Adapted by Ryan Elias

Sigil: a group of buildings clustered around a tower.

Malphas occupies a rather odd space in the hierarchy of Heaven. Rarely appearing at Council meetings, and offering little in the way of hard power to the war effort, the Archangel of Coalition nevertheless has nearly free reign in his area of influence, the Corporeal plane.

His Servitors (generally referred to as either Builders or Fascists, depending on who one is speaking to) spread through humanity's cities, working for stability, unity and growth. What with the gradual decay of the Symphony and the ever-growing influence of the Exiles, they have plenty of work to do. There are revolutions to halt, wars to dowse, dissidents to convert and treaties to write.

Which is not to say uniformity is to be encouraged, necessarily. 'Harmony of purpose, diversity of means', says Darashinai, the angel of Corporate Slogans. While there are undesirable elements that need to be eliminated, in general Builders try to encourage cooperation rather than any sort of assimilation.

Malphas himself has been known to (rarely) set foot on the Corporeal plane, however. The Archangel, manifesting in a short muscular body which rumor says is identical to that of his first human agent, can always be found in his cathedral, a single silver spire near the Cathedral of Light, seated in an office with walls, ceiling and floor are covered with diagrams, pictures and charts. He is known generally as a tough but fair boss, always calm and reasonable, if a bit impatient, but brooking little in the way of failure or subversion.

It is dissonant for servitors of Coalition to drive people apart. Be it causing the dissolution of a marriage or the dissolution of a government, servitors of Malphas will take dissonance unless they can patch things up within twenty-four hours. The only exception to this is when it has been decided that a person or group of people are harmful to overall harmony, such as if a prime ministers' spouse being declared a negative influence and an obstacle to coalition. If this is the case, though, it is dissonant to not break the relationship off completely and totally (i.e. making sure the tainted spouse has no contact whatsoever with the PM once the marriage has been voided).

Nicknames: Malphites, Malphans, Builders, Fascists

Coalition has, as might be expected, an extensive hierarchical structure. Every angel in his service will report to a direct superior, which will eventually end up with one of Malphas' five lieutenants (the Angel of

Diversity, the Angel of Governance and three non-Word-bound Moderators), who themselves report to Malphas. This hierarchy follows neither power nor distinction in its organization, but rather a combination of those plus length of service to Coalition and the amount of trust Malphas places in each Servitor.

Although Malphas himself doesn't leave his office, it is common knowledge that he also keeps extensive tabs on all of his Servitors on Earth (which is most of them). What isn't common knowledge, though, is that Malphas, like his counterpart in Hades, can split both his attention and his personality, so that there are various autonomous bits of Malphas spread evenly throughout the hierarchy (one of Malphas' five lieutenants is, in fact, Malphas under another name).

There are relatively few Soldiers in Malphas' service; the human temperament is not generally well suited, it has been found, to the demands of Malphas' Word. Those that do exist are generally used to keep long term tabs on organizations and areas already 'secured', as humans tend to be good at blending in with other humans, and Malphas really can't spare the personnel to just watch.

Cherubim of Coalition can attune themselves to large groups of people (up to ten times their total Forces), as long as that group of people consider themselves a group. They will always know how many members the group has (and will recognize each of them on sight), as well as if the group is threatened or in danger, based on the CD of the resonance roll (see the Cherubim check digit table in the main book and ignore the bits about location of the attuned). For determining how many things can be attuned to, this takes one of the Cherub's Forces per ten members of the group.

Cherub-Djinn will also know each member of the group on sight, but instead of knowing if the group is in danger, will know if a member tries to quit. For 24 hours after an individual leaves, the Djinn will know exactly where they are. They will also always recognize former members of the attuned group on sight.

Ofanim of Diversity can operate simultaneously on different planes. At a cost of 4 Essence, the Ofanite can instead of going itself, send a double up or down a Tether. This double has all of the Ofanite's memories, skills, songs, abilities, etc. It has 0 Essence to start with, but gains Essence normally. The double cannot plane shift. If there is a copy of the Ofanite on a celestial plane, none of the others can take celestial form. There can only be one Ofanite on any given plane (Hades and Heaven are the same plane for this purpose).

The original can call back the doubles any time it would normally be able to shift planes. If a double is killed, the original will lose a force of the applicable type (if a double on the Ethereal plane is killed, the Ofanite loses an Ethereal Force). When a double is reabsorbed, all its memories are acquired as well, but if it is killed all the memories are lost.

Master negotiators all, Malphas' Elohim radiate an aura of calmness, similar to the Ethereal Song of Harmony. Anyone within a radius of (total Forces) yards who can see the Elohite must make a will roll to be anything other than calm and reasonable, with a penalty equal to the Elohite's Celestial Forces if they wish to do anything physically violent. This aura affects only humans.

