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Invariably, the question comes up, "Why should celestials bother with
coldsleep?" After all, a celestial has no physical need to sleep, to eat,
or even deficate; as long as their vessel or host has access to air, the
breath of life, they can survive indefinitely in the normal human range of
environments. Comfort is a non-issue during travel; a servitor can easily
survive being packed in a shipping crate in a cargo hold as they can
survive being in a first-class cabin with room service and Internet Gamma
TV (Admittedly, most celestials won't -want- to take the former option).
So why go to all that trouble getting wired and plumbed up to be stuffed
in what is essentially a high-tech life-support coffin for several
weeks?
The answer is simple. "Role Maintenance." Ever since humanity started
reaching en-masse for the outer planets, there was a need for the angels
and demons to follow along. And the only way to do that unobtrusively was
to do as the humans did. In the early days, journeys to Mars, the
Asteriod Belt, and Jupiter could take months if not a year or longer to
accomplish. Most humans could not stand the isolation required for such a
long trip, nor could most ships carry the necessary supplies to maintain a
full crew and passengers. A person who appeared not to need sleep, food,
or restrooms may have become valuable to whatever company was sending the
ship in question, but he would also become very noticeable. In the
present day, coldsleep is still used for the longer journeys to Jupiter
and Saturn and the stations orbiting them, though it has begun to be
phased out for the shorter trips to Mars and the Earth Sphere colonies.
Therefore, it is still required for many celestials to undergo the rigors
of coldsleep if they are travelling to the outer planets in order to
maintain their Roles and some semblence of humanity.
Of course, with this answer there also comes a problem, namely how to deal
with any Dissonance that might occur due to being 'asleep' for such long
periods of time. Listed below are the potential conflicts.
CHOIRS and BANDS:
*No Problems*
The following Choirs of angels and Bands of demons do not have any
difficulties with coldsleep as part of their essential natures, and will
not incur Dissonance for undergoing it.
Seraphim, Elohim, Mercurians, Grigori, Balseraphs, Djinn, Habbalah,
Impudites
*Possible Problems*
The following Choirs and Bands may have difficulties staying in coldsleep
for extended periods of time, if an outside condition causes the potential
for Dissonance. The condition may also wake the sleeper if the underlying
cause continues, accumulating Dissonance in the celestial.
Cherubim
If the Cherub is attuned to any being or item during Coldsleep,
and the object of the attunement is in danger, then there is a potential
for accumulating dissonance due to the Cherub being unable to protect its
charge.
Malakim
A Malakite is at risk of Dissonance due to coldsleep if any of his
Oaths forbid him to be restrained, bound, inert, inactive, or at rest (a
possibility with Malakim of the Wind or those of the more proactive
Superiors). This obviously needs to be evaluated on a
Malakite-on-Malakite basis.
Kyriotates
If the Kyriotate has all its Forces invested in one Host, and if
the host is hurt during coldsleep, it will be unable to leave the host
without accumulating Dissonance. They will also not be able to leave the
Host while it is asleep, since that portion of their Forces are also
'asleep'. Note that Coldsleep itself extends the normal amount of time
the Kyriotate can spend in a Host (since the body's metabolic processes
are slowed), and will not accrue Dissonance for staying overlong in one
body.
Lilim and Bright Lilim
The Daughters of Lilith, Dark and Bright, are at risk of a Geas on
themselves being invoked while they are in coldsleep. Being unable to act
on the Geas while asleep will cause them to accumulate Dissonance.
Calabim
The entropy fields of the Calabim may cause excessive damage to
the coldsleep chamber and any adjacent ones if not caught in time, or kept
under control.
*Definite Problems*
The following types of celestials have extreme problems with coldsleep.
They cannot use it, and must find other ways to travel, otherwise they
will accumulate dissonance rapidly.
Ofanim
The Wheels gain Dissonance every time they are restrained or
contained and do not act to escape said confinement. Since coldsleep
requires a living being to be strapped down inside a metal life-support
shell for days and weeks on end, with even one's body slowed, few Ofanim
would even willingly undergo the procedure.
Shedim
The Corruptors MUST corrupt their Host once a day, even in a
trivial fasion. It is impossible to corrupt a Host while asleep, and
since coldsleep keeps a Host unconcious for extended periods, dissonance
would accumulate rapidly. Of course, nothing stops a Shedite from jumping
to another Host for the duration while the first sleeps... and Shedim of
Asmodeus do not have this difficulty, since they do not need to corrupt
their Hosts!
SUPERIORS:
*No Problems*
The servitors of the following Superiors will not gain Dissonance from
undergoing coldsleep; it will not violate the Dissonance Conditions
inherent in their Words. However, this does not cover any potential
problems that may develop from their Choir/Band nature (see above).
David, Dominic, Eli, Jean, Laurence, Marc, Michael, Novalis, Yves,
Andrealphus, Asmodeus, Baal, Beleth, Belial, Kronos, Saminga
*Possible Problems*
Those celestials who serve the following Superiors may get into trouble
for not carrying out their duties during coldsleep if they are unconcious
for a period of time longer than specified. Note that it is rare for
coldsleep to be used for journeys shorter than seven days, but it still
occurs.
Blandine
If an angel of Dreams has a dream-ward in the corporeal realm, and
that dream-ward is threatened, he will be unable to warn them in their
next dream, and therefore will accumulate Dissonance.
