Stygia Awaits...

OOC: moving journal

Tue, 19 Dec 2006 20:30:34 GMT

Hey guys. With Dante's death and a wish to consolidate IC LJs, I've moved all the Dante posts to my LJ at insomnias_curse Sam'ael posts will go there as well. I'll be friending you all, and dividing by interest (mage IC LJs to mage filters, etc.). If you would like to read other venues (I have a filter for my Requiem, Forsaken, and mortal PCs), just post a comment on the big "post for a filter" post I'm going to have up in a little while.

I'll be friending you all, so you don't really have to go looking. It's been fun!

OOC: Tarot Card Quiz

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 01:14:04 GMT

Because Everyone else is-

Sam'ael:

You are The Magician

Skill, wisdom, adaptation. Craft, cunning, depending on dignity.

Eleoquent and charismatic both verbally and in writing,
you are clever, witty, inventive and persuasive.

The Magician is the male power of creation, creation by willpower and desire. In that ancient sense, it is the ability to make things so just by speaking them aloud. Reflecting this is the fact that the Magician is represented by Mercury. He represents the gift of tongues, a smooth talker, a salesman. Also clever with the slight of hand and a medicine man - either a real doctor or someone trying to sell you snake oil.

What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.

Dante's End

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 18:48:08 GMT

OOC: Ok, so two months ago, I proxied Dante to Houston for the last Abyssal Verge closing. I found out a week later he had died. A month ago or so, fed up with not hearing about the proxy formally, I told my ST chain I wanted to do what I could to get Dante back. Many thanks to Josh, Tyler, and Mark (especially Mark), who did so much work. Last week, Mark told me he had recieved the write-up and it was "hella-lame", and that I would know as soon as possible what had happened and his decision. This morning, after reviewing the NPCs and draws, Mark informed me he was not insituting a re-write, but had made Dante's death "cooler." Many thanks for that Mark, I appreciate all you did.

And now, without further adieu:

James,

After working with Michael, we have come up with the following, more
lengthy end story for Dante. We reviewed the NPCs, senario, and chops
thrown and sadly, Dante's story came to an end. Below is the writeup
of what happened to him in his last scene.

Please note the scene is rather graphic, and definitely R rated for
graphic violence and horror.

Regards,
Mark

===============

Dante's Inferno
By Mark Lewis and Michael Cowan (with a few alterations by Me for accuracy)

The older Guardian was exhausted. The previous fight had sapped much of his will, most of his reserves of magic, and left him buffetted and battered by the backlash of Paradox. As he moved through the area, the mold and mildew filled his lungs. The effect was like drowning, he gasped for air and reached out a hand to steady himself as his head began to throb, his sinuses started to burn and his eyes began to throb.
Choking and coughing, he was distracted as the two spirits made their way towards him.

As the Guardian focuses on one of the other spirits, unleashing his powers over the mind, Shardis, an entity composed entirely of fractured pieces of mirrors floating about in a rough anthropomorphic shape, focuses its attention on his coughing and choking. Reflections appear in its shards, each a duplicate of Dante's own eyes, watching him, staring at him, focused solely on him. With Shardis comes Sludge, an entity made entirely of oily sludge and rancid trash. It is the rancid fecal smell of this beast that alerts Dante to their focus in time to try and defend himself.

Sludge casts forth his arm in Dante's direction and a stream of acid jets towards the mage, the liquid literally screaming uncomprehendible obscenities at him. Dante stumbles slightly as he tries to avoid it, momentarily distracted by the screaming and is hit in the side, his clothes starting to decay and the flesh over his ribs necrotizing from the spray.

As he tries to pull the acid soaked clothes off of himself, Shardis mutters whispered hatreds at him "Mirror mirror on the wall, Dante is the next to fall. Mirror mirror on the wall, Dante's death is best of all. Mirror mirror on the wall..." As it focuses, hundreds of shards of glass and mirror fly from it's form towards Dante, in each a reflection of the young mage with the rictus grin of the dead. The shards tear into his stomach, shreading skin, destroying muscle, and ripping through his insides.

