From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Wed Apr 30 15:03:39 1997 Return-Path: Received: from lists.io.com (lists.io.com [199.170.88.15]) by pyramid.sjgames.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id PAA22684 for ; Wed, 30 Apr 1997 15:03:39 -0500 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) id NAA18027 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Wed, 30 Apr 1997 13:39:16 -0500 Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 13:39:16 -0500 Message-Id: <199704301839.NAA18027@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 #147 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 Wednesday, April 30 1997 Volume 01 : Number 147 In this digest: Re: Odd notions (Re: IN> Faiths) Re: IN> Re: Angels and pregnancy again... IN> Re: Re: IN> The Angel of Roses (long) Re: IN> Problems with an adventure Re: IN> Re: Remiel and Comics Re: IN>Word needed IN> Song of Fire Re: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #145 IN> AA of Children Re: IN> Starting a Game Re: IN> The War Revealed - Warrior Nun Re: New Angel (was: Re: IN> The Undead) Re: IN> Thanatos, Archangel of Death Re: IN>Word needed Re: IN> Thanatos, Archangel of Death IN> Ralph, Demon Prince of Apathy Re: IN> Know Your Diabolicals: #3, Judgment Re: IN> Re: Angels and pregnancy again... Re: IN> Ralph, Demon Prince of Apathy IN> Prophecy II for late 97 Re: IN>Word needed Re: IN> Song of Fire Re: Odd notions (Re: IN> Faiths) Re: IN>Word needed ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 00:52:13 -0400 (EDT) From: "Paul F. Strack" Subject: Re: Odd notions (Re: IN> Faiths) On Mon, 28 Apr 1997, Elizabeth McCoy wrote: > > That sort of world where belief creates reality is part of the Mage > >world. It is not part of the official IN NOMINE world, except for that maybe > >some Ethereal Spirits claim that's the way it is, and it might be, but > >everything else points to the Christian Mythos as being stable and > >unaffected by belief. > > For some reason, I am getting a strange notion > that the In Nomine universe would not conflict with a "belief" system > which was ... Drat. Can't articulate it. Here, an example -- if all > of a sudden the Christian religion was wiped away and replaced > with Wodan and crowd, this would not necessarily mean that our favorite > angels (or demons) would alter their basic natures, nor even necessarily > their tasks, goals, and methods. *Humans* would merely start calling > them different things, and intrepreting some of their actions slightly > differently. [snip] > In an IN universe, I'd be willing to look at it that way -- celestials > fit themselves into human beliefs almost as much as they influence > human beliefs. It's simpler that way. Actually, this is a major focus in my game as well. In my paradigm, spiritual beings (including angels and demons) are effected by the sort of energy/worship that they absorb. In this way, angels, demons and maybe even God Herself have changed over time to fit human perceptions. Things are more complicated than simply saying that human belief shapes reality, however. First of all, spirits actively shape the world as well, so there is a reinforcing cycle. More importantly, it is largely the *form* of spirits that change, i.e. how the spirit is perceived. The function (i.e. Word) of the spirit largely remains the same. While the appearance and even the personality of the spirit may change, the core being of the spirit does not. This is one of the ways the spirit world changes along with human religions. For example, one of the things that will arise in my game is that Ragnarok has already happened. Ragnarok was not the end of the world, only the end of the Norse gods. There was a cataclysmic conflict in Valhalla that went largely unnoticed by mankind. At the end, the Norse gods were either destroyed, retired or wandered off to join Heaven or Hell. The end point of my campaign is going to hint at the Second Coming and the Christian apocolypse. Again, this will be largely a spiritual war. There are several "new gods" waiting in the wings in the hopes of taking the place of the Christian God: Mammon - god of Materialism, Gaea - spirit of the Earth and an as yet unnamed god of Science and Technology. None of these gods are fully formed yet; they are mere potentials waiting to fill a void. Again, it is not obvious that God Herself is actually changing, only Her interface with the human world. It may be that God is actually changing in a fundamental way, or maybe not. It is also possible that the Christian God will hold on and nothing much will change. One of my secret hopes is that my players (pagans all) will admit that the continued existence of Christianity is preferable to the alternatives. Still, I won't know how things turn out until I play it through. Paul Strack | Madness takes its toll. pfstrack@math.unc.edu | Please have exact change. