Node D +05
Okay. This note was not well developed so I started fleshing it out.
The prime world of this node is a mix of Earth and Thea from "7th Sea"
This is a world that is like Conan. Magic exists and can be powerful under the right circumstances. But it's slow, ritualistic, and less directly powerful than the sword or the gun. A wizard can always get cut down by an aggressive meat head.
Magic potential is genetic and comes from family lines and blood.
In the European countries this translates to Mageocracies. Blood line is proven by magical potential
But an Army with lots of muskets, sabers and bayonets is also handy. This happening in the rough analog to the year 1650
The Map of Thea from 7th sea is Limited. The reason is that the Orignal authors wanted a European-centered map for Swashbucking adventure. They wanted the Musketeers, Swashbucklers and other adventurous types from the 1650s but without the history of colonialism and racial violence.
So the Map of Thea is very limited. I pasted the countries of Thea onto a map of Earth roughly where they were analgous.
But in 1650 this leaves what's going on with the rest of the world.
I decided that the north and south american continent were populated by Lizardmen. I borrowed the structure of the Incan and Aztec Empire as overlays for the Lizard folks of the Americas
The first difference is that, as carnivores, the Lizard folks will use a two-stage agriculture. They'll grow crops to feed to animals they like to eat.
This means they won't have the population density to start with that the Inca and the Aztec had.
BUT you won't have small pox sweeping the population.
So the Spanish land and start their conquistador stuff. But this isn't as successful initially.
The Conquest in our time was a mix of colonization and armed robbery/kidnapping. The Spaniards came to raid for gold and slaves.
Neither effort will be as successful. The Lizard folk will resist with more successes.
Now, in both cases, Native people looked at the smelly raiders with guns and horses and thought "I can use these guys against my oppressors."
So the Conquistadors were a useful spark for civil wars to over throw oppressive regimes.
The Conquistadors tooks advantage of the chaos they brought with them to be violently psychotic loot whores.
Now the natives were able to kill Spaniards when the leverage was in their favor. They were just never able to put these techniques and knowledge to use, before things turned against them badly. The chaos and the plagues ruined them before they could get their shit together to fight the invaders.
In this alternate timeline, we see similar chaos. Rebellious lizard folk factions will use Spaniard forces as stalking horses against their enemies.
So that level of chaos will set in and rulership of the Lizard-Aztech and Lizard-Inca Empires will be thrown into question - these empires fracture into smaller kingdoms and principalities.
But when the brutality of the Spaniards becomes apparent and word spreads, the different factions will come to an ad-hoc agreement. Killing Spaniards comes first.
Then we see the next phase. Enemies of the Spaniards, both inside factions and external enemies will sell the Lizardmen guns in exchange for gold.
We will even see that Lizardmen discover that with enough gold you can HIRE some Europeans to murder other Europeans.
So. By 1650
We see South America as a patchwork of Kingdoms, fighting for dominance over each other, but armed up enough to resist all but the craziest European invasion. Among these Lizard folk and human adventurers and mercenaries move, but are deeply distrusted as harbringers of insane violence and greed.
The are a few european city states, one in Panama, one in Brazil.
Hispanola is a Spanish Joint.
Port Royal is funded by the English and French to loot and rob Spanish and Lizardman wealth in the area.
Going north. The Dutch own Manhanttan and run a trading post there, but armed Lizardmen musketeers prevent colonial incusions.
French and English settlements dot the coasts, but attempts to push further inland are foiled.
Okay, so Now I know. Thank you for listening to me noodle.
12:00 Gate to Alts
01:00
The gate at 01:00 is in Mammoth caves. Here there is a tribe of Lizard folks. They live as hunter gatherers and visit towns to trade for durable goods.
They have a few muskets, but favor steel melee weapons and Bows as they can be used longer, and dont require potentially spendy gunpowder and shot.
They have not encountered humans before but have heard tales of insanely violent primate people who have a bottomless thirst for gold.
