Chapter Three Now Available

[Bob Schroeck]

Here. Enjoy!
As usual, I'm giving my loyal forum members a 24-hour or so jump on the FFML and RAAC.
Chapter 4, which used to be the second half of this chapter, is undergoing some slight expansion and rewrite, and I think it's likely that we'll be posting it within the month.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

[Feinan]

*grin* Excellent stuff, guys!
For the Concordance....I'm not sure if you know the name, since you never mention it as such. The coffee/ham gravy is called red-eye gravy, and is very classically Southern, yes.
And Bob? The bit about I'm always here, but everyone else goes away? It's almost certainly Heinlein. Which particular one, though, is debatable. I believe there have been several iterations of it over the years. I know there's a scene with Laz and Lor and Lazarus in Time Enough For Love that has a line to that effect. I don't have my copy in front of me, but as soon as I have a chance to dig it up, I'll see if I can find it for you.

[robkelk]

---

Here. Enjoy!

---

Yay!
Between this and some pre-reading I still have to do for Blade, I know what I'm doing this weekend...

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[The Hunterminator]

*reads it*
Oh yeah, this was definitely worth the wait.

[Sweno]

Read it, loved it, wants more.
I know I'm not the only one wondering when the topic of Hexe is broached.
(can you say 'rabid crack weasel' kids? Good, I know you could)-Terry
------
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint Exupery
"Luge strategy? Lie flat and try not to die." - Carmen Boyle (Olympic Luge Gold Medal winner - 1996)
Mary Sue's theme music
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy

[robkelk]

Hey, waitaminute...

---

I raised an eyebrow and picked it up. It had an odd hue -- a muted brown with a hint of green that looked almost like aged bronze. But it was a lot lighter than bronze would have been, and it was noticeably lighter than the original titanium tubing.

---

Doug's getting an orichalcum motorcycle???
Eep!

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Kokuten]

Cast In The Name Of God, Ye Not Guilty... Of Speeding.Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979

[HoagieOfDoom]

Excellent chapter as usual. Belldandy's revenge was excellent. And the whole scene with Megumi and the Oath was brilliant. It was so good in fact that I hate to nitpick, but...

---

The clean but comfortably-broken-in coverall with her name neatly stitched in kanji on the left breast, not to mention her skill with a wrench, made it clear that she'd worked on engines and vehicles before.

---

Wouldn't Belldandy's name be written in katakana? (Check under usage.) It's not a stretch of the imagination to say that they might find kanji that could match the sounds of her name and still make sense, but it was something that caught my attention.*********
Touched By His Noodly Appendage
www.venganza.org

[WengFook]

Great Job I think its really neat that both author avatars and the cast have sort of gotten used to each other and yet still there are many sides or faces to each other that they are still getting used to or didn't know the other side had
One thing I don't understand though is what the big deal about Servitors versus Soldiers is. :O
It seems with what we have been shown on screen is that a Servitor is basically sworn to serve a deity and thats about it. A Soldier on the other hand is sworn to serve and gets a whole load of other abilities for basically the same package the servitor would get.
Well there would be responsibilities I guess, sort of being on call to smite evil whenever needed and there is the disruption to normal life, but I doubt demon attacks in broad daylight would become a norm.
_______________________________
We're definitely playing this game wrong. I thought Vampire was
supposed to be a game of personal horror, not about ninja airstrikes
at night.
- A friend after playing a session of Dark Ages Vampire.
_________________________________
Take Your Candle, Go Light Your World.

[Bob Schroeck]

You're right, Hoagie, my error, and no one else caught it.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

[M Fnord]

---

One thing I don't understand though is what the big deal about Servitors versus Soldiers is.

---

It's a bit of In Nomine jargon: Servitors are angels (or demons, depending on which side you're on), Soldiers are human.---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"

[jpub]

Re: Servitor vs. Soldier:
Bob, is that how we're using it?--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?"

[Bob Schroeck]

We've mutated the jargon a bit. "Servitors" as we're using it means a sworn servant to a Celestial who isn't a frontline fighter, and doesn't get the kind of powerup a Soldier would.
ETA: Note that, whatever Megumi is thinking, a Soldier still cannot face off against a demon -- especially not a demon first class -- by him/herself with any hope of winning.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

[Star Ranger4]

Well, Why do I suddenly get the feeling that Megumi's choice and some of the related materials are what initally held up production and or eventually related to the splitting of the chapter?
Overall tightly written, you two. Well crafted enough that you've got the same problem Gryphon from UF has...
Hordes of raviening fans with about as much patience as rabid weasels on crack.
Personally, I have my own thoughts on what comes next... it might be my personall interpretation, but the way your portraying her to me Megumi sounds WILLING to join the fray as Skuld's solder at the moment.
Which brings me to my take on what you guys mean. Servitor is someone who provides service to. SOLDER is someone who fights. Ergo, a smith who remains behind the lines and crafts the weapons would be a servitor, but not a solder. Still Megumi, at the moment, thinking back to some of the things that have happened TO her, and around her, seriously sound ready, to me, to swear herself to Skulds service to help protect others from this sort of thing."I was an Otaku before those kids came along and changed the meaning of the word."
-- HM "Howling Mad" Wilson to more than one team-mate.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children