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ World of Darkness Page - http://www.math.unc.edu/Grads/pfstrack/wod.html In Nomine Page: INC2 - http://www.math.unc.edu/Grads/pfstrack/innom/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 05:27:15 GMT From: w_mazur@primenet.com (Walt Mazur) Subject: Re: IN> Re: Angels and pregnancy again... On Tue, 29 Apr 1997 20:11:52 -0400, Elizabeth McCoy wrote: >Child goes with vessel -- you have to stay 9 months in that vessel >to birth it. (Or less, if using animal vessels?) I see: They may be dumb bunnies, but Jordi has a *lot* of Kyriotates! ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 97 00:35:22 -0500 (CDT) From: kestre1@airmail.net (Andrew Getting) Subject: IN> Re: At 10:08 PM 4/29/97 -0400, in_nomine-l@lists.io.com wrote: >On Apr 29, 6:19pm, gibsonc@nku.edu wrote: >> Subject: >> hey, >> >> someone answer this: if two celestials copulated in vessels would/ could >> a child be conceived. > > The NON-Canon answer to that is that is yes. I've made up >some rules and they are being scrutinized carefully by the gods >(small 'g') of In Nomine. Until they decide, I can't give a >Canon answer to that question. You might note that the Children >of the Grigori are out there and are descended from both humans >and angels. If that's the case, it seems reasonable that two >celestials could do so as well. The Grigori were also the most human of the angels, so it's possible that they're the exception. Kestel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 01:54:23 -0400 (EDT) From: Calabim@aol.com Subject: Re: IN> The Angel of Roses (long) IMHO, this is possibly the neatest character to cross the list so far. It's certainly the first I plan to use in my campaign! - -Calabim@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 97 00:26:56 -0500 (CDT) From: kestre1@airmail.net (Andrew Getting) Subject: Re: IN> Problems with an adventure At 10:58 AM 4/29/97 -0700, in_nomine-l@lists.io.com wrote: >I've been hard at work lately on an adventure in which the Diabolical team >should most likely be lead by a Servitor of the not-yet-released Fluerty, >Prince o' Drugs. (Horribly enough, I'm titling it "Angel Dust". Don't >hurt me.) Anyway, I'm wanting to spring this sucker on some new players, >but I gots no stats for any of Fluerty's guys, and was wondering who could >be the likely patron of this bit of mayhem. It involves the tainting of >drugs with a rather nasty Diabolic chemical that enhances the effects of a >drug and instantly addicts someone in a very nasty way to it. I was >thinking Andrealphus would be likely the best of the choices, but what do >you people think? And how would Fluerty take someone stepping in on his >business like that? Lying down. The Superiors in the IN book are the top dogs; everyone else are, at best, tough mutts. Kestrel ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 97 00:26:55 -0500 (CDT) From: kestre1@airmail.net (Andrew Getting) Subject: Re: IN> Re: Remiel and Comics At 12:17 PM 4/29/97 -0400, in_nomine-l@lists.io.com wrote: >> Bonus Essence to the first person who can name the two >> most important comics I drew from to create Remiel. >> >> Kestrel, who can do good guys, too > > Well, the bringing back a musician reference >is from The Crow by J. O'Barr (a wonderful comic, and >highly recommended). I think the name Remiel is from one >of the angels in Neil Gaiman's _Sandman_ that >rules hell after Lucifer leaves...once more, a >classic work of comicdom, and a necessary read >for certain aspects of IN. The storyline where >Lucifer gives up hell is listed in the back of IN... >it's called The Season of Mists, and is simply >a beautiful story... > So, how'd I do?? You got it, homes. Since the Crow's been more-or-less retconned into being an angel with the movies, I kind of figured the comic needed to be mentioned somewhere in IN. And the comic is far superior to the movies ;> >Jason, who can use some essence to speed up the writing >of his thesis... I did my thesis in three hours, with next to no preparation. Got an A-. Kestrel, Baalseraph of Theses ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 02:12:42 -0400 (EDT) From: Calabim@aol.com Subject: Re: IN>Word needed Here's something else I'd like opinions on, particularly "official-canon" type opinion... How common are words and word-bound spirits anyway? From the book I'd gotten the feeling they were more common than arch-angels, but still very very rare. Something that a celestial worked long and hard on. Most of the example celestials seem to bear this out. Most of SJG's published npcs don't seem to have words. The npc's on the list seem cool, especially just lately, but it seems like they all have words! Almost as if giving an npc a word was mandatory... OTOH, it also seems like a GM might want intermediaries between an archangel and the players, or a way to further subdivide the servants of an archangel. Where do people think a good balance point is? - -Calabim@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 