Malphas' Barons are attuned to their current cause, as if it were their Superior's Word. This is reflected in both their oaths, two of which are standard and two of which are chosen when the Malakite takes up the cause, and their Resonances (which can either evaluate a target according to the standards set by the word of Coalition, or the Malakite's current cause). The transition between takes about an hour (during which this Attunement doesn't function, and the Malakite is bound by the oaths from the previous cause), and is extremely unpleasant for the Malakite (-2 to all rolls).

Because changing causes is quite an arduous process, these Malakim tend to have quite long-term posts.

Instead of standard Lilim reaction bonus, Charismatics of Malphas receive Charisma (eloquence) for all their vessels at a level equal to their Celestial Forces. Other types of Charisma can be bought normally.

Subtler than many of their kind, Malphas' Dominations can enter a human's body without taking it over. The Kyriotate is merely a voice in the target's head, just as the target is normally a voice in the Kyriotate's head. Entering a body in this manner requires a Perception rather than a Will roll. This has two major advantages. First, hosts are corrupted only a third as quickly when being shellridden in this manner. Second, beings dominated in this manner only count as a single Force, for the purpose of determining how much a Kyriotate can control.

Also, if a second force is invested in the target, he or she can also be subjected to hallucinations (affecting any of the five senses). This requires the Craft Hallucinations skill (based on Intelligence, defaults at -3). The roll is made at minus one for every sense past the first affected, and a roll must be made every ten minutes to keep up longer-term images. A failure at low (1-2) check digits means the images are faded, or otherwise unbelievable, and at higher digits (3-5) means complete failure (muddled colors, inarticulate sounds etc). Only on a CD of six will the endeavor fail completely. The target can resist with a Perception roll.

Mercurians of Malphas can insinuate themselves into groups of people. This requires a Will roll and 1 Essence. A group of people (such as a union, a political party or what have you) will on a low check digit believe the Mercurian is a member, and at higher check digits a member of some authority.

[Thanks, James!]

This Attunement makes a servitor of Coalition blend in. Wherever he or she goes, it will be assumed that they belong (rather like little old ladies carrying piles of washing up). The servitor becomes just another faceless worker, be they in an office block, a coal mine or the White House. It will not function, however, anywhere that everybody who should be there is known by everybody else (i.e. a small business, a high security military area), nor will it give them any authority to boss people around. This Attunement is always active, but can be turned off for an hour at the cost of 1 Essence.

The angel may take unusual advantage of the resources of any human organization that it belongs to, allowing it to store Essence in the humans who also belong to the organization. The maximum Essence storable is equal to (level of Role * Status) points of Essence. The Essence may only be added or removed while maintaining the Role, and at a rate of 1 point per ten minutes.

The holder of this Attunement can gain a sense of all his or her companions' strengths and weaknesses by spending 1 Essence. If the Servitor then directs some sort of group activity (i.e. combat, building a house or writing up a bill) all members of the group will get a minus one to target numbers and plus one to successful check digits on pertinent rolls, simply because everyone will work so well together. This will only work if the Servitor's instructions are actually followed.

The angel is acutely attuned to the pulse of humanity, and to what really matters to the mundane in the street. Add the angel's Ethereal Forces to any roll to understand mob psychology, or to tailor a speech, advertisement or proposal to the masses in a given city, as long as the angel has previously spent at least 3 hours simply walking the streets, so to speak, of that city.

As the canonical Humanity Attunement in the In Nomine core rulebook.

These Servitors can, by looking into someone's eyes and making a Perception roll, determine the person's vital statistics (age, sex, contact info, religious affiliation, profession, place of birth and ethnic background).

Malphas' Masters can change the details of their vessel (sex, hair eye and skin color, apparent age and race etc). Scars and tattoos can also be made to appear or disappear) at will. Each change takes a couple minutes (longer for larger scale changes, such as gender). The Master will never look too different from the original vessel form (close enough to be siblings).

Malphas rarely gives out higher Distinctions; good work is generally rewarded with a higher place in the hierarchy and more work. Only the following two are known to exist.

This Distinction is available to Kyriotates only. It has been given to only a few of Malphas' most trusted Dominations. Any body these angels control completely (by taking dissonance and booting the host) is halved (rounded down, but minimum of one) for the purposes of how many Forces it takes up. However, the bodies are completely independent of the Kyriotate (they have all the Moderator's memories, skills, Songs, and so forth). They have whatever Essence was in the body they possessed, plus anything the central consciousness (which is in control of all bodies not using this Distinction) decided to leave them with. They cannot leave the plane, nor can they take celestial form. The Kyriotate can also manifest a number of Celestial forms equal to its Celestial Forces (although each still takes up a Force for the purpose of determining how many bodies the Kyriotate can control, as per usual), but all of these, beyond the first one, are also independent.

