4.5   THE MECHANICS OF ENLIGHTENMENT Readers who have skipped ahead to read the section, Creating Children of Clay PCs, have no doubt noticed that enlightenment is not mentioned anywhere in the character creation process.  The reason is simple.  All starting characters begin the game with no enlightenment.   It is something that can only be achieved while role-playing Enlightenment is a score that can range from one to twenty.  A one represents only a hint of the celestial realm while a twenty is equivalent to the sight and understanding of an angel.  There are tens-of-thousands who possess a touch of enlightenment (1-5).   Perhaps only a few hundred at a time hold the middle range of enlightenment (6-12), and those with enlightenment scores of 13+ usually come along only once in a generation.  The storyteller starts a character down the path of enlightenment by awarding a character a single point.  With this receipt, the player now adds enlightenment to his character sheet.   Once a point is given to a PC it can never be taken away.  Hence, while it is possible for an enlightenment score to increase, it can never decrease. A character's enlightenment score can increase in a number of different ways.  Firstly, the character can attempt to practice and research his new found abilities.  Second, the character can undergo another traumatic incident that grants him greater sight.  Last, a character can enlist the help of one with a greater enlightenment score to increase his own score.   In any case, a storyteller should usually not reward more than one point of enlightenment each gaming session.   As the score increases, the requirements for gaining the next point become exponentially harder.   The storyteller should be ware to not hand out enlightenment points like candy.   For once given, they cannot be taken away. So how is enlightenment used? For one, enlightenment can be used to detect angels in divine (ethereal) form.   To do this the player adds the enlightenment score to a standard roll.  A twenty or higher means the celestials is visible to the child of clay.   As is the case with angels, celestials cannot be seen if they are in the subtle form.    Enlightenment can also be utilized to sense the use of celestial and infernal forces.  The greater the number by which a celestial exceeded his target on the force roll, the more detectable it is (in essence the louder the noise).  The number by which the celestial exceed his roll is added to the enlightenment score.  The child of clay rolls adding this combined number.  If he exceeds twenty, the use of the force was detected.  A character with no enlightenment score cannot roll to detect these things Additionally, the storyteller can elect to have enlightenment represent all forms of extra sensory perception.  The details of these elements are left up to the storyteller and the demands of his story.