[DHBirr]

I hereby declare this bridge open...
(Oops. Wrong message.)
Well, first of all, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it was certainly worth the wait. You're hellacious writers, both of you. (Possibly not the best adjective when addressing somebody named "Angel" and writing about gods.)
I have to say, I'd never heard of In Nomine until it was mentioned in connection with DW V -- and now I'm glad of that. The feeling I get about those archangels, between what Paradox says about them and what Chris says about them, is negative in the extreme. Megumi learning so much about gravtech is arguably Skuld's fault -- so the judges say Skuld has to enslave her? And these are supposed to be the good guys? It doesn't sound like a game I'd enjoy playing -- not unless I could talk the GM into letting humanity get its collective hands on firepower that would permit a war of extermination against both Heaven and Hell. (Why, yes, I do have a problem with self-appointed authority and religion in general; how did you ever guess?)
But I still enjoyed it a lot. I'll enjoy it even more if Doug tells that ... "Judgment Triad," was it? ... what they can shove, where, and how hard -- and gets away with it.
-----
Big Brother is watching you.  And damn, you are so bloody BORING.

[Bob Schroeck]

Star Ranger -- you've got the distinction between servitor and soldier right. That's how we've been using the terms in this story.
As for what Megumi wants, well, all I can say is go back to chapter one and reread her dialog after Doug wakes up and before Paradox appears on the scene.
Actually, the chapter got split because it was simply too huge. It was split at the last minute because Chris and I couldn't quite decide where to do it, and had to consult with the prereaders with a complete chapter in hand.
-- Bob
---------
...The President is on the line
As ninety-nine crab rangoons go by...

[Herr Bad Moon]

---

I have to say, I'd never heard of In Nomine until it was mentioned in connection with DW V -- and now I'm glad of that. The feeling I get about those archangels, between what Paradox says about them and what Chris says about them, is negative in the extreme. Megumi learning so much about gravtech is arguably Skuld's fault -- so the judges say Skuld has to enslave her? And these are supposed to be the good guys? It doesn't sound like a game I'd enjoy playing -- not unless I could talk the GM into letting humanity get its collective hands on firepower that would permit a war of extermination against both Heaven and Hell. (Why, yes, I do have a problem with self-appointed authority and religion in general; how did you ever guess?)

---

Well, to be fair to the Archangels, Lawrence and Dominic are the biggest potential douche bags on the Bright side. At least, depending on the campaign setting. You haven't met the Archangel of Flowers Novalis, who dresses and acts like she just left a Grateful Dead concert, or Eli Archangel of Creation who has disappeared and his last word to his Servitors was "Do as thou wilt, but be cool." So there's a lot of variance on the scale.
And if you look at it, the taking of Megumi as her Servitor is Skuld way of saving her own skin. Not that I'm accusing her of being callous, but it was presented as "you screwed up, either take this option so its not a screw up or you're in trouble." Skuld let her enthusiasm overwhelm her common sense, and Megumi gets the bill.
---------------
-Jon
Being the Mariner hitting coach is like being the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.
-Poster on USSMariner.com
---
Jon
"And that must have caused my dad's brain to break in half, replaced by a purely mechanical engine of revenge!"

[jpub]

Allow me to make some points here:
As has been pointed out, we're really showing the presence, indirect as it is, of the worst of the lot. Eli is damned *popular* with the other pantheons. Yves has lots of respect, as does Gabriel (who likely has more support outside the Choir than in it).
I'll do the list for you:
+ = positive reaction
= = neutral
- = negative
.Blandine, the Archangel of Dreams + (she freaks him out, tho)
.Novalis, the Archangel of Flowers +
.Jean, the Archangel of Lightning --
.Jordi, the Archangel of Animals =
.David, the Archangel of Stone --
.Laurence, the Archangel of the Sword --
.Eli, the Archangel of Creation ++ (dude's so laid back and mellow, how can you *not* like him?)
.Marc, the Archangel of Trade =
.Gabriel, the Archangel of Fire +
.Janus, the Archangel of the Wind =
.Dominic, the Archangel of Judgment --
.Michael, the Archangel of War ++ (Michael gets along with most of the War Gods, the Norse pantheon in particular)
.Yves, the Archangel of Destiny +
There's some I can't be sure on, like Uriel, Khalid, Christopher, Raphael, and Litheroy, since I don't have access to the source books that contain them.
--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?"

[robkelk]

---

There's some I can't be sure on, lke Uriel, Khalid, Christopher, Raphael, and Litheroy, since I don't have access to the source books that contain them.

---

As far as I know, there isn't an official source book for Uriel or Raphael, since both are out of the picture in canonical IN games. Uriel is mentioned (in Laurence's writeup) as having been Laurence's superior before being called to God's side, and it's hinted that Laurence picked up a lot of his personality from Uriel.
Khalid... how to describe Khalid? His word is "Faith", which makes him difficult to understand if faith isn't an important part of your life.
Litheroy has the Word of "Revelation" - he's the exact opposite of Khalid. From the source e-book for this Archangel, here's Janus's take on Litheroy; it sums up Litheroy rather well, in my opinion...

