Blandine, Cherub Archangel of Dreams (Heresy)
The world is what we make of our dreams.
"War to the knife": it's such a short
phrase to carry so large a burden of meaning.
Attempting to sum up twenty millennia of constant struggle, untainted by
mercy, forbearance or respite with four one-syllable words seems almost
hubristic, but in the end the line seems to fit. Beleth Rebelled, Blandine didn't, and they've spent most of their
time since then enthusiastically attempting to gut each other. That's all there is.
When you come right down to it, that's all they have
left of each other.
There are two Wars, really: the one that the rest of
Heaven and Hell are engaged in and the one that Blandine and Beleth are engaged
in. Any overlap between the two
conflicts is almost accidental.
Nonetheless, the Archangel of Dreams does not care to have either spill
into the lives of humanity. Thus, it is
dissonant for Servitors of Dreams to cause the death of a human (or even
permanent harm) while he or she is dreaming.
Yes, this is a very real risk.
Unsentimental, for the most part - and very, very
focused. They have a definite
organization, based around particular areas of the Vale and with a clear chain
of command. Servitors of Dreams are
soldiers, through and through: no Warrior nonsense is allowed in any of the
places where Blandine holds sway. They
are all expected to be brave, resolute, flexible in tactics but always mindful
of the greater strategy: a certain uncritical willingness to face danger and
death to keep humanity safe is also expected.
They also police their own. Triads often only find out about Traitors to
Blandine when a silent Servitor of Dreams pours out the shards of the
miscreant's Heart onto an Inquisitor's desk.
It is also a point of... responsibility... for Servitors of Blandine to
make sure that they are the ones who bring in those of their number who
are under sentence of punishment or death.
As per pages 6-7 of Superiors 3, with
the following additions:
Blandine gives the ethereals willing to swear
service to her three boons. First, they
are stabilized, thus meaning that they are no longer dependent on human beliefs
for their existence. Second, they may
freely enter Heaven (although there are a few places, even there, where they
may not be wise to enter). Third
and last, their natural ability to exist in the Marches is subtly enhanced: the
Disturbance that they do is cut in half.
This last ability is the one available to angelic Choirs (and, oddly
enough, Soldiers and dream-shades): obviously, the first two are redundant for
celestials.
Infernal (Apocryphal) (Restricted)
This has never been proven to exist - Superior-level
ineffability seems to be involved, and the Seraphim Archangels are notably
silent on the subject - but, given Blandine's pragmatic nature to her War, it's
not entirely unlikely. The general
consensus is that, should this Attunement exist, it would allow a Renegade
demon to simulate the appearance and 'flavor' of an ethereal. No one has ever confirmed actually meeting
one of these oddities, which suggests that only the most perceptive could even
discover one (in game terms, a Perception -10 roll with no chance to use
Essence to boost the roll).
Dominic will not answer questions on this topic, or
even give any acknowledgement that such questions were ever asked.
As per pages 7-8 of Superiors 3, with
the following additions:
Dream-Weaving
This is functionally equivalent to the canonical
Malakite of Creation Attunement, except that it works only on the ethereal
plane and can be used to create armor, as well (minus to hit equal to the CD of
the Perception roll and Protection equal to the angel's Ethereal Forces). The angel may have a maximum of one piece of
armor and one weapon so created at any time.
This Attunement allows the user to tap into a
dreamscape's 'immune system', for lack of a better term, in order to repel
inimical intruders. By spending 2 Essence,
the angel is at +3 to all combat and defense rolls made in that dreamscape,
provided that he or she can successfully rationalize the use of existing
elements of a dream. This should not be
a matter of die rolling, although a generous GM is certainly allowed to give a
hint or two if the player makes an Intelligence -3 roll.
For this Attunement to work, the angel must be in
the dreamscape of someone who has been wronged. By making a Perception roll at -3, the Servitor will be able to determine
who has wronged the dreamer, and to what extent (including any supernatural
elements). The angel will not be able
to get a full description, but it will be complete enough for a Dreambook;
failing that, the Servitor will be able to recognize the miscreant on a
straight Perception roll.
If said miscreant is brought to bay in (or tricked
into reentering) the original victim's dreamscape, an angel with this
Attunement has a +2 to all rolls involving chastisement.
