Kingdom in the Sky (Domain)
(With Apologies to DaVinci's Notebook)
Places such as the Kingdom exist in every long-term war scenario. It can even be said that wars create the Kingdom, or places like it. It's hard to tell, particularly since causality in the Marches is mostly a theoretical exercise anyway; suffice it to say that the Kingdom is where you go...
Well, the obviously loyal servants of Heaven
wouldn't dream of doing business with minions of Hell, let alone
ethereal parasites. And no demon would
ever think of using deniable angelic or ethereal resources as assistance
in an internal faction fight. And there
isn't an ethereal who would dare to negotiate with celestials on
anything resembling equal terms. And
the various refugees from half a hundred different ethereal and celestial wars
would never set up shop around all of this obviously nonexistent
business.
Not that any of this needed to be said, of course.
The Domain itself is dominated by a great walled
city that would be instantly recognizable to any human familiar with late 20th
Century Western children's programming... actually, this should be addressed
right now. One of the odder quirks of
the Domain is that there are certain words and names that simply cannot be
spoken while within it. This
prohibition apparently applies to anyone below the level of Superior; if asked
why, an inhabitant will simply smile a little nervously, look both ways and
whisper the word 'lawyers'.
Metaphysical engineers have guessed that this unique condition results
from an interesting synergistic effect from the two major belief flows. The Kingdom receives most of its belief from
children under the age of about eight or so - but there is a definite thread of
power coming from adult belief as well.
Unfortunately, the latter is a bit darker. The corporeal business entity associated with the Kingdom
apparently has a certain reputation associated with it... one that engenders a
healthy respect, if not outright apprehension and/or fear.
So, the basic layout is that of a shining,
primary-colored city surrounded by sunny fields and inviting forests. There is a definite artificial feel to the
setting, particularly when it comes to the denizens (who are mostly either
anthropomorphic animals or stylized humans of a hundred different cultures and
time periods). There are 'dark'
sections of the Kingdom, but those areas are also exaggerated in layout and
tone, to the point where it's impossible to take them as threats. At any rate, the basic nature of the place
is antithetical to anyone getting hurt (see below), so generally speaking the
Domain on its own would be hardly frightening.
However, the dream-stuff that makes up the Kingdom is highly malleable;
couple that with the somewhat darker belief flows and one has the necessary
conditions to produce a few places where things can be disturbing. For the most part, these places are
associated with the aforementioned officially nonexistent refugees, but not
always.
The Kingdom, naturally, has a King - who is not
quite the master of this Domain. He has
the abilities of a Master, including the ability to grant rights to other
ethereals... but the true ruler of this Domain is not he. The King spends most of his time brooding on
the throne, looking out over his lands via 'technological' and 'magical'
viewers. His laughs are frequent, yet
usually nervous and high pitched: the King will often stare at the Mountain
where the true ruler of the Kingdom dreams slow, frozen dreams. Someday the true ruler will awake, and put
all things right - or right for the true ruler, at least. In the meantime, the King will continue to
worriedly do what he thinks that his creator would want him to do; this can be
awkward, particularly as the King is often better at setting things in motion
than in stopping them.
Below the King is the Council; it is a group of the
most powerful ethereals native to the Kingdom.
The determination of precisely who is most powerful at any given time
can be interesting; generally speaking, they go with the popularity of their
Images on earth, modified by their innate skills in Dream-shaping. There is not much internal conflict at this
level, but the King listens to the Council, and so outsiders will enlist them
in schemes of their own. All members of
the Council are ceremonial Guardsmen (see below): for that matter, they are not
immune to Assumption Combat. There's
always a sequel to worry about.
And below the Council is the Staff. The Staff is large (all Initiated natives),
and has many factions, and is in constant conflict with both itself and
visitors. Their ostensible job is to
keep the Kingdom pristine and true to the vision of the creator and true ruler
of the Kingdom; they generally only do this when in view of the King or a
Councilor. At other times they act as
an odd combination of bureaucracy and street gang; one group or more will find
one aspect of the Domain that requires maintenance and/or alteration and take
it over, against all comers. They are not particularly evil in their
factionalism; most are in fact are honorable entities that keep their word and
draw the line at activities that would hurt their home. Just don't assume that they'll be as
forbearing towards an outsider.
