Jeri/Jericho
Mercurian Archangel of Cities
"Cities are the future of mankind. We must remake them in the image of
the Eternal City, or Hell will triumph before
the first shot of Armageddon is fired."
History:
Jeri (Jeri usually appears as a woman, though she sometimes uses a male
identity, Jericho) is a very old angel, but only has been
an Archangel for a century. She was created by David during the Stone
Age, and sent down to live among the humans to
encourage them to band together in larger groups and to build ritual ties
among them. After millenia of such activity, she then
was assigned to assist the Angel of Agriculture in promoting that word
among the humans, which she did with great skill. As
villages began to develop, she began to concieve a great vision, and in
conjunction with other Servitors of Stone and with
Servitors of Creation, she inspired the building of the first city. This
experiment proved quite a success, and soon she was
rewarded with the word of Cities.
For millenia, she has nurtured the growth of cities and struggled with the
seemingly infinite problems inherent in compacting
humans into limited space, from disease to riots to supply problems.
While she was fairly successful, until the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries, cities, while important, remained home to only a
very small percentage of the population of mankind.
While those cities became the focus of much celestial activity, due to
their usually being home to many of the leaders and
innovators of humanity and the levers of temporal power, the Word of
Cities itself gained little power in comparison to the
many things which cities made possible.
But in the eighteenth century, then increasingly in the nineteenth
century, cities began to explode in size in Europe, and Jeri
began to petition David and the Seraphim Council for greater amounts of
help in coping with the exploding problems of such
cities, which were dragging many cities and people down the road to hell.
At the same time, the churches were unable to match
the growth of cities with a corresponding growth of their own, and many
slipped into irreligion or worse because of this.
Unfortunately, David doesn't respond well to swiftly changing conditions,
and the Seraphim Council is not the fastest
deliberators on Earth.
The council finally did react in the 1870s, asking Dominic to appoint an
investigatory committee to examine the living conditions
of the cities. It took ten years to study and make its report, and the
results were, simply put, appalling. It took weeks to
present all the findings, and many of the Council members looked quite ill
by the end of it. Dominic's suggested solution was to
destroy the worst of the cities as a sign to the rest. Instead, the
council decided to appoint an Archangel of Cities to undertake
the task of making these cities more like the Heavenly City in which the
angels dwell.
Jeri has achieved some great results in this century, though she still
struggles to get her motley band of servitors, many given to
her by other Archangels to help her get things underway, into shape and
working effectively. She's been aided by the massive
amounts of power given her Word in this century by the growth of cities
all over the globe. It's generally expected she'll
become a very major player by the end of the 21st century, and likely
earlier.
Personality and Outlook:
Jeri is friendly, but rushed, because she tends to be a rather 'hands-on'
Archangel. Indeed, the way she races about leads some
to wonder if she should have been an Ofanite instead of a Mercurian.
Every hour of her day is tightly scheduled, as she zips
from project to project, city to city, trying to singlehandedly save the
world. She has a tendency to ignore summons, but
instead calls servitors and makes appointments with them. Wise people
accept the time she suggests, as she may not be able to
pencil you in again for weeks or months... Servitors working on projects
where she anticipates her help will be needed, or in
which she takes an especial interest, are issued special 'pagers', which
greatly increase their invocation chances.
Jeri usually operates by setting general policy directives for each city,
then appointing either a single angel as a city manager
when her servitors in a city are few, or a board of seven celestials (one
from each Choir), when the city is large, to work out the
specific policy directives and priorities for that city and issue
directives to the other celestials in her service. If the city
possesses a Word-Bound celestial of that city (Angel of Houston, Angel of
Paris, etc), that celestial acts as 'chairman' of the
'City Council'. Typically, a city possesses a Word-Bound patron if it is
either a national capital, has great historical/ social/
political/ whatever significance or has 1 million or more people. Some
cities possess such Angels based on past glories now
lost.
Jeri is a consumate politician, very skilled at wheedling the other
Archangels and their servitors into assisting her projects, a
talent honed by centuries of having duties much greater than her
resources. She tends to be a peace-maker, trying to settle
conflicts by finding a mutually acceptable solution.
