My Little Jamjar app
Dec. 31st, 2013 07:54 pmOUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Player Name: Bliss
Player Journal: Use this or any other of my game accounts.
Age: 28
Contact: blissauthority at gmail dot com, blissauthority on Skype
Characters Played: Joshua Preston![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mechmadeoflove, Lucia Bolido, the Sparkling Star of Twilight wizardofharmony
IN CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Laurence, Malakite Archangel of the Sword
Canon: In Nomine (Steve Jackson Games RPG)
OU/AU/OC: Original universe flavah.
Canon Point: The present day? It takes place after the events in the Revelations Cycle of published adventures, meaning that Furfur is the Demon Prince of Hardcore and Khalid has been restored as the Archangel of Faith.
History:
Laurence is young, as Archangels are reckoned: he was born in Roman times - rumor has it that he was made of a spark from Novalis ofHippies Flowers and Uriel of LEEROOOOOY JENKIIIINS Purity. He was born a Malakite, a black-winged angel of Honor, instead of having been transformed to one from the outrage of The Betrayal (called the Rebellion, in Hell). At this time, Uriel was the Commander of the Armies of God.
He was present at the birth of Christianity, and converted to it - eventually taking the Catholic Church as his favored expression of faith; and in the defense of God as filtered through Christ's ideals, he rose through the Angelic ranks quickly. Laurence was always a paladin's paladin; honorable in war and in peace, and eager to fight Hell on Earth at his father's command.
Then the Crusades happened.
And - as above, so below - the Purity Crusades happened, when YHVH's angels did bloody battle against the Ethereal Gods of the Dreamlands, destroying the Aesir, the Dodecatheon of Greece and Rome, the Eight Million Kami, the Faerie, the Aztec gods (and good riddance to them), the Mayan gods (not so much good riddance to them), Raven and Coyote and Glouscap...
Only the Hindu deities were spared Heaven's wrath, and these because of the trickle of belief - Essence - split between YHVH and His face in the gods of India.
In the tide of this onslaught, the pagan gods that survived either applied for asylum en masse to Hell (a move most have regretted ever since - Athena is furious that Ares even CONSIDERED this), or going into hiding on Earth or in the deepest dreams of humanity.
The Archangel of Dreams, a Guardian Angel named Blandine, was outraged. She demanded that Uriel be put on trial for needlessly and recklessly endangering the lives of mortal pagans and for driving those who could have been allies - Odin and Thoth were never enemies of Heaven before the Crusades, to name but two - to Hell's service. In the end, Uriel was recalled to the Higher Heavens for his crimes, to look on the face of YHVH and be ashamed.
It fell to Laurence to assume command. No one was as shocked as he.
And take command he did, by making alliances with neglected Archangels. Particularly, his partnership with the Archangel of Lightning (and the Laws of Physics) has improved the lives of mortals by bringing them into a more modern and more rational age, and his close work with Marc of Trade is promoting a better standard of living.
He's also been working to make a more worthy Catholic Church, starting with that whole Martin Luther fiasco, and is particularly proud of his help with the Kennedy campaign.
Personality:
Laurence is a paladin's paladin, the quintessential honorable knight. While he's not stupid, and can be pragmatic in the field, he prefers open battle and sweeping symbolic victories over quiet knives in the knight. (These he leaves to his friends and allies, Michael of War and Marc of Trade).
He has personally debriefed most of the humans that Heaven has drafted into the war and genuinely likes and admires humanity; after all, God could manifest through them, and they were capable of independent revelation. He considers himself to literally be an extension of God's will, like unto a blade in His hand; humans, on the other wing, HUMANS have Free Will - and he would gladly die to defend Humanity's right to that sacred gift.
Laurence favors the Catholic Church as his personal mode of worship and ritual, but does not discount that the other Abrahamaic faiths, or really any moral code with integrity, is a path to God's grace. He laughed when he found out that the most holy man on earth was an atheist (No, seriously, this was an actual plot point in a published adventure!), and "the lord works in mysterious ways" through giggling was heard in Heaven for a long time after.
The popular propaganda of Laurence in hell is that he's a straight-laced, goose-stepping parody of a knight from straight out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and while he does have some blind spots - he assumes the best in people, especially people that he's Resonated (see his strengths) and deemed worthy - this is not so. He'll pretend to be this way to get enemies off guard, but you cannot be an effective commander of soldiers with a sword lodged up your rear in front of the troops. He doesn't even try to sound hip or cool - but he speaks like a conservative modern adult, not a Shakespearean parody.
