From owner-in_nomine-digest@lists.io.com Thu Jul 22 17:27:51 1999 Return-Path: Received: from lists.io.com (majordom@lists.io.com [199.170.88.15]) by pyramid.sjgames.com (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id RAA09677 for ; Thu, 22 Jul 1999 17:27:51 -0500 Received: (from majordom@localhost) by lists.io.com (8.9.3/8.9.1a) id RAA00677 for in_nomine-digest-outgoing; Thu, 22 Jul 1999 17:22:24 -0500 Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999 17:22:24 -0500 Message-Id: <199907222222.RAA00677@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 #1289 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 22 1999 Volume 01 : Number 1289 In this digest: Re: IN> And The Bands Played On: Faustim Re: IN> And The Bands Played On: Faust IN> Nitpicking IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #1288 Re: IN> Nitpicking Re: IN> Nitpicking Re: IN> Nitpicking Re: IN> Nitpicking IN> Plot Seed: the Angel of Military Disaster IN> Re: IN- And The Bands Played On: Faustim IN> Off-topic.... Huntington... died this morning. Re: IN> Off-topic.... Huntington... died this morning. IN> Beth's Guardian Angel (WAS: Huntington...) Re: IN> Beth's Guardian Angel (WAS: Huntington...) IN> All Dogs Go to Heaven, But... Re: IN> All Dogs Go to Heaven, But... IN> Condolences (WAS: Huntington...) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 14:59:50 -0500 (CDT) From: Benjamin Acosta Subject: Re: IN> And The Bands Played On: Faustim > From: "Miles 2 Go" > Hmm, I think the Faustim may be too powerful. Their perception > based resonance is a pretty good power in and of itself. About on > the same level as the Mercurian or Elohim resonance. With a CD of 2 > or better they will certainly be able to tell a celestial at a glance. > Even a CD of 1 is likely to reveal a celestial. Compare that to > how difficult it is to uncover a celestial using any other resonance. I tried to make it least require a CD of 3 to be able to make an educated guess (Some one with high stats in one Realm could still be a mortal) However, I forgot about the Hits disparity, so I see you have a point. > > However, I missed the background for your game The Bands Played > On. Is the battlefield still being fought over living humans? Or > did everyone die in armeggedon and the battle is open? If that's > the case then being able to instantly spot celestials isn't such > a huge advantage. No, there are still living humans left on Earth after the battle. In a nutshell, what happened is that Heaven won and God took all the angels and human souls who deserved and desired to go to the Upper Heavens. Remaining survivors on Earth include those who met their Fate and those who wanted to stay for some reason such as love, religion, or just a desire to remain living in the World. Lucifer was given the responsibility of maintaining the Symphony. There's a new War between those Authoritarians who want the Infernal Order to continue as it did (Led by Asmodeus) and the Utopian Faction organized by Faust whose goal is a more ideal society based on enlightened self-interest. Their basic principle is the best way for everyone to fulfil their wants and needs is to deal and trade, rather than having the strong just taking from the weak. In other words, they're actually trying to construct a fair and just society in Hell (You can see now why Kobal's on their side :-) I guess the best way to describe them is Libertarian. You can be as greedy and selfish as you want but don't violate that other demon's or damned soul's rights. > On another tangent, how well does the perception resonance work > in playtest? I'm afraid it would bog things down in real play. > Example: You resonante him, ok, you got a CD of 4, he's strongest > in Corp with 5 forces, Str 10, Agl 10, and has... > In other words you can't show the player the character sheet, > he didn't get everything, but you have to recite most of it. > That gets even more annoyning to those GMs who just put stats > on major NPCs, and create minor ones on the fly. I haven't actually run a game yet with any of this stuff. It's all material for a campaign I may run in the future eventually (I've yet to actually run a straight In Nomine game yet, but it looks like I might eventually have to if I want any In Nomine action. There doesn't seem to be anyone who's still running it where I am. Maybe I'll break down and run one when the Game Master's Guide comes out). Anyway, I hadn't considered how things would bog down so much. I just wanted the Perception of their Resonance to be useful. How about this- For every successful use of their Perception portion of their Resonance they get to ask as many of the questions below as their CD: 1. What the subject's is? 2. What the subject's skills and songs are in one Realm? 