Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Due to the length of the post if it were all in one, I'm going to put the sections of it in separate posts, then edit links to the later sections into the OP. There will be tl;dr summaries at the end of each section in bold red, which is also how I plan to mark the game statistics. This was originally written for other boards, so some of you may find some of the GURPS references in the fluff redundant.

On December 21st, 2012, in flashes of light reminiscent of Q (from Star Trek) teleporting something, four new Earth-Moon systems appear, two on either side of us. Shortly thereafter, the Large Hadron Collider, and other cyclotrons and advanced particle sensors, get some very strange readings, and scientists discover a few new particles (said particles, being slightly slower than light, took a while to appear). Each system, including ours, is separated by precisely thirteen light-seconds from barycentre to barycentre (meaning that the two furthest Earths are 26 light-seconds away from our Earth-Moon system, and 52 light-seconds from each other), along the same orbit - the line of sight distance is of course a bit shorter (apparent sizes noted here; the flashes are a little under twice as big as each body, not the whole Earth-Moon system). This means that each Earth is a little less than a day and a half off from its nearest neighbors, and a little less than three days from the next furthest ones.

EDIT: A couple of useful quotes, with illustrations, from the thread on SB.com, to help you get an idea of what the Earths would look like in the sky:

<Incorrect diagram removed.>

This should be incredibly dangerous, due to their gravitational fields perturbing the orbits of everything around them, but that isn't happening. Astronomers find, at first, no evidence of gravity coming off the other Earths, beyond things that appear with them orbiting them. After a while, though, a scientist watching one of the closer Earths notices a meteor appearing, passing through the system, being perturbed by its gravity, moving on, and then completely vanishing about three light-seconds away from that Earth. So, might these Earth-Moon systems be giant, incredibly detailed holograms?

No, that wouldn't be weird enough. What we see are Earths in alternate dimensions, visible through permanent 'portals' or 'quasi-wormholes' (for lack of a better term) created by a being or beings of immense power and boredom (who probably chose the date just to troll people). Any orbital path that leaves one Earth-Moon system, curved to intersect with another, will pass through the 'portal'. A vehicle on that course would note that at three light seconds from its starting Earth, three of the E-M systems vanish - specifically, the ones that are neither its starting point, nor its destination. Probes or other vessels not on a course for another Earth notice all four other Earths vanishing at three light-seconds out (unless that Earth's visible zone is behind, so to speak, their starting Earth), as they're out of the light cone emitted by the portals. When a vessel that is on course for another E-M system gets within three light-seconds of its destination, the stars and planets change, as the vehicle has passed into the new dimension.

This phenomenon is discovered when a large probe is launched from the system furthest ahead of us in the Earths' orbit (supposedly by a 'lone genius and his students', according to the radio, though they do have some wealthy sponsors) on a path for our system, and does not vanish when it gets three light seconds from that Earth. Instead, it continues on course, passing through a smallish asteroid without being damaged, nor damaging or perturbing it at all (it's still in the other dimension, and doesn't even see it), until it gets within three light-seconds of our Earth. At that point, another burst of those exotic particles occurs, much fainter than when the Earths appeared, and anything capable of detecting its gravity, does, as it's now on our dimension. The journey takes a little under a month for the unmanned probe, and that's only because they had a few solid rocket boosters in orbit, and mated them to the probe by remote control. It's very visible when slowing down. One observer described the probe's appearance as 'Like the Kerbal Space Program with a Dieselpunk mod.' It was originally planned as a Mars probe, but we're closer, thus both easier (could be done with just the boosters they already had in orbit) and more urgent (huge amounts of very sophisticated radio signals, not to mention what their telescopes are telling them). The probe was launched five days after the new Earths appeared, and broke orbit of its Earth two days later (it takes time to get the boosters mated, check everything that can be checked, and quintuple-check the math). After its last deceleration booster is expended (said booster falling into Earth's atmosphere, and burning up), it uses a few liquid-fuel rockets to settle into a stable orbit, 2,000 miles (3,218 km) above our Earth (the next-to-last booster settles into a lower, less stable orbit, near the ISS, and in range of a Soyuz; they might even use one of the ones that are already there by then, if it can be refueled in orbit, or has enough spare fuel).

Its arrival in orbit will have vast political consequences on all five Earths.

Dieselpunk Earth

Steampunk Earth

Clockpunk Earth

Fantasy Earth

Magic system notes

Overflow


TL;DR: Four new Earths show up on 12/21/2012, two to either side of us: Dieselpunk, Steampunk, Clockpunk, and Fantasy. Weirdness and magic ensue.

All parts now posted.

Much Later EDIT: Frequently Asked Questions link.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

* Since I've already hinted at the nature of one of these Earths, let's talk about that one. It's the furthest ahead of us in orbit, 26 light-seconds and a little less than three calendar days 'later' (well, if we were in the same year), and it's the one we're getting the most radio chatter from. Due to the time of day, one of the first transmissions starts with random telegraph beeping and "Good evening Mr. and Mrs. America from border to border and coast to coast and all the ships at sea. Let's go to press." This is the Earth of 1940, and Weird War II rages in Europe, while the USA tries to maintain its neutrality in the growing conflict (while quietly preparing to be dragged in). It is not, however, the 1940 that we are familiar with.

This is a Dieselpunk Earth, and to a lesser degree, a Wold Newton Earth (although a lot more blatantly abnormal than most WN Earths). On the radio, 'fictional' scientists like Dr. Clark Savage, Jr. and Ted Knight are interviewed, and people speculate about whether the new Earths are related to the Rogue Planet Crisis of 1934, or the Martian Invasion of Europe, back in 1895 (the year Wells started work on WotW in OTL, interestingly enough). Telescopes, once properly aimed and adjusted, will see strange sights over New York, as the original Human Torch and his sidekick Toro fight crime. Also seen would be the original Green Lantern. Other Mystery Men are less easily spotted, but there's a Superman, a Captain America, Bat-Man, Wonder Woman, Uncle Sam, and Captain Marvel. There's a volcanically-heated patch of Antarctica where dinosaurs and giant apes still live, and a few flags flying in places where they shouldn't be - flags of fictional nations and territories. There's a Wakanda in Africa, a Latveria in Eastern Europe (currently under Nazi occupation, as Doom hasn't gotten his Doctorate, yet), a Turk County in Maryland, and an Arkham County in Massachusetts, but relatively little of the geology is different - a few hot spots where they shouldn't be, or lack of them where they should, some extra mountains and rivers, and even a few more islands and paeninsulae... and there appears to be a walled village at the North Pole.

Technologically, this Earth is ahead of our 1940 by varying amounts: a few Gloster Meteors already spar with V-1s and Me 262s over the English Channel, while British Rocket Group missiles bomb German cities, and V-2s return the favor (it's mostly conventional fighters and bombers on both sides, though). Blackhawk Squadron's modified Grumman Skyrockets use the same engines as the Meteors. High above, British 'armoured' dirigibles and German Zeppelins serve as AWACS craft, high-altitude (wildly inaccurate) bombers, and occasionally duel each other with deadly masersHeat Rays! In a remote part of Nevada, the US Army is working on something that looks like a Mackie-variant with all-ballistic armament, and an internal combustion engine - and they're not the only ones working on walkers, though only they have one as big as the four-legger the Germans are testing. Military vacuum tubes mostly use an eccentric design, with simple circuits integrated into each tube, rather than individual diodes, triodes, and such. Rocketry is well past where it should be, though no-one has been able to duplicate the fuel or engine that Dr. Zharkov's rocket used, which crossed nearly a light-minute in less than a week - and of course, neither he nor his assistants ever returned from the rogue planet Mongo (which vanished, but not in the dramatic fashion these Earths appeared - it just got blurry and translucent, then transparent, and was gone). If only he hadn't kept his notes in the rocket-shed. There's a lot of primitive television signals among the radio traffic, far more than we'd expect of 1940, though many of them seem to consist of villainous madmen ranting at their minions (their Germany has more TVs per capita than anywhere else on Dieselpunk Earth, outside of their NYC). The probe mentioned above has RADAR, black & white TV cameras (both visible and infrared - the visible being in a group of three, with red, green, and blue filters, to simulate colour) with telescopes, and a good transmitter, but its main power comes from mercury boilers, which aren't exactly light - and when the tinfoil mirrors unfold, they're bigger than the rest of the probe (not counting the radiators or expendable boosters), which is itself about the size of an Apollo CSM.

Beyond the mundane technology on Dieselpunk Earth, there are far stranger things. The Super Soldier Serum, Starman's Gravity Rod, and many other devices of this world really should not exist, or be able to do what they did. Analysis of samples taken from the spent boosters of that probe, for example, show that the fuel could have produced a most a fifth of the energy that it was clearly observed to. Likewise, there are a few people with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men (or women)... but not as far as the comic books often take it. Superman is more powerful than a locomotive, but not by so much as to lift a battleship, or even a light destroyer (though he's currently tougher than the article suggests, due to continuous, if slow, power growth). For that matter, he can't quite fly under his own power yet, as he's only just beginning to learn to expand his use of psychokinesis beyond enhancing his own body (if he hadn't met Dr. Fate earlier in the year, he'd still think he's 'just' incredibly tough, strong, and fast), and has only recently developed 'X-Ray Vision' (line-of-sight Clairvoyance). He could survive being hit by an artillery cannon, but it would hurt him, and an atomic bomb might kill him - then again, it might make him more powerful than you could possibly imagine. Despite the existence of Superman, there appears to be no Clark Kent, though there was a man using the name 'Hugo Danner', whom Superman resembles in the Foreign Legion in WWI, who later served in an American battalion under a Major Ingall.

Continued next post, due to character limit.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

If you have access to a copy of GURPS Thaumatology: Age of Gold, that will help you get some of the general feel: a lot of the really implausible stuff is magic, mostly alchemy and Weird Science, along with more than a little sorcery; how the magic works is covered near the bottom of the post, as I'm using the same magic system for all five Earths. The rest of the 'impossible' things are the result of alien technology (mostly from Krypton, caught in the fold-radius/hyperwake/whatever of young Kal'El's spacecraft), or a combination of both. The Super-Soldier Serum (which takes weeks to work, and requires that the subject eat a great deal while it does) is an alchemic preparation, as is that rocket fuel. The 'vita-rays' that enhance and stabilize the serum's effects are likely magical, as the generator hasn't worked since Dr. Erskine died. The android Human Torch is a fire elemental who's fond of humanity, embodied in a very humanoid golem. Dr. Fate and the Green Lantern are humans using powerful magic items (though Dr. Fate's flight and more basic PK powers are those Kent Nelson learned from Nabu - as shown in his first Origin - rather than powered by the Helm). Whether time travel exists or not is uncertain, but Superman appears to have a Legion flight ring, which he uses sparingly (recharging the battery is... very difficult). Most materials with implausible properties, such as the Nth metal or Wakandan vibranium, are magical in nature. Vibranium itself, as far as anyone can tell, is a form of titanium, with no structural properties that can account for its strange powers. The most common superpower on this Earth is probability alteration, in the form of character shields. Oddly, this seems to be mildly, and semi-randomly, contagious.

