in_nomine-digest Sunday, September 2 2001 Volume 01 : Number 2354 In this digest: IN> Iron Rev 4: Temple On The Edge Of Yesterday (Repost with correction) Re: IN> On Lightning Re: IN> September's Theme Re: IN> (fantasy) On dragons IN> INNO: Question? Re: IN> INNO: Question? Re: IN> INNO: Question? IN> Iron Rev:Survive the Secret Temptation of Maze Island Re: IN> (fantasy) On dragons ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2001 10:49:19 -0500 From: EDG Subject: IN> Iron Rev 4: Temple On The Edge Of Yesterday (Repost with correction) Apparently, the last paragraph got cut off. :/ - -EDG Temple on the Edge of Yesterday An Iron Rev 4 entry by EDG BACKGROUND Even in the most golden of ages, there must be darkness to counter light. Andrealphus was a good and just Archangel, once upon a time. His servitors, for the most part, promoted love and charity, kindness toward one's fellows, and general good will; conflict was, to them, anathema. There are always the few who see differently, however, and rather than petition for a change in Superior, these few in the ranks of Love sought each other out and formed a cabal: call them simply the Society. The Society firmly believed in the tenets of love: that one should love one's neighbor, and be charitable. Their methods, however, left room for question, as their main focus was to enforce love, to create and drive it rather than letting it grow through time. Of course, this applied not only to love between others, but to their own love - and let it not be said that they did not love everyone they met - and to the love given them by others. (It has, in the most hushed voices by those who know, been speculated that these were the proto-Impudites.) The Society did, however, manage to keep itself a secret for a very long time, its servitors being very careful among other angels to not reveal themselves. There were rumors, which bolstered the ranks of the Society slightly during its tenure, but for the most part, the entire Host was kept in the dark about the operation (an especially amazing feat considering the abilities of Mercurians). This, in part, led to the Society's downfall; nobody knew to arrest the development of what would soon become Discordant traits in the angels in question. For the angels who made up the Society soon decided that love included worship, and began to ask of their beloved "followers" the construction of small temples, built into hills or mountain passes so as to be inconspicuous. This was still all well and good, until the worship at the temples began generating Essence - and not pure Essence, but Essence tainted by its association with the false gods that the Society's angels had built themselves up to be. Still the angels in the Society managed to keep themselves a secret, though it was becoming difficult to hide; they became ever more proud, their love for their worshipers turning to love for worship itself. It stopped mattering who came to worship, so long as someone did. The angels even decided to reward their followers, with small Songs and - in at least on case - a Rite belonging to the Word that one of the angels had (Kindness In The Form Of Physical Contribution is the closest English translation). Now the followers were bringing sacrifices to the hillside temples, and the taint grew stronger. Then Lucifer rebelled against God, and as one the angels of the Society sided with him against Heaven and the humans among whom they had become unable to differentiate. They were cast from Heaven with the rest of the rebels, and as a last, terrified act, the Society destroyed its temples, attempting to hide what they had done. The tainted Essence flow vanished, and all that remained were hidden ruins, broken inscriptions among ravaged altars and fallen columns. CONCEPT The angels of the Society were still only that when they destroyed their temples; they had no true propensity for destruction. They therefore did an excellent job of eliminating the proof of their misdeeds - but not a perfect job. In fact, one temple still stands, guarded by the descendant of one of the Society's original worshipers. He is the eldest son of the eldest son in a cycle going back to the days before civilization. Call him the Guardian. The Guardian is ready to fight to the death to preserve his dead religion. There has been no communication from the gods for some time (on the order of twenty thousand years), but he loves them nonetheless; each month he makes a sacrifice to them, in the hopes that someday, they will respond with new teachings and new power. If the Society were still around (and they are not; according to Hell's records, all members who survived the Fall are now long dead), they might notice something that the Guardian does not: his is the three hundredth generation of protectors of this single, simple temple. Also notable is the fact that his father, the former Guardian and 299th generation, has just died. Threes tend to be significant in mythology and folklore. This is not a case where truth deviates from the standard set by years of storytelling. After three hundred generations of absolute devotion and dedication, this temple has formed a Tether to Love in Heaven. Understandably, this