From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Mon Nov 17 06:09:44 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 GAA14169 for ; Mon, 17 Nov 1997 06:09:44 -0600 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.8.7/8.8.5) id FAA28769 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Mon, 17 Nov 1997 05:40:17 -0600 Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 05:40:17 -0600 Message-Id: <199711171140.FAA28769@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 #474 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 Monday, November 17 1997 Volume 01 : Number 474 In this digest: Re: IN> Superior's Hearts Me rambling (was Re: IN> New Archangel.) Re: IN> New Archangel(s) IN> [BUFFY] the Slayer Project IN> Prince of Wrath IN> Archangel of Silence IN> Prince of Wrath IN> Superiors' Hearts Re: IN> Superior's Hearts IN> New Prince. Sort of. Re: IN> [BUFFY] the Slayer Project Re: IN> Prince of Wrath Re: IN> Prince of Wrath IN> [FLUFF] First Session... success! IN> Superior Notes pt1, Wording Redux IN> [BUFFY] the Slayer Project: The Divine Players IN> Nessie ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 09:58:01 -0700 (MST) From: Kingsley Lintz Subject: Re: IN> Superior's Hearts > > {I don't have H&H, of course) that there are multiple Cathedrals per > > Superior, so it's presumably not canon, but...so? ) > I'm only partly through H&H, but I didn't get that impression from what > I've seen....nor from the main book. I'm curious as to what gave you that > impression. Huh...actually, taking another look, I take that back. (I'd been reading a difference between Cathedrals and their different realms...e.g. Novalis would have her Cathedrals within the Glade, rather than the Glade essentially being her Cathedral, which seems more to be the case. Given that and the starting note that each Archangel has "a Cathedral"...well. Go figure.) > > [Heck, lately, I've even been thinking the Symphony ought to be more than > > a cheap game mechanic for why people can't just go around spending Essence > > and singing Songs whenever they want to.] > What? Heretic! Off to Purgatory with you! ;) Well...yeah. ___ _ | | | |HE |_INTKIN|_\--Master of Purgatory-----------------lintking@xpert.net| | (Inhume In Humour!) ALL HAIL MORTIJINGLE! (Or else.)| | High Priest : jIg nOIr mELt (mnj) | | http://www.a-ztech.com/lintking/jnmmnj/index.html | |_______________________________________________________________________| ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 17:31:12 +0000 From: Jo Hart Subject: Me rambling (was Re: IN> New Archangel.) At 11:08 16/11/97 -0600, you wrote: > > >I do read Preacher, and I did read Sandman, but Duma isn't based on >Gaiman's Dumas. It is instead based on Duma, an angel with name >recognition in Jewish folklore. Gaiman's Duma is almost certainly based on the same thing ;-) He uses Jewish mythology a lot. I remember Duma does turn up in Yiddish folklore (I read a story by Bashevis Singer about him).. Just for the interested, in the story Duma was more of a saint than an angel. He had a very traumatic life which was marked out by the way he kept his silence in order not to upset other people or ruin other people's lives (ie. his wife ran off with someone else and even though he could have accused her openly of adultery he just signed the get (divorce paper) quietly so that she could be happy), even at the cost of dying alone and friendless, and in poverty. The story goes that when he died the heavens rejoiced to receive such a righteous soul and flights of angels accompanied him to the divine throne, and even the recording angel (who judges each soul) just smiled and shook his head because there was no evidence to offer against Duma. So the angels gave him a fine robe and gathered around him and asked how they might best honour such a righteous man. Then there wss a moment of silence and Duma finally spoke. He said 'What I would really like..' and all the angels leaned closer in order to catch each word of wisdom that fell from his lips, 'what I would really like is.. hot buttered toast for breakfast every day!' And Satan laughed. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 13:04:19 -0600 (CST) From: "Austin G. Loomis" Subject: Re: IN> New Archangel(s) Thoughts on the two new Archangels in the latest digest. DUMA: I'd already been thinking about him, and had come up with other names for his Distinctions (after being called "Master of Laconic" by one of my correspondents): Vassal of Silence, Friend of the Laconic, Master of the Subtle Pause. But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong. Good job, though. Not what I'd expected, but much better than I could have done. MYRDDIN: I like this one too. But I do have one minor quibble. I wouldn't call one of his attunements "Transubstantiation" for fear of getting it mixed up with Eli's attunement of that name. How about "Medicine of Metals" or "Philosopher's Stone" or something alchemical like that? Austin G. "Just my US$0.02" Loomis, MiSTie #84029 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 14:11:08 -0500 From: "bruce dykes" Subject: IN> [BUFFY] the