They central consciousness can choose at any time to recall any or all Forces portioned off in independent bodies. It immediately gets all the body's memories and any Essence it had left. If the body had been out long enough to learn new skills or Songs (or even get new Attunements!) the central consciousness gets those too. If an independent form is killed, the Moderator loses a Force of random type, as if reduced to zero Soul Hits.

These frightening angels are charged with the occasional culling of the flock. By spending 6 Essence, they can begin the process of severing a human's ties with the rest of humanity. This is fairly arduous, so is only attempted when there is no other clean way to remove the troublesome individual. Once every hour, the Judge and the target make an opposed Will roll. The loser of this roll loses a number of Soul Hits equal to the modified CD. This goes on until one of the combatants, usually the target, has lost all his or her Soul Hits. The target must be within line of sight of the Judge when this power is activated, but after that, as long as the Judge remains on the corporeal plane, there is no range limit. This ability only works on humans who are not Symphonically aware.

During this process the subject will find it progressively harder to interact with other human beings (penalty to all reaction rolls and social skills equal to the amount of damage they've taken). When the target's soul hits hit zero, they have been erased. Their friends and relatives will have no memory of them whatsoever, and they will be completely ignored by every living thing.

The only hope the victim of this power has is causing the Judge to somehow leave the Corporeal plane, before the power has taken full effect. Only Mariel is known to be able to reverse the effects of this power, although other Superiors may be able to as well.

Malphas is generally friendly with most members of the Host. He holds a lot of corporeal influence, and is apparently in Lucifer's good books, so no one especially wants to make an enemy of him. He does not get on well, however, with Laurence, who views the presence of another Malphas below with deep suspicion.

Host

Allied: Lucifer

Associated: All others

Neutral: Marc

Hostile: Demogorgon, Jean, Laurence

Enemy: none

Exiles

Allied: None

Associated: None

Neutral: Blandine, David, Novalis

Hostile: All others

Enemy: Lilith, Malphas, Nybbas

Others

Allied: None

Associated: None

Neutral: Fleurity, Gabriel, Jordi

Hostile: Adam, Mariel, Soldekai, White Star

Enemy: None

: Aid two people ignore their differences to pursue a common cause (can be used twice per day)

: Spend four hours promoting harmony and efficiency in a large organization

Malphas can not be summoned by normal means. Many of his Servitors know the Celestial Song of Tongues (so that they can radio someone else for help).

Malphas was an early Servitor of David (a member of the first generation of angels created, not by God, but by other angels). His tasks were the minute manipulations and maintenance of the Earth's core, and he was good at his job. Today, he would have gone unnoticed for centuries. Heaven was a small community back then, however, and it was therefore well known that Malphas was perhaps the most generally introverted and surly angel in creation. Heaven was also a kinder place back then, and it was assumed that there was a good reason, and Malphas was left to his own devices. Those that tried to approach were rebuffed coldly, and eventually they stopped trying.

Lucifer, then, was the first being (apart from the Archangel of Stone, of course) to speak with Malphas in centuries when he approached him in the years preceding the Exile. Change was coming, said the Archangel of Light, and my adversaries are not the sort to let you be. They think they're right, you see, and those armed with righteousness cannot bear those who wish to remain aloof entirely. I ask you only for your support. You need not lend me your voice or your arm: just your presence. In exchange, when this is over, I will grant you your solitude.

It was thus that Malphas stood behind Lucifer when the Revolution came. And it was only then that Malphas examined the War. He saw that the so-called Loyalists wished to subjugate themselves to the creatures squirming about on the Earth. Malphas stood behind Lucifer, and fought beside him. For the first time, the being who would become the Archangel of Coalition felt camaraderie. And when the battle ended, he felt no need to return to solitude. Instead, he turned his attention to the Earth, where the Lightbringer said the next battle would be fought.

Malphas walked for a time among early humanity. He came finally to the same conclusion Lucifer had reached long ago. Humans, left to their own devices, value nothing more than stability, but lack the intelligence to achieve it on their own. They trap themselves in cycles of greed and violence, unable to trust each other, or stay trustworthy, long enough for any real progress to be made. It was, and is, Heaven's job, Malphas decided, to help them achieve stability.

He set about teaching humans cooperation. His Servitors went forth as mediators, teachers and occasionally warriors, to guide the inhabitants of the Earth to harmony. It was with Malphas' help that the first city was constructed in the Indus River valley, and he was granted that day the Word of Coalition.

And he's been expanding ever since. Servitors of Coalition inhabit virtually every level of human society, doing their best to guide it onto paths that Malphas thinks will be most stable. And, as his critics point out, easiest to control.