The study of magic on this Earth, at least in the West, is divided more-or-less between the 'mystery guilds' (along with a few religions and subcults), who study sorcery and sometimes create magic items; the weird scientists, who create technomagic items and rarely realize sorcery exists; and the alchemists, who somewhat overlap both, but use little, if any, sorcery. The mystery guilds are rather like a mix of medieval guilds and Greco-Roman mystery cults (in the historical sense - they rarely have any interest in how initiates live their lives, beyond how they practice magic and maintain secrecy - not secrecy of the existence of magic (which they pretty much given up trying, since around 1908), but of who's doing it, and how), many of which are devoted not to deities or powerful spirits (commonly the Lords of Order or Chaos), but to philosophies, such as the Ethical (from their PoV) Teaching and Use of the Great Art. Mystery guilds tend to exist in small cells of a Master, one or more Apprentices, and the occasional visiting Journeyman. Often, they are hidden within local Lodges (Freemasons, the Loyal Order of Moose, and so forth), Gentlemen's Clubs, or Ladies' Associations, some of which may contain several cells, from different guilds - the London Hellfire Club has three, none of which trust the other two, for example. Weird scientists (some of whom are truly Mad) cast spells, in order to create inventions or experimental results that others cannot. In most cases, they do this unconsciously and unknowingly, and become confused and frustrated when hardly anyone else can get the same results, or get their inventions to work properly (or at all, in some cases). Often they make use of magical materials, which helps non-mages to some degree. Alchemists make more use of magical materials, but generally behave as much or more like mystery guild initiates, as like scientists. In the Mysterious Orient, there are a number of ancient temples, martial arts schools, meditation schools, and so forth, that are generally like similar organizations in our 1940, save a little more secretive, and the Masters and most elite students have demonstrable magic powers. Eastern weird scientists more often know they're using magic, and face less skepticism from mundane Eastern scientists. Lone practitioners in East and West, learning from old books and magic items, vary wildly in attitude.

Scientists wishing to study the theoretical physics of magic are advised to be polite to the weird scientists (especially the mad ones), wary of but polite to the alchemists and martial artists, and just avoid the sorcerers and most spirits entirely. The mystery guilds will strongly, and sometimes violently, object to any in-depth, scientific study of magical physics, though the followers of the Lords of Order will at least be friendly enough to give a better explanation of why than 'Mankind is not ready, you mad fool!' Unfortunately, they lack the background to give the short version that I can: scientific inquiry, by its very nature, requires the sharing of knowledge with all, which includes immature twits who get three letters wrong when spelling 'cool' (when they use letters at all), and try to crash hospital computers for a lark. I don't want to experience a system crash from inside the system, do you? (It's not that anyone currently knows how to crash reality, but advanced thaumatology could potentially reach that point, long before we'd have the sense not to (sure, the atmosphere didn't catch fire and kill everyone, but they thought it might, and set the bomb off anyway!) - especially as there are now more realities to experiment in.) Of course, some of them, especially the more religious ones, have other reasons - Chaos cultists, for example, just really don't like science or scientists, and if not for the Order cults fighting them, humanity on that Earth would be stuck in the middle ages, at best. Regardless of motivation, the sorcerers, spirits, and gods have a variety of ways to screw with anyone who comes to this Earth to understand why magic works. Whether they can and will apply it to the other Earths remains to be seen. If they do, it'll likely be the ones who are sincerely (patronizingly) concerned for us. After all, didn't your parents stop you from doing a lot of dangerous things, when you were a child? For those wondering why they're not interfering with the weird scientists, who says they aren't? Lots of weird engineers and chemists and biologists, but hardly any weird theoretical physicists - and even when you do hear of one, like Ted Knight, he goes and invents some neat gadget to risk his life with, that completely distracts him from theoretical physics.

Continued next post, due to character limit.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

The governments of this Earth are also limited in their interactions with magic-users. Partly, this is due to a lot of major governments having cultural, religious, or philosophical issues with magic. A larger reason is that a curse was placed on the governments of this world at some point in the past, making them reluctant to bring magic-users directly under their control, and thus, responsibility. Offering them consulting positions on some projects, yes, encouraging them to join a Society sponsored by the Justice Department, sure, but assuming direct responsibility for those loonies? Not a chance. The curse is more than just mental, having a probability effect, as well. This makes the victims less likely to try to resist, and less likely to succeed if they do, along with making people they communicate with less likely to say anything that would make the victims try to resist, or less likely to be heard (or listened to) if they did.

In terms of secret identities, if someone had one in the comics, chances are that the 'civilian' ID that we know is wrong: A Superman, but no Clark Kent, a Green Lantern, but no Alan Scott (though he has the same look), a Bat-Man, but no Bruce Wayne, and so forth (Ted Knight didn't wear a mask, and didn't have super-speed to blur his face, so I'm assuming he didn't bother to pretend he wasn't Starman; the 'magical' nature of the Gravity Rod explains why he's the only one using it, as it works poorly, if at all, for anyone else, and serves to frustrate him, since he's a Western weird scientist). In general, this Earth has a scary number of what we would call fictional characters. The sons of Holmes and Watson run a consulting detective agency at Baker street, Reed Richards and Ben Grimm are in the newly formed US Army Air Forces, Victor von Doom (probably not his real name) is in Tibet, and Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto) is in Auschwitz, learning hatred and madness from experts in the field. While there are a lot of Mystery Men, though, the number of people with actual superpowers is quite low - there are many sorcerers and alchemists, but very few who could rationally consider a normal 2012 infantry squad/section (or one from 1940, for that matter) to be a non-threat, and most of them could be taken out by a well-prepared ambush (mind you, killing Solomon Grundy is sometimes a bad idea). The number that could reasonably expect to defeat a normal infantry squad or section alone is much larger, but there is a wide range between 'can usually defeat them' and 'they aren't even a threat.'

Overall, the human population of this Earth includes over a million extra people, compared to our 1940. That doesn't count the various other sapient species, like the Deep Ones or the Mangani. In total, that's another few hundred thousand people, of various types, including some unique ones like Kal'El. Note that those Marvel calls Homo Superior (mutants), and DC calls Metahumans and Homo Magi, are not a separate race or races, they're just humans with a strangely Lamarkian meta-gene complex that encourages a wide variety of psi powers. There are also an uncertain number of plant and animal species on this Earth, many of which are in danger of extinction, and some of which are psychic/magical.

Observation of the 'dark' side of this Earth's Moon (or more accurately, the side facing away from Dp-Earth) shows that several craters are covered by reflective domes, with smaller domes around them. When the 'dark' side truly is dark, the domes become transparent, and well-lit cities and not-so-well-lit farms and forests can be seen within them, inhabited by Green-Skinned Space Babes in metallic clothes of varying degrees of skimpyness (or existence, in some cases), along with clunky-looking service robots. Contrary to the trend in Star Wars and Mass Effect, these space babes have hair on their heads, rather than being bald-with-eyelashes; Miss Martian's preferred form would fit right in, other than 'wearing' more than the locals usually do. Likewise, they're not all green, but green appears to be the dominant colour - or at least, they're usually the ones with the whips, and the other colours are usually the ones in chains. Travel between the cities appears to be accomplished by monorails enclosed by the same material as the domes, or for more remote cities, by vehicles that resemble giant silver golf balls, each with an antenna extending from the top like long, black thread; these vary in diameter from about 4 metres (13 feet) to a bit over 50 metres (165 feet). All is not well in the Lunar cities: apart from the apparent slavery that's been alluded to (which could just be judicial punishments or mainstreamed BDSM, for all we can tell), some of the robots appear to be broken down and not repaired, several cities have power going in and out in places, and a few domes have been shattered, mummies visible within. The lack of men, or for that matter, women who appear to be younger than about sixteen, or older than about thirty, is also suspicious. They don't appear to use radio, or at least we're not picking up any transmissions from them, but they certainly have telescopes, most of which are pointed at us.

This Earth will be the one of greatest concern at the start of the new era, because they have a demonstrated ability to reach us, and they have a Nazi Germany on the rise - and it's not like that can be kept secret, when anyone with an AM radio, some wire and household junk, a little technical knowledge (available online, or at your local library) and at most a visit to Radio Shack, can build a good enough radio telescope to listen to them, and only a little more would be required to watch their TV; pretty soon, there would probably be YouTube channels for it. Israel is not the only nation contemplating the nuclear option to deal with Hitler, and in some cases, Stalin. Those considering biological weapons might need to be reminded that this world's Superman is likely to be immune, does not have an absolute code against killing, and if everyone else died, would have access to Dr. Fate's helm and Green Lantern's ring.

TL;DR: Dieselpunk Earth, in 1940, with elements of the Wold Newton Universe and some magic, supers, & potential supers.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

* The next Earth I will describe is the furthest 'behind' us in orbit, and is only other one we're getting artificial radio traffic from. The traffic is in the form of Morse code messages, some of it further encoded in various easily broken (to us) ways, the rest being pretty clearly civilian. Telescopes turned to this Earth will find that they have a fair bit of tonnage in orbit - not nearly as much as we do, but what they have is rather more concentrated, and vastly less of it is junk. There are six space stations, each bearing the flag of one of the Great Powers of this Earth: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the British Empire, the French Empire, the Papal States, the Russian Empire, and the rather colourful flag (red, white, orange, blue, and yellow layered Nordic Cross) of what is eventually discovered to be the Scandinavian Federation. The rest of the tonnage consists of a few communication satellites, apparently carrying automated telegraph repeaters, and a few inter-orbital vessels. Like the Dieselpunk probe, the stations and satellites are powered by mercury boilers and storage batteries. The stations appear to serve as weather monitors, spy bases, observatories, and repair stations for the oft-finicky repeater satellites, which frequently break down, and are serviced using small pods with waldo arms. A number of larger pods wander through the lower orbits, mostly spying on whatever nations they pass over (in the guise of more weather monitors, which they also do), or collecting space debris. Rockets leave this Earth once or twice a month, mostly to the space stations. Three nations have made Moon landings: Britain, Russia, and the Scandinavians. Each of them have stations in Lunar orbit, and have begun construction of mining bases. Radio intercepts indicate that the Papal States and the Austro-Hungarians are neck-and-neck for the next moon landing.

Looking more closely, observers will see numerous airships, far more than on Dieselpunk Earth, but hardly any powered heavier-than-air craft, apart from the occasional glider with supplementary rockets. A lot of flags are about where they should be, though the flag of the Papal States flies over most of Italy, and the flag of the Scandinavian Federation flies next to the flags of Norway, Sweden, Daneland, Iceland, and the Netherlands, either on another flagpole, or a little lower on the same flagpole. A variety of strange walking machines are visible, mostly of a military nature, though some seem to be in use by European explorers in Asia, Africa, Oceania, and South America. On many farms, especially in the southern USA, mechanical robots toil in the fields. Clothing, and what we can see of the culture, strongly suggests a version of the 19th century.

This is a Steampunk Earth, and the year is 1878. Queen Victoria sits on the British throne, and thanks to Victorian SCIENCE!, her husband is still with her. In France, the Bourbon King Henri V rules, with the aide of an Estates-General dominated by the elected Third Estate. Belgium appears not to exist, although the territories that make it up are extant within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Pope Clement XV leads an Italian Paeninsula united under the Papal banner, along with the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. In the USA, there is little slavery, and there was no civil war, due to the development of worker-clanks; parts of the Western Territories contain numerous 40-acre ranches, apparently owned by black families. In the Empire of Brazil, a space centre is under construction on an island east of Macapá. I could go on like this, but you should get the idea, and probably want to know how this happened.

