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Old 04-26-2021, 04:36 PM   #1691
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Default Re: Catalog of the Weird Parallels

Hexes 1
This world is considered by some to be an artifical banestorm nexus. Areas of many other worlds are either transported or duplicated here. The vast majority of these areas are ten mile across hexagons complete with buildings, equipment and people who are completely in the dark about what happened.
These areas are replaced by new areas after a random seeming amount of time, but averaging a couple of months.

Anyone in a "Hex" is generally made aware that the area they are in is about to be replaced with a few hours notice when a uniquely strange weather event happens.

There are other shaped areas as well (to make hexes fit a globe) these areas often have weird physics and other strangeness.

This world which draws land from largely TL7-9 parallels is in a perpetual state of apocalypse as infrastructure is suddenly unsupported.

Hexes 2
This version of Hexes is a contagion zone, some of the areas pulled here have various diseases. The reality if this parallel means that there are always fresh people coming in.
Several Zombie plagues are present, but there are also super creating viruses as well as nano and all manner of chaos causing phages.

Inspired by the Respawn series of books.
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Old 04-27-2021, 04:22 PM   #1692
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TGLS View Post
Risk (Q4, 1901)
On Risk-2 (Q4, 1940), there's sort of similar strange phenomenon. Upon the conquest of an arbitrarily defined geographic region, roughly corresponding to Homeline political boundaries circa 1956, the head of government of the conquering nation gains a card. These cards depict one of the geographic regions and a strange symbol. They were mostly curios until the time of Napoleon, who managed to secure a sufficient number which allowed him to temporarily gain 1000+ point abilities. Fortunately, he misused them and was defeated anyway. History roughly followed Homeline's until WW2, where upon the Nazis and the Japanese have gained a massive boosts, while the British activation of their cards had the unintentional side effect of giving everyone in Burma a 25 point boost.
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Old 10-31-2022, 01:25 PM   #1693
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On Skapol, people gather the elements before acting. Before they start any process, (like a recipe, repair, assembling furniture, etc.) they gather up all the materials and tools they will use first. If the materials themselves require preparation, that is done before they begin the process to, even if there's plenty of waiting to be done before the last material is to be applied. For example, if they decided to make a cake, they would separate the egg whites and possibly make the icing (depending on how the recipe is instructed) before they turned on the oven. This isn't a supernatural curse or anything, their brains are just wired differently.

This extends to other processes people learn. Most languages on Skapol use Subject Object Verb or Object Subject Verb word ordering instead of Subject Verb Object. This means that the sentence, "The car I drove to college was wrecked by a truck." under Skapol English would read, "The car I to college drove was by a truck wrecked." By having a very unusual grasp of language, and the odd tendency to interrupt tasks to gather more materials, outworlders are often easy to identify as peculiar. The line exception is Polish, which has every sylabble in reverse order.

In addition to this strangeness, the locals of Skapol have developed an odd form of magic that only works when materials are gathered before starting. Introducing something I to the ritual space mid-spell can have unpredictable effects. The foremost academy of magic is at the Polish capital of Vasavar, though there are other notable academies in Berlin and Palo Alto. Current year is 1924 in an alternative history where the nation of Skapol won its independence during the revolutions of 1848.

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Old 06-28-2023, 02:37 PM   #1694
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Exodus

On the surface, this Q4 world is a normal empty world. It diverged with the extinction of great apes/hominids and is chronologically in the last ice age. However, it sports one major anomalous feature: a stable nexus portal in the middle of an Antartica cave network. The portal leads to what used to a close parallel of Homeline in the 2000s. This world is in Q1 and was obviously never discovered prior to the the discovery of the nexus portal. All this would be an academic curiosity for Homeline it weren’t for three things.

1. The portal is two-way, always active, and only requires the presence of a sapient lifeform to open.
2. The natives of the other side are aware of the portal. It was first found in the 1990s when satellites started picking up some strange energy readings from a location in the transantarctic mountains and explorers took a closer look.
3. The close parallel is probably going to turn into a hell parallel. An NEO asteroid capable of causing an extinction level event within a few years was discovered and this world’s astronomers are reasonably sure it will impact.

While the portal’s location makes it hard to reach, no one wants to ignore another habitable world on their doorstep and efforts are being made to start setting up outposts in Exodus to start evacuations. Currently, the asteroid is two years away and there are 10,000 people on Exodus. Societal order is being upheld for now but things will probably get worse as time goes on and people get more desperate.