Strengths:
As an Archangel bound to a Word of Power, this grants him a great deal of insight and skill into that concept. Laurence is The Sword, and more broadly disciplined martial strength. Laurence is a peerless soldier. There are better warriors - Michael comes to mind - and he can be beaten in combat, especially with his powers limited in Equestria; but the odds on that are long, especially if he's wielding a sword.
As an Angel of Honor, a black-winged Malakite, he has the ability to look at a person and Resonate with their sense of honor. This tells him what they consider to be their most honorable act, and their least. As an Archangel, this always used to work; in Equestria, this is confounded by mind-occluding magic or weakened sometimes. Of particular note is that this doesn't detect demons outright, save for the Balseraphim or other demons specifically tied to lies and betrayal (of which there are none in canon In Nomine).
He can bless someone's sword, giving it a keen edge that can cut through spells; track those he's fought before; and place small items in a 'Scabbard' just outside of space-time, to draw at will. These are all powers he routinely grants to worthy angels and exceptional humans - he'd grant them to worthy ponies as well, except he can't seem to while he's here.
Lawrence is also capable of singing Angelic Songs, spell-like effects from singing to sparks of Essence from his soul and weaving it into reality - the Symphony, as angels and demons would put it. His pool of Essence was effectively unlimited at home; here, he has much less and must wait until sunrise or the chance to perform a Rite of swordsmanship to regenerate it after 'casting a spell.'
He's particularly fond of the Songs of Shields - one to ward against harm, one against magic, and one against detection via Disturbance (see below) - and the Song of Thunder which makes a giant sphere of physically, spiritually and mentally loud noise - but hasn't relearned his other Songs.
Weaknesses:
Everything he does can be tracked by the ripples in reality it causes while he's in reality outside of Heaven; this is called Disturbance, and can be tracked magically - or instinctively by demons and angels. The more power he throws around, the louder the disturbance becomes; the Song of Thunder in particular is a giant neon sign pointing to him that reads ANGEL OF THE LORD.
As a Malakim, he has sworn on his soul to:
- Never suffer evil to live, if it is his choice.
- Never surrender to the forces of Lucifer.
- Strive to attempt perfection in all things.
- Defend and uphold the (ideals of the) Catholic Church, and put the welfare of the Church above his own.
- Always treat his weapons and his men with respect, to never wield a weapon or work with a soldier he doesn't respect, and to always treat his men and his tools with the greatest of care.
- To never guestion the orders of his Superior. He swore this while in service to Uriel; this now extends to God, although He is not one to give direct orders of late.
It physically and spiritually pains him to break a freely given oath, like the ones above!
Finally, he's an angel of honor. He is slower than most to realize that someone is trying to pull a dirty trick, and he assumes the best of people. He does NOT assume the best of demons, mind.
Possessions:
A flaming sword, a scabbard made of tanned Balseraph hide to contain that sword, a set of heavy warhorse barding, and a set of white robes with gold trim.
As tempted as I am to give him communion wafers and wine, this is not likely.
Pony/Animal Type:
A pegasus.
Cutie Mark:
A flaming sword bound by 4 links of chain.
Pony Picture:
See the icon.
SAMPLES
First Person:
http://alicornparty.dreamwidth.org/4922.html?thread=1336378#cmt1336378
Third Person:
"Perfection in all things" was an oath that Laurence took seriously. It was stamped upon his soul, as binding as a physical law of reality. It made things inconvenient, but he did not regret making it.
He took the pestle in his hoof and started to crush the almonds in it into a fine paste, then added an egg white and sugar. He set aside the yolk - he would use it for color, later.
Usually he channeled it towards martial ends, but in Equestria, the opportunity was... rarer. Not unheard of, but rare. So it was that he channeled it through a different skill, one no less tied to the histroy of his Church than the Paladin's art.
Laurence cut the paste into precise rhombus shapes, mixing them with sifted powdered sugar in a stand mixer. It smelled delicious. It was an - Laurence chuckled - indulgence that he was not ashamed of.
How long ago had Spain under Moorish occupation been? Decades? It mattered little. The Inquisition was a mockery, and he was there to mitigate it. To help the Archangel of Justice set preceident, to insist on the presence of lawyers and judges and - when he could - the absence of torture. And he did what he could with Eli - gods, he missed the Archangel of Creation - to make that land beautiful. The monks there had made what Laurence was making a tradition. He would do it proud.
He added more egg white, more sugar. The candy was now forming a dense ball. Laurence took a small piece, no larger than a button. A taste. He ate it.