Dante looks down at the wound, wobbling on his feet. "Are those my intestines?" he thinks to himself. The Guardian tries to push his entrails back into his stomach, quickly tieing his side with his now blood-soaked red scarf, the darkness encroaching on his field of vision. Summoning all of his strength, he focuses his will and lashes out with a psychic domination towards Shardis.

A small measure of luck seems to be with him as the mirrored reflections turn to the visage of the decay spirit. Shardis again lashes out with his deadly mirrors, but this time they tear into the corpus of Sludge, small explosions of decaying refuse riddling the spirit. Dante's hopes rise as he prepares his next spell to force the two spirits to continue fighting.

But his hopes are dashed as Sludge returns its gaze towards him, vomitting forth the gangrenous form of a dumpster abandonned infant. The infant, covered in stomach acid and bile screams out and slams into Dante's face. The bloated and blackened mass of former baby explodes into an acidic goo, burning the young Guardian's face off of his skull.

The last thing he hears is the shout of Reilly, yelling for him to hold on. He catches a last glimpse of Reily and Wayland launching themselves at the two spirits. However, Dante had made one error in his actions...spirits never forget a slight or a forced service.

Enraged, Shardis focuses on the fallen Guardian once more and streams of broken glass flay the skin off of Dante's chest and neck. A broken piece of beer bottle lodges in his throat. Shards of glass from a woman's compact burst his eyes, vitreous humor dripping onto
the exposed muscles and shreaded veins that used to be Dante's face.

Reilly's attacks destroy the damaged Sludge and force it from the field of battle. But Fate has already decided that this fight is not one that Dante will walk away from. Waylan, launching a vicious blow towards Shardis to try and distract the spirit from the fallen Guardian, slips in the remnants of the burst acid baby and completely misses the spirit.

Undistracted, Shardis moves over the fallen form of Dante and its hundreds of reflected eyes stare down at him. It hisses, "Take my will, and now I take your reflection, young and foolish Atlantean. Now your reflection will be mine...forever." Shards of glass once again tear into Dante's body, stripping away muscle from his chest, shattering bone, and shreading his heart and lungs.

Not here...not now....A death devoid of Justice....and to make it worse, I can't tell any of them how I feel about them...

This isn't how it is supposed to be....not like this....

It hurts....

One would think that the comatose mage would feel no pain. Unfortunately, this is only partly true. Small reflections of the man known as Liam Kincaid scream in pain eternally, trapped in the mirrors of the spirit called Shardis.

It hurts....

St. Michael,
Heaven's glorious Commissioner of Police,
who once so neatly and successfully cleared God's premises of all it's undesirables,
look with kindly and professional eye on your earthly force.
Give us cool heads, stout hearts, hard punches,
uncanny flair for investigation, and wise judgment.
Make us the terror of burglars, the friend of children and law-abiding citizens,
kind to strangers, polite to bores, strict with law-breakers, and impervious to temptations.
You know, St. Michael, from your own experiences with the devil,
that the policeman's lot on Earth is not always a happy one;
but your sense of duty that so pleased God, your hard knocks that so surprised the devil,
and your angelic self-control give us inspiration. And when we lay down our night sticks,
enroll us in your Heavenly Force, where we will be as proud to guard the throne of God,
as we have been to guard the city of men.
Amen.

