Vessels

Anatomically and biochemically, they're human (or animal, or whatever). They have fingerprints, blood types, DNA and so forth; a Superior making a vessel can make it appear to be a plausible child of two specified individuals if that's required. Specific allergies, vulnerability to specific diseases or cancers, etc, are also easy if you ask for them at creation time.

Someone who doesn't eat, drink, sleep or use toilets can be readily spotted under surveillance, making it a good idea to keep up with these details if you're in a role. A vessel that's never been used for eating, drinking, and so on will betray this in a post-mortem, to the great confusion of the medical examiner. A vessel that's had very little use may have a lack of scars from everyday minor injuries, antibodies to the current strain of the common cold, and so on; this usually only shows up when someone is looking for it.

Celestials in vessels usually have a lot more hit points than humans, and this could show up: "A .45 through the lungs leaves most people lying down ~ he didn't appear to enjoy it, but he kept going". Going to the ER with injuries is generally a dumb move, even if you have a non-criminal explanation for them.

A vessel's appearance can be tweaked by a Superior; this is quicker and cheaper than making a new one, but may lead to some inconsistencies. "She looks like she's from Indochina, but that blood type is almost unknown there ~ it would make more sense for an Indian".

An existing vessel can be transferred between two celestials by a Superior. This happens when a Role has been prepared by a reliever living through it for years, or different celestial is needed to occupy a role, and the briefing can be done sufficiently thoroughly.

## Sweat Glands

The lack of sweat glands would cause startlement during autopsies, so vessels *do* have them. Whether or not they *function* is another question entirely, since vessels have a far higher tolerance for heat and cold; a sweating celestial may be one who is sitting in an oven. Or the Superior who crafted the vessel might well decree that the sweat glands turn on at a reasonable temperature, to prevent people from wondering why someone isn't sweating who's been doing five hundred pushups.

A celestial who has not eaten (and likewise, not excreted) for a sufficient length of time might be detectable by a being with a good enough sense of smell ~ there's no "what I ate for lunch" (or lunch's results) odor on the breath.

## Vessicles

No really, Limbo can be a very handy hiding place. And it doesn't have to be a big deal. After all, you only need a cheap vessel to start with. It really isn't all that hard to get out.

I understand why you look puzzled. Let me explain. To jump into Limbo, you need to deliberately destroy a vessel, right? And to jump out again, you need to build up enough Essence to create a new vessel. Both of those become much easier with really cheap vessels.

How cheap? Very. Everyone knows it doesn't take long to get out of Limbo if you're willing to reappear as a rat, right? It takes even less time if you're willing to reappear as a microbe. Many favor tardigrades ~ "water-bears," microscopists call them. They look sort of like eight-legged gummy-bears. They're about as humanoid as microbes get. Of course, that may not be important to someone. One Wheel likes doing volvox, and a kuriotes of Stone enjoys coming back as a sand grain. Dust mites are good; they don't need a water environment.

Just ask your archangel for a starter. They're very cheap, so it won't cost the boss much time or energy. Or try Novalis or Jordi, or Eli if you can catch him. It will only take you a few minutes in Limbo to build up the Essence for one of these. In fact, you'll usually want to wait longer than that, just to let the danger pass. Of course, it's hard keeping track of time in Limbo.

You can also use them for spying, a bit. Forget vision. As a water-bear, you can tell the light level and, *very* roughly, which way is brightest. And water-bears have *good* vision for microscopic animals.

But you can hear, and there's something to be said for full-body taste and smell. And of course, it's a great way to smuggle yourself into places.

In game mechanics, vessicles are zero-level vessels.