They are packing up and getting ready to move out. They are beset by a pack of Dire Boars, who are hunting the Lizard folk. The Tribe is cutting their losses and GTFO'ing. If the PCs help them hunt down the largest of the Dire Boars that will change the equation in their favor. The tribe will share such food and supplies as they have be more positively inclined towards the PCs.
There will be a random encounter with Dire boars during this excurison.
Gate 02:00
is at the Beni Mounds in what we call Bolivia.
In this world, the mounds are the ruins of an ancient city lost to the ages.
The local town supports famers who raise crops to feed cow sized capybaras that are then butchered for food. (Good eatin)
They also support Alpacas who are good for beasts of burden and for absorbing all the angry vibes in an area and turning them into alpaca spit.
In the ruins besides farmers and Capybara herders there is a small cult. They call themselves children of the Singing Bear.
At night, between the hours of midnight and 2am sometimes you can encounter a blue transluscent hologram of a Tehrmelern, who looks like a bear-person. It sings in riddles and talks about things the native Lizard folks have no reference for.
But it can educate fringepath walkers of how the Fringepath system works, roughly and describe the end of the Commonwealth and the hidden enemy.
But.... If The Americas are home to Lizard folks, then who is elsewhere?
03:00 Blank here.
04:00 The Cave of Hercules
A group of witches has taken refuge there away from troops of the Empire of the Crescent Moon, bent on wiping them out. These are all humans
05:00 Lascaux Caves France
These caves are currently obscure, part of a local forest area.
Down the hill along the river is Montignac, France a Picturesque, Disney looking 1650 town. But all is not well.
[Elizabeth Bathory] is the local countess. She dervies power from the blood of innocents. She prefers girls but will take what she can get. Her loyal core of troops fear her power and want to ride her coat tails into power.
Other troops think the local villagers are making up stories or whining about a noble they don't like.
As the PCs exit the cave, they hear a girl screaming. A Patrol of Loyal troopers has captured an eight year old girl and she's about to have a bad few days.
0600
Arctic station. This may have writings of an explorer who discovered the fringe paths earlier. This diary will serve as a basic primer on how to use the portals and fringepaths.
Or random artifacts from the last terhmelern to visit the place.... depends on what feels right as they go.
07:00
Krubera Caves, Abkazia
In 1650 this is an independant kingdom. The Persian Empire and the Ottomans occasionally dominate the area are demand tribute.
In this instance, a group of fighters and partisans is on the run from Ottoman troops. They have the Princess of Abkazia. The Ottoman troops want to take her alive, so they can ship her back to Constantinople as a hostage and secure Abkazia as a vassal state.
08:00
In the ruins of Mojeno Daro. This ancient city has an even more ancient city underneath.
In the nearby city of Lakesh there is a market which serves a cosmopolitan traffic of adventurers and mercenaries. Even a few non-humans.
The Persian Empire wants to own the area. Rival kingdoms in what we'd call Pakistan use Afghanistan as their chess board to try and out maneuver their bigger rival to the west.
This makes the area great fun for mercenaries and looters. Not good for the quality of life of the ordinary folks.
But the PCs can come and go without being remark upon much. Gold and silver talk.
09:00 Blank here
10:00 Yonagumi Island.
In other worlds this place is under water. Here it's above ground. This Small island has a population of humans, tanuki and fox folks
Tanuki are humanoid Racoon Dogs. Fox Folk are humanoid foxes.
Yonagumi Island is part of the Ryoku chain, not geographically but culturally. People here are outcasts from China, Korea and Japan.
The Emperor of Japan has closed the Island and his troops will murder any outsider they find. The Ryoku pirates smuggle goods and people through the blockade. They also raid local sea traffic for fun and profit.
The Human supremacist Chinese Empire struggles to control pirates and and the Chinese people react harshly against non human "Demons"
Occasional overlords arrive with ships and troops and claim control over Yonagumi Island. But they never last and everyone goes around the law as they are able.
To the south East is Taiwan, An island of mystical power where people, spirits and godlings live side by side.
