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Old 06-03-2020, 11:30 AM   #4811
TGLS
 
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Default Re: New Reality Seeds

There's a rumor on Homeline. There's consortium of world jumpers below quantum 3. Peaceful folk, allegedly floating around the quanta for 100 years now. One made it a quantum 3 world, and ran into Infinity agents. He told them about worlds below quantum 3. The worlds of quantum 1 & 2 were mostly normal. Quantum 2 + i scared the pants off them.

On quantum 2 + i, there are a number of worlds that are after 2027. One seems to be a clone of Steel, only 20 years late. There are "future echos" of Combine and Lenin-4. One world was apparently demolished by a rival interstellar empire. The scariest is codenamed Transline. It is populated by genetically engineered supermen who have developed memes into a science capable of mind control. Worst of all, they developed machines to travel the "Transfinite Worldspace".

Of course, it's only a rumor, right?
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Old 06-03-2020, 03:50 PM   #4812
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Default Re: New Reality Seeds

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Originally Posted by TGLS View Post
There's a rumor on Homeline. There's consortium of world jumpers below quantum 3. Peaceful folk, allegedly floating around the quanta for 100 years now. One made it a quantum 3 world, and ran into Infinity agents. He told them about worlds below quantum 3. The worlds of quantum 1 & 2 were mostly normal. Quantum 2 + i scared the pants off them.

On quantum 2 + i, there are a number of worlds that are after 2027. One seems to be a clone of Steel, only 20 years late. There are "future echos" of Combine and Lenin-4. One world was apparently demolished by a rival interstellar empire. The scariest is codenamed Transline. It is populated by genetically engineered supermen who have developed memes into a science capable of mind control. Worst of all, they developed machines to travel the "Transfinite Worldspace".

Of course, it's only a rumor, right?
Quality paranoia TGLS.
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Old 06-04-2020, 07:16 PM   #4813
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Default Re: New Reality Seeds

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Originally Posted by Astromancer View Post
Try this one...

In most worlds Otto von Bismarck's older Brother Bernhard lives into his eighties, in this Q6 world, he dies in a riding accident in his early teens. Bismark is too busy as head of the family managing his estate to put the same effort into the civil service and never rises very far. Germany, lacking the right leadership, never unifies.

Without the rise of Germany to force France to find new allies, the Anglo-French rivalry remains central to European politics. And the five powers of Europe remain Britain, France, Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The separate kingdoms that formed the German empire did industrialize, but no single German military force formed.

It is now the year 1928, Europe has a crop of singularly third-rate politicians running the place. Without the Palmer Raids which were motivated by fear of the Russian Revolution, or the Kaiser Reich's push of violent anarchists to America, America's Socialist parties are replacing the Democrats in the two-party system. Which is causing serious deadlocks in the government. At the same time, the Ulster Protestants are in revolt against the British state over Irish Home Rule. The British Army and Irish Catholic volunteers are trying to put the revolt down.

During this period when neither Britain nor America is able to focus on continental Europe, France decides to push its borders east into the Rhine. France and her ally Austria mean to take the lands they see as theirs by right. Prussia sees its chance to unify Germany on its terms. Russia, seeing Austria as its problem, allies with Prussia.

Basically, World War I in the late twenties without the Anglophone powers at first. Since the Kaiser encouraged the Ulstermen and loved throwing fuel on Ireland's fires, something would seriously provoke England into the fight. However, that something could come from either France or Germany.

Agents provocateur could come from either side to try to bring Britain into the war against their foes.
This sounds like a "Bismarck" timeline - a bunch are listed in the final Pyramid.
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Old 06-06-2020, 08:29 PM   #4814
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Try this one...

This low manna Q6 world at first seemed like a close parallel, but not an echo of, Homeline. Somewhat different in being TL7 in the 1930s and seeming to have some superscience elements but it seems to be a myth parallel fairly close to, but distinctive from the old universal horror films. The main difference between this world and the films seems to start sometime around 1935 with Doctor Pretorius moving to Paris and going into partnership with Dr. Gogol. They have recently welcomed a Dr. Wells from America.

At about the same time a partnership of Frederic Nempere and Oliver Haddo set up in London as experts in rare plants even displaying several specimens of mariphasa. They have struck up a friendship with the highly respectable Wilfred Glendon. This surprises London's high society, though not as much as Nempere and Haddo introducing the architect Hjalmar Poelzig into London society. Recently, Poelzig and Haddo have been making regular trips to Paris and meeting Dr. Pretorius at the toy shop of a Madame Mandilip. Why?

Homeline researchers notice that Cabalists seem to be flocking to this world. And they are aware of someone meddling in this world's history. Homeline, aware of the exotic knowledge many of these men and are concerned that their secrets added to other information either known or assumed to be in this world could give the Cabal some terrifying advantages.

Basically, espionage to keep watch over madmen and steal their secrets. Cloak and Dager with touches of occult menace. The local year is 1938, the Spanish War is proceeding as in Homeline history and Germany has fallen in the clutches of the Nazis, so there are bigger threats out there, and what is the Cabal planning about that? Is this another round of their endless struggle with Midwinter Aton?
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Old 06-08-2020, 07:22 PM   #4815
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Try this one...

Medieval English kings generally forbade attempts at what we would call automation. Mainly for fear of job loss. In this Q6 world that worked out differently.

The changes started with the sudden death of Thomas Arundel in the year 1397 when the ship carrying him to exile on the continent was lost in a storm. Without Arundel, Henry Bolingbroke simply died in continental exile. His son, who in our world became Henry V, remained a favorite of the King and with the unexpected death of the Earl of March and his family from an outbreak of plague, was declared heir apparent by his beloved "Dickon." (Note: Historically Henry always seems to have preferred Richard, who loved and respected him, to his cold and neglectful father.)