<Sidebar>

Malphas' Cathedral is a strange thing. For one thing, it didn't go up until almost a millenium after Malphas became Archangel; until then he worked from the Catacombs. It originally appeared as a long low mountain, networked full of caves, but has changed in form slowly over the years, having been at various times a huge gothic castle, a pyramid, several large mansions in various styles, and most recently an impossibly tall silver skyscraper. The changes are gradual and not necessarily complete; there are still rooms with baked clay walls or natural stone floors high in the building, and rooms are known to shift around unexpectedly. Although each Angel of Coalition technically has an office somewhere in the Cathedral, where their Hearts are kept, it is very common to be sent into Trauma and wake up with absolutely no idea where one is.

There are several rumors about the Cathedral, most of the wildly implausible, but one that refuses to die is that Malphas is his own Cathedral, changing as the whim takes him. This, say the rumormongers, is why he never seems to leave the building. Like many rumors, this contains a grain of truth. Malphas learnt he could clone himself very early on. Until that point, he had felt little need to construct a Cathedral of his own. But the possibilities of a dwelling that would adapt to suit the needs of its inhabitants, which could change and take care of itself, all without Malphas having to think about it at all. So he split off the first of many Malphas clones, a giant nearly brainless creature in which he took up residence within.

Malphas' cathedral has been attacked twice, once by a kamikaze Servitor of Ogiel, and once (more recently) by a small troupe of Malphas Below's Servitors. Both were obliterated by violently shifting walls and floors long before they could do any damage.

</sidebar>

The Malphas in the tower is brusque and business-like. He is available to his Servitors by appointment, but does not like to have his time wasted. He has people to deal with everything except requests for transfer, applications for Words, and executions. It's not that he doesn't value his Servitors, it's just that his attention is almost completely taken up by the enormity of his goals (the unification of humanity), an obsession that has increasingly dominated his existence.

The majority of his time Malphas spends sorting through the strands of what he thinks of to himself as the Equation: the labyrinth of names and dates and graphs and schemes that covers every flat surface in his office. And what's visible isn't the half of it, merely the part of the immense work that Malphas is currently working on. Those few who have watched him work have described the flow of words and numbers and images across the walls of the room at the top of the tower, moving far too fast to be seen, as Malphas pursues, alone, the end of his Equation.

It is the 'alone' which bothers Malphas the most. Surely, if his word is Coalition, his ultimate task should not have to be pursued so completely alone. He knows, like no one else knows, that there is no strength in isolation, yet he sees no other way. None of his Servitors could even start to comprehend the entire thing, and if you can't see all of it, he believes you can't solve any of it. As for the other Superiors, none of them have the time to pursue what is generally seen to be inconsequential. Laurence, the last Archangel Malphas ever so hesitantly approached for aid with the Equation when he was just beginning the job (about a century after the release of the Exiles), merely snorted and told him that it was action that would win the War, not contemplation.

So Malphas sits in his office, occasionally stares out a window at Jacob's Ladder, and thinks about a problem with 6 billion human variables (and more born every minute) and trillions of combinations in the form of friends, marriages, companies, governments and religions, several million heavenly angels and an enormous X factor in the Exiles, searching for the day when can write "f (x)=1" on the pad of paper sitting on his desk, and take a walk out in the sun.

<Sidebar>

Although the orders come from the office in the tower, the nitty-gritty of the organization falls to the bits of Malphas he's cloned off to deal with particular tasks over the millennia. There are about a dozen of them, in all levels of his organization. It is they, primarily, who manage the delivery of information to Malphas himself. They have various personalities (Malphas found early on that the clones of himself he made could have different memories, and thus be rather different people, than he himself has), usually well suited to the job they do. The most important, who calls himself Raziel, is one of Malphas' five lieutenants, is friendly and accommodating (somewhat more so than any of the other four lieutenants), and is generally known among servitors of Coalition as someone you can go to if you're in trouble, as he's generally sympathetic and seems to have some sort of 'in' with the boss. Just be damn sure that you're either mostly innocent of blame, or entirely sincere in your desire to repent; Raziel also has a temper.

Most of the clones are more form than substance. Raziel is the most powerful (with the possible exception of the Cathedral), but doesn't weigh in much past a mid-strength Word-bound. However, they can, unlike most Servitors of Malphas, summon the Malphas in the tower if they really need to, and have access to many of the Superior powers. Generally, they cannot inflict Discord and dissonance, neither can they manipulate Forces, but they can do much of the rest should they choose.

</sidebar>

"There is a belief on earth that we are all pieces of a God whose body is the cosmos. While this is an idea I would never promote among humanity, I find it has a certain appeal, this spark of divinity. My mind betrays me however. All the evidence says that God is dead or dying, and what does that make us? Worms living in a corpse, feeding off the remains of a being so large we can't even begin to comprehend Him."

