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Earlier this evening, thanks to a conversation I had with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cpip over some of the, ah, interesting things that have shown up in IN canon, I started thinking about Jordi. Now, I /like/ the idea of Jordi. I think he's an interesting Archangel with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, as a Superior in a social game he's almost unplayable. Or, if not unplayable, exactly, at the very least...difficult. It tends to be difficult to get players interested in him, in my experience. The thought kept running around my brain, so finally I pounded it out.
It's cut for those with no interest.
The world is wild; ignore its claws and teeth at your peril.
First of all, this Jordi, while contemptuous of the artificial trappings of so-called 'civilization', is not inimical to humanity. While he finds them bewildering, and their rejection of their inner wildness insulting, he has long since accepted that they /are/ special, and not simply because God says so. No other animal on the Corporeal plane has developed such effective and aggressive survival methods...methods that threaten to destroy them and so much more, besides. It is this fear that causes Jordi to hold himself aloof, but it is also what makes him realize that, to protect all animals (including humanity), he and his Servitors /must/ be involved.
Besides, the human race sometimes needs to get in touch with their 'wild side'.
Dissonance
Jordi's angels are no longer required to ignore the rules of human society. They should treat the organizational structures of /all/ animals, including humanity, with the respect that they merit. However, they must also keep in mind at all times that while Humans are protected by many Archangels, the rest of the animal kingdom all falls upon Jordi and his Servitors. It is still dissonant to value human life above that of other animals--all beasts are equal in the eyes of Jordi. They must still kill cleanly and without pain, as well. As canon, all Servitors of Jordi must have a non-human animal Vessel, and nothing but Songs and other expenditures of Essence will disturb the Symphony.
Choir Attunements
Due to their duties, all of Jordi's Servitors recieve Survival/3 in the terrain of their choice at character creation. He would not send his people out without the basic skills neccessary to interact with creatures in the wild.
Seraphim
Jordi's Seraphim are experts at trailing, able to read the esoteric signs of passage with a glance, and determine truth through them. They add their Ethereal Forces to any attempt to use the Tracking Skill.
Cherubim (Restricted)
Jordi's Cherubim are the guardians of endangered species and protectors of nesting sites. These Guardians may, if attuned to a member of a species, detect others of that species in an area equal to their total Forces times their Celestial Forces miles, with a successful Resonance roll. They will be able to determine location, and general state of the individuals so detected, but not if they are in any danger. Note: Celestials show up as null figures. If you attune to a Celestial to attempt to use this Choir Attunement, you get nothing, and they do not show up as the species of their Vessels, either. They don't belong.
Ofanim
Jordi's Ofanim who choose to walk among humans often choose Roles in animal transport, ensuring that the ride is as comfortable and over as quickly as possible. As such, by spending one Essence, these Wheels can lull any animal that is not already under Celestial influence into a calm state for a number of hours equal to the Ofanite's Corporeal Forces. However, the angel takes a point of dissonance if he allows the animal to be harmed while in this trance.
Elohim
Jordi's Elohim are the quintessential 'horse whisperers'. They may communicate, in simple gestures and sounds, with any animal they encounter. The animal is by no means required to listen to the angel, but with the help of the Elohite resonance, an understand can usually be reached, if there's time.
Malakim (Partially Restricted)
Jordi's Malakim are charged with hunting down and punishing those who delight in the abuse and torture of animals. They can tell, at a glance, those humans who have committed an act of animal abuse in the past week, and by taking a -2 penality on their Resonance roll, can sift through the human's deeds to determine how many acts of animal abuse he has committed and of their relative severity.
Kyriotates (Restricted)
Same as Core Rules, minus the attunement to insects.
Mercurians (Restricted)
Jordi's Friends are charged with educating humans about the other animals with which they live, and in finding ways to help humans regain a sense of their place within the rest of the natural world. With a successful Resonance roll, they can tell whether a given human would be well-served by contact with animals or wilderness, and approximately how long an exposure would be neccessary to have a lasting positive effect. They tend to take Roles as camping instructors and similar.
Servitor Attunements
Call of the Wild
As Core Rules
Animal Magnetism
As Core Rules
Eyes of the Beast
A popular Attunement for Malakim of a somewhat more merciful bent, this Attunement allows a subject to share the emotions and thoughs of an animal. For 5 Essence, the Angel can essentially make a subject a 'rider' in an animal's mind for as many hours as the Angel has Celestial Forces. While the Attunement is in effect, the subject cannot influence the animal mind in any way, but feels everything that it feels, and has full access to its memories, filtered through the animal's perceptions. He loses touch with his own body for the duration. An unwilling subject gets a Will roll to resist.