01:50:57 -0400 (EDT) From: Calabim@aol.com Subject: IN> Song of Fire A friend of mine, who gets way too much email and is not on the list asked me to post this and gather reactions to it. Enjoy... ****************** *** Songs of Fire *** ****************** These songs all burn of fire. One can increase the check digit for any of them by the amount of extra essence (over 1) that the singer puts into the song. Targets can be affected by only one Song of Fire at a time; subsequent Songs of the same type have no effect until the effects of the first have worn off. *Corporeal:* Spontaneous combustion. Something that the singer can see bursts into flame, provided it is combustible if held in a typical fire. The flame is perfectly natural, and will spread or be extinguished by natural means. (Note that the effects of this song cannot be simply "willed off" by the singer.) The check digit equals the number of hits that anyone in contact with the fire takes per round. Anyone who attempts to put the fire out immediately can do so by spending one round doing nothing else (not even Dodging). However, if the fire has a chance to spread, the GM must rule on how many rounds extinguishing it takes. *Ethereal:* Inspiration. The target of this song must be a person (whether mortal or celestial). The very next roll that the target makes to deduce or create something gets a bonus equal to the song's check digit. *Celestial:* Fiery form. The singer's celestial form becomes outlined with celestial fire, which lasts as many minutes as the singer has celestial forces. Although this fire will not affect the material world or the singer, any celestial being who touches the singer (or is touched by the singer) while the fiery form lasts takes celestial damage equal to the song's check digit. If at least one point of Fighting damage gets through (after Dodging), the non–fiery one takes the fire damage, with no chance to Dodge it. Or if either celestial successfully grapples the other, the non–fiery one takes this damage each round that the grapple lasts. *Essence Requirement:* 1. *Degree of disturbance:* the check digit. ****************** Note: There should also be songs for Earth, Air, and Water! The only input I personally want to make is on the topic of songs in general. I feel the game needs about twice as many songs as it has...but there is a good point and a bad point there. The good news is the more songs are in the game, the fewer proprietary powers there are and the harder in is to say "Oh! he did such and such! Now I know he works for Kobal!" The bad news is the more songs are in the game, the fewer proprietary powers there are and the harder in is to say "Oh! he did such and such! Now I know he works for Kobal!" Also In Nomine seems to have a strict, unwritten code as to what kinds of powers can be put in it. Telepathy would tend to overpower and conflict with attunements. Mind control would seem to conflict with the whole "free will" thing. Still the song of fire struck me as a good idea that might need just a little fine tuning. Thanks in advance for any opinions or responses... - -Calabim@aol.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 01:34:39 -0500 (CDT) From: Thany Subject: Re: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #145 On Tue, 29 Apr 1997, RogueLdr wrote: > WE FIND YOUR LIST ACCEPTABLE, ARCHBETH. WE HOPE THIS MEANS YOU HAVE > ABANDONED YOUR SOMETIMES HERETICAL VIEWS. CARRY ON. > -DominicNet. Keeping Heaven safe from heresy. HEY, WAIT A MINUTE. WHO ARE YOU? OR, AS THE CASE MAY BE, WHO AM I? Dominic.Net - keeping Heaven safe from heresy - -- "Illuminati Do they truly rule the world? You're not cleared to know." Disclaimer: They're my opinions, but they're your problem. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 02:39:46 -0600 From: dpearcy@io.com (Derek Patton Pearcy) Subject: IN> AA of Children I belive the quote used to open the Archangel of Children in NIGHT MUSIC is: "It is not to fill a vessel, it is to light a fire." Or something surprisingly similar. He's more the Archangel in charge of educating children rather than other working on other aspects of the Word of Children. Being a new Archangel and all, he's just now branching out in other major directions. I don't remember who the quote is attributed to, my apologies. Derek ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 18:31:25 +1000 (EST) From: Peter Frederick Subject: Re: IN> Starting a Game Dear Auspex (and List) I suggest you have a good wander through the websites and look over everything there. I would love to make personal thankyou's to everyone who has done stuff that has inspired me in putting my game together, but the list would be too long. Start at http:\\www.sjgames.com\in-nomine and http:\\www.sjgames.com.