Maxwell meditates.

In Saginaw, Blizten, Dana, Joel, Mazpatiel, and the two Cherubim are standing outside the tether of fire. They go inside, where it's more or less dark and empty for the night. They find the Seneschal, Vanessa, who is oh so thrilled to see them again. After Blitzen tells her of the calamities going on above, she donates three points of essence per person to help them out a little bit. Then, when Blitzen asks about current events, Vanessa tells him that, for the human realms she's not totally sure, b ut the disturbance from destroying Kezef raced across the US and dissipated somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. Then the subject of the Game comes up, and Blitzen shares his Game story from DC, with the rationalization that the Game has been acting 'really weird' lately. Dana shares similar information about the video tape, which she remembers is in Star's possession. The two Elohim of Judgment objectively take notes and make little hand gestures at each other – force of habit. They get some answers out of Joel, and the talk turns to Asmodeus. Blitzen theorizes that he might be 'going Bright', and the Game's role in current events gets discussed at length. The conversation shifts to Lilith, then to Malphas, and then to the balance of Power and the spr ead of the word of Factions like wildfire. This is determined to not be a good thing.

Vanessa gives them free use of the tether, and the group ascends to the Volcano, where there are people just everywhere. The most notable are the Novalians who are pulling out of the Marches. It seems that Baal and Michael have begun to roll back awa y from each other.

Blitzen tracks down Soldekai, who is more or less the head of the Servitors of Fire right about now. He's coordinating all the shenanigans, but Blitzen has no trouble getting in to see him. Soldekai gives him an update that yes, the Spires are still burning.

Blitzen and Dana decide to go track down Daimon.

They track Daimon to the Groves, where he's talking to some younger Stonies – a mixed group of choirs, younger looking angels who are looking sort of upset yet interested. Daimonique had changed her clothes celestially, no longer looking like a Kobali te, and had acquired a Yin-Yang t-shirt and jeans. Dana and Blitzen can overhear snatches of the conversation, something about solidarity. Blitzen sneaks up on Daimon, and attracts the Stonie's attention. The Stonies are slightly dissonant, and in resp onse to Blitzen's questioning, they don't know anything about the whole Marc stabbing thing, but they won't leave their Archangel over it, or anything else that has been going on lately.

So the three start heading back to the Halls of Creation, and Blitzen starts asking about what it's going to take to invoke Lilith.

Star is sitting in bed in the midst of afterglow with Midian, happily cuddling with the big crazy black winged Malakite. She suggests that they watch Dana's video tape, because after all, they could use a movie. So they get out of bed, and track some one down the hall who has a VCR. They find someone (the doors are never locked) who is likewise, well, busy, so they don't need it. Midian and Star make off with the VCR, a small microwave, and a bag of popcorn, because the Halls of Creation are like on e huge hippy commune. So they settle back in bad, and watch. And… this doesn't go over well with the Malakite to say the least. By the time that Dana, Blitzen and Daimon arrive on the scene, Midian is getting ready to rid the universe of a little evil in a rather final matter. It takes Dana to rescue the video tape, and even attune to it (protect protect), and Blitzen to get Midian to relax by promising him the tape.

So Dana, Blitzen, Star, and Daimon start talking about Dylan, and Daimon says that Dylan had the 'crazy in his eye'. (Which meant he Needed something particularly nasty.) They decided that it might be for the best if they make a quick run to the Hear t room to check on Dylan's heart. In the center of the Heart Room is a model of the entire cosmos, but smaller. There are Hearts everywhere, lying helter-skelter, in the midst of sewn blankets and pieces of art and pottery. Star moved hers so it was ne xt to Midian's. The group found a small shelf in the back for 'those who are in the service to Creation'. Now a days, this is an extremely small group, and now it's smaller. The one Heart that was on the shelf is now shattered. Star went off to find t he Elohite who ran the Heartroom, and he was back behind the Amazing Model of the Cosmos, studying it. He (It, really) came wandering over, looking at the shards, said, "Yep, this was your friend," and wandered on back. They didn't know if he was dead. Or worse.

Maxwell finished meditating, and looks around the place for a small knife. He found a normal, non-relic knife to carry around. He strapped on the Kubatant, and went outside. Across from him, the Spires were an enormous pillar of flame, and it was sp reading throughout the City where places weren't shored up. He then flies to the Halls of Creation, looking to join the others. He follows his attunement to Star, and finds the group in the Hall of Creation's Video Editting Room, a room stocked with pri stene, perfect equipment stamped "Jeantech".

They watch the video tape all the way through, and an argument breaks out about Dana's little field trip through Hell, why she went down there, and what the heck had been going on. Then Dana describes how she got this video tape, and her little run in with Asmodeus.