Among these European traders and raiders seek gold, spices and treasure for profit.
11:00
Ayers Rock - in a harsh sunbaked climate, dingo-folk live in harmony with nature, and dream the spirit realm. They have not met any europeans or outsiders yet. They live mostly in harmony because their numbers are few, and the environment is harsh. If you don't live harmoniously and easy does it, the desert will settle you pretty quickly.
Alts
12:00 - Road to System Platform
01:00 - Amethyst
02:00 - Rock Bickford's Farm
03:00 - Road to D +06
04:00 - The Trimph of Hope
05:00 - Logsmorthy Castle
06:00 - Road to Prime
07:00 - Madame Lilliards
08:00 - Dinosauria
09:00 - O'clock Road to D +04
10:00 - Unknown
11:00 - Unknown
01:00
Amethyst - as in the game of the same name - 1000 years after an apocalypse, Future Earth is a battleground where Magic and Technology Cancel each other and fight for dominance.
Gate is is New Jersey in a Cave.
04:00
Triumph of Hope - as in the old game, The portal is in a cave about 3 days ride west of Hope Kansas as of 1876
08:00
Dinosauria - On Europe, Dinosaur people are dominant. With Empires and cultures of their own. They live along domesticated versions of herbivorious Dinos. But in untamed corners of their world, the big predators still lurk and eat everyone they can reach.
On the North American Continent humans and Ice Age Megafauna live to bite any Dinosaur they can.... but the Dinos can bite right back.
Oops, now I regret that I have lost the physical D12 I bought.
The Gate for Dinosauria is in Krubera Cave, Abkazia (My brain Keeps subsituting Azkaban, the prison from Harry Potter)
But the rest? I have 5 unknown worlds there.
Oof and Node D +06 roots in Galadria the FRPG game world Dennis and I made up in the 1990s (Edgars home world)
Goodness.
I don't have anything for Node D +04. Nutten.
Oh. There you Go. Crim and I were talking about how much we liked Cheesy 1980s Sci Fi.
Circling back to the current node.
02:00
The Portal opens through a warp onto the fields behind a mansion in 1956 Earth. Not far outside Beaumont, Texas
Magic is unknown on this Earth, kept that way by B-13 (In "Team Alpha" Mode)
The house is inhabited by a drama prone family, including the patriarch, Rock Bickford.
Unknown to anyone, several bad decisions have put Bickfords previously lucrative oil business into jeopardy.
But Bickford has found a mysterious dark Woman, Elise (Think Elizabeth Taylor) who promises him that she can rescue his business... but at what price?
05:00
The portal opens deep in a dungeon underneath Logsmorthy Castle, a school where magical children are trained the arts of magic and of governing the magic-less "Muggles"
On this world, Magical blood elevates the holder to nobility and the ruling class that exploits the non-magical lower class.
The Leadership of the School has a spell that temporarily allows them to use the Fringeworthy portals, and go get knowledge and technology from other worlds.
07:00
This gate opens into a Warp into a back Alley in London in 1971. This is a gritty, heart of the city type of place.
The Warp opens behind Madame Lilliard's an Avante Guarde Art Gallery. The owner has a relationship with the Wizards from Logsmorthy, and covers for their coming and going, in exchange for gold coins, she'll buy books, tech items and other things they find useful.
Across the street is a second hand store that sells estate sales, pawned items and whatever. They don't ask where street people selling watches or other valuables get them.
Kitty Corner is "Mack Droogs" a night club where bands make very enthusastic noise until closing time. Lots of kids high and drunk on who knows what all
Across from that is a really cheap, run down hotel, where cash talks and no questions are asked.
10:00
The Portal is a warp on the grounds of Fletcher Hospital, an asylumn in 1975. Many of the inhabitants are not crazy. They've seen the leaky magic that the Men in Black keep hidden.
This portal is tied to a crystal that's in the personal belongings of John Bellwood. Bellwood is a vietnam vet who was part of a team who fought a wizard named Pol Pot in Cambodia. They got him. Bellwood looted a crystal which is the key to a portal. Somehow the thing got locked into a state where the portal is following the key to be relocated.