\in-nomine\articles and follow the links. There are enough adventure ideas and NPCS in those sites to give you a jump start and a half. Again thanks to all who have contributed in any way to these discussions and the various sites, I know my players will have a much more interesting time from your efforts. Thanking you for your indulgence. Yours Peter. Email to peterf@geko.net.au "Whoso loveth God truely must not expect to be loved by Him in return." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 18:25:24 +1000 (EST) From: Peter Frederick Subject: Re: IN> The War Revealed - Warrior Nun Dear Patrick and List >> I wrote >> Well Pat, if you want to know the truth, females are drawn like that in >> comics cause the target market is male adolescents and there is nothing >> better to get a boys attention than a well developed females. > o'course> >Patrick Replied > Peter, two things (said in my best Marcelus Wallace voice): > 1. It's Patrick, not Pat. I've always HATED being called Pat! Fullest and humblest apologies, know what you mean, get shivers myself from Fred . > 2. Dude, I've worked in a comic shop in Brisbane for over 4 years - >trust me, I _know_ how these things work! Doesn't mean I have to like >it... As someone said Ugly facts are a challenge to beautify them, or something like that. Hmmm gotta work that line into a senario somewhere. Thanking you for your indulgence. Yours Peter :) . Email to peterf@geko.net.au "Whoso loveth God truely must not expect to be loved by Him in return." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 06:31:27 -0400 (EDT) From: Cymrys@aol.com Subject: Re: New Angel (was: Re: IN> The Undead) Well, at least one of them was Gaiman's Season of the Mists story arc from Sandman... ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 06:27:31 -0400 (EDT) From: Cymrys@aol.com Subject: Re: IN> Thanatos, Archangel of Death I thought Azrael was the Archangel of Death? By the way, does anyone out there know the correct Words (theologically speaking) for Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel (that Michael is War and Healing, I already know)? I need them for background on the Church Knights in a fantasy world I'm writing. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 08:36:21 -0400 From: "John Karakash - Lucent ASCC" Subject: Re: IN>Word needed On Apr 30, 2:12am, Calabim@aol.com wrote: > Subject: Re: IN>Word needed > Here's something else I'd like opinions on, particularly "official-canon" > type opinion... > > How common are words and word-bound spirits anyway? From the book I'd gotten > the feeling they were more common than arch-angels, but still very very rare. > Something that a celestial worked long and hard on. Most of the example > celestials seem to bear this out. Most of SJG's published npcs don't seem to > have words. Getting a Word, _any_ Word, is pretty keen. There are more Word-bound angels then Archangels. There are definitely more non Word-bound angels then Word-bound. My non-canon guess is there is at least an order of magnitude difference in numbers. (Note that many angels aren't up to the 'favored Servitor' status that PCs are at, but still count as angels.) > The npc's on the list seem cool, especially just lately, but it seems like > they all have words! Almost as if giving an npc a word was mandatory... Your right. At least we've backed away from 'every cool idea has to be an Archangel'! Words are cool, so people like to go there first, but eventually it will seem topheavy and other NPCs will come out of the woodwork. > OTOH, it also seems like a GM might want intermediaries between an archangel > and the players, or a way to further subdivide the servants of an archangel. I do that in my campaign. There's a whole continuum of servants, both lesser and greater, for each Archangel. In fact none of my players has even SEEN an Archangel (their characters have, but before the campaigns started). - -- ___________________________________________________ / \ |John Karakash - Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T) | | (919)380-4629 | | "A fundamental principle of economics is that the | | more you tax something, the less you get of it. | | In this country we tax success most of all." | \___________________________________________________/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 09:34:24 -0500 From: Earl Wajenberg Subject: Re: IN> Thanatos, Archangel of Death Cymrys@aol.com wrote: > I thought Azrael was the Archangel of Death? That is one traditional name for the Archangel of Death, yes. One of the list members (sorry, I don't recall who) made up their own version, however, in which Azarel fissioned at the Fall into Thanatos and Saminga. I don't think this is cannonical, though, and in any case you can always reinstate Azrael for your own game. > By the way, does anyone out there know the correct Words > (theologically speaking) for Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel (that > Michael is War and Healing, I already know)? I need them for > background on the Church Knights in a fantasy world I'm writing. In the IN book, Gabriel's Word is fire, both physical and the