Jeri has two major problems. First of all, she tries to do too much. She
still hasn't really adjusted to having a large enough staff
to let them take care of the minor work. As a result, she may miss
rioting in one city because she's too busy trying to influence
Cleveland's city council to change its zoning regulations so that the
working class can get better housing without factories being
built next door. This also leads to her meddling in projects, which can
drive her servitors insane at times.
Secondly, Jeri can be a bit too much of a booster of cities at times.
While she does her best to make them clean and tidy, she
must bear some of the responsibility for urban sprawl and the
transformation of natural settings into concrete and glass. She
lacks appreciation of the rural viewpoint or the beauties of nature
(unless properly tamed in a park). She's eco-friendly...but
the needs of the city still come first. Recycling makes a tidy home,
nicer to live in, and saves resources...so you can have a
bigger city.
Priorities:
Jeri's job is to make cities fit to live in and to beautify them, so they
become a reflection of the shining Eternal City of Heaven.
Her word-bound servitors are most commonly either bound to a location
(such as the Angel of Houston) or to an aspect of
better cities (such as the Angel of Sanitation).
Cleansing of Cities
This aspect of Jeri's Word is the never ending struggle to keep cities
from drowning in their own garbage, both literal and
symbolic. Jeri promotes civic hygiene--well-maintained housing, good
sanitation, water purification, public medical services,
recycling, etc. She also promotes the removal of human garbage--pushers,
pimps, slumlords, irresponsible developers,
mobsters, and so on. Angels assigned to these duties are usually either
in politics and activism (to promote civic hygiene) or in
police forces (to promote removal of human garbage). A lot of this work
is done in conjunction with angels serving Michael,
Jean, David, Dominic, and Laurence.
Growth of Cities
Second in importance is promoting the growth of cities, ideally in a
rational, planned, and hygenic manner. While these angels
have been quite successful in promoting growth, they haven't always done a
very good job of keeping that growth under
control. Control of city planning commissions and zoning boards is key.
Marc's angels are of great assistance in this task.
Beautification of Cities
Third in importance is the transformation of cities into beautiful places.
Whether one believes this has been successful depends
in part on one's sense of aesthetics. Jeri finds skyscrapers to be
lovely. Many celestials do not. Excessive city growth has
hampered this work.
Part of this duty is the preservation of historical landmarks, especially
the most beautiful buildings of the past.
Almost all of the Angels of Creation in service to Jeri are to be found
pursuing this duty.
Politics:
Jeri was once part of the war party, along with her mentor, David. Once
she encouraged cities to be strong and martial. Over
the centuries, however, she has seen what violence and war do to cities,
and a diet of city sackings and street riots have broken
her of approving of the involvement of cities in warfare when there are
other options. While she is not so much the pacifist as
Novalis, she tends to oppose outright full-scale warfare, for fear of the
devastations of the cities. She's best seen in this regard
as a moderate, throwing her support back and forth in different
situations.
Two areas cause most of her political conflicts with other Archangels.
Firstly, Jordi hates her because of the ways in which the
growth of cities has damaged the wilderness homes of animals. She's tried
a variety of appeasement measures, from zoos to
supporting the wildlife that has found a home in the city (rats, pigeons,
pets), but her continued commitment to the growth of
cities (rational, planned, clean, beautiful, but still growth) means he
will likely never like her. Secondly, Jeri has a tendency to
butt into other people's areas of authority. This can, at times, cause
conflict with almost anyone because of her tendency to
assume that anything whatsoever that happens in a city rightfully belongs
to her Word. This often results in wasteful overlapping
with other servitor groups and conflicts when her city councils try to
order around Angels resident in their city of authority who
serve someone else.
She is most closely allied to Marc, as Trade and Cities mutually support
each other, and the growth of her word usually
promotes his and vice versa. She does her best to remain friendly with
Jean, as Cities need technology, and maintains good
relations with Eli, with whom she has sometimes collaborated on
beautification projects, Novalis, who cooperates with her in
the creation of parks and civic festivals, and David, who she long served
and whose projects she still does much to further.