3. What the subject's Discords or Disadvantages are in a Realm? (And they won't be able to tell whether they are Discords or Disadvantages) And if they get a 6 CD they can either learn the answers to six questions or forfeit them all to learn what Resonance, Attunements, and Distinctions the subject possesses. The emulation portion of their Resoance and being able to use it after seeing an ability in action remains the same. Is the altered version of the Perception portion of their Resonance tweaked down enough to be useful without overpowering and unweildy, or is more adjustment needed? > > On the subject of the Faust's servitor attunements, > Let me add that they kick butt - every one of them. Which doesn't > match IN. Most superiors have a few lame servitor attunements. > (Elohim of Janus - bleah). Of course I noticed this one after I > submitted a Gregori superiorand every one his servitors kicked > butt... so I've made the same mistake. To better ballance > servitors of Faust, not every choir/band should have > an excellent attunement. I'm not sure whether lame Choir/Band Attunements were a deliberate game design decision or what. I like all of them as they are, but if it makes the Superior overpowering it might be a problem. Does everyone else think I should downgrade some of Faust's Choir/Band Attunements or are they all all right as is? Ben, Elohite of Eli Angel of Neat Ideas k ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 15:11:36 -0500 (CDT) From: Benjamin Acosta Subject: Re: IN> And The Bands Played On: Faust > From: Frank Lazar > At 3:16 PM -0500 7/20/99, Benjamin Acosta wrote: > > > > > >Well I mostly wrote up the Malakim attunement because I'm a completist. I > >agree that Malakim servitors of Faust's would be rarer than Bright Lilim. > > It probably wouldn't be that much of a completeness loss to have > for that entry be simply No Malakim serve Faust for any of the > reasons I gave. That might work. What if I left it in as a Theoretical Attunemtent that Faust would give any who somehow did come into his service, and that he based it off the one possessed by Raphael's Malakim. > > > >I believe the Oath is to "not suffer an evil to live if it's his choice." > >If someone could somehow convince a Malakite a demon isn't evil then the > >Malakite wouldn't have to slay him. > > > The kind of day to day strain with acknowledging demons as fellow > Servitors might actually be worse than Maximillian's situation in > "Fall of the Malakim", at least he didn't actually have to > acknowledge them as co-workers. But those demons were exhibiting typical sadistic and evil behavior. Malakites and Redemption-canidates might be able to hang around together a long time, but of course the Malakite in question would take a Tough Love mixed with Jiminy Cricket approach, trying to act as their conscience so they won't backslide. That might cause an even worse problem. Needless to say, any Malakim that did become Faust's servitors would probably mostly work alone to minimize such conflicts. > > I'd go with my original statement or perhaps be flexible to allow > that there might be as many as ONE Malakite total working for Faust, > it being a former Servitor of Raphael who went Outcast rather than > give up the Word at the death of its prior servitor. It possibly > would be honoring a personal Oath it gave to that Word that kept it > from joining Jean or some other compatible superior when Raphael gave > her life to put the kibosh on Legion. That's about the only way I > could see a Malakite in Faust's service. That's one of the few ways I can see also. Another possible scenario is a Malakite of Destiny who sees a great Destiny in Faust, and enters his service in order to be in a position to influence him toward it. Ben, Elohite of Eli Angel of Neat Ideas ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 21:05:54 +0100 From: Ashley Perryman Subject: IN> Nitpicking Princess Beth, I have two points for your due consideration (or to nit pick) It has come to my attention that Jean has succeeded in creating a great deception. He claims the city of Syracuse (the location of one of his tethers) is in Greece. The city of Syracuse is of course in Italy, Sicily to be more precise. I find it hard to reason why an Elohite would create such a lie. Maybe he has his reasons but we may be able to make use of his dishonesty to nit pick the archives of Heaven. Equally Asmodeus has perpetuated a great deception about his tether in Athens. He claims this tether is now visited by many mortals from around the world. If you were to consult the archives you would discover the Sophists did indeed carry out their work in the