as a 'demon' might not be accurate anymore... :) Moe - ------------------------------------------------------- Of course -- just remember those three special words close to all our hearts... (And Dark Humor puts his hands up in little 'quote' gestures) "I'M AN ANGEL" :) With apoligies to the original, - -- Julian Mensch ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 01:12:59 -0400 From: Douglas Muir Subject: Re: IN> Consider Fate... >Just to make sure that some subliminal credit/parallel evolution is noted... >(I can use the Archives Essence, anyway.) >>At 5:38 PM +0100 6/26/98, Kevin Walsh wrote: [snippage] >>(Em and Maya told me this nice little notion about them: as the >>personifications of the Symphony's Destiny and Fate, they "remember >>the future." But Yves remembers the bright future, and Kronos the >>dark one. Sort of like Merlin, living backwards... Anyway, they >>explained it much better.) Parallel evolution, I think -- that was June '98, at which point I was in Germany. I didn't know that this list existed until early '99. Having said that... I do have some vague memory of something sort of like this idea appearing on the list; I didn't _think_ I was being completely original. In any event I'm happy to share credit. Doug M. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 15:44:44 +1100 From: "james walker" Subject: IN> Re:Attunements & Rites. - ---------- >From: owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com (in_nomine-digest) >To: in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com >Subject: in_nomine-digest V1 #2306 >Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 10:30 AM > > Since Superiors 5+ seems to be on > indefinite hold, does anyone have ideas for new attunements for > > Jean Lots of people have, I believe - but I've never seen archaic choir attunements for Lightning, so: Seraphim For 1 essence, the angel can surround a target with St Elmo's fire. This negates all vision penalties to hit the target. For a cost of 2 essence, instead of being surrounded, the target merely acquires a glowing golden halo. these effects last for a number of minutes equal to the angels total Forces. The Angel also has a photographic memory. Cherubim (Restricted) The Cherub may, with a touch, modify a compass or lodestone so that it points/tugs towards either the Cherub or to one of the Cherub's attuned (chosen by the cherub when the compass/lodestone is touched). The effect lasts for a number of days equal to the Cherubs' Total Forces. Cherubim often hand these out to allies. Ofanim Jean's Ofanim may use the Earth's magnetic field to help them navigate, as if they were homing pigeons. The angel may add the level of their current Vessel (so long as it was given to them by Jean) to any Area Knowledge roll. Elohim (partially Restricted) Jean's Powers can see the electrical aura surrounding living beings, and can interpret what they mean. In addition to being able to see lifeforms in the dark, the Elohite may add their Ethereal Forces to any Detect Lies or resonance rolls. Other angels may take this attunement, but gain no bonuses to their Resonance roll. Malakim Jean's Kings may release an electric charge, as if they were electric eels. This does a number of points of damage equal to their Corporeal Forces times the essence spent on the effect to any one person in contact with them either directly, or via a conductive item (such as a sword). This effect may be used in the same round as a normal attack, and need not be declared until a successful attack has been made. We really should organise peoples contributions, so that they'll be available for whoever does the AA's write-ups. After all, it's likely to be a year or more before these AA's are written up, so if we don't then what we are writing here will be lost among the other stuff we're doing. James. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 09:15:42 +0000 From: "cassandra benner" Subject: IN> Ahriman, supperior oppinions and notes Once more id like to appologise to beth and the list if this is too long and to large in kb size. Also, leave cannon at the door, this is how the supps would see him in our games, your takes on the supps will be different. Also, for those of you who know little to nothing of mithraism i have in brackets included some names that equate to eht various superiors, for those of you who are familier with it, i hope you agree with me in the placing of the various superiors ============================================ Superior Oppinions Angelic (Spenta Mainyu) Blandine He, aswell as the morning star is responsible for my love leaving me, he is a bully, and he has taken the mantle of a god that belongs not to him. It will be his undoing - -Pathetic little thing, she hides her self from those who would love her and show unto her the reason for her love leaving her, it wasnt my fault, but i must say, Beleth is good to -know- if you know what i mean. David I remember him, long ago, he spent time amongst the mortals that we cherish and nurture, he was responsible for the leading of many away from gods grace, he destroys the humans that he built up. - -Mountains to boulders, boulders to pebbles, pebbles to shale, shall to sand, sand to dust. I