metaphorical fire of inspiration and creativity. In actual religion, Gabriel is the foremost messenger of Heaven, having appeared (in various theologies) to the prophet Daniel, to the Virgin Mary, and to the prophet Mohammed, all with crucial prophecies. Because of his role as Heaven's chief herald, the Pope recently declared Gabriel the patron saint of telecommunications. Raphael's name means "God heals," so healing would be an appropriate word for him. He can also be connected with exorcism, since he gave Tobias advice on how to banish the demon Asmodeus. Raphael has not yet appeared in IN. In the IN book, Uriel was the Archangel of Purity, but has been called up to the higher heavens and not been seen in centuries, possibly for getting over-enthusiastic about purifying the world of mythological beings. In actual religion, Uriel's name means "God's fire," so fire would be better his word than Gabriel's. In "Paradise Lost," Uriel is the angel of the Sun, or at least that's where Satan encounters him. I *think* I have heard of Uriel as an angel of death, but I'm not sure. In the IN book, Michael is the Archangel of War, as you note. In actual religion, also, Michael is patron saint of warriors, and also protector of the Church and of Israel. Since his greatest victory in war was over Satan, he could logicaly be connected with exorcism, like Raphael. See also http://www.arabia.com/DesertLand/Kabfaq.html for information on these and other celestials, from the angle of Kabbalistic tradition. Earl Wajenberg ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 09:58:18 -0400 (EDT) From: Nana Yaw Ofori Subject: IN> Ralph, Demon Prince of Apathy > On Mon, 28 Apr 1997 23:45:05 -0500 (CDT) these words were written by Thany >But, by following this particular Word under any Archangel/Prince would >be a contradiction of the Word itself. >(...by the same principle that disqualified me for the Word of Apathy. >Phooey. :P) Look, now you've gone and inspired me. \|=) Well, here's a Demon Prince I desinged, my first such posting to the list. He's quite possibly, the weakest, most inconsequential Demon Prince in all of Hell. Still, I think he's interesting, if as nothing more than a Landmark. Ralph, Demon Prince of Apathy. The Word of Apathy doesn't need much prodding. Regardless of the topic, there will always be a decent number of people who don't care about it. Apathy might have been one of the more prominent Words, if the Demon Prince cared about pushing it. But that would defeat the purpose. One day, Lucifer decided, "I think I shall assign the Word of Apathy." He said this to his secretary, which he had because it pleased the Dark Lord to have a secretary at the time. "Tell no one." And the next morning, hundreds of demons had gathered at the courtyard in front of Lucifer's palace, as it also pleased the Dark Lord to have a palace at the time. Each one was prepared to demonstrate to their Lord how he could best exemplify the Word of Apathy. Many were there with various methods of self-torture, with wich they would emonstrate how much pain they could take without caring. Others had brought enemies who would lash out at them, and the demons would simply sit there, demonstrating their apathy. And others just sat there. This went on for six days. On the seventh day Lucifer's secretary spoke from the front steps of the palace. "My Lord Lucifer has spoken! None of you are worthy of the Word of Apathy, as you care too much about it to deserve it. Return to your principalities." And as was predictable, this angered the throng of demons immensely. They rose up and tore the secretary to pieces. Which was good, as it no longer pleased Lucifer to have a secretary. Some time later, word came to a squad of Djinn of Asmodeus, that Lucifer wished them to search Hell and Earth for the thirty most Apathetic demons in both realms, and to bring them back to the palace. And thus, the search began. Ralph was a Habbalite, in service to Sloth. As far back as anyone who dwelt in Perdition could remember, Ralph had sat by a staircase off one of the hallways, staring at the wall. Ralph never joined in the various entertainments, instead, stared, unmoving, unspeaking, at the wall. All in Perdition who saw him, simply assumed that he was just a habbalite in an exteded period of Trauma. The Demon Prince of Sloth rarely had his Traumatized rounded up and culled...it tended to be too much trouble. Instead, the truth is that Ralph was sent to Earth on a mission for Sloth millenia ago. Due to circumstances beyond his countrol, Ralph wound up attempting to use his resonance to invoke Emptiness on a corporeal Vessel containing the Archangel Janus. Naturally, it failed, and failed miserably. Unfortunatley for Ralph, it locked him into a permanent state of Emptiness, caring about nothing , the state the Djinn claim to aspire to. Summarily, his corporeal vessel was slain by a Malakite of Wind, and his forces drew back together, eventually, in