I was mildly surprised that this didn’t need a lot more revision, after twenty years or so in the vault. Although I do admit to being surprised at how I made so very sure that Samuel Johnson took it on the chin. Ach, well, I’m sure Past Me had his reasons.
Vasiariah
Seraph Mistress of the Realms of Night
Angel of Patriotism
Corporeal Forces: 3 Strength: 6 Agility: 6
Ethereal Forces: 6 Intelligence: 12 Precision: 12
Celestial Forces: 6 Will: 12 Perception: 12
Word-Forces: 14
Vessel: middle-aged woman/3, middle-aged man/3
Skills: Computer Operation/1, Dodge/6, Emote/6, Fighting/6, Knowledge (Politics/3, Teaching/3), Ranged Weapons (rifle/1, pistol/1), Savoir-Faire/1, Small Weapon/1 (knife), Tactics/1
Songs: Dreams (Corporeal/2, Ethereal/3, Celestial/4), Entropy (Ethereal/6), Fire (Corporeal/1, Ethereal/6, Celestial/2), Motion (Corporeal/3, Ethereal/3), Light (Celestial/2), Shields (Corporeal/4, Ethereal/3, Celestial/2), Tongues (Corporeal/2, Ethereal/2)
Attunements: Seraph of Dreams, Malakite of Dreams, Dream Sight, Dream Walking, The Last Spark, Mistress of the Realms of Night, Angel of Patriotism
Angel of Patriotism: Vasiariah automatically succeeds resonance determining whether or not a person is Truly patriotic (by the definition below). More to the point, she can punish traitors and the self-serving. By spending 3 Essence, she can make her corporeal attacks do celestial damage for that combat. Vasiariah must know that her opponent is a traitor to do this damage: however, please note that, for the purposes of this Attunement, any demon or Hellsworn is automatically defined as a Traitor to either Heaven, or humanity.
Rites:
- Cause a human to work to correct an injustice or problem in his or her society (usable twice per day)
- Kill a Traitor.
She should be still working for Divine Fire. The fact that she isn’t is Belial’s fault. That puts the Prince of Infernal Fire on a little list. She’s had a lot of trouble with shifting perception of her Word: Nybbas is to blame for that, ably assisted by Malphas. That puts them on the same little list. Thanks to the unsubtle machinations of the Prince of the War, it’s a continual uphill battle to gain proper corporeal assistance. That puts Baal on the little list, too. And Vasiariah simply doesn’t personally care for the Princess of Freedom at all, which means that Lilith is on the little list, underlined twice and with a big red star.
OK, so it’s a big list.
It isn’t easy being the Angel of Patriotism, in case the above isn’t a sufficient clue. Not quite as bad as being, say, the Angel of Breeding (that poor unfortunate is still gibbering from the sudden, traumatic Word-shift to ‘Eugenics’), but there are certainly easier tasks. Vasiariah prevails, however: the Seraph is grimly determined to make sure that nobody — and she means nobody — will ever get to corrupt the bedrock of her Word. Of course, to do this she’s had to combine stubbornness, directed fury and a certain ruthlessness, but that’s life in this corrupted world.
‘Patriotism’, as Vasiariah (and to a lesser extent, Heaven) defines it is not the same as ‘blind fanaticism’ (one reason why she decided to work for Blandine, rather than David). Ideally, it combines a sincere love for one’s home and fellow-citizens with a clear-eyed dedication to fix whatever flaws exist in a given society. Needless to say, this is a problem in places where the Media-spawned abomination of ‘my country, right or wrong’ prevails. And don’t get her started about Samuel Johnson: Vasiariah sat on his deathbed and laughed as his soul was trucked off to Hell. Apparently, coining the phrase ‘Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel’ outdid whatever good he might have done in his life. Fate is a bastard sometimes — but then again, so is Kronos, Prince of Fate, so that worked out.
Alas, chances for levity like that are few and far between. The Angel of Patriotism is constantly on the move, doing what she can to keep a simple Dream continuously burning. It doesn’t have to be flashy (in fact, it’s better if it isn’t), just as long as it’s there. Luckily, she’s on good terms with Michael and Laurence’s Servitors, although she doesn’t exactly bring her relationship with the former to Blandine’s attention: Soldiers of War and the Sword are often precisely the role models she wants to promote. Although there’s been more than one Soldier of Trade who also fit her fairly high standards. Angels of all three are also useful to have around when it comes time to use Celestial Songs on the corporeal plane, too.
Vasiariah is fairly unique among Seraphim in that she actually has a high opinion of humanity: she’s seen too many instances where a nameless person’s quiet love of country or people has blunted the forces of tyranny for just long enough. When given a chance, humanity can surprise even the cynical, sometimes — and the Angel of Patriotism isn’t a cynic. She declines to give that leech Nybbas the satisfaction.
She declines to give anyone in Hell the satisfaction. She’s got her little list, after all, and they will most assuredly never, ever be missed.
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