The Grigori Archangel of Song

[Jason]

Any write-ups for this canon but completely unexplored Superior?

[chris the cynic]

It doesn't look like it. The last time the question came up the answer was no, and it looks to me like that is still the case.

Though you might want to ask robkelk, who started to write one.

[Attercap]

I can't find any reference to an Archangel of Song. There's the unnamed Grigori Archangel of Death that got this tasty writeup, but that's the only Grig Superior I'm aware of.

OK, based on the post prior, there's obviously some sort of reference, but darned if I can find it. (Pointers?)

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by Attercap

I can't find any reference to an Archangel of Song. There's the unnamed Grigori Archangel of Death that got this tasty writeup, but that's the only Grig Superior I'm aware of.

OK, based on the post prior, there's obviously some sort of reference, but darned if I can find it. (Pointers?)

There's a passing reference in GURPS In Nomine to a Grigori Archangel of Song, but no other details are given.

[chris the cynic]

It's one of those things that they thought they'd be getting to soon.

I think someone said that they put the Grigori stuff in because they thought the people who got the GURPS book would feel shortchanged when the Grigori book came out a few months later. Something along the lines of, "Here's a choir so important it gets it's own book and we've got nothing?" So they put a little Grigori stuff into GURPS In Nomine fully expecting the main line to be getting all the same stuff and more in the near future.

Of course the Grigori book never came out, so now there's stuff in GURPS In Nomine that is no where to be found in the main line.

Or something like that.

[Jason]

Originally Posted by chris the cynic

Though you might want to ask robkelk, who started to write one.

Hm, somehow missed that when I did a forum search. Thanks!

I may put something together myself soon. Will post here (or in that other thread) if I do.

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by chris the cynic

It doesn't look like it. The last time the question came up the answer was no, and it looks to me like that is still the case.

Though you might want to ask robkelk, who started to write one.

And I'm still working on her... slowly.

[Jason]

Originally Posted by robkelk

And I'm still working on her... slowly.

I will leave you your own thread for your own more impressive and comprehensive write-up, then. :) Here is the quick-and-dirty take I came up with the other night on short notice, when I should have been doing real work. (Almost certainly changing some things, though, including the name and probably the gender pronouns. There aren't enough sane female Archangels.)

Shiron, The Grigori Archangel of Song
Angels don't like to invoke the name of the Grigori –- even the Seraphim Council believes that uttering the Choir's very name may disturb the Symphony –- and so they refer to the Outcast Choir simply as "the Watchers." Likewise, many celestials have willfully forgotten the name of the Grigori Archangels, referring to them only by their Word, if ever at all,*or some modern translation thereof. "Shiron" –- a combination of a couple Hebrew names referring to song –- is considered a safe alternative for Servitors in good standing to use in place of the long-buried True Name of the Outcast Angel of Song.

Shiron was a joyful, playful, noisy Archangel, delighting in appearing in a variety of different incarnations, male and female alike. If he is referred to with the masculine pronoun, it is only because that was the last face ever seen on him in Heaven, as he confronted Dominic shortly after the ruling that Outcast his Choir. (Shiron had been on Earth at the time of the ruling, which certainly couldn't have helped his case.) No one heard precisely what words the Archangels exchanged, but after Shiron left the Council Spires, his expression unusually unreadable, there was never again another Grigori seen in Heaven.

Originally one of the earliest Servitor of Creation, Shiron was elevated to the rank of Archangel not long after being awarded his Word... [And then I stopped writing, realizing I needed to be doing real work, and I wanted to change much of the back story anyway.]

Dissonance
As a Grigori, Shiron was more proactive than other Archangels in influencing human life directly. It was dissonant for his Servitors to go for more than a day without bringing a song to a human's ears (or lips -– even better if the human could be inspired to sing him or herself). It was also dissonant for his Servitors to perform a Song without including any vocal performance; they were a boistrous lot.

Choir Attunements
Seraphim can predict the effects of a Song during its performance from physical/vocal preparations.
Cherubim hear a distant, mournful song when one of their attuned may soon be in danger.
Ofanim can affect the rhythm/tempo of a musical performance. [Still trying to come up with a practical use for this.]
Elohim hear a unique song for anyone they see, with a tone reflecting their current emotional state.
Malakim add half the level of their Singing or Dancing skill (round down) to Song roll target numbers, so long as they include both vocal and physical components in their performance.
Kyriotates do not terrify humans in their celestial form, but still stun them; rather, humans who see them only remember witnessing a bright light and holy music, and are left feeling at peace.
Mercurians resonance detects music preferences, and reveals any songs in one's heart (or head).
Bright Lilim would be able to sense Needs by hearing music performed, even without eye contact.
Grigori automatically detect with a CD of 6 any disturbance caused by a Song in their range.