know his ways, i sprung forth lucifer and showed him to make the stars and the suns, and david was jelous of this for he was land locked. Dominic He is more my opposite than asmodeus is, he brings chaos and dissention in ways that malphas never has, he corrupted a holr relegion and turned it to worship himself more so than god. He will be judged. - -Hah, fool, keeper of laws in the most law bound place, yes, keep doing your work dominic, for you drive home the nails that are killing your relegion and your god with each word you say against your own kind. Eli Ahriman? hmm, mithraic devil type of guy? look in the marches, thats where he was last time i looked. - -A tool of god thrown down once the task was completed, he wanders taskless, i will do what i can to get him, he will be usefull for my plans of everlasting destruction and contiuance. Gabriel He stole some of me to bring unbearable heat to the earth, he warped a relegion i helped instill, he will be remembered. - -Another tool of god, cast to the darkest region of the garden shed, i took of him and scarred the earth in his name, and he thinks it is a good thing to have now. Janus He has caused me a greivous wound in times past, and there is no way for me to get my revenge. - -Hah the great thief of heaven, i showed him how to steal, but he matters not. Jean I recall the name, but he has little to do with my endevours for his time is past and his relegion was brought down. - -Ah my dear jean, yes continue your endevours please do, see how they lead mankind from your god, ah but you cannot for you areblinded by the holy light of heaven. Jordi His cult murdered animals, but his cult is no more, i care not for this one who would raise himself to that of Our Father for he is nothing in comparison but a leech, if not less than a leech. - -Ah see how the lamb follows the wolf from the pack and kills it, i am the wolf and you are a lamb and you shall die apon my alter as i sacrifice you to myself and i shall know true pleasure of every type with your corpse. Laurance My -father- Uriel faced this monstrosity many times on the feild, and each time was a draw, i am strong and i shall prevail in the eyes of mine lord. - -Fool, come at me with your sword, come and i shall kill you and show your corpse to your -father- uriel, come on kid, try it and let me show you just how monstrous one who is as a god truly can be. Marc He bears down on people like mammon does, greed is in his portfolio, i have a number of my top -accountants- on the matter of his embezlement of relegious funds and treasuries. - -Why does lilith put up with you? Why does mammon get caught out by you? oh yes, i know why, you are like he and she, you are a money grubbing deal maker who is slowly dissapearing over the horizon of your gods vision. Michael (Ormazd) He was caste down with the morning star, but how many remember him these days? His cult gave me powewr truth be told but it was unclean and i am glad it has been purged from the planet for it stole from the true God. - -Ah my twin, my sweet Ormazd, how was it for you when you took my reigns of power and kept them as your own? You could not handle the power could you and you burried it with blood and corpses. Novalis Who? - -A pathetic little flower, i will plant my seed in you one day to see the look on your face when you realize who is the true power in the universe, your god has stopped and i continue. Yves (Ahura Mazda) You know your time has passed, and you left your kingship behind. But like any jelous son you strive to grab them back again, but it is futile, this i know. - -I have stolen from you, i have perverted your ways, you are nothing anymore. Demon Princes Aballam Like a father to me, but little really to do with me other than that and mother. - -He is but a fragment of me and his mother, but a shard, and shards can cut, but i keep him close to me, but nt to my heart for a son hungers for what his fater has, as i all to well know Andrealaphus Mmmm, is it not despicably divine how i rape him, oh yes i admit that he is greater than i am, but that has never stopped me before, he loses out where i gain, i suck him dry of all i can, and it tastes wonderful. - -Runt, gimp, slave, these are the things he is and all he ever will be, he does not drink as much as he thinks he does, he drinks but the dregs of my bitter brew. Asmodeus Once, for a short while he was a law unto himself, but he heeled in and left hell. - -i watch him from afar for he is like his counterpart to much for my liking, but he has his uses at times. Baal Heh, he keeps michael busy so i can strike behind the lines, but other than that i have no need of him, well, he is useful as a sheild i guess at times. - -Valour, war, what use are these things to one such as i? Beleth (Az) He has shown no fear to me, but he has shown me much about fear and how to use it well in its many forms, and he enrages my forlorn once lover and that amuses me. - -Ah my sweet beleth, see how i do not cower before you like all others do, i know that you will be a great thing for all of the world to enjoy and you will enjoy them so very much too. You have but tasted what the corpse has to offer unto you. Belial He was the one who inspired me