By popular Demand...(though poorly written)

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 02:01:37 GMT

Biography of Isaiah Winters

now know as Sam’ael, Angel of Death of the Bene Elohim

Walker of the Path of Doom, Holder of the Lead Coin

Recognized by the Vox Draconis as a Former Lictor and Scion of God

Master of Death, Adept of Spirit, Apprentice of Space, Initiate of Matter

Isaiah Winters has led a life close to death. It is no wonder that when he awakened he easily found himself in Stygia, and without much perils inscribed his name on the Watchtower of the Lead Coin. Born in November, the month when life is receding for winter, in 1954, Isaiah was the son of a veteran of the Korean War and his darling, typically 50’s, housewife. Although painting the perfect picture of the great American home, complete with a white picket fence, the Winters family was fraught with strife. Thomas was deep in his liquor, caused by his extreme guilt of atrocities of the Korean War (friendly fire and the massacres of South Korean citizens) and the allegations that his wife had not been faithful during his time away (to the point where some of the ladies at church whispered that Isaiah was not Thomas’ child at all). Maureen, on the other hand, had quite the streak of flirtations and possible affairs, although none of it was capable of being proven. Two weeks after his birth, Isaiah’s mother was rushed to the hospital due to complications. Massive internal hemorrhaging, unseen results of the difficult pregnancy, led to her death two days later while Isaiah was being pulled from her arms (in the emergency).

Isaiah’s life hit a downward spiral. His father hired a wet nurse to take care of him, and paid enough where she never spoke of how Thomas raped her. The drinking got steadily worse. When Isaiah was four, his “nurse”, who was still paid to visit the house, complained a little too much. In a drunken stupor, Thomas killed her. Facing the horror of whom he was, what he had done in Korea, and the betrayal of his wife, Thomas killed himself, leaving Isaiah all alone. In this moment, surrounded by death, that Isaiah almost Awakened. In fact, he did, but was unable to reach a Watchtower.

He was discovered a day later when the “nurse’s” husband called the police. They, along with a local minister who happened to be Awakened, found poor Isaiah, now in the throws of a mystery play, in a far corner of the house. The minister took him under his wing, recognizing the signs of Awakening. The Awakened minister who found him, known to Awakened society as Camael, was unsurprised to hear that Isaiah had seen visions of a dark, foreboding angel of death figure during his period of Supernal lucidness, but was intensely surprised to discover that figure drifting away from the house. Camael, a member of the Scions of God and an Obrimos, took Isaiah under his wing, realizing his new status as a Sleepwalker. It was several years until Isaiah did Awaken, but the mental stress of the mystery play that lasted so long left him unstable and delusional. Though no one knows about this period in his life (none still living anyway), this is the era of his life that led to his complete delusions of being a true angel.

Throughout Isaiah’s mystery play, he was plagued by visions of both the restless dead and odd beings that he could not explain. On several occasions, over the course of this time, he again saw that angel of death from a distance. It is, however, important to note that Isaiah’s mystery play was rather strong, and there is no proof if he truly saw spirits, ghosts, or angels, despite his nature as a Sleepwalker, although his unique experiences led to his unusual aptitude for both the Death and Spirit Arcanum.

His father being a veteran and having a good job, combined with connections that Camael swung for him, Isaiah found himself going to Princeton in the old days of “We need new scientists to compete in the Cold War.” Although a bit unremarkable compared to his compatriots, Isaiah learned a good deal about both chemistry and anatomy. He found he had an odd aptitude and interest for alchemy and mortuary sciences, something that pushed him further away from his fellow. He began graduate school, but his schooling was brought to a sudden end by a rather violent episode.

One evening, while out with his few friends, Isaiah began to entertain a pretty young lady (his one true weakness). Rather intoxicated, he began to walk her home, when they were jumped by a few rather brutish fellows. This, however, was not the typical sort of mugging by modern standards. In the drunken revelry of the evening, Isaiah had sidestepped a few men who he had never had good relations with to get in good with this particular lady. It was they, rather more under the influence than Isaiah, which jumped him in the alley, intent on giving him a good thrashing to teach him a lesson. In their alcohol induced idiocy, one had brought along his pocket knife. A rather large pocketknife, which found itself lodged in Isaiah’s stomach.