As per page 7-8 of Superiors 3, with
one addition:
This is a 'half-step' Distinction, and is very
common: the angel is able to lock a dreamscape in its current location in the
Vale (thus keeping it from straying farther into Beleth's side). However, this comes with a price: if the
dreamscape is successfully attacked, the angel must make a Will roll. Even a success will cause one Mind Hit;
failure will cause 1d6 Mind Hits to the angel and one Mind Hit to the
dreamer. This will result in
dissonance if the angel is driven off (leaving the dreamer defenseless and
damaged), so knowing when to use this Distinction is a definite skill.
This particular incarnation of Blandine is very much
a member of the War Faction: indeed, she, Michael and Laurence are pretty much
the Big Three. Unlike the other two,
however, Blandine has no real enmities to work around. She has her War, the other Archangels have
theirs and all that is really necessary is that she be kept informed (and
inform others) when the two conflicts threaten to spill over into each other.
Of course, friction still exists. Blandine is not particularly amused that Eli
has essentially vacated his position, or that Dominic is a bit too eager to
meddle in her internal affairs (the Gabriel issue is slightly annoying as
well). There also may be just a hint of
exasperation with the Archangel of Destiny: it's hard to say, but possibly
Blandine might be still slightly annoyed that Yves did not give her a bit more
in the way of a concrete warning about Beleth.
If this exists, it is of course nothing like Michael's own grievance -
but Blandine is one of the few Superiors apparently willing to accept that the
Archangel of War might possibly have a point.
Allied: Laurence, Michael
Associated: Janus, Jordi, Novalis
Neutral: David, Gabriel, Jean, Marc
Painfully Polite: Dominic, Eli, Yves
David: "She does well enough, given the flimsy
things that she has to work with."
"The Marches are no place for the inflexible. It's good that David recognizes this, and
stays away. His mortal servants make
some interesting Dreams, though."
Dominic: "The dichotomy is annoying. On the one hand, she is openhanded about
allowing my servants to investigate the Vale and the Marches themselves; on the
other, attempts to investigate their guardians are often met with an almost
impenetrable wall of silence. There is
only one War, despite her private opinion on the matter, and she is not an
independent agent. We have not yet come
to the point where this needs to be resolved once and for all, however." "I
am not as sanguine as Dominic apparently is in his ability to properly assess
the unique conditions of the War for the Vale: his reaction to Gabriel's
condition would convince me of that, if nothing else. Simply because he can intervene does not mean that he
always should intervene... and
as for the rare Traitors to my service, they should consider themselves lucky
if he gets to them first."
Eli: "I thought she'd be sure to get it, but
apparently she didn't. We were a bit strained the last time we talked; I'll
have to make it up to her somehow." "It's not that I don't see the
need for the personal touch, but Eli went over the line - and he should have
explained his reasoning better. The way
his Servitors got essentially cast loose and scattered to the four winds was
also disturbing. We have
responsibilities as well as privileges, after all."
Gabriel: "Gold dragon and black dragon, yin and
yang, fire and ice: when the dance ends, who will wear which mask?" "I
understand her madness without sharing it; the fires that flicker in her now
are never far away in the Marches, and without them this plane would be static
and cold. If the Prince of Infernal
Fire places one toe within my reach, I would instantly cut it off and send it
to her for her delectation. Other than
that, I can do very little for her except listen when the voices become too
loud for her to keep locked away."
Janus: "The Marches are a wonderful place to
Dance, especially with Blandine as a partner.
She can keep up, too - though she cheats. Not that there's anything wrong with that,
of course." "Janus fits in the Marches better than anyone else on
the Seraphim Council, and his Servitors can pull their weight there. It's a shame that he cannot visit more
often."
Jean: "Blandine keeps acceptable control over
an extremely chaotic and subjective environment. There is thus no real need for me to involve myself in her
affairs, save at her invitation. This
does happen: the design and deployment of equipment in the ethereal plane
sometimes requires expert attention."
"When I need to work with Jean, we work well. The rest of the time I leave him to his
tasks and he to mine. I have taken it
upon myself to feel the satisfaction with this arrangement for both of
us."
Jordi: "We have forgiven her for what she did
to the unicorns. We have not forgotten,
but perhaps she was wiser than us in that matter. She is as vigilant towards the Dreams of animals as she is
towards those of humans, and we have not forgotten that, either." "The
dreamscape of an animal is as precious as that of a human, and full of its own
kind of wisdom."