"The Revolution has gone sour, as revolutions always do, bogged down in the details. Our shining, perfect Lucifer has been shackled by responsibility and accountability. His cause remains, though, the only one really worth pursuing. Even if one did find merit in the Exiles' philosophy, the fact remains that he holds Heaven. If God is alive, then Lucifer obviously rules with the purest form of Divine Right, and if he is dead, the Lightbringer is the oldest living being, and thus God's legitimate successor."

"My variables. And the only tool we really have to work with. My critics among the Exiles claim that I do what I do because it renders humanity docile and easily controlled. They are correct, but they're looking at the situation from the wrong side. Were there not a war going on, I would still do what I do, but there would be no need for control. I would guide humankind towards unity because this seems to be the natural way of things. We are stewards of the Symphony, and humanity is an integral part of it all. But were it not for the Exiles, there would be no need to control humans, no need to keep them in such a tight grip. Humanity lacks the knowledge and the ability to challenge Heaven's survival, but the Exiles have both and humanity has become a weapon in the War.

"I have been similarly criticized in Heaven, accused of having Exile sympathies in my kindness towards humanity. My response is what would you have me be? In the situation of war, humans respond better, I have found, to the carrot than the stick. There are too many of them to control with fire and iron, but rule them with benevolence and they control themselves. Outside of the War, both before and hopefully after, there is no need for cruelty. Just because we have rejected the Exile ideal that angels are subject to humankind doesn't mean we have the right to abuse them. They can be our responsibility without being our masters."

"Although I have no doubts about Israfel's sincerity, I am less sure of the validity of her claims, and her ability to do anything about it. How can she know? Her science exists in a vacuum; there is little to test it against, no real evidence to test her methods against. She has ways of reversing some of the current trends in the decay of the Symphony, but has yet to provide substantial proof that this helps anything in the long run. How do we know that what we speak of as decay isn't the natural evolution of the Symphony, and that Israfel's methods are causing actual harm by holding things back artificially? My sympathies lie with her, but I am unconvinced.

"And if she is correct about everything, what does she intend to do about it? If God is dead and His creation is dissolving, does she honestly think there is anything we can do to stop it? Yves is dead and the surviving Firstborn, those of us who helped create the world and thus might be able to do something to preserve it, are locked in a battle amongst ourselves. If I were to abandon my task to aid Israfel, Nybbas or Malphas below would be gain control of Earth and bring the battle to Heaven. The War, at the very least, must end before anything can be done for the Symphony."

Malphas operates almost entirely on the Corporeal plane, and has gotten pretty good at it over the years. Although he lacks any real military strength (celestially), he can provide a foothold into almost any human organization on earth, and can muster considerable resources, both in terms of money, human bodies and political power. His main adversaries in this are Nybbas and Hades' Malphas, with whom he is locked in a constant low-scale conflict. Generally a polite one as well, but no less serious for all that.

To Heavenly tacticians, then, Malphas is primarily a peddler of Corporeal influence. His celestial operations are negligible, consisting mostly of administrators, and he has nothing whatsoever to do with the ongoing conflict on the Ethereal plane (neither Malphas nor any of his clones have ever been seen to set foot in the Marches). Any Host angel looking to accomplish something on Earth, though, can do worse than go through Malphas. He is generally fairly accommodating to any Superior he's not hostile to, although anyone trying to effect large-scale changes on Earth who wants Malphan aid needs to go through the Malphas in the tower, so as not to overly upset the Equation.

Andrealphus: Love is a powerful tool, but a dangerous one. It is all too easy to get caught up in it, as its embodiment so aptly shows. She herself wields positive influence, but is too unpredictable to be of much use. The best we can do is encourage her where she does some good, and do our best to divert her from more sensitive areas. Love is not a panacea, and will not conquer all. I hope she learns this sooner rather than later.

Beleth: Odd that the Archangel of Fear should embody love and its inherent strengths so much better than Andrealphus. I have not known loss like she has, am not even sure if I'm capable of love, but she remains an example, to me, of how an Archangel should act; despite the pain she so obviously carries, she performs her duties admirably. She also has the dubious honor of being one of the of very few Archangels for whom I don't have to correct for in my Equation. That my Servitors occasionally find themselves in opposition to hers is all to the good. If Fear still has leverage on their work, they haven't been doing their jobs correctly, and thus another level of testing is added to the mix.

<Sidebar>

Malphas doesn't sleep, of course, but if he did, he knows what his nightmares would be. He hasn't set foot in the Marches since shortly after the Exile, but that single experience was more than enough. He couldn't explain the feeling to anyone else even if he was so inclined, but the sheer terror of the slightly nebulous fabric of the Ethereal plane under him, and the fear that he would somehow fall through it and be absorbed into something enormous and hungry remains with him to this day.