Agora of Athens and slowly polluted the then tether to Marc. It was indeed a great victory for Asmodeus to claim such an eminent site as his own, but to claim the current excavated Agora to be this tether is untrue. The excavated Agora in question is the Roman Agora, the Sophists taught in the Greek Agora which as far as I am aware has not as yet been excavated let alone visited by the masses of Humanity. Perhaps you would care to take this matter up with Asmodeus. A Seraph in service to the word Truth (and sometimes nitpicking). - --------------------------------------------------------- Beth, On a more serious note, these errors are in Liber Castellorum. Ashley. Ashley ashley.omentide@virgin.net http://freespace.virgin.net/omentide.omentide ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 15:27:18 -0500 (CDT) From: Benjamin Acosta Subject: IN> Re: in_nomine-digest V1 #1288 > From: Elizabeth McCoy > > At 10:01 AM -0500 7/21/99, Earl Wajenberg wrote: > >I have a request: Let the singular of "Faustim" be "Faustite." > >"-im" is a plural ending. "Lilim" as a singular is one of > >IN's little in-house monstrosities. (I'd prefer "Lilite" or > >something from actual Hebrew.) > > Heh heh heh. He's right -- learn from the mistakes of canon! Well, if the Line Editor says it's a good idea, it's a good idea. Let it be known throughout the List that the singular of "Faustim" be "Faustite"! (The Elohite then sits still as the Lilim of Trade snaps the Gesea on him. "There you go," she says cheerefuly, "Now just sign here to make it official." Ben signs the thing and Lilim quickly runs off in the direction of the Tower, muttering somethng about getting Lilith to use Lilite next). Ben, Elohite of Eli Angel of Neat Ideas ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 18:05:50 -0400 From: EDG Subject: Re: IN> Nitpicking At 09:05 PM 7/21/99 +0100, you wrote: >It has come to my attention that Jean has succeeded in creating a great >deception. He claims the city of Syracuse (the location of one of his >tethers) is in Greece. The city of Syracuse is of course in Italy, Sicily >to be more precise. I find it hard to reason why an Elohite would create >such a lie. Maybe he has his reasons but we may be able to make use of his >dishonesty to nit pick the archives of Heaven. It should be pointed out that Sicily, during the lifetime of Archimedes and beyond, was a part of Greece (not the peninsula, but those territories which were included in the term "Hellene"), as was much of southern Italy. Syracuse was therefore a Greek city. It may be worth a note, however, that it is no longer. >Equally Asmodeus has perpetuated a great deception about his tether in >Athens. He claims this tether is now visited by many mortals from around >the world. If you were to consult the archives you would discover the >Sophists did indeed carry out their work in the Agora of Athens and slowly >polluted the then tether to Marc. It was indeed a great victory for >Asmodeus to claim such an eminent site as his own, but to claim the current >excavated Agora to be this tether is untrue. The excavated Agora in >question is the Roman Agora, the Sophists taught in the Greek Agora which >as far as I am aware has not as yet been excavated let alone visited by the >masses of Humanity. Perhaps you would care to take this matter up with >Asmodeus. As far as I am aware, the Agora in Athens was never buried to begin with. It is still extant, and it is true that many tourists come from around the world to see it each year. - -EDG Angel of Information Dissemination ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 18:35:46 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Nitpicking At 9:05 PM +0100 7/21/99, Ashley Perryman wrote: >Princess Beth, >On a more serious note, these errors are in Liber Castellorum. Here, have 1 Essence. Now, I send these to the errata coordinator. At 6:05 PM -0400 7/21/99, EDG wrote: [snip] >-EDG > Angel of Information Dissemination Here, have 1 Essence. Then both of you get back to me about the Asmodeus one. Email is fine. - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor GURPS, Roleplayers, In Nomine stuff; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 23:52:48 +0100 From: Ashley Perryman Subject: Re: IN> Nitpicking EDG, >It should be pointed out that Sicily, during the lifetime of Archimedes and >beyond, was a part of Greece (not the peninsula, but those territories >which were included in the term "Hellene"), as was much of southern Italy. >Syracuse was therefore a Greek city. Syracuse was conquered by the Greeks now and then but only for brief periods. I cannot remember the dates. In a classical sense Syracuse is counted as Hellenic, but was not part of