Servitor Attunements
Improvisation: Allows the angel to invent and perform Variations of Songs (see Liber Canticorum) on the fly for extra Essence. Minor cosmetic changes (like substituting lobster pincers for Numinous Corpus Claws), or slight changes in duration or area of effect, cost 1 Essence. More specific changes in effects (like a variant on Possession that allows the performer to possess only one body part) cost additional Essence at the GM's discretion. This multiplies the Song's Degree of Disturbance by the number of Essence spent.

A Song in One's Heart: Can place a specific melody and lyrics into a quiet recipient's mind, leaving them with the urge to hum or sing it. (Resisting this urge requires no roll, but inattentive targets may sing along without realizing what they're doing.)

Music Box: Can seal a song (or even a Song) into a container. Upon being opened, the song in the container will play; a (capital-S) Song will target whoever opened the box. In either case, the song/Song must be successfully performed to place it into the box, and the sealing requires 3 Essence. Songs that have a duration longer than "instantaneous" will lose time from that duration at a rate of 1:60 (so a Song that lasts seconds will only last minutes in the box, and a Song that lasts minutes will last hours).

Distinctions
Vassal of Song: Causes no additional Degree of Disturbance (beyond Essence spent) for Songs.
Friend of Choruses: Can sing in the Angelic Tongue even in corporeal form.
Master of Celestial Ensembles: If they recognize someone preparing a Song, they can make a Singing or Dancing roll before the performance is complete to redirect the Song's effects to another target (or cancel it completely, in the case of Songs that affect only the performer).

Rites
Teach someone the words and melody of a song, and witness them perform it in its entirety.
Successfully execute a Virtuoso or sotto voce performance of a Song.
Spend an hour listening to birdsong.

Relations
Being Outcast, Shiron has no known relations at present, but given that he has not been reported dead, rumors abound about whom he might be in contact with. (Eli? Gabriel? Israfel? Or even the mysterious Archangel of Death?) It is generally assumed that he likely holds a grudge against David or Dominic, but he had no qualms with them when still in Heaven's good graces.

Allied: Eli, Novalis (Eli was allied with Shiron)
Associated: Gabriel (Novalis was associated with Shiron)
Hostile: None (and none were hostile to him)

Song Affinity
Some have rumored that Shiron's angels knew a secret Song of Songs, but if it's true, its effects are not known. Shiron's angels typically knew many Songs, including many secret Songs, however, and he counted more Virtuosos among his Servitors than any other Archangel.

Chance of Invocation: -6 (was 3 before being Outcast)
+1 A live performance of a song by humans or angels
+2 The singing of a bird, whale, or other nonhuman mortal
+3 At least twelve people, singing in perfect harmony
+4 The first live performance of a new song in front of an audience of at least a hundred people
+5 The Trisagon (though he probably wouldn't be pleased if this were performed on Earth)
+6 Performing a newly discovered Song in the Symphony for the first time

[JCD]

Might I offer some alternatives?


Seraphim can detect the Truth of a Song, even one sung Sotto Vocce; i.e. what it is exactly if seen before and it's effects if it's new. Additionally, performance and acting are lost on them, as they can see the Truth of the person Singing, dancing or acting. Example: Mary has had a cruddy day but put's a smile on her face when she does her gig at the club. Ruiel can see that this is a fake front, no matter how happy the song, or how well she performs it.

Cherubim can, if in the physical presence of someone performing a Song against their attuned, take the effects upon themselves by inserting their name into the song instead of the intended victim.

Ofanim have great rhythm. Besides being able to play drums or a bassline, they also can avoid dissonance when dealing with resonance failure. Ex: Mickey is running to catch an elevator before the doors slam shut. He can make the roll to use his resonance and then abort it if it's a failure without penalty. This does not apply to gymnastics climbing, driving etc unless there is a very distinct element of timing. This includes dodges. But if the player aborts the resonance on a dodge, he automatically gets hit.

Elohim who hear a person singing can automatically get their emotional resume with a CD of 6.

Malakim add half the level of their Singing or Dancing skill (round down) to Song roll target numbers, so long as they include both vocal and physical components in their performance.

Kyriotates can hop at will between anyone in a group who is singing the same song. This ends when the singing ends. They LOVE beer halls.

Mercurians resonance detects music preferences, and reveals any songs in one's heart (or head).

Bright Lilim: can gauge the need of a person to perform...and their abilty to do so. (The two are not synonymous)

Grigori automatically detect with a CD of 6 any disturbance caused by a Song in their range.

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by JCD

Kyriotates can hop at will between anyone in a group who is singing the same song. This ends when the singing ends. They LOVE beer halls.

Brilliant! I'm going to have to suggest this to ISNorden for her heretical Archangel of Music.