Gabriel
Gabriel's angels must always watch for the cruel in society, and
it is impossible to do so if they are in coldsleep. Any sleep past the
Angel's Celestial Forces in days for punishing the cruel will cause
Dissonance if they have been assigned a target.
Janus and Valefor
If the ship they are on is moving and is small enough, then a
celestial who serves either Janus or Valefor will not gain Dissonance.
However, if the ship or station is large enough, it can possibly count as
one 'location', and after 3 days, the celestial will begin to accumulate
Dissonance. If the ship isn't moving, then Dissonance is certain to
occur.
Jordi
Coldsleep is a human invention, a conveyance for human interests,
not animal ones. Jordi does not care much if one of his servitors
undergoes coldsleep... though the odds are good that if they try to Invoke
him because of a Coldsleep related incident, he'd be a little frosty
(sic). However, the system has been thoroughly tested with animals and
used to transport whole herds of livestock and other creatures to other
planets and colonies. Jordi doesn't care if cattle or domesticated
animals are moved in this fashion, but is angered by the notion of using
coldsleep on predators -- rendering docile the fierce hunters of nature.
Transporting cryogenically frozen fertilized eggs is a much safer bet.
Haagenti
Gluttons cannot go more than their Corporeal Forces in days
without forcing a living being to Consume. It's difficult to convince
someone to Consume when you're in coldsleep.
Lilith
Those who accept Lilith's Rites also accept her Dissonance
Conditions. One of those conditions is to not be restrained, physically
or conceptually, unless the restraints are negotiated for equitably.
Since there has to be a formal agreement before a being is put into
coldsleep, there is usually no problems.
Vapula
Vapulans must keep their infernal artifact close to them, either
directly in their possesion or within the coldsleep chamber's storage
container. Otherwise, there is a risk of their boon falling into mortal
or angelic hands.
*Definite Problems*
The servitors of the following Superiors are at extreme risk of
Dissonance due to their Dissonance Conditions, and therefore do not use
coldsleep except for extreme measures.
Kobal
Kobal's servitors cannot go a single day without worsening
someone's misfortune by laughing at them or causing someone else to laugh
at them. There isn't much laughing that can be done while in coldsleep.
(Now, causing a suite of coldsleep chambers to be dumped overboard by
accident instead of cargo containers in mid-flight... now that's
funny...)
Malphas
Servitors of Malphas cannot go more than one day without causing
division between two people, and it's hard to interact with other people
while in coldsleep.
Nybbas
Nybbasites cannot go a single day without contributing to the
world's media for an hour, and unless you're doing an in-depth expose' on
"Coldsleep from the Inside", you're stuck acquiring Dissonance.
COPING MECHANISIMS for COLDSLEEP
With the introduction of coldsleep, Celestials have developed several
methods to deal with its prominence in long-duration human space travel
and the possibilities of accumulating Dissonance.
- Don't use Coldsleep on the journey
- Advantage: The celestial remains active, and
the Role is maintained
- Disadvantage: Some of those trips are LONG, and can try the
patience of even the hardiest of celestials
- Use Coldsleep on the journey
- Advantage: Perfect Role Maintenance
- Disadvantage: The Celestial can't do anything, Dissonance can
accumulate, and they may create a Dreamscape in the
Marches by accident
- Attempt a Will Roll to appear in the Marches before falling asleep on
the journey
- Advantage: The celestial remains active in the Marches or
Heaven/Hell while Vessel is still sleeping in the
chamber. The celestial's Role is maintained
- Disadvantage: The celestial cannot appear on the Corporeal plane,
even if they have another vessel, without the
Coldsleeping vessel vanishing.
- Kyriotates Only : Possess a second Host while the first sleeps on the
journey
- Advantage: The Kyriotate can still be active and react to threats
while the first Host is asleep
- Disadvantage: The Kyriotate may be distracted by the sleeping Host
- Use a Tether instead of corporeal transportation
- Advantage: Instantaneous transportation
- Disadvantage: Tethers are not always conveniently near the
celestial's final destination, especially in outer
space. Further transportation may be necessary, and
questions may occur as to why the Role is now on
Mars when it was on Earth a day ago... Low level
roles may not have difficulty, but higher-level ones
will need backdated documentation and explination.
- Use Lightning/Technology lightspeed transportation instead of corporeal
sublight transportation
- Advantage: Direct transportation to destination
- Disadvantage: The chance of getting approval from Jean to use
Lightning lightspeed transportation in the Corporeal
realm infinitely approaches 0. The chance of
getting approval from Vapula for using
Technology-sponsored transportation is much easier,
but there's a risk of never arriving at your
destination. And there's still the question of
one's Role now being elsewhere when it was once on
Earth (see above).
The In Nomine art, characters, and concepts presented
here are I and my friends original creations, intended for use with the
In Nomine® system from Steve Jackson Games. This material is
not official and is not endorsed by Steve Jackson Games.
The "In
Nomine" and "flaming feather" graphics are (C) 1997-2000 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated.
In Nomine® is a registered
trademark of Steve Jackson Games, and the art here is copyrighted by Steve
Jackson Games. All rights are reserved by SJ Games. This material is used
here in accordance with the SJ Games online
policy.
Philip's World / Philip
Moyer / pmoyerASIROVEDjuraiOUTnet
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