Instantly, the vision of that angel of death returned to him. It had been years since he had seen any spirits. As all young adults do, they forget their dreams when the pressures of the real world intrude on their lives. The angel took his hand, and Isaiah found himself in a dark world of Shades.

Drowning. He was drowning, and for a minute, Isaiah thought it was his own blood gurgling from his mouth. But no, it was the dark water of Styx….A skeletal hand took his, pulled him from the inky water. A boat…the ferryman himself. And thus his tour of Stygia began. Isaiah never speaks much of his time in Stygia, but he felt at home, as he had been there before. He began his slow trip up the river with his boatman, as he felt the pull of the lead coin. Before him was a magnificent spire, made of bone and onyx. As he approached, a cold rain began to fall. Climbing the long way up the tower, he noticed a dark fire in one corner. A brazier there held the fire, but oddly, the flame was black. The boatman stepped from the shadows, and all at once, Isaiah knew that this was in memory of him. On the wall was the beginning of his name, cut short so many years ago. Shoving his hand into the black fire, he burned to down to the bone, and slowly scraped the rest of his name with the bone. Walking out onto a balcony of the tower, he turned his face up into the cold rain, and looked to the Lead Coin atop the spire. Finally, he was home.

That feeling was stripped from him as he was pulled back into the Fallen World. When he slowly opened his eyes, there was still a cold rain, and the pain from his hand had transferred to his stomach. The girl he had tried to take home was screaming in fear. Yet he no longer felt drunk. The men he had been fighting were rather distraught; the one that had stabbed him had turned and was trying to run. He knew, instinctively, that he had only missed a few seconds here, while he had lived a full life it seemed in Stygia…

Isaiah Winters died that night. He knew he had to, somehow. Knew he had to disappear now, that his life was vastly different. And so he willed himself to appear dead, and Stygia answered. The ambulance arrived, found him dead on scene. The man who had stabbed him was arrested, and one of the other men got the girl. Comfort and all that…

But Isaiah? His body disappeared. Before the coroner could arrive, the shadows spread through the darkened street, and he made his way out of there. His belongings were collected mysteriously, and he was removed from the rosters of active students of Princeton University. Isaiah Winters was dead.

In the 32 years since that night, Isaiah, forever known to the awakened world as Sam’ael, has relentlessly tried to reach Stygia again. He has delved into the Mysteries, guided the inexperienced and experienced Awakened alike. Joined the Silver Ladder and then the Scions of God, all to reach his home. Every time he makes the next step (gains Gnosis); he feels a stronger touch of Stygia.

After his “death,” Sam’ael returned to his home town and found the now much older Camael. Surprised yet overjoyed, Camael inducted Sam’ael into both the Silver Ladder and the Scions of God. All Sam’ael learned of the awakened he learned from Camael in those years, and upon his mentor’s death in 1979 (5 years after Sam’ael’s awakening), he began to wander the world. He found that the “angel of death” that had followed him all his life was simply a death spirit that had latched onto him. Camael had seen it early on, but it had defended young Isaiah so vehemently, Camael knew that it was primed to be a familiar. Little Hermes has followed Sam’ael since the fateful night where his father committed a murder-suicide, and continues to do so.

In his time walking this world as a Mage, Sam’ael has had many lovers, many enemies, many students. If at all possible, he resists putting himself under a mentor, believing that no one can possibly replace Camael. He once served as a Lictor of the Silver Ladder, traveling to various Consili to act as a Judge and Advocate. He even swore in Skoll, the man who considers himself High Lictor (he’s status 5). In the early 90’s Sam’ael retired from Lictor, and withdrew from the Awakened world. He still found himself mentoring others, including El and young Atticus Rex. For the past few years he has dedicated himself to the study of Death (per Tome of the Watchtowers) and has cut himself off from most communication. To survive he usually offers his knowledge of mortuary practices, which are fairly considerable.

