[OPEN POST] absolute power.

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[OPEN POST] absolute power.

Welcome to the Elohite Heresy Convention!

It's not as well-known as other celestial cons, like the Eighth Virtue or Seven Lovely Sins, probably because it's not as interesting on paper: who besides an Elohite would want to spend a few days listening to objectively rational discussion and debate over logic problems? Besides, it's much lower-key and less predictable: an Elohite Convention occurs whenever a few Powers get together and decide to make arrangements, is advertised almost entirely by word-of-mouth, and usually (though not always) is held in Heaven or a quiet corner of the Vale, rather than on Earth where uninvited guests are a real risk.

This particular convention is being hosted in the Vale, for the convenience of Elohim in Roles as well as those without vessels. The organizing committee includes at least one skilled Dream-Shaper, who's crafted what outwardly looks like a small cottage, and inwardly is a full-sized convention center complete with conference chambers, auditoriums, sitting rooms, and more. (The effect is something like a small-scale Cathedral, with the added bonus of individual guests being able to Dream-Shape as usual: drastic changes to the "cottage" are very hard, but arranging for a private room or creating a nice lunch are simple matters.)

Officially, the theme is Unusual Symphonic Happenings -- that is, all the crazy goings-on that have been happening recently, from mysterious artifacts to seemingly impossible events. A guest speaker from Destiny is giving a lecture on historic divine and infernal interventions, a handful of Gabrielites are holding the usual panel on prophecies, a pair of Sparkies have organized a series of debates on multiverse theory, and so on.

Not all events are based on the theme, of course. Many Elohim use the convention as an excuse to touch base with their Choirmates, whether for simple socialization or to get a second opinion on personal issues. Most Words and some individuals have their own pet projects, like the aforementioned panel on prophecies, or the inevitable Litherite-sparked debate over the merits of revealing the War to humanity. "Heresy" is mostly an in-joke, but nevertheless every convention has at least one debate competition on the nature of God and the Symphony, among other problematic and ineffable topics. Non-Elohim can come with at least one Elohite sponsor, so there's usually a recreation room or two set aside for such guests to escape the mass of Powers if they so wish, and sometimes they themselves set up a new event or presentation. If any Elohite Archangels are in attendance, they may be doing so officially -- and are therefore probably sponsoring some event if not the entire convention -- or unofficially -- passing as "just this angel" and observing events.

And -- as is only to be expected from the theme -- the lines between conventions may begin to blur . . .

[OOC: this is an OPEN POST for anyone who could conceivably be at an Elohite Convention or wander in by accident! (Granted, wandering in by accident is harder when it's in a semi-warded dream-shaping in Blandine's half of the Vale, but then, the Marches are weird and the Marches under the Dressing Room Effect are weirder.) As usual, the Symphonic overlap rule is in effect, so if your character wouldn't normally attend an Elocon, they might wind up here anyway. Heck, they might even take a wrong door in the Eighth Virtue hotel on Earth and find themselves surrounded by Powers!

Likewise, if you'd rather not play with this particular theme, your character's "home universe" might be holding a convention with a different topic, or this topic but without the multiversal question. (The authorial intent here is that this con's organizing committee includes no Superiors and does not know for certain that there are multiple universes/Symphonies and that they are overlapping, but have encountered enough unusual and ineffable phenomena recently to notice a trend and decide to hold a con about it. Other universes may have an organizing committee completely in the know, or have individuals who know and individuals who don't, or have the con sponsored by an Archangel who's got a good idea of what's going on, or have it sponsored by an Archangel who doesn't, or . . .)

PS: Non-angels, non-blessed souls, and non-Saints/Soldiers/Heaven-aligned humans can play here if they want, especially since, well, Elohim tend to be more reasonable than Malakim about unexpected guests, and the whole con theme is Weird Things Happening. Being in the Marches doesn't hurt either. This post is primarily targeted at Powers and their associates, though, so please keep that in mind. :-)]

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[OOC: Does the weird symphonic stuff conceit extend to non-Marches-capable charcters being able to show up by accident?]

