Chaosium Digest Volume 13, Number 11 Date: Sunday, March 31, 1996 Number: 2 of 2 Contents: Magnification (Timothy Ferguson) NEPHILIM -------------------- From: Timothy Ferguson Subject: Magnification System: Nephilim This story was prompted by a stream-of-conciousness series of inspirations sitting on my bed one night. I'd just misintepreted something someone had said on the Nephilim list and laid the boot in, so I was lounging around on my bed thinking about my Pendragon campaign and my selbspiel Nephilim, who was an angel of the Temperance or Sun Arcarnum. Then I noticed, for what seemed like the first time in ages, the human-faced sun motif on my doona cover. Then the CD I was listening to started a new song with, I sang your praises daily... which reminded me, since I was thinking of Pendragon of another CD whose liner notes discussed the worship of the Feminine by poets, through the praising of their loves as Her earthly vessels. I knew I needed a song and I saw Julian May's _Magnificat_ in a bookstore, but couldn't afford the hardcover version. Thats where the story started. The same artist who talked about troubadors in her liner notes talks about The Visit on another of her albums, the point at which creative grace descends and touches people. I hope I'm up to writing the story as I see it in my mind, before the Visit ends. MAGNIFICATION Introduction The player characters should already know each other before this scenario begins, or you might flesh it out so that they are drawn together by this incident. It would be helpful if some of the players or their characters are musicians, but this is not vital. On the first attempt at writing this text, characters, places and incidents were kept general, but to make the material more interesting it has since been fleshed out. The extra detail assumes that the player characters are reasonably easy to contact and blend into Western Middle Class society with little trouble. If this is not the case, keep the bare bones and alter the NPCs to make their presence seem more probable. The characters are contacted by Marabas, a Satyr of the Empress Arcanum in as subtle a manner as is possible. He'd prefer a face-to-face meeting, but will try to make it both brief and a suprise for the PCs, so that if they have informants observing their actions he will not be easily followed. He would prefer a place the player-characters do not frequent, so as to prevent interception of their conversation with microphones or lasers reading the vibrations caused on panes of glass by the sounds inside. He won't attract attention to himself by using Ka speech. If talking with the characters seems likely to draw the attention of others to him, he will find a way to sneak them a casette tape with much of the following information. If he uses this method, his voice has been altered electronically, to prevent the acquisition of voiceprits. Although Marabas is a Satyr, it is not noticeable without Ka vision. His Indulgent score is rather high, but the rest of his Metamorphoses are only minor. He doesnt actually like his inner nature much and hopes one day to become something else, by entering a Nexus. He wears a discreet pin-striped two piece suit unless this would draw attention, in which case he will wear a brown, leather bomber jacket, jeans and a shirt. He is shaggily bearded, with brown eyes and weathered, leathery skin. His hair is brown and he is tall and rakish. He loves coffee. Lots of coffee. Marabas express concern over a recent incident and requests that the player characters assist him by investigating the trouble. If the characters seem likely to assist, either from altruism or after some other bargain is struck, he will go into further detail. Marabas' responsibility within the Empress Arcarnum is to research the effects of music upon human consciousness, including the implantation of ideas through subliminal messages. Recently, he was attempting to overlay a track of subliminal urges onto a demo tape sent him by a band called Painting By Numbers and noticed that the music was having odd effects upon his psyche, similar to those that its simulacrum experienced while it was active in the sixties drug culture, but both more subtle and less disorientating. While listening to the music he finds his mind made clearer and his Ka-vision more sharp. He is unable to investigate the band as he is busy trying to determine if the effect is emotionally addictive, while also attempting to remove some of the graininess from the original, hopefully enhancing the effect. He has contacted the PCs because Painting By Numbers has members who have some link to the PCs. Make them members of the same ethnic group or subculture. Marabas counsels haste, telling the Nephilim that this new music might prove a blessing, if it has no side-effects, or a curse, if it is