Personality:

Sam’ael is a gruff, lusty old man. He is sharp witted and can be rather dark and morbid, as most Moros are. Yet he is deeply caring for anyone that he takes under his wings (literally and metaphorically). Typically these people have had similar lives to his own, dark and full of death. Many of those who are drawn to Sam’ael have seen too much death, have lost loved ones, or have killed. Some are dealing with the fact that they have to kill. Arrows and Guardians are especially likely to come to him for this reason, though Silver Ladder and Moros are also common. His one weakness is attractive women, to which he is often drawn.

Description:

Despite his advancing age, Sam’ael looks a good decade younger than he is. He is handsome and has a demanding presence. Yet his physical abilities (once fairly good) have fallen to his age and studies, especially his dedications to Stygia (typically where he gains Gnosis, the last long one to death was his advancement to Gnosis 6). He typically wears grays, and his Scion vestments are dark robes and a mask of bone. He has a beard and speaks with a charming Southern accent.

Sam’ael’s nimbus manifests subtly. As a scion, the outline of his angelic form, a dark, skeletal, foreboding angel with boney, black feathered wings, appears. His wand takes the faint outline of the angel Samael’s sword in Hebrew mythology, a blackened piece of sharpened onyx and bone that drips acidic poison. Before he became a scion, his nimbus (which retains its qualities still) was more of smells and perceptions (the Paranoia type nimbus from Tome of the Watchtower.) A smell of soft, damp graveyard earth wafts from him, whispers are heard from corners, and breathing can be felt on the neck. With powerful magic, a layer of frost appears on metal and glass, and ghostly visages can be seen in reflective surfaces. With the most powerful rituals (his oratories, extended castings, exorcisms, levels 4-5 spells, all subject to ST for dramatic effect) an ice cold rain begins to fall, just like the night of his awakening.

Familiar:

Atropos is a cold spirit that has followed Sam’ael loyally since the night his father died. A night after his awakening, Atropos was bound to Sam’ael by Camael as a familiar. Atropos typically looks like a mass of Stygian shadows but has a faint form of a black jackal.

Note: This isn't known by most people. He doesn't talk often about his awakening. Though, as an amusing point, I'm looking for a specific tie going along with the woman in the alley.

OOC: Wiki

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 00:52:40 GMT

Wiki it up!

Its a bit early, but I wanted to get it done sooner than later. Will be updated with more ties and info when it is done developing and approved.

Sam'ael

OOC Post, Journal?

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 06:20:10 GMT

So, I know there will be a few more Dante posts in this journal. The proxy, maybe some of the letters. However, I was considering my next character, and am trying to figure out if I should pull a new journal (seeing that this is rather named after dante) or create a new one. Having never lost a PC yet, I'm uncertain of what would be best

Thoughts?

OOC: New Character, looking for ties

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 19:36:39 GMT

Hello all!
With the recent death of my Guardian, Dante, valiantly helping close the Houston Verge (:-P) I am looking to create a new character. So, here is the basic premise. Ironically, I've been working on the concept for about a week, but it is still a bit fluid and indefined.

Shadow Name: Sam'ael (Hebrew angel of death, means "poison angel")
Path: Moros
Order: Silver Ladder
Intended Legacy: Scion of God

Sam'ael believes himself a representative of the angel of death, a psychopomp and purveyor of souls to the afterlife. This view is deeply centered in his beliefs as a Scion of God. He also finds himself as a mentor to those who have been heavily influenced by death, murder, and vengeance. He freely teaches the Death arcanum to those he believes deserve it, typically those he finds himself as a mentor to. Despite his age (some say he's been around a long time), his typically morbid and foul mood, and his dark tendencies, he is what might be described as a "good" man, and those who find themselves under his wing (literally and figuratively) find themselves with an understanding, highly protective, almost caring ally.

