Market of the Vanities - FAQ

[powersthatbe]

How long is an Eschaton, anyway?
An Eschaton is between four days and 9,801 days long. The Eschaton changes when something significant enough happens that everyone wants to remember it on their calendars for all time. Any other means of marking the passage of time is simply insignificant to a world where no one ages, days have independent and variable lengths, and there are no seasons. A ‘season’ is how immortals conceive of an Eschaton - the amount of time a particular theme or idea governs their world and stays on their minds. Almost always, that idea is the current most likely scenario for the end of the world.

The Asaph Eschaton began relatively recently - somewhere more than 70 days ago and less than 700. The exact number could be looked up, but not too many immortals see the need to track things that precisely.

What happened to Melasurei?
With the use of the Name by rogue Immortali (who seem to have been either destroyed or Raptured to Heaven by its use), the fragile truce of Melasurei was not declared to have been broken, though certainly angels and demons did, on occasion, fight in the confusion. No one seeks the Immortali behind the return of the Name except the Peregrines, who call them The Benefactors, for what the Name was used to do was immediately obvious - every Peregrine has flesh and blood that will last, fueled by Divine subsidy. Angels, demons, & Immortali are much more concerned with the destabilizing effect on the market for Sins & Virtues; Sithen are more concerned with the threat posed to their centers of power.

The war between Heaven & Hell continues, though not near Melasurei. Pitched battles grow larger as demons attempt to use recruited, conscripted, or enslaved Peregrines as cannon fodder in their battles - and Heaven raids Peregrine camps and settlements to disperse them before they fall into infernal hands.

The Sithen, though still pacifists, are arming in their own defense, trading Demesnes to Immortali or even Peregrines in exchange for protection, and hiring rogue demonic mercenaries and fallen Angel deserters who don’t accept their fallen status. They cannot challenge the armies of Heaven or Hell, but they can discourage and harass scouts and spies by making both angels & demons unwelcome near settled Sithen lands without a pass from the Queen’s Court.

As for Melasurei itself, the commotion has lead to many of all kindreds of being packing up and leaving. Sithen, Immortali & Peregrines alike have flocked to the Market of Tech Duinn; Peregrines have also gathered at the city of Golganova, the only city in all of Purgatory whose rulers are and have always been mortal. Some few angels and demons have come to the market as well, assigned to monitor the exodus & see how it may affect their troop movements.

How does death work in this setting?
Celestial beings that are killed have their energy and will imbued in the local area! Angels consecrate ground, demons desecrate it, sithen free it of either's influence. They don't retain consciousness and they don't have separate souls and bodies, but magic users can collect material from the area and craft angelic or demonic weapons from them, for example. They are, however, EXTREMELY hard to kill. Like, decapitation, disintegration, thorough dismemberment would do it, but not too much short of that.

From a Traveler-specific perspective, dying while Infiltrating still returns the Traveler to Investigator status.

Do we know anything specific about Heaven and Hell? How they are run, what happens inside them?
The Divine rules Heaven, but its specific nature is not spoken of outside the Gates of Pearl. The Parliament of Princes rules Hell. Both operate with a certain degree of secrecy or ineffability, but at this distance from them both resemble dictatorial military bureaucracies. If you need to explain away a mid-jaunt hiatus and are playing an angel or demon, it would certainly work to be reassigned/called away.

What sort of creatures do we have to work with?
Just about anything - there’s not much native fauna, but that hardly stops people from wanting pets. Your jaunt-buddy gryphon/dragon/what-have-you can still look like themselves.

How does bartering of Sins and Virtues work?
Normally, people accrue and expend Sins and Virtues over time through actions and temperament, but not every act causes a significant change. It isn’t at all unusual to not know how much of any given Sin or Virtue you’re carrying at any given time - some celestial beings can detect their presence or absence, but only in large quantity, and no one being can detect all fourteen Sins and Virtues.

Demons are concerned with corrupting mortals, Angels with redeeming them. The magical power of accumulated sin and virtue is a side issue to them, but central to the Sithen, who have been denied so much in life that sometimes you just want to get high on Gluttony or burn some Fortitude to keep you strong. The bartering consists of magically binding contracts of a sort - the demon hands over the wealth, and the virtue leaves the mortal; or the angel assigns the penance, and the sin does.