One element of the Staff that must be singled out is
the Guard. These are simply all Staff
members who have been granted the right to initiate violence in the Domain by
the King. Theoretically, Guardians
would serve as peace officers and militia, on those rare cases when it is
needed; in fact, most do. But the King
is somewhat forgetful, and does not always think to remove a disgraced
Staffer's Guardian status, and possibly that is merely the excuse in some
cases, and at any rate Councilors need their own Guardians... the result is
that not all that wear the Guardian uniform (17th Century French military,
complete with musket) are on official business - but they all can fight,
so be wary.
As has been mentioned before, there are more
outsiders than usual in this Domain.
They have their own reasons for being here, and people tend not to ask
many questions about why.
Heaven and Hell are represented by Servitors of
Children and the Media; both Christopher and Nybbas are determined to
eventually tip this Domain to the proper side of the War. The Archangel of Children has an advantage in
that his requirements are essentially passive; he wants the Ethereal Domain
mostly as a staging ground for his takeover of its corporeal analogue. No violations of the Ban required and/or
desired, really. The Demon Prince of
the Media, on the other hand, wants more active participation in the War, but
will pay for it.
At the moment, it's a stalemate. While celestials are not affected by the
nonviolence restrictions (see below), the two organizations involved are not
particularly geared towards armed assaults; their operatives are also expected
to be diplomatic about things, given that both sides want the place essentially
intact and productive. It won't last,
of course, but neither group wants to move prematurely.
There are also a number of Outcasts and Renegades
living as quietly as they can manage; the Kingdom doesn't hassle refugees who
aren't actively a problem, which makes the place a handy bolthole. Needless to say, both the Inquisition and
the Game know about this - but it's more pragmatic to use the Kingdom as a trap
for the Most Wanted fugitives, and traps need bait, so the small fry are mostly
ignored.
Generally speaking, there are two types of
non-Kingdom ethereals present: embassies and refugees. The major pantheons keep a presence in the
Kingdom, ranging from the permanent legation of the August Prosperity
Collective to the hollow log used by the Aesir as an impromptu mailbox. The Collective's embassy staff is larger
than those of the other pantheons, combined: they consider themselves the
future overlords of the Kingdom, and spend a good deal of time attempting to
gain final control. Unfortunately for
them, they fail to fully grasp that even the King himself cannot hand the
pantheon the keys to the Kingdom... and that awakening the true ruler may
result in them offering allegiance to him. At any rate, their machinations are opposed by the Heliotopians
and (to a much lesser extent) the Olympians; the Fae and the Hindu delegations
(the other two significant official presences) choose to remain neutrals.
Refugee ethereals are more interesting and more
unpredictable. As has been mentioned
above, the Kingdom takes in those fleeing other locales, provided that they
don't make trouble: by now there are quite a lot of them. Naturally, some of them haven't forgotten
whatever cause or conflict that led them to the Kingdom; also naturally, some
of them are willing to do various little jobs, if the price is right. Sometimes the jobs are even legitimate
ones. It should also be noted that the
Voudon and Native American spirits maintain a surreptitious presence among the
refugee camps/towns; both pantheons loathe the Kingdom with a passion and
prefer to stay unofficial. Besides,
this way it makes it easier for the Host to hire them out as mercenaries.
Dream-shades in the Kingdom are rare. They are usually deeply distrusted by the
inhabitants, as they are immune to the restrictions against violence imposed by
the Domain. They are also very much in
demand, for precisely the same reason.
Use in the Campaign
The Kingdom has been deliberately set up as a
neutral space in the Marches; it owes its existence to the fact that enough
powerful entities find it convenient to have such a place around, and this one
at least can incorporate electric lighting and running water into its
paradigm. It would make a truly surreal
locale for a spy/counterspy game... a type of campaign not normally too well
developed for In Nomine.
Obviously, it can also be adjusted for Brightness and Contrast; the
Kingdom works equally well in 'sugar shock' and 'taste of ashes' mode. As to the Kingdom's long term goals, well,
I'd tell you, but, um...
'Lawyers'.
Features: Common Tongue, Deceitful (Easy to
Glamorize), Living Domain, Special (see below)
Special: Violence is prohibited to any ethereal anchored to the site, save at the whim of the King. Those ethereals unanchored will be immediately expelled from the Domain. Dream-shades and celestials are unaffected by this prohibition.