Greece. At different times in history Syracuse allied with Greece or city states within Greece. Syracuse, unlike the Greek Hellenic city states who often were required to pay taxes or tribute to Athens or whatever other major City State held power, did not. On the whole Syracuse was regarded by the Greeks as an independent Sicilian City State and often an important ally and trading partner. >As far as I am aware, the Agora in Athens was never buried to begin with. >It is still extant, and it is true that many tourists come from around the >world to see it each year. Yes, but it is not the same Agora. The Agora the tourists go to see is the Roman Agora in Athens. This is not the same Agora as the earlier Greek Agora where the Sophists offered their services to the Youth of Athens. The Greek Agora is almost certainly near the Roman Agora, the development of classical cities almost always follows this pattern, but Roman Agora would not have been built over it. Ashley. Ashley ashley.omentide@virgin.net http://freespace.virgin.net/omentide.omentide ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 18:53:30 -0500 From: "Prodigal" Subject: Re: IN> Nitpicking From: Elizabeth McCoy > > Then both of you get back to me about the Asmodeus one. Email is fine. Still wantng to get him back over that trial, huh? *g* ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 21:50:47 -0400 From: Douglas Muir Subject: IN> Plot Seed: the Angel of Military Disaster Here's a character who can be used as a plot seed, if you like. Martin, an Elohite of Michael, is the Angel of Military Disaster. Martin, Elohite Master of Valor Str 10 Int 10 Will 8 Agil 10 Prec 10 Perc 12 Martin is a 15-Force angel. He has more Songs and skills than can be easily listd; just assume that, if it's remotely useful to him, he'll have it at least at level 3. He also has Laurence's "Friend of the Lord's Troops" Distinction. Martin is very old, and quite powerful. He has been serving his Word since at least the days of Athens and Sparta. Martin's Word can served in two ways. First, he can _create_ military disasters. Usually he does this by infiltrating one side's command structure and setting them up for a catastrophic failure. Sometimes he works alone; for large projects, he can call in two 10-Force assistants, a Kyriotate and a Mercurian. Second, Martin can work to make sure that the appropriate lessons -- particularly *moral* lessons -- are learned from military disasters. It was Martin, for instance, who made sure that Thucydides recorded how the Athenians betrayed their own ideals, and how their hubris led them on to defeat. Not all military disaster's are Martin's doing, of course. Humans are perfectly capable of screwing up bigtime on their own; Marting had nothing to do with, for example, the Spanish Armada, the battle of Midway, or the 1994 Russian campaign in Chechnya. But he was deeply involved in the Persian defeat at Salamis, Napoleon's retreat from Moscow, Operation Desert Storm (from the Iraqi side), and -- perhaps his greatest achievement -- the battle of Stalingrad. In many instances Martin has worked to make sure that the "bad" side suffered a disaster. This is not always the case, though. Martin might engineer a disaster for a "good" combatant in order to serve a higher purpose... to check overweening ambition, to make sure that the "good" side doesn't betray its own ideals, or for more obscure purposes handed down from On High. Even for an Elohite, even for an Elohite of Michael, Martin is a very cool (or cold-blooded) character. Without ever losing his unruffled calm, he has carefully, meticulously arranged the violent deaths of hundreds of thousands of humans in order to serve the greater good. Many other angels - -- even some Elohim and Malakim -- find this slightly unnerving. Martin is in excellent standing with Michael. He's served loyally and well for a long, long time; also, he's a very good soldier in his own right (setting up disasters isn't simple or easy). He gets a +1 chance of invocation, although he'd never even try unless the situation were desperate. If encountered on Earth, Martin will either be a military officer (non-combat headquarters staff, probably Intelligence or Logistics), or he'll be in some sort of obscure but important civilian position -- Special Assistant for Planning to the Undersecretary of the Navy, chief of staff to the Committee on Foreign Relations, something like that. If he's setting up a disaster, he will have used his resonance to really, really understand the emotions and motivations of a few key players and will be quietly, carefully manipulating them. If he's not actively planning a disaster, he might be organizing a conference of historians