Slayer Project Okay folks, part 2 of the Slayer Project, coming next, the Divine Players... The setting: Sunnydale is your average California suburban town. Put it about 90 minutes north of New Sodom (er, excuse me, I mean Los Angeles :-). The town contains two under twnty-one clubs, a college, a cemetary, and a handful of prep schools. It's also within field trip distance of a fairly decent zoo. The primary settings in the show are the school and the cemetary. Other settings, such as the zoo, and the college are created as the stories demand, so feel free to create what you need The first club, The Bronze, is a gathering and meeting place for a broad spectrum of the student body. Every week on Buffy, we get a new guest performance at The Bronze by alternative groups such as Cibbo Matto. The other club, whose name escapes me at the moment, caters to the more disobedient cliques at the school. The school's library, naturally enough, connects to Yves' own library. But the most important tourist attraction in Sunnydale is the Hellmouth. While it sounds like a natural for a tether to Saminga's realm of Abbadon, that's only half right. A sorcerer/vampire servant of Saminga calling himself "The Master" attempted a ritual to establish a tether to Abbadon in the late thirties, but his ritual was interrupted by an earthquake induced by a servant of David. The end result is a site on the cusp of becoming a tether with The Master bound to it, unable to leave. Fortunately, Sunnydale was still a fairly remote and rural area at the time, and the only mortals at the greatest risk to the Master's needs were cows, and a single servant of Michael was sufficient to keep him in check. Unfortunately, the postwar population boom warranted a more attentive vigil. Here at the tail end of the century, Laurence found it necessary to bring the Slayer to Sunnydale. Curious readers are directed to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer website and invited to watch the TV show Monday nights at 9:00 pm on your local WB station. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 15:24:22 -0500 From: David Edelstein Subject: IN> Prince of Wrath >>>As we can quite clearly see, anger and violence is a major subset of the Word of Hardcore. How is Wrath different enough from these to justify its own Word?<<< Although Wrath and Hardcore certainly have overlap (a lot of Words are bound to overlap), I'd say the nearest synonym for Furfur's Word would be Violence, while Wrath is a lot closer to Vengeance. You can feel Wrathful towards someone, but act it out by enacting a hostile takeover of his company, or spreading slander about him, or serving all kinds of dishes of cold vengeance. Hardcore requires an overt, *violent* response. Personally, I think the poor Prince of Wrath would be getting it from both ends-- Furfur *and* Belial might regard it as edging into their territories. - -David ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 15:24:20 -0500 From: David Edelstein Subject: IN> Archangel of Silence Hey, this is another cool one! Although again, I think those dissonance conditions are kind of.....awkward, from a mechanical point of view, anyway. Having 9 points of dissonance won't automatically cause Discord to manifest...although it WILL mean that an angel of Silence who creates a disturbance while the echoes from the last one are still reverberating will almost certainly become an Outcast. - -David ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 15:24:23 -0500 From: David Edelstein Subject: IN> Prince of Wrath >>>I really don't like this. Not just here, but I don't care for it for any of the princes and archangels. It seems like a bit of a cop-out. I don't think that it really makes all that much sense, cos they -should- be provoking people to wrath all the time. It'd be like Belial's dissonance being 'set a fire once a day' or Saminga's being 'kill a person once a day'. It's what they'd be doing anyway, but there should be more to it than that.<<< It does make it pretty easy on those Servitors. But the point of the dissonance condition is that they have to do it at LEAST once a day...this prevents anyone from slacking off too much. Obviously, a good Servitor who wants to advance will be doing it a lot more than that. Dissonance conditions need to be significant hindrances, but not extremely inconvenient ones. Anyway, just my suggestions. I liked him -- a few of the new Superiors people post to the list, I consider using in my own campaigns, but usually by reducing them from Archangel/Prince status and making them Servitors of another Superior. - -David ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 15:24:18 -0500 From: David Edelstein Subject: IN> Superiors' Hearts >>>So, IS there a canon answer to whether or not Superiors have hearts?<<< No. Not yet anyway. Superiors may or may not have Hearts, but you can bet no one else is going to be able to put their grubby celestial paws on them. Except perhaps God. (Not sure if even Lucifer would have access to other Princes' Hearts.) I rather like Kingsley's idea that a Superior's Cathedral IS his Heart. >>>'Course, I like the idea that Hearts are a little bit more than a cheap game mechanic for what happens when your Vessel dies, and don't need much thought beyond that...but I'm weird.