From an alternate historian's perspective, this Earth is the most 'normal' of the four, in that the differences from OTL started at a specific Point of Divergence, and most of what happened after is different, including many births. Some time prior to May 17, 1823, a man by the name of James Haversham returned from India. Shortly thereafter, he began selling a patent medicine ('Haversham's Sovereign Cognitive Enhancer') which seemed to enhance the mental faculties (as well as cause an initial few seconds of intense synæsthesia), primarily in the areas of focus, creativity, and craftsmanship - in other words, an early form of nootropic drug. The more interesting, and permanent, effect is something that is not noticed at first: those who have taken this drug reflexively create 'magic items' whenever engaging in any act that registers in their minds as 'creative', 'artistic', or 'crafting'. These items may be temporary or permanent, depending mostly on which the item itself is intended to be - e.g. a gun is a permanent item, while a bullet is really not, but can last a long time before being used; a glass is a permanent item, but a pint of beer is there to be drunk, and goes bad fairly quickly. The 'item' need not even be an object - dancing, performing a kata, reciting a song or poem, playing an instrument, and so forth, are all acts of creativity, craftsmanship, or both, and thus effectively, acts of spellcasting (non-material things are always one-shot 'items', with relatively immediate effects - spells, in other words). Likewise, traditional 'magic' is sometimes called 'The Art' or 'The Craft', and often viewed as such by practitioners.

At first, the powers of items created were merely enhancements of things they already did: swords were sharper, less breakable, or less inclined to rust, guns more accurate, beer less inclined to cause hangovers, and so forth, but did not let the user shoot fireballs or summon lightning bolts. This is partly because this is easier to do, and partly because that's usually what the craftsman was thinking it should do, while making it. Of course, eventually, magic items that were clearly magical came into being. Likewise, 19th century magical practitioners eventually tried the Enhancer, and discover their magics working well, where they worked poorly, if at all, before. There is much dispute over when exactly this happened, and who first discovered it, but the first article on the subject in a respectable newspaper was in The Times (London), on October 16, 1834. Interestingly, Haversham himself disappeared five years earlier, on October 16th, 1829, by which point several other people were making his Enhancer (though only those who'd taken the magical version, themselves, were able to truly replicate it - others merely made a mix of absinthe, scotch, ginko biloba, and snake oil, chemically identical to the magical version, but a little warmer, and without its powers).

In April 1825, Charles Babbage and an engineer working with him tried the Enhancer, and Difference Engine No. 1 was delivered to the British government by Guy Fawkes Day. Analytical Engine No. 1 followed in 1829, and the first Mechanical Man, called 'Mr. Clank', after the noises it made while walking, was demonstrated on the Queen's Birthday, 1839 (without the magic of the Enhancer, of course, this would not have been possible). Sales of crude Mechanical Farmers began in the US in 1842. By the 1850s, it was clear that slavery was on the way out, although even in 1878, the wealthier plantation owners still have a few (mostly female) house-slaves, and (mostly male) overseer-slaves to watch the clanks in the fields. Under this USA's 16th Amendment, though, total emancipation in US States and Territories will have taken place by 1888. The new 'big' thing in analytical engines and mechanical servants is the manufacture of gears so tiny that the best optical microscopes cannot see them - only the newly-developed electron nanoscopes have that capacity.

Continued next post.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

* The next Earth I will describe is the furthest 'behind' us in orbit, and is only other one we're getting artificial radio traffic from. The traffic is in the form of Morse code messages, some of it further encoded in various easily broken (to us) ways, the rest being pretty clearly civilian. Telescopes turned to this Earth will find that they have a fair bit of tonnage in orbit - not nearly as much as we do, but what they have is rather more concentrated, and vastly less of it is junk. There are six space stations, each bearing the flag of one of the Great Powers of this Earth: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the British Empire, the French Empire, the Papal States, the Russian Empire, and the rather colourful flag (red, white, orange, blue, and yellow layered Nordic Cross) of what is eventually discovered to be the Scandinavian Federation. The rest of the tonnage consists of a few communication satellites, apparently carrying automated telegraph repeaters, and a few inter-orbital vessels. Like the Dieselpunk probe, the stations and satellites are powered by mercury boilers and storage batteries. The stations appear to serve as weather monitors, spy bases, observatories, and repair stations for the oft-finicky repeater satellites, which frequently break down, and are serviced using small pods with waldo arms. A number of larger pods wander through the lower orbits, mostly spying on whatever nations they pass over (in the guise of more weather monitors, which they also do), or collecting space debris. Rockets leave this Earth once or twice a month, mostly to the space stations. Three nations have made Moon landings: Britain, Russia, and the Scandinavians. Each of them have stations in Lunar orbit, and have begun construction of mining bases. Radio intercepts indicate that the Papal States and the Austro-Hungarians are neck-and-neck for the next moon landing.

Looking more closely, observers will see numerous airships, far more than on Dieselpunk Earth, but hardly any powered heavier-than-air craft, apart from the occasional glider with supplementary rockets. A lot of flags are about where they should be, though the flag of the Papal States flies over most of Italy, and the flag of the Scandinivian Federation flies next to the flags of Norway, Sweden, Daneland, Iceland, and the Netherlands, either on another flagpole, or a little lower on the same flagpole. A variety of strange walking machines are visible, mostly of a military nature, though some seem to be in use by European explorers in Asia, Africa, Oceania, and South America. On many farms, especially in the southern USA, mechanical robots toil in the fields. Clothing, and what we can see of the culture, strongly suggests a version of the 19th century.

This is a Steampunk Earth, and the year is 1878. Queen Victoria sits on the British throne, and thanks to Victorian SCIENCE!, her husband is still with her. In France, the Bourbon King Henri V rules, with the aide of an Estates-General dominated by the elected Third Estate. Belgium appears not to exist, although the territories that make it up are extant within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Pope Clement XV leads an Italian Paeninsula united under the Papal banner, along with the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. In the USA, there is little slavery, and there was no civil war, due to the development of worker-clanks; parts of the Western Territories contain numerous 40-acre ranches, apparently owned by black families. In the Empire of Brazil, a space centre is under construction on an island east of Macapá. I could go on like this, but you should get the idea, and probably want to know how this happened.

From an alternate historian's perspective, this Earth is the most 'normal' of the four, in that the differences from OTL started at a specific Point of Divergence, and most of what happened after is different, including many births. Some time prior to May 17, 1823, a man by the name of James Haversham returned from India. Shortly thereafter, he began selling a patent medicine ('Haversham's Sovereign Cognitive Enhancer') which seemed to enhance the mental faculties (as well as cause an initial few seconds of intense synæsthesia), primarily in the areas of focus, creativity, and craftsmanship - in other words, an early form of nootropic drug. The more interesting, and permanent, effect is something that is not noticed at first: those who have taken this drug reflexively create 'magic items' whenever engaging in any act that registers in their minds as 'creative', 'artistic', or 'crafting'. These items may be temporary or permanent, depending mostly on which the item itself is intended to be - e.g. a gun is a permanent item, while a bullet is really not, but can last a long time before being used; a glass is a permanent item, but a pint of beer is there to be drunk, and goes bad fairly quickly. The 'item' need not even be an object - dancing, performing a kata, reciting a song or poem, playing an instrument, and so forth, are all acts of creativity, craftsmanship, or both, and thus effectively, acts of spellcasting (non-material things are always one-shot 'items', with relatively immediate effects - spells, in other words). Likewise, traditional 'magic' is sometimes called 'The Art' or 'The Craft', and often viewed as such by practitioners.

The Enhancer temporarily confers the advantages Versatile and Single-Minded. These last about as long as the buzz from the alcohol content does - call it equal to about two shots of fairly strong whisky. The first time it's taken, it permanently confers Thoughtform Talent 1 (name subject to change, replaces Magery) with an accessibility limitation of 'Only While Being Artistic' (might need rephrasing, see text above) and Wild Talent 1 with the Retention enhancement, the Focused (Psi: Thoughtforms) limitation, and the same accessibility limitation as Thoughtform Talent, along with an 'Always Activated when being Artistic' limitation. Not sure what the art-based limitations should be worth.

At first, the powers of items created were merely enhancements of things they already did: swords were sharper, less breakable, or less inclined to rust, guns more accurate, beer less inclined to cause hangovers, and so forth, but did not let the user shoot fireballs or summon lightning bolts. This is partly because this is easier to do, and partly because that's usually what the craftsman was thinking it should do, while making it. Of course, eventually, magic items that were clearly magical came into being. Likewise, 19th century magical practitioners eventually tried the Enhancer, and discover their magics working well, where they worked poorly, if at all, before. There is much dispute over when exactly this happened, and who first discovered it, but the first article on the subject in a respectable newspaper was in The Times (London), on October 16, 1834. Interestingly, Haversham himself disappeared five years earlier, on October 16th, 1829, by which point several other people were making his Enhancer (though only those who'd taken the magical version, themselves, were able to truly replicate it - others merely made a mix of absinthe, scotch, ginko biloba, and snake oil, chemically identical to the magical version, but a little warmer, and without its powers).

In April 1825, Charles Babbage and an engineer working with him tried the Enhancer, and Difference Engine No. 1 was delivered to the British government by Guy Fawkes Day. Analytical Engine No. 1 followed in 1829, and the first Mechanical Man, called 'Mr. Clank', after the noises it made while walking, was demonstrated on the Queen's Birthday, 1839 (without the magic of the Enhancer, of course, this would not have been possible). Sales of crude Mechanical Farmers began in the US in 1842. By the 1850s, it was clear that slavery was on the way out, although even in 1878, the wealthier plantation owners still have a few (mostly female) house-slaves, and (mostly male) overseer-slaves to watch the clanks in the fields. Under this USA's 16th Amendment, though, total emancipation in US States and Territories will have taken place by 1888. The new 'big' thing in analytical engines and mechanical servants is the manufacture of gears so tiny that the best optical microscopes cannot see them - only the newly-developed electron nanoscopes have that capacity.

Continued next post.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

This Earth does not quite have the concept of the generalized personal computer; the nearest equivalents are the mechanical brains of the various unspecialized clanks that many people in the middle classes have as personal servants (human servants are more expensive, these days). Dedicated analytical engines, on the other hand, such as the Automated Ornatix which assists women in Society in choosing the right make-up and accessories, or the Artillerist's Field Tabulator that has made artillery fire more accurate than ever before, in nearly any weather, are very common. There is a primitive internet in use, connecting the great analytical engines of most colleges, academies, and universities via the wires first strung up for the telegraph, then expanded for the facsimile machines (invented as early as 1843 OTL, but didn't catch on for a while) that are found in so many homes, even among the upper end of the lower classes (telegraphy is mainly used for radio, these days, as transmitters and receivers fine enough for fax or vox are still experimental), and now used also by the new-fangled telephones that are all the rage among the better households. Few private homes are equipped to use the internet, and those mostly being the residences of Eminent Scientists. Shockingly, university students have sometimes been caught using the system to transfer pornography (gasp, horrors!), despite this being an offense worthy of expulsion (unless one's parents are rich enough to sweep it under the rug).