Bellwood has visited the Alt Platform and a couple of the worlds accessible through it, but he thinks it was a hallucination. He wants no part of this insanity.
Bellwood looks outside, sees the portal and dives back into denial.
Fletcher Hospital in an Operation of the organization that is supressing magic. They will try to overcome fringepath travelers, strip them and then throw into a padded room under heavy sedation. Non human fringe travellers can look forward to being dissected in the basement.
The place is run by Dr. Nicholson. He is fervently devoted to healing the ill and preventing whatever insanity is respresented by magic and abnormal events from infecting the world.
The world is safe, normal and sensible and he's going to keep it that way if he has kill thousands to make it happen. He can see the portal too.
The Hospital is outside of Sacremento California.
-----
11:00 - Mexico 2017
The portal is a warp. Into a ratty warehouse in Mexico city. The building is in a tax foreclosure and is held up in the court. It has the remains of abandoned toy shipments in it.
Outside there is a shadow war. More MIBs at play here. However, they are at war against mutation. in the 1930s humans started to develop mutations which lent them unusual abilities (Consistent with physics so a low level supers camapaign) in the 1970s and 1980's governments across the world recruited, trained and used metahuman agents, let alone independants, criminals, mercenaries and vigilantes.
Someone developed a "cure" for mutation, and began to spread it around. The powers of the world held secret meetings where they agreed that metahumans were destabilizing, and need to be done away with, lest they lead to catastophe, or worse, a metahuman-ocracy where powered people ruled the world.
A multinational force of assassins set out and systematically eliminated all mutants they could find, while the cure was distributed via treated drinking water.
however not everyone got or took up the mission.
Recently an aging former vigilante discovered that a drug cartel had recruited dozens of meta human children from third world areas, and were holding them in a boarding school in Mexico city.
They have just discovered the warehouse and consider it a great place to hde out and regroup to plan the rest of their flight away from civilization.
The MIBs hunting them are determined. and will be as far behind the fleeing group of as is fun for the scenario at the moment.
-*-
Oh Shit, you know what?
I need to do the system platform.
What does the solar system look like in a 1650s magic and swashbucking campaign?
.
System:
12:00 - Path to Stellar
01:00 - . Mercury - Metal people live on a lava world. They consider the Fringe path system hopelessly cold filled with ice worlds and Ice people.
The gate opens into a Geodesic dome of typical Terhmelern make. It has stations where a human can speak to a metal person outside the dome.
02:00 - . Venus
A Cloud Shrouded Jungle Matriarchy, Amazonian warrior women keep men in the kitchen where they belong.
03:00 - Blank
04:00 - . Luna
Swan people (Human, but with Swan feathers for hair, and distinct Swanish elements to their physiology) consider themselves pure and the guardians of purity. Their magic power waxes and wanes with the phases on the moon.
The Portal opens in the basement of the Swan Queens palace. They will consider travelers amusingly dirty, smelly and uncouth.
But they will start arming up against other intrusions. We can't have just ANYONE strolling about the Moon, you know.
05:00 - . Mars
A red deserty world where warriors travel about, fighting each other, monsters and whatever else they can find. A mix of some Barsoom, some Conan and some Gor.
The greatest fighters meet at the palace of the Paladin. There an ancient statue is actually a sort of crystaline AI that trains humans to fight the enemy, but can't figure out how to open the portal to unleash his warriors against the Mellor.
06:00 - Path to Alt
07:00 - . Jupiter
Olympus, Elysian fields. Greek Gods. They can change shape and are very strong and tough. They are proto-Mellor. They took up the role of Greek Gods in the hopes of leading the humans towards a more sane frame of mind and they're stuck with it now.
They warn against the Titans against whom they fought a war.
08:00 - . Saturn
A gray, bleak reflection of Olympus.