Infinity is currently torn between assisting these people and staying away from a world where the secret is all but out. While some bright native minds are looking into quantum physics more deeply, mostly everyone is too focused on survival to make much headway. This may end up changing if their research on the portal starts to produce some interesting results. Creating more portals would increase the speed and scale of the evacuations. And of course, there is always a chance the asteroid will miss . . . or turn out not to be an asteroid.
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Old 06-28-2023, 05:28 PM   #1695
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Carcinization: This world resembles a parallel Homeline Earth in 1962.....but every animal species is a hybrid of its Homeline Counterpart and a crab-like crustacean, no matter how little sense that makes.
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Old 12-19-2023, 09:10 PM   #1696
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The word is not so scary when properly translated. It means to illuminate, to reveal. We have had to hide our light for so long, and now, finally, we can share the promise. The promise of a better world, of a time of miracles. The promise that all will be revealed. Join us!

Faust is a world at war with a dark cult of demon worshipers. What makes it much worse is that the demons are real.

Little is known and much is suspected of their history. The infiltration began around 1800, and possibly much earlier, but remained hidden and quiet for generations, spreading slowly among both the jealous and the avaricious, the decadent and the austere. But that is history. The once secretive cult has stepped forth into the light, and everything has changed.

Specific chapters are known to have existed as early as 1790, but while they are coordinated, they remain ideologically quite different, often with entirely contradictory theosophy. Some consider themselves outright Satan worshipers, while others are convinced they are witchhunters serving an angel, that they are in contact with psionic aliens, or in one case that they have a direct line to the 'programmer behind the simulation.' These groups would no doubt be happy to fight amongst themselves, but a powerful force keeps them in line. Instead, even the most sectarian chapters view one another as something between fellow travelers and useful idiots.

These chapters are wound deeply into the fabric of every country and organization. Agents can be found scanning groceries and running banks; performing surgery and commanding warships; building cars and stealing shoes. They are most likely in the minority, but no one knows by how much. Regardless of what philosophy they subscribe to, it quickly becomes clear that the defining member of a cultist is a flat willingness to sacrifice the well-being of anyone else to advance their own aims. But, beyond saying that most charities are less infiltrated than most mercenary outfits, there is little that can be said for certain.

Each cell has at its core a patron which frequently presents itself as an angel, ancient master, prophet, deity, or, indeed, a demon. This being communes with the inner circle of each cell and plays a critical role in finding and converting new applicants. It is a bespoke process which blends offers of incredible power and ever-increasing costs. The inner circle is shown outright magic - and not just minor paranormal auras or 'sensations.' Regrowing limbs, visitations of the dead, transformation of people into animals, evocations of energy and conjurations of matter - these and many other profoundly supernatural phenomenon are commonplace. However, these miracles do not come without cost. Sacrifices of unbelievers are needed to power each great demonstration. Thus, every recruitment binds twice: once by the miracle which is witnessed, and once by the shared culpability for the sacrifice.

It is these patrons which unite the cults into a coalition powerful enough to threaten the entire world order. They smooth over minor differences with platitudes, more significant contradictions by claiming to have manipulated the others, and with glaring incompatibility by expressing their ineffability.

Chapters can be as few as a dozen or number in the thousands, though they always have an inner circle of true devotees, a midrank of initiates, and an outer circle which acts as sleepers, recruits, footsoldiers, and servants. Some have a charismatic emissary, a human who acts as the main agent of the patron, while in others said role is diminished or removed. Some encourage followers to relish in petty revenge and decadence, while others adhere to strict asceticism in pursuit of a global apocalypse. It is a devilish mess of contradictions.

Beneath it all, there is a vast plan at work. Any of the following bookmarks is a fine time for heroes to appear to slow or reverse the great work; but it seems that there is always another contingency...

New Perth, New Jersey, 1790: A new preacher has moved into town. He preaches fire and brimstone for sinners and, too, the miracles that fall upon loyal servants of God. He says he sees signs of witchcraft afoot among those who cavort with the Indians, corruption in the once god-fearing children. The old churchhouse is no longer big enough for the Sunday meeting...

London, 1901: My dear boy, you are too superstitious! I admit, his inventions are unprecedented, and yet, what promise! Do not concern yourself with rumors. In fact, to lay your mind at ease, I myself will show you how his marvelous machines work, first-hand.

Västerås, Sweden, 1988: Yeah, the band was really just dying until Mats started dating Karin. No, seriously. She came in with all these amazing connections, don't know what she was doing to know, like, everyone with a stage. We went from practically nobody to opening for ****ing Metallica. I don't want to know how, honestly. I just like playing, and damn, last couple of years it seems like sometimes I get on stage and it's the music playing me, dude.

Sennar, Darfur, 2005: You have all read the documents, so I will be brief. Insertion is eight km southwest of the site. You will not be detected. Eliminate all potential combatants with the exception of the primary target, who is to be captured alive for interrogation. Extraction will be four km due east at the coordinates designated earlier. If you see anything interesting, anything strange, anything oddly religious, you report it. You may be asked to bag it for extraction. Read nothing you find. End of session.