Distinctions
Vassal of Animals
As Core
Friend of Beasts
As Core
Master of the Creature Within
The Angel recieves the ability to Sing the Songs of Numinous Corpus which he knows on any other Corporeal animal within his total Forces in yards for no extra charge. The subject will understand how to use these weapons as if they were natural and, if not human, will not be startled or frightened by the changes in his physical form.
All else is as Core Rules, except that Gabriel is added to Associated. Cruelty against animals and cruelty to other humans are often entertwined, and Jordi and Gabriel are in perfect accord in what should happen to abusers of either.
Comments and criticisms are welcome. This is just a rough draft, done by a tired and rather cranky person. ;p
cpip over some of the, ah, interesting things that have shown up in IN canon, I started thinking about Jordi. Now, I /like/ the idea of Jordi. I think he's an interesting Archangel with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, as a Superior in a social game he's almost unplayable. Or, if not unplayable, exactly, at the very least...difficult. It tends to be difficult to get players interested in him, in my experience. The thought kept running around my brain, so finally I pounded it out.It's cut for those with no interest.
The world is wild; ignore its claws and teeth at your peril.
First of all, this Jordi, while contemptuous of the artificial trappings of so-called 'civilization', is not inimical to humanity. While he finds them bewildering, and their rejection of their inner wildness insulting, he has long since accepted that they /are/ special, and not simply because God says so. No other animal on the Corporeal plane has developed such effective and aggressive survival methods...methods that threaten to destroy them and so much more, besides. It is this fear that causes Jordi to hold himself aloof, but it is also what makes him realize that, to protect all animals (including humanity), he and his Servitors /must/ be involved.
Besides, the human race sometimes needs to get in touch with their 'wild side'.
Dissonance
Jordi's angels are no longer required to ignore the rules of human society. They should treat the organizational structures of /all/ animals, including humanity, with the respect that they merit. However, they must also keep in mind at all times that while Humans are protected by many Archangels, the rest of the animal kingdom all falls upon Jordi and his Servitors. It is still dissonant to value human life above that of other animals--all beasts are equal in the eyes of Jordi. They must still kill cleanly and without pain, as well. As canon, all Servitors of Jordi must have a non-human animal Vessel, and nothing but Songs and other expenditures of Essence will disturb the Symphony.
Choir Attunements
Due to their duties, all of Jordi's Servitors recieve Survival/3 in the terrain of their choice at character creation. He would not send his people out without the basic skills neccessary to interact with creatures in the wild.
Seraphim
Jordi's Seraphim are experts at trailing, able to read the esoteric signs of passage with a glance, and determine truth through them. They add their Ethereal Forces to any attempt to use the Tracking Skill.
Cherubim (Restricted)
Jordi's Cherubim are the guardians of endangered species and protectors of nesting sites. These Guardians may, if attuned to a member of a species, detect others of that species in an area equal to their total Forces times their Celestial Forces miles, with a successful Resonance roll. They will be able to determine location, and general state of the individuals so detected, but not if they are in any danger. Note: Celestials show up as null figures. If you attune to a Celestial to attempt to use this Choir Attunement, you get nothing, and they do not show up as the species of their Vessels, either. They don't belong.
Ofanim
Jordi's Ofanim who choose to walk among humans often choose Roles in animal transport, ensuring that the ride is as comfortable and over as quickly as possible. As such, by spending one Essence, these Wheels can lull any animal that is not already under Celestial influence into a calm state for a number of hours equal to the Ofanite's Corporeal Forces. However, the angel takes a point of dissonance if he allows the animal to be harmed while in this trance.
Elohim
Jordi's Elohim are the quintessential 'horse whisperers'. They may communicate, in simple gestures and sounds, with any animal they encounter. The animal is by no means required to listen to the angel, but with the help of the Elohite resonance, an understand can usually be reached, if there's time.
Malakim (Partially Restricted)
Jordi's Malakim are charged with hunting down and punishing those who delight in the abuse and torture of animals. They can tell, at a glance, those humans who have committed an act of animal abuse in the past week, and by taking a -2 penality on their Resonance roll, can sift through the human's deeds to determine how many acts of animal abuse he has committed and of their relative severity.