Here Proto-Mellor playing the roles of the Titans scheme and plan for revenge against Zeus and the Greek Gods.
These are also Proto-Mellor. Their world is darker and lower energy. They blame Prometheus for stealing the sun.
Both sides were Zoomed by corrupted Mellor.
Both groups can educate Visitor about what Mellor can do.
They are locked into their zones by the portals which attack vigorously any Proto-Mellor that gets close.
If released from the lock out the Titans would go attack the Residents of Olympus with millenia of rage. These guys aren't right.
09:00 - Blank
10:00 - . Neptune
An underwater version of Olympus above. Humans can visit to a dome. There is now lost Terhmelern bio-tech that can allow humans to breathe and swim in this place.
All the domes have force-field locks that can open and allow access to the bad environment but its not recommended unless one can arrange proper protection
There's a crab that does sing "Under da sea" and yes you can eat him if you can catch him.
11:00 - . Uranus
A Dark, night time version of the above. Here the God Pluto over sees the gathering of souls.
In gigantic crystaline devices, the memories of all sentient people on Thea are recorded. Their souls are stored. The whole Node.
But much more. Occasionally the system wanders and records souls from all over the multiverse.
Pluto and his servants keep them until "The End" They know someday this will all end. But they do not know how. There are about 500 billion distinct brain prints. Pluto knows he has enough room for hundreds of trillions more.
If properly motivated Pluto can create a replicant body and copy a brain print into it, allowing the dead to live again.
But you really really have to have a good reason for him to do this. Its not proper for the dead to escape the realm of afterlife.
In the crytaline shadows of Uranus long dead people laugh andd cry, talk and scream. Children play and even some animals roam. The echoes and whispers of this can be heard here and there.
Pluto and his machine can reach out anywhere in this node, and grab a ghost of any description and force them through the end recording and storing process.
If Pluto allows it anyone who died in this node can be called up to speak to the visitor.
His assistants besides the proto-Mellor who play death adjacent demi gods, are grey humanoid figures who occasionally take on faces and appearances of the dead they've met.
Occasionally Pluto recreates a dead person who has skills or qualities he wants and forces them to serve him in the realm of the undead.
Pluto is quiet, phlegmatic and implacable. He has no interest in leaving. All will come to him in time.
-*-
Welp that's a huge chunk of my 12 hour day.
Now the blank Node D +04
I will be strip mining Roger Corman B moviees for that one.
OH SHIT
I forgot the STELLAR Platform
So is magic a local phenomenon, or is it dimenson wide here?
I am boned. My generic Stellar platform is not present
I went to FTL-2448 Tucholka's Space Opera Game and borrowed the first 8 races, figuring the first 8 were the closest in proximity to Earth.
Now if I was being die hard about the themes of the thing I go look up the names of Stars and constellations and then figure out how to make the characters and stories into worlds.
orrrrr I could borrow from FASA and stock the stellar level magi-tech variations of the FASA Trek races.
The tech level would be about 1970s as a default. Hyper drives are a ways away, yet.
Oh, the default space rules in this game are Star Wars. Swoopy small ships, hyper drives, all like that there. Once the people in the are develop hyper drives. The increased speed and range is going to change EVERYTHING about how these people develop.
Thats what an alternate universe gets ya.
12:00 Blank (ish)
01:00 Vulcan
After a near miss with Self-Destruction, the Vulcans have dedicated themselves to the Way of Surak
The Wizards of Gol plumb the depths and workings of Magic.
When Monsters pop up, the Order of the Val Shiar, the Protectors take up arms to defend the Vulcan people.
(Lets stop and take a moment to imagine Vulcan flavored FRPG Monsters)
Vulcan is littered with the ruins of previous inhabitants some called the Precursors and others called the Terhmelern.
Vulcan explorers make logical and sensible plans to delve these ruins and learn the secrets history has to teach them.
The Portal is a warp near an Obliesk in the city of Shikahr.
Vulcans will be decorous but curious about new comers.