<<< Well, Hearts have a few other purposes besides that -- they are a connection between the celestial and the corporeal form. But adding too many rules about what Hearts do or can do would raise all kinds of other sticky issues as people start devising tons of "Heart-stealing", "Heart-breaking", "Heart-hiding", etc. scenarios. You're free to do that in your own campaign, of course, but official canon *probably* will stick to using Hearts as plot devices. >>>[Heck, lately, I've even been thinking the Symphony ought to be more than a cheap game mechanic for why people can't just go around spending Essence and singing Songs whenever they want to.]<<< Oh, the Symphony is definitely more complex than that. Fate and Destiny are tied into the Symphony too, remember. - -David ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 16:17:35 +0000 From: beowulf1@bu.edu Subject: Re: IN> Superior's Hearts >So, IS there a canon answer to whether or not Superiors have hearts? Well, there is Derek's article in Pyramid 26 that mentions the demon prince Legion's heart as being located in the Abyss. >Perry M. Lloyd -Slàinte mhath! Matt Doublé beowulf1@bu.edu UIN: 596283 ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 17:34:15 -0800 From: The Saint of Killers Subject: IN> New Prince. Sort of. It's easy to see In Nomine as a world of yes and no, white and black, angel and demon. The authors have introduced us to the beings in the Marches, and hinted at evils that dwell in the Far Marches. (C'thulhu to the front desk.) Er... I have no clue where I'm going with this, so I introduce you to... RAHAB, DEMON PRINCE OF THE SEA. And God said unto Rahab, that firstly created angel, "Come out of the dark and drink up the seas so that I may part the waters and create the firmament." And Rahab, who was created in the light, yet who dwelled in the deep said unto his Lord. "Fuck you, gran'pa." And the Lord Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth, said, "Pardon?" The world is an ocean, a raging, roiling sea of turmoil. There is no angel or demon who remembers the creation of Rahab. None who can recall his rebellion. A factual, on hand account of his damnation, a Fall long before that of Lucifer, cannot be found even in the Library of Yves. Only folktales and stories remain, references in Isiah and Talmudic legends. As every angel and demon knows, those fairy tales are always incorrect, more bedtime stories than encyclopedias of celestial lore. Names are often mistaken, duties are almost always mixed up and the mythical events that the stories speak of rarely actually happen. Rahab exists. He is out there. He is waiting. In the beginning, as the story goes, God created the heavens and the earth. He parted the waters and formed the lands and the oceans. It was at this time that Rahab was created, a demiurge to help aid in the creation. There are few angels who can truthfully answer the questions put forth to Job that day long ago on the dungheap. "Were you there?" Rahab was there. The Lord had given Rahab dominion over the power of the seas. Before there was light, there was nothing. That nothing was Rahab's power, the chaos of the Outside, an infinite sea of Heisenbergian mathematics. When God spake "let there be light" the seas were metaphorically parted. When God demanded that Rahab aid him in physically parting the seas to allow for men to live without aqualungs, Rahab told God to leave him alone. God was not nearly as happy to abide as you might think. In an act that Michaelangelo never painted, and Donatello never sculpted, the Lord stomped Rahab to death. Physically, that is. Rahab's celestial forces were cast into the darkness of the Far Marches. Without creatures to inhabit the Earth, without Blandine and Beleth to form towers in the Dream, it was all Far Marches. Rahab made it his own. When the angels incurred into his territory, it was expected. Rahab pulled back and allowed the Marches to be tamed. He used this as an opportunity to spy on the servitors of a nemesis that seemed to have forgotten he even existed. Blandine never suspected. Beleth never knew. Rahab watched, knowing that his time would come again soon enough. Lucifer rose up against God and Fell, pulling a full third of the Host with him. Rahab was astounded at Lucifer's gall. The Adversary decided to play God himself, to recruit his own anti-archangels and have the same system of heirarchy. Rahab found both cleverness and irony in the act. Fight fire with (hell)fire, but Lucifer had decided he could run things better, and when given the chance, ran things the same. The amusement of the angel caused tempests in the Marches for months afterward. The Grigori walked the Earth and, as all angels are taught by their superiors in parabels and warnings, breeded with the mortals. "In those days the nephilim were in the Earth..." and God meant to punish them. Of course, by this time God had retreated to the higher heavens, allowing his angels to do as