IN> Superior Relics: Justice & Mercy

[Moe Lane]

Justice & Mercy
Superior Relics: Judgment

These two relics are considered by many to be symbolic of the larger
struggle within Judgment; whether this is actually True, or just
propaganda, is up to the individual campaign.  Both relics are
exceptionally old; they, in fact, date back to the First Rebellion.
They are also both generally associated with Dominic's female persona,
rather than his masculine one. Aside from those two similarities, they
are otherwise very different artifacts.

Justice (Dominique's Sword)
This weapon would be easily recognized by any person who has ever seen
the Heavenly Judgment attunement in action: the sword that
materializes when it is invoked is a good, but imperfect copy of the
blade that Dominique bears.  While it does not really resemble a
katana, the general sense of smooth, deadly simplicity that it
projects would cause most humans to remember it as one.  The weapon is
almost aggressively undecorated, although a hint of faint etching can
be seen at various spots on the blade.

Justice started off existence as a decorative metal pole that led a
remarkably uneventful existence as part of a ornamental decoration in
what would become the Seraphim Council chamber, up to the moment that
the Angel of Judgment ripped it off the wall and used it to kill the
assassin sent to kill her at the start of the First Rebellion.  She
then proceeded to beat it out flat on every Rebel skull that she saw.
It is said that Dominique gave Justice its first edge by whetting it
on her sheer rage, mostly because it happens to be True.  The hilt is
practically prosaic by comparison, being "merely" a personal project
of the Archangel of Creation to commemorate his protégé's ascension to
Archangel.

The decoration that Justice came from has never been repaired, by the
way: Dominique felt that keeping it in plain sight might help remind
the Seraphim Council of the consequences of a lapse in Judgment.

Mercy (Dominique's Blindfold)
This item of clothing is somewhat more complex.  It looks like what it
is: a blindfold that has been made out of what was once a heavily
embroidered, black silken shirt.  The shirt was Kobal's, the
embroidery was Dominique's, and on that hangs a tale.

In the immediate aftermath of the Fall, the Angel of Judgment had the
unenviable task of determining which Rebel angels could be salvaged,
and which ones were lost causes.  Even after the horrors of the War in
Heaven, Dominique was certain that none of her former colleagues was
irredeemable.  It would simply be a matter of finding the flaw in each
angel's reasoning or emotional state, correcting it, and helping them
regain their perspective.  It would be a long task, to be sure - but a
very rewarding one, and the alternatives were all worse.  This rather
optimistic, if not utopian, aim did not survive Dominique's first
interviewee: Kobal, Angel of Laughter, an angel chosen for reasons
that no wise Servitor of Dark Humor and no polite Servitor of Judgment
ever, ever refers to.  The details are sketchy, but suffice it to say
that when the room was burst into by alarmed guards they found a
chained Kobal on the ground, smirking at the sword at his throat.  The
stillness was palpable as Dominique stared down the Rebel, and then
slashed her blade... to cut off the embroidered shirt that she had
once gifted the angel, and that he wore to Rebellion.

The next interviewee - who was, incidentally, allowed to stay in
Heaven, and showed every sign of repentance until his soul-death
fighting off the First Incursion ten thousand years later - entered
the room to discover that the Angel of Judgment had converted the
shirt into a crude blindfold.  She wore this throughout the
interviews, and later trials: when asked, Dominique calmly replied
that she already knew the Truth of what the Rebels had done.  What was
needed from her now was her determination of what they would do if
given another chance, and for that her Seraph resonance would simply
get in the way.

Powers of the Relics
Dominic has been known to allow a Servitor of Judgment to carry either
Justice or Mercy (never both at the same time), provided that it would
be both Truly necessary, and Truly not something that Dominic would
need to handle himself.  This effectively means that the relics are
not often handed out, and invariably only in response to exceptionally
sensitive problems.  While Servitors of Judgment would rather die then
give either one up, both relics have ended up possessed by unaware
humans and demons at various times in the past.  The former typically
"lose" them swiftly, and the latter invariably end up being splattered
on a wall somewhere.  The Demon Prince of Theft could no doubt survive
stealing either, but has apparently never chosen to do so.

What few reports exist of the experiences suggest that the two relics
have very different effects:

While Justice is an exceptionally dangerous weapon (Power +10, Acc +2,
ignores Protection), its metaphysical power is even greater.  Bearing
Justice automatically gives the holder access to Judgment's Inquisitor
Distinction and Elohite attunement.  Possibly more importantly, the
current possessor of the sword knows at all times what Dominic would
want him to do in any given circumstance.  This can be glorious,
tragic, or both.

Mercy is much subtler.  It provides the possessor access to all of
Dominic's Servitor attunements and regular Distinctions.  It does not
interfere with normal vision, but a Seraph wearing it would not be
able to use his or her resonance.  The wearer will also acquire a
terribly complete empathy towards any person he or she sees: they will
instantly comprehend and experience every act, compulsion, impulse,
temptation, and influence that might lead a person to a particular
action.  A single dose of this can (and often did) knock a human
unconscious, and can make even a hardened Malakite stop in his tracks.
 It has been suggested that being given Mercy has sometimes been a
somewhat subtle punishment...


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