Laurence: "It has taken us some time to get
past the unfortunate events prior to my new task, but we have done so, and I
cannot imagine a better general for this front of the War. She has my utter trust and unquestioned
support." "He promises to be a better Commander than even Michael,
and is already a far better Commander than Uriel could have ever hoped to
be. We enjoy a congenial working
relationship. It's a shame that he
isn't a bit older, though."
Marc: "She should integrate more with the rest
of Heaven, and I'm not just talking about the War. It's bad for us to be too alone." "I'm not entirely
pleased with the effect his Word has on the Marches, but then I am somewhat
hard to please. It is not Marc's
particular fault that I find him... well, slightly boring, to be frank."
Michael: "It takes a bit of work to get
Blandine to let her hair down, but usually worth it - and there's nothing wrong
with her instincts in combat. The kid's
right: she's perfect for her job. Just
don't start a drinking contest with her unless you don't have anything else to
do for a week or so." "It can be a bit time-consuming to keep
Michael amused when he visits, but thankfully he's an Archangel of simple
enough interests. I try to schedule the
more exuberant operations for when he's available: it would be a shame to waste
his... energies, no?"
Novalis: "We talk a lot - but I wish that it
was more often. I've been trying to get
to that ball of pain in her center since the end of the Rebellion, and it's
slow going. The fact that Blandine lets
me keep trying is encouraging - and I won't stop until it's exposed or she
tells me otherwise." "There is a stillness in Novalis that is
almost addictive, and her laughter can be heard in a thousand thousand
dreams. I think that Michael and
Laurence should not be so quick to discount her contributions to our
struggle."
Yves: "There was another path for her to take. It would have been a better path in some
ways and worse in others. But it was
her path to take, and I am too fond of her to force her into the ways that I
think she should walk." "I will always have time for Yves, and I
will always show the respect due him. I
even retain a considerable personal affection for the old man. But if he wants to tell me something, he can
blessed well tell me, plainly and without obscurity. If this is impossible because I could not
hope to comprehend it, then he has my permission to handle whatever matter has
come up himself."
Which one?
This isn't a facetious question, actually: there are
two Wars going on under the same name in this universe, and Blandine and Beleth
are the major players in one of them. Indeed,
if it weren't for the fact that the corporeal and ethereal planes constantly
feed off of each other, the Archangel of Dreams and the Princess of Nightmares
wouldn't be involved in the 'main' War at all.
The two Superiors don't dispute that the other War is important - just
not as important to them.
Of course, Blandine can't ignore the War on the
Corporeal plane entirely, or even mostly.
She maintains Tethers, fosters her Word and fights those who would
cheapen it. These days, that mostly
means Nybbas: the Prince of the Media was very fortunate that he was able to
establish his Word sufficiently before she really noticed him, because
otherwise Nybbas would have been squashed like a bug in the initial
onslaught. Blandine has some
difficulties projecting force on the corporeal plane - but when one has War,
Wind and the Sword as allies, this is not so much of an issue. Still, the Archangel of Dreams has recently
determined that if she is to remove Nybbas as a serious player she will need to
amass more resources on Earth.
Accordingly, she has somewhat expanded her corporeal forces and
increased the tempo of Media harassment.
This is certain to increase in the future.
But it is still the Marches that is Blandine's major
focus. She and Beleth are locked into a
constant struggle: the major 'front line' has not significantly changed in over
four centuries, and both Superiors control roughly half of the Vale. This is unlikely to change any time soon,
either: both sides are about equal in strength, ferocity and determination, and
any stupid mistakes that either Archangel or Princess would have made were made
long ago.
Thus, the secondary front line is in the Far Marches
themselves. The situation here is far
more complex and dynamic: both sides seek to actively recruit from the plane's
denizens, with mixed results.
Currently, Blandine has the Hindu, Native American and Voudon pantheons
in firm alliances, while Beleth controls Faerie, the Aztec pantheon and (through
Nybbas) the August Prosperity Collective.
The other major pantheons and Domains are either constantly fought over
or stay precariously neutral. Needless
to say, both Dreams and Nightmares employ some very good insurgency,
counterinsurgency and black op groups.
These are identical to the rites found on page 9 of Superiors
3, with the following exceptions: replace "Spend four hours
daydreaming" with "Celestially slay a Servitor of Nightmares"
and replace "Destroy an ethereal's vessel" with "Send a Servitor
of the Media into Trauma".
+1 A dream-catcher.
+2 While in the presence/dreamscape of a sleeping
person currently in Blandine's side of the Vale.
+3 A handwritten collection of lullabies.