to burn those not faithful to the church of his, indeed of all churches, but you know what? The churches burn just as well as those who don't worship in them. - -He indulges in the pleasures as a demon should, he is a true demon, one of the few, but as he mantions all to loudly, churches burn just as easily as the one who follow not that church. Haagenti Ah he was the one who told me to look for pig, and i remember that day. I owe him alot for that. - -Sweet hunger, how you burn in so many like an unquenchable fire, burn brightly for me and i shall show you more than pigs and cattle, i shall show you meats like you have never tasted before. Kobal Laugh and the world laughs with you, die laughing and who cares. - -Laughter has ruined many relegions, but mine was not one of them, i laughed over the slain foes, i laughed when i feasted on the souls of the damned. Kronos The fool thinks he is above us all. He is not, this i know, and his time will come for it is near at hand. - -Broken shards of Ahura Mazda, thats all you are, i know for i have seen your face and his in the same mirror. Lilith (Jeh) Oh yes i remember him, we talked for years apon end about little things, and we broke the souls of man, we showed to them the sins that were there for them to lead them from god and in to the darkness, and we feasted apon them all. I miss this candle lit dinners some times. - -Ah how i loved her when i saw her, in the garden from above and below i watched her, and i saw she was beyond all those that would call themselfs demonic, but of late her word taes her away from me, and i miss those nights that lasted for aeons of pleasure as we found ways that no god could ever dream of to bring pleasure to eachother. Lucifer (Azi Dahaka) - -Nothing to say on the matter- - -Yes, he denies me, he denies that i was the first of the balseraphs, he denies that it was i who counsiled him, he denies it by not saying anything. But i will be there for him should he ask, providing that it is on bended knee and eyes averted. Malphas Yes we have dealings, i am his freind after all, not like all those others. - -Yes he has his uses, just like all the others, well most of the others. Nybbas Him? Who cares baby, he aint no big star these days, he is a burn out, he wont get no script from any one if i give the say so. - -This fool shows humans the face of god and they do not see it, he is wrapped up in his own delusions and he does not see that he has at his hand somehting greater than any church or prophet ever was, and he wastes it on those little sacks of souls apon the planet. Saminga Contemptable, inconceivable, how dare he. H e dares to lay claim to what is mine when i am the one who has learned from the humans the true meaning of death. - -He tries to take from me something that is not his, i am older and wiser than he, and i shall not strike out randomly as he does in anger, i know when to strike and it s not yet, but soon. Valefor Oh i know him, i got a secret present for him in the boot of my car. - -He reminds me of some one, ad when i figure out who it is i shall take appropriate action, but until then i'll keep a wary eye apon him. Vapula He has been invalube to me in te past. You wouldnt beleive it but he has brought me such test subjects that none of mine ever have gained, and i am thankful to him for it, but i think he only does it to humour me at times, but i dont care, onwards and upwards as they say. - -This angel is the ony one of his kind i tolerate, he gladly leads people away from god and in to the future of technology, it will be a marvelous future, well it will be once ihave killed him as the last angel to kill. Principality Nox Deep in the marches, where few tread is a pit, so deep that you cannot hear the screams of the dead rise up from its base, there is where Ahriman now dwells. As you go deeper in to the pit it gets darker and darker, and at the very lowest point in it when you touch the ground there is only utter blackess, and in that void of light is where Ahriman sits apon a pile of souls, those that are damned that never get to hell, no one knows where they come from but they are there none the less. Demons of Ahriman are used to the layout of black caverns and piles of tortured souls, but visitors are doomed in there, unless they have a giude from one of the demos for a price. No one knows the way up from the pit, well, only those of ahriman know the way up and out. In the vast caverns the demons hide the hearts, amongst the piles of screaming dead, and the hearts are blacker than night. Notes (1) Angels, saints and the blessed count as holy men, normal preachers or priests do not count as holy men in this reguard (2) The sufferer of this dischord must make a will -level of dischord role to stop them selves from breaking things around them, low levels indicate that the victim will break small things, tv's, radios and such like, but from 3 upwards they will try to break cars, destroy houses and so forth, at level 6 they will also have to make a will roll daily to stopthem selves from commitind suidice, the ultimate thing to destroy us the self and it is a sin if you die by your own hand after all.. (3) Demons must have atleast 12 forces to be elegible for this, Ahriman is a buly prince and expects his servitors to be strong. (4) As 3 but with 15 forces. (5) As 3/4 but with 20 forces. Cass http://communities.msn.co.uk/ADD http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ADandD_Stuff _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 04:57:16 -0600 From: "Julian Mensch" Subject: IN> Thoughts on Ahriman I read the writeup on Ahriman that Cassandra posted, and I wanted to share a few thoughts. The Ahriman I'm familiar with is from Zoroastrianism, not Mithraism, so please forgive any contradictions in what I write with her writeup. Cassandra's Ahriman is a very literal interpretation of Ahriman from myth; as she said, there's a lot of referances to different myths in there. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. On one hand, most IN Superiors are fairly distanced from the mythology that spawned them... only Micheal and, to a lesser extent Lucifer, really matches the myths. This can be both good and bad. It's hard to imagine IN's Lucifer hiding behind stoves or buying souls, for example. I do think Ahriman needs a Word, and a greater thematic unity. Remember that he's essentially a Satan figure. Lucifer in myth is lascivious, corruptive, divisive and legalistic... but it's not a great idea to introduce a Superior who is all those things, covering Andre's, Legion's, Malphas' and Asmodeus' servitors in their own. You can't catch all the mythic aspect of Ahriman in an IN Superior any more than you could catch all the mythic aspects of Lucifer... in a /Superior/. If I had to choose a Word for Ahriman /based of the version I know/, I'd choose Illusions. Ahriman leads man away from Ormazd (God) by placing illusion like lies and worldly pleasure between the two. His ultimate triumph is complete solipsism, a world where people all have their own personal Symphonies and are so self-absorbed that they can't even percieve others, let alone God. In Zoroastrian theology, Ahriman in not a rebellious angel or evil spirit. He's God's /equal/; even though he is destined to lose eventually, he can delay that inevitable loss a /long/ time and win a great many souls to his side. I'm inclined to think that the best way to use Ahriman in IN is not as a /character/ but as a /heresy/: the idea of an all-powerful, evil force that demons might worship. It's certainly a tempting thought to the Damned -- an evil god, equal in all ways to the God of the angels. It would be a sign of hope to all Diabolicals, and thus could make a very tempting church... or a damned profitable cult for a few clever Balseraphs and Lilim. And proud, proud Lucifer would just /hate/ the thought that demons were worshipping /someone else/, because he _isn't powerful enough_ to fight God... oh, I can't imagine anything that would draw the Lightbringer's ire more! Does that sound like a plot seed to you? ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 11:29:33 +0000 From: "cassandra benner" Subject: Re: IN> Thoughts on Ahriman Bugger thats what i get for haviong too many books scattered on the floor around me. *chuckle* i goofed in that respect, but i guess that what i get for not getting nick to read it 1st, oh well, the dammage is done, but it matters little so long as the pertinant facts are there. In time i'll get the Ethereal written up as well... (although this Ahriman killed that one is neither here nor there, well not killed perse, but absorbed..) > I read the writeup on Ahriman that Cassandra posted, and >I wanted to share a few thoughts. The Ahriman I'm familiar >with is from Zoroastrianism, not Mithraism, so please forgive >any contradictions in what I write with her writeup. Thankyou for pointing this out, i would have missed it as indeed i did, but the idea is there all the same is it not. Hopefully now folks will look a little more in to the Ahriman thing and with some luck it might spawn a long series of posts and debates, but i doubt it. Toodles Cas _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 11:30:05 +0000 From: "cassandra benner" Subject: Re: IN> Thoughts on Ahriman Bugger thats what i get for haviong too many books scattered on the floor around me. *chuckle* i goofed in that respect, but i guess that what i get for not getting nick to read it 1st, oh well, the dammage is done, but it matters little so long as the pertinant facts are there. In time i'll get the Ethereal written up as well... (although this Ahriman killed that one is neither here nor there, well not killed perse, but absorbed..) > I read the writeup on Ahriman that Cassandra posted, and >I wanted to share a few thoughts. The Ahriman I'm familiar >with is from Zoroastrianism, not Mithraism, so please forgive >any contradictions in what I write with her writeup. Thankyou for pointing this out, i would have missed it as indeed i did, but the idea is there all the same is it not. Hopefully now folks will look a little more in to the Ahriman thing and with some luck it might spawn a long series of posts and debates, but i doubt it. Toodles Cas _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 05:30:06 -0700 (PDT) From: Maurice Lane Subject: Re: IN> Thoughts on Ahriman - --- Julian Mensch wrote: >I'm inclined to think that the best way to