Lore of the Celestials
Description:
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- ● LAMP OF FAITH
This evocation, allows a Devil to detect the presence of mortals or other demons in her vicinity by causing their store of Faith to flare like a beacon that only she can see individuals glow with a pale blue light, varying in intensity depending on the strength of their Faith, while non-living objects lose color, fading into dark silhouettes.
System: Roll Perception + Alertness. This evocation affects all living beings within a radius in yards equal to the character's Faith, Demons targeted by this evocation (and aware of its use) can resist its effects with a successful Willpower roll ( difficulty 8 ). Extra successes permit the character to detect these beacons of Faith through intervening obstacles, allowing the demon to detect hidden individuals as well. Seeing through an interior wall or door requires one extra success. Seeing through a brick wall requires two extra successes. Seeing past thick metal bulkheads or a vault door might require three or more extra successes. This special sight persists for a turn.
Torment: Monstrous Devils receive the opposite effect of this evocation; their eyes see only those individuals whose souls have become so hollowed out by their evil acts that they are literal voids of spiritual energy. These soulless individuals (including other demons with a Torment of 9 or more) appear to the demon as patches of blackness against the dark background of the physical world.
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- ●● SEND VISION
In their former role as the Creator's divine Heralds, the Namaru were often called upon to convey God's messages across the length and breadth of the cosmos, delivering Heaven's commands as potent visions that filled a Celestial's mind with images of majesty and wonder. After the Fall, the Devils still made extensive use of this lore, communicating detailed orders to their subordinates in the rebel host or smiting their foes with frightening visions of infernal wrath.
System: Roll Manipulation + Expression. Devils may use this evocation to send complex instructions to fellow demons at the speed of thought. Unlike an invocation, this vision fills the recipient's mind like an illusion or a waking dream, playing out whatever scene the sender wishes to convey in the blink of an eye. The amount of information the sender can convey depends on the number of successes generated by your roll. Each success allows the sender to describe one turn's worth of action. For example, if a Devil wishes to instruct one of her fellow demons to go outside, get in a car and start the engine, the player would need three successes to fully convey her instructions. These instructions can be shared simultaneously to a number of individuals equal to your character's Faith. These visions can be sent only to recipients within the sender's line of sight. This power may be used on mortals and demons alike.
Torment: Monstrous demons use this evocation to shock or frighten their foes in battle. The sender can affect a number of targets equal to her Faith, as long as they are within her line of sight. Each success generated by your roll inflicts a level of bashing damage against the targets as they are struck with terrifying visions of the Devil's wrath. Unlike normal bashing damage, this mental assault cannot be soaked. If the evocation inflicts more levels of bashing damage than a target's Wits, the target must make a Willpower roll ( difficulty 8 ) or suffer a temporary derangement.
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- ●●● PILLAR OF FAITH
Throughout the birth of the cosmos and the early days of Paradise, the Heralds were at the forefront of every major effort mandated by Heaven, bolstering the energies of other Celestials wherever necessary.
System: Roll Manipulation + Leadership. This evocation allows the Devil to add her Faith to the efforts of another, as long as the Devil knows the demon's Celestial or True Name and can draw a line of sight to him. Each success adds a bonus die to the target's next evocation roll. The Devil cannot provide more bonus dice than her permanent Faith score, and if the recipient's roll botches he still loses a point of Faith as normal.
The user of Pillar of Faith does not lose any Faith when "lending" it. Repeated use of this evocation on a single target does not cause bonus dice to accumulate.
Torment: Monstrous demons may use this evocation only to block or negate the efforts of another. This phenomenon works like any other resisted dice roll, with the Devil's successes negating any successes generated by her opponent. Again, the Devil must know the target's Celestial or True Name to perform this evocation.
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- ●●●● THE FIRE OF HEAVEN
This evocation allows the Devil to channel her Faith as a withering blast of pure white fire, smiting her target with the wrath of a fallen angel.
System: Spend one Faith point and roll Dexterity + Athletics. The character may target any individual or object within a range in yards equal to her Faith score. Every success generated by the roll inflicts one level of aggravated damage (or lethal damage if the target does not deal in aggravated damage).
Torment: Monstrous demons are unable to focus the fiery power of their Faith in a concentrated bolt. It erupts from them in all directions as a storm of raging energy instead. When a high-Torment demon uses this evocation, the infernal fire strikes everything within a number of yards equal to the character's permanent Faith score. The blast inflicts one level of aggravated damage per success to everything in this radius.
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- ●●●●● HAND OF FAITH
The mandate of the first Celestial House was to act as the voice of the Creator and to ensure that His Grand Design was fulfilled within the bounds of angelic free will. If one of the Celestials deviated too far from the Creator's design in the process of Creation, the Heralds were able to manipulate the evocation as it happened, modifying the outcome to within acceptable limits. Although this mandate was only rarely enforced, this evocation more than any other spawned the tendency of the other Houses to jealously guard their prerogatives and regard the Heralds with no small amount of resentment.
System: Spend one Faith point and roll Manipulation + Leadership. Hand of Faith allows a Devil to usurp another Celestial's evocation, directing its effects as she desires. You must generate more successes on your Faith roll than the player of the demon performing the evocation does with his, and your character must know the initiator's Celestial or True Name. If successful, the Devil can alter the evocation's target and its effects as if she were the one using the power. If the Devil does not roll enough successes to seize control of the evocation, the attempt fails and the evocation proceeds as originally intended. When used in combat, the Devil must have a higher initiative than the demon performing the evocation — Hand of Faith cannot be performed as a reflexive action.
Torment: Monstrous Devils are not able to manipulate other demons' evocations, but they can cause evocations targeted at them to rebound and affect their initiators. Again, you must generate more successes on your roll than the demon performing the evocation in order to succeed. If successful, apply the effects of the evocation against the initiator (if the evocation has an area effect, center it on the initiator). The Devil must know the initiator's Celestial or True Name to perform this evocation.
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BEL, THE VISAGE OF THE CELESTIALS
The apocalyptic form of the Lore of the Celestials reveals the fallen as a luminous, lordly angel, radiating divine grandeur and authority. Her skin literally glows, wreathing her in an aura of golden light that shifts in intensity depending on her mood. Her eyes blaze with the cold light of the stars. Despite her actual physical appearance, the fallen seems to tower over everyone around her. The Visage of the Celestials confers the following abilities:
• Wings: A pair of eagle's wings extends from the character's shoulders. At full extension, each wing is a third again as long as the character is tall. The character can glide up to three times her running speed per turn.
• Lordly Mien: The character's aura of divine authority lowers the difficulty of her Charisma and Manipulation rolls by two.
• Enhanced Senses: The character's five senses are heightened to superhuman levels, lowering the difficulty of her Perception rolls by two.
• Increased Awareness: The fallen is especially attuned to the fabric of reality, lowering the difficulty of all Awareness rolls by two.
Torment: As the character loses herself to her dark nature, her authority remains as strong as ever, but the glow that suffused her dims to a sullen red. Her wings turn leathery, and her eyes become as black as the void. Where she was once a vision of nobility, she now carries herself as a haughty tyrant.
- The Visage of the Celestials confers the following high-Torment abilities
• Claws/Teeth: The character manifests claws and fangs that inflict Strength +2 aggravated damage.
• Scales: The character's skin is covered with dark, lustrous scales that provide four dice of armor protection against physical attacks.
• Increased Size: The character's body grows to a third again its normal height, adding the following bonus Traits: +1 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +1 Stamina.
• Dread Gaze: Individuals (mortal or demon) who meet the demon's gaze and who fail a Willpower roll (difficulty 7) must forfeit their actions for the turn.
