The Remnant shall return...

[robkelk]

Shear-jashub
Mercurian of Protection

Corporeal Forces 1 Strength 3 Agility 1
Ethereal Forces 2 Intelligence 4 Perception 4
Celestial Forces 6 Will 12 Perception 12

Vessel: Human male/3
Skills: none
Songs: Shields (all/3), Solace (all/6)
Attunements: Mercurian of Protection


Shear-jashub is an angel who works with both Superiors and their Servitors to carry out a tightly-defined mission. His mission is his name, which means "the remnant shall return".

Occasionally, Servitors discover a Remnant while on Earth. Very occasionally, Servitors are given the task of locating a Remnant, and succeed in this task. Either way, they are likely to inform their Superior of this. That's where Shear-jashub comes in, alongside the Superior.

The Celestial Song of Solace (Liber Canticorum, p. 55) allows a Remnant to remember his past existance as a celestial. If Shear-jashub pours all his Essence into singing this Song, that gives the Remnant a minimum of twelve hours to remember what he once was; his best Essence-charged performances allow the Remnant seventeen hours of memory. During that twelve to seventeen hours, a Superior may be able to grant a new Celestial Force to the Remnant. If all goes well, the no-longer-Remnant will remember what he is even after the Song of Solace has ended.

As to whether this procedure will actually work... well, even Superiors who don't like Khaid can have faith. And if it does work, and some Archangel can spare the decades it would take to find that oft-rumoured Remnant of Raphael, then there will be even more joy in Heaven. (Say, maybe that's what Eli is doing.) Some people think that result is worth giving this a try, and Shear-jashub is one of them.


(Shear-jashub is a balanced starting character, but why would anyone want to play him? He's more a plot device than a viable PC.)

[JCD]

If they had access to such a ritual/plot device, why wouldn't they use it on Oannes or Raphael, who would strengthen them immeasurably?

[fwcain]

Originally Posted by JCD

If they had access to such a ritual/plot device, why wouldn't they use it on Oannes or Raphael, who would strengthen them immeasurably?

Because the first step in any recipe for rabbit stew is, "first, catch a rabbit." ;-)

They need to find the Remnant, first. And remember, Remnants are invisible so far as Resonances are concerned.

Franklin

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by fwcain

Because the first step in any recipe for rabbit stew is, "first, catch a rabbit." ;-)

They need to find the Remnant, first. And remember, Remnants are invisible so far as Resonances are concerned.

Exactly. (As I said in the first post, "... and some Archangel can spare the decades it would take to find that oft-rumoured Remnant of Raphael ...")

This is a plotbunny, not a guaranteed procedure to restore Remnants to full Celestial status. It's up to the GM whether to even allow the attempt, let alone whether it'll work.

Edit: As for strengthening Heaven immeasurably, well... an Archangel with only one Celestial Force would be pretty weak. They'd be doing this to restore the being to a semblance of what he once was, not for the power boost.

[ISNorden]

Even if Shear-jashub were lucky enough to find the Remnant of some Archangel stumbling around in another plane...and even if that Remnant somehow got its first Celestial Force back...a former Archangel would need MANY more Celestial Forces back to regain its old power and status. How many Superiors would put that much energy into reviving an old ally? Celestials can weaken themselves with that much effort, possibly becoming Remnants themselves... *eek!*

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by ISNorden

Even if Shear-jashub were lucky enough to find the Remnant of some Archangel stumbling around in another plane...and even if that Remnant somehow got its first Celestial Force back...a former Archangel would need MANY more Celestial Forces back to regain its old power and status. How many Superiors would put that much energy into reviving an old ally? Celestials can weaken themselves with that much effort, possibly becoming Remnants themselves... *eek!*

The idea wasn't to restore an Archangel to full Superior ability; the intent is to find one who is lost. I'm reasonably sure that both Jean and Litheroy would be happy to have Raphael back even if she did only have one Celestial Force. (Not that Jean would let that happiness affect his actions, of course.)

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by robkelk

The idea wasn't to restore an Archangel to full Superior ability; the intent is to find one who is lost. I'm reasonably sure that both Jean and Litheroy would be happy to have Raphael back even if she did only have one Celestial Force. (Not that Jean would let that happiness affect his actions, of course.)

And Yves would be ecstatic. It'd be a very quiet ecstasy (this is a Library, you know), but it would definitely be there.

[Yamiblade]

Sounds like a good idea. If a camp get's made for this, I'd like to play.