addictive. He offers them a copy of the tape, on the condition that they listen to it once then destroy it. He has already offered the band a contract and suggests that the characters act as if they were his employees while visiting the humans. He further cautions them against addiction to the music before taking his leave. Nephilim who listen to the music do feel the strange sensations that Marabas has mentioned. In game terms, while concentrating on the music to the exclusion of all else, those listening to the tape have their primary Ka raised by five points. Even minor distractions disrupt this effect, so it isn't terribly useful, but notheless it should be intriguing enough to motivate the PCs to follow the leads they have been given. Painting by Numbers Painting By Numbers is an acoustic group with five members, who should be customized enough that the reason why Marabas chose the PCs to interact with them is immediately obvious. They are just starting out in music and do a circut of clubs, weddings and civic events. The players will first see them at a Church fair. They have been together for three years, but have lost and gained members over that time. One of the members of the band to arrive within the last year is Sandy, a girl who should have been born in the Forties, as she wears beads in her long, brown hair, a headband and prefers sarongs. She is a precussionist and lays down the beat to many of the band's songs, though most of the other members do their own thing with their instruments and ignore her if they feel like it. Sandy looks for musical inspiration eclectically and has recently found it in a book called "Poems of Mystic Love and Sex" by Professor Jill Sherwood, through Tauntalus Press, a small company of which the PCs have never heard. For one of the tracks, Sandy has copied her synchopations from a pattern of dots and dashes surrounding a Troubador's verse, and it is this rhythmn that causes the unusual effects. Player characters listening to the band perform live will not feel the effect except during this song, which they tend not to perform, since they are given their playlist by whoever has hired them for their function. Characters who have not destroyed the tape can play it and ask for it to be sung, or can hum a few bars, or give the title, to identify it for the band members. The musicians will be chuffed by these music execs who are obviously so deeply into their music. Indulgent PCs, satyrs for instance, can listen to that track, and only that one track, for hours on end. GMs may want to play the Frente! version of this to their players, over and over until the Satyr tires of it. The GM should stress that the Frente! version is far simpler than the Painting By Numbers cover, which has more instruments, more voices and is generally less elegantly simple. Every time I see you falling, I'll get down on my kness and pray, hoping for that final moment you, say the words that I can't say Bizarre Love Triangle Frente! Eventually the PCs may realise that it is the precussion that is special, possibly by getting the band members to play their pieces one at a time. If the PCs fail to work this out, then Marabas will discover it when the band get together to record their first albumn and Sandy lays down her backing track. When questioned about the piece, she'll gladly ramble on, eventually showing the PCs the book and the dashes. Characters can tell that the manuscript that is reproduced in the book is a spell focus, but the technique of replication has made most of it illegible, as the important parts are border decorations that have been clipped to fit the verse onto the page. It seems to be an odd sort of Air effect, where the Nephilim summons itself, or some such thing. It is not usable in this form, nor will summoning Sandolphan assist characters in their use of the spell, although it might provide some information about its nature and effect. Jill Sherwood Professor Jill Sherwood, the author of "Poems of Mystic Love and Sex", lectures in classical literature at the University that is most familiar to the GM, or that fits their needs best. Although she is curious and meddlesome, she is not a member of a Secret Society. Although meeting her is easy, she is a busy woman bogged down in the mundanities of helping run an understaffed Department and has little time for chit-chat during work hours. Characters who are scholars and can trade information with her, lightening her research load will be welcomed profusely. She will speak to the characters at length about her work, if they meet her during the evening. Jill lives in a small apartment with her pet cat Morrie. Morrie is a Moon Nephilim, but he'll spot the PCs before they see him and will keep away from them. He will watch them at times, to protect his pet human from harm. Jill is middle-aged, with