Aeronefs (aeroneves?), or powered heavier than air craft (in this case, the semi-powered gliders mentioned above), were developed partly as a side effect of research into rocketry, itself studied out of both military usefulness, and the desire to reach the Moon. The first important divergence for OTL in the history of rocketry on this Earth came in 1846, when inventor and rocket pioneer William Hale was sent a copy of Erasmus Darwin's gas-fueled rocket engine concept. This he found to be a very useful design, as it allowed the tiny Steering Engine (a quite small, dedicated analytical engine, with an inertial compass) of a rocket, such as the Royal Artillery's 'rocket-carried, map-following bomb' project, to throttle the engine, which is not something you can easily do with a solid-fuel rocket, without adding fairly expensive magic to it. Of course, gas by definition hasn't got a great fuel density, but it's rather easier to enchant a gas-fuel rocket for greater speed and range, than it is a solid-fuel rocket for throttling. A demilitarized version of this rocket was used by Thomas Mayfield in 1854, to allow his glider to stay aloft for longer period, by firing short bursts. This method, with some variation, has been used ever since.

The next great step towards placing an astronef (manned space vessel, not counting the boosters or any external tanks) into orbit was in 1854, when Ernst Kremholtz replaced the gas bottle with thermos bottles of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. This increase in fuel density allowed made reaching orbit a budgetable option, although it was some time before governments showed an interest. The orbiting of the first unmanned satellite (a large, rubber-and-tinfoil balloon named Marieanne) by the French in 1859, however, insured that the British had to develop an interest, for national pride was at stake! The invention of wireless telegraphy by James Clerk Maxwell in 1863 made it actually somewhat practical, as spacecraft could now send messages in real time on such things interesting things as weather and troop movements. The first permanent space station (a collection of reinforced balloons) was orbited by the Russian Empire starting in 1869, and is said to still be under construction. The fist station to have gravity was orbited by the British on Christmas day, 1869 (though the gravity modules - a pair of inflated, counter-rotating wheels - did not arrive until 1871) The first man to walk on the Moon was Sir Geoffery Thornbury-Wallace (later GCB), in 1875.

The rise to power of the Papal States in Italy came from many factors, but one that stands out was that Pope Alexander IX (who became Pope following the death of Pius IX in 1849) gathered the best Italian generals under his banner- including Giuseppe Garibaldi, who became the first Captain General of the Church in over a century - and managed to take the best advantage of the new methods of logistics allowed by steam power. It also helped that he was rather more popular with the Italian public than the OTL Popes of that era. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies fell under Papal rule in 1858, and the Pope's control over northern Italy was consolidated by 1862. The Scandinavian Federation formed as a result of a gradual improvement of political and economic relations between Norway, Sweden, Daneland (known as Denmark until 1863), and Iceland starting in the 1830s, with the Articles of Federation being signed and ratified in 1866, and the Netherlands joining in 1873, after the Franco-Prussian War. That war began much as it did in OTL, but went off-course at the Battle of Strasbourg on August 3rd, 1870, when Napoleon III died. The Legitimist pretender Henri V managed to convince the recently-elevated Pope Clement XV, along with the Executive Council of the Scandinavian Federation, to intervene in the war. This lead to Prussia's surrender in 1872, the removal of it from 'Great Power' status, and the restoration, once again, of the Bourbons to the throne of France, under a new constitution. The latter was helped by the fact that Henri was married to Napoleon III's daughter, Marie, of course.

This Earth has far fewer fictional characters than Dieselpunk Earth, and all of the ones that we can be certain are or were real, were born after mid-May, 1823. In Japan, some version of Ruroni Kenshin is playing out. Monsieur Lecoq investigates various crimes in France, and Holmes and Watson are already at 221b Baker Street, London - interestingly, both Holmes and Watson, and many of their associates and cases, are about five years older than they should be in 1878, based on records from Dieselpunk Earth (Dp-Earth's H & W are pretty consistent with the Birlstone Railway's Timeline, at least for ACD's published works). Also, Dp-Earth Watson was wounded in the shoulder, while Stp-Earth Watson was wounded in the leg, at a different battle.

When Clement XV learns of the states of the other Papacies, he's going to claim dominance over the others, on the strength of having the greatest Papal States, and the largest military, as well as being the only one to put a man in space, much less a station. This is unlikely to go over well with them, nor with too many Catholics not from Stp-Earth.

It likely won't be long before there are websites translating the Morse code transmissions of this Earth, or displaying telescopic and satellite photos of it, though YouTube channels are less likely (then again, there should be quite a lot of video from the telescopes).

TL;DR: Steampunk Earth, 1878, with lunar and cislunar space travel, and strange magics.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

* The closer Earth 'behind' us shows no evidence of artificial satellites, though it does have an oddly dense and colourful ring of asteroids a bit over 3,000 miles above sea level.

In the skies of this Earth, there are no visible lighter-than-air craft, but lots of heavier-than-air craft, in the form of kite-like gliders, and a few propeller planes that appear to be powered by high-tension springs, and launched by catapults or trebuchets, or from high points, rather than under their own power. Several towers, cones, and pyramids appear to have been built for this exact purpose.

Judging by the flags and much of the clothing, this world is at some point in the Renaissance, probably around the mid-16th century. That is, in fact, correct, as the year is 1555. It's a very eccentric 1555, though: a Clockpunk Earth with alchemists, centauroid robot soldiers, wind-up motor-carriages, and may other mechanical contrivances that should not be there. One of the most important inventions of the era is the alchemical development of 'springmetal', a magical alloy that, when coiled into a spiral and wound up, shifts its shape to unwind longer, providing several times the energy put into it. Several ghettos (Jewish communities inside non-Jewish towns) as well as a few shtots, shetls, and dorfs (Jewish-majority cities/towns/villages) are protected by what appear to be golems, though none are as powerful nor as violent as the OTL-legendary Golem of Prague. More golems appear to be workers, rather than soldiers, though they only do work that human would find either too difficult, too dangerous, or too boring. Though we cannot see them with telescopes, a few tiny golems are used by jewelers and chiurgeons, and others who need very delicate work done, though this is a new thing. While golems are harder to make than mechanical robots, the do not break down nor wind down, are generally easier to repair, and are rather harder to damage. The Jews have rather more rights and security in many nations on this world, than they did in the OTL 16th century.

The Pope at this time is Leo X (Rodrigo Borgia of Aragon, very much not the OTL Pope Leo X), son and cardinal-nephew to the late Pope Joan II, better known as Lucrezia Borgia. That alone shows this to be a rather divergent world. Elizabeth Tudor (who oddly enough looks rather more like Cate Blanchett than like any of her paintings on other Earths) is currently High Queen of the Britons (High King of Wales and Queen of England, IOW; also Queen of Ireland, and other titles), just wrapping up a civil war with forces loyal to her late half-sister, Queen Mary I of England.

The apparent point of divergence is in 1457, when a comet passed to close to this Earth, and broke up into the anomalous ring seen by our astronomers, along with other bits that fell into the atmosphere. Shortly thereafter, many alchemists found that they were able to create effects that they never managed, before (though so far, no-one has managed to create a true Philosophers' Stone), as were other mystics. Oddly, this had little effect on the course of history, at least at first. Given all the gadgets and elixirs and spells and such involved, it really should have, and while most of the locals will probably declare it 'The Will of God' (Allah, Vishnu, whatever) when they know to wonder about it, that isn't likely to satisfy those from less dominantly theistic cultures.

In 1499, after the death of her second husband, Lucrezia Borgia asked her father what it would take for him to make her a cardinal. The Pope thought on it for a moment, and replied 'Perform a miracle, and I will make you a cardinal.' A little less than a year later, in 1500, she did: at a feast with several other cardinals present (not all of them supporters of her father), Lucrezia filled her goblet once, prayed over it, and proceeded to fill the goblets of everyone else there from hers. Some of the cardinals suspected trickery, and so she did it again, this time fully nude. Thus it was that Lucrezia Borgia became the first official cardinal-niece. How she became Pope after her father's death in 1505 (butterflies and alchemy extended his life a little) is uncertain, though many claim she slept with all or most of the other cardinals, which is unlikely: she wasn't nearly the slut her detractors would like to depict her as, and a lot of the cardinals weren't corrupt enough (or were too corrupt) for that to work.

King Henry VIII's life went much as his OTL counterpart's did, at least until 1537, though he was named Defender of the Faith by the anti-pope in Salzburg, who used the regnal name 'Boniface X'. He never acknowledged the Papacy of Joan II, though if she had lived long enough to grant him the annulment he sought, he very likely would have. As it happened, by the time he began seriously seeking the non-existence of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, in 1527, Joan had succumbed to what was most likely tuberculosis (Boniface having preceded her due to old age), and the College of Cardinals was quite busy failing to elect a successor. By the end of 1529, the young Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia of Aragon was Pope Leo X, and a lot of other cardinals were rich, dead, or sometimes both. Leo had no intention of annulling the marriage, and so British history proceeded on something mostly like its OTL course for most of the next decade. In 1537, his then wife, Jane Seymour (no, not the actress, she wasn't born yet) gave birth to his only son. In OTL, she died 12 days later. In this timeline, the Royal Alchemist, Sir John Cochrane, created a medicine that allowed her to recover, though she never had another child. This also helped Sir Iain keep his head - unlike his predecessor, Sir Richard Rich (a lawyer in OTL), who was executed as a conspirator in Anne Boleyn's 'treason', owing to his failure to cause Anne to give Henry the son he needed to secure the succession.

Henry VIII died in a jousting accident in 1548 (the alchemists' elixirs allowed him to maintain the sporting life he so loved), leaving his ten year old son to reign as Edward VI. This Edward did not fall ill in February of 1553. Rather, that was when he married his cousin, Lady Jane Grey. Both the King and the Queen, who had recently announced her pregnancy, were assassinated on the night of July 9th, 1553. Naturally, the supporters of both Mary and Elizabeth each blamed the other (with Elizabeth's supporters also accusing the Pope in Rome, who may well have been responsible), and a civil war began, which has only recently ended, due to the death of Mary at the Battle of The Wallops (t'were to big for only one of 'em).

An important difference between the clockwork robots of this Earth, and those of Stp-Earth (apart from the lack of steam), is the degree to which magic is integrated: Stp-Earth Mechanical Men use as little magic as possible, both for expense, and for quality control. In many cases, the only magic involved is intelligence enhancement, and a minor 'works a little better than it should' effect - even the eyes can be mundane, using photostrictive crystals. Clp-Earth automatons, however, tend to be pretty highly magical, as they cannot see nor think, can barely hear, and could only move a short time, without the integration of magic into their structures; indeed, a typical operating engine for such devices is a box of rods, gears, and springs, with various symbols carved or embossed on them, designed to be easily operated by the inhabiting spirit.

TL;DR: Clockpunk fantasy Earth, 1555.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

* The closer Earth in front of us is also lacking in artificial satellites, nor does it possess a debris ring like the Clockpunk Earth.

