A delicate flash
Of dark red cherry blossoms;
The world floats downstream.
It goes like this:
Ninjas are neat.
Yves is neat.
Ninjas are inscrutable.
Yves is inscrutable.
Ninjas own the night.
Yves, being sort of like a manifestation of God,
more or less owns everything - including the night.
Ninjas say a lot of things that sort of make sense,
and sort of don't, but what they say is always way cool.
Yves does exactly the same thing.
Ninjas can kill you in umpteen different ways, using
nothing but a hairbrush, three nickels and a book of matches that was run
through the washer.
Yves... well, nobody's ever seen him do it, but
then, you wouldn't, would you? He could
do it, that's all I'm saying.
Ninjas are always the last people you'd expect.
The only Superior deemed less likely (by any even
semi-rational person) to be a ninja than Yves is Laurence, and I'm not sure
about him, either. It could be a
trick. Ninjas are tricky.
I think that I've made my point, here.
Servitors of the Ninja Archangel may not knowingly
bring a person to his Fate, nor knowingly deny her from reaching her
Destiny. Contrary to popular belief, it
is not dissonant for Servitors of Destiny to admit that they are
Servitors of Destiny, but none of them do anyway.
Immaterial to game play: even a PC Servitor of
Destiny will not be allowed to reveal the secrets of his ninja clan, to the
point where they do not admit to being Servitors of Destiny. Yes, everybody knows (the black outfit is
sort of diagnostic), but Heaven is usually willing enough to play along. Anyway, this means that you don't have to
bother with groups or organizations or any of that realism bunk: if you need a
Servitor of Destiny, just open up a cabinet door or something, and he or she'll
pop out.
There are those who might wonder how the GM will be
able to keep a PC from revealing the secrets of his or her ninja clan. It's actually easy: don't give any. Just say that the character knows all
the secrets, but the player wouldn't be able to understand (or explain)
them anyway - unless he or she happens to be both an angel and a ninja,
of course. No, this is a serious (using
the term loosely) suggestion: if you have a player that isn't willing to play
along with the gag, don't use this Heresy.
Needless to say, if the player really is both
a ninja and an angel, and can prove it, then this sleazy rationalization
doesn't work... although if you've got real angelic ninjas for players then you
probably run a much weirder game than I could ever hope to duplicate. For that matter, if you've got that kind of
real-life resource available then I'd like to ask a favor or two.
All Servitors of Destiny have three Choir
Attunements: their canonical ones, Ninja (see below) and special Choir-specific
special Ninja Attunements. The latter
two cost 5 points each and must be taken at character conception. Yves will sometimes give out Ninja and/or
other Choir Ninja Attunements to worthy individuals of other Words: figuring
out how to wheedle one out of him is left as an exercise for the interested
student.
The angel has learned secret ninja unarmed fighting
techniques - no, really. Punches have a
Power of 0 and an Accuracy of +1; kicks have a Power of +2 and an Accuracy of
0. Unfortunately, these bonuses go away
if the angel is even carrying a firearm or powered weapon.
Seraphim Ninja can use the Truth to bemuse their
opponents. The character must make an
Emote roll at -2; the player must come up with a unique and new aphorism that
is at least vaguely apropos to the situation at hand (it is suggested that the
latter be strictly enforced). Up to
(Ninja's Celestial Forces) entities may be affected: the targets have their
combat rolls reduced by 2 for two rounds.
Any given target can only be affected by this Attunement once per 24
hours.
Cherub Ninjas are masters of vengeance. They may choose any one entity who has
harmed or killed one of their attuned: from that point on, they will always
know if that entity is still alive and add +2 to any roll used to track
him. The subject may be changed at any
time, but rarely is: such flightiness is not the way of the ninja.
Ofanite (Restricted)
The Ninja gets extra attacks with a successful
resonance -4 roll: divide the CD by 2 and round up (maximum 3).
Elohite Ninjas have an affinity for sudden strikes:
if they spend at least one hour in motionless meditation, their first attack
roll (except for firearms) is at double Power and Accuracy.