dishwater blonde hair, lighter on top than underneath or at the ends. She wears thin spectacles with round lenses and black frames. She likes tweed jackets and comfortable shoes. After dinner, which is a lamb hot-pot, she'll gladly discuss "Poems of Love and Sex". The book was given a rather provocative title in the hope of increasing sales and Tauntalus Press was dreamed up by the university printery to make the book sound raunchier. In fact it's a rather nice set of poems about love in all its forms, drawn from original documents. Essentially, it is a more expensive version of her course textbook. She can identify the Museum who owns the original of the poem in which the player characters are interested, but if they seem to be cranks, she will warn the University, by telephone, in advance, of their odd behaviour. The Museum must be in another country, just to make things bothersome. If your player characters come from Australia, it is an English one, for instance. Americans and Britons should cross the Pond. The party may have to divide, as some characters refuse to fly and others hate ships. To add even more mundane interference, send the characters to a non-English speaking country. Spain is a good choice, as is Hong Kong. Arrival at The Museum To make things easier, just think of the floor plan of the local Museum and use that. If you don't have a local Museum then go mock Greek on the exterior. Marble and columns with statues of lions. Inside, have thick carpets, staircases, bannisters of polished wood and rooms where the decor matches the theme of the exhibits in that room. Depending on where you put the museum, the themes of the rooms will change, but all exhibits should be in glass cases which are carefully sealeed and are fitted with burgular alarms. Make it clear that you are playing in the real world and unless the Nephilim has previous experience in defeating electronic surveliance systems, they will be caught if they attempt to steal anything. Player-characters may attempt a break-in anyway, but they should be given fair warning. The Director of the Museum is Dr. Gregory Fairfanks. He's a likeable old fellow who has taken up this job after retiring from a University about six years ago. He's thin, balding a little and has grey hair. He's sharper than he looks, with a high Solar-Ka, but he isn't a member of a Secret Society and doesn't believe in the occult beyond reading his stars in the paper, chuckling about how many young, beautiful women the astrologer owes him on account. Doctor Fairfank's secretary will not give the characters an appointment unless they seem to have legitimate business with him. They will probably need one, because the document is in storage. The best approach is to use Jill Sherwood as a decoy, having her request that the document be recopied for a new edition of her book. She can take a couple of PCs along as research assistants or postgraduate students. Alternatively, corrupting one of the custodians would allow the player-characters access to the document. Wheels Within Wheels Unfortunately, the Museum is riddled with Secret Societies, with the fellow in charge being oblivious to the whole business, save for the occassional public tiff. The curators have been engaged in covert, factional warfare with each other for about six years, the victor presuming that he will succeed the current President. The two main factions are the Fraternity of the Hidden Mask, a Templar-assisted group sliding into Ordinancehood and the Patient Keepers of the Seal, a sect within the Priuer di Sion. Both groups know where all of the magical items in the Museum displays are and each knows about the magical nature of the poem, although only the second has any idea of what it actually does, since even the original form is incomprehensible. The two societies will clash over the arrival of the Nephilim. The Hidden Mask will attempt to track down where the Nephilim are from, so that they can trade that information to their masters in the Templars. The Prieure di Sion will contact the Nephilim, telling them what a terrible mistake they have made, and will encourage a broad-scale assasination of their enemies, wherein a minor member of the Fraternity is kidnapped and set up as the murderer of the rest of his collegues. During this process, security tapes and dossiers will be recovered from the Fraternity member's homes, concerning the Nephilim and two homoculi whom they have created, but no longer possess. Unless the Nephilim are quick, mundane authorities will be called in to protect all members of the museum's staff after the first three deaths. Police may question the visitors, but they consider their involvement to be profoundly unlikely, unless one of the Nephilim has a criminal record. The Fraternity will realize what is happening and will first fight