is causing some consternation. There are obvious benefits to the PCs who get there and figure out what's going on; if they can get by the Guardian (with strength, cunning, or charm), the great onyx slab behind the altar will explain everything, being as it is inscribed (in faded celestial) with the True Names of each member of the Society, plus the founding tenets that brought them together. Andrealphus is, of course, still interested in the activities of his centuries-dead followers, but many of the other Demon Princes (notably Malphas and Kronos) will pay dearly for information on this temple. Interestingly, so will Blandine and Marc, each of whom has an interest in this sort of thing. There's one catch: the celestial isn't only faded, it's tainted just like the Essence. Every day for a week, anyone who reads the writing on the slab (celestial or human; it seems to make no difference) must make a Will roll, with a cumulative penalty of -1 per day, or begin to espouse the beliefs held by the Society in general. (If the character succeeds for a week straight, the taint is lifted.) This is an unconscious change in belief, and will not be noticed by the character - treat it as a Discord, of a level equal to the penalty when the character failed the roll (maximum 6). If it is pointed out to the character, she may make another Will roll at the same penalty to shake off the belief for good; this may be attempted as many times as necessary, but only once per day. Actually, there's another catch: Hell's records aren't quite complete. Shomshek, formerly a Cherub of Love and a member of the Society, and now a Renegade Djinn of Lust, has been hanging around the temple ever since word of the Tether got out. His current favored vessel is that of a large cat, black with silver striping along the shoulders, which can be seen prowling through the grasses around the temple. He is not particularly protective of the Guardian - he is, after all, attuned to the man - but will defend the temple to the death against its destruction. Shomshek's motives are unclear; even for a Djinn, this seems like a bit out of the way to go, considering that he's been out of the Society loop for many millennia and there are likely to be lots of demons showing up any time now, most of whom would be happy to report him to the Game. In fact, Shomshek himself isn't clear why he's around. The tangle of voices in his head, seeming to be the remnants of the mental connection he had with the rest of the Society, has gone from a whisper to a cacophony; it's almost unintelligible to him, but the most prevalent theme is "Attend the temple". Although this is likely a result of being in such close proximity to a divine Tether for an extended period of time, his weary memory has convinced him that the voices started speaking up several days before he arrived. They begin to shout louder if he does anything other than attend the temple - even if he wanted to, he could not sleep, and the noise in his head grows exponentially louder if he tries to leave. (It is, in fact, the sad truth that the voices that Shomshek hears are not those of his lost friends, but are rather produced by a high-level Ethereal Discord, similar to Paranoia and inflicted when he broke his Heart.) ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2001 15:12:03 -0400 From: adamiani@umich.edu Subject: Re: IN> On Lightning I've been giving this a lot of thought, as a consequence of developing a servitor of Jean who's been in trauma for a really long time. The thing that always puzzeled me is that before, say, the 18th century, there was no conceptual link between 'Lightning' and 'Science' or 'Scientific progress'; thus Jean couldn't have been drawing essence from his current slate of activities: teaching humans how to make a new kind of plow or movable type would seem to offer very little benefit to the word of Lightning. In fact, I think that, until recently, Lightning may have been very different from his current mode, symbolizing the forces of nature, particularly the unknowable and uncontrolable mysteries of the heavens (what, afterall, better flaunts human influence than the weather?). To a medieval mindset, Lightning isn't just a natural phenomenon, it's a mystery fundementally incomprehensible on any kind of rational basis: Jean was still privy to the information about how nature worked, but wasn't actively acting to spread this knowledge. Even today he acts much as a gatekeeper, working to shape and pace human technological advancement, rather than enabling and promoting it. This interpretation emphasises the dichotomy between Lightning and Technology-- Lightning symbolizing the mysteries and forces of nature where Technology represents the understanding and mastery of the same. I suspect there might have been something of a rivalry between Jean and Raphael (works well with the Raphael-as-Vapula heresy), Jean stalemating Raphael on attempts to spread certain kinds of knowledge. If Jean picked up some of Raphael's portfolio when she died, he may have been forced(being an Elohim and willing to rearrainge his very existance For The Greater Good), to redefine his word to mean something less unknowable-- providing adequate