Redeemed Balseraphs.

[PenitentDemon]

This hit me long ago not sure how to phrase it


Generally will a redeemed balseraph run into some disonance at first (not saying hes a definate inevitable yo yo just a bit of dissonance) with the new condition preventing him from employing what was once his greatest power.

or will he be more likely to have allready became a thoroughly scrupulously honest individual WELL ahead of redemption (which I admit isnt unlikely)

theirs argumetns both ways of course.

[Rocket Man]

Originally Posted by PenitentDemon

This hit me long ago not sure how to phrase it


Generally will a redeemed balseraph run into some disonance at first (not saying hes a definate inevitable yo yo just a bit of dissonance) with the new condition preventing him from employing what was once his greatest power.

or will he be more likely to have allready became a thoroughly scrupulously honest individual WELL ahead of redemption (which I admit isnt unlikely)

theirs argumetns both ways of course.

A few thoughts:

--A Balseraph that has actually Redeemed is now a Seraph. He no longer has access to "what was once his greatest power" or even wants it.

--Any Balseraph that does Redeem, like any other demon, has likely run into quite a bit of dissonance first. And for a Balseraph, one of the surest ways to rack up dissonance is to get caught in lie after lie. I suspect few Bals became scrupulously honest before their Redemption, but those that do come to that point have likely had their noses rubbed in all their lies and have no choice left but to face the truth of what they are.

--To answer what seems to be your implict question, a freshly Redeemed Seraph may have some bad habits to overcome initially. They have literally let their old natures be destroyed and taken up a new life that allows them to love the truth ... but they do have a lifetime of experience in telling lies. It could well be that a new Most Holy may have a struggle between what their old reflexes and their new nature are telling them, one reason that Archangels keep a close eye on new recruits at first.

As it happens, my own gaming group is in the midst of trying to rescue and redeem a Hellborn Balseraph, something on the order of trying to turn a longtime member of Al Qaeda into an acceptable U.S. Marine. Her human Role was arrested and imprisoned, and since she owed some allegiance to Lilith, the continued confinement (and some pressure from a War angel) piled up more and more Discord -- including Truthfulness and Selflessness as she began to regret her old life. So in her case, she is trying to be a "scrupulosly honest individual" before her Redemption, or at least wants to be.

Hope I answered your question clearly, or at least provided some food for thought.

[chris the cynic]

As has been often stated, a Balseraph doesn't lie the way most human beings would define the word. What the Balseraph says is true, in it's mind. It may or may not be true in reality as well.

As a Seraph a former Balseraph would have lost the one thing that made falsehood possible, an innate ability for self deception.

On the one hand this might mean former Balseraphs have a mindset that make them unlikely to become dissonant because to be dissonant they'd need to sink to a level they didn't even attain as Balseraphs, saying things they knew to be false.

On the other hand, they've been living in a world where if they wanted something to be true it was true (for them) so that mindset could lead to trouble.

I think the best answer is, it depends on the ex-Balseraph.

[PenitentDemon]

yes...

and it did occur to me that its singularly unlikely that the new angels superior would send them (or even allow them) into any kind of situation where lieing would be especialy expedient (e.g. most social situations involving mortals)