Perdition. He came out of Trauma, and settled in to Apathy, the difference being nearly impossible to tell. Eventually, as is wont to happen in Hell, things changed. Haagenti, arisen to Demon Prince status, and ticked off at the world in general, broke into the Perdition citadel, and began eating the ponderous bulk of the Demon Prince of Sloth, as well as those of his servitors who were slothless enough to attempt to retaliate. After consuming those who would and could resist, The Prince of Gluttony had his minions round up the Traumatized, to be cooked in the second biggest barbecue Hell had ever seen. So Haagenti's diabolicals rounded up all the remaining taumatized, bringing them out in front of the citatel for ther roasting. Ralph was placed on one of these cartloads of poor, catatonic demons, but while being taken to the bonfire, the cart tipped over, and Ralph bounced off the cart, tumbled down the hill, coming finally to a stop on a boulder that straddeled the border of Perdition and what would eventually become Tarterus. And there Ralph sat, unnoticed, for two centureies, staring out into the distance. That is, untill one of the searching Djinn found him, picked him up, and took him to Lucifer's Palace. The applicants, if they could be called that, having been all dragged bodily to the palace, were placed in a room deep in the basement of the palace. From there, Lucifer's new Secretary spoke to them. "One of you will be chosen to embody the Word of Apathy. Your quest is simple. Those of you who remain here the longest will proceed, the rest will have failed. The exit is here, for any who wish to leave." They say at this points, something was brought into the room. Some say it was a relic so Divine that it began to flay the very Forces from the Demons. Some say it was an artifact so diabolical that it insiduouslyt compelled the demons to go out and do its bidding. Some say it was nothing at all, and the only things the Demons had to face was one another. Whatever it was, those who were involved aren't talking. Time passed...days, years, decades, centuries...and one by one, the demons left the room, some walked out in silence, others ran out screaming. Finally it came down to two. Ralph, and a large, shabby Djinn named Kennek. And they sat there for nineteen years staring at one another. Until Ralph stood, and walked out. Lucifer entered the room again some time thereafter. He watched the Djinn for awhile, and then spoke. "You have remained to the end of the trial." Spoke the greatest of the Balseraphs. "You may be worthy of the Word Apathy." "Thank you, My Lord," Said the Djin. "I will--" "That is," continued Lucifer, "If you weren't so grateful." For it pleased Lucifer to nitpick on that day. Ralph was halfway back to his rock when Lucifer approached him. "You, Ralph, remained in the room almost as long as Kennek, the Djinn did." Ralph looked up at the Balseraph, stepped around him and continued on. LUcifer appeard in front of the Habbalah again. "You were apathetic enough to remain in the room as long as you did, but did not care enough about gaining the Word to remain to the end." Ralph stepped around Lucifer again, and continued walking. LUcifer blocked the onward path of Ralph. "Henceorth, now and forever, I imbue you with the Word of Apathy. None have had the Word until now, and None shall have it while you remain. No longer are you Ralph, Habbalite Servitor of Sloth. Henceforth, you are Ralph, Demon Prince of Apathy." Ralph looked up at Lucifer again, and wearily spoke the first words he had spoken in millennia, and the only words he has spoken in the centuries since. "Can I go now?" Dissonance, Ralph has no servitors, but if he did, they would gain Dissonance by doing anything. Anything at all. Even Breathing. Band Attunements, Servitor Attunements, and Distinctions. Ralph has none of these, as he has no Servitors. Every once in awhile a Demon might show up and attempt to pledge loyalty to the Demon Prince of Apathy. Usually, they're Djinn, wishing to devote themselves to the essence of not-caring, the word of Apathy. Ralph never takes any notice, and eventually, the Demon leaves. Relations: Ralph is neither a popular, nor a hated Demon Prince. In fact, nearly all Archangels, and some Demon Princes, when Demon Prince Ralph is mentioned, will ask, "Who?" Allied: Noone. Associated: Nada. Hostile:Not a soul. Enemy: You guessed it. Nobody. Basic Rites: Do absolutely nothing for nine years. Chance of Invocation: None. Ralph will never, ever willingly leave his rock, for any reason. It's quite possible some more powerful Demon Prince might come and make him move, but the question is, Why? Ralph doesn't do anything. He doesn't participate in politics, or ruins schemes. He doesn't act against Lucifer, or step on anybody's Word. He just sits there. The only real reason to act against Ralph is because you think that someone else would better fit the Word of Apathy. But if you're willing