MECHERATH
ARCHANGEL OF MYSTERY

The world is full of things which are not meant to be known...

Very little is known about the Elohite Archangel of Mystery, beyond that he exists and stays out of Heavenly politics. He has earned the special ire of Dominic (and by extension, Laurence) because of his insistence upon keeping secrets. He gives no reasons, beyond that some things have to be kept hidden until the appointed time. Dominic is frustrated by this, as it offends his Seraphic desire to know the truth, and it goes against his normal duties as Archangel of Judgement. Similarly, he infuriates Litheroy, the Archangel of Revelation.

Mecherath's Word does not just encompass the secret; it also covers things which would be harmful to the general community if released, or which could be damaging to the Hosts of Heaven. One of his main duties is to conceal the existence of celestials from mortals. The Word of Mystery also carries with it the mystical, and the mystery of God.

DISSONANCE
It is dissonant for an angel of Mystery to reveal the existence of Heaven to an ordinary human (this does not include unclaimed Soldiers, or those with the potential to become Soldiers). It is also dissonant for them to reveal a secret which a Superior does not wish to be exposed, or which would be harmful to others. This includes personal secrets which would diminish the standing of a person in the eyes of others, unless that person is a demon.

CHOIR ATTUNEMENTS
Seraphim
The Most Holy have a difficult time working for the Archangel of Mystery, as their burning need to reveal the truth conflicts with their Superior's needs to keep things hidden. Mecherath's Seraphim are able to discern whether the target is hiding a harmful secret on a successful resonance roll. The check digit determines the magnitude of the secret. Seraphim of Mystery can also, on a Will roll (-4 difficulty), lie to humans about the existence of Heaven and Hell. On an Infernal Intervention with this roll, the Seraph fails, and gains two points of dissonance! Overuse of this ability is often a cause of dissonance, and most use it sparingly, and only when they must. Seraphim of Mystery are thus not always trusted by others of their own Choir, given this limited licence to lie.

Cherubim
A Cherub of Mystery can detect whether his attuned is keeping secrets from him on a successful Perception roll. Note that the Cherub does not know what the secret is, just that it exists.

Ofanim
Wheels who serve Mystery gain a bonus of +2 to their attempts with the Fast-Talk and Lying skills, or a similar bonus on the check digit of such a roll (PC's choice, must have GM approval).

Elohim
Elohim of Mystery can use their resonance to determine why something is hidden or otherwise concealed, and whether revealing that secret would be harmful to the person in question.

Malakim
Virtues of Mystery gain a +2 to all Move Silently rolls, or to anything similar, if the roll is to stop a secret from being revealed, or if their own existence would be jeopardised.

Kyriotates
A Domination of Mystery is virtually untraceable. They create no distubances to the Symphony if, in the course of their work, there is no-one within a radius of (10 x Will) metres to witness it. This only applies to use of Songs or Attunements, and only if the disturbance is within this area.

Mercurians
Mecherath's Mercurians automatically succeed on any Fast-Talk or Lying rolls, if their intent is to prevent a harmful secret from being discovered, or to avoid violating their Superior's dissonance conditions. The check digit is equal to their Ethereal Forces. Also, their resonance enables them to detect whether someone is hidding something, if these secrets are harming others.

SERVITOR ATTUNEMENTS
Contemplation
This Attunement gives the angel an intuitive knowledge of hidden things in the vicinity. He will automatically know if something has been hidden within a number of metres equal to his Perception.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Use of this Attunement stops the angel being detected by anyone at all, no matter what he does. He can fire guns, shout and scream, and dance around (although no Angel of Mystery ever would), and no-one will sense a thing. So long as he doesn't create a Symphonic disturbance of more than 5, no-one can detect him. He is effectively invisible, makes no noise, gives off no bodily heat, and so on. Celestials will feel a kind of unindentifiable mental 'itch' if they are are within a number of metres equal to their Forces. Seraphim get a Perception roll at a penalty equal to the hiding angel's Celestial Forces to detect him. Beyond this, no-one will see, hear or otherwise sense him, unless he wants them to. The effects of this Attunement last for a number of minutes to the Angel's Check Digit on a Will roll, which activates the Attunement's effects.

DISTINCTIONS
Vassal of Subtlety
Mecherath's Vassals have a +2 to any roll targets and check digits in attempts to persuade someone that they did not see evidence of Celestial activity.

Friend of Enigmas
By spending three Essence, the angel may radiate an aura of divine silence, with a radius equal to the Friend's Forces in yards, which lasts a number of rounds equal to the Friend's Will. No being with Forces equal to or less than the Friend's Forces will create a disturbance in the Symphony while in this area. The Friend himself will create no disturbance whatsoever. Multiple Friends may combine this distinction to increase the number of Forces required to ignore this distinction. Once the time limit runs out, the Symphony will be retroactively disturbed as normal. Note that, once cast, the aura of Symphonic silence is stationary.

Master of Mystification This allows the Master to use the Friend Attunement as detailed above, but the Symphony is not disturbed afterwards.

RELATIONS
Mecherath is distrusted by any and all Seraphim Superiors, and most Malakim of any kind. They see his insistence upon secrecy as a possible sign of Infernal influence. His key role as a maintainer of Heavenly concealment has thus far kept him safe from any overt action, however. Michael is annoyed with him; angels of Mystery have the potential to become extremely useful in the War, and Mecherath refuses to allow them to be drawn into conflicts.

Allied: No-one
Associated: Blandine, Zadkiel, Yves.
Hostile: Dominic, Laurence, Litheroy, Michael.

RITES

+1 A secret object.
+2 A puzzle or chess set.
+3 A Celtic maze.
+4 A construction site.
+5 In an area which has not experienced a disturbance in the Symphony for 24 hours.
+6 The catacombs under Washington, DC. (What, you didn't know they were there?)