explaination for the vast growth and proliferation of knowledge after the death of Raphael: having lost one advocate of knowledge and replaced her with a former enemy to understanding. Thus, when Lightning struck Benjamin Franklin's kite, it wasn't just a scientific experiment but the culmination of a centuries-long social-engineering project to redefine the role of Lightning by fusing it with Knowledge: Jean no longer represented nature as an incomprehensible force but as the very gateway to knowledge. -ALD ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2001 23:54:23 From: "Perry Lloyd" Subject: Re: IN> September's Theme >The winner is "Successors." Successors ? What the hell does that mean ? Like sequels or like "the next Yves" or something ? Had I voted for IN Science Fiction instead of >Jeanathon (not too far apart), there would have been a tie, but I wouldn't >do that to the list. O:^) we voted ? crap, I have been away too long. - -Perry perrylloyd@hotmail.com pl312993@oak.cats.ohiou.edu http://www.geocities.com/perrylloyd/ "And that's the hardest thing for a human being to do - be wrong. Do you know that people would rather die than be wrong?" - --from A Matter For Men by David Gerrold _________________________________________________________________ Téléchargez MSN Explorer gratuitement à l'adresse http://explorer.msn.fr/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2001 23:58:39 From: "Perry Lloyd" Subject: Re: IN> (fantasy) On dragons >What if Seraphs and Balseraphs looked like Dragon-like creatures? Dragons >in most major myths tend to be associated with snakes in many ways; Wyrms >are described as snake-like, asian dragons have serpentine bodies, etc. >What if legends of Dragons were in fact distorted visions of Seraphim and >Balseraphs? > >Me, I could definetly see the likes of Michael, Baal, Dominic and Mammon as >draconic serpents: Michael as a strong, powerful golden dragon, Dominic as >a >dark, looking drake wrapped in his own wings, Baal a dark and fiersome >wyrm, >Mammon a hoarding wyvern, etc... > >Any opinions on this? You mean, you guys /don't/ do this ? - -Perry perrylloyd@hotmail.com pl312993@oak.cats.ohiou.edu http://www.geocities.com/perrylloyd/ "And that's the hardest thing for a human being to do - be wrong. Do you know that people would rather die than be wrong?" - --from A Matter For Men by David Gerrold _________________________________________________________________ Téléchargez MSN Explorer gratuitement à l'adresse http://explorer.msn.fr/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2001 23:01:10 EDT From: Althea6302@aol.com Subject: IN> INNO: Question? - --part1_13d.b2ddf5.28c2faf6_boundary Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have the core rulebook but have been unable to find a description of what Malakim look like. Was this ever clarified in a later supplement? Anybody have any theories? - --part1_13d.b2ddf5.28c2faf6_boundary Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit I have the core rulebook but have been unable to find a description of what
Malakim look like.  Was this ever clarified in a later supplement?  Anybody
have any theories? - --part1_13d.b2ddf5.28c2faf6_boundary-- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2001 00:05:26 -0300 From: pbarkow@is2.dal.ca Subject: Re: IN> INNO: Question? On 1 Sep 01, at 23:01, Althea6302@aol.com wrote: > I have the core rulebook but have been unable to find a description of > what > Malakim look like. Was this ever clarified in a later supplement? > Anybody have any theories? > Page 101. In Nomine core rulebook. There's a subsection of the Malakite choir description called "Manner and Appareance". ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 02 Sep 2001 10:04:02 +0000 From: "cassandra benner" Subject: Re: IN> INNO: Question? As far as i recall, human, more often than not masculine, well muscled and defined, and with big black feathery wings. Also they have a number of chains about them, one per oath, these chains do not inhibit movement in anyway. Thats the desc from the top of my head, and its the one we use in our games. Some of the older ones who used to be another choir also have traits of that previous choir (in our games anyways). Hope thats what you was after. Toodles Cass *where you come from is gone, where you're going was never there, and where you are aint no good unless you can get away from it* http://communities.msn.co.uk/ADD http://www.drunkendwarfinn.co.uk http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ADandD_Stuff _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp ------------------------------ Date: 02 Sep 2001 16:33:15 +0100 From: "Richard C Hanton-Rutherford" Subject: IN> Iron Rev:Survive the Secret Temptation of Maze Island My Iron Rev entry was originally going to be some underground Cthulhu temple (using the Old Ones as ethereal gods), but I decided that you had to look at the modern world for true horror (and if anyone on the list has already done something like this, I apologise, but I didn't pinch your idea). Also, I realise that the Vaputech mentioned later isn't actually canon, but its powers are. SURVIVE THE SECRET TEMPTATION OF MAZE ISLAND In recent years, "reality