What does the Archangel of Fear think about all this? Malphas hasn't a clue. But he has felt what he feels to be true fear, and this has added to his character an additional level of respect for the being who controls a force he found (and finds) so incapacitating. It has also, of course, lent an element of fear to the whole thing, which, when Malphas is able to look at things objectively, only adds to his respect.

</sidebar>

Beth: Her protection of the Library is as admirable as it is frustrating. The visits I am allowed to make, though, have helped me immeasurably. But to think how much easier my task would be should I have complete access to her precious books...

Christopher: I find Knowledge far more useful than Innocence, and do not in the slightest regret the apple. Her Servitors I dislike because they are capable of acting to protect their precious charges regardless of any outside variables. Any Archangel so completely incapable of seeing the big picture is useless to me.

Demogorgon: A completely unpredictable variable would ruin me, but I believe I have found a pattern in his madness. The urge to destroy runs strong in him, but it is balanced by his curiosity, his need to learn. The result: he eliminates what he does not yet know, and strives after knowledge that he can never attain. I do not believe he will survive much longer.

Eve: You won, Lucifer. Are you so unsure of your victory that this mascot becomes necessary? Her duties could be far better performed by somebody else, and sooner or later the pressure of her enforced subjugation will explode, and we will have yet another enemy.

Gebbeleth: His ultimate purpose is an unknown, but he and his Servitors, at least, I can currently account for. He is to be supported, but he is also to be watched, and he is never to be trusted. I can't believe that he met God on his flight, but he met something, and I mistrust his motives.

Iblis: I remain unimpressed. I don't believe he could match any one of Baal, Ogiel and Uriel, and thus makes a poor companion to Laurence and Zadkiel. Glory is simply pride under another name, and we all know that pride is a weakness. He amuses Lucifer, though, and so I will let him be until he makes the fatal error I think that most of us see coming. I doubt I will have to wait long.

Israfel: Always so busy. I had hoped she would at least have sympathy for my Equation, but she seems to hold quite unwarranted suspicions about me. I think her mission is one that needs to be looked into, but that she has been assigned 'to save reality' does not give her the right to command us, her peers. Were she able to produce tangible results, the situation would be completely different, but she has yet to convince me that she deserves the status of Archangel, let alone Savior of the Universe.

<Sidebar>

Malphas, or rather the Malphas clone who represents him, is one of Israfel's most vocal critics on the Seraphim Council, both when she is present and when she doesn't bother to show up. He doesn't usually interfere in her affairs, but objects strenuously when she tries to interfere in areas he perceives as 'his'. That this involves the spheres of mortal politics and that she seems to hold the other versions of him (which only she sees and which he only sometimes allows might have substance) in such contempt only adds to the animosity between them.

This was not always the case. Malphas worked with Israfel for a brief time, about a hundred years before the release of the Exiles, on the beginnings of his Equation. She had sympathy and even enthusiasm for the idea at that point, but the emergence of the Exile Malphas from Hades put a rift between the two; she perceived the existence of a pair of Malphii with enormous distrust, commenting that it was 'just another of his stupid games' and abandoned the project. Malphas hasn't really brought himself to forgive her, especially since the existence of his twin was as huge a shock to him as to anybody else.

</sidebar>

Jean: A shock to the system may revive a dying man, but it will kill a live one. Israfel's desperation seems contagious, but he has even less idea than she what he's doing. I have watched him morph steadily from a reliable constant, methodical and extremely intelligent, into the unpredictable and dangerous creature he is today. Having latched onto Israfel's Cassandra complex, he is in many ways worse than she is, in that his procedures are both ridiculous and highly dangerous. Revolutions and uprisings have never freed anybody. They only create more chains. We have only to look to the Morningstar to establish this.

Kobal: The angel of Laughter should laugh more. I have seen brilliance in him, under the thin guise of a jester, and it is thus highly worrisome that the last being to converse with God, other than Lucifer, looks to have so little hope for our future.

Laurence: Keep your eyes on the road, my friend. There's no threat here, but there's one Hell of a drop on either side of you.

<Sidebar>

Malphas finds himself fascinated by the Archangel of the Sword. He has watched the young Malakite grow from an inexperienced, innocent and in many ways naive angel with an inherently simple outlook on life, into a cynical, battle hardened and dangerous Archangel who has somehow maintained this simplistic view of reality. What sort of mind, the Archangel of Coalition wonders, can maintain such selective blindness? It is obvious that Laurence isn't stupid. Malphas has witnessed first-hand, more or less, Laurence's tactical brilliance. The strength of will Heaven's general must harness, then, to prevent himself from seeing the world as it really is, painted entirely in gray, is simply marvelous.

