Created by: "Bodhi" (rob@v-wave.com)
The Crow... "yucky, non-original, stupid spin-off story"
Okay, here's an idea that I don't really like, but it's been knocking around in my head for an hour, now, and I can't get rid of it. I figure if I write it out I can exorcise it, and be done with it once and for all!
Personally, I'm not fond of stealing ideas from movies, books, or what have you, but I figured I'd just get this one over with, okay? Read it once, discard it, and let me get back to work on my own stuff. This "creative retro-fitting" doesn't sit too well with me.
NOTE: I apologize to all of those who liked the movie "The Crow". (... and I feel sorry for those who liked the sequel ;-) ).
(... forget the "Scorned" part...the original was mis-translated...)
Essentially, the PCs are hearing a lot of disturbance in the Symphony, and when they go to investigate, they find that a series of murders is occurring. The murders are all linked, through PC investigation, to an incident that occurred exactly one year ago.
The murder victims all belong to a gang of thugs/gangsters/terrorists, who were involved in the rape/torture/murder of a young couple. The woman was raped and killed, and the man died in hospital a few hours later. Now, it seems, someone is coming out from hiding to wreak a little vengeance for the untimely deaths of these two young lovers, Eric Draven and his lover, Sarah.
The PCs eventually discover that the murderer is, in fact, Sarah, the woman who was murdered a year ago. She has come back as a Revenant (see below, please). She has a mission to complete before she can return to her final reward, and that mission involves the murder of those that ruined her life. Thus, she has been given dispensation to finish off those that ended her Life and her Love, because killing these individuals is for the greater Good.
The One who allowed her to come back, and gave her the ability to finish her enemies off, depends upon the GM's preference. I prefer Dominic. Some examples follow:
A. Dominic, the Archangel of Justice, feels that a grave injustice has been done. As he is not normally a fan of such atypical measures, the PCs may be surprised to find that he has condoned this activity, and has supported Sarah in her Righteous and Just Vengeance.
However, his motivation lies behind the fact that her actions will bring about a balance in the Cosmic Scales, and a furthering of the word of Justice. Her "marking her territory" after each kill means that people get the message that Justice has been served. If she strays from the path of Justice, then he will revoke her status. (although I'm not overly fond of Dominic sometimes, I can really get behind this version of the adventure, simply because it shows Dominic in a slightly more complex light than the one-dimensional Neo-Nazi that he sometimes appears as)... I know there are equally strong perspectives from which Dominic would never condone this sort of action, but I think that I'll choose to paint him in this light for this one, okay?B. Azrael, the angel of Vengeance, could be used as Sarah's superior. Fit the story accordingly.
C. David, the Archangel of Stone, is a supporter of humans protecting and serving one another. Thus, he might be the one motivating Sarah.
D. Michael, the Archangel of War, could be Sarah's Superior.
The PCs may attempt to help Sarah finish her job, if their personal motivations
run parallel to hers. The PCs may attempt to destroy Sarah, if their personal
motivations run opposite to hers. As well, different PCs in the party may
feel differently about her, and this could be the most fun of all!!!
Sometimes Bad things happen to Good people. If somebody is Wronged, and as a consequence dies, their story automatically catches the attention of certain high-ranking Celestials. Sometimes, the Wrong is so great that a Celestial will not sit idly by and let the transgression go unpunished. If this is the case, the Celestial may bring the mortal back, as a limited type of Soldier, known as a Revenant.
A Revenant doesn't belong as part of the Symphony anymore. Their time has passed. Furthermore, they now generate Disturbance whenever they interfere with "regular" mortals, since these regular mortals are part of the Symphony and the Revenant is not. Sensitive individuals (like the spooky Sister in the movie) can sense the disturbance that the Revenant makes.
A Revenant is given an extra Force for the duration of their earthly visit. This visit lasts exactly long enough to fulfill their mission, at which time they return to their final reward. If they fail in their mission, they are doomed to never rest again. Thus, unrestful spirits will gladly "cut a deal" with a Celestial to come back to Earth, right their personal Wrong, and then return to Heaven in a more restful state. However, upon their return, they know nothing of the time that they spent in Heaven. They return confused, alone, and filled with the pressing need to fulfill their mission. However, should they fail to complete their mission before they are destroyed, they will never again enter the kingdom of Heaven.