on "The Lessons of Vietnam" or some such. Potential plot seeds: Kill Martin (diabolical) -- Baal has nursed a particular hatred for Martin for a long time now. Stalingrad was the last straw. Baal has been setting up a "hit" on him for forty years. That's a long time to plan, but Baal wants Martin *permanently* killed -- not just sent into Trauma, but wiped from the Symphony. A strong party of demonic PCs might be given the job. A weaker party, or one not associated with Baal, might stumble into the middle of it. Corrupt Martin (diabolical) -- as above, but the goal is to turn him Outcast rather than kill him. If this is the case, then assume that the long centuries of setting mortals up to fall is finally getting to Martin; give him some dissonance and Discord to give the diabolicals a fighting chance. If Martin does become Outcast, GM's discretion as to whether Baal will try to kill him or make him Fall all the way. Oppose Martin (diabolical) -- the PC demons want to *avoid* a military disaster. Perhaps Martin is preparing a nasty surprise for a Third World dictator or a genocidal regime in the Balkans, and the demons are trying to prevent him from kneecapping the cause of evil. In this scenario, the demons probably won't confront Martin directly (though they might cross swords with his Kyrio and Mercurian assistants). Instead, they'll try to upset his plans and possibly discredit him in his Role. Martin Outcast (either) -- Martin has cracked! Now he's one powerful Outcast angel, with at least two points of Dissonance and two serious Discords (level 3 or higher). Either side, or both, may want to kill him or capture him; Martin may have his own bizarre agenda. Defend Martin (angelic) -- this one assumes that Baal's hostility is known; perhaps Martin has recently been killed and sent to Trauma, and is cautiously returning to Earth, and the angels or soldiers are trying to protect him. A good job for a Cherub; of course, a Djinn may already have a line on Martin... Work with Martin (angelic) -- this one gets interesting if Martin is setting up a disaster that is not obviously serving the cause of righteousness. It's no big deal if Martin is arranging a disaster for Saddam Hussein... but perhaps he's planning to sink a US aircraft carrier, with all hands. Even if there's a good long-term reason for this ("The US Navy was getting dangerously overconfident. Michael believes they'll need to be a lot less smug, and soon") many angels may find this distressing... especially if you, as GM, introduce them to some of the sailors that Martin is planning to kill. If you *really* want to make things tough, have them work with Martin on an assignment that seems to make no sense at all ("Yes, the rebels certainly are a plucky but lovable band of honorable freedom fighters. We're setting them up for an ambush where the dictator's forces are going to wipe them out to the last man."). If you do this, you might emphasize Martin's cool detachment... Oppose Martin (angelic) -- possibly some other Superior violently opposes Martin's plans. Superiors hostile to Michael (Dominic, Yves, Blandine, Novalis) are the best candidates, but it could be almost any of them if Martin is planning a disaster for something that they're attached to. Alternately, the PC angels just get caught up in Martin's plans, and find themselves trying to avert the disaster -- perhaps from the other side ("If the guerrillas take the town, they'll kill thousands of innocent people! We have to tell the General that he's advancing into a trap!"). If the PCs foil Martin's plans, he won't hold any hard feelings... but Michael most certainly might. Comments welcome. Doug M. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 20:09:47 PDT From: "Miles 2 Go" Subject: IN> Re: IN- And The Bands Played On: Faustim Greetings, Benjamin Acosta wrote: >No, there are still living humans left on Earth after the battle. In a >nutshell, what happened is that Heaven won and God took all the >angels >andhuman souls who deserved and desired to go to the >Upper Heavens. >Remaining survivors on Earth include those who met their Fate and >those >who wanted to stay for some reason such as love, religion, >or just adesire to remain living in the World. Lucifer was given >the responsibility of maintaining the Symphony. There's a new >War between those Authoritarians who want the Infernal Order >to continue as it did (Led by Asmodeus) and the Utopian Faction >organized by Faust whose goal is a more ideal society based >on enlightened self-interest. Their basic principle is the best way >for everyone to fulfil their wants and needs is to deal and trade, >rather than having the strong just taking from the >weak. In other words, they're