Inspirations:
      Angels of Death (Samael, Azrael, etc.)
      Psychopomps (Hermes, Charon, etc.)
      Priest from Count of Monte Cristo (cept meaner)
      Ducard from Batman Begins (Liam Neeson/any other "dark" mentor)
      Stark from Farscape (or any other ease of passage/Kevorkian figure)

Connections I'm looking for:
      Scion of God connections, especially a mentor (looking to start him with two attainments)
      Young Moros who need a mentor
      Any one who has had the following in their history: tragic death, quests for vengeance, or murder (dealing with the commiting of or aftermath of)
      People who need a mentor for the Death arcanum (in past or present)
      Old mages (who nearly meet or meet the requirement for an approval) as friends, mentors, allies, old lovers, or even enemies
      Young mages as friends, allies, old lovers, students, or even enemies
      Silver Ladder connections beyond the Scion of God

OOC: The Death of Dante

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 07:38:54 GMT

Well, Dante is dead.

Abyssal Verge in Houston.

Ouch.

As a planned contingency he had hanging, some PCs will be getting letters, after I speak with my VST.

PCs on this list will include:

Magnus, Roland, Abaddon, Asha, Mortegro, Ziba and.......crap, Moyer's Character....

Heh

*toasts Dante*

To my first PC death...

OOC: Forsaken IC LJ

Tue, 18 Jul 2006 20:46:03 GMT

Pardon the OOC:

I have a new forsaken IC LJ. Its for my Iron Master Irraka master thief: julian_raynor

If you wish to read, go ahead and friend. Won't guarantee I'll add you, but if you are a cammie or enjoy my fiction, I will.

haha, bitches :-)

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 19:19:13 GMT

This is a quick email to let you know that the following changes have just been made on your application for Eleventh Question Legacy for Dante (Liam Kincaid):

Status set to Approved

Uber-Detective here I come...

And I think its the first legacy in Bangor too...

Mage IC/OOC Group for Guardians

Fri, 19 May 2006 20:22:24 GMT

Heyas.

IC and OOC communication between order members is rather lax in the region, so I though I'd create a yahoo e-mail list for this. Took a little initiative considering Dante is a bit high up there.

Please don't get on the list unless you are a Guardian of the Veil and in the NE region. Also, sign up on the database for quick reference. The database does NOT exist ICly.

Both Markand the GSA Orders know about it.

Reqs for joining are Guardian Status 1.

This is mostly so people know other Guardians in the region. My character has been around for close to 20 years, but background ties and IC knowledge of other guardians is lacking due to communication breakdown.

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/ne-guardians/

-James Foster
US2004102252
Player of Dante, Mastigos Guardian, status 4, Epopt of the NE and Sentinel of Bangor, ME

AARST Forsaken NPC/Characters
ADST Legacy/NPCs (ME-007-D)
ADC Recruitment/Announcements (ME-007-D)

OOC-Rumors for the Wikis

Tue, 16 May 2006 07:44:21 GMT

If you have any interesting rumors for the wikis on Dante, feel free to add them in.

http://guardiansoftheveil.org/index.php/Dante

and

http://magetheawakening.org/index.php/Dante

just trying to keep them both accurate and updated
I really should post in this once and a while

also, if anyone knows of any Eleventh Question contacts or hookups, that'd be cool

ooc approval announcement

Tue, 25 Apr 2006 17:48:24 GMT

This is a quick email to let you know that the following changes have just been made on your application for Guardian of the Veil Status 4 for Dante (Liam Kincaid):

Status set to Approved

Mon, 30 Jan 2006 20:48:58 GMT

This is a quick email to let you know that the following changes have just been made on your application for Guardian of the Veil Stauts 3 for Dante (Liam Kincaid):

Status set to Approved

yay!

OOC

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 06:44:01 GMT

Well, here it is. This journal is kept mentally in Dante's head.

Isnt the pic wonderfully mastigos? I'll have to get a better one...

IC posts will be friends only.

Dante's concept:

Forensic psychologist and CSI. Very cloak in the cloak and dagger. Politically ambitious, partially Prof X in response to Dray getting to have Magneto...

;-P