Chicago [Main thread until 11/28/15]

        Gloria takes a pause between bites of fish. "Oh, yeah, I'm good. And really, don't worry about runnin' off without me. Half my fault anyway; saw one of my 'clients' in the crowd and got distracted. So I'll do better, yeah?"

        Johann continues to be amused at being called a 'hobby', but he's also troubled by something; he's trying to conceal it, but it's not entirely working (I made secret composure and empathy rolls: y'all won). "Yeah we should get you patched up, Cinnamon. Guess you're low on Glamour, can't regenerate? Hooking you up might be the quickest fix. Especially if we're going to the Market. It's an interesting place... and you can certainly get what you want. There is an alternative... the ability to pierce illusions is something I can grant, but it won't be the same as that wine. Faerie stuff... cheats. That's really the best way to put it."

(I have looked up the healing and medicine rules: Medicine rolls boost natural healing recovery as you apply first aid or long term care. Bashing damage boxes regenerate faster than I thought, so if most of what Cinnamon has is bashing damage you can do a Dex+Medicine roll and lay low for an hour or two and I bet they'll all be gone. Lethal takes a day or two per box. Agg damage still requires magical healing or like a week of serious long-term care.)

(Testing posting mobile )

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Ok, first the medicine roll: Every 15 minutes a box of bashing damage goes away on its own - known as Natural Healing. Every success on a medicine roll adds a health box to Natural Healing. You got four successes, so over the next hour Cinnamon will naturally heal 8 bashing damage boxes.

On the 'Cinnamon is squishy' subject: having just rolled my first changeling for a game, I would strongly advise you look closely at Contracts of Elements and/or Contracts of Stone. There's some great stuff in there for boosting your survivability. You also have access to a Devil who can make Pacts, of course <.<   >.>

Alright. Now this Nat 20 Int/Occult roll from the goddamned Malkavian.

As we have previously discussed, Malkavians are capable of moments of unnatural insight into the hidden truths of the world. This is one of those moments.



When Lucifer's Rebellion began, the Loyalist Angels of the Heavenly Host were pitted against their brethren among the Morningstar's Renegades... but Angels, being creatures of creation, had no concept of war as we know it today. Battles were more like duels; opposing angels would level their power against one another, measure each other's strengths, compare tactics, and calculate a winner. Once it became clear who had out-fought who, the loser would honorably depart the field. There was no need for actual violence if you could determine who would eventually be the victor. Once it became clear that one angel could, if they chose, harm the other before the other harmed them, that was enough. Even after the Judgement of God and the destruction of Paradise, the Host and the Renegades clung to these rules; Angels are nothing if not creatures of habit.

Then Cain slew Abel.

From the moment that the first drop of blood was spilled in jealousy, anger, and hate, the full potential of sin - of atrocity - was unleashed upon the world. The Renegades, having opened the door for sin by feeding Mankind the Fruit of Knowledge, were inextricably tied to mortal fates... and marred by it. Slowly at first, but more and more as time went on, the Fallen cast aside the genteel rules of combat from the first days of the war and wrought destruction upon the Host, the Loyal humans, and Creation itself. The Angels of the Host could not cope; they weren't built for destruction. After a long stalemate, the Host started losing.

Now, everyone knows that the Host rallied; defeated the Renegades, cursed them, and cast the now Fallen angels into Hell. The why of it, though... the true story... that is known by few. Those who do know the reason whisper it in hushed, fearful tones. Lucifer's Rebellion failed because God created a new kind of Angel, one whose sole mandate was to destroy the monstrous Renegades.

They are called the Malhim, and every Fallen in Hell prays that Creation never sees their like again.

The Malhim are purpose-built for war - angel against angel. Members of every House were taken by God to the Highest Heaven and reforged from beings of creation to beings of destruction. Their blades tear at the very essence of all that is not rooted in Creation, can channel the Lore of their House through their shining silver, and are so closely tied to their wielder that they are, in fact, an inseperable part of them. Their visages are as cold and unyielding as their fanatical conviction. Their battle fury cowed even the most ferocious of Lucifer's followers. Their numbers were not great, but they were enough to lead the Host to victory.

Like any Angel, though... they could go astray.

The Malhim who Fell are very few, and very far between. They are the ones who did not simply fight and slay out of duty but came to enjoy it. Their embrace of death and war went too far, and in the heat of their most intense battles their righteous fury was tainted; they succumbed to the lure of slaughter and carnage. They were so closely exposed to the sins of the enemy that they were stained by it, and in the end they were cast out for too closely resembling the Renegades they fought.

You've seen Johann's Apocalyptic Form. You've looked upon his Silver Sword. You've seen his Lore utterly destroy an Angel - a Grigori, an angel diminished from the full glory of the Host, but an Angel nonetheless. Johann is... was... a Malhim.