use >Ahriman in IN is not as a /character/ but as >a /heresy/: the idea of an all-powerful, evil force >that demons might worship. Yes, but is Kronos Ahriman ... or just his High Priest? :) Moe ===== 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 http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 08:32:21 -0400 From: Whistling in the Dark Subject: IN> The Online Conspiracy Some folks have wondered about my long absences on this list this summer. I've mentioned grad school to them, and the day long BSI courses followed by work and the like. I've mentioned some other projects too. And all of those are true of course, but like *any* good Impudite of Secrets, these have just been half-truths, sufficient to answer the question, but holding something back. However, certain bits have now been declassified, and I'm able to reveal my Summertime obsession.... +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ The Online Conspiracy Alaemon loves the Internet. It's better than almost any other medium for the purposes of Secrets, really. It's tremendously simple to find out reams of information, lots of it confidential, simply by taking the time to finding the right sources and buying the right software. It's even *easier* to use it as a channel for misinformation. Obfuscation of even the simplest of facts is simple when you develop a convincing enough website. Already, students around the world run Google searches as a standard part of research on projects and papers. They site websites as authorities, accepting at face value pure fiction and unmitigated trash. There are coteries of Conspiritors entirely devoted to adding to the depths of dross online, and coteries of their fellows devoted to stripping the dross away to learn the truth. All of this was powerfully useful, but it didn't strengthen Secrets in the minds and hearts of Humanity as much as might be wanted. He made clear (as clear as Alaemon makes anything) that he wanted that to change. If more information were going to be at the fingertips of the sheep than ever before, he wanted them burning to find the hidden, and hide themselves. There were a few half-hearted attempts, of course. Online offers for software that would tell you anything about people proliferated -- in part to get people to buy and use it, but just as much to make people nervous about how easy it was to be cyberstalked. Stories of identity theft began making the rounds. Still, there needed to be a dramatic influx of Secrets on the web, in just the right way to make it palatable. And, naturally, it needed to be done discreetly. In the Spring of 2001, the Demon of Murder Mysteries, a relatively minor Impudite of Secrets, hit on a strategy that worked: the A.I. Interactive Game. The A.I. Interactive Game was designed as a publicity stunt for the movie "A.I." But, it was among the strangest ideas for 'publicizing' a movie ever devised. For one thing, the game was never announced. When asked about the game, representatives of Dreamworks and Warner Brothers denied involvement. The only connection was a credit in the trailers -- one that made little sense. A woman named Jeanine Salla credited as a 'sentient machine therapist.' Eventually, some people became curious about this woman, and performed searches on the web. Those people found web sites claiming to be from the year 2142, with no information on who designed them. They were interconnected, forming highly realistic chains between realistic sites -- a nineteen year old's personal site. A prominent university's site. A site for a builder of "sentient houses." And through them, there was a common thread -- a murder mystery. That had been the Impudite's idea, of course. He needed to strengthen his own Word as well as Secrets. But for the most part, he had stayed out of the creation process for the game. He had just charmed certain people, planting the seeds of the idea in their heads, letting them hire people to write and produce the game -- people who would one day be known as "the Puppetmasters." And then he sat back, and watched what happened. Dozens of people found the sites, and then hundreds. Rumors began to spread across the board. Online communities formed to solve the mystery -- and the puzzles became harder as those communities organized and became powerful investigatory forces. Some puzzles needed a strong understanding of computers to solve -- Photoshop image manipulation, or codes buried in HTML source. One puzzle required that the Flash file it had been made in be torn apart layer by layer. But the investigators couldn't simply be computer saavy. There were questions that required mastry of Shakespeare, of poetry, of literature, of history. One series of puzzles were encrypted using a World War II Engima machine -- not only did the investigators need a knowledge of what Enigma was, they needed to have machines (virtual or otherwise) available to decrypt them, plus some real world knowledge or intuition on what settings to use on the machine. Puzzles were encoded into chemestry equations, and were set up to be printed out onto paper, then folded into an Origami crane to be solved. One puzzle needed someone capable of reading music written expressly for a lute -- then