back, then, if all seems lost, steal all of the magical items they can and flee, after killing a minor member in a car accident and planting some other stolen pieces in her home. Whether or not they get away with dossiers on the current simulacra and interests of the Nephilim is up to the GM. In theory such information could have been read to a supervisor over the telephone at any time. Truth told, it is unlikely that this has occured so long as the PCs have been circumspect. The Priure will play on the insecurities of the characters as far as possible, though, as this gives them unimaginably greater firepower for use in their conflict than either they or their enemies had planned for. The Recovery of the Poem When the players finally do see the document, it is lying flat in a large metal drawer inside a cabinet in a humidity-controlled room. Most of the storage area looks like this, but inquisitive players are bound to poke around. If they ever go into the taxidermy room, they will find an ape being eaten by beetles. Blood beetles are the usual way of stripping flesh from bone prior to mounting a skeleton and both secret societies know of them and are willing to use them to destroy cadavers of opponents. The little insects are remarkably quick and disgustingly thorough in their work, feasting on a person's flesh so rapidly that his is nothing but bone after several hours. The document is vellum, a sort of parchment made out of sheepskin and is beautifully illuminated. It shows a man in period dress, with a stringed instrument like a guitar, kneeling beneath a tree in which his lady sits. The tree is part of an apple orchard, but unlike the others it has no fruit. The maiden holds a golden apple in her hand, as if ready to toss it to her suitor. The poem is wonderfully penned. Even if the PCs can find the document and make a copy, the message of the dashes, which is a substitution coded paragraph in thirteenth century Castillian, is obscure. Even the wisdom of Sandolphan will not assist them here, as the direct translation of the encoded sections are a series of allusions that will not make sense to the player characters. Those with appropriate skills, or who bother to believe the little card below the page in the storage cabinet, used while it is on display, can narrow down the time of writing to the thirteenth century. The text is a love poem, wherein the author glorifies his love and through worship of her, worships all womankind and the Great Woman, the Spirit of the Feminine, which manifests itself in the world through her. Read literally, the poet's lover seems to be an Angel in an advanced state of metamorphosis. Her voice may really have been music to his ears. She may well have been as sweet as honey. It is entirely possible that she glowed with radiant beauty and her eyes truly did sparkle with wisdom. The document is in Lange Doc, but the translation in Sandy's book is accurate. Priure Di Sion curators will also provide accurate translations. Templar curators will slip in phrases like "Static here I rest" to see how the player characters react. Although her name is not given, extensive historical research has been done on the manuscript, and the lady involved seems to have been the wife of a powerful north Castillian nobleman. One clue is the gilt apple, which was the symbol of the Discordian cult in ancient Myceane. The gilt apple also, however, appears in many pre-Ryder-Waite tarot decks on the card of the Lovers. The choice as to which woman to give the apple to was seen as depicting the need to make choices in love. Ryder and Waite did away with this because they were rather sympathetic to the Lovers and didnt want to keep rubbing in the error made all those years ago over Helen of Troy. A Life Experience (Mycenae) roll, a Tarot Lore roll or a Lovers' Lore roll will tell a Nephilim that this is a symbol of the Lovers Arcarnum. Only characters from a particular sect of Lovers who have followed the inner path and have a translation of the Castillian phrases can use this skill to break the Code. Those who are outer members can use the skill to identify the sect, The Court of Fine Armor, a Provencal grouping now dissolved, and the author, a Nephilim called Kaddisha. Kaddisha Characters might now wish to call for assistance. Their Arcanum has links to the Lovers and can pass on a request for contact. Sandolphan can tell the characters where Kaddisha's stasis is. As she is incarnate, the Sages will be of no assistance unless the characters know of another Nephilim whose memories might be useful, such as a member of the Lovers' Inner Circle. Gazur might be summoned, but that really is overkill. If they cannot find her, after a time Kaddisha will find them, tipped off by another section of the Prieure di Sion, which have managed to track her down. She is currently