[Arguably all characters are Marches-capable, it's just a question of whether they're lucid or not! So yes, it extends. :-) If you're an Elohite or have a strong Elohite tie, that's plenty of justification for the Symphony to sneak you in; if you're not, it's still possible. Also it's possible that the Elohite convention in another Symphony is being held in a celestial or corporeal location, so realm-bleedover is another legitimate excuse.]

One of the cottage's sitting rooms appears to be more of a game room. There are chairs, couches, and tables everywhere: some with games in progress, some with games set up and waiting to play, and others merely within arm's reach of a shelf of game boxes and books. A pair of Elohim are near one of these shelves, apparently stacked high with board games ranging from Monopoly to Candy Land.

One's ethereal seeming is an ordinary Power with large gray-green eyes and long, narrow hands and feet; it's wearing a white labcoat with a tiny copper pin near the lapel. The other might be startling, as its ethereal seeming is an ordinary gray-eyed Power -- except for the very dark brown skin, illuminated by the usual Elohite inner glow. This one is also wearing a gray leather swordbelt with a rapier hanging at its hip. And both have visible Geases: the labcoated Elohite's is around its upper arm, bearing an unusual stylized-Saturn imprint, while the swordbearing Elohite's is a torc-like collar marked with something like an etched dragonfly.

The labcoated Elohite is sorting through game boxes, with an expression of calm amusement. The swordbearing Elohite looks mildly put-upon.

[OOC: Open to anybody, if multiple people tag me I'll treat them as different scenes, etc etc etc. Let me know if you only want one Elohite instead of both of them. o/]

Edited 2011-06-15 15:41 (UTC)

There's a very small Elohite wandering through the halls of the cottage. It's not wearing any clothes, but there's a golden locket around its neck, apparently a reliquary of some kind. It's slim and pale skinned, with blue eyes and no other distinguishing features. Hints of its vessel show through its ethereal seeming, so that if viewed at just the right angle it occasionally looks like an unremarkable young woman with severely braided blond hair and spectacles.

It has its arms piled with notebooks. They have the glimmer of something real enough to move between the celestial and the ethereal, if no real power of their own. They're bound in leather, and the irregularity in pages and bind suggest they were made by an amateur, rather than bought at one of Trade's marketplaces.

It pauses in the doorway of the game room and glances inside. It does not blink at the sight of the geased Elohim, but does enter the room and look for an unoccupied table.

While most of the tables have something occupying them if not someone, completely open tables are not hard to find, including one or two not far from the geased Elohim. Said Elohim appear to be discussing the board games they're looking through -- or rather, the labcoated one is chatting amusedly at its mostly-stoic companion, who occasionally raises an objection to one game or another. Or points out that nearly all these games are designed for at least three players, and does the other Power really want to waste a win on two-player? Instead of, say, chess? (That last might be a bit plaintive. But just a bit. Really.)

The small Elohite finds a clear table near the geased Elohim and sets down its armful of books. It listens to the discussion of board games with interest.

If there's a quiet moment in the conversation, it offers, "I could be a third player, if you need one."

There are indeed quiet moments where an observer could speak up! The Elohim glance over at the speaker; the clothed one looks pleased, and the other looks . . . stonefaced, still. (It's not the easy calm unreadability of most Elohim; this angel is clearly putting some effort into keeping stoic.)

"If you're busy, we can play with just two," the clothed one says, with a slight smile and a glance at the pile of notebooks. "But if you're interested in playing, you're more than welcome." It offers a hand, assuming the small Elohite is close enough. "I'm Galen, and this is Pallas." (Pallas nods a greeting.)

It smiles back, slight, and says, "I was simply reviewing my notes from one of the lectures, and they'll keep." It takes Galen's hand. "Benoni. Pleased to meet you."

Galen's smile widens. "You, too." (Pallas murmurs the same, a beat afterward.) "Have you played any of these before?" It gestures at the stack. There's a very good collection there! "Technically I won choice of the next game, but I don't mind yielding to our newcomer."

