On the Gender of Archangels

Tags

Gender, GURPs, In Nomine, LGBT

Most celestials are genderless beings of metaphysical energy, who may have bodies of all available sexes.

– GURPs: In Nomine

GURPs: In Nomine was one of the last “core books” to be produced, and the first to officially introduce concepts from of Moriah’s essay “Homocelestiality” into the canon.

Sadly, its approach to celestial gender is not well reflected among the prime exemplars of the celestials: the Superiors. The fog of war grows thicker still when you consider that Steve Jackson Games was using the generic ‘he’ through the entire length of In Nomine‘s publishing run. While this choice was in line with editorial standards of the 1980s and 1990s, it is a singularly poor choice for differentiating between genderqueer, gender fluid, polygender, agender, male, and female entities.

Heresy of Godless Communism

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Communism, Heresy, In Nomine, Lilith, May Day, Purity Crusades, Uriel

In Lilith‘s section of Liber Castellorum, there’s a comment how her children are likely looking for new tethers among the former socialist republics since the fall of the USSR. But if you look at the map of official tethers, you’ll see that communist nations have very few tethers of any superior.

The Heresy of Godless Communism posits that this due to a third power, strong as Heaven or Hell, that prevents either of the great powers from interfering in countries that have embraced state communism. Like all Liber Neglecta’s heresies, it represents a rather significant break from the canonical In Nomine setting.

New Tether: Astronomical Clock of Prague

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Europe, In Nomine, Kronos, Prague, Tethers

The Orloj is a massive astronomical clock built in the city of Prague more than 600 years ago, and one of the oldest still functioning. The clock measures European time, old Czech time, sunrise, sunset, variable hour time, sidereal year (including equinoxes and astrological sun and moon signs), lunar phase. In addition to the clock face, there are four animated statues representing the great evils of vanity, gluttony, lust and death – and every hour doors above the clock face open to reveal a procession of the apostles.

Honeyfuggle, the Flatterer

Tags

Grandiloquent Word of the Day, Janus, Malakite, NPC, Seraph

Flattery may not get you everywhere, but it has yet to fail for Honeyfuggle. The angel has a talent for making compliments out of anyone’s virtues (even a demon’s) and a reputation for honesty dating back to their life as one of the Seraphim.

Even now Honeyfuggle will not lie, but that doesn’t necessarily make the angle honest. The angel’s modus operandi is to butter folks up so much they will never think to ask the awkward questions.

Propaganda and Post Truth: A Case Study

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Asmodeus, Duchies, In Nomine, Nybbas, Wordbound

To give a better idea of the difference between the courts of Media and The Game, I have decided to examine how each Prince would handle the Demon of Propaganda and the Demon of Post Truth.

Mariel, Impudite Prince of Oblivion

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Dumah, Gebbeleth, Haagenti, Liber Neglecta, Mariel

“The world is hardly worth remembering.”

Mariel was an Impudite who usually manifested as an elegant, beautiful noble who resembled nothing so much as the memory of an old love that remained just out of reach. Only her black, bottomless eyes told another story: one of loss and contempt.

Much like Novalis, the Servators of Mariel are charged with calming the souls of humanity, but also demons, gods, and the Symphony itself. Their remedy of choice: forgetfulness.

Meserach Update

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In Nomine, Meserach

There’s been a small update to the Meserach writeup.

Songs for Khalid

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In Nomine, Khalid, Playlist

As a secularist, I am probably one of the worst people to compile a list of songs for Khalid, Archangel of Faith. I have tried to put together a diverse mix of prayers, spirituals, naat, and related works – but I would like your thoughts on what should come in or out.

2016 Election: The Superiors React

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In Nomine, POTUS 45, Real World

I had a rather lengthy diatribe on the 2016 election written out and ready to go before I remembered that I do not want this blog to become political.

That my politics are reflected in it is inevitable (any discussion of heaven and hell invites moral engagement on some level), but for this post I have done my best to examine the outcome of the 2016 election through the moral lens that I think each Superior represents.

This is my take on their reactions:

Gamori, Impudite Princess of Flowers

Tags

Darkened Words, Gamori, Impudite, In Nomine, Novalis

“The world has its thorns, just like any other rose.”

The servitors of Gamori are typically seen as vapid, frivolous, conniving, treacherous, and cruel depending on just how much of their power they are willing to show. They and their Princess are not only the fruits of the Infernal garden, but also the living manifestations of hated femininity.

And yet Gamori hides her malice well, appearing as either a stately duchess or a harmless ingenue: beautiful, innocent, pure, and devious only by the rarest of happenstance (but oh does that happenstance happen). Of course, her repertoire also includes butch, dandy, dominatrix, crone, high femme, raging hellbeast, and just about anything else that was at one time or another considered a female archetype.