Laurence

== Subsidiary Words ==
Chastity, Christian Rock, Etiquette, Giving Thanks (under Etiquette), Makoto ("honesty"), Meiyo ("honor"), Rei ("respect"), Self-Control, the Single Shot, Temperance
== Choir Attunements ==
=== Ohr ===
While in celestial form, these ohrot can do soul hits to a demon that is still inside a vessel.
=== Aeon ===
Laurence's aeons are attuned to religious buildings, and when resonating a celestial or corporeal church, they will be able to sense how effectively the church's design can be used to inspire prayer and faith in the Almighty.
=== Chezeq ===
Chezeqim of the Sword can triple their effective strength for moving weaponry.
== Servitor Attunements ==
=== Seal of God ===
Those with this attunement will be able to tell whether a person has been initiated into a . . . well, the intent was "a divine religion". However, it seems that it works for Buddhists and even worshippers of some ethereal pantheons, too. Use the check digit to indicate how much information is revealed: for example, a 1 would reveal if someone was initiated as a monotheist, a 3 would indicate that he was a Christian and finding out that the person was a baptized Southern Baptist would require a 5 or 6.
By making a Perception roll at -3, the angel can also tell whether or not the subject has utterly rejected this initiation (simple indifference will not register; also, this attunement will not indicate how strongly the subject believes in the religion that he or she was initiated into). Those individuals that have been initiated into more than one religion will simply reveal the current faith that he or she follows, unless the new faith is not one that would normally be detected by this attunement: thus, it's usually useless for casually discovering Hellsworn.
Laurence and Khalid have jointly worked out this attunement, and are experimenting with it among their servitors. They weren't expecting the ability to detect certain non-divine religions, and aren't sure yet whether it's a bug or a feature. Neither would probably be too welcome to hear the suggestion that the attunement, possibly, doesn't have any bugs at all . . . .
== Relations ==
There is great tension between Laurence and the other archangels over the existence of the paramilitary group known as the Light of Heaven. He is, after all, basically telling them that he doesn’t trust them to keep Heaven clean of invaders.
== Servitors ==
=== Majors ===
==== 14+?? Forces ====
* Curtis, malak angel of Etiquette, Grand Master
=== Masters of the Armies of God ===
==== 19 Forces ====
* Paulinus, ofan angel of Christian Rock
=== Friends of the Lord's Armies ===
==== 12 Forces ====
* Leggiadrous, an eloah, the Graceful Emissary, serves under Etiquette
==== 10 Forces ====
* Festinate, an ofan, hastening angel
=== Vassals of the Sword ===
==== 23 Forces ====
* Maodea, ofan angel of Giving Thanks, serves under Etiquette
=== Undistincted ===
==== 14 Forces ====
* Hasmed, eloah archangel of the Single Shot
=== Unknown Rank ===
* Damhnait, malak angel of Temperance
* Katsuhito, malak angel of Meiyo
* Maru, malak angel of Makoto
* Matthias, malak angel of Self-Control
* Muhito, malak angel of Rei
* Pahaliah, malak angel of Chastity
=== Humans ===
==== Saints ====
* Saint Gordon Randall Phillip David Garrett
== Roles ==
Everyone wonders about Laurence's Roles.
To begin with, he maintains fewer than any other Superior: among other things, he simply doesn't have the time to stay away from the War very often. He never talks about them, either: while you can count on Michael chuckling over some demonic drill sergeant getting the surprise of his life, or perhaps Novalis showing off pictures of the baby she helped deliver last week, Laurence just sits there and smiles. His servitors have learned to recognize when their archangel is maintaining a particular Role, though, and while nobody means to blab, well, word gets out. When that happens, those interested keep an eye out for young idealism on any number of violent battlefields. Most believe that he emulates Michael and goes to be a soldier: some suspect, instead, that he becomes a police officer of some sort.
They couldn't be more wrong.
Somewhere in the world, there's a monastery. The actual one changes every seventy years or so, but there's always one that seems especially peaceful. The monks are particularly known for their holiness and charity, the surroundings (whether in the countryside or in a busy city) are amazingly serene, and the music that comes from it . . . . Well, there's no other word for it than 'glorious'.
And, somewhere in the middle of it all, is a monk, humble, pious and happy.
Laurence never seeks to be abbot: he never even seeks to be more than a simple monk. He starts as a postulant of no particular rank or station, and goes about his days and prayers with a fervor that is no less real for having been done dozens of times before. He grows 'old' in his Role (with one or two of his most trusted servitors to hold his place when he must put his full effort into the War), and in the process, quietly and joyfully reaffirms the faith of those around him. His fellow-monks soon learn that Brother Laurence seems to have a special understanding of the world, God, and man's relationship to both - and that he is the person to speak to when one is struggling with one's vocation. By the time that he finally dies of 'old age', he has forged links among his brethren that last even after he's gone. Not that Laurence is ever really gone: there'll always be servitors of the Sword that will be in the area. The archangel of the Sword may not be able to protect every Catholic institution, but by God he'll protect these.
It may seem odd for such a ferocious warrior to devote himself so wholeheartedly to a Role dedicated to peace, but Laurence has his reasons. Doing this means that he has a constant reminder about why there's a War in the first place. You can't effectively defend something that you don't love. Being among humans, ministering to the sick, feeding the hungry, comforting the dying and bereaved, deliberately seeking a subordinate position in obedience to God's will - all of this reminds Laurence about why he loves humanity. It also allows him to serve this maddening, contradictory, wonderful species directly. Laurence misses that. There are many joys in service. The peace that he finds here stays with him when he must do war upon the Enemy.
And, admittedly, it does give him a place where he can sit and think without too much distraction.
== The Mistake ==
Laurence made a mistake.
At the time, allowing the Catholic Church to clean up its lists of saints seemed like a good idea: there was a lot of folklore, legendry and really unbelievable stuff floating around there, and what was worse, people were noticing. It's not about to destroy anybody's Faith, per se, but it will lead to a certain amount of mockery. Best to take the medicine and move on.
A great thought, but there's one minor problem. Divine faiths don't produce ethereals, right? That's right, they don't. So, when the Church introduced St. Brigit, they managed to put a stake through the heart of the ethereal goddess of the same name. Unfortunately, what they didn't consider was what would happen when those old saints were officially thrown out of the calendar. The archangel of the Sword assumed that, once gone, the ethereal gods couldn't come back.
And we all know what happens when you assume, right?
Now, Laurence needs to get these saints back into the calendar before all those deities get revved up again. Thanks to the Church's new position, they can even grab Essence expended on behalf for the saint (you say that non-official saints aren't going to generate ethereal Essence? Tell it to the loa and the orisha): objectively speaking, the irony is delicious.
The archangel is somewhat hampered in this by the fact that the saints in question never actually existed, but that's what servitors are for. Not to mention excellent forgers. Just manufacture the evidence, all right?
And no, don't try to enlist Litheroy's aid. Laurence doesn't care how good of an archeologist he (or his servitors) is: this sort of thing will only disturb him and make him say extremely rude things in Council . . . .
Category:Archangels
Category:Wordbound
Category:Malakim
Category:The Sword (Word)
Category:Commanders of the Heavenly Host