Allied: Marc
Associated: Jean, Eli, Novalis, David
Hostile: Jordi
Servitors, by Choir:
Seraphim:
Jeri's Seraphim know what goes on behind the false fronts of the city.
They can look at any building and determine the true use
to which it is being put. Many work as private investigators and cops
with the Malakim, as they are well suited to discover
criminal activities out of public sight. The rest are usually involved as
building inspectors, lawyers, or judges.
Cherubim: Jeri's Cherubim watch over people and places important to the flourishing
of cities. They ensure reforming politicians aren't
assassinated, that city parks don't fill up with rapes, muggings, and drug
use, and that urban youths with high destinies don't sink
to their fate instead. They also track the worst criminals until the
Malakim can deal with them. Jeri's Cherubim who attune to a
building or location (such as a park) can sense abstract threats to the
building or location's well being as well as immediate ones
(such as a developer who has decided to tear the building down, but hasn't
yet taken action to do so).
Ofanim: The movement of supplies and information is vital to the functioning of
cities. It is the duty of Jeri's Ofanites to keep the arteries
of the city flowing smoothly. They often work as truckers, sysops,
messenger boys, delivery men, and journalists [typically
remote correspondents]. They know how to get what you need and get it
where you need it to go. On a successful perception
check, they can add their check digit to any skill use that involves
finding desired goods or information and transporting them.
(such desired goods must be fairly generic substances--you can use it to
find where to get fluted tumblers, but not 'Bob's stolen
fluted tumblers'.) Such goods must be at least semi-public knowledge (you
can't find a hidden cache of Renoirs in a man's
basement, unless he's put out feelers in the city's underground to sell
them).
Elohim: Jeri's Elohim have their fingers on the heartbeat of the city. They can
extend their resonance to attempt to assess the mood of
an entire city, or a subregion of that city, to see how it might respond
to various actions. This makes them especially valuable
advisors to Angels attempting urban improvements. They often take roles
in advisory positions to city government or
developers.
Malakim: It is the duty of Jeri's Malakim to take out the human garbage of the
city. They do so with a gusto. Most work as security
men, police, and private investigators in their mortal roles, which enable
them to take action against mortals without causing
massive dissonance. At the same time, Jeri usually expects them to
capture, rather than killing, when dealing with humans. So
long as they don't harm innocents, they can generally tear up the
neighborhood to root out the human garbage without sustaining
dissonance. (For example, they can burn down a still usable warehouse in
order to wipe out the crack house which has been
set up inside it, as long as no innocents will burn).
Kyriotates: The Mercurians may be Friends of Man, but a dog is a man's Best Friend.
Jeri's Kyriotates most commonly use animal
vessels, becoming pets to people, in which roles they either comfort or
spy. Many people can only really open up to their pets,
while even the most paranoid of criminals rarely believes his pet cat will
tell the cops where the drug deal is going down. Jeri's
Kyriotates can possess domesticated or urbanized animals (a city pigeon is
urbanized, the polar bear at the zoo is not) for a
number of days equal to their check digit times their corporeal forces.
Mercurians: Jeri's Mercurians are consumate politicians and managers, able to tell at
a glance how people fit into the life of the city and
whether they benefit or harm it. On a successful resonance check, they
can tell how people relate to the city as a whole, and
whether they do so in a beneficial or harmful manner. Those who benefit
the city, they will guide and aid. Those who harm it
get reported to the Malakim to be thrown out with the trash.
Bright Lilim: Jeri has only a handful of Bright Lilim, though she'd like more. They
make great city planners and neighborhood activists.
Bright Lilim can use their resonance to determine what an entire
neighborhood needs. If they meet that need, they can attempt
to geas someone who has benefited from the need being met, but who
selfishly chose not to help meet it.
Dissonance:
It is dissonant for a servitor of Jeri to cause a city to become dirtier,
more dangerous, uglier, or smaller. This dissonance can be
removed by carrying out a corresponding improvement of the city
conditions. They also gain dissonance from causing damage
to cities, unless that damage is necessary to an improvement. (For
example, a bunch of rundown row houses need to be
levelled in order to put a park on the site, a condemned building which
needs to be torn down so it doesn't pose a hazard to
people, and so on)
Servitor Attunements:
Bureaucratic Assault
By expending one ore more essence and making a will roll, you can bring
down the wrath of the city authorities upon someone.