they wouldst. Michael and Uriel, with some help from Janus and David, poured the rains upon the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. The nephilim died, the sinners perished, and the chosen families made it through without a hitch. It was also the first time in centuries that Rahab had been free to descend to the Corporeal realm. He was elated. The trip allowed Rahab an opportunity to see a world he'd not visited in more than four millenia. It was also a chance to aquire his first two servitors. The misfits of creation, beasts that bore no place in the corporeal world. Behemoth and Leviathan became Rahab's first followers. When the time of Exodus came, Rahab watched, knowing that his time to act would soon come. The angels delivered their plagues and soon Ramses relented, allowing the Israelites to leave their hardship in Egypt. It was Rahab who coerced the Egyptian king to follow with his armies, leading them toward the desert where the Israelites saught to make their escape. When the seas parted at Moses' command, Rahab was pissed off. He extended his own power to prevent the seas from closing in upon the armies of Ramses, his ancient Word protecting the Egyptians. Unfortunately for Pharaoh, Rahab's tempestuous mind betrayed everyone as, in a fit of chaos, Rahab allowed the waters to close. Fwoosh. Upset with the disasterous results of his venture, Rahab returned to the Marches for a self-imposed exile of nearly four thousand years. He was not slothful however, ever vigilant and always plotting, Rahab has passed up many opportunities to once again make himself known, he is waiting for the perfect time. He keeps himself busy be recruiting more followers. Whenever an angel or demon finds itself lost in the Far Marches, Rahab will find it. Rahab does not have the number of celestials equal to that of God or Lucifer, or even one of the Princes or Archangels. With few angels and demons serving him, much of his 'army' is made up of mostly of etherials. Long forgotten gods who would find no essence through any other means, mythical creatures with no trust for the Hosts, but not love for Beleth. Most of Rahab's troops are quite dedicated and loyal, this is because most of Rahab's troops are quite insane. DISSONANCE Servitors of Rahab practically worship dissonance. It is expected that, at all times, they will have some dissonance. They gain no Superior specific dissonance, so they value the dissonance taken from acting against their band/choir. CHOIR/BAND AND SERVITOR ATTUNEMENTS Angels and demons of Rahab do not get special attunements based on their choir or band. Instead, they all may select an attunement from the following, with additional attunements costing 5 points. Unless otherwise specified, for any attunements that use dissonance, levels of discord count as three levels of dissonance. However, using discord in this fashion demands an immediate dissonance roll. Chaos Sense This allows the user to detect the amount of natural chaos resides in a person, and how best to release that chaos. This chaos can manifest itself in many ways, from a temper tantrum to an epileptic seizure, a natural impulse to skin women to an innate desire for pickles and ice cream. This power is potent, but extremely untrustworthy. A cop with his pistol drawn may be drawn to shooting his parner, firing into the crowd or attacking the bastard who keeps trying to get him mad. This attunement also allows the user to sense how much dissonance a celestial has. Dumb Luck Once per story, the servitor of Rahab may add the amount of dissonance to the target number of any roll. It is attunements and abilities such as this one that make followers of the Sea so self-destructive and dangerous. The more dissonant they are, the more powerful and less stable. Dissonant Draw Once per story, the character may gain one essence for every level of dissonance they have. For every two essence gained this way, a dissonance roll must be made. If discord is used, two dissonance rolls must be made. As much or as little essence can be drawn, though even gaining one essence requires a roll. Discordian The servitor may change a target's dissonance into levels of discord (3:1 ratio) which immediately manifest themselves in the target. The GM chooses the type of discord, based on the nature of the target. The discord lasts for as many turns as the servitor's celestial forces times three. The target may resist with a Will/2 roll. For every level of discord, the user must make a dissonance roll. Hands of Fate Using his dissonance, the character may wreath his hands in terrible nastyness. For each level of dissonance that the servitor has, he may do +1 damage with a hand to hand attack. Using this power forces the user to make a dissonance check. Type of damage done depends on the realm, though it can never be celestial. Out of Tune For one turn, the servitor may embrace his dissonance and go completely out of tune with the symphony. This makes him completely intangable and nearly invisable. It also requires a dissonance check. Using this power creates a +10 ripple in the symphony. Kill the Bass Player The servitor