transposed for guitar -- then played aloud. And the puzzles weren't simply on the web. Phone numbers were found - -- phone numbers that *worked,* with clues buried in messages, and voicemail boxes that the investigators had to break into to learn their secrets. Half of a chess problem was put into the print advertisement of the movie that appeared in a Los Angeles trade paper, the other half was in the print advertisement that appeared in the New York Times, requiring investigators from both coasts to work together. There was even a series of three live rallies, where one third of a code was given to each group -- unfortunately, the Chicago group weren't given the full code due to screwups behind the scene. The puppetmasters were going to reseed the clue into a different puzzle... only the investigators wrote computer software to distribute the possible codes among hundreds of machines, each one trying thousands of codes an hour until by brute force they found the right one. It wasn't so easy to keep puzzles away from the investigators. The value to Secrets was incalcuable. Oh, the Word-strengthening wouldn't last all that long, all things considered, but with thousands of people playing this game, it was certain more and more of these games would be made, and as they were, the information found in web searches and on web sites would be more and more suspect. But that was minor. The real victories for Secrets were as follows: 1. A test community for problem solving had been created. The Conspiracy learned immeasurable amounts of information on how a community of human beings could be formed that could bring incredibly diverse expertise to problem solving. This let them begin to model how different secrets and puzzles they had been unable to solve might be solved by just such a distributed group of investigators, if properly motivated. In the same way, the danger of such a group to uncovering secrets that must be kept hidden was demonstrated, and possible methods for thwarting such a group were intuited. 2. The hunger for solving Secrets for their own sake was demonstrated. There were no promised prizes for this game -- the game never even acknowledge itself or laid out rules. Little dribs and drabs -- such as a list of a few thousand names on a special edition movie poster that itself bore a watermark that had a nigh-invisible barcode that translated into a phone number that was a clue for the game -- were acknowledgement enough for the investigators, who just wanted -- no, *needed* -- to uncover more, and more, and more, and *more.* 3. A vast amount of information was collected about thousands of investigators. What they liked, what kind of speculations and intuitions they individually made, how they interacted with others, what kinds of skills and knowledge they possessed, how easily they could be distracted from their legitimate jobs to play the game, and so on, and so on, and so on.... The profiles that could be developed were significant... and could easily be valuable in the future, in so many ways. 4. The entire game was deniable. As follows under the mandate of Secrets, this was an operation that -- if Demonic involvement were ever suspected -- could easily be blamed on Demons of the Media or Technology. From here, many different projects can be initiated. Many different followup experiments can be played. Many different games can draw the human ability to form communities to solve problems together and sublimate it to the hungry needs of Alaemish demons. So much can be learned. If you doubt it... go to Google or Yahoo, and do a search for Jeanine Salla. Find the puzzles. Find the investigating teams. Find what they have done. But don't look to me for more answers. I have to run to the store to buy some modeling clay, to build a 3-dimensional model based on some found plans to decrypt the next puzzle. - -- Eric Alfred Burns - Impudite of Secrets -- or Mercurian of Revelation (candidate for the Word of Obscurity) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 08:33:32 -0400 From: Whistling in the Dark Subject: Re: IN> A controversial relic At 3:09 AM -0400 7/13/01, Rev. Pee Kitty wrote: >Moe, you're just plain... what word covers both 'twisted' and 'brilliant' >simultaneously? Dunno... but you're it. Sadly, the word is "Vapulan." - -- Eric Alfred Burns - Impudite of Secrets -- or Mercurian of Revelation (candidate for the Word of Obscurity) ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 05:41:39 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> Thoughts on Ahriman - --- Julian Mensch wrote: > I do > think Ahriman needs a Word, and a greater thematic unity. Hear, hear. > I'm inclined to think that the best > way to use Ahriman in IN is not as a /character/ but as > a /heresy/: the idea of an all-powerful, evil force that > demons might worship. It's certainly a tempting thought > to the Damned -- an evil god, equal in all ways to the > God of the angels. It would be a sign of hope to all > Diabolicals, and thus could make a very tempting > church... Hmmm... ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2307 ******************************** The material here is (C) 2001 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.