IN> All the Tea in China

[William Keith]

Tea has been around for almost as long as humans have boiled water.  A 
hygienic practice on its own, the refreshing properties of Camellia 
sinensis and the medicinal properties of other herbs have changed 
entire cultures.  Tea has inspired entire spiritual traditions -- Zen 
Buddhism brought forth chado, the way of tea.  It has reshaped whole 
countries' history and economies: caffeine and sugar in the middle of 
the afternoon let European laborers continue a day's work, and feeding 
those needs were racing clipper ships under the flags of England, 
Portugal, America, and more.  We speak of a man steeped in a culture, a 
plot that brews, or an infusion of cash into a liquid market.  While 
it's not quite as universally central to human worldviews as, say, fire 
or war, its effects on human history are not to be underestimated, and 
the Angel of Tea is an old and powerful angel indeed.

Like the Word of Flowers itself, Camellia's Word is based on a 
biological entity -- Camellia sinensis, the tea plant -- but has grown 
far beyond that into metaphorical regions.  Depending on the region of 
the world one is in, tea can refer to a drink, a time of day for 
relaxing, a diplomatic chat, or a delivery system for medicine.  She 
has been very successful in spreading not only the drinking of tea but 
its connotations of a peace and health.  Her service to Flowers' ideals 
of peace is preventative, with an unguessable number of conflicts 
global and personal defused over a nice hot cup of tea (often having 
replaced ale or wine as a historical drink of choice in the region, to 
the substantial benefit of health and social relations).  Camellia's 
role in shaping these perceptions has been and continues to be 
significant.  She is knowledgeable concerning the core agronomy of tea 
plants and their harvest, the pharmacopeia of Chinese traditional 
medicine, the economics and diplomacy of international trade, and the 
supernatural theories underlying a number of alchemical brews.

Camellia's priorities are global, and she maintains supervision of 
lower-ranking angels and Soldiers around the world, from Japan to 
England and beyond.  She was based in China early in her history, 
assisting with agriculture from the Lightning viewpoint, teaching 
humans effective farming practices and exhibiting medicinal uses of 
various brews.  In recent centuries she has worked very closely with 
angels of Trade dealing with the economic ramifications of the East 
India Company.  However, with the twentieth century's string of violent 
Communist revolutions, Novalis assigned Camellia to be one of the key 
organizing angels for Flowers' efforts in East Asia, and secured for 
her a strong Role in China.  (Ma Lei, a midwife from earlier in this 
series, may have played a part in that changeling switch.)  She now 
spends most of her time in Beijing, never coming within the walls of 
the Communist Party's decision-making headquarters but often delivering 
sufficient brew-ready influence to let calmer heads prevail in times of 
tension.  She gathers news from a network of agents and sends 
directives along with deliveries of fine-quality tea around the city, 
around the country, and to the far corners of the globe.  When she 
leaves Beijing these days it is usually to travel personally to the Six 
Tea Mountains for this or that specially-aged harvest, as well as 
making quick use of a small, stable Tether hidden in the precinct.

She doesn't leave for long -- from her point of view, China is a land 
on a high simmer and ready to boil over, with protest fermenting 
within, military tensions on too many borders, and extraterritorial 
engagement worsening conflicts elsewhere.  It can be handled, though.  
After all, it hasn't even been a century since the local form of 
government changed radically, and there are humans yet that lived under 
an emperor.  Already the central ideology is adapting to more 
widely-accepted socialism under the relentless slow pressure of real 
needs.  It's the job of Camellia and her troops to see that the 
pressure is kept up.

(Those troops are likely to be any of a number of Peace faction Words.  
Camellia is an angel that oversees one of the major aspects of Chinese 
culture that survived the Cultural Revolution, and she is both by 
experience and by temperament more able to relate to angels of Trade, 
Dreams, Lightning, and Creation than to War-faction Words.  Camellia 
could make a good "default" coordinator for Heaven's social goals as 
they relate to China and its global influences, possibly a line or so 
up from any 9-Force angels.)

-----

Camellia
Mercurian Master of Peace
Angel of Tea
Vessel: quiet little Han Chinese matron/3, Charisma +1
Role/6: Sun Lan, owner of a tea house in Beijing near Zhongnanhai, the 
Chinese capitol complex; occasional provider of fine teas for formal 
gatherings of the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party.

Corporeal Forces: 4	Strength:	8	Agility: 12
Ethereal Forces: 6	Intelligence: 12	Precision: 12
Celestial Forces: 5	Will: 	10		Perception: 10
Word Forces: 15

Skills: Alchemy/3, Artistry (performance: tea ceremony)/6, 
Enchantment/3, Languages (Chinese (Mandarin)/native, Hindi/5, 
English/5, Japanese/3, Portuguese/2), Knowledge (Economics/3, 
Farming/4, Zen Buddhism/3), Medicine/5, Savoir-Faire/5

Songs: Eth. Harmony, Corp. Healing, Corp. Sleep, Eth. Sleep, Eth. Solace

Other resources: jian, Talisman/6 (Large Weapon (Sword)), Summonable; 
concealable bulletproof vest, Talisman/6 (Dodge), Summonable; ownership 
of a small but prosperous teahouse; settled apartment of modern upper 
middle-class Chinese urban dweller; often in the company of an 
assistant or lower-ranking angel; Celestial Chime/6 (Cel. Calling) -- 
this is a one-use panic button that whistles up a flight of six 
Novaline Malakim, who will show up armed to the teeth.  The Chime is 
the type that has a "safety."

Attunements: Mercurian of Flowers, Cherub of Flowers, Seraph of 
Flowers, Angel of Tea, Heavenly Fragrance, Discriminating Taste, Metal 
Hews Wood*

*Also non-canonical -- see writeup of Awase, Archangel of Metal, 
earlier in this series.

Angel of Tea: tea is part of Camellia.  When she harvests tea leaves 
herself and later brews them, she may treat any person who has drunk of 
the infusion, up to a number equal to her Celestial Forces, as being in 
physical contact with her (though not necessarily *close* to her) for 
the next six hours, for the purposes of resonance or Attunement.  This 
applies both ways, though most drinkers do not know to take advantage 
of it.  Angels to whom she provides this ability must add 1 Essence to 
the brew per person to be thus affected; the first drinkers are taken 
in order.

Heavenly Fragrance: when brewing an aromatic drink, Camellia may select 
one ability she has that manifests as an aura, such as her Seraph of 
Flowers Attunement.  The effects of the ability then manifest for 
anyone who inhales the fragrance, as if she were next to the recipient. 
  The effects fade when the scent does, usually after a few minutes.  As 
with Angel of Tea, angels to whom she provides this ability must spend 
1 Essence per person to be affected.  (It should be noted that she 
accomplish the same thing with Songs by constructing a serving of tea 
infused with the Song via alchemy, similar to the construction of a 
pastille.)

Discriminating Taste: Camellia's connoisseurship is so finely developed 
that she can discern the chemical components of a "tea" -- by which is 
metaphorically meant *any* liquid meant for consumption -- with a 
Perception roll, by smell, sight (-3 penalty, impossible over media) or 
taste (+3 to target number, but exposes her to the effects).  She gains 
an intuitive understanding of the chemicals, but, like any other 
potential holder of the Attunement, requires a Chemistry and/or Alchemy 
roll to be verbally precise about it.  Fortunately, she's very good at 
both.

Rites:
Novalis' basic Rites
Perform a tea ceremony for exactly four people
Spend a workday assisting in tea cultivation (+2 Essence)

William