inhabiting the body of a Spanish noblewoman, the descendant of the bastard born to her previous simulacrum by her ardent troubador lover. Her transformation is well-progressed, with both her voice and skin noticable to those without Ka-vision. She is witty, exhuberant and enjoys flirtation but otherwise has the personality traits of an Angel as per _Chronicle of Awakenings_. Characters wishing to speak with her will have to travel to Gallicia in northern Spain. She lives in a frighteningly romantic old castle where knights re-enact the Reconquista for tourists. Have fun with this section. Use lots of opulent adjectives and pile on the flash and colour. Pagentry and japery should abound at this point. Make things so light and fluffy that suspicious players begin hunting for the ambush you are suckering them into. Of course, there isn't one. Personally, Isabella, or Kaddisha, if you prefer, and the Nephilim almost certainly will, is beautiful in the classic Iberian way that you see stereotyped in stories like Zorro. Characters who have a rather scatterbrained and pious image of angels will find her sallacious and shocking. Those who are used to Dionysian orgyists as Lovers Arcarnum members will find her rather prim, if flirtatious. The faction of the Arcarnum to which Kaddisha belongs, the Damosels and Cavaliers of Courtly Love, are emotional gorumands rather than sexual gluttons. They delight in the higher emotions and in finery, rather than in organistic responses and glitz. They, led by the more aescetic practices of the Cathari, try to find a less eartly, physical love, revelling in the emotion of armour rather than in sexual contact. Many members of this small group are angels and they claim direct descent from those sons of God who saw the daughters of Men and found that they were beautiful. Most know that this is fanciful, but they feel it adds a spritual dimension to their pagentry. Kaddisha, like the other members of her Court believes that individuals find Agartha easiest when working in close groups bound by Love, like Galahad and Amide or Galahad, Percival and Ector. Kaddisha wants back the love letter, since it is part of her past and, like most of her Tribe, she is a sentimentalist. Beyond this, she also desires the encoded spell focus she has encrypted within it. The spell is the Magnificat, a ritual performed on Mary, the mother of Jesus, to prepare her body to house the Zero Arcarnum. The Magnificat The Magnificat is a Sorcerous working that has a musical, vocal component which can only be performed by an Angel whose voice has undergone Metamorphosis to the point where even humans notice its harmonic quality. It requires mastery of the Third Circle at at least 50% to be performed accurately, although lesser effects, from poor performances, can be created even by mere humans. If performed by an Agarthan, the Magnificat has profoundly uplifting effects on the spirits of all who hear it, summoning them closer to Agartha. Since there isn't an Agarthan around to perform for the player-characters, we can ignore those. If a Nephilim performs the Magnificat, it awakens the Solar Ka of all humans present and raises it by one point each. This only happens on the first performance, although later performances still have minor miraculous effects. Nephilim who hear the Maginificat for the first time are drawn nearer to Enlightenment, gaining points in their primary Ka, a process that removes all experience checks they may have accumulated for their Ka Scores. Eolim gain 3 points, Faerim and Hydrim add two and Pyrim and Onirim acquire one. In each future incarnation that the Nephilim hears the Magnificat, it advances by one point of Ka. Humans hearing a version of the Magnificat performed by another Human feel a sense of yearning and happiness and sometimes awaken. Performing the Magnificat raises the Ka of the human or Nephilim by one point, but only once for a human, or only once per Simulacrum for a Nephilim. Angels who have learned the Magnificat usually become rejumpers, as they can gain 2 Ka each incarnation through this song, compensating them for the incarnation cost. Kaddisha does not have the spell inscribed, but will inscribe it at the first opportunity. She was unable to use it properly in her first life, during which the poem was penned and did not realise its importance until a later incarnation. She has been searching for it since. Marabas will want all of the details and a copy of the spell if possible. He will advocate its removal from the Museum, but the Priure di Sion may already have stolen the manuscript. -------------------- The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial electronic 'zine about Chaosium's Games. The old digests are archived on ftp.csua.berkeley.edu in the directory /pub/chaosium, and may be retrieved via FTP. Happy April 1st.