In the skies all over the world, various kinds of dragons can be seen, as well as other varieties of flying myths, as appropriate for their regions. There are a number of hot air balloons over India (and a few in nearby regions) and South America, along with flying carpets in parts of the Middle East

The surface looks mostly like Earth in the 6th century, with elements of Middle Earth, and to a lesser degree, 3.5-era Abier-Toril (races, species, and types of items, not specific individuals or places), though the economy looks mostly like what the various cultures on RL Earth actually had in the 6th century. There are the usual people, animals, and plants (along with many unusual ones), there are cities, towns, and villages about where you'd expect them to be (and a few where they probably shouldn't be, including a city apparently made of brass in the least-habitable part of the Arabian paeninsvla, and one with streets paved in gold in South America), and the geography/geology looks mostly the way archaeologists think it did in our timeline in the 6th century (except for several extra or expanded islands & paeninsvlae, a few new or missing mountains, and so forth). In Britain, there's a fairly large wasteland, in large parts of what are now the counties of Denbighshire, Flintshire, and Wrexham, and fairly small parts of Conwy, Gwynedd, Powys, Cheshire, and Shropshire. In certain deserts, Arabia and the Gobi in particular, a few necromancers have quite a lot of undead doing rather strange things. The general nerdity of OTL scientists will likely lead them to the links provided soon enough, though (which have been SFW each of the times I checked them, despite being archived from /tg/; pleasant surprise, that).

The observable point of divergence from our history was in 312 CE (1065 ab urbe condita), when Emperor Constantine was killed at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, having been struck by lightning. This didn't end Christianity, but it did keep it from dominating Europe, and throw off the Imperial succession. Oddly enough, some things still happened, such as the partitioning of the Roman Empire (already begun by Diocletian, in the Third Century CE), and the decline of the Western half. Said decline happened more slowly than in our timeline, and did less damage to Italia. By 500 CE/1253 AUC, the Western Empire had recovered somewhat, and Western Emperor Lucius Tiberius felt confident enough to order the wealthy British cities, victorious over their Teutonic invaders, to pay tribute to Rome. This was something the Britons had stopped doing when the Romans abandoned them in 421/1174 (around 410/1163, in OTL), and felt no reason to resume. Now, in 514/1267, the capital of the Western Roman Empire is Camulodunum, and the Emperor is the Romano-British warlord Ambrosius Aurelianus the Younger (or Ambrosius Aurelianus Romanorum), better known to his own people as Arthur, High King of the Britons. Of course, the Western Empire only controls Britannia, Armorica, Italia, and the cities in Gallia that happen to lie along the best route between Italia and Armorica (though Arthur is mostly allied with the other kingdoms in Gallia).

GURPS Fantasy Chapter 9 (Roma Arcana, pp 195-232) will be a little helpful, here. Arthur is sufficiently faithful to the Romano-British pantheon that all of Britannia, Armorica, and Italia are normal sanctity again, his Legions collectively have Higher Purpose, and so forth. Most of Gallia doesn't quite have the same benefits, though.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Roman Empire, with its capital at Olympia, is almost as large as in OTL 514 CE, despite having a bit of a civil war, between the three sons of the late Emperor Crassus. In the regions of Europe not controlled by parts of the Roman Empire, small nations, city-states, and wandering tribes are the order of the day, and North Africa isn't much better - although the Kingdom of the Vandals is fairly strong, surprisingly wealthy and fertile, and seems to have a good chance of uniting the region.

Outside of Europe and the Mediterranean region, things are going fairly close to our timeline... apart from the weird bits: Japan is culturally and technologically closer to the mid Heian era, except that they already have katana. There's a Pharaonate in Kush (what we would call Sudan), with springs and canals that did not exist in OTL, and a culture with great similarities to Ancient Egypt. The Iroquouis (or a very similar tribal alliance) are having an agricultural revolution, and appear to be mastering ironworking and positional numerology, though the rest of their technology appears to be in the early-to-mid Bronze Age, with an ideographic writing system. India has flying machines called 'vimana', most of which are held aloft by lenicular or spindle-shaped hot air balloons, and are propelled by great cloth-and-wood screws. (Think of the airscrew of da Vinci's helicopter. Turn it on its side, make the shaft longer, and mount another screw on the other end, so whenever you turn it, one screw blows air toward the gondola, and the other blows it away. Thus, you can go forward or backward, depending on which way you turn the airscrew. Steering is accomplished by a folding sail/rudder sticking out the bottom of the gondola, and/or other, smaller pairs of airscrews, perpendicular to the main shaft.)

Most of the strange new species are spirits of various types, embodied in whatever matter fits them. Trolls, for example, are a type of Earth elemental hostile to humans, and 'allergic' to direct sunlight, which can banish them from their stone bodies, and leave them unable to take new ones for years, or even centuries. Dragons are harder to codify, and there seem to be multiple types of spirits who use dragon bodies. Some appear to use fossils - or at lease, that's what's left behind when they're 'killed', occasionally along with crocodilian hide, a powerfully magical heart, or both. Others create their bodies gradually over time, from the food they eat, but all dragons (and most other spirits) start with ectoplasm: dust, smoke, vapor, and so forth, gathered and held in place psychokinetically. Spirits that only use ectoplasm, or pure PK (with or without a visual illusion), to simulate their bodies, are effectively immune to non-magical weapons: there's really nothing there to hit. A wide range of other monstrous spirits exist, mostly having started from local legends, and in some cases, wandering further afield. Some monsters, such as the European Owlbear, were created by bored or mad sorcerers, for purposes ranging from the reasonable to the inexplicable. Many of them, when 'killed', leave treasure behind, having taken into their bodies various items worn or carried by previous victims. Dragons vary in size from little lizards or snakes (which may be possessing the bodies of actual reptiles) to a bit larger than a 747 (which often lack physical bodies, at all).

Continued next post.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Of the humanoids, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings or hobbits appear to be just pygmy humans of slightly differing phenotypes: Dwarves are generally the biggest of the Little People, and tend to be aggressive, hairy (even their women have beards), and exceptionally strong, tough, and poison-resistant for their size (an average dwarf can drink an average orc or 'normal' human under the table, and wander home without much difficulty). They prefer to live underground, in great mines and caves (though this seems to be more cultural than biological), and their sense of beauty runs toward practical, durable things. Gnomes average between the dwarves and the halflings in size, prefer to live on the surface, and tend to be quite creative. Many of them are highly skilled in illusion magic, alchemy, and engineering, making gadgets that might best be described as 'Windmillpunk', or 'Proto-Clockpunk'. Hobbits are the smallest of the human Little People, and are surprisingly nimble and sure-eyed, with tough, hairy feet, and great appetites (and proportionally large bellies). They could be said to live underground, in the sense that they prefer to build their homes out of tunnels in the sides of hills (poorer hobbits generally build the hills along with their homes, or must burrow into the ground, and deal with the rain), but they spend far more time in the sun than most dwarves do. Most hobbits are plain, quiet folk, with an aversion to adventures (dreadful things; make one late for dinner!), and a fondness for a mild form of cannabis (not the tobacco of Tolkien's notes) called galenas, or 'pipe-weed' - those who do become warriors or adventurers tend to be thinner, less relaxed, and often disdain the weed.

Giants are mostly the descendents of humans with gigantism, who have settled into there own large-but-somewhat-healthy phenotypes. Some giants are instead spirits who take large, humanoid forms. While the human giants top out at around ten feet tall, spirit giants may be much larger, and are of variable size. The locals don't make much distinction between human giants and spirit giants, save as different races: hill giants (generally human) and forest giants (mix of humans and spirits) are fairly friendly if you don't attack or steal from them, storm giants (all spirits, 'living' on/in clouds) and cyclopes (also spirits, and yes, that's apparently the correct plural) aren't friendly at all, et cetra.

Orcs appear to be Neanderthal -descendents with large canines. They average a bit shorter than baseline humans, a bit less intelligent, rather more vulnerable to heat, and very resistant to cold. They also tend to be a bit stronger, tougher, and more aggressive than baseline humans. Ogres appear to be an orc phenotype with fairly-healthy gigantism, topping out at around 9 feet, but tend towards less intelligence. Goblins and hobgoblins appear to be pygmy orcs, the hobgoblins averaging a little bigger than dwarves and a little dumber than orcs, and the goblins averaging about as large and bright as gnomes, though with less love of art and what humans call beauty. Elves say of them that "They make no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones," which has more to do with goblins having different ideals of beauty than elves (and most humans) do, rather than having no concept of it, at all - like dwarves, but far more so, they love practical things, and many of them would find beauty in the 'dark, satanic mills' of the Industrial Revolution (as long as they're not the ones toiling in them). Of all the orcish races, only goblins build cities - unfortunately, their preferred locations for their cities coincide with those of the dwarves, which leads to a lot of conflict. Both goblins and hobgoblins are sallow-skinned, and all orc-derived races have a tendency to wartyness. Orcs and hobgoblins prefer cold climates, while ogres and goblins might live anywhere humans do (though they prefer to avoid the tropics). Despite what the local humans will say, these races are not Always Chaotic Evil, nor are many of them inclined to eat babies - the humans are hostile to them, so they return that hostility, but among themselves, they're mostly just regular folk of the era. This has been going on for so long that it's apparently instinctive for both sides (and the orcish folk aren't going to see a difference between humans from space, and the local variety).

(Might include GURPS-style kobolds. Was thinking they live in the Caledonian Highlands, either with or replacing the Picts.)

Elves and faeries are spirits, connected to nature, to varying degrees. This sounds nice, but recall that nature doesn't just mean the peaceful green of growing plants, but the red of blood and fire, the white of sharp teeth and the flash of lightning. Nature is beautiful, but do not forget that it is also deadly. The elves are the most human of these nature spirits, and even they are a bit strange. Half-elves generally do have two human parents, it's just that an elf or two were fooling around with one or both of them, and decided to leave an empowerment behind in the child. They tend to be attractive and powerful, but creepy and spooky, from a human perspective.

As with Dieselpunk Earth, there is no specific point at which creatures of magic began to appear. As far as the locals know, they've always been there, though unlike Dp-Earth, they've never really hid. Oddly, in much of Europe, healing is the province of clerics, druids, and bards, with few other magic-users learning much of it.

TL;DR: Fantasy Dark Ages, 514 CE, with a little Middle Earth and 3.5-era Forgotten Realms.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

* Magic in these worlds, including our Earth, once that starts happening, is fairly similar to the Path/Book system presented in GURPS Thaumatology and the narrower Ritual Path system from GURPS Monster Hunters (although priestly folk on Fantasy Earth might use the 'prayers and miracles' system presented in GURPS Powers: Divine Favor, if their gods are powerful enough), or in some cases, a version of the Symbol Magic systems from GURPS Magic and again, GURPS Thaumatology. The powers behind that magic, however, whether divine or arcane, are psi powers, and these define the limits of what can be done - though if you're creative, you can still do a hell of a lot. Without going into multiple pages of detail, very few magic-users can cast a spell by just muttering and gesturing for a few seconds, or pointing and saying the name of the spell in some obscure language - and most of those who can, are only able to do it for a few spells they know very well. Instead, they spend a few minutes to a few hours (depending on the skill of the caster, the complexity of the spell, various environmental conditions, and whether they're summoning an existing spirit, or generating a new one) chanting, gesturing, and possibly singing or dancing, in a ritual circle or similar space prepared with various symbols, and then either the magic starts to happen, or the mage take up a charm that the ritual has loaded the magic into - these temporary magic items last for days to weeks, and are generally broken when activated.

Generally, the magic is Effect Shaping, but some specific styles may use Energy Accumulating, instead. In the latter case, the 'energy' is lots of minor thoughtforms.