"Pinkie?"
"Yeeeeeeeep?"
Laurence smiled. "I've made the marzipan you needed."
"Oooh, perfect!"
Player Name: Bliss
Player Journal: Use this or any other of my game accounts.
Age: 28
Contact: blissauthority at gmail dot com, blissauthority on Skype
Characters Played: Joshua Preston
mechmadeoflove, Lucia Bolido, the Sparkling Star of Twilight wizardofharmonyIN CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Laurence, Malakite Archangel of the Sword
Canon: In Nomine (Steve Jackson Games RPG)
OU/AU/OC: Original universe flavah.
Canon Point: The present day? It takes place after the events in the Revelations Cycle of published adventures, meaning that Furfur is the Demon Prince of Hardcore and Khalid has been restored as the Archangel of Faith.
History:
Laurence is young, as Archangels are reckoned: he was born in Roman times - rumor has it that he was made of a spark from Novalis of
He was present at the birth of Christianity, and converted to it - eventually taking the Catholic Church as his favored expression of faith; and in the defense of God as filtered through Christ's ideals, he rose through the Angelic ranks quickly. Laurence was always a paladin's paladin; honorable in war and in peace, and eager to fight Hell on Earth at his father's command.
Then the Crusades happened.
And - as above, so below - the Purity Crusades happened, when YHVH's angels did bloody battle against the Ethereal Gods of the Dreamlands, destroying the Aesir, the Dodecatheon of Greece and Rome, the Eight Million Kami, the Faerie, the Aztec gods (and good riddance to them), the Mayan gods (not so much good riddance to them), Raven and Coyote and Glouscap...
Only the Hindu deities were spared Heaven's wrath, and these because of the trickle of belief - Essence - split between YHVH and His face in the gods of India.
In the tide of this onslaught, the pagan gods that survived either applied for asylum en masse to Hell (a move most have regretted ever since - Athena is furious that Ares even CONSIDERED this), or going into hiding on Earth or in the deepest dreams of humanity.
The Archangel of Dreams, a Guardian Angel named Blandine, was outraged. She demanded that Uriel be put on trial for needlessly and recklessly endangering the lives of mortal pagans and for driving those who could have been allies - Odin and Thoth were never enemies of Heaven before the Crusades, to name but two - to Hell's service. In the end, Uriel was recalled to the Higher Heavens for his crimes, to look on the face of YHVH and be ashamed.
It fell to Laurence to assume command. No one was as shocked as he.
And take command he did, by making alliances with neglected Archangels. Particularly, his partnership with the Archangel of Lightning (and the Laws of Physics) has improved the lives of mortals by bringing them into a more modern and more rational age, and his close work with Marc of Trade is promoting a better standard of living.
He's also been working to make a more worthy Catholic Church, starting with that whole Martin Luther fiasco, and is particularly proud of his help with the Kennedy campaign.
Personality:
Laurence is a paladin's paladin, the quintessential honorable knight. While he's not stupid, and can be pragmatic in the field, he prefers open battle and sweeping symbolic victories over quiet knives in the knight. (These he leaves to his friends and allies, Michael of War and Marc of Trade).
He has personally debriefed most of the humans that Heaven has drafted into the war and genuinely likes and admires humanity; after all, God could manifest through them, and they were capable of independent revelation. He considers himself to literally be an extension of God's will, like unto a blade in His hand; humans, on the other wing, HUMANS have Free Will - and he would gladly die to defend Humanity's right to that sacred gift.
Laurence favors the Catholic Church as his personal mode of worship and ritual, but does not discount that the other Abrahamaic faiths, or really any moral code with integrity, is a path to God's grace. He laughed when he found out that the most holy man on earth was an atheist (No, seriously, this was an actual plot point in a published adventure!), and "the lord works in mysterious ways" through giggling was heard in Heaven for a long time after.
The popular propaganda of Laurence in hell is that he's a straight-laced, goose-stepping parody of a knight from straight out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and while he does have some blind spots - he assumes the best in people, especially people that he's Resonated (see his strengths) and deemed worthy - this is not so. He'll pretend to be this way to get enemies off guard, but you cannot be an effective commander of soldiers with a sword lodged up your rear in front of the troops. He doesn't even try to sound hip or cool - but he speaks like a conservative modern adult, not a Shakespearean parody.