may completely remove one target from the Symphony for as many turns as he has celestial forces. This does not destroy the target, but it allows it to do anything (or have anything done to it) without it creating 'sound' in the Symphony. Rap Music The servitor may release his dissonance and discord into the Symphony briefly. This causes a +10 times the amount of dissonance spent disturbance in the Symphony. Such a huge noise can have profound effects in all the realms, though just what happens is left up to the GM. It will also disorient any character who is within the +50 range and who is able to sense the Symphony, such targets are stunned for 10 minus their celestial forces turns. While the dissonance is still in the Symphony, the servitor has a rare moment of clarity. During these few seconds he may think and act with the full sanity he had before he became a servitor of Rahab. Unfortunately, when the dissonance returns, it returns with a literal bang. The character takes corporeal damage equal to one half the level of the disturbance, and etherial and celestial damage equal to one quarter. This is often used as a last ditch effort to call for help. Then again, there are those who will use it just for its unpredictable effects on the Symphony. DISTINCTIONS There is little organization among Rahabians. Rahab rules with Behemoth and Leviathan as his lieutenants. Any other heirarchy is based on power and intimidation. RELATIONS Few archangels and demon princes even know Rahab exists. Of those who do, Yves fears him and Lucifer loathes him. Gabriel, Michael and Kobal know only whispers of the truth. Laurence heard stories from Uriel. The rest know nothing at all. CHANCE OF INVOCATION: None. Rahab is a power beyond Celestial powers. He is a deity level celestial that has been banned from both entrance into the Kingdom of God and the Pits of Hell. In sheer power, he is greater than Lucifer but less than God. In numbers, he is dwarfed by both. He spends as little time as possible on the corporeal plane. Just the same as Lucifer and God, Rahab himself shoud make few or no appearances in any actual game. RAHAB'S WORD Even though he is banned from the Celestial plane, Rahab has kept his Word. He embodies dissonance and is the antipathy of an organized symphony. If it can be said that Lucifer only plays dark music, and Duma plays no music at all, then Rahab's songs are a raw cacophony of mind-numbing white noise. His servitors live short, but loud, lives, leaving ragged tears and snapped strings in the Symphony when they go. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 18:51:11 -0500 From: The Other Chris Subject: Re: IN> [BUFFY] the Slayer Project bruce dykes wrote: > > Okay folks, part 2 of the Slayer Project, coming next, the Divine > Players... > This is cool Bruce. Keep it coming! Chris ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 18:55:11 -0500 From: The Other Chris Subject: Re: IN> Prince of Wrath David Edelstein wrote: > Personally, I think the poor Prince of Wrath would be getting it from both > ends-- Nope, I think you'll find out that's the Demon Prince of Group Sex. TOC ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 22:13:45 -0500 From: Jesse Rooney Subject: Re: IN> Prince of Wrath >> Personally, I think the poor Prince of Wrath would be getting it from both >> ends-- > >Nope, I think you'll find out that's the Demon Prince of Group Sex. Actually, the Demon of Group Sex is a Minister of Malphas. Full title is: Hornknob, Minister of Group Sex. His power has been steadly growing recently(he's had the Word since 1765). 15 Forces now with lots of attunments from Malphas and a few from Andre. - -Jesse ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 01:01:55 -0500 From: "Thomas Davidson" Subject: IN> [FLUFF] First Session... success! Hmmm.... I guess this just goes to show you that you *really* should pay attention when more experienced people give you advice... :) Well, I took the Bright/Dark Dream, and extrapolated a little bit. I rewound a little to before Nicole put a bullet into Marcus, and figured that other Princes would be looking for the Sanguine Painting. I made some alterations to Hamet, Eileth, and a couple of others (from "The Feast of Blades"), and re-set it in New York. They used a Celestial Song of Charms, and a Song of Thunder on Hamet and his gang, and that apparently was enough to convince Hamet that he was outnumbered, so he jetted. Don't worry; he'll be back... :) The funny part is, I didn't plan *any* of this in advance. It just kinda worked out that way. Apparently, that time at Eli's Tether did some good... :) And here I was afraid that I wouldn't come up with any adventure ideas. :) Thomas Davidson tdavidso@suffolk.lib.ny.us MUSIC: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Rush, Jimi Hendrix GAMES: Champions (old and new), In Nomine, Nephilim TV: The X-Files, The Simpsons, Superman, The Tick, The Animaniacs OTHER: Religion, Philosophy, mysticism, the runes, the Tarot, writing ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 05:56:19 -0500 From: "bruce dykes" Subject: IN> Superior Notes pt1, Wording