IN> Dark Victory Zadkiel

[Elizabeth McCoy]

At 3:26 PM -0500 6/23/11, Matthew Cutter wrote:
>Does anybody remember the time frame of the Zadkiel Remnant Dark Victory
>posting?

7/31/2000
===========================Original Message=======================
Date: Mon, 31 Jul 2000 22:59:16 -0500
From: Kris Overstreet <redneck at detnet.com>
Subject: IN> [DARK VICTORY] Colonel Maria Tzetke


	Two months had passed since the day the world ended for Maria Tzetke.

	She has no memory of the time before that day; her memories of any day
before are foggy at best, with a choice slice of delusions brought on by
the injuries she suffered that day. Images of striding seven leagues at a
step, a flaming sword and a shield of adamant, and monstrosities even more
terrible than the creatures her troopers turn up every day now, a few
human, most not.

	She sleeps maybe three, occasionally four restless hours a night. It takes
an effort for sleep to come, and when she sleeps there are no dreams, only
a moment or two of quiet oblivion interspersed with extreme discomfort and,
occasionally, dreadful nightmares. Once or twice she's awakened with a
slash on an arm or leg that hadn't been there before, but nothing
serious... only terrifying.

	Unfortunately, a colonel in the United States Army cannot afford to show
fear, especially not with five competing United States, two Confederate
States, a reborn Republic of Texas, and hundreds of cities cast adrift in
the wake of chaos. The Army has to stand and bring order, put down
rebellions, and protect the poor frightened people around her.

	She looks out from her command jeep, an old surplus model dug out from the
Arkansas National Guard armory by requisitions. Around her are her
soldiers, some 6,000 troops gathered from scattered and confused commands
in Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas... mostly people cut off from
home, seeking purpose, hoping that their new commander can make things
right again.

	She could weep at the thought that, by her orders, some of these poor, sad
creatures will die from her commands. She knows every single name, although
she has spoken no more than once with the vast majority of them. She loves
them as her children, and their lives weigh heavily in her hands.

	"The rebel Texans have opened up the rail lines to Palestine," her
adjutant, Lieutenant Marley, smiles from behind his Coke-bottle lenses. "A
quick raid should supply our forces for long enough to take Dallas, and
with Dallas we should have enough supplies and manpower to pacify this
entire region."

	Tzetke nods sadly, regretting the necessity of terrorizing innocent
civilians, doubtless seeking any order after Armageddeon. Still, Texas is
in rebellion against the United States, and the rebellion must be stopped.

	She doesn't understand why that's so important, but the rebellion MUST be
stopped...

	COLONEL MARIA TZETKE
	aka ZADKIEL, ANGEL OF PROTECTION

	CORPOREAL - 6 (Str 12, Agi 12)
	ETHEREAL - 4 (Int 4, Pre 12)
	CELESTIAL - 3 (Will 10, Per 2)
	Vessel: Human Female (Cha +2, right eye missing, eyepatch, golden hair and
Amazon figure), Role/6 Maria Tzetke, Colonel, US Army)
	(Zadkiel has many other vessels, but does not know of their existence.)
	Zadkiel has all of Protection's Attunements and Distinctions, but may not
grant them.
	Zadkiel has all of Protection's Rites.
	Discords: Bound/6, Obsessed (rebellion, putting down)/4

	Zadkiel could almost be considered fortunate; she faced Mammon, one of
Hell's weaker Princes, on the day of Armageddeon. The battle was brief, but
vicious, and although Mammon was destroyed, Zadkiel was thrown in a jumble
of barely coherent forces from the walls of her citadel, landing on Earth
in one of her many Vessels. 

	A demon of Factions, a lowly 8-Force Djinn named Alamarle, had figured out
the Colonel's identity some time before the Final Battle, and he had been
assigned to watch for her comings and goings. With her sudden return,
battle-scarred and amnesiac, he took the opportunity to persuade her to
subdue those who would rebel against the authority of the United States. As
her adjutant and chief of staff, he has effectively commanded her forces
ever since, beginning with rallying a company near the wastes of Washington
and moving westward, picking up troops as she went, ever towards Texas,
which 'Lt. Marley' had pointed out was the most dangerous of all the rebel
forces.

	Zadkiel now has a small army moving around northeastern Texas. Although
not aware of her Celestial nature, she is subconsciously converting the
dissonance from her military campaign (leaving some unprotected to serve
the 'greater good' into Discord. That Discord is following the path set by
Alamarle, and Zadkiel's sanity is now in grave danger. On the one side, her
heart remembers the bottomless love she holds for humans, but on the other
she is subject to occasional temper tantrums and irrational acts where the
issue of 'rebellion' is concerned. 

	In her more lucid moments, usually after another fantastic memory of her
celestial existence comes to the fore, she thinks that the best way to
protect the people is to disband her army and let them protect their own
homes.... but Lt. Marley is always there to remind her of the stern call of
duty and the needs of the nation. Zadkiel is tired and heartsick, and the
nightmares she has when she can get a rare moment of sleep are almost as
frightening as the dazzling glimpses of glory she sees in her flashbacks.

	(The nightmares are all too real, by the way- Malphas has arranged for a
few of Beleth's tiny remnant of Servitors to watch the Marches for Zadkiel;
when she pops up in the Marches, they charge after her, and she's had a
couple of very close calls so far...)

	PLOT ELEMENTS

	Zadkiel's army is easily shifted to any point in the United States where
your DV campaign might be located. I placed her in Texas in direct
opposition to the Preserver faction in Austin, so Zadkiel's forces may be
encountered either by a party leaving Texas to investigate events elsewhere
or by a party sent specifically to investigate raids on farms, small towns
and rail lines in north Texas. 

	It should be obvious fairly quickly that there are Celestials in 'Colonel
Tzetke's' army; Zadkiel expends Essence unconciously for things like the
Song of Corporeal Healing, and Alamarle has been careless about his own
expenditures of Essence. Add to this the disturbance every time Colonel
Tzetke goes target shooting, and the party will realize fairly quickly
what's going on.

	The players will figure out fairly quickly that Lt. Marley is a demon; he
delights in abusing his power when the Colonel isn't watching, and he's
particularly nasty to prisoners 'trying to escape.' The Colonel, however,
is a less easily recognized factor; she varies between being sweet and
friendly to terrifying and stern. 

	Dreamwalkers will have the easiest time finding the Colonel's true
identity, for in the Marches Zadkiel retains a recognizable form. If the
party has no one with the talent for entering the Marches, things will be
more difficult, but with encouragement, Zadkiel will regain enough memories
to recognize her true nature... and with that recognition will come a
reckoning with Alamarle, who has a hotline to a potent Baron of Factions to
insure that Zadkiel won't be allowed to rejoin the forces of Heaven.

	Zadkiel is no longer an Archangel, but she is more potent than her
progenitor Novalis. She will occupy an important place in the New Heaven
hierarchy, and she will assist Novalis in the recruiting of scattered
angels, Orphans, Outcasts and Renegade demons to the cause of preserving
Creation. Her most important role, however, may be as the new military
commander of the forces of Heaven... if she feels confident enough to
accept the responsibility, and if she feels her duties to humanity do not
interfere.

	Redneck


	
Kris Overstreet, aka Redneck Gaijin
publisher, White Lightning Prod. - www.wlpcomics.com
I ***LOATHE*** Microsoft Outlook. Please get Eudora.