Pallas, apparently resigned to its fate, pulls out a chair and sinks down. "Winner's right," it says wearily. "If I win, we're playing kriegspiel next. With a real set, not your holograms."

Galen looks amused.

Benoni shakes its head slightly. "I haven't played very many games," it says. "I'd be happy to try whatever you pick."

Galen cocks its head. "Board games, or games at all? Either way, it's a shame." Even Pallas looks a little sympathetic. "In that case . . ." It sorts through the boxes again, and pulls out various ones, setting them on the table: Settlers of Catan, Descent: Journeys in the Dark (Pallas perks up slightly at the sight of it), what looks like a celestial reskin of Trivial Pursuit, and The Game of Life. (Apples to Apples gets a regretful look before being put back, with a comment of "Needs more players;" Cranium gets waved cheerfully at Pallas, who gives Galen a dirty look in response, to which Galen laughs quietly and puts it back.)

"Descent would be better with more of us, but I can still run it for two," it says. "And any of these would be good. Which looks most interesting to you?" it asks Benoni.

Benoni says, "Any games. It hasn't been my focus in Destiny, and I never had the chance before that." It eyes the boardgames as they come out, and picks the one that made Pallas perk up. "What is this one like?"

Pallas and Galen exchange looks. "Then I'm very glad you stopped by," Galen tells Benoni. "Ah, that one? It's a roleplaying game, sort of." It opens the box: inside are tokens, dice, cards, plastic figures in all sorts of shapes, and an assortment of patterned tiles. "You two play the heroes, and go through my dungeon looking for treasure and fighting my monsters. If you beat my boss monster, you win, but if you run out of points along the way, I win." It smiles. "It can be a long game, but I know a shorter scenario we can start with, to see if you like it. Or if that doesn't sound interesting, we could try another one."

Pallas asks, curious, "Before Destiny?"

"I've never played a Role-playing game," it says. "I'd be glad to try." It pauses a little, its face shifting even more neutral and says, "Before I redeemed."

"Ahhh." Pallas exhales. I'm sorry if I've made you uncomfortable." It sounds sincere.

Galen looks sympathetic. "Two of our parents are redeemed. I'm glad you made it." It pulls out a sheet of laminated paper from the box, and sets it to the side; apparently it's a set of rules. "If you want or need to talk about it, we're happy to listen. If you'd rather not--well, games can be a good distraction, too." Another small smile.

[Also, I haven't played Descent myself, I just know the general gist of how it works and why Galen/Pallas might play it, so if/when they do start playing, we're gonna need to gloss a lot. :-) Admittedly, same goes for most RPing-of-games, hah.]

"Thank you," the small Elohite says. "Perhaps a game to start?" It does not seem to want to discuss it at least yet.

[Gloss away! :)]

Galen and Pallas do not press. Instead, Galen starts setting up the gameboard, while Pallas helps Benoni through the rules and character selection (with occasional interjections from Galen). They assign Benoni a fairly balanced hero, though with a bent toward offensive magic, and Pallas takes more of a 'meat shield' warrior. (At Pallas' suggestion, Galen also gives them . . . a pair of magical ferret familiars. "Think of them as relievers," it says serenely. "They won't help in a fight, but can be useful for other things.")

Apparently, the scenario is a raid on the abandoned stronghold of an evil wizard. Both Galen and Pallas seem to enjoy the roleplaying -- Galen does a very good Overlord voice and comes up with interesting descriptions of things, even if its acting is hindered by the constant small-smile, and Pallas has apparently decided its character is Benoni's ~~Cherub~~ bodyguard, making decisions accordingly -- though they have no problems dropping out of character to explain things, or pulling back if Benoni is uncomfortable with it. They encourage Benoni to take the lead in making decisions, but are happy to give tips and generally work with it. Galen also explains whenever it's changed a rule to simplify their first game, and sometimes comments on things they could have done if they had different characters or more players. That said, it also doesn't hesitate to set traps and ambushes, one of which would have killed Pallas outright if not for a lucky healing potion delivered via ferret.