Redux First up in a series of Notes about Superiors is a revisit to the discussion of Words. Not canon, just my take on things... Demonic Wording is the result of the imposition of Will upon the Symphony. The more powerful the demon, the greater and more lasting their influence on the Symphony. It also means that their relationship with the Words in the Symphony is imperfect and constantly subject to change, without agresive promotion of their Words. This is one the main themes running through the politics of Hell, as Princes try to steal Words from other Princes. As an illustration, I present Kannesh, Demon of Dictionaries: Kannesh Balseraph of Dictionaries, in service to Kronos Corp 3 Str 4 Agl 8 Eth 2 Int 3 Prc 5 Cel 4 Will 10 Perc 6 Human vessel /2, Role /2 Corp Song of Charm /2, Corp Song of Motion /2, Corp Song of Shields /2 Eth Song of Harmony /2, Eth Song of Shields /2 Cel Song of Possession /2, Cel Song of Shields /2 Running /2, Dodge /3, Linotype /3, Lying /3, Fast-Talk /3 Mercurian Resonance When Yves named Randolph the Angel of Dictionaries, Kronos was furious that he hadn't thought of that first. In an uncharacteristic fit of rage he pointed at the first impling he saw, a dim creature who didn't even bother to find the right shelves for at least half the books he had to restock, bound some extra forces into him and made the Balseraph of Dictionaries. As the demon of dictionaries, Kannesh is charged with undermining humans' confidence in dictionaries. Unfortunately for Kronos, Kannesh isn't very bright. The most imaginative thing he ever came up with was getting modern dictionaries to include naughty words. He claims credit for "The Devil's Dictionary", but we all know how much to believe from a Balseraph. Fact is, Ambrose Bierce came up with that all on his lonesome, but Kannesh still claims credit. His human vessel is that of a dour, sad old man, a linotype operator whom technology has passed by. He's a runner, not a fighter. He has, however received some helpful assistance from another demon, who has opened his mind to the possibilities of computer spell checkers, online thesauri with questionable synonyms, computerized translation, and voice dictation for computers. Unfortunately for Kannesh, this particular demon is Nybbas' Demon of Text, who feels that Dictionaries should belong to him. So he's playing the very dangerous game of attempting to steal one of Kronos' Words. And much mayhem will ensue... - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Angelic Words are a different fettle of kish altogether. I see them as passive resonances with Symphony, and therefor more subject to allegory and context shift within the Symphony. Any halfway competent Word-bound angel should see a context shift coming in advance, and petition for a Word change or expansion, such as the angel of Hansom Cabs applying for the Word of Taxi Service (which would include motorcabs and rickshaws and hansom cabs). ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 05:14:14 -0500 From: "bruce dykes" Subject: IN> [BUFFY] the Slayer Project: The Divine Players Now for part 3: The Divine Players: These aren't complete interpretations of the Buffy characters. I've left them incomplete for a number of reasons. First, I'm lazy. Second, Joss Whedon and company aren't using In Nomine to write their stories and create their characters, so some of the options available to IN characters aren't evident in the television show. Third, I'm leaving plenty of license for other GMs to use their own interpretation. So I'm just going to give thumbnails and let other GMs flesh them out as they see fit. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ------------ Cambria Seraph of Creation in service to Destiny Song of Imbuement: Corporeal, Ethereal, Celestial The Song of Imbuement allows the Celestial to impart one Force of the appropriate type to the mortal recipient. Cost: 3 essence Disturbance: The total number of the mortal's and celestial's forces of the appropriate type. Cambria was assigned to identify Slayer candidates. Eli taught him the netire suite of the Song of Imbuement to ensure that the Slayer would have the requisite 6 forces. Since Eli's disappearance, he's been in service to Yves. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ------------ Gilia: Elohite Friend of the Sages Corp 4 Str 9 Agl 7 Ethr 5 Int 10 Prc 10 Cels 4 Will 6 Per 10 Role: Rupert Giles, Librarian -4 Occult History /4 Fighting /3 Savoir Faire /2 Character Notes: In 1888 a Habbalite failed in his attempts to instill any sort of emotion in several prostitutes in the east end of London. In a fit of rage, he slew them. The resulting Symphonic disturbance showed him how empty his own alleged emotions were, and he petitioned Dominic for Redemption and Judgment. When the time came for final pleas, sentence and execution, Yves declared that a Destiny had claimed him, and Dominic surrendered him to Yves' service. (the details are available as a vignette, and my ideas on Dominic's court will be forthcoming in my Suoeriors' Notes). Giles is the Watcher assigned to Buffy, the current Slayer. As an Elohite, he