The act of casting a spell most often involves creating or summoning a thoughtform (see link in the tl;dr section below) - a sort of psychic computer program running on the medium of the collective unconscious (the astral plane, if you ask most mystics). Generating a new thoughtform tends to take longer than summoning one, unless you need to negotiate with the one you summoned (OK, technically, you're generating a thoughtform even when you summon another, but all that one has to do is get a spirit's attention, which is why it only takes a few minutes or less to make). Most newly created thoughtforms, especially those made for specific, limited tasks, tend to be very lacking in willpower, and in many cases, fade from existence fairly quickly (those created to get another spirit's attention tend to be absorbed by that spirit, increasing its power by a miniscule amount, which encourages it to at least pop by and talk). 'Free' thoughtforms, those that did not fade away for various reasons, are spirits, and the most powerful spirits are called gods. Most of them were generated unconsciously by groups of people, but a few were created by sorcerers, and grew beyond their origins. Permanent or multi-use magic items are fetishes (no, not the sexual kind): objects which have a thoughtform bound to them, whether formed by the caster, or summoned and trapped, willingly or otherwise. Spontaneously created spells are possible with the right stimulation (such as Haversham's Enhancer, or the comet that came to Clockpunk Earth), but tend to be very limited, quirky, or both. Intentionally designing spells is much like writing a computer program, in a very eccentric language, in your head. Meditation is often involved. Thoughtforms are capable of transitioning the 'quasi-wormholes' connecting the various Earths, but their arrivals produce only a very weak particle spray, difficult to detect with 2012 instruments - unless a whole bunch arrive at once, of course.

Thoughtforms sustain themselves, at least in part, by absorbing psychic energy directed at them, usually focused through various emotions. By itself, this doesn't harm the person being fed on - you're already emitting the energy, whether they eat it or not. Different thoughtforms often prefer different 'flavors' of emotion, and this affects their appearance and behavior - a spirit that feeds on lust tends to be attractive in some way, and acts friendly and/or seductive, those who feed on fear tend to look frightening, and act creepy or hostile to various degrees, and so forth. This is also how spirits can be harmed: those too strongly adapted to one or two emotions are often 'poisoned' by others, and nearly all spirits can be 'injured' by the desire to do harm to that spirit, especially when directed by a reasonably strong will, at mêlée ranges (not that where you see/sense the spirit is it's true location - it's in the collective unconscious, which means it's in your head, just like it's in everyone elses' - but disembodied spirits are much harder to hurt, if they don't notice you're trying to hurt them, and spirits generally pay the most attention to the location they appear to be in, whether in the real world, a dream, the astral plane, or even in a virtual world on the computer, for those that can get there). The easiest way to focus such an attack is to attack the spirit's apparent 'body' with a mêlée weapon or unarmed attack, while strongly willing it to 'Be Injured' or 'Die'. Mêlée weapons are useful for this purpose because the wielder's spirit (ki, prana, aura, whatever) tends to extend over the weapon, when one is sufficiently skilled with it. This doesn't really apply to ranged weapons, or rather, it doesn't apply well to projectiles, once they're no-longer in contact with the user (though you can extend the range a bit by attaching a wire, thread, or similar, if you practice enough with the modified projectile). Of course, you can turn a projectile into a charm or fetish with the property of 'harms spirits', but this works best with larger objects like arrows or throwing knives - it's hard to convince a powerful damage spirit to cram itself into something as puny as a bullet (no matter how fast it goes), especially as damage (and resistance to it) is dependent on the relative willpowers of the inflicting and receiving spirits. It's much easier to harm spirits which are 'permanently' anchored, willingly or not, to physical objects (fetishes, in other words, but not charms), as they will generally be injured by damage to their host items, and may be killed by the item's destruction, or banished to the depths of the collective unconscious (the Inner Astral Plane, as mystics call it), for some time (depends on lots of factors, but is generally measured in years, decades, or centuries, due to the trauma of being 'killed').

Some spirits who prefer specific emotions will merge, temporarily or permanently, with thoughtform-copies of some fictional or real being, in order to better evoke their preferred emotion. The spirit thus becomes, for example, 'Bugs Bunny, if he were a laughter spirit' (not much change, there), or 'a dementor, if it were a fear and/or misery spirit' (which again, isn't much of a change - in fact, it makes more sense in this context than dementors eating happiness), or 'a clumsy little puppy, if it were a d'aawww(g) spirit' (no, I'm not going to give you examples of who/what a lust spirit might merge with - you've already got a dozen ideas in your head, you don't need any help from me). Some of the friendlier spirits will also merge with minor elementals or other nature spirits, so that some specific person they 'like' will find them more useful, and wish to keep them around. Yes, for some types of spirits and 'donors', this can get various types and levels of creepy (and not just with lust spirits, either) - they're not human, and even when merged with a ghost or other fairly human-like thoughtform, don't quite think like humans do. The humans that contract with them don't usually have that excuse, but with many spirits, it's better than letting them run wild.

The spirits' ability to effect the physical world requires them to convert physical energies for their own use, and has nothing to do with how they sustain themselves as spirits. The most common energy source seems to be heat, which explains why magic items and materials are often cool to the touch, and haunted houses frequently have unexplained cold spots - the fact that this appears to violate thermodynamics doesn't bother the spirits, at all. The strongest energy source is quite unknown, although it might be a form of what OTL scientists currently call 'dark energy'. This is the apparent source of the extra energy from Clp-Earth's springmetal, and the enhanced fuels on Dp-Earth and Stp-Earth.

Continued in next post. Sorry this is taking so long.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

That which is called 'Magery', 'magical aptitude', or 'the magegift' is not precisely an inborn talent. True, some are born with it to some degree, but you can also say that everyone is born with it, to some degree. Useful levels of this power, when not inborn, may be induced by spirits or spells, learned through study and meditation, developed due to exposure to psychic energy as a defensive measure, or even just suddenly appear for no readily apparent reason. At its core, magery is the ability to at least semi-consciously generate thoughtforms, and control, manipulate, or otherwise interact with them.

Was thinking of calling it 'Thoughtform Talent' instead of 'Magery', as suggested in the Steampunk section. Ten points per level, bonus to spellcasting. Might have a related advantage allowing the sensing abilities Magery 0 confers. The usual -5 penalty for Path/Book casting without Magery can be removed by a 1-point Perk (name needed; Active Thoughtform Generation?), which is contained within the first level of Thoughtform Talent (don't take both). It's a perk not because it's not useful or powerful, but because it's that easy to develop, in this setting... well, depending on the world. Might cost more on some Earths, or be free on others, but the logic is that everyone unconsciously generates minor thoughtforms when concentrating or emoting, so doing it controllably shouldn't be too hard.

Advanced magical styles (and there are a lot of them, mostly on Fantasy Earth) often have lots of spells, divided into specialties called Paths (or schools, or colleges, or chapters, spheres, pillars, et cetra) - in-depth study of these makes the spells within them easier to cast, but is not absolutely necessary. Many newer or less developed magical styles, such as those on Steampunk Earth and Clockpunk Earth, have few enough spells not to need such specialization, grouping the whole list in a single Book (which need not be a physical book - it's just a name to distinguish it from Paths). Path styles often grow out of Book styles, either by magic-users inventing enough new spells that specialization becomes useful or necessary, or because someone learned several Book styles, and integrated them into one compound style (which can be quite difficult, if the base styles were especially different from each other). Weird Sciences are nearly always personal Book styles. Alchemy varies between something very much like standard GURPS alchemy (mixing magical substances together and feeling them interact, on top of normal chemistry methods of monitoring) where magical materials are common, or various Book or Path styles, where they are rarely or never found in nature.

Most of the styles of magic on Clockpunk Earth, and nearly all on Steampunk Earth, are Book styles - indeed, many found on Steampunk Earth are very personal and informal, more or less unique to each spellcaster (though quite often based on extant styles that previously did little or nothing), and those that aren't, started out that way, before being taught to others. Having a few more generations to work on them, the styles on Clockpunk Earth are more fully developed, being more often taught and learned, than invented piece by piece from the ground up. Steampunk Earth has only a handful of fairly new Path styles, and Clockpunk Earth has barely more than a dozen. Dieselpunk Earth has a wide range of book styles, and a fair number of Path styles, while Fantasy Earth almost has more extant Path styles than Book styles. OTL Earth has a minor advantage in terms of creating new Path styles, in that thanks to games and a few fantasy novels, we already have the idea of magical styles being divided into specializations.

The 'prayers and miracles' system from Divine Favor is pretty much exactly that: a sufficiently blessed individual prays to the god(dess) that blessed him/her, and generally gets some appropriate form of miracle (as long as they haven't been abusing their position, anyway, and get a good reaction roll from their deity). You can learn specific prayers to mostly insure getting a fairly specific miracle, but in general, it's not that complicated. Generally, most gods will only grant consistent blessings and powers (as opposed to one-shot 'Well, I don't want you to die right now' deus ex machina) to those who have a great strength and sincerity of belief. How available this system is seems to vary from dimension to dimension: the gods on Stp-Earth and OTL-Earth, once awakened, rarely grant this blessing, rarely grant miracles to those who are so blessed, and even when they do, tend to go for minor miracles like accelerated healing or guards falling asleep, over anything showy. The power is more common on Clp-Earth and Dp-Earth, but even there, not nearly so common nor powerful as on Fa-Earth. It's difficult to describe an upper limit to this power, but generally, anything (other than not-too-strange weather) that covers a few square miles is a once-in-a-lifetime event, and anything much bigger is a legendary cataclysm that will be remembered for thousands of years (e.g. the Ten Plagues of Egypt). Large-scale miracles tend to be aimed more toward 'helping the faithful survive', or 'punishing great impiety (in the deity's own followers)', rather than 'wiping out the unbelievers', though (because the latter gets you into inter-deity conflicts, and no-one wants a 'hot' War In Heaven - well, no-one with any sense). This style is the easiest for beginning casters to perform very difficult feats like instant healing or conjuring food out of apparently nothing, because the gods have the processing power to manipulate large numbers of atoms and molecules in complex patterns (such as teleporting in all the material needed to turn one fish sandwich into a dozen fish sandwiches, and them building those atoms into the required shapes by copying the existing fish sandwich), and they're the ones doing all the work.

Use the normal Reaction Roll requirements on Fa-Earth, make all reaction roll requirements one level higher on Clp-Earth (except for 'Golem', which is one step easier, requiring only a Good reaction, on Clp-Earth - well, it is for Jews, anyway) and Dp-Earth, and make the requirements two steps higher on Stp-Earth and OTL-Earth.

Gods are mysterious, and no-one has any clear, established facts as to how powerful they are, whether some are more powerful than others, nor whether there are any gods who are more than 'just' massively powerful thoughtforms. No-one knows where spirits end and gods begin, either, though a total lack of miracles being granted is usually taken as an indicator, accurately or not. When a miracle is granted, the Presence of the deity is sometimes felt by anyone in the area, and more so by those who are the subject of the miracle, the one who called for it, or are psychically sensitive. Such Presences vary from god to god: for example, being healed by a war god so that you can go back into the fight feels totally different from being healed by a mother goddess because she loves all the 'children' (even when they're adults of a different faith), even ignoring the difference in rituals each priesthood uses. The Presence may be a simple feeling (calm strength, lust, being hugged, a desire for battle, et cetra), or might be accompanied by brief sensory hallucinations (the scent of blood or of roses, the sound of drums or a heavenly choir, a vision of the god(dess), and so forth). Different people tend to feel the Presense in different ways, depending not only on how sensitive they are, but how they feel about that deity, and how that deity feels about them. Likewise, the effect tends to differ somewhat between deities; again using healing as an example, war deities often leave scars, mother goddesses usually don't, and gods or goddesses of love and beauty only leave 'attractive' scars.