Malakite (Partially Restricted)
Malakim Ninjas have effectively unlimited
vessels. Kill one, and they simply grab
the next Generic Ninja Vessel/1 and come right back down. The killed vessel dissipates into nothingness
as soon as no one is looking.
Other Ninjas who take this Attunement get the
dissipating vessel trick, but not an unlimited number of them.
All Ninja Gifters have +2 Charisma that is tied to
the angel, not the vessel (thus, it functions even in Heaven). This stacks with any Charisma bought
normally. Ninja Brights tend to take
full advantage of this.
Kyriotate Ninjas are unmemorable: when not in
combat, others must make a Perception roll at -3 to notice them at all.
Ninja Mercurians enjoy a free Role/5 (Nobody in
particular, Status/2). This is
literally 'nobody in particular': if the Mercurian sticks around in one place
for more than a few days, he or she will be treated as if he or she had always
been there. They won't be particularly
recognized - but they'll pretty much fit in anyway. The Mercurian may also take a regular Role, if desired.
Yves' canonical Attunements are all still available;
naturally, the Ninja Archangel has made a few more available...
Gravity becomes meaningless to the ninja, as long as
he or she is actually touching an item somehow fixed in the earth. This is explicitly meant to allow the ninja
to climb anything, run across rice paper without crumpling it, walk on water
and generally do neat special effects; it is not meant to be abused, although
the concept of 'abused' is being... well, abused... quite thoroughly anyway in
this particular Heresy.
The ninja are everywhere! Well, more or less. By
making a Perception roll at -4, a Ninja Servitor may call upon any other ninja
in the area to come to his or her aid.
The number of ninja that arrive is inversely proportional to how badly a
PC requires them, modified of course by standard 'amusement value' and
'advances the plot' factors.
This is the secret language of the Ninja. Well, not precisely secret: they aren't shy
about speaking it in front of others, but it doesn't really matter: only
another speaker of Ninjelic can understand the bizarre aphorisms and pointless
poetry that makes up the "language". This is handled in play by the player (who absolutely must
roleplay it out) spouting off some suitable gibberish while handing the GM (or
another player with the Ninjelic Attunement) a note with the actual message
inscribed thereon. Note that the other
players are perfectly within their rights to appropriately punish the overuse
of this Attunement...
*Name courtesy of the Habbalite of Technology living
in my basement.
The ninja automatically succeeds at all Move
Silently rolls (CD equal to Corporeal Forces -1, minimum 1) if done in
shadows. The ninja may attempt to roll
normally.
The ninja is effectively invisible to all purely mechanical
and/or electronic security and sensor systems.
This ability cannot be turned off, alas - but then, the way of the ninja
is not the way of photo ops.
This Attunement allows the ninja to unobtrusively
sneak into closets, wardrobes, giant vases, behind curtains, packing cases,
cupboards - if the ninja can fit in there, he or she will be able to enter
without disturbing the surroundings, setting off any alarms or opening any
openings. Locked hiding places require
an Agility roll; but, if successful, the ninja will be able to open the lock
from the inside when it comes time to spring out dramatically.
Functionally equivalent to the canonical Vassal of
Destiny Distinction.
Functionally equivalent to the canonical Friend of
the Sages Distinction, with the restriction that any knowledge so gathered can
only be expressed in a fashion true to the Way of the Ninja (that is to say, in
a baroque and convoluted style).
Functionally equivalent to the canonical Master of
Divine Knowledge Distinction; this Distinction is sometimes given out more than
once. Anyone who holds more than three
Grand Masterships is officially known as a Great Googly Moogly Grand Master
Pimp Ninja Daddy; nobody dares laugh.
Incidentally, gaining the Malakite resonance via
this Distinction does provide the immunity to Trauma, as well as full
use of the Ninja Malakite of Destiny Attunement (if bought).
Well, aside from Michael being a little less
hostile, there wouldn't be much of a change.
More or less; obviously, Yves' peers may be getting a little worried
about this entire ninja business, but if things are still getting done they're
more than likely to just assume that yet another deeply inscrutable thing is
going on that they can't hope to comprehend, so just let Yves do what he's
going to do. It's not like he's not as
nice as he used to be, or anything.