to attack Ralph for it, that person's not you. Ralph himself is apparenty completely immune to Celestial attack. Ralph's Rock, the Principality of Apathy. Ralph's Rock is a large, irregular hunk of granite, about the size of a Buick, tucked neatly between Perdition and Tartarus. The lights from Perdition occasionally wash across the rock, as does tentacled toxic sludge from Tartarus. Here is where Ralph can be found, all the time, staring out over the horizon. Apathy radiates from the rock in all directions. Anybody, and anything approaching therock closer than twenty feet begins to feel strongly that he has better things to do, and that he should go do them. (Will roll every minute) Objects hurled into the region decide that continuing in a parabolic path is too much trouble, and fall to the ground, eventually rolling out of the principality altogether. Songs simply dissipate into thin air. Anyone approaching vloser than five feet feels an overpowering inclination to dissipate into his constiuent forces or atoms, depending on one he is. This won't happen to Lucifer or a Demon Prince, and probably wouldn't happen to an Archangel, but the latter two would find the experience incredibly uncomfortable. The rock itself appears to be immune to these effects. No damned souls languish under Demon Prince Ralph's harsh glare, no Servitors vie for his favor. The Principality of Apathy is mostly empty. Sometimes some of Vapula's minions fire objects into the region, and take readings of the apathetic reactions. Sometimes, some of Nybbas' servitors talk about some possible entertainment based on Apathy. Most of the time, both just leave him alone. Sometimes, Lilith shows up and watches Ralph for a long time. It's quite possible that the Demon Prince of Apathy is the most free creature in Hell. He does whatever he wants to do. It's just that he never wants to do anything. And Sometimes, it's possible, that the Demon Prince of Apathy might smile to himself at the way things turned out. Unfortunately, anybody who's close enough to notice is too close to care. Well, that's Ralph, Demon Prince of Apathy. Tell me what you think. = http://www.io.com/~beholder ===================== nofori@pop3.utoled.edu === Nana-Yaw "The Fish" Ofori, Freelance Soldier of Heck, presenty serving Victoria, Lillim Knight of the Media, the Demon of Game Shows. ===== ><{{"> ============ "Life's a Fish, then you Fry." ======= <"}}>< ====== ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 10:31:24 -0500 (CDT) From: Shadowcat Subject: Re: IN> Know Your Diabolicals: #3, Judgment On Tue, 29 Apr 1997, Elizabeth McCoy wrote: > > #3: As delivered by a Servitor of Dominic (Judgment) > > [When I first undertook this, I had this strong temptation to run > through the *Choirs* and *Archangels*, and then footnote it, "Oh, and > there are demons out there too." But I didn't. Though it's easy > enough to stereotype Judgment (*Nobody* likes Internal Security), > it's probably, well, unjust. DominicNet should have little complaint > here.] I for one would like to see this. And DominicNet be damned. Shadowcat one of the last Human priests of Bast ******************************************************************************** "I have fought reality for 30 years and I am glad to say that I have won." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 10:42:47 -0500 (CDT) From: Shadowcat Subject: Re: IN> Re: Angels and pregnancy again... On Tue, 29 Apr 1997, Elizabeth McCoy wrote: > Child goes with vessel -- you have to stay 9 months in that vessel > to birth it. (Or less, if using animal vessels?) And for some animals LONGER. 640 days for an african elephant, and 360 for a lusty porpoise. Shadowcat xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx "There are 3 sizes of men: small, Medium, and OH MY GOD." ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 11:04:18 -0500 From: Drew Johnson Subject: Re: IN> Ralph, Demon Prince of Apathy On Wed, 30 Apr 1997 09:58:18 -0400 (EDT) Nana Yaw Ofori wrote: > > > > On Mon, 28 Apr 1997 23:45:05 -0500 (CDT) these words were written by Thany > > > >But, by following this particular Word under any Archangel/Prince would > >be a contradiction of the Word itself. > >(...by the same principle that disqualified me for the Word of Apathy. > >Phooey. :P) > > Look, now you've gone and inspired me. \|=) > > > Well, here's a Demon Prince I desinged, my first such posting to the list. > He's quite possibly, the weakest, most inconsequential Demon Prince in all > of Hell. Still, I think he's interesting, if as nothing more than a Landmark. > > > [snip] > Ralph, Demon Prince of Apathy. Yeah. