IN> The Heavenly Recreationist Society

[James Walker]

The Archangel of War no longer trusts Yves. Hell
assumes that sooner or later, there will be a new war
in Heaven. Heaven assumes that Michael's loyalty to
God will prevent him from moving against Destiny.

Both are right – sort of.

Michael's thoughts are straightforward – if Yves
cannot be trusted, then someone has to take over his
task. He won't damage Yves, of course. He'll just show
the scholars in the library what they've been
studying!

A scholar on 1 Corporeal Force will normally have 2 or
more Celestial Forces, making them much tougher in
celestial combat than they were in corporeal. So when
the Archangel of War invites them to come and
interview the soldiers who were at Actium, Crecy or
Waterloo – and 'suggests' that they could be trained
to take part in a re-enactment?

Each major battle is re-enacted at least once per
century, generally on its' anniversary. Michael
insists that re-enactments occur in series, so that
the participants can see the evolution of strategies
and tactics (eg Marathon, Cannae, Acre, Blenfield, one
of Frederick's battles, then both Ardennes and finally
either El Alamein, Kursk or Bagration). Actual
veterans of the battles serve as NCOs and officers,
while Cherubim of War act as horses, elephants etc
(actual animals lacking the Celestial Forces necessary
to reflect their corporeal usefulness).
During 'rehearsals' for the battle, Michael corrects
errors in the scholar's beliefs, dispelling myths and
disproving cherished beliefs. He will also run
variants on each battle, exploring what would have
happened with different terrain, weather and so on.

Although most of these battles occur in Heaven, it is
a simple matter to use bridgestones to move two armies
into a prepared domain in The Marches. (This is
particularly popular with Blessed with high Ethereal
Forces). Although ethereals aren't welcome,
dreamshades who were veterans are welcome to come and
tell their stories – and more than a few end up
travelling to Heaven when they learn what Michael has
been doing.

And Michael's Saints? They take part of course,
particularly in The Marches. Recruiting from the
poached scholars means that Michael has a new batch of
Saints, who have been the inspiration for Indiana
Jones & Lara Croft.

Meanwhile, how has Yves been reacting to this
deliberate effort to take over his responsibilities?
He just smiles, and thinks what it would be like to
finally retire.

[Deleted for security reasons], James.



		
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