In January of 1401, Richard, who sponsored education and literacy in English, after reading about the marvelous devices of the ancient inventors like Hero of Alexandria, decided to have as many books about such marvels as existed translated in English and then to offer rewards to those who could make new marvels of these types that would benefit ordinary people, not just amuse the rich and powerful.

By 1410 a moble type printing press had been invented. By 1417, for Richard's fiftieth birthday, the first printing of The Canterbury Tales came out. Knitting Frames and Spinning Jennies hand-powered so far, are coming into wide use. New farming techniques are coming into use.

The present year is 1430, the new King (our world's Henry V although because his father never ruled this world calls him Henry IV) rules over a peaceful prosperous Tech Level four England. Most of Europe has no idea of how advanced Britain is. Similarly, because Richard II was allowed to restrict war-making by the Aristocracy, and build stability and peace in England, the economy of England is much more developed and looks to be on the edge of an industrial revolution.

Centrum is not happy with this world, England has huge advantages and King Henry is a competent military leader, but he has no interest in foreign wars. England is at peace and strong and, although favorable to trade, uninterested in Europe. In fact, because a Bristol merchant has published details of lands he saw in the West when he was blown off course, this England might be getting ready to explore America without even an interest in conquering Scotland!

Centrum has decided that the king must die! Meanwhile, Homeline and the Cabal, having caught wind of Centrum's plans, have decided to aide the locals to defend their kingdom and their future.
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Old 06-09-2020, 01:53 PM   #4816
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Default Re: New Reality Seeds

Try this one...

Homeline, Centrum, and the Cabal, all know that the Quanta they can reach are only a small part of the multiverse. In fact, bot Homeline and Centrum are aware that the Cabal probably can get back and forth to far more worlds than they can simply because they can use several methods of travel. Every now and then transports from worlds unknown to either Homeline or Centrum show up with tantalizing evidence of worlds beyond the known quanta.

There is a theory on Homeline that worlds either have time travel, Crosstime travel, or FTL travel. This is somewhat challenged by a world where Britain seems to have time travel from the Victorian period on (this is one of Ken Hite's worlds, I'll look the name up later).

An incident on a Q6 parallel seems to combine Time Travel, Crosstime Travel, and FTL travel when an interstellar spaceship comes into orbit around an echo of Homeline in the year 1904.

From what Homeline has been able to learn this is a colonization ship that misjumped, falling centuries back in time and hundreds of light-years off course. The ship realizing it was unable to leave the solar system and that the ship was rapidly deteriorating because of the misjump, chose to contact the Earth, and went down to the planet.

As most of the ship's people were either Americans by ancestry or had been living in the extra-planetary colonies in the solar system, or the extrasolar colonies beyond it, and identified with the USA more than other societies. But there are people from the ship from many different lands. Within a decade the Western Nations and Japan have gone from TL6 to a mixture of TL7 and TL10^. Germany, the UK, France, the USA, and Japan, have all built bases on the moon. These same five nations are working on expeditions to Mars and the asteroids.

The rapid technological jumps are destabilizing society in many ways. The fact that the ship people came from democratic socialist societies is terrifying to the elites and exhilarating to the general populace. The simple fact that a society far more just and egalitarian than any they know of is a proven fact, delegitimates most of the world's governments. That the most impressive scientist and leader of the group is an African-American woman shakes up the period's racial hierarchies.

Because America was led by Teddy Roosevelt, a man of vast charisma and great flexibility, the USA is doing far better than most. Also, lacking kings and state churches, entrenched elites have less defense against radical change (this is why the US elites work so hard against any change at all, they've no safety margin). The exception is the American South which is desperately clinging to "White Supremacy."

Meanwhile, the changes have erased the political legitimacy of the imperial powers. From Ireland to India, from Morocco to China, from South Africa to the Dutch East Indes, the world is in revolt!

Centrum is furious, they'd gained serious levels of influence in the UK and several US states (mainly in the South) and their goal of a world government is now at square one. But like Homeline and the Cabal, they want the future tech from the ship and to recruit any of the ship people they can get!

Basically, a cloak and dagger game in a society gone mad. In many ways, this setting crosses steampunk and cyberpunk, with generous helpings of Super Spy action.
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Old 06-09-2020, 07:32 PM   #4817
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Default Re: New Reality Seeds

It would likely take a lot of evidence to prove that it was also time travel and not "just" a parallel world's ship accidentally jumping to a primitive parallel Earth.

Of course that still leaves the combo of FTL and Cross Time jumping. But if it's a one time glitch, then I don't see it as anything too horrifying for Centrum or Homeline.
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Old 06-09-2020, 08:00 PM   #4818
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It would likely take a lot of evidence to prove that it was also time travel and not "just" a parallel world's ship accidentally jumping to a primitive parallel Earth.

Of course that still leaves the combo of FTL and Cross Time jumping. But if it's a one time glitch, then I don't see it as anything too horrifying for Centrum or Homeline.
It isn't that it is scary for them, it's that it's inconvenient for Centrum and all three want to steal tech and recruit high quality assets.
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Old 06-09-2020, 08:47 PM   #4819
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Default Re: New Reality Seeds

It shakes their very understanding of the rules of cross time travel. That should be a little scary, IMO.

But that just makes the stakes higher and therefore greater motivates for infiltrating and studying.
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Old 06-10-2020, 09:25 AM   #4820
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It shakes their very understanding of the rules of cross time travel. That should be a little scary, IMO.

But that just makes the stakes higher and therefore greater motivates for infiltrating and studying.
And gently but firmly upped stakes makes for more excitement and fun.
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