+4 While in the presence/dreamscape of a sleeping
person who has just been rescued from Beleth's side of the Vale.
+5 At the moment of soul-death of a Servitor of
Nightmares.
+6 Ninety living creatures in a room, all peacefully
dreaming.
Blandine is the only Cherub that has ever had a
celestial form based off of an imaginary animal: she appears as a dragon. This is not like the standard Seraph
celestial form, but the classic dragon form of Western legend, complete with
two vast wings and a jeweled underbelly.
In deference to her angelic nature, her scales are covered with a soft
golden fur and her wings are feathered.
Blandine will maintain at least one version of this form at all times,
save at direst need (for reason stated below): her standard 'business' form is
that of a quiet, black haired and gray-eyed woman in her mid thirties. Her dress alternates between flowing gray
robes and plain military dress.
It should also be noted that Beleth's celestial form
is also that of a dragon: in her case, a black dragon with scarred batwings.
This divergence point of this version of Blandine
occurred roughly five minutes after the beginning of the First Incursion, and
is due to a revelation that the Archangel of Dreams never had in the original
history.
This revelation can be summed up quite neatly in six
words: "The angel Blandine loved is dead." Yes, there is a Demon Princess that has Beleth's memories,
Beleth's original Forces and even fragments of Beleth's original personality,
but she is not Beleth. Lucifer murdered
Beleth, just like he murdered one third of the Host when he led them into
Rebellion (for that matter, just like he murdered himself). Blandine will never stop loving the Angel of
Fear... but she's gone, and even if the thing that is using
Beleth's name ever repented, it will still not be her. Yes, that's a cold thing to think - but,
given what Beleth was trying to do to Blandine at the time, not a surprising
one. It's a wonder that the canonical
version didn't have a similar revelation, really.
At any rate, the Archangel of Dreams began her
post-Incursion tenure as Mistress of the Vale being both significantly more
militant and a damn sight less sentimental than before. The next few millennia were quite significant,
in their way: Blandine's original revelation was never discredited, but the
Archangel of Dreams soon mitigated it slightly. The revelation that demons could Redeem suggested that possibly
someone like the old Beleth could come back to her - but the Archangel
of Dreams eventually decided that there was something unhealthy about the
idea. If the situation ever came up,
Blandine resolved to keep an open mind on the subject and try to treat a
Redeemed Beleth on her own merits, not on the vivid memories of a long-dead
lover.
Then Blandine went back to fighting the War.
After that, really the next interesting thing (from
our point of view) was the confused mess that was this alternate's version of
the Purity Crusade. 'Confused mess' is,
unfortunately, all too accurate a term: it started with Blandine's decision to
remove unicorns from the corporeal/ethereal plane before they depopulated
Eurasia, snowballed into Uriel's offer to help, which later became a drive to
excise some of the more annoying ethereal pantheons (at first, with Blandine's
full support), then became perilously close to a second Rebellion when the
Archangel of Dreams defied the Commander of the Host over certain ethereal
beasts and servants of hers. There was
a six-month period where Dreams and Purity were actually engaging in a
low-visibility blood feud in the Marches; it only ended when Blandine forced
the issue in the Seraphim Council.
Fortunately, things were deemed settled when Uriel was recalled to the
Higher Heavens; his son turned out to be a whole lot more sensible about a
whole lot more things. This included
being sensible about Blandine's decision to formally accept ethereals into her
service; the Tsayadim aside, this was mostly accepted in Heaven a while back,
which was just as well.
As one might have guessed from the above, Blandine
is significantly - no, not harder; the canonical Archangel of Dreams is quite
tough enough to handle her task. It's
more like that toughness has been sharpened with all the care and attention that
one might expect from a Cherub. She is
still kind, loving and good, but do not stand between her and what she
protects... and she protects all of the Vale that she can reach, which by
extension includes all of humanity. If
you do stand in her way, you will be moved.
One way, or the other.
Like much in this particular Heresy, the Tower is
mostly identical to the one in canon - except for a fairly large
exception. Just under the crest of the
Tower is a vast doorway, only accessible by air. Those passing through it will find a large, sloping downward
passageway that takes them to the central open area of the Tower. There, far below, they will find the
draconic form of Blandine resting peacefully, twined around and over and under
and against a vast heaping pile of her Servitor's Hearts.
This is deeply reassuring to angels serving Dreams,
actually. They all know that dragons
only hoard that which is most precious to them, after all, and woe to anyone
who attempts to steal from one...