(from Bodhi <rob@v-wave.com>)
As a Mercurian, Amare' attempts to further the cause of her Divine Word, Love. Her special affinity for understanding relationships between beings means that she also understands that love comes in many different forms and guises. Love is complex, and Amare' is unwilling to let others over-simplify it. She knows that love is a mysterious, powerful, completely awe-inspiring emotion, in all of its beautiful guises. Love is grand, love is Good, love is God.
While it may be difficult to define what love is, Robert A. Heinlein used to write that "Love is that state of being where somebody else's health/welfare/well-being is integral to your own". Thus, you literally cannot hurt the one you love without hurting yourself. Perhaps this definition comes closest to encompassing all of the wide and varied sorts of love.
Servitors of Amare' tend to emphasize one form of love more than any of the others. This occurs simply because Celestials all tend to have certain general personality traits, characterized by their choirs. Thus, the combination of a servitor's choir and their choice to serve the Archangel of Love means that they tend to further one particular type of Love. Together, working in combination, they all further Love in general. However, different choirs will favour one type of love over the others, as this is simply the form of Love that they understand the best. All love is Good; their particular form is `better'.
Servitors of Amare' generate dissonance when they cause someone to lose Love. If, through their actions, some mortal loses the type of Love generally favoured by their choir, servitors of Amare' gain a point of dissonance.
As Seraphim are the most noble and Truthful of all the angels, they have an affinity for the most difficult type of love - the love of the Self. Before you can love others, you must love yourself. However, if the Truth were to be told, not all of us are that easy to love. When we look deep inside ourselves, we find out that there is much that is unlovable, and some poor souls are truly unworthy of loving themselves. Thus, while these Seraphs may not be able to tell whether a person is Good or Evil, they can tell whether or not, if the Truth were known, any mortal is deserving of self-love, as well as the characteristic that is the most deserving of self-love, and the characteristic that is least deserving of self-love. (It is interesting to note that Balseraphs tend to be the least deserving of self-love, and are thus ring especially `false' to the attunement of Seraphs of Amare.)
As cherubs are ultimately proponents of Devotion, the form of Love they emphasize is Idealized Romance. This form of love sees the object of affection as the Paragon of Existence. Idealized Romance leads individuals to absolute devotion. This is the stuff of legends, of poetry, of myths. Romeo and Juliet were probably under the influence of some Cherub. Their attunement provides them with the mechanism by which they can further this type of love. Cherubs of Amare can sing the Ethereal Song of Attraction without causing a disturbance in the Symphony, as they simply understand that all people have something lovable about them. They are consummate match-makers, but this love can often be disastrous. Idealized Romance, when it fails, leads to broken hearts... and dissonance!
As advocates of Motion, Ofanim in service to Amare tend to move around a lot. Thus, their love is Fleeting. They emphasize Infatuation. This emotion is wild, chaotic, powerful, but over quite quickly. Thus, they have a special affinity for puppy-love, love-at-first-sight, and other forms of immediately gratifying love. Such love never lasts for long, but leaves a lasting impression. Ofanim's attunment lets them Love-And-Leave. These wild, chaotic Celestials can Beguile poor mortals, and literally leave them stunned with love. Thus, on a successful Perception roll, (opposed by the mortals' Will), the Ofanite can stun the hapless mortal for a number of minutes equal to the check digit. Such beguiled individuals are incapable of doing anything other than thinking about the object of their affection, fantasizing about their potential for happiness together, and so on. When the time is up, the mortal "comes to their senses", but remembers nothing of the past few minutes. Love `em, and Leave `em... that's the Ofanim way!
As the most objective of the angels, and the ones that keep emotions in their `proper place', Elohim tend to advocate Agape' and Fraternal love. Thus, all creatures are lovable because they are part of God's plan. This form of love, while extremely powerful and motivating, is nevertheless a quiet and unsupposing style of love. All beings are part of the Symphony, and are thus deserving of agape'. Elohites' attunement lets them know the level to which any individual is lovable as a human being per se'. Thus, on the grand scale of Love, Elohites know what action a mortal did in the past week that is the most deserving of Love, and what action was the least deserving of love. If you're having an off week, and not living up to your potential as a part of God's plan, an Elohite of Amare will know it! Thus, an Elohite might know that this week a bus-driver let a homeless man on for free, and let him sleep in the back of the bus for two hours on a cold winter night, but he also was insensitive to his co-worker's current divorce proceedings.
Parents, while they love us, sometimes have to help us, guide us, and when appropriate, punish us. Tough love is the special interest of Malakites. The loving hand of discipline, when properly applied, can bring any child back into the Light. Malakites attunement allows them to know the name of somebody's Mother and Father, as well as the most Memorable/Influential Incident that occurred between the child and parents. Malakites will be able to know the source of any parent/child `falling out', as well as the main incident that characterizes the way a child feels about his/her parents. Malakites, the toughest of Amare's servitors, often spend their nights wandering the streets, talking to runaways, and helping them understand that their parents truly love them, even if they are hard on them.