---

Litheroy? Litheroys like a little brother, you know? Hes like the little brother who not only isnt cool but doesnt care about being cool. Hes the little brother who tells on you not to get you in trouble, but to keep you out of trouble. I have no beef with him, but he can make things difficult for me.

---

(Janus is Archangel of "The Wind" - his brief is to shake things up, usually by stealing, er, moving around items of personal significance. The only canonical writeup he has so far is in the core rulebook.)
I don't have the source book that describes Christopher. I do know his Word is "Children".
This may be enough to let you give tentative reaction assignments...

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[jpub]

After some reading:
Uriel, the Archangel of Purity, who was Larry's superior - in OMB, Uriel did *not* succeed to near the level he did in the In Nom source, mostly because he was stopped by the Boss before he precipitated a massive Civil War, namely, every other pantheon against the Choir. If Paradox came upon him, he'd be very wary of the whackjob.
Khalid, the Archangel of Faith: Probably a 'minus' for him, because from what I see he was also one of Uriel's, and doesn't really come out and say he was wrong. Also, Paradox (and me) has a fundamental problem with Faith as a concept.
Christopher, the Archangel of Children: The name alone would freak Paradox *right out*. Other than that, I think Paradox would have no issues.
Litheroy, the Archangel of Revelation: From Rob's description, I'm guessing he'd probably actually *dig* Litheroy, when he wasn't irritated by him.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?"

[Honorbridge]

Saying this chapter is great feels redundant, because EVERY chapter is great. (Sometimes ANY chapter by you guys is great.) Nevertheless, there are always things to improve. The following are my contributions to that list. I may also include random thoughts that hit me while reading.

---

"Great!" Doug's voice started off muffled by the helmet, but became crisp and clear when he finished pulling it off.

---

'Great' is a single syllable word. It isn't LONG enough to have the effect you describe happen to it! Maybe tack on something to the effect of "I'm hungry." afterwards?

---

Apparently now that Skuld didn't need it, it was his turn to use the family scowl.

---

This line put me in mind of the three Greek hags who only had one eye between them that they passed around amongst themselves. (Might even have been the Fates.) Was that on purpose?

---

I'd give a blow-by-blow description of the work we did on the motorcycle, but to be honest it was mostly boring grunt work -- pick a subsection, find the necessary parts among Skuld's rather idiosyncratic organizational system, carry them to a clear bit of floor, sit and assemble.

---

I thought I recalled that before actually beginning work on the bike, everything had been boxed up out of Skuld's system... but on review, it seems to have only been part of the bike was boxed, and it was never said that they weren't boxed according to her system. (Although that makes me wonder why she protested the boxing in the first place. Being contrary again?)

---

she'd learned from a sheepish Doug that he knew nothing about metallurgy except a little about something called "essential metal" -- which was apparently a completely magical substance and shouldn't count at all

---

Now I'm curious. Concordance this? After googling - essentialmetal.com - a collection of hard rock and heavy metal music releases. *facepalms* I should have know it'd be something like that.

---

"There was Another, once, the Warrior, Eternity...

---

Hmm, would this be why Belldandy corrects herself in Chapter 2, talking about how long Chris will be with them?

---

I could use one of those the practice with.

---

During the Urd's Lab scene. Typo - 'the' instead of 'to'.

---

Smiling, he turned to me. "It really goes back quite a bit farther than that. We met when we were children."

---

Hmm, I seem to remember Keiichi couldn't (wasn't allowed to?) remember this, even after the recall incident, although certainly this can be counted AU to this universe.

---

And once it had come down to Belldandy saying, "Oh, why not?", well, Chris mused, his fate was sealed.

---

That 'well' seems out of place. Start the sentence with Well instead of And, perhaps, or remove it altogether?

---

They try... well, I've killed one god already in my life. An angel won't be nearly as much of a challenge."

---

Yeah, but how much help did he have for it? Could he do it again by himself? And probably having to face more than a single god in the bargain?
The final scene offers a pretty interesting look into the psychology of the mind of each character. Don't really know how to explain what I mean by that, though. Still, I liked it.

[Valles]

---

Khalid, the Archangel of Faith: Probably a 'minus' for him, because from what I see he was also one of Uriel's, and doesn't really come out and say he was wrong. Also, Paradox (and me) has a fundamental problem with Faith as a concept.

---

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

===============================================
"Puripuri puripuri... Bang!"

[jpub]

Assuming Valles isn't chortling over a BtVS joke...
THere is a possibly entertaining scene we could do with that, but I don't know if we could fit it in.--
Christopher Angel, aka JPublic
The Works of Christopher Angel
"Camaraderie, adventure, and steel on steel. The stuff of legend! Right, Boo?"

[Niteflier]

---

"There was Another, once, the Warrior, Eternity...

---

Sorry, but I took this as a reflection of the Shin'a'in Goddess, who is Maiden, Warrior, Mother, and Crone in turn...Without a word...

[itsune9tl]

I'm just waiting for the formal attempt to claim Doug, It should bounce more than a ping-pong ball. He's already sworn to Wetter Hexxe.