Strengths:
As an Archangel bound to a Word of Power, this grants him a great deal of insight and skill into that concept. Laurence is The Sword, and more broadly disciplined martial strength. Laurence is a peerless soldier. There are better warriors - Michael comes to mind - and he can be beaten in combat, especially with his powers limited in Equestria; but the odds on that are long, especially if he's wielding a sword.
As an Angel of Honor, a black-winged Malakite, he has the ability to look at a person and Resonate with their sense of honor. This tells him what they consider to be their most honorable act, and their least. As an Archangel, this always used to work; in Equestria, this is confounded by mind-occluding magic or weakened sometimes. Of particular note is that this doesn't detect demons outright, save for the Balseraphim or other demons specifically tied to lies and betrayal (of which there are none in canon In Nomine).
He can bless someone's sword, giving it a keen edge that can cut through spells; track those he's fought before; and place small items in a 'Scabbard' just outside of space-time, to draw at will. These are all powers he routinely grants to worthy angels and exceptional humans - he'd grant them to worthy ponies as well, except he can't seem to while he's here.
Lawrence is also capable of singing Angelic Songs, spell-like effects from singing to sparks of Essence from his soul and weaving it into reality - the Symphony, as angels and demons would put it. His pool of Essence was effectively unlimited at home; here, he has much less and must wait until sunrise or the chance to perform a Rite of swordsmanship to regenerate it after 'casting a spell.'
He's particularly fond of the Songs of Shields - one to ward against harm, one against magic, and one against detection via Disturbance (see below) - and the Song of Thunder which makes a giant sphere of physically, spiritually and mentally loud noise - but hasn't relearned his other Songs.
Weaknesses:
Everything he does can be tracked by the ripples in reality it causes while he's in reality outside of Heaven; this is called Disturbance, and can be tracked magically - or instinctively by demons and angels. The more power he throws around, the louder the disturbance becomes; the Song of Thunder in particular is a giant neon sign pointing to him that reads ANGEL OF THE LORD.
As a Malakim, he has sworn on his soul to:
- Never suffer evil to live, if it is his choice.
- Never surrender to the forces of Lucifer.
- Strive to attempt perfection in all things.
- Defend and uphold the (ideals of the) Catholic Church, and put the welfare of the Church above his own.
- Always treat his weapons and his men with respect, to never wield a weapon or work with a soldier he doesn't respect, and to always treat his men and his tools with the greatest of care.
- To never guestion the orders of his Superior. He swore this while in service to Uriel; this now extends to God, although He is not one to give direct orders of late.
It physically and spiritually pains him to break a freely given oath, like the ones above!
Finally, he's an angel of honor. He is slower than most to realize that someone is trying to pull a dirty trick, and he assumes the best of people. He does NOT assume the best of demons, mind.
Possessions:
A flaming sword, a scabbard made of tanned Balseraph hide to contain that sword, a set of heavy warhorse barding, and a set of white robes with gold trim.
As tempted as I am to give him communion wafers and wine, this is not likely.
Pony/Animal Type:
A pegasus.
Cutie Mark:
A flaming sword bound by 4 links of chain.
Pony Picture:
See the icon.
SAMPLES
First Person:
http://alicornparty.dreamwidth.org/4922.html?thread=1336378#cmt1336378
Third Person:
"Perfection in all things" was an oath that Laurence took seriously. It was stamped upon his soul, as binding as a physical law of reality. It made things inconvenient, but he did not regret making it.
He took the pestle in his hoof and started to crush the almonds in it into a fine paste, then added an egg white and sugar. He set aside the yolk - he would use it for color, later.
Usually he channeled it towards martial ends, but in Equestria, the opportunity was... rarer. Not unheard of, but rare. So it was that he channeled it through a different skill, one no less tied to the histroy of his Church than the Paladin's art.
Laurence cut the paste into precise rhombus shapes, mixing them with sifted powdered sugar in a stand mixer. It smelled delicious. It was an - Laurence chuckled - indulgence that he was not ashamed of.
How long ago had Spain under Moorish occupation been? Decades? It mattered little. The Inquisition was a mockery, and he was there to mitigate it. To help the Archangel of Justice set preceident, to insist on the presence of lawyers and judges and - when he could - the absence of torture. And he did what he could with Eli - gods, he missed the Archangel of Creation - to make that land beautiful. The monks there had made what Laurence was making a tradition. He would do it proud.
He added more egg white, more sugar. The candy was now forming a dense ball. Laurence took a small piece, no larger than a button. A taste. He ate it.
"Pinkie?"
"Yeeeeeeeep?"
Laurence smiled. "I've made the marzipan you needed."
"Oooh, perfect!"