Every Devil is tormented by their Fall. The curse upon their House determines what brings that Fallen the sting of Torment. For Example, the Annunaki, the Fallen Angels of the Earth, once taught Man to till the earth, to dig up metals, to forge tools and build their futures. Now they find Man have become a race of makers... but they ravage the very earth the Annunaki held in stewardship, birth flawed machines out of sloth and greed, and pervert the teachings of artifice to self destruction. Being confronted with such things brings Torment to the Annunaki, as does turning their hand towards the destruction of land or machine, as such is anathema to their original purpose.
The Malhim were meant to slay the supernatural, never to turn their blades against Man. A Fallen Malhim forced to harm - or, God forbid, kill - a Son of Adam or Daughter of Eve is wracked with Torment over their transgression. Mages, however miraculous their powers, are ultimately human. Fighting that Mage cut Johann to his core.

        Crux's question, however pointed, brings a simple answer - reluctant to admit weakness, perhaps? He says simply, "I'll live."

        "Well, it won't be perfect. Nothing ever is." Johann shrugs. "Occultation is... a fog, obscuring the truth. Arcadian wine can clear the fog, but only for as long as the wine lasts. What I can give you is akin to a fog lamp, cutting through the shroud of concealment to illuminate the reality behind the illusion. It won't automatically succeed - it doesn't even do that for me - but once the Pact is made, it will always function, always give you the chance. Whenever you are confronted by an illusion - any illusion - you will have the ability to pierce it. Observe. Look Gloria in the eye" He places a finger on Cassidy's temple, and for the briefest of moments he gets a glimpse through the Cover to the Demon inside.



        Johann withdraws his hand and the image fades as quickly as it came. "It's your call." Gloria eyes Cassidy with interest, curious as to what his reaction will be.

        "Ironically, if you don't care, I have no use for you." Johann chuckles. "You know what I need. All of you. Deep down, you are aware of the one thing we lack which you possess. That which makes you like God. The Divine Spark." His gaze lands on Crux, Cassidy, Cinnamon, and Anhura in turn. "You believe in something. Whatever it may be. You have Faith. I need that. You bequeath some of that unto me, and I shall grant strength, or knowledge, or talent, or one of many, many other gifts I can bestow." He turns back to Crux, "There is no reward without risk, Childe of Malkav... and there is no safety down here in the dark."

        "It's nice and all," Gloria chimes in, "Trying to minimize your risks and protect your friends, but it's not going to help. Not really." A shrug. "Fortune doesn't favor the bold because of some karmic reward. It favors the bold because it's the law of the jungle here in the shadows. You fight or you die."

        Johann nods. "Probably seems too simple, doesn't it? You get power, I get some intangible thing you're not even fully aware of? Well. Believe it or don't; it is that simple. You see yourselves as getting the better part of the deal, and look for the catch. The catch is there is no catch. You don't know how incredibly valuable your payment is; it is worth binding myself to you and your fates. You can't see the deal from my perspective. But that's how it is in Night Society, isn't it? New perspectives, new moralities. The further you go down this rabbit hole, the more you'll need to adapt to survive.
        "This is a crossroads for you all. Do you take the leap, change perspective? Or do you step back from the precipice and hope the next drop isn't worse?"
    

"I'm with Cinnamon."

Cass looks to Crux.

"I understand where you're coming from. I'm sorry for what I did the last time. It'll be different. I know I can depend on you guys if I need to be. I don't know, emotional, eh? I'll be honest. We need this. THe wine is temporary, and we keep getting fucked by that redaction spell."


He turns his attention back to Gutenberg. 

"I don't know much about faith. I lost a lot of that when I died. It's a slap in the face to a catholic boy when he dies and he just wakes up again harder to kill. I wasn't expecting heaven or anything, but you know, eh? You're my friend, you've saved us more than once when you really didn't have ta. I trust you'll do what you gotta do and be upfront with us. You can have my faith in you, and I'm nothing if not devoted to my friends."

He pauses for a moment and goes back to Crux.

"I'm sure Mr. Gutenberg will lay it all out on the table before we sign on the dotted line."

He addresses both Gloria and Gutenberg.

"Right?"

        Gloria puts up her hands. "I deal in information and material wealth. I'm sure we could find something useful, but it's not the same as what he's offering. 'course that means the two don't compete. In fact, I'm pretty sure there'd only be a problem if you tried to make a pact with a different Devil."

        "Yes and no, but more yes than no." Johann nods. "The power of a soul may be immeasurable, but there's only so much that we can tap. If our deal doesn't cover all of it, you could make a deal with another Devil... but most of us frown upon that. Looks an awful lot like trying to 'muscle in' on someone else's turf. Only applies to pacts, though. Not one-off deals." He pauses to take a few bites of steak; very rare, very bloody. "The terms are simple. Deceptively so. You tell me what you wish, I'll tell you what I can grant, and if there's any energy left over we can negotiate for that as well. If a deal is agreed upon, we shall be bound. You will be able to call upon me, and I will answer when I am able. In an emergency - and I do give my word that I will only be in an emergency - I may have to draw more power than can be channeled safely - for either of us. On that day, and that day may never come, it will hurt, and it will hurt the both of us. But the harm will not be permanent."