Angels, Demons, and Sithen may use and barter Sins and Virtues they take from mortals, but their actions do not accumulate them as natural resources in the same way. On mortals, trading Sins and Virtues can change their behavior, increasing their sins or decreasing virtues especially having a corrupting influence. Especially large changes may be taken as a skill if you’d like to play with the long-term effects.

If one is trading a Sin/Virtue, when you draw it out does it automatically become encapsulated, or does it transfer through a handclasp or something directly into the other person, who then must go to somewhere specific to get it placed in a container?
Those who deal in wholesale Sins and Virtues bottle it, and so anyone in the trade probably has bottles and vials to store it in tucked away.

What currency options exist outside of Sins and Virtues?
There's no set currency, as there are very few material needs, but there are banks at which you can deposit valuables either tangible or intangible and establish lines of credit, or you can open a tab at a business, so specific payment can be abstracted in favor of chits or punch cards.

Can angels/demons/sithen be corrupted or redeemed, or are they set in stone?
It's a one-way ticket under all but the most incredible circumstances. Angels and Sithen can fall further, but once they have fallen, they cannot get back up.

How are Demesnes connected to land in Purgatory? Is it possible for non-angelic-stock denizens to own property?
Graces, Dignities, and Demesnes are not only powers, but signs of status and authority. In the case of Demesnes, this includes a feudal-style land grant, so a Sithen with a lot of Demesnes is either a landlord/property holder in Melasurei, or has a castle or something elsewhere in Purgatory. A Sithen with one Demesnes probably just has an apartment or something. It is not always immediately apparent who owns what parcels of land.

Immortali generally do own property; being here for so long, selling Sins or Virtues as they generate them, most are hella rich. Peregrines have a harder time working up enough currency, but there's nothing preventing them from doing so.

Travelers who keep the power associated with their overlay’s Demesnes will no longer have access to the attached land.

What’s the rough technology level like down here? How about the weather?
Mid-to-late 1800s, for a ballpark. There’s no electricity. Purgatory, being near to Hell, tends to be rather hot - 80s to 100s Fahrenheit.

What about day and night equivalents? Can you see the stars?
Purgatory and Hell operate on different time cycles, but broadly, yes, ‘day’ and ‘night’ are things.

You can see the stars in Purgatory, but not Hell. Purgatory has a starry sky that is sometimes brightened by the light of moons and sometimes dimmed, but day and night are simply bright and dim twilight. Hell has ashy, pyroclastic clouds overhead. When they glow with fire and lightning, that is day. When they are shadowy and snowing ash, that is night.

How bonkers would Harrogate’s Spirit Sensitivity skill go in this setting?
Very - only non-undead Immortali wouldn’t ping it.

Is it possible for Immortali to return to the mortal realm for a time?
Yes, but it’s very difficult.

What sorts of things are possible with Immortali Sorcery?
Most things! As usual, any spells that cross over with the Liminal and Psychic skill trees are subject to powercapping, if you want to keep it after the jaunt ends. In this particular instance, necromancy would need to have been first learned from a celestial being, but it is possible for non-celestials to learn the art if they want.

Summoning/binding/etc. of celestial beings is possible, as is warding areas against them.

How does the exchange of Graces and Dignities work? Once a Grace has been given away, can it then be sold/traded like a Dignity? Could an angel acquire a Dignity or a demon acquire a Grace?
Dignities can be sold or traded; Graces must be given away freely. Once an exchange of either sort has been made, the one who gave up the skill no longer has access to it; a Dignity may be further sold/traded and a Grace given once again. An angel who willingly acquired a Dignity would probably fall. It is hypothetically possible in this way for non-celestial beings or Sithen to acquire them, but an Angel is very unlikely to give a Grace away to someone who would grant it carelessly in turn, so a Demon with a Grace is highly improbable, and would in any case find the constant sense of the Divine's blessing very unnerving.

Fallen Angels and redeemed Demons are stripped of their respective Grace or Dignity.

Do Guardian Angels pick only one charge, or can they have a general calling? Like, protecting animals, or protecting a place? How do they receive their charges to begin with?
A Guardian Angel’s charge is assigned to them, but generally they are matched with a charge that suits their nature. Once one charge passes, they may have freedom for a while until another comes up. More powerful Guardians are more likely to have multiple or large-scale charges.