Kyriotates (Restricted)
Same as Core Rules, minus the attunement to insects.
Mercurians (Restricted)
Jordi's Friends are charged with educating humans about the other animals with which they live, and in finding ways to help humans regain a sense of their place within the rest of the natural world. With a successful Resonance roll, they can tell whether a given human would be well-served by contact with animals or wilderness, and approximately how long an exposure would be neccessary to have a lasting positive effect. They tend to take Roles as camping instructors and similar.
Servitor Attunements
Call of the Wild
As Core Rules
Animal Magnetism
As Core Rules
Eyes of the Beast
A popular Attunement for Malakim of a somewhat more merciful bent, this Attunement allows a subject to share the emotions and thoughs of an animal. For 5 Essence, the Angel can essentially make a subject a 'rider' in an animal's mind for as many hours as the Angel has Celestial Forces. While the Attunement is in effect, the subject cannot influence the animal mind in any way, but feels everything that it feels, and has full access to its memories, filtered through the animal's perceptions. He loses touch with his own body for the duration. An unwilling subject gets a Will roll to resist.
Distinctions
Vassal of Animals
As Core
Friend of Beasts
As Core
Master of the Creature Within
The Angel recieves the ability to Sing the Songs of Numinous Corpus which he knows on any other Corporeal animal within his total Forces in yards for no extra charge. The subject will understand how to use these weapons as if they were natural and, if not human, will not be startled or frightened by the changes in his physical form.
All else is as Core Rules, except that Gabriel is added to Associated. Cruelty against animals and cruelty to other humans are often entertwined, and Jordi and Gabriel are in perfect accord in what should happen to abusers of either.
Comments and criticisms are welcome. This is just a rough draft, done by a tired and rather cranky person. ;p
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From:
no subject
In canon, nothing but Song use and other Essence expenditures will disturb the Symphony while the angel is using his animal vessel. Is that what you meant?
Cherubim: Note: Celestials show up as null figures. If you attune to a Celestial to attempt to use this Choir Attunement, you get nothing, and they do not show up as the species of their Vessels, either. They don't belong.
This is an Automatic Celestial Detector, which the game kind of discourages. :)
Malakim: ...can sift through the human's deeds to determine how many acts of animal abuse he has committed and of their relative severity.
Is this within the past week, or ever?
Eyes of the Beast: ...this Attunement allows a subject to share the emotions and thoughs of an animal.
First, "thoughts". Second, does this include humans?
Finally, Relations: "intertwined". :)
Otherwise, very nice. A much more playable Jordi.
From:
no subject
In canon, nothing but Song use and other Essence expenditures will disturb the Symphony while the angel is using his animal vessel. Is that what you meant?
Yup, yup. And I also meant 'without /unneccessary/ pain' in the 'clean killing' part. Making it just without pain would be a real...uh, pain. :P
Cherubim: Note: Celestials show up as null figures. If you attune to a Celestial to attempt to use this Choir Attunement, you get nothing, and they do not show up as the species of their Vessels, either. They don't belong.
This is an Automatic Celestial Detector, which the game kind of discourages. :)
Indeed. Originally, I'd thought that the fact that the Cherub has to /attune/ (with all the problems that implies, if they happen to attune on a demon) would keep players from trying to use it as a Celestial detector. However, it occurs to me, on rereading, that they'd just attune to a buddy.
Maybe...Celestials only show up as 'null points' if they don't have a Role in the Vessel they're currently in? Otherwise, they show up as whatever the Vessel-type is. It'll make it more likely to pick up Celestials in animal Vessels, but that kind of seems to fit.
Malakim: ...can sift through the human's deeds to determine how many acts of animal abuse he has committed and of their relative severity.
Is this within the past week, or ever?
Ever. It sounds a bit spammy, but the GM could just give an overview, and any real 'highlights' like broiling a kitten in an outdoor grill (really happened, I read the news story a while back) or whatever. Hmmm. I like this one, but I might increase the penalty to -3 or -4.
Eyes of the Beast: ...this Attunement allows a subject to share the emotions and thoughs of an animal.
First, "thoughts". Second, does this include humans?
Finally, Relations: "intertwined". :)
*rereads* *winces* Quite a few typos in there. Must go back and rewrite those. And no, I meant 'non-human' animal. Must clarify.