02:00 Andor
Each Keth has its own magical specialty. Rumors circulate about "The Hidden Keth" and it's Mission.
Ice flavored monsters are a feature of this world.
The Portal is in ancient caves in a mountain overlooking a bay. There are ruins of an old city there. PCs may encounter Andorian explorers and adventurers lookinfg for lost information or more mundane loot there.
03:00 Blank
04:00 Tellar
Magic is just another form of engineering. The Tellarites have been fighting to develop consistent theories of magic and how magic works, but they need better biology aand molecular biology first
But that doesn't stop them from banging on it.
For the Tellarites, Magic is a process whereby you argue the universe into seeing things your way. Eloquence, persuasion and logical reasoning are key
The Portal is in a museum. The museum was built around the portal. The fact that the Tellarites cannot move the portal is not mentioned.
Tellarite Authorites will be very eager to meet FW people
05:00 Orions
There are four races of Orions. Gold, Rudy, Green and Grey
Unlike our Orions these are natural variations in color, except for the grey.
Less disabled or fully disabled greys are rarely seen, but their magic is weaker.
Magic is seen among the Golden Orions, but never at the levels seen in the Greys.
The party line is that Magic never occurs among the Rudy or Green Orions.
But this isn't true. Rudy or Green children with magical potential are taken away and silently eliminated.
But there are wild lands where the Iron fisted and greedy rule of the Golds doesn extend. Who knows whats brewing out there.
The Portal is a warp in field of rolling hills, in an area said to be haunted by ancient spirits.
A town here quietly sells goods and services to rogue Greens, Rudies and even rogue golds and Grays. They won't be happy to have strangers drawing attention.
They have "Riding Alpacas" Larger, stronger and slightly differently configured to Terran Alpacas.
They are pissy and cranky. But with enough time, they grow to accept people and other animals as part of their herd.
but strangers get the attitude. If the strangers are assholes they might catch some spitting and hooves as well.
06:00 Path to System
07:00 Romulans
In Ancient Times the Singing Bears brought the Romulans to Romulus to fight the dark enemy. The hidden shadows.
To this day, Martial prowess is prized, and the old songs are sung. Only religious fanatics believe that someday the Singing bears will return.
These days we have important business of empire building, back stabbing, plotting and skullduggery to engage in.
08:00 Klingons (FASA)
In ancient times, Singing bears came to Klinzai, warning of hidden dangers in the forests. Klingons killed and ate them.
Life is a tough game, you have to play hard to win and the Klingons mean to win by any means necessary
The Portal is in cave beneath the monastary of Boreth where they keep the lore of Kahless. And a very old recipie for singing bear.
09:00 Blank
10:00 Gorn
Honorable Gorn Samurai defend the land from horrible monsters. 30 ton tigers and 50 ton bears.
Magic is a tool for seeing far and seeing the future to avoid traps.
The rules of life.
1 - Everyone's edible.
2 - Honor turns foe or food into friend.
3 - More friends are better when giant, magically charged mammals enact to rule 1.
11:00 Tholian
"Long ago, the Tholians were part of a commonwealth that spanned the galaxy, and insane alternate universes.
Our numbers were uncountable. Our allies were uncountable.
We made 27 million different paradises, each different from the last and each interesting and unique.
There was no problem that could not be solved by stacking up enough Tholian brains.
Except for one.
That one problem crashed the Commonwealth. Uncountable trillions died. Unimaginable wonders were lost. 27 million different paradises were burned, crushed, blasted or flushed down black holes while trillions of Tholians screamed.
A bare handful survived on this out of the way rock. We've built up something you might call civilization but our ancestors would consider primitive and pathetic.
But now we have the means. And now it's time for revenge against the authors of all our suffering.
Humans. Humans destroyed us and we will make them pay. Hyperdrives are built. Blasters are charged.
27 million paradises cry out for vengeance.
So tell us. Where are the humans?
Fortunately for everyone the Tholians are well and far away.
There we go.
Whoosh.
NOW, Now I can start on Node D +04
Tomorrow.