Malphas isn't sure what can be done with the Archangel of the Sword. Neither is he unaware of the danger he is in should Laurence decide it is treasonous to have a twin in Hades. He watches Laurence's piece of the Equation with great interest though, and tracking the whole thing forward to see what might happen should Laurence's blinders be lifted suddenly, finds the possibilities intriguing. He has no idea how such blinders might be lifted, but greatly enjoys the idea. Watching Laurence has become one of the only diversions Malphas allows himself.

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Marc: His effect on Heaven's politics is negative, as often as not. Laurence is the type to only try harder when someone tells him to stop. On Earth, his efforts supplement my own, but we are far more different than most people think. Marc lacks vision. His best hopes boil down to what appears to be an eternal holding pattern, where as I aim for so much more. Perhaps he is the more practical of the two of us, but I believe that while I may have little chance of succeeding, he has none, simply because he has no goals.

Zadkiel: A simple creature, who performs her simple task excellently. I have grown very fond of her really, as she serves excellently as a gauge of public opinion in Heaven. I do not believe, however, that should it come to all out war, she will be able to hold the wall against Ogiel and Uriel. Those two are formidable, and of her two allies, one is an idiot and the other she holds extremely poorly concealed hatred for. She is neither the tactician nor the soldier that Laurence is, and will not, I fear, let him guide her.

Exiles

Baal: Valor is only worthwhile when tempered with intelligence. Baal shows occasional fits of this, but for the most part he is both easily predicted and easily countered. Was he the Exiles' leader in truth, rather than simply in name, we would have a much easier time of it.

Blandine: This one is really outside of my area of influence, affecting me only as she affects humanity. Beleth seems to keep her safely in check, though, so I really have little to say. I am occasionally given to wonder, though, if she knows my dream and if she does, what she thinks of it.

David: My father was right about many things. I never listened to him, when he was young, as we measure it, and I was much younger, but I know now that he was perhaps the wisest being I've ever met. The Morningstar and Yves included. It doesn't really matter, though, because he was wrong about one thing, and that one thing has broken him. Stone was never flexible.

Dominique: She spoke to me, once. Before she was she, and was merely Dominic, she asked me why I chose to spurn the company of my peers. I refused to answer. My peers knew nothing then, and they have little improved today. It surprised me, though, that she had even bothered. I can think of no reason for it, since David has told me that he didn't request the visit, and my work had not suffered from my solitude. Dominique continues to do the unexpected. I care not a whit for her justice or her judgement, but I wonder very much what compulsion drives her, because it's none that I'm familiar with.

Eli: His glory days are past. What does the creator do, when the creation is finished? The answer is that he creates again, and that Eli hasn't bothers me. Why does he go on, if he can no longer create? There are plenty in place to preserve, and to advance, but only he retains the power, as far as I know, to create something completely new. He has fallen into a pattern, and from where I stand I can only conclude that he is stuck in it. Such a shame.

Haagenti: I admire his vigor, and perhaps even his goals, but he has no idea of the consequences his actions have in the arena he fights in. People have said that you can't please everyone, and like Haagenti I believe they are wrong, but unlike Haagenti I don't think that we can end world hunger by giving everybody a sandwich. And yet he believes that his actions hurt nobody and benefit everybody.

Lilith: I suppose that it's thanks to this one that Eve has yet to explode on us, but I can find little other use for her. Her glory days are long behind her, and I find her activities today both predictable and ultimately boring, despite all her talk of free will and the strength of the individual.

Malphas: My doppelganger is so completely different from me that I occasionally wonder if all we really share is a name. But I know this is not true. I detect, occasionally, aspects of myself in his reasoning, but warped all out of proportion. What I create he destroys, where I spread peace he spreads conflict. And the Exiles have the gall to call me his evil twin?

<Sidebar>

Yes, Hades has a Malphas too. From what can be determined, during the confused days immediately following the Revolution, a Malphas was locked with the Exiles, while another stayed in Heaven and eventually became the Archangel of Coalition. The Malphas in the tower has no idea whatsoever how exactly this came about, and worried enormously in the early days of the War. He knew, after all, that not only could he spin of doubles of himself, he could edit their memories and personalities so that they would know what he wanted them to know, and would do what he wanted them to do. So if there were two of him, and he knew nothing of it, then obviously the other must be the original.

But as the centuries passed and he and his Exile double came into conflict with each other and he failed to be absorbed back into his opposite number, these concerns waned. It's not that he no longer wonders about it, but it has become obvious that either the Exile Malphas can't reabsorb him or it won't, for reasons of its own. A third possibility, of course, is that there is a third party involved, either an original Malphas that created both of them, or someone else entirely who thought it might be amusing to have him face off against himself. The whole question has been set aside, in any case, for at least 2000 years, as Malphas above has resigned himself that the entire affair is beyond his control.