Continued next post.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Symbol magic (such as this Rune Magic thread, or the aforementioned GURPS versions) is most often used to amplify Path/Book rituals, although it can be used effectively on its own. Each copy of a specific rune or other mystical symbol, even one just drawn in the air with a finger or wand, is connected to the spirit of that symbol, to varying degrees. Thus, every Eiwaz rune is connected to the spirit of 'the Rune Eiwaz', every Page of Swords card is connected to the spirit called 'the Page of Swords', and so forth. Some symbols have temporary or permanent thoughtforms bound to them, greatly increasing that connection (to the point that spellcasting with charm or fetish-runes takes at most seconds, instead of minutes). There generally aren't all that many Symbol styles, although each of the four new Earths has working Futhark and Ogham styles, and both Steampunk and Dieselpunk Earths have Tarot styles (Tarot cards weren't of much interest to mystics before the 18th century in OTL, and thus neither Fantasy nor Clockpunk Earth would use them). Symbol wizards are rather more common, mainly among adventurers, but they tend to use well-known symbols (and becoming well-known takes time), as otherwise the spirits of those symbols don't have enough power to be useful.

Having fetish or charm tokens (as opposed to a fetish or charm bearing several symbols for a specific effect) is equivalent to having True Symbol Tokens in the usual Symbol magic system, save that the cost is in additional skill penalties, rather than fatigue (and the fact that charm tokens only work once each). Without them, casting is done as with Path/Book magic (i.e., you either need the right amount of time (generally ten minutes per symbol), the proper ritual space, and some fitting material components, or you need levels of Path/Book Adept) but with the skill rolls for Symbol magic.

Magical materials are those which naturally have thoughtforms anchored to them (generally due to long belief, or for some organic materials, the life form it came from being psychic), allowing various effects without the need to cast a spell. These thought forms subdivide when the material does, and merge when properly brought together, allowing new effects. Natural magical materials are rare to non-existent on Steampunk Earth, Clockpunk Earth, and our Earth, somewhat uncommon on Dieselpunk Earth, and very common on Fantasy Earth (a fair amount of various magical materials, as well as plants and animals, from both Middle Earth and Abier-Toril can be found on the latter). Some materials, such as silver and iron, are not magical themselves, but affect spirits and other magical creatures and people, due to the legends about those spirits.

Psi powers: astral projection, ergokinesis (like psychokinesis, but manipulating the electromagnetic force (light, magnetism, electricity), and possibly other types of energy), extrasensory perception, meta-psi (ability to disrupt, enhance, or otherwise modifiy other psi powers; includes standard GURPS anti-psi power, if you're wondering), probability alteration, psychic healing (which is very rarely instantaneous, just faster than normal to varying degrees - although you can fake instant healing by psychokinetically holding the wound(s) together as a semi-superior substitute for stitches or staples, and then using telepathy to quiet the pain, and still use psychic healing to make the wound heal faster), psychic vampirism, psychokinesis, telepathy, and teleportation (which seems to involves warping space, and manipulating wormholes - bags of holding exist on Fantasy Earth, though they aren't terribly common). If you have access to a copy of GURPS Psionic Powers, biokinesis and psychometabolism fall under psychic healing (and any of those names might be used, depending on who's speaking), animal telepathy falls under telepathy, and dream control is a mix of telepathy and astral projection.

If you can plausibly explain something using the above psi powers, chances are, you can do it, although it may be massively impractical. In theory, for example, you could warp space enough to make a prince appear to have the size and shape of a frog, but then you'd have to correct for his mass, strength, reflexes being all wrong, human dietary needs, respiration, pigmentation... Really, the amount of math, skill, information, precision, and concentration involved would be beyond most spirits, and even some gods would find it difficult, despite their greater processing power. Much less difficult (though still not 'easy') to pop the prince's real body into suspended animation, possibly in a pocket dimension made from the neck of a wormhole (note that there are always two entrances), and then either make him possess an existing frog (whether through pure telepathy, or forced astral projection + telepathy), or stick his astral body into an ectoplasmic shell in the form of a frog.

Since I'm sure someone will ask: sticking one warped space into another warped space just means making more work for the thoughtforms maintaining the warps, and if they can't or won't do the work, they'll either not allow the warped spaces together, or they'll collapse the spaces and dump whatever they contained out... or they may do some other thing, like attack you for making them work too hard. Better check with the spirits before you try something like that. Sticking one wormhole through another wormhole just relocates the mouth or mouths of the wormhole. Likewise for sticking a wormhole into a warped space. Sticking a warped space into a wormhole is pretty much like sticking a warped space into another warped space, though. Interestingly, wormholes tend not to cross into other dimensions, unless both mouths are anchored to or contained within the same structure. If you try, then either the structure that only one mouth is connected to will pass into the other dimension, but find it's wormhole-mouth absent, or if the mouth is more tightly bound, the structure it's bound to will fail to cross into the other dimension. Also, the farther apart the mouths of a wormhole are when you start stabilizing it, the harder it is to make it stable and transitionable, though once it is, distance is no longer a factor.

Time travel does not appear to be possible (other than by visiting another dimension, which may be how the young Kal'El met the Legion, if he did at all), but you can fake it by astrally projecting into humanity's memory of the past (or predictions of the future), possibly sticking your real body into a space warp or pocket dimension as described above ('Well, aren't you going to say that it's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside? Everybody else does.'). Nothing you do will actually change the past, but large efforts (nuking Rome in 450 BCE, for example) may cause confusion for a while, or even severe trauma, in some people - the latter, mostly in relatively recent changes, which could result in people currently alive having contradictory memories (like, say, remembering you died, when you clearly didn't). Physical changes to the present aren't going to happen just by altering the memory of the past. In most cases, all you'll do is cause increased activity on alternate history discussion boards.

Continued next post.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

FTL drives based on space warps are possible, but don't expect them to happen soon - well, relatively: if by 'soon', you mean 'within the next ten-to-twenty years, probably,' then sure, it should occur soon. Before the end of 2013, not likely at all, but sort of cheap interplanetary travel that takes days or weeks instead of months or years is quite plausible, with or without warping space-time. Wormhole-based FTL should happen sooner, but it will be a matter of attaching one mouth of a stable wormhole to a space probe, and sending it off to wherever you want to go. This is fine if you want to go to Mars, but if you want to visit Alpha Centauri, it's probably best to wait for warp-based FTL to be developed.

The creation of magic items is, in some ways, a matter of creativity for all worlds. Attempting to create a fetish while bored, frustrated, or just generally not in a creative mood, will tend to result in a weak fetish, or no fetish at all. Crafting one while in a creative mood, OTOH, tends to make quality control, and mass production, difficult (unique or rare quirks, differing bugs and features, and so forth). On the bright side, 'weak' does not equal 'useless': a fetish that does the same thing as the base object, only better, is to some degree a 'weak' fetish. Making a car significantly more fuel-efficient, a computer smarter, a sword sharper, and so forth, is fairly easy to do even when quite bored (particularly making a computer smarter). Making a car fly, a computer project holograms, or a sword sing show-tunes is not. Further, magic is not handwavium, and does not take care of such things as life support issues with no input from the caster: sure, you can turn a Reliant Robin into a space shuttle eventually, or even make one out of duck tape and cardboard boxes, but if you forget some vital survival factor, you die! For most magic-item-makers, it's much faster and safer to get an enchantment job with Virgin Galactic (or whomever, this situation is likely to massively increase the number of space concerns on OTL-Earth, all the way down to SF clubs forming cooperative ventures), save up, and buy a spacecraft with your employee discount.

In general, a beginning enchanter can turn an item into a better version of itself (e.g. an already-working spacecraft into one with twice the delta-v, a fusor or pollywell that does better than break even), fairly consistently, in an hour or so, or a few minutes, if the effect is temporary (making a vehicle faster or stronger for a few minutes to maybe an hour). Causing an item to act like something similar (e.g. turning a high-altitude jet that's had LO2 tanks installed, and some or all of it's engines replaced by liquid-fueled rockets into a working spacecraft) is rather harder, and usually takes longer to compensate for the difficulty. Turning something into something else that it looks like, but isn't (e.g. prop Police Box into pseudo-TARDIS, saucer-shaped house into actual flying saucer), is yet more difficult, and making something act like something totally other (ring that shoots fireballs, car or watergoing ship to spacecraft) is even more difficult, to varying degrees. As you can see, symbolism is important: a Reliant Robin with wings and rockets, or with a Star Fleet paintjob and a pair of 'warp nacelle' props (especially if the nacelles contain 'warp coil' props, and such), looks like a spacecraft enough to be rather easier to turn into one (though you still have to remember all the life support issues, navigation issues, and other fiddly details). A ring with rubies and a fire motif is likewise easier to turn into a ring of fireballs. Puns may also be symbols: for example, springmetal is most effective when forged in March, April, or May, near a natural wellspring, and/or quenched in spring water (and other puns for other languages, of course). Power is another matter, however. By this I mean both processing power (complex things are harder to do), as well as the physics definition (which to some degree, both fall under what RPGs tend to call 'power level' or 'power rank'). In both senses, the more power you need, the more effort is required, and the longer it takes - though of course, those who are already more skilled, powerful, or both, have an easier time of it. In terms of physical power, the more you have from mundane or semi-mundane sources, the less magical effort is required - wall current, batteries, enchanted fusion reactors, car engines, sunlight, and so forth, all can be used, rather more easily than tapping into dark energy (or whatever it really is).

A note on ranged weapons: the farther away you are from your target, the easier it is to make you miss, whether with psychokinesis, probability alteration, or clever uses of other powers. Likewise, the more complex your weapon, the easier it is to psychically screw it up, or even turn it against you. Thus, swords and bows are generally more useful against magic-users and some psychics than guns and most grenades. That's not to say that guns are useless, because they're not, but their usefulness is limited. A sniper against a magician isn't going to do well, because the distance maximizes any defensive thoughtforms' ability to cause a miss, even if they're prevented from affecting the sniper directly. An infantry squad or section is another matter: Firstly, they have a numerical advantage, which means more guns to disrupt, and even if those guns are reduced to awkward clubs or clumsy spears, there's still eight to sixteen of them. Secondly, they're trained to work together (well, in First World professional forces, they are; Third World rebels or conscripts, random mobs, and gangs of thugs, are generally not so effective), and in some cases, have done so for years, which is a substantial advantage. If you know your squad/section is going up against a magic-user who might know something about modern weapons, leave the automatics and semi-autos on base. If you must have a rifle, make it a SMLE or other bolt-action rifle, and if you must have a handgun, use a revolver; otherwise, pump-action or simpler shotguns are preferable, as are bows, crossbows, machetes, axes, entrenching tools, knives, swords (see why they're still part of the uniform?), or Home Guard pikes.

The Psychic Deflection ability is a mix of long range Combat Sense (though not limited to surprise attacks), and long range TK. The ESP determines where and when an incoming projectile is going to be, and the TK nudges it off to the side, just enough that it misses. Stats would be helpful, please.

