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Old 04-28-2017, 06:58 PM   #181
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Default Re: Lucy's Choice: Let's make Lucifer Parallels!

It's simple. Fly a spacecraft with a few mass drivers out to an asteroid or two (perhaps 69230 Hermes), then run them until the asteroids will smash the Earth. When the right orbit is achieved, dismantle the mass drivers and return to Homeline. Unless a zonemind is looking closely at the asteroid, they won't see it coming, and after it becomes obvious, unless a zonemind solved the N-body problem, they'll assume it was something they don't have the physics for. All you need to do is have them fail to stop it, and the zoneminds are finished.
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Old 04-28-2017, 08:39 PM   #182
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Default Re: Lucy's Choice: Let's make Lucifer Parallels!

The Side-war parallels
This cluster of 5 parallels are unique in that parachronic travel between them is two orders of magnitude easier. The are 100 times as many natural jumpers for example. However slight tuning of regular parachronic devices is required before they will work here and vice versa. This travel is limited in one respect, it is only possible to jump to "adjacent" parallels.

All 5 of the parallels seem to have had their histories divert soon after the start of WW2. It was during the war that the parachronic genie was let out of the bottle. While the outcome was similar to Homeline's what followed was radically different. A four dimensional cold war developed, technological advancement was considerably boosted by the crosspolination of ideas. A proxy war developed in the central parallel, unlike in Homeline this proxy war spread.

Now war had engulfed all 5 parallels to various degrees. With the central world suffering from the worst effects, nukes, orbital weapons, biological agents and creative use of parachronic travel have scoured the surface.

So far the inhabitants haven't realized that travel is possible to worlds other than the 5 parallels.
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Old 04-28-2017, 10:54 PM   #183
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Default Re: Lucy's Choice: Let's make Lucifer Parallels!

Vaguely similar, but without many high tech humans.

Natural portals suddenly increasing in commonality and size between worlds in this skerry has caused extreme ecological disaster. Invasive species everywhere has caused the collapse of nearly every ecosystem, on land and in water.

Possible oddity could be that one is 80 millions years earlier than the others. But whether it's destroyed/invaded by the more modern worlds, invades/destroys the others, or more likely some combination of the two is GM's choice.
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Old 04-28-2017, 11:23 PM   #184
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Default Re: Lucy's Choice: Let's make Lucifer Parallels!

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...
So far the inhabitants haven't realized that travel is possible to worlds other than the 5 parallels.
Scientists may know or strongly suspect. But who funds such pure research when more pressing parachronic developments are needed?
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Old 04-29-2017, 07:29 AM   #185
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Default Re: Lucy's Choice: Let's make Lucifer Parallels!

Balrog-3

IW heard about this one from CABAL. A bureaucratic mistake (or was it?) included a page from a larger report that said the CABAL had designated it Balrog-3, and IW has some very interesting questions about that 3 designation...

The world of Technomancer is known, and avoided, among parachronic travelers. Unfortunately it is not the only one where WW2 and magic both happened. Worse is that the war usually ends up being even more brutal and inhuman on those lines. Worst of all, at least for the line in question, is that it is possible to BOTCH what happens when that nuke went off.

Short version: Somewhere on that world is a continually moving radioactive firestorm/ vortex with what seems to be (nobody can get close enough to be sure) a rampaging hundred foot tall demon at it's core. Think of the Balrog from Lord of the Rings crossed with an F4 tornado and hot enough to melt steel in seconds at the core. And it's about as radioactive as the exposed Chernobyl core was. This is what showed up when the nuke detonated.

How long it has been rampaging is up to the GM. News of this got around pretty fast once it happened.

Given the line's Low mana level (the cloud itself is High and the fallout areas are Normal), The locals might stand a chance of banishing it with heavy aid from CABABL, but CABAL needs IW's orbital capabilities to get a good look at the thing. It is currently confined to the Americas and seems averse to crossing water, but everyone is in a panic that it will manage to get to Eurasia and eventually off world.

Even if the Balrog never leaves the Americas that Line will eventually die because of the leftover radiation, but Parachronic authorities hope to save civilization there somehow.

Edit: The war is, of course, still going on. Germany has surrendered, but the Japanese home islands still hold out. Suffice to say the Japanese are thinking 'Divine Wind' at this point as all the American forces are suddenly diverted back to the US by panicking admirals and generals. Everyone else is collectively in disbelief and/ or frantically trying to decide what to do if it gets to their area of the world.

Last edited by Jasonft; 04-29-2017 at 09:25 AM.
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Old 04-29-2017, 01:29 PM   #186
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Default Re: Lucy's Choice: Let's make Lucifer Parallels!

Actually quite an interesting idea.

Where does the Balrog actually go, and how fast does it move? Many parts of the USA might simply be abandoned to the demon for now.

Also, why does the Cabal want to help? Are they getting something out of this, or is this just a particularly benevolent lodge?
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Old 04-29-2017, 01:38 PM   #187
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Default Re: Lucy's Choice: Let's make Lucifer Parallels!

There is not really much of The Cabal, so much as numerous factions led by mega-powerful grand masters amidst the Cabal.
They aren't all all bad. Maybe one actually likes saving people/worlds for fun or ego.

Or maybe, being the cabal and all, their real purpose is more about saving the monster as a favor to its grief stricken much more terrifying parent.
Banish-rescue, same effect. :)
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Old 04-29-2017, 01:39 PM   #188
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Default Re: Lucy's Choice: Let's make Lucifer Parallels!

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Originally Posted by PTTG View Post
Actually quite an interesting idea.

Where does the Balrog actually go, and how fast does it move? Many parts of the USA might simply be abandoned to the demon for now.

Also, why does the Cabal want to help? Are they getting something out of this, or is this just a particularly benevolent lodge?
Presumably fame, fortune, and glory. Get people to promise large sums of money or even political power for the banishing of the demon. Or buy up the property that appears to be in the path of the demon for pennies on the dollar right before you buy it. Its a little more public than normal, but nothing says you can't use a stooge or two to cover than up for you.
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Old 04-29-2017, 02:55 PM   #189
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Default Re: Lucy's Choice: Let's make Lucifer Parallels!

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Originally Posted by Flyndaran View Post
Vaguely similar, but without many high tech humans.

Natural portals suddenly increasing in commonality and size between worlds in this skerry has caused extreme ecological disaster. Invasive species everywhere has caused the collapse of nearly every ecosystem, on land and in water.
Costner - 1,
Playing with that idea
A large natural portal opened up beneath the ocean, a steady volume of water has been flowing from one world to the next. A water world exists on one side of the portal and a desiccated world on the other

Costner - 2
The flow is on going, water levels have only changed 20 meters so far. Global cooling is becoming a problem.

Costner - 3
The water is flowing in both directions but the temperature of the deep ocean currents has been altered

Costner - 4
The portal was only active for a short while around 1000bc. The change in water levels has moved the cradle of civilisation from the Mediterranean and the middle east to Polynesia.
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Old 04-29-2017, 03:10 PM   #190
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Default Re: Lucy's Choice: Let's make Lucifer Parallels!

A series of warp portasl among Earth, Mars, and Venus near the dawn of life on Earth might make for something interesting.

The biosphere would be totally different, of course. But for all that Mars would have lost a lot of the shared atmosphere, Venus would have plenty of excess atmosphere to shed. Maybe whatever created the portals did this intentionally.
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