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 11:42:30 -0500 From: Scott Turnbull Subject: IN> Prophecy II for late 97 For Anyone Interested, According to the Christopher Walken Homepage, and Entertainment Weekly, a sequel to the Prophecy is in production and slated for release in late 97. Currently the name for the project is The Prophecy II: Ashtown and the plot will center around Gabriels return to earth to stop the second coming of the Messiah. Current casting information puts Glenn Danzig (cast as an angel helping to wipe out the human race, according to MTV), Tim Roth (according to the Internet movie database), Christopher Walken (or course), Brittany Murphy, Jennifer Beals, and Russell Wong. I thought this might be of interest of some folks on the list, take care. Cheers, Scott ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 12:13:51 -0500 From: tom timberlake Subject: Re: IN>Word needed John K, Calabim, and list: probably one reason that so many of the submissions have been Word-bound, is that the submissions have been standouts, not generic, Celestials. each has something that is unique, that sets them apart from the crowd--SOOOO, since this is what it takes to earn a Word, of course these non-generic submissions have nearly all been Word-bound. each standout has also stood up for something that set the apart from the genera. when you care for and stand for something this deeply, it becomes so much a part of you and identified with you that it becomes an extension of you--this is a much paraphrased version of how to become a Word. so of course we are seeing a lot of Words--people aren't, for the most part, submitting generic footsoldiers, not unless they are writing an adventure seed. however the GM's are going to be needing quick and easy generic angels that can be named and "inserted here"--> to fill out the ranks of files of "the Celestials in your neighborhood, the Celestials that you meet each day" in their adventures. tom, who is changing his email address before he gets letter bombed and flamed for _that_ quote. . ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 17:15:26 GMT From: w_mazur@primenet.com (Walt Mazur) Subject: Re: IN> Song of Fire On Wed, 30 Apr 1997 01:50:57 -0400 (EDT), Calabim@aol.com wrote: >A friend of mine, who gets way too much email and is not on the list asked me >to post this and gather reactions to it. Enjoy... > >*** Songs of Fire *** "Your friend will *BURN*" --Belial@Hell.org "Your friend will *BURN*" --Gabiel@Heaven.org ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 17:15:08 GMT From: w_mazur@primenet.com (Walt Mazur) Subject: Re: Odd notions (Re: IN> Faiths) On Wed, 30 Apr 1997 00:52:13 -0400 (EDT), "Paul F. Strack" wrote: >Norse gods were either destroyed, retired or wandered off to join Heaven >or Hell. Or wrote really spirited German opera. >The end point of my campaign is going to hint at the Second Coming and the >Christian apocolypse. Again, this will be largely a spiritual war. There >are several "new gods" waiting in the wings in the hopes of taking the >place of the Christian God: Mammon - god of Materialism, Gaea - spirit of >the Earth and an as yet unnamed god of Science and Technology. None of >these gods are fully formed yet; they are mere potentials waiting to fill >a void. Very interesting! A new trinity? Will the god of Science and Technology be on the side of Mammon, Gaea or be the swing vote, capable of either setting the other two at odds or reconciling them? Some possible names for the S&T god: Vulcan, Asimov, Burke (James). ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 30 Apr 1997 17:15:18 GMT From: w_mazur@primenet.com (Walt Mazur) Subject: Re: IN>Word needed On Wed, 30 Apr 1997 02:12:42 -0400 (EDT), Calabim@aol.com wrote: >Here's something else I'd like opinions on, particularly "official-canon" >type opinion... Unofficial here. All IMHO. >How common are words and word-bound spirits anyway? From the book I'd gotten >the feeling they were more common than arch-angels, but still very very rare. Pretty rare. Word-bound celestials are the general managers of the celestial hierarchy: Seneschals and exceptional leaders in other areas. Word-bound celestials who don't have other celestials reporting to them are rare. >The npc's on the list seem cool, especially just lately, but it seems like >they all have words! Almost as if giving an npc a word was mandatory... People are just more proud of their word-bound than their foot soldiers. (Hm. Pride...) >OTOH, it also seems like a GM might want intermediaries between an archangel >and the players, or a way to further subdivide the servants of an archangel. I may be in the minority, but I agree with this whole-heartedly. An archangel will pay attention to my PCs only when they have done something extraordinarily good or are in deep, deep trouble. Even when they call him in desperation, he may be frustratingly indirect. I imagine Dominic saying to a mass assembly of his troops, "Remember: the doors of my cathedral are always open. Don't walk in by accident. And don't walk in unless you're ready to be judged." ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #147 ******************************* The material here is (C) 1996 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.