is somewhat oblivious to the extraneous pressures applied to a hgh school girl in 1990's America. This is the management concern Jean expressed in his email to Calendar. Giles has a tendency, like all Elohim, to put the job at hand to the head of the queue. He's also somewhat loath to embrace new technologies, instead preferring the collective memories of books to the hive knowledge of the nets. As a Friend of the Sages Giles has a four year college education in every subject. This would preclude advanced knowledge of ancient languages, but basic interpretive knowledge is certainly available. However, he certainly knows the pertinent ones at level 4: Ancient Greek, Latin, Sumerian, Hebrew, Egyptian, etc. Giles appears as a tall, brown haired, bespectacled, refined, and distinguished English gentleman in his mid thirties. A Lilim servant of Lust may as well have created this vessel, but being Elohim, Giles is completely oblivious to the potential effect he could have on young ladies. It's a good thing he's on the side of the Divine. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ------------------------------- Cailinn Mercurian servant of Jean Corp 4 Str 5 Agl 7 Ethr 4 Int 8 Prc 8 Cels 3 Will 6 Perc 6 Role: Jenny Calendar, Computer Professional - 5 Skills: Artitstry /1 Computer Oper /4 Electronics /2 Internet (Knowl) /4 Comp Progr (Knowl) /4 Seduction /2 Occult Theory (Knowl) /3 Jenny Calendar appears as a brunette professional in her late twenties - early thirties. Until she took the teaching job at Sunnydale High School, she was instrumental in putting together village.com, an ISP that used its suburban subscribers and computer recycling to subsidize the connection of inner city households and schools to the internet. Now she's supervising the installation of Sunnydale's new computer lab, and will be the new computer science teacher at Sunnydale. This is absolutely perfect, as she loves nothing better than training young protohackers to hack for Good. She describes herself as a "techno-pagan", but that's just to maintain the credibility of her net persona. Her charge is to provide Giles and Buffy with technological support for their mission. Left to his own devices, Giles would never have bothered looking at a computer, never mind the internet. Her second task is to see to it that Giles realizes that Buffy has other problems than vampires and minions of Lucifer. Her strategy for this mission? Give Giles a problem other than Buffy, namely, herself. So far, she's succeeding. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ------------------------------ Syndia Elohite Vassal of Conscience Corp 3 Str 7 Agl 5 Ethr 4 Int 8 Prc 8 Cels 4 Will 6 Perc 10 Role: Principal Snyder - 3 With this many Divine resources in place, and being this close to a potential Infernal tether, there is *no way* that Dominic would let this go without sending agents to keep an eye on things. Syndia tends to be brusque and uncompromising in his celestial duties, and that carries over into his role as principal of Sunnydale High. He prizes discipline, obedience, and order above all else, and he tries to express the values through his management of the high school. The second member of Dominic's triad is the commander of the night shift of the local police force, and the third member remains, as yet, unknown. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ------------------------------ Buffy Summers Slayer Corp 3 Str 6 Agl 6 Ethr 2 Int 3 Prc 3 Cels 1 Will 2 perc 2 Toughness/2 - Body 30 Skills: Acrobatics /3 Climbing /1 Dodge /3 Escape /1 Fighting /4 Staff /4 Stake/Dagger /4 Move Silently /3 Buffy is a new student to Sunnydale. She was asked to leave her last school after burning down the gymnasium while it was full of vampires. Her mother is unaware of her role as Slayer, as are her teachers and the vast majority of the student body. She spends most of her time with Giles, Xander and Willow in the Library, and going to classes, though she has been known to cut classes occasionally. She has to balance grades, a social life and her duties as Slayer, and it's proving to be a bit much, but so far she's keeping her head above it all, but barely. She also happens to be in love with Angel. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ------------------------------------ Xander, Willow, and Cordelia The Sunnydale Irregulars Xander (pronounced Zander, short for Alexander) and Willow are Buffy's two best friends. They've been best friends since childhood, and they know of her role as Slayer, and they help out quite often, with Willow doing research, and Xander doing legwork. Xander is about 15 years old, grades aren't great and he has a major crush on Buffy. Willow is a rather plain looking 15 year old girl who's quite comfortable with computers and knows how to do research. She has a major crush on Xander. (this is High School, remember?). Cordelia is the newcomer to the group, She's had to be rescued by Buffy several times, and now knows of her role. The leader of the Popular Clique in school, she's slowly learning to get over her self centeredness and complete obliviousness to those outside her clique, yet Xander continues to rag her. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -------------------------------- Angel Good Guy Vampire Angel (short for Angelo) is a 240 year old vampire. At some point during his unlife, a gypsy servitor of Janus restored his conscience/soul, and convinced him to allow an angel to take up residence in his body (I'm thinking a Malakite of Janus, but use your own ideas). He no longer feeds on Humans, and now he's in love with the Slayer. Giles doesn't necessarily trust him, though he is quite a great help. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ------------------------------------ ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 11:32:27 -0000 From: "Hart, Joanna" Subject: IN> Nessie This is just the thing for when your PCs roll (yet) another 666 and you don't feel like having more superiors show up. Nessie, Demon of Million-to-One Shots, Impudite Servant of Fate -----------------===================--------------------- Nessie had found a nice little niche for herself in getting businessmen addicted to gambling. She liked the slinky black dresses; the easy hit of essence as a winner turned into a loser; the heady casino scent of desperation, glamour, money and sweat; the way mortals adored her when she draped herself across their shoulders and whispered that she would bring them luck -- more fun than being a Mercurian, to be sure. She thought maybe one day if she ever had the chance that she might ask to be the Demon of Roulette -- the gaudiest, seediest, most glamorous form of gambling of them all, and Kronos was bound to approve. He liked round things. She thought he quite liked her also. That was before THE night. Nessie was enjoying Monte Carlo, her charge of the moment being a newly successful film director who was due to be ruined by his gambling addiction before making his next film. She'd planned for him to make enough small winnings to be able to enjoy the glamour, but the wheel span badly for him while she was stealing essence from the barman and she returned to the roulette table to find him tight-lipped and preparing to pay up and go, having resolved that he'd had enough of casinos. "Wait," she purred, "I'm feeling lucky tonight, darling, how about one last spin and then we'll go back to the hotel? I have a very special surprise for you there..." No dice. He just shrugged and gave her his last 200 FF chip to play with, and told her to have fun, but he'd decided to quit while he could still afford it. Nessie pouted cutely, "Anything can happen on a turn of the wheel, you just have to have a little faith... For all we know everyone is poised to make huge winnings on the slot-machines, a huge international syndicate is about to rip off the card tables and it'll break the bank!" The man sighed but waited as she tossed the chip casually onto the table. "I mean," whispered Nessie as she threw all her essence into the roulette wheel, "Its a million to one shot but it might just work." The wheel span. There was a moment's silence, broken by the metallic spurting of several hundred one-arm bandits paying out their jackpots. Then a cheer began at one card table and spread to others; sharp-suited men caught each others eyes and grinned like sharks. Everyone glanced round; the croupiers were sending runners up and down to the offices and beginning to look edgy. Looks of surprise and delight were shining on myriad faces. At Nessie's table the croupier coughed politely and informed her that she had won at odds of 52:1, he looked oddly familiar. As she concentrated on trying to recognise him the man leaned forwards and whispered 'A 'million to one shot'. Its a nice phrase, it suits you.' Then he stepped aside and was replaced by another croupier as if he had never been there at all. -----------------===================--------------------- Nessie has been given one very special attunement which seems to be associated with her word. She can spend 7 essence and dictate some hugely improbable event and.. it will happen precisely as described. There are two caveats to this: a) The event must be hugely improbable (odds of at /least/ a million to one against) (ie. no more playing the roulette wheels, winning at roulette just isn't improbable enough) b) It must be phrased: "For all we know might happen. Its a million to one shot, but it might just work!" She has been dragged away from the seedy casinos she loved so much and now gets assigned by Kronos to turn up when it would most help demonic plans to get other demons out of trouble, or get angels into trouble, by using her 'Million to one' attunement. Its quite common for her to be tailed by Lilim, as every Lilim in existence would give her right arm for that ability and they like to try to take some of the credit. Unfortunately it seems to be tied up with her word but if Nessie were to be destroyed or redeemed then the word and the lovely power that goes with it would be free again! jo ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #474 ******************************* The material here is (C) 1997 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.