They will harrass the target for a number of days equal to the check digit
times the amount of essence spent. If the person is
breaking no laws and have a clean record, they can get out of it okay if
they avoid doing anything stupid, but illegal immigrants,
criminals, Soldiers of Hell, celestials who lack a role, and any one else
is likely to be in trouble. If nothing else, it keeps the
target pinned down and busy fending off the authorities.
Civic History
The angel can look at any building or location in the city and know its
history with the expenditure of one essence and a
perception roll. The higher the check digit, the more precise the
information.
Heartbeat of the City
By spending one essence, you can make a perception roll and know what is
taking place in the city which is most in need of
Angelic intervention. This may not necessarily guarantee you can make it
there in time...
Red Light, Green Light
By spending one essence, the angel can make a will roll and bend the
traffic light system to his will. He will get only green lights
for ten minutes times his celestial forces + check digit. Alternately, he
can make someone else's driving difficult as they hit all
red lights. This use allows them to make a will roll to resist, however.
Distinctions:
Citizen of the City
By spending one essence, you can instantly blend into any social ocassion,
political rally, etc., involving twenty or more people.
People won't know who you are, but you'll fit, and they'll feel like they
should remember you. This includes producing an
invitation to get you in. If you choose to spend more essence, you'll
have a point of Charisma per point for a number of hours
equal to your Ethereal Forces.
Officer of the City
By spending essence, you generate a role for yourself as a member of some
aspect of the government of a city. The role has a
level equal to the amount of essence spent and lasts for a number of days
equal to your total Forces.
Councilman of the City
You are exceptionally skillful at motivating city governments to do what
you want, from renewing your license quickly to
preventing the destruction of historical landmarks. A successful
Perception roll lets you add your check digit to any skill roll
intended to persuade government officials and politicians (at the city
level) to take the course you propose.
Basic Rites:
Spend a morning or afternoon picking up garbage
Collect and deliver three large trash bags to a recycling center
Organize a neighborhood watch
Shut down a criminal organization (1 to 3 essence depending on the size of
it)
Restore and beautify a building: +3 essence
Spend 8 hours working on a construction site (or demolishing a condemned
building) in some capacity
Chance of Invocation: 2
+1: Inside a city of 1 million or more people
+2: At the Town Hall/Civic Center/Etc
+3: During a civic festival or public ceremony of some kind
+3: At a recycling plant/water purification facility
+4: Inside a city of 7 million or more people
+5: Right before, during, or after a city council meeting
+7: Inside a city of 15 million or more people
+8: Given a 'Pager' by Jeri
+10: Standing at the geographic center of the largest city in the world.
Typical Tether
The Sewers of Paris
Most archangels would be fairly humiliated to have a sewer as a Tether.
Jeri, however, is proud of this Tether, as it symbolizes
her commitment to keeping cities clean and habitable. It was one of her
very first tethers, opening up within weeks of her being
granted her word. A portion of the sewer network doesn't show up on maps,
but if you know where to turn, you can walk or
even sail a boat into the twisting passages which eventually empty out
into the sewer system of Jeri's 'Cathedral' in heaven.
It is watched over by Maximillian, Cherub Councilman of the City, a 15
force Angel, who like Jeri, once served David.
Maximillian has a mild cleanliness obsession, which many people assume to
be discord, which seems strange in a castellan. It's
actually simply the logical result of being attuned to a sewer.
Maximillian is assisted by several Kyriotates who control a pack
of monkeys and two crocodiles in defending the Tether. (The monkeys are
from the gangs of feral monkeys currently
harrassing Paris. I kid you not, RL Paris is being harassed by former pet
monkeys turned loose when they grew up and got
aggressive...)
People who come to work off dissonance will usually be assigned either to
take over guard duties, to do maintenance on the
sewer, or to perform operatic music to amuse Maximillian, who enjoys
operas greatly, but rarely gets to go see them.
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EDG <edg@sjgames.com>
In Nomine Collection Curator