After an hour and a half or so, the game finishes with a climactic faceoff with the Evil Wizard's Greatest Creation, and Benoni and Pallas' triumphant return to town, laden with magical items and gold (and ferrets). As grumpy as Pallas had been earlier, it seems to have enjoyed itself, and Galen definitely did. "So what do you think?" it asks Benoni, at the end.

[Basically, think Generic Fantasy Dungeoncrawl, The Boardgame -- there's no awe-inspiring RP here, and the rules are much less flexible than a true RPG, but it's a fun playthrough if you like that sort of thing, and Galen and Pallas are good at making it tolerable even if Benoni secretly hates roleplaying and fantasy and fighting. :-) Elohite cheating helps, though! [snrks]]

Benoni does not object to taking the lead in decision making, although it's clearly approaching the game from more of a strategic angle than an role-playing angle. It's an active participant, and seems to be enjoying itself fairly well, even if it's only due to the novelty.

At the end, it says with a small smile, "It was interesting. Are all games like that?"

In that case, the game has a definite strategic focus. Once or twice, Pallas makes a strategically questionable decision based on its Cherubic characterization, but Galen sets up interesting tactical puzzles and terrain challenges for the two of them to work through. (It may be ad-libbing some things on the fly based on resonance predictions. Elohim are like that.)

Both Pallas and Galen promptly shake their heads, though Galen looks pleased, and even Pallas looks contented. "There are other games that work like this, and some that have similar aspects to them, but they're actually somewhat niche," Galen explains. "For instance, all these--" it sweeps a hand at the boxes it'd pulled out earlier "--are board games, but all of them play differently. Catan is about land and resources, Trivial Pursuit is based on answering questions in different categories, and Life is a very simplified human lifetime simulator."

Pallas mutters, "Which you always win."

Galen looks serene. "It's not my fault the Doctor card likes me."

Pallas eyes it. "You sound like him." (Pallas doesn't seem to like 'him'.)

Galen serenes more. "Just because he's not my father doesn't make him not my family."

Pallas looks pained.

"How interesting," Benoni says, eying the board games, and it does seem genuinely interested. It looks back at them as they start talking about 'him' and folds its hands in front of itself, as if it's not quite sure whether it should interject into the argument.

"Anyway," Galen says, apparently discarding the argument in favor of educating Benoni, "there are also many other kinds of games. Pallas likes chess; I do too, but I like board games more. And since finding someone to play chess with is easy, I have to spend my winnings on board games or else I'll never get to play them." That last is in the key of exaggeration, but it's smiling. "One of our sisters prefers dice games, and my uncle--its father--" a nod to Pallas, who sighs "--likes cards. Its half-sister--" Pallas looks more pained "--likes tennis. And so on. The hardest part of finding a game you like is the sheer amount of choices, really." It smiles.

Pallas suggests to Benoni, "You should try chess if you haven't yet. It's always popular at the conventions."

Benoni tilts its head at them. "You must have a very large family," it observes. "I think I'd like to try chess before the convention's over."

Pallas sighs. "Very."

Galen adds, "Different combinations of parents lead to that. Among other things." It smiles again.

Pallas perks up again at the chess comment. "It's a good idea. I think I saw a set--" It pushes itself to its feet, moving quickly away toward a different shelf. Finding a small wooden box, it makes a satisfied noise, and returns with its prize, placing it on their table. "I'd be pleased to teach you how to play. Or we could see if there's a tournament on, if you'd rather watch first."

Galen makes a gesture; electricity arcs from fingertip to fingertip, and a sleek silver PDA slides out from the arc into the palm of its hand. It checks the screen. "The one in Conference Room Phi starts in a half hour. Did you register?"

Pallas shakes its head. It deadpans, "I wasn't sure how long you'd make me 'pay'."

Galen snickers.

It considered. "I don't have much preference. If you'd like to watch the tournament, I'd be happy to do that first. Or we could play here. Whichever you like."