L.A., 2024: 'It's like something out of a horror story,' these shocking words came from none other than the city's police commissioner, regarding the 'unprecedented' rise in brutal murders in the city's troubled financial district. So far this year, no fewer than a dozen brutalized bodies have been found in alleyways, parking lots, warehouses, and now in a conference room at the highest levels of the Wilshire Grand Center. The victims: all people experiencing homelessness in the region. Police have yet to call this the work of a serial killer, but rumors are flying.

But these are all background events. The cults have been active for centuries, but only underground. This last bookmark is a very different part of the plan. The long-dormant sleeper agents are being awakened, and forces are moving. It starts a few months into the future. With an explosive reveal, the cults launch a surprise attack on the rest of civilization. This, they all agree, is the final battle for reality. The power of each group's patron is limited by the forces of orthodoxy; the divine call out for a holy war, the demonic demand a final sacrifice to open the gates. The simulation needs a 'hard reset.' With every nation embroiled in utter turmoil, no one can trust anyone. First, the non-cult world must recover from the initial salvo, then purge its ranks, then mobilize, then engage in a truly global conflict. Break out your Mass Combat books, first for conventional warfare between mutinous units, then for mere mortals facing whatever monsters the Demons can unleash.

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Old 12-20-2023, 03:35 PM   #1697
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Default Re: Catalog of the Weird Parallels

Specific cells in North America:
I would love to see ideas for other regions, but I am limited by my experiences.

Church of Abundance in Christ
Patron: Entity claiming to be the Christian deity
Emissary: Father Peter Humility Christianson
Notes: The largest christian-appropriating chapter, the Church of Abundance in Christ has an immediate inner circle of several hundred and several thousand outer members, but is most influential in its 20 federated subchapters - a collection of likewise fairly large cells which recognize Father Christianson as the main theological head, but which are operated more locally. These regional subchapters have their own local leaders (six of them being Father Christianson's own sons and grandsons), and their own relationship with the Patron.

Locations are all across the US midwest and south, with far-flung nodes in the Pacific northwest, southern CA, two in Mexico, and one in Canada.

Doctrine holds that outright supernatural miracles are God's direct influence on the world, but that He does not act without purpose or cause. Only the worthy receive his blessings. The outer members of the organization (and the many thousands of completely unknowing evangelicals who follow Christianson) make themselves worthy through donations of money and labor. Within the inner circle, the demands become far steeper, reflecting Christianson's Old Testament bent.

Devlog.Universe
Patron: "Robert 'Bob' Clarke," putative software engineer.
Emissary: None; the inner circle communicates directly to Clarke through text terminals and video calls accessible on a specific network.
Notes: One of the largest 'secular' cells, the organization around Devlog.Universe resembles nothing so much as internet fandom. It has global presence and a sophisticated grasp of digital security, including sufficient operative security to avoid inducting unreliable members into the inner circle, which is rumored to contain more than one billionaire (it is in fact exactly one, though there are several other fairly wealthy members). Outer members range from those who are deluded enough to not need much convincing to follow along, to people who are simply fascinated with what appears to be a thoroughly developed ARG.

The conceit of Devlog.Universe is that it is a fictional list of recent changes to reality's "base OS" or sometimes "content." As members ascend the ranks, they become more and more convinced that the author and protagonist of the website is exactly what he claims to be in his bio: a developer maintaining the simulation which reality operates on. He claims that he has a way to 'upload' people into the higher-level universe, but has limited authority to control the world due to permissions restrictions. He offers a deal: help him gain control of the simulation by working from within it, and get all the perks he can provide, plus ascension when you die... so long as you don't try to 'cut in line.' His 'miracles' are often informational, but that's simply what is easy to convey over an internet link. He can do all the most powerful things that other patrons do.

It may seem odd that he asks for sacrifices, but to his followers, he does not; he asks them to bring people he 'needs to upload due to data corruption.' It helps that those who have been 'uploaded' often make an appearance in later conversations.

Galactic League
Patron: Collective of alleged 'Alpha Aliens'
Emissary: "Terrestrial Council" of seven appointed members of the inner circle.
Notes: True believers in alien visitation. Their thesis is that the 'Terrestrial Council' is Earth's envoy to a galactic community in the face of global government oppression. The Alphan envoy to Earth (from Alpha Centauri) seeks to bring perfection and immortality to all of Earth's humans, but parasitic psionic aliens known as the Omegans are claimed to nest in most of the population; the Omegans are responsible for the coverup, as well as much of the evil in the world. The Alphans, of course, need their agents to hunt down afflicted humans and 'cure' them to reverse the Omegan infiltration. Yes, it's an alien force infiltrating society under the pretense of fighting an alien force infiltrating society.