A Revenant is given certain skills to help them fulfill their mission.
A. The Revenant is taught the Corporeal Song of Healing, to be able to repair the damage done to their Corporeal Vessel while on in the Corporeal Realm agian.
B. The Revenant is taught the Corporeal Song of Shields, to protect them from physical attacks while fulfilling their mission. The combination of these two songs makes the Revenant appear almost "unkillable", but in reality they are open to Ethereal and Celestial attacks.
C. The Revenant is given a Familiar, which is a low-level Celestial in service to the Superior, Bound to an animal Vessel. This Familiar can transmit whatever they see to the Revenant. The Familiar doesn't communicate with the Revenant, except through a sort of Empathic link. Thus, the Familiar guides the Revenant during the early hours of their awakening, making sure that the Revenant fulfills their task.
You could make the Familiar the weak link of the Revenant. Should the Familiar be killed, the Revenant loses the ability to perform the songs in question. Personally, this whole idea is getting too hokey for me...
The Familiar could be a Crow, or a Cat, Dog, Snake, whatever...
D. The Revenant gains two Rites, in order to generate essence for their mission, and to power the Songs they have been taught.
The First Rite generates essence whenever they murder somebody who has Wronged them. Thus, killing a member of the Gang brings one point of essence to Sarah.
The Second Rite generates essence whenever the Revenant leaves a symbol signifying the dedication of th above-mentioned killing to their Superior. Thus, leaving a symbol behind (such as a Crow form in blood, flaming lighter fluid, etc...) generates a second point of essence, since it furthers the word of the Superior by generating a "Buzz" in the community. You'd better be good, `cause there's somebody out there watchin' over us...
E. The Revenant is given Fighting/6 and Ranged Weapon (pistol)(knife)/6 skills, to be able to kill their enemies.
A Revenant's mission could be "kill all the members of the Gang that killed me" (like in The Crow), or it could be "Destroy the Corporation that murdered me" (lotsa bad movies about this...), or whatever. If GMs want to, I'm sure they can come up with various and sundry missions for different Revenants.
However, once a Revenant's mission is fulfilled, they immediately go back to their final reward. The deal was simply to do one mission, then go Rest. They "Borrow" the power from a Superior, in exchange for furthering that Superior's Word during the course of the mission. They are NOT in it for the long haul. They do ONE mission, then they go back to heaven. NO PC Revenants!!!
This sort of "not-living" person may trouble certain PC characters. Thus, while Sarah's mission may be "Just" or "Righteous", not everybody's gonna' stand for it.
Yves is probably opposed to the whole thing. It shows a distinct lack of understanding, and an over-emphasis on the wrong sorts of Ideals.
Novalis, Jordi, and Eli would probably view these sorts of creatures as "unnatural" in some way, and thus wouldn't support the creation of, or use or, Revenants.
From my [Bodhi's] own ranks, I don't think Sunya, Amare', or Foucault would support Revenants, either.
However, there are some Archangels for whom the Ends Justify the Means. For these Archangels, they would gladly create a short-term Revenant, even though it is a tad "unnatural", because the long-term gain outweighs the short-term problems.
There you have it. "The Crow" now done for In Nomine fans. Thus, you could have PCs find out that there is a "night-stalker" out there, uncover the story, seek out and track down Sarah, and then ultimately decide whether to help her or destroy her. Lots of fun for fans of the movie, lots of chances for hokey role-playing and stylish gaming. As well, I'd like to emphasize that hopefully some of the PCs will be opposed to Sarah's coming back, so you could have intra-party conflict about whether or not Sarah should be helped, hindered, ignored, or destroyed! ... and of course, Sarah's gonna' be one messed up Lady, so the opportunity to play her single-minded, Darkly vengeful personality could be fun for a lot of GMs.
Good. That's over with. Now I can get back to some more original stuff. Blech!!! Thanks for your indulgence.
Walk in Beauty,
Rob Wolff / Bodhi
rob@v-wave.com
Nicholas Copernicus, Master Astronomer
Stood up and Shouted, addressing the throng,
"Abandon poor Ptolomy, Stand up and follow me,
Heliocentrically, Ptolomy's Wrong!!"
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