Galen hums to itself, making the PDA disappear again. "Tournaments usually take awhile, even when they're not Elohim playing chess. It's usually a slow game, you understand. How about we do one now?" A smile. "If we're done in thirty minutes, we can decide about watching it then. If we're not done, I'm sure we'll still finish before the tournament ends."

Pallas settles back into its seat, and starts packing up the Descent pieces. "The one--mm, limitation--is that chess is normally a two-player game," it tells Benoni. "There are multiplayer variants, but it's best to start with the standard. So you get one of us as opponent and one as arbiter and adviser, I suspect." And that's a very faint smile, yes. "Unless you'd rather watch us, but I highly recommend playing. Any preference in opponents, or shall we roll for it?" It holds up one of the Descent dice.

Benoni nods to Galen's suggestion. "That sounds like a good compromise." It smiles faintly back at Pallas. "Whichever of you would rather play? Or roll, that's fine."

Pallas and Galen exchange looks; Galen flips its hands palm-upward, and Pallas shrugs. "I don't mind playing or teaching either," it says. "High roll plays?"

"Works," Galen agrees, and Pallas rolls the die.

With a five to Pallas' three, Galen wins. Pallas flicks the die across the table toward it. "You finish cleaning up, I'll set up." Galen chuckles a little, but nods and starts work on the remainder of Descent.

Meanwhile, Pallas pops open the box and starts walking Benoni through setup. Perhaps surprisingly, it's not a half-bad chess tutor: it takes the time to identify each piece-type and how it moves, complete with physical demonstrations of the odder patterns like knight-jumping or pawn capture, and its occasional gameplay tips are simple and easy to remember. It's also good at answering questions, or re-explaining something differently if Benoni doesn't get it right off.

Benoni examines the chess pieces with interest, and seems particularly intrigued by the knight piece and its strange pattern. She nods and asks a few questions, more about the history of the game and the pieces than anything else. She does retrieve one of her notebooks from her table and take a few notes as well.

[OOC: Benoni should've broadened her horizons more when she was a Habbe of the Media. At least she's not a reliever to ask why the little horsie makes L shapes?]

[[GIGGLES] And let's gloss the chess game too? :-) Galen will probably win, what with having actual Knowledge (Chess), but is shooting for an enjoyable game for Benoni rather than trying to win ASAP, so it'll take a bit. And Pallas will coach Benoni when it asks, and let it figure it out on its own when it'd rather.]

Pallas is happy to exposit on the history of the game, piece symbolism, and so on! When Benoni pulls out a notebook, it even recommends a handful of books for it to look up later, including one on go.

Galen notes, "Lightning has good sim software, if anything gets confusing when you're reading, or you just want to practice a few times against an AI. Real opponents are much better, but sometimes it can be hard to find one. And sometimes you're just having trouble visualizing something. Especially with variants like Alice and kriegspiel." It looks wry, and stands up to move the board game boxes to a nearby shelf.

Pallas nods agreement. "Though you shouldn't look at the variants for awhile. Start by getting comfortable with the basics, then you can experiment." It sets the last pawn into place; the way they've set up, Benoni is on the white side and Galen the black. "White normally has the advantage," it asides to Benoni, "since white moves first."

Galen settles back down into its chair, and smiles at Benoni. "Whenever you're ready. Unless you have more questions first?"

Edited 2011-07-09 22:16 (UTC)

[Sure! I haven't played enough chess to actually play a game over the internet, so let's say Galen wins and everyone has a fun time. As much as Elohim ever have fun. ;)]

Benoni writes the books down carefully, and double-checks with Pallas that it's got the right names. It also carefully prints 'sim software' as a note to itself. Then it sets its notebook back on the pile and settles down in front of its half of the board.

It considers the board carefully for a long moment, and then advances a pawn.

[Me neither, so that works! And Elohim totally have lots of fun! So says Beth-haran. ;-)]

And the game is played! Pallas serves as a combination of coach for Benoni and arbiter for both players, though it's careful to only coach as much as Benoni would appreciate -- no trying to make all the decisions itself, and no throwing Benoni in the deep end and walking away. Galen, meanwhile, is playing to enjoy itself more than to win, so it errs on the side of taking less time and risking suboptimal moves rather than stalling to figure out the absolute best choice. (On the other hand, it has no problem with Benoni taking as much time as it wants, though Pallas notes at one point that some games play with turn-clocks so being able to decide well under time pressure is a good thing.)