While Dana is describing things, Star is looking decidedly ill. Daimon takes her aside, and suggests that she goes down to the party and bring up some beers. She seems to like this suggestion, and goes off, happily to go reenter the throngs of Creati oners, celebrating their freedom.

In the mean time, plans are discussed, most of which revolve around Lililth, for some reason. The planning doesn't really get anywhere.

Star returns with beers and distributes. At the same time, Blitzen finds a terminal and pulls out the card he had received a few weeks ago, with the address 'raziel@heaven.org'. He looks him up, and sends him a message about having some interesting d ata. He then uploads the tape, uncut, complete with the trip through Hell and the Game recruitment video, and sends it off to the Archangel of the Mysteries and Forbidden Knowledge, and the greater ofanite's response is "Woah".

Then Blitzen sends copies off to Jean, to whoever reads mail for Michael, and to Gabriel care of Soldekai. Dana is not, to say the least, pleased.

They finish making copies, and then wander out to find Midian. He's busy slam-dancing out on the dancefloor. Dana de-attunes from the tape, and they hand it to the Malakite who, as it goes, did not suffer the evil to live. Mostly by jumping up and d own on little broken plastic bits.

The five of them leave for Earth.

They descend in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, and do some wandering around. Blitzen suggests Amoeba Records, but there is no tether there. Luckily, a tether to Freedom is fairly obvious, as it's the actual Haight-Ashbury corner, at th e intersection. The group is accosted by the current seneschal, a Lilim geased to mind the place and doesn't want alot of angels around. She's mostly ineffective, though.

They decide to send a message via the Song of Tongues. There is some debate about what message to send, and they finally send it and wait. While waiting, Dana gets a call from Terry, who is becoming more and more irate about her not getting into the limo and showing up. "So who is the millenia old snake, honey? Just get into the car. Okay?" Dana once again gives Terry bad directions, and hangs up.

A few minutes later, a postcard pops into existance in the air and falls to the ground. On the front is a picture of the Guildhall in Shal-Mari. On the back is a request for more information. When Star takes the card, it gives her two essence. She uses the two essence to form a much longer song of tongues message, and after some discussion and some rewrites of what the message should say, it is sent.

While waiting, again, Blitzen pulls out a cellphone, and then he calls Terry. Terry answers, getting more and more irate. Blitzen promises him the video tapes, now editted to just contain what he should know, then passes the phone to Dana for some mo re two way abuse, and hangs up.

Then Lilith appears, tall, beautiful, in dark black leather pants and leather bustierre. She asks Blitzen what it is, exactly, he wants. He talks about how freeing all sorts of people in Heaven helped out her Word, and how she should be indebted to t hem. She points out that it would only be useful if it effected mankind in some way, and since it hasn't... What does she want them to do? Well, she wants them to free Laurence for reasons of her own, and to find some way to promote freedom among the hu mans in a big way. What does Blitzen want in return? He doesn't really seem to know, so she hands him a token. When he's decided what it is he wants, then he can use that to summon her. And then she leaves.

Then Dana calls Terry again, and tells him exactly where they are. This prompts the large, black, sleek Limo to show up and pick up the group of five. They get in.

The limo driver is a black man, and Blitzen crawls in front to talk to him. By then end of the trip from San Francisco down to Malibu, the limo driver isn't only a convert to Islam, he's a believer in the plight of the black man and he's of soldier qu ality. Blitzen sends him on a spirit quest to Saginaw Michigan, to talk to and report into the seneschal there.

In the black, in the mean time, Dana works on writing speeches and Daimon writes more music, until he's interrupted by a cuddling Star.

The limo pulls up to the Malibu mansion, which is everything a large roled Balseraph would ever need - huge, roomy, and right on the beach. They're allowed in and shown into the parlor by a butler, where Terry and his bodyguards are ready to meet with them. He's adamant about keeping them there, safe, but Maxwell levies some small threats. The Kubatant change hands, and Terry waves his bodyguards off. They go into the viewing room, a huge room with an entire private movie theater, and the tape is l oaded. Terry watches the evidence with interest, and then watches it again. Then he takes his tapes, goes back into his study, and gets on the phone.

The others are allowed rooms, changes of clothing (pretty much anything they want), showers, and the like. Daimon and Dana disappear into the same room.

Maxwell and Blitzen start enquiring about a car. They want to go up to Silicon Valley. Terry tries, again, to convince them to stay in his house, to at least have a base or to plan. No, they want a car. He relents - he'll provide them a Lincoln Con tinental and a driver. Will that work? Sure, they seem happy with it. Everyone emerges.

Flaming edge graphics from Our Domain Gallery of Graphics
The "In Nomine" and "flaming feather" graphics are
(C) 1997 Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated.
Used with fnord.