Since kyriotates don't spend much time in any one particular host, they tend to emphasize non-standard types of love. Since they can inhabit multiple hosts, of different species, they also can understand the bonds of love that happen between Man and Beast, masters and pets. Thus, a Kyriotate has a special affinity for the Blind man and his Seeing-eye dog, or the old lady and her favourite cat. A Kyriotate's attunment allows them to bond any one animal they inhabit to any one human, at the cost of 2 essence. This animal will follow the mortal after the kyriotate leaves it, and attempt to insinuate himself into the mortal's life. If this proposal is reciprocated by the human, then the bond is relatively permanent, until one or the other dies. If the mortal dies, the animal will follow within 2 months (of a broken heart). If the animal is rejected, the animal will feel rejected by man in general, and will be far less inclined to pair-bond with another human. This generates dissonance for the kyriotate that attempted to promote the pair bond. Note: not all pair-bonds involve dogs and cats. Other examples include parrots, crows, dolphins, horses, elephants (VERY strong bond), ...
Mercurians, as the friends of man, tend to understand Eros the best of all the angels. They advocate sexual Love above all other forms, since this is the form of Love which makes the most sense to them. Their attunement allows them to understand what attracts a mortal sexually. They have the equivalent of seduction/6, and a charisma +3 in whatever vessel they inhabit. They simply exude animal magnetism. Thus, while others have to study how to be sexually attractive and charming, these Mercurials just have a `knack' for it. If they so choose, they can invest extra character points, to bring a particular vessel's charisma to an unnaturally high +6 (only possible through the bonus charisma available due to their attunement). However, individuals can barely walk down the street without causing car-accidents from all the rubber-necking.
This attunement allows the servitor to spend one essence to bond a group of individuals together, so that their love for their comrades-in-arms bolsters their effectiveness. Thus, while the group remains together, and all stand opposed against the same foe (individual, group, etc.), they will fight more efficiently as a unit. The Comrades gain a +1 to hit for that encounter only. If one of the individuals falls, or the group is forced to split up, the bonus is lost. Note: in a few, very rare instances, this can be applied to other, not-strictly-combative arenas as well... Knute Rockne is rumoured to have somehow invoked this attunement when he convinced the team to "win this one for the Gipper."
Servitors with this attunement gain the ability to sing the Ethereal Song of Attraction in such a way as to encourage any of the previously mentioned types of love. Thus, a Vassal could influence a parent-child type of bond, an Agape' relationship, or love of one's self through the use of but the one Song (instead of the generic "fall madly in love with the subject" use of the Song). Each use of the song can only influence one Style of Love. Multiple styles of love require multiple uses of the Song.
Allied: Eli, Novalis, Sunya, David (through the love of 'the group'), Lawrence (comrades-in-arms)
Hostile: Marc , Michael, Dominic (there's no room for Love in Trade, War, or Justice)
NB: It is rare, indeed, that the allegience of the war-faction is divided. Such is the case here, where Lawrence and David seem to understand the importance of Love far more so than, say, Michael.
Such individuals are difficult to hurt, because they are such likable characters. If anybody has a chance to know the Vassal, even only slightly, then they will find it difficult to harm the individual. Unless the aggressor can successfully make a Will roll, they will find themselves at a permanent -1 to hit the Vassal, as the aggressor will subconsciously realize that the Vassal is a genuinely lovable individual. If the aggressor succeeds in the Will roll, they can over-come their indecision and proceed to attack unmolested by guilt and/or conscience.
Such individuals gain a permanent +3 on all reaction rolls, due to their understanding nature, compassionate outlook, and general lovable personalities! Ya' Gotta' Love these guys, even if you want to hate them.
When such individuals expend 5 essence, they may attempt to force a permanent bond between two individuals, be they mortal, celestial, or diabolical. This permanent bond is attempted using a perception vs. will test. If the bond is formed, then the two individuals are literally unable to harm each other without harming themselves. Thus, the Bond, akin to the one shared by the quasi-mythical Corsican brothers, causes each individual to feel the emotions, pain, and damage of the other. Such a Bond can only be broken through death, which inevitably kills both participants in the Bonding.
Chance of Invocation: 1 (love _is_ fickle)
Modifiers to Invocation:
+1 - a love letter
+2 - the collar/harnass of a faithful pet,... of course, that could apply to certain humans, too ;-)
+3 - an engagement ring (3 months salary... ouch!)
+4 - Original Copies of the Works of St. Francis
+5 - The Heart of One who died for Love (could be a patriot who died for the love of their country, or somebody who died from a broken heart, etc.)
+6 - One of the actual Love letters written to Eloise from Pierre Abelard (the greatest love story ever!)