Finally, the game comes to a head, as Galen pincers Benoni's king between a bishop and rook. "Checkmate," it says, and smiles. "What do you think?"

Edited 2011-07-10 21:08 (UTC)

"It was very interesting," it says honestly, peering down at the chessboard as if trying to trace out exactly what happened that lead to its losing. It picks up one of its notebooks and writes something down. "Very logical, and requiring a lot of foresight. I'm afraid I haven't got that part down yet."

Pallas says, serenely, "That's what practice is for. Being able to analyze implications of a chess move isn't quite the same as being able to analyze the implications of other actions, but the basics extrapolate well." It seems much more content than it was when Benoni first saw it, or even during the Descent game. "You'll get better in time."

Galen's PDA sparks into existance again, and it checks the screen. "Looks like we're too late to sign up for the tournament, but we can still go watch. Or stay and play again." It adds, brightly, "Or play something else. I think I saw Candy Land in with the boardgames!"

Pallas covers its eyes with a hand. "No."

Galen snickers.

"Well," Benoni says with a slight smile. "I've never played Candy Land either. But I wouldn't mind another game of chess or to watch the tournament?"

[OOC: Hmm, is this going anywhere or are we going to fade to endless game playing, do you think? :)]

[[giggles!] Fade to endless game-playing works for me? Galen and Pallas are Not From Canon (obviously :-) ), but they're not going to go out of their way to bring it up, especially when it might distract from indocrinating a babyElohite into the joys of gameplay! So we may as well fade. :-) They both like Benoni! And so do I. [laughs]]

[Yay! Benoni would be glad if it knew. Neese would be, too. He worries it hasn't made enough friends.]

[Awwww! [pets them both]]

The cottage-center has a library, or at least a daydream of a library: all warm browns and wood, shelves that reach to the ceiling and are packed full of books, with plenty of comfortable chairs and small couches near tea-tables and writing desks. One corner, within sight of the main doorway, has a couch and a few chairs arranged for quiet conversation. The chairs are empty, but the couch is home to a pair of presumably-angels in ethereal seeming.

The Elohite's only remarkable features are its moonsilver eyes, and the necklace it wears: a delicate silver chain looped twice about its neck, bearing a wide array of tiny keys. (The gray travel bag with its strap hung over the couch-arm nearest the Elohite probably belongs to it, too.) Otherwise, it's a perfectly normal Power: large eyes, slender build, palely glowing skin, unmarked and genderless.

Its companion is rather more remarkable, at least at an Elohite convention: a Caucasian woman in her late thirties or so, with chin-length straight auburn hair and dark gray eyes, built lean for a Cherub-vessel or sturdy for a Seraph-vessel. She has no wings, but glows like the Elohite does, only with a steely tinge to her aura. She's wearing black slacks, black ankle boots, and a white button-down dress shirt; her belt is black leather and has a loop for a scabbard in it, though neither scabbard nor sword is in evidence.

The two of them are close enough to suggest some affection, supported by their body language and facial expressions: identical looks of serene contentment. (The woman is no more expressive than the Elohite, and the Elohite no more expressive than normal for its Choir.) They're leaning together over a notebook bound in plain gray leather, and passing a pen back and forth as they alternate writing in it. The two are completely silent, though not unattentive to the world around them: the woman glances up whenever someone new enters the room, the Elohite follows her gaze a half-beat later, and both nod polite greetings if acknowledged.

[OOC: open to anyone, if multiple people tag I'll call it seperate scenes, etc~ o/ IT characters here, for the record. If you only want 'Haran or Iaraehel, just ask, otherwise you'll probably get both!]

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[OPEN POST] absolute power.

[OOC]

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[Galen & Pallas]

[Benoni]

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[OOC]

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Re: [OOC]

[Beth-haran and Iaraehel]