True Church of Lucifer
Patron: Entity claiming to be, among other things, Lucifer
Emissary: Rotating position known as the 'horned one' selected from among the inner circle.
Notes: A classic example of a cell which unabashedly considers themselves demon worshipers. These groups tend to be far smaller than those claiming to serve angels, saints, helpful spirits, or good gods, for obvious reasons. But, they have surprisingly great reach; some people like to be the bad guy. Nonetheless, such demon cults have the highest rate of renegades. Sometimes they're scooped up by allegedly benign cults -- after all, demon worship is implicitly acceptance of the existence of the deity they oppose. But many can't be recovered so easily and thus must be silenced. Fortunately, every cult can benefit from capturing a demonic apostate.

Exclusive Returns, LLC.
Patron: "[Member's] true mogul," "the inner boss"
Emissary: Alice Thule, CEO
Notes: A pseudo–intellectual financial "movement" taking the form of a corporation. A fairly small but influential chapter, thanks to the large number of successful members. Said success rarely occurs before a member has reached the inner circle, of course. Clients are gradually built up to commune with their own "financial self" to find success. For most, it's a Galtian platitude, but small rewards are doled out for increasing acts of greed-is-good megacapitalism. It takes little work to shift the ideology to the pursuit of absolute personal privilege. The inner circle is entirely within the ranks of Exclusive Returns LLC itself. It turns out, a packed seminar full of broke would-be billionaires serves as a fine hunting ground.

Popcon Initiative
Patron: The Voice of Earth, supposedly a collective made up of all life on the planet.
Emissary: None; the inner circle can meditate to commune with the Voice.
Notes: Rejected by practically all environmentalist groups for being too extreme, some people still gravitate to the Popcon (population control) Initiative, an unabashedly driven group which seeks to dramatically reduce the human population. When put on the spot, they'll argue that they 1: want said reduction to be voluntary and 2: don't seek human extinction, unlike those crazy people at the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement. Many peripheral members, not really even in the outer circle, might even believe that. Within the circle, it's generally felt that there will be time to apologize after the population is dropped down to sustainable levels of a few million. Mid-rankers are introduced to the metaphor of "the Voice," and within the inner circle, there is an openly spiritual take on the idea that the global biosphere has a personality and desires the human population be reduced through any means necessary. Ritual sacrifice is simply a nice way to demonstrate intentions, and the addition of miraculous visitations afterwards is simply a nice bonus.

Cult Of Set
Patron: The Ancient One, allegedly a reclusive professor
Emissary: Grand High Magus, the most senior active member in the cell's bureaucracy.
Notes: Resembling a classical ivy-league secret society, it is unclear if the Cult of Set is in fact a very ancient student club or if it is a modern recreation. It revels in its occult trappings, with robes, code names, rituals, and hidden chambers. It has an outsized influence - only a few hundred members, but almost all of them highly placed in academic, military, and political places of power. The organization is unusual, with the most active members being students and academicians at the start of their cult careers, while senior members generally serve as sleepers in general society and only rarely partake in ceremonies. Their connection to the Ancient One is obscure even to the inner circle. Its miracles are said to be the product of ancient Egyptian mysticism, as interpreted by the Ancient One, who is always masked and shrouded when appearing before meetings. None remember any other Ancient One serving. Rumors, even within the cult, range from a particular professor emeritus who disappeared in the '80s, to a restless embalmed corpse from before recorded history.

The Miller Family
Patron: Entity claiming to be an angel named Ariel. Non-denominationally Christian.
Emissary: Ma Miller
Notes: While there are many cells like the Miller Family, they are notable for simply how typical they are. The Millers were a marginally middle-class midwestern family up until the financial crash in 2008. As their precarious position collapsed, they grew more and more deeply into debt. They turned to petty crime but things continued to go south. Until, finally, the matriarch Janice 'Ma' Miller began having prophetic dreams pointing to more profitable enterprises. The Miller's operations gradually grew, and only after they had amassed a small network of criminal allies that the angel Ariel spoke directly to Ma through her dreams and escalated the cell's operations still further. The criminal enterprises which maintain the network now are a side affair to Ma's growing status as the central agent to Ariel's outreach.

Outer members are generally those who maintain the criminal side of the operation, but can be counted on to jump when called upon by the matriarch. Mid-ranking members are the family's close allies, including those who are aware of the supernatural side of the operation. The inner circle is only a few dozen who regularly have direct contact with Ma or Ariel. It is made up of the entire extended Miller family and some close friends who have benefited from the miracles Ariel provides.
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Old 12-20-2023, 03:44 PM   #1698
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One potential switch is to not have the cults in cahoots. This has major implications for the conspiracy behind the conspiracy, but it doesn't actually prevent the Apocalypse. Instead of the cults striking in unison together, they're all revealed at once and must all strike.

Doing so results in dramatically elevated chaos but lower stakes, as any one cult is too busy fighting all of its most serious threats and ideological enemies to coordinate against orthodoxy.

More to come as I develop some better write-up of the nature of Patrons as understood by the public at large after the Apocalypse.
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