Gilbert
Corporeal Forces: 2 Strength:
4 Agility: 4
Ethereal Forces: 3 Intelligence:
6 Precision: 6
Celestial Forces: 3 Will:
6 Perception: 6
Vessel: "Duane Peters", 20-year-old
African American male/3, Charisma +2
Skills: Artistry (Writing/4), Dodge/6,
Electronics/2, Emote/3, Fighting/3, Knowledge (Classics/4, Contract Law/6,
Theology/2), Languages (Greek/1, Latin/1, Spanish/2), Ranged Weapon/2 (pistol),
Savoir-Faire/3, Singing/6
Songs: Healing (Corporeal/3), Shields (All/1), Thunder/3
Attunements: Blessed, Whispers of Inspiration
It is a surreal thing indeed to wake up one fine
spring morning, only to discover that you are the reincarnated soul of G.K.
Chesterson. Especially if you didn't
even know who G.K. Chesterson was the night before.
Sure, it was necessary - the way things are in the
entertainment industry these days, avoiding the Media's attention requires a
certain amount of deep cover - but it still wasn't what one would call a smooth
transition between the mindsets of Fairly Normal African-American Teenager
Growing Up In The City and Reborn Early Twentieth Century Lyric/Epic
Poet/Mystery Writer Sent Down To Reform American Hip-Hop, Whether It Liked It
Or Not. Fortunately, Gilbert recovered
quickly. He had to: there was a load of
work ahead of him.
Now, before anyone starts screaming about 'Heaven's
cultural imperialism' or anything like that, bear in mind that the art style
itself is perfectly safe from the Saint.
There's nothing actually wrong with the musical styles of either rap or
hip-hop: they're both legitimate artistic musical movements that draw from
authentic popular sources, the best examples of the genres are breathtakingly
lyrical and at least both styles remember that internal rhyme and meter are good
things to have. What Heaven objects to
is the Media-influenced lifestyle that all too often accompanies either: this
happens to all forms of popular music these days, of course, but it takes a
while for the Host to infiltrate properly.
Gilbert's just the first to infiltrate in this particular genre. The Saint's task is mostly to get his foot in the door, make a name for himself and maneuver into a position where he can help others insinuate themselves into the scene. Identifying Servitors/Soldiers of the Media is also considered important, but Gilbert isn't supposed to play things fairly smart: Heaven needs accurate intelligence more than it needs heavy-duty Smiting (one reason why they sent a Saint in). The idea is to think in the long term and lay the groundwork.
Gilbert's doing fairly well in that, actually. He's pretty close to achieving breakout in
his career, due equally to his talents in musical performance and contract
law. The Saint is careful to maintain a
reputation that is neither squeaky clean (that's how the Horde usually
identifies Heavenly infiltrators) nor self-destructive (for obvious reasons):
he's at all the right parties and scenes, but in a fairly low-key sort of
way. In general, Gilbert projects a
quietly professional, dedicated image (despite a certain amount of strain, none
of which ever shows up on his face): the sort of person that can be trusted to
show up at the studio on time, sober and ready to work without too much
drama. Even Hell values musicians that
are like that. This just means that the
dangerous part of the whole enterprise is about to start, but then, Gilbert
didn't sign up with the forces of Good to be safe.
If he wanted to be safe, he'd have stayed up in
Heaven and plunked on a harp, or something.