actually trying to construct a fair and >just society in Hell (You can see now why Kobal's on their side :-) >I guess the best way to describe them is Libertarian. You can be as >greedy and selfish as you want but don't violate that other demon's >or >damned soul's rights. Oh, neat. Hmm, ever read "Infinty Hold" by Barry B. Longyear? I think it might make good background reading for your game. >> On another tangent, how well does the perception resonance >>work in playtest? I'm afraid it would bog things down in real play. >I haven't actually run a game yet with any of this stuff. It's all >material for a campaign I may run in the future eventually (I've yet to >actually run a straight In Nomine game yet, but it looks like I might >eventually have to if I want any In Nomine action. There doesn't >seem to >be anyone who's still running it where I am. Maybe I'll >break down and run one when the Game Master's Guide >comes out). > >Anyway, I hadn't considered how things would bog down so much. >I just wanted the Perception of their Resonance to be useful. >How about this- >For every successful use of their Perception portion of their >Resonance >they get to ask as many of the questions below >as their CD: > >1. What the subject's is? >2. What the subject's skills and songs are in one Realm? >3. What the subject's Discords or Disadvantages are in a Realm? >(And they >won't be able to tell whether they are Discords or >Disadvantages) > >And if they get a 6 CD they can either learn the answers to six >questions >or forfeit them all to learn what Resonance, Attunements, >and Distinctions the subject possesses. > >The emulation portion of their Resoance and being able to use it >after >seeing an ability in action remains the same. > >Is the altered version of the Perception portion of their Resonance >tweaked down enough to be useful without overpowering and >unweildy, or is >more adjustment needed? Hmm, I still don't like it of course I don't always like the current resonances. Pulling the most honorable thing a person done in the past week can be a challenge. Let me try a proposal. If they make their perception based resonance check, then it lasts for 10-CD minutes during which time they get to know their targets skill in all CD 1 - Skills used and skill level CD 2 - Skill or Songs used and skill level CD 3 - Attributes used CD 4 - Skills, Songs and Base attributes for them CD 5 - Any resonance used and the target roll (forces) for that resonance CD 6 - All of the above plus any Attunements, Distinctions, or Discord (forced to roll against) This helps eliminate the automatically detect celestial problem. If their target isn't actively using any abilities, then there is nothing to detect. The GM doesn't have to look up any extra information. Since you had the target ready to make the roll anyway. Hmm, but is it too weak.... I don't think so. No you don't get to find out so much with just one resonance check, now your Faustim has to work at to make his subject use some abilities so he can figure out what the person's abilities are. Hmm, kinda like a Lilim has to fullfill a need to get a Geas, or a Seraph has to get the person to talk to learn the truth. If you want to tweak it, play with what you get for each value of the check digit. For example with a CD of 6 you might learn not only the person's current skill level, but potential to improve, or greatest feat they could acheive with that skill. Or to be even more in keeping with the Faust legend... with a CD of 6 you learn what price they paid to learn that skill. >I'm not sure whether lame Choir/Band Attunements were a >deliberate >gamedesign decision or what. I'm not sure, but there is a tendency that the Choir/Band attunement of the Superior tends to be better. If any you should slight the choirs/bands that Faustim don't tend to get along well with. Whichever those would be. > I like all of them as >they are, but if it makes the Superior overpowering it might be a >problem. Does everyone else think I should downgrade some >of Faust's Choir/Band Attunements or are they all all right as is? Nah, leave them. If anything I'd go the way of patching lame attunements. Hmm, that's a thread in itself... what attunements are the most lame, and how do you fix it? My vote goes for the Elohim of Janus / Habballah of Vapula. Regards, Tim _______________________________________________________________ Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999 10:44:32 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: IN> Off-topic.... Huntington... died this morning. Around 8 or 9 am, I think. He crawled into a cabinet that he hadn't bothered with getting open since he got really sick. We found him this morning. I wish I'd known, to be with him. At least... he'd been on the bed last night, and I think he'd forgiven me for taking him to the vet. I'm afraid that I'm kind of messed up right now, for anything that requires long-term concentration. I hope I'll be better Monday. 