T.V." has grown to unexpected heights of popularity. The format is easy; select a bunch of simpering nobodys, lock them in an enclosed space full of T.V. cameras, and film the carnage. These shows are undoubtedly evil, but what will come as a great surprise to a lot of celestials is that Nybbas had nothing to do with their creation. The Prince of the Media, though delighted with the success of reality T.V., is nevertheless slightly upset that humans thought of it without his help. He won't be left out, though; together with Andrealphus and Vapula (and it's a fair bet that Kobal was involved, even if only in a small role), Nybbas has designed the ultimate reality T.V. show. The concept is (initially, at least) a familiar one. After a week of rigorous and televised "selection" (by Impudite talent scouts who happily drain the hopeful's essence) a pack of pretty but talentless retards are sent to a remote tropical island, Valeria, to win the "prize of a lifetime". The island, the contestants are told, is a beautiful island paradise, teaming with rare plants and animals. Beneath the island, accessible by cunningly (but not _too_ cunningly) concealed doors, is a specially constructed maze, filled with taxing (but, again, not _that_ taxing) puzzles. By working together to solve the puzzles, the contestants should be able to open the central chamber. The first contestant to enter the chamber will win five million dollars, and be gauranteed media attention for at least the next month. What they are not told, however, is that Valeria is an ancient tether to Lust, consecrated by the indigenous tribesmen who used to perform their tribal orgies there. Far from being custom built for the show, the "maze" is in fact the remains of the catacombs used for the human sacrifices to the tribe's fertility goddess (Andre in a fat female vessel). The power of the Tether is on the wane these days, but (with assistance from Technology) will still be strong enough to get the contestants "in the mood". If any of them could translate the ancient script on the maze walls, they would have some clue as to the islands true nature. But they won't. As the weeks progress, and every detal of island life is reported by television, newspaper and regular live webcasts, the contestants become dimly aware of a strange, dull noise in the background. It will be almost undectable at first, but will slowly grow in volume and potency, eventually resonating through the contestants bones. This is Vapula's contribution to the show, a rather nasty device called the Mustiron 3000, designed to continually play Songs, at a slowly increasing level, over a long period of time. This particular model plays Etheral Attraction, Ethereal Repulsion and Hysteria (donated by a Habbalite of Technology who "volunteered" to help with the experiment). The eventual result of these songs will, of course, be sexy, shocking and eminently watchable carnage. The intended outcome of the show is that the contestants arrive on Valeria, and slowly begin to form relationships. As the Songs' volume increases, they become more hostile to their enemies, more suggestively sexual to their beloved (often the same person), and more generally hysterical. The more Perceptive may sense something strange about the noise in the background, but their warnings will be ignored by everyone else. As the show reaches its conclusion all inhibitions will fall away, the island's surface wil become overrun by sex (with the catacombs regaining its role as orgy central) and murder, all live on T.V. and the net, and one contestant will finally open the central chamber, triggering a small but well placed explosive charge and burying the island in rubble. The production company will go bankrupt, the head of the network will make a statement about what a tragedy it was, and over three quarters of the world will have been deeply and incurably affected by what they've seen. THE GAME There are several ways PC's could be brought into this little scheme. My own favourite is to have the host find out about the plan, and send the PC's undercover as contestants. The tether's Seneschal, a Shedite of Lust, will move between the contestants, making sure things go (un)smoothly, which should make for some interesting encounters with the angels. - -- ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2001 11:31:00 -0700 (PDT) From: Michael Walton Subject: Re: IN> (fantasy) On dragons - --- Rolland Therrien wrote: > What if Seraphs and Balseraphs looked like Dragon-like > creatures? Dragons > in most major myths tend to be associated with snakes in > many ways; Wyrms > are described as snake-like, asian dragons have > serpentine bodies, etc. > What if legends of Dragons were in fact distorted visions > of Seraphim and > Balseraphs? Balseraphim probably passed themselves off as dragons pretty frequently until the Purity Crusade -- when the trick suddenly stopped being safe. ===== Michael Walton, #9805-068 The next time someones says "Talk is cheap," remind them of how much Oprah Winfrey makes. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger http://im.yahoo.com ------------------------------ End of in_nomine-digest V1 #2354 ********************************