But Michael will be a little less
hostile. He can't help but be a little
less hostile: ninjas are just too cool to stay mad at one for long.
Allied: Same as canon
Associated: Same as canon
Neutral: Same as canon, plus Michael
Hostile: None
All Superiors on both sides: "Err.... right." "To the
shore, all waves are identical. Yet the
waves understand the jest."
Theoretically speaking, there shouldn't be any
change here, right? It's still Yves,
still his Servitors; they still go out and make the world better, one person at
a time. Servitors of Destiny do
everything that they do in canon, precisely as well as they've always done.
It's just that, well, now they're ninjas, too.
True, this has had some effect on the way that they
do things - for one thing, nobody ever keeps a book overdue from the Library
anymore - but less than you'd think.
Servitors of Destiny were halfway along the path of the ninja, anyway:
they were already subtle and somewhat inscrutable workers used to working
behind the scenes and largely on their own.
Adding the ability to become one with the night and kick their
opponents' kidneys out through their noses was deemed more a refinement than
anything else. Others might disagree,
but quietly. It's not considered wise
to mock a ninja.
That bit about turning in books on time is meant in
deadly earnestness, by the way. No
group of Destiny's Servitors embraced their ninjahood more enthusiastically
than Yves' Librarians.
Yves supports all of his canonical Rites.
: Remove an obstacle from the path of Heaven.
: Become one with the night.
: Make the GM laugh with a (unique) ninja aphorism.
Unfortunately, the way of the Ninja Archangel is
hidden to all but true ninjas - and the way is different for each ninja, and
sometimes the path that one chooses is the not the path that one walks. To properly simulate this sort of thing, the
player must come up with an appropriate action or item, subject to the GM's
approval: if one is found, roll one die.
The number that comes up is the modifier to the Invocation roll.
Nobody knows how it happened. One day, Yves was Yves: the next, he was
still Yves, only suddenly sporting a ninja outfit and becoming one with the
night. His Servitors followed suit,
apparently gleefully. They show no
signs of stopping any time soon, and by now it feels vaguely odd to even bring
the subject up. After all, if the
Seraphim Council was worried, they should have voiced their concerns right from
the start, yes?
If this sounds odd, it might help understanding if
one realizes that Yves has not become any more incomprehensible since he
embraced his Ninja nature. He's just
incomprehensible in an entirely different way now. From an angel's point of view, an Archangel of Destiny who goes
around in a black ninja suit is not particularly less bizarre than an Archangel
of Destiny that wears tweed sports jackets and argyle socks. It's not the first fashion change sported by
Yves, and probably not the last.
Of course, the new special abilities sported by his
Servitors are a bit more of a cause for concern. The Archangel of Destiny does not give out frivolous Attunements
and Distinctions; his Servitors have been turned into ninjas for good reason,
even if nobody can quite agree on why.
Speculation is, of course, rampant, and not helped by the fact that
Yves' explanations are only understood even dimly by the Seraphim
Archangels. They decline to speak on
the matter, but it has been noted by the interested that Michael has been
looking more cheerful lately. Make of
that what you will.
Hell has its own theories (mostly involving the
onset of senility) - but a few painful episodes by suddenly and seriously
kick-ass Servitors of Destiny have persuaded most of the Horde to not spout
them off in public, much. It's entirely
possible that the entire point of this exercise is to seriously confuse the
Enemy. Of course, that might just be a
beneficial side effect of the process, as are the sudden suspicious looks that
Hell is giving Kronos (after all, as Above, so Below). Servitors of Fate are starting to feel the
strain; not a few are even taking martial arts training on the sly.
Other than that, Yves is still Yves, pretty
much. Presumably he has all of the
special abilities of his new Servitors, but nobody's ever seen him be anything
but kindness and serenity itself.
Of course, now that he's the Paramount Great Googly
Moogly Grand Master Pimp Ninja Daddy of them all, you wouldn't see him if he
didn't want you too, right? That's sort
of the whole point...