11 years... a year and 6 months longer than they expected him to live with lymphosarcoma. Most of the time pretty good. I hope it scars where he bit me. He was my baby-cat that I raised from an abandoned-by-the-side-of-the-road newborn, and he's been with me for 11 years, and I'm really messed up. Which I suppose is also fair warning that if anyone ticks me off till I'm a bit more recovered, I may be... very very vicious. Anyway, thank you, those of you who've been thinking hard about the little baby. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999 11:08:26 -0500 From: Earl Wajenberg Subject: Re: IN> Off-topic.... Huntington... died this morning. Elizabeth, I didn't know about Huntington, but I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. All gaming aside, I think he's in Heaven now; such as he can love and they cannot sin; their souls are stainless. No wonder you miss him so much. Earl ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999 12:22:03 -0500 From: Shadowstar Subject: IN> Beth's Guardian Angel (WAS: Huntington...) Beth, Hey, like hang in there, okay? Here, have a non-canonical vignette: Beth's Guardian Angel - --------------------- Tafka J. 07/22/99 The great Savannah stretched before the pair of celestials. They were in the process of escorting a recently ascended soul to his final reward. This is their conversation in passing. ". . .So I was with him, in his final hours. Had to be careful. I think his master -knew-," said the first angel. Celestially she appeared as a great leopard, held aloft by a pair of wings formed from finely preened feathers. Though her wings were predominantly white, the spots from her body cast subtle reflections upon them. The second angel, a humanoid figure cast in oil-slick colors, wore the skins of animals in a custom suit of armored hides. Each section stenciled with words of gratitude to each of the Lord's magnificent beasts. He asked quizzically, "Knew? In what way?" The first angel smiled down to her charge, then looked back to the other, "It was like she knew about all of this." She swept her free paw to encompass all of the unending plain before her. "Not just the Savannah either. No I mean, the whole of divinity. . ." "Interesting. Perhaps we should mention this to the others." "Perhaps." 'Meow!' said the cat, as if he was trying to catch the attention of the pair. Again the Cherub turned her attentions to her charge. "Yes? What is it?" The cat, in his pace along side the other two, said, 'Beth? Good. Feed. Cuddle. Love. Miss her. Want be her.' The Malakite answered before his companion could, "Afraid that's not possible little one. Besides, there will be plenty of others here who will care for you. . ." The cat began to look saddened suddenly. The leopard cast her darkly gaze onto her companion. "Caleb. . . I - -swear- you just don't understand as much. . ." She sighs. "Cats aren't the same as your precious dogs, my boy. On top of that, you're recently fledged are you not?" Caleb narrowed his own gaze, but the glower was more firmly directed toward himself than anyone else. "Yes. Forgive me Shachia. . . I admit that I have much yet to learn." It was then that the swaying grasses came alive with a multitude of sound. As if a hundred gasoline powered tree cutters of the fleshy pink things suddenly came alive in an instant. The traveling three stopped, and awaited the arrival of their Archangel. They knew by experience that Jordi had this habit of being a little overdramatic with the newly arrived. Cats were especially prone to get this sort of welcoming. Their innate curiosity, paired with their natural bemusement at things dangled in front of them, made this display all the more pleasant. The constantly shifting form of the swarm paused in front of the three. The swaying undulations mirroring the gentle movements of the Savannah below. The buzzing voice of Jordi spoke, "Is there a problem, little one?" The cat, looking to either of his companions, found that he alone was the destination of the inquiry. He meowed once, and nodded his head. The swirling mass said, "Tsk. Emulating such a human response. However, little one, I am not here to be critical of your personal quirks. All of God's children are welcome here, as long as they are of pure heart like you." "Great dangly buzzing thing, like it here. Still sad. Want go back. Be with Beth. Watch Beth. Like big cat," the cat said. The last words came with his inclination towards