And then there are the Merry Pranksters.

The resonance of a Merry Prankster (they insist on the full name, to distinguish themselves from Servitors of Dark Humor. They and their Archangel also steadfastly refuse to change the name) is for chaos. Preferably, the raw, heady, undiluted stuff: the weirder things get, the happier a Merry Prankster is, because they can nudge and direct probability for their own ends. You can get away with a lot more when things are wild and wooly.

A Merry Prankster isn't supposed to let chaos do bad things to good people. They take dissonance if one of their stunts kills or seriously hurts an innocent mortal. This dissonance can only be removed if the angel makes full amends (kind of hard to do if the human's dead) and sets up an equally nice thing to "randomly" happen to the unfortunate soul. Merry Pranksters thank God regularly for the human love of lottery tickets.

All Merry Pranksters have the Celestial Song of Form/3 (paid for normally). One of their specialties is to be the Fortunate Stranger who's at the Right Place at the Right Time, and you really need to be able to change your face on a regular basis to do the job right. They tend to favor an innocuous appearance, for much the same reason. Merry Pranksters can have Roles, but they try to keep them separate from their other activities. Still, it's amazing how lucky their human coworkers and friends can be.

In their celestial form, they appear as winged humanoids comprised of ever-shifting colors. These colors (and voices) change slowly enough so that they remain recognizable in the short term, but angels of other Choirs usually have to ask, "Do I know you?" to Merry Pranksters if they haven't met in a while (many Merry Pranksters cope with this by wearing name tags). On the whole, they tend to get along best with Kyriotates (who can relate to their constantly changing outlook) and Malakim (who just love having one of them along in a fight). They get along worst with Seraphim (a Merry Prankster has a thumb on the scales of reality, and that can do strange things to Truth) and Cherubim (keeping track of this Choir is a headache and a half). They also have real trouble dealing with Witnesses (Jean's minor Choir).

Merry Pranksters think of themselves as jukeboxes set to random play: you know what's in there, but you'll never know what's coming up next.

Sometimes, Merry Pranksters get caught up too much with playing with the universe and stop worrying about the risk to humanity. Those who let too many people get hurt run the risk of Falling and becoming Randomizers, a Band with near-identical abilities, but wildly different personalities. Randomizers work mostly for Valefor (who can also apparently create them), and may be almost as arrogant as Balseraphs. On the other hand, a Randomizer who allows his twisted sense of noblesse oblige to overpower him or her can eventually Redeem and become a Merry Prankster. It's all very odd.

A Merry Prankster's resonance is for probability: what's likely, what’s possible, and what can become likely if you nudge things a little. Even these angels find it impossible to accurately predict events for more than a few minutes in advance, and sometimes (very rarely) they're just flat-out wrong. More often, they see several likely outcomes at once, and have to maneuver by guess and by God. Lastly, their resonance only works within line of sight, or else through use of the Song of Projection.

But within these limitations, they can be amazingly effective. Just knowing what will happen next is often sufficient, if you're clever and sneaky. Most Merry Pranksters are clever and sneaky indeed.

1. You know the most likely outcome of any situation or action done within your presence.

2. You know the above, and just how likely it is.

3. You know all possible outcomes, and their likelihood, without specific details. "He could easily trip and fall" is acceptable: "there's a 60% chance that he'll break his neck if he keeps walking and steps into the pothole" is not.

4. As above, but you can pick a particular outcome and determine its likelihood.

5. As above, and you know of a way to improve that possibility a bit.

6. A plan, worthy of Rube Goldberg, pops into your head. Anything is possible, as long as it isn't actually impossible (that is, violates the laws of physics) or requires activity from an entity or object currently beyond your range of perception. For example, if you're being attacked by a demon, you cannot expect gravity to reverse itself, or for a duck to materialize out of nowhere and hit your attacker. However, you could kick a stone, which splashes into a lake, whereupon a napping hunter wakes up, sees a flock of ducks that were flying overhead anyway, and shoots, actually hitting one, which then crashes down on the demon's head…

Incidentally, spontaneous human (or celestial) combustion is completely forbidden, unless the Merry Prankster rolls a Divine Intervention. There are many debates over precisely why.

Anyone playing a Merry Prankster should be allowed a little more time to come up with a plan of action, but not hours (or even minutes). The resonance itself is effectively instantaneous.

Sometimes knowing the odds is enough. With a successful Intelligence -4 roll, the Merry Prankster can bump up a the check digit on a successful resonance roll by 1 (the check digit can never be increased to 6 in this way, or indeed by any other method besides rolling it naturally).

Using this resonance successfully in combat translates to at least a +2 to the Dodge skill (not default) for the next game-minute, in addition to any other benefits.

The origin of this Choir is just one more of those minor mysteries that surround Janus. They're relatively new (the oldest is about three or so centuries old), and always seem to be created fully-fledged. It's suggested that Janus may not actually create them at all. There's always been rumors of "pure" celestial spirits, neither angel nor demon, that spontaneously come into existence in out of the way places of the celestial planes. If they exist, they must be short-lived. Janus may just have worked out a way to bring stabilize and bring them into alignment with Heaven.

The entire idea is incredibly unlikely, but then, "unlikely" is a Merry Prankster's meat and drink.

Merry Pranksters of the Wind don't spend much time in Heaven, compared to other Choirs: there's not much for them to do. Likewise, while they enjoy the ethereal plane, the fluid nature of reality there makes them fairly superfluous. They shine in corporeal arenas, however: Janus gives them a fairly free hand on earth (even for him), assuming that they'll end up somewhere important eventually.

Some items - or people - seem to be foci for improbable events. Sometimes the events are consistently good, sometimes bad, and sometimes just weird. Merry Pranksters of the Wind can instantly recognize one of these foci, as well as the general type of oddities that surround them. This is usually good for a +1 to their check digits for any skill, as long as they can plausibly include the foci somehow.

Most angels of this Choir stay with Janus, naturally: he creates them, and they fit his style exquisitely. However, there are several other Archangels that can properly appreciate them. Janus usually leaves his own Choir Attunement in place, unless noted.

Those who serve under Blandine (and more do than for any other Archangel) receive her Ofanite Choir Attunement. Permanent Merry Pranksters of Dreams automatically lose Janus' Choir Attunement, but may purchase it as if it was another Choir Attunement of Dreams (Janus will also give them access to Passage, to "keep in practice").

Before his extended vacation, Eli always showed an interest in this Choir, and he's still known to reward a particularly good stunt with one of his Servitor Attunements (usually Abracadabra). This can only be earned in play, and should be rightly considered a special (and useful) mark of favor.

The Archangel of War has a few Merry Pranksters on hand. He's the only one who's ever managed to craft a Choir Attunement for them, too. Merry Pranksters of War can impose a -2 on an enemy's attacks and defenses, provided that they are engaging them in personal combat. Anyone else engaging the same enemy shares the bonus (this is not cumulative). However, like those in service to Blandine, these Merry Pranksters do not keep (but may purchase) their original Choir Attunement.

None currently serve Destiny full-time, but some are more or less "on call". Yves always gives Divine Destiny (paid for normally), in lieu of a Choir Attunement.