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Novalis: Of all the exiles, I find her perhaps the easiest to deal with. Although she is neither exceptionally predictable nor exceptionally unpredictable, I find that her actions in general supplement mine quite without any effort on my part. It is therefore in my best interest to simply leave her to do what she does. Some of my allies are less amiable towards her, but I have decided that, unless things change dramatically, this is quite simply their problem.

Nybbas: He thinks himself my most dangerous rival, and seeks to bring my reign of terror to a crashing end. And I'm almost certain he thinks he's winning. The truth is, Communication was my tool long before he was born, and the Exile's brightest star has yet to learn patience. He expends himself in a mad rush, attacking me and mine on all fronts, spreading himself thin. I can weather this attack, and a thousand more like it. Which is lucky, because he would be a most dangerous enemy were he to learn to pace himself.

Ogiel: This simplest Archangel in my equation, and made all the more dangerous because he's so easy to ignore. Like myself and unlike most of us, he has devoted himself completely to a single cause. Unlike myself, his forces are similarly devoted to this cause, and neither he nor they would hesitate for a second to sacrifice themselves on the altar of vengeance. I am supremely grateful for the restraint of Uriel, because I am not entirely convinced we could survive a full-scale kamikaze run from Resistance, regardless of what the Watch says.

Raphael: I am occasionally given to wondering what she knows. Not about me in particular, although that's certainly a part of it, but rather what it's like to be the embodiment of Knowledge. I've never met her, so I know her only by reputation and highly suspect rumor, but if even half of what I've heard is true, I would enjoy a conversation with her. I doubt it will ever be though. As for her Servitors, I hardly notice them. Knowledge is something I too hope one day to be able to give to humanity.

Uriel: He is far easier to understand than his son but, like Ogiel, this does not make him any less dangerous. Other than this observation, I have little to say about him. On those rare occasions his and my Servitors cross, mine have orders to obstruct his when they can, though, simply because I believe him to be one of the more dangerous Exiles.

Vapula: Interesting, as far as he goes, and a most unusual Elohite. For completeness' sake I hope one day to discover what it is he's working on that's important enough to pull the his Servitors en masse from Earth, but I know enough about him not to be excessively concerned. Despite his technophilia, he is at heart a humanist, I believe, and is thus unlikely to do much to upset my operations.

Outcasts

Beelzebub: Far too easy to pass him off as yet another whim of the Lightbringer's. That he has survived this long speaks much of his competence, and he provides me with valuable insight into the character of Laurence, simply by existing. I wish him good luck, but my Servitors know they are to send the Sword after him and his should they happen to find his latest hiding places.

Fleurity: His Servitors can be annoying, but it is only by accident that he has occasionally upset my plans. He needs to be reigned in, of course, but not as desperately as some of the other outcasts.

Gabriel: I have no sympathy for this one. She holds herself on the brink of madness, refusing either to throw herself into it or draw back from the edge, either of which would solve her problem most adequately. And you will only lose the sparks of inspiration, my dear, if you cease to fan them. And you will only devolve into the incarnation of ravening destruction if you let yourself. If you can't deal with yourself, it's in your best interests and mine to not try and deal with others.

Jordi: I enjoy Jordi for two reasons. Firstly, animism is a concept that I am very fond of. Secondly, I like that there is one being, at least, who answers to nobody but itself. That being said, Jordi is a menace, pure and simple, and will need to be put down sooner or later. A bit of a shame, that, because then me and myself will be the only Dominations who wear the mantle of Archangel, leaving me effectively alone to descend into madness. I can only hope that the symptoms he evinces are of his own devising, rather than something I can look forward to.

Mariel: My birth, and that of my doppelganger, is locked in my memories. I'm sure of it. It is imperative, therefore, that she be reined in before she is destroyed and the memories she holds are lost forever. But it can't be by me. I'm not sure if I could resist the temptation to kill her, and eliminate all evidence that I am anything other than what I appear to be. My Servitors, then, are under strict orders to leave her alone.

Soldekai: His acquisition of the Word of Hope was as unwelcome as it was unexpected. Rationally, I know it is hardly his fault, but I was set back almost a century in my equation, and for a while it looked like I might not be able to count on Beleth to keep the wolves at bay on the Ethereal. Things have stabilized again, and it looks like I may be able to work around him, but he is still an annoyance.

White Star: Were he truly as dedicated to 'saving the Symphony' as he says he is, he'd swallow his pride and come to one side or the other for help. As it is, he manages to accomplish nothing while annoying both sides. I wish him no special ill, but would just as soon see him disappear. I have independent variables enough.