the celestial feline. All noise came to a sudden rest, as if the Archangel was carefully choosing its words. "You shall go back, but not like Shachia," there was a hint of annoyance in its voice. "To do so would mean your existence would be forfeit. No, you shall go back as you once were. We will grant you a new vessel. You will not remember everything at first, for you cannot bring anything back to the one who cared for you. In time, you may remember here. For now, watch out for her. Care for her as she cared for you." Turning now to its Servitors, it gave a simple command. "Go." The two celestials who bore silent witness to the transpired events, simply gave their acknowledgement to their master. As Jordi took leave, and returned to the great bonfire, it was Shachia who noticed that they were not entirely alone. Standing, not too far from where the swarm held dominion, was simply a wizened looking man. His glasses glittering off the fading light of some wondrous sunset. A smile crossing his lips. "Caleb?" "Yes?" Indicating the figure in the distance, "Isn't that who I think that is?" The Malakite turns his gaze in that direction. "Who?" Turning her gaze back, she notices that he is now gone. "Nevermind. . ." From in between the two, a loud 'meow', and a Cheshire Cat's grin. Be seeing you, - - Tafka J. = shadowstar@centuryinter.net # Balseraph of Fate, Marquis of Delusions of Grandeur * http://www.best.com/~lyceum/shdwstar/in-nomine ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999 14:04:58 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> Beth's Guardian Angel (WAS: Huntington...) At 12:22 PM -0500 7/22/99, Shadowstar wrote: >Beth, > > Hey, like hang in there, okay? Here, have a non-canonical vignette: Thanks. O:~) ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 21 Jul 1999 18:46:39 -0500 From: Kris Overstreet Subject: IN> All Dogs Go to Heaven, But... A slightly different take on Huntingdon's loss.... *POUND* *POUND* *POUND* "Half a moment... ah, and you would be Lucifer, yes?" "What brings you to the Pearly Gate?" "miao" "Ah, yes, well, that's a cat, isn't it? You know cats are all supposed to go your direction. Sloth, greed, gluttony, vanity..." "mrow" "And this concerns us how?" "Ah, yes, well, I shall see to it that your rejection is formally noted. Shall we expect a memo from Kronos on the matter?" "Well, you -have- been a naughty kitty, haven't you?" "meow" "Ah, well... you'll have plenty of company. Off with you, your escort will be along shortly..." *All dogs go to heaven.* *All cats go to hell.* *No cat ever -stays- in hell, because if they did they'd take over.* *Thus speaks the Metatron. Meow.* Redneck (kidding aside, my sincere condolences on your loss, Beth) Kris Overstreet, too many websites.... http://www.detnet.com/redneck/ - Personal homepage http://www.wren-spot.com/wlp/ - Business webpage http://www.antarctic-press.com/ - Someone else's page ... not enough time ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999 15:06:05 -0400 From: Elizabeth McCoy Subject: Re: IN> All Dogs Go to Heaven, But... At 6:46 PM -0500 7/21/99, Kris Overstreet wrote: >A slightly different take on Huntingdon's loss.... >FOR A WORD. IN A WEEK HE'D BE A PRINCE.> >Redneck (kidding aside, my sincere condolences on your loss, Beth) I have to admit, that Huntington was known for being a tiny little thug to the other cats, and had Tuffy, my 19-year-old, in terror of him. Even when he was sick, he glared Julicat down into the basement with nothing but presence. He must have been of the Band of Munchkin, though -- because he could be destructive as a Calabite, manipulative as a Habbalite, lazy as a Djinn, and I always loved the little Impuditeling... (Not Shedite, though. He never possessed anyone that I know of.) - --emccoy@nh.ultranet.com // arcangel@io.com In Nomine Line Editor GURPS, Roleplayers, In Nomine stuff; Art: http://www.io.com/~arcangel/ ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 22 Jul 1999 17:23:48 -0500 From: aborden@soltec.net (Amy Borden) Subject: IN> Condolences (WAS: Huntington...) [Tatiel just listens on, ears and wings drooping, before coming to a decision.] [With a sense of great dignity, she sidles over to Beth, wraps a wing around her and a paw around her neck, and methodically begins to wash her head, purring and just being there. All hail cuddles.] (And deep condolences on your loss, Beth...it's never ever easy to cope with. But we're all here for you, and so is the goofy Creationer Cherub in my head. ) - --Amy ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #1289 ******************************** The material here is (C) 1999 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. All rights reserved.