Cyberpunk In Nomine

[Shadowmourne]

Hmmm thanks for all the replies guys. I'll be running this using the IN rather than the GURPS system because I) that's what I have and II) that's what I'd rather.

I believe I forgot to mention the most important point about the Marches. I mentioned that AI produce an ethereal presence - something in between a dreamscape and an ethereal presence. Well stray too far "that-a-way" and you can wander (or wonder I suppose) into the 'net. Powerful lucid dreamers or net runners can traverse the boundaries as can, of course, ethereals and celestials who are brave or incautious enough to try. Though that doesn't make the 'net any safer than the far marches - the human mind can be a terrible thing.

Additionally, I'm actually looking for slightly more "concrete" stuff - ideas for NPCs that could be encountered or crazy conspiracy theories for what Eli was doing for a whole week in Paris (and one that culminates in his murder no less).

Between the Bright Lilim of Revelations conspiracy theorist and the Impudite gunning for the word of "Cheap Body Modifications"; gangs of Stone backed, disenfranchised rubb- I mean rabble and the Hell-raising hellsworn gangs they fight; a Triad with meticulous paperwork and the Tether in Notre Dame - I think I've got some interesting things going on but I'm looking for more. Who might be about and with what agendas - not up top (where the focus, aside from Eli, is on the Superiors the Players choose to serve and their opposite numbers) - but down on the ground on the gritty streets of Paris (where life is cheap unless you dine fancy and money is unachievable unless you have so much it's worthless).

As a note - I want to invoke some ideas of "As Above, so Below" - the heavy class division of cyberpunk that keeps the Megarich and the horribly poor so divided should be reflected in Heaven - if you're an Archangel you really have no idea what it's like for those who actually work to further your word and scramble for distinctions, essence and the souls of humanity. Hell should seem more fluid - "You could rule in Hell if you didn't serve in Heaven. You can own the streets rather than slaving in a cubicle."

Sorry for the ramble - I thought I should clarify my thoughts a bit more.

[Rocket Man]

What was Eli doing in Paris? Well, here's a few possibilities:

1) His secret plan that led him to wander the Earth was about to come to culmination and he was killed to prevent it. Depending on the plan, this could be something like:

1A) He was attempting to win Lilith's loyalties to Heaven; the Princess of Freedom would be in a conflcited state in a cyberpunk universe since anarchy is running wild, but liberties are being crushed right and left by the megacorps. Either the meeting was a trap or (more likely to my mind) another Prince learned of it and set an ambush that killed Eli and sent Lilith into hiding. Has the human Princess truly gone Renegade?

1B) He had finally managed to reach agreement with a conclave of the surviving Grigori and was coming to Notre Dame to present their renewed loyalty to the collected Archangels. In this instance, either a Prince killed him to prevent the alliance (since no one else has the Watchers' trust or contacts) or, worse yet, an Archangel ordered the hit, not wanting to see the return of Heaven's most notorious Choir.

1C) He was on the verge of Falling (with the new word of Destruction) and was planning to destroy Notre Dame as proof of his new loyalties. He was intercepted by a militant Archangel who put him down and made it look like Saminga's goons ... or by an impetous Prince who didn't realize what Eli was planning until it was too late, and then tried to cover his tracks by making Death look like the heavy.

1D) He was insane and on the verge of cataclysmic self-destruction, which might have wiped out a good chunk of Europe with him. He was in Paris because the small piece of rationality he had left suggested that Notre Dame might be a place where he could find help and safety; either angels or demons may have put him down in this case, or even a combined team trying to neutralize the "E-Bomb."

2) Eli had discovered a threat to Paris, the most angelically-aligned city in the world, and was trying to prevent it when the ambush hit. This is the one scenario where it might actually have been Saminga; was a new Plague about to be unleashed on humanity?

3) An increasingly unstable Eli committed suicide in the most creative means he could find -- a means intended to reunite Heaven in the face of a perceived deadly threat from Hell. In such an instance, look carefully ... did Eli actually die? Even if he did, is the nature of his Word such that he can *stay* dead?


Just my two kopecks worth.

[Acolyte]

I'm actually a fan of the "this was Eli's plan" scenario. Eli might be crazy a bit, but he's in tune with Creation in a gut way no one else is--Yves might have a better grasp of where the Symphony is going, but Eli knows what it is Right Now.

More importantly, if Time Travel exists and this is known, anyone has to know that ANY truly epic event (like the Death of a Superior) will drag that option forward. Perhaps Eli arranged for his future death knowing the Archangels and the Seraphim Council will send angels back in time to prevent it, and that was his real goal.

I say Orc is definitely an Archangel now. In the atmosphere you describe, Mammon is probably back to full Demon Prince (not minor) anymore, and Khalid's power may have weakened considerably (unless faithful technoreligions are a new fad).

Interesting NPCs:

angels of Stone building internet communities
demons of Greed and Gluttony battling each other over Word supremacy as it relates to money
angels of Trade prolonging that fight
angels of the Wind taking on the stagnant corporations by bombing data centers, selling illegal weapons to gangs, and generally mucking about
demons of Lust promoting cyberfetishism
ethereals spawned from technology-related dreams gaining rapid power on Earth
Loki (he's always interesting)