John Smith

Ofanite Friend of the Quest

 

Corporeal Forces: 3  Strength: 4                             Agility: 8

Ethereal Forces: 6     Intelligence: 12                     Precision: 12

Celestial Forces: 5    Will: 9                                    Perception: 11

Vessel/2, +1 Charisma

 

Skills: Area Knowledge (United States/6, Far Marches/3), Computer Programming/1, Detect Lies/3, Dodge/5, Dream-Shaping/3, Driving/2, Emote/2, Fighting/3, Knowledge (American Culture/6, American History/6, American Politics/6, Ethereal Lore/6, General History/3, Mathematics/2, Newtonian Physics/1, Psychohistory/2, Psychology/3, Research/6), Languages (English/6, French/1, German/1, Hindustani/1, Italian/1, Spanish/1, Yiddish/1), Move Silently/1, Ranged Weapon/1 (Rifle), Savoir-Faire/6, Seduction/2

 

Songs: Calling (Corporeal/1, Ethereal/3), Charm (Corporeal/1), Direction (All/1), Dreams (Corporeal/3), Harmony (Corporeal/1), Healing (Corporeal/1), Location/1, Memory (Corporeal/1), Shields (All/1), Speed (Ethereal/1), Symphony (All/3)

 

Attunements: Ofanite of Revelations, Sense of Significance, Friend of the Quest

 

 

Actually, that is his True Name.  Angelic names don’t all have to be archaic names like Kemuel or Ozah or Baldach, after all: there’s no reason why an angel can’t have a common name like Bill Peterson or Pedro Sanchez.  Well, granted, what’s considered a ‘common name’ will change over what an immortal would consider to be a quite rapid time, which means that most Archangels rarely bother to make the extra effort - but Litheroy likes to have at least a few Servitors who don’t have to evade even the most basic of questions.

 

John Smith himself is barely four centuries old; he was originally assigned to monitor English scientific and cultural developments and got transferred over to the North American sector once the American Revolution looked like it was going to be self-sustaining.  He welcomed the move, actually.  The Ofanite’s major hobby is ethereal lore, and the new assignment promised many opportunities to observe both the creation and adaptation of ethereals to fit the new societal matrix.  Besides, even from the start there was a suggestion that something genuinely new about the fledgling country - and there’s almost nothing more exciting to a Servitor of Revelations than to be the primary researcher in a new field.

 

Currently, John Smith’s major side project is in researching what he calls The Matter of America: to wit, why it is that a specific country could be so consistently, reliably and egregiously fortunate in its foreign relations and general operation.  To celestial eyes, the history of the United States of America reads like particularly sloppy fiction where the outcome has already been determined by an author willing to use the most unbelievable rationalizations and coincidences to get there.  And it’s not due to celestial interference, either.  The Ofanite would be able to tell.  John Smith’s current theory is that there’s some sort of beneficial ethereal influence generated by very primeval beliefs; ones even more basic than the ones that generate Primal spirits.  Hard to tell, of course, but it’s an interesting puzzle, particularly since solving it would be very useful.

 

The Ofanite’s current enthusiasm may not be quite as strong as it was at the beginning of his assignment, but it’s certainly gotten broader.  He’s generally considered to be the best generalist source for the United States of America: if he doesn’t know the answer himself (a fairly rare occurrence), he invariably knows the entity that does.  It’s generally considered best to just let him make the enquiries, though, as some of his sources are a bit, ah, controversial in these post-Crusade times.  Possibly not actively dangerous - after all, the Inquisition certainly hasn’t done anything overt about it - but why look for trouble?

 

Angels and Soldiers meeting John Smith quickly determine that the Ofanite is just a touch obsessed about his job and hobby, to the point where he acts more the native than natural born citizens do.  It’s not that he’s obnoxious about it or anything, but it’s clear that the Ofanite considers himself to be some sort of Celesto-American, or something along those lines.  He votes.  He pays taxes.  He shows up for jury duty.  And he does all of this because he wants to.

 

And he doesn’t even have the excuse of being Word-Bound.

 

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