The other common limitation of modern firearms is related to certain types of psychokinetic shields (which are distinct from PK deflection): while most such force fields provide the same resistance to all attacks, there are some that have a 'water-like' or 'Holtzmann-like' (though without the 'makes lasers blow up' part, as it doesn't fit this context) effect, having greater resistence to the impact of very fast objects than to relatively slow objects. Rather than go into an exhausting list in a post that's already longer than I'd like, I'll just say that a shield that would generally be penetrated by a sword or a crossbow quarrel, would strongly resist most subsonic bullets, and fully block most supersonic bullets, unless they're at the level of a .50 BMG or greater, due to overwhelming force. Such shields tend to be (relative to the number of beings who have PK Shields at all) rare-to-nonexistent on Fa-Earth and Clp-Earth, uncommon on Stp-Earth, and fairly common on Dp-Earth, paralleling the development and availability of firearms. They're likely to become fairly common on OTL-Earth, for that very reason.

It's an enhancement I'm not sure the cost of. I don't normally like the way GURPS uses Imperial instead of metric, but here, it makes the shield enhancement much easier to model. Basically, the greater the energy in foot-pounds exceeds the speed in feet-per-second, the less effective the shield is against high-speed objects. For example, a .50 BMG round (647 gr Speer) has a velocity of 3,044 ft/s, but an energy of 13,144 ft·lbf. That's quite a difference. A more normal bullet, like the .30-06 Springfield it was based on (well, the 150 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip version), has a velocity of 2,910 ft/s, and an energy of 2,820 ft·lbf. A DR 1 PK shield with this enhancement would stop a .30-06 bullet, but would be penetrated by a sword, an arrow, or a .50 BMG bullet. I'm hoping someone here can help me work out the stats for this, and perhaps help the explanation make sense.


TL;DR: Magic, including weird science, consists of psionics used in simple or complicated ways, usually involving thoughtforms (often called spirits or gods) to do the work. Spellcasting mostly involves long rituals, and there are many styles of magic.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

This is going to strongly affect public attitudes toward space travel, the existence of aliens, and the paranormal, among other things. The arrival of the probe from Dp-Earth, even more so, and in ways that will not be obvious, at first.

When the last booster burns up in OTL-Earth's atmosphere, either the thoughtforms within the booster's unspent fuel, or the entity that caused all this to happen in the first place, give OTL-Earth a 'gift': somewhat less than 1% of the population, all over the world (though not consitent with population density - North America, Europe, Japan, and Oceania (mostly in Oz and NZ) tend to have more psykers than either India or China, though India has more than China does) develop active psi powers - mostly low level, and mostly just thoughtform generation. The selection of exactly who gets powers is somewhat telling, as all of them tend to be considered strange within their own nations and cultures: Wiccans and other neopagans, New Age mystics, particularly 'spiritual' martial artists, tribal shamans (they're respected, but do tend to be seen as 'a bit off'), followers of Vodoun and Santería, science fiction and fantasy fans, gamers, the more eccentric historical reinactors, would-be superheroes (well, the ones that are relatively serious about it), and mentally ill folks (OK, there's some overlap between the last two, particularly if chuunibyou is a real mental illness), in or out of asylums, with sufficiently 'interesting' derangements. Few of these people start with even enough power to hover, much less fly, nor are they going to be bouncing bullets off their chests any time soon. Those who get psi powers beyond thoughtform generation and manipulation tend to start with subtle abilities like probability alteration, ESP, and sometimes astral projection, meta-psi, psychic vampirism, and telepathy, rather than anything flashy, and even those with more obvious powers like PK or EK are rarely going to have something impressive - expect one to levitate a pencil, not oneself. Also, mind control is far from easy, more along the lines of telepathically-assisted RL hypnosis than the sort of things you see in the comics.

The abilities gained are generally consistent with the individual's beliefs, interests, and personality - someone who believes they have a particular power, or strongly wants it, will gain some version of it, albeit generally an unimpressive version, at first - Star Wars fans who 'feel the Force', martial artists with (weaker versions of) the legendary and/or cinematic powers of their style, D&D gamers with a Path style based on the Schools of Magic in that game, or a Book style based on the feats and powers of their favorite class (at barely first level), and so forth. Strong-willed individuals, as well as those who don't take orders well (which isn't quite the same thing), tend to start out stronger, and improve faster, as do those with greater intelligence (though a combination of all three is best). Those not given the gift can train for it, particularly if taught by someone who already has it (though again, the ones who don't take orders well tend to be better at it) - this is rather easier if the teacher is a telepath, or has learned or developed mind-affecting spells.

Some animals will also develop powers - mostly cats, and species native to Australia, though any animal of a species with significant local myths about it might merge with an appropriate spirit (e.g. foxes and tanuki in Japan, coyotes and ravens in North America, and so forth). This rarely happens to plants or locations, without at least semi-conscious human interference - at least until something arrives from Fa-Earth.

Being so affected by Dp-Earth, the spirits tend to behave 'in-genre' (though they don't all agree on what genre it is), and try to get machinery, animals, and people to behave in-genre, as well - this doesn't work well people, especially as in-genre behavior is often the opposite of what a professional is trained to do (listen to a cop or soldier complain about cops or soldiers in most fiction, and you'll see what I mean). It rarely works well on animals, unless it's consistent with their instincts. This in-genre behavior may be a factor in who gains powers, and who is better at it.

It isn't going to take long before governments start asking their space agencies to draw up plans for both manned and unmanned visits to other worlds, and getting frustrating results. Then again, for an interplanetary spacecraft, the Nautilus-X looks surprisingly affordable, even if you add a second grav-wheel to neutralize the centrifugal force - how affordable it turns out to be is another matter, but given the gift of magic, 'less expensive' is actually fairly likely. Before that, though, the difficulty of space launches from OTL-Earth will be at RL levels - complex and very expensive. OTOH, the situation on Dp-Earth will likely lead to various nations' military budgets being diverted to space, even before the probe arrives.

On another note, the particles produced by dimensional transition have a sufficiently consistent speed, that observation of particle detectors can precisely locate any dimensional incursions heavier than 3 kilograms, even if astronomers somehow don't (which isn't so helpful with spirits, but while they lack mass, they do disturb whatever it is that's producing these sprays of particles as if they did - just not much).


Per samdamandias' suggestion on SB.com, these worlds are designated Crossroads-4a through Crossroads-4e. For purposes of the IW setting, Stp-Earth is on Quantum 3, Clp-Earth is on Q4, OTL-Earth is on Q5 with Homeline, Fa-Earth is on Q6, and Dp-Earth is on Q7, unless someone with more knowledge of the IW setting gives me a good enough reason otherwise.

Thinking about it, I feel sorry for any Infinity agents that show up on OTL-Earth: Their arrival point is likely to be spotted immediately (due to the particle spray mentioned in the OP), if they arrive after 'we' start triangulating such bursts (something I can see happening fairly quickly), which is bad enough, but imagine having to give your boss a copy of GURPS Infinite Worlds. Sure, they probably won't find that first thing, but they ought to stumble across it eventually, if they don't just never come to this world. If they only arrive on one of the other Earths, though, they'll be able to stay hidden for rather longer, because you need 21st century tech to detect the particles (I think; I'm not up in the latest in particle detection tech, nor how old it is), and it'll be a while before we set up a detection scheme for the other worlds.


Timeline (OTL-Earth dates used, for convenience):

2012 (December 21): The new Earths appear, the nearer ones first, and the further ones a little less than thirteen seconds later. From the prespective of the other Earths, of course, the order of appearance is somewhat different. Communication attempts will begin in short order, once the right frequencies and signal strengths are found, but only Dp-Earth and Stp-Earth are equipped to respond. At some point on the 21st or 22nd, Winston Churchill has a frustrating conversation with David Cameron (sadly, it would be at least as frustrating with a PM of any other party), and begins to wonder if he'll get more help, faster, from the folks sending radio-telegrams; he is heartened, though, by Merkel telling Hitler where to shove himself and his Reich (even if hardly anyone on Dp-Earth thinks a woman is really Chancellor of Germany).

Dec 22: An astronomer on OTL-Earth notes an asteroid near Clp-Earth, moving away, and marks it for further observation.

December 26: A probe is launched from Dp-Earth, and begins to be mated to the booster rockets already in orbit.

Dec. 28: The probe leaves Dp-Earth orbit, on course for OTL-Earth.

Dec. 31: The asteroid observed near Clp-Earth disappears at 3 light-seconds from that Earth.

2013 (January 4): The Dp-Earth probe fails to disappear.

Jan. 12: the probe from Dp-Earth passes through an asteroid, unperturbed. The asteroid is only visible from OTL-Earth, not the others.

Jan. 19: The probe enters the three light-second bubble around Earth, releasing a significant particle spray.

Jan. 21: On OTL-Earth, the UK requests an emergency summit of the leaders of all members of the Commonwealth. Rumours surface of sightings of soldiers guarding a blue police box in the woods of Northern England, and of a man bearing a suspicious resemblance to Jon Pertwee being taken to a cottage hospital nearby. The placing and quickly rescinding of a D-notice on these matters only encourages speculation (which may have been the point).

Jan. 26: The probe arrives in OTL-Earth orbit, its last booster falling into our atmosphere, and burning up. People on OTL-Earth start developing (generally minor) powers.

February ??: The members of the Commonwealth of Nations begin ratifying the Treaty of New Delhi, the founding document of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, or 'UNIT', a military group dedicated to the defense of the Commonwealth and it's members and peoples from threats of an extraterresial, paranormal, or otherwise extraordinary nature.

There, finally done. Sorry it took so long, hope it produces interest, instead of annoyance.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Can I just be the first to say "that was epic" and "thank you" for providing such a body of work to everyone on the forums to enjoy. I haven't read the whole thing yet (it is rather long!), but I got through two posts and wanted to make sure someone had responded with a "this is great work" post.

I assume this is for a campaign you are playing or going to play?

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

You're very welcome, though I admit that if I'd known about the '10,000 words per post' limit, I wouldn't have tried. If you think it's long reading it, imagine how long it was trying to post it when every (I think four or so posts needed moderator approval (I don't blame the mods, and I'm glad they didn't complain about it).
It's more an idea I have for a campaign setting, just not one that could easily be published, due to lawyers. I might eventually run a game in this, or participate in a game, but it's more that it occurred to me that it's something other GURPS gamers might enjoy, even if they live far enough away to make gaming with them inconvenient. As you'll see when you've read more, it's still under development, and I'm hoping to get help on some things.

EDIT: Couldn't fit this in the Overflow post. It refers to what's happening on OTL-Earth, as people start getting powers:

The basic power set is the Active Thoughtform Generation perk (or whatever replaces it), and one point in Ritual Magic, which will usually be a personal Book style, though it may be a personal Path style, a Path or Book style already being practiced by that person that now works (or 'works better', depending on who you ask) such as Wicca or Voudon, a Symbol Drawing style already known, or a Book style for a martial art that the new spellcaster practices. As mentioned above, gamers and SF fans stand a decent chance of getting a Path/Book style based on games they play or stories they read or watch (Ritual Magic (Jedi), for example, would have three Paths if you go by the games: Control, Sense, and Alter, and maybe a fourth called Alchemy, at least for the Sith variant, and maybe for the Jedi; the Force in the movies, most books, and the cartoons looks more like psi powers, though). Some few people start with levels in Path/Book Adept, Thoughtform Talent, or Wild Talent, or higher skill levels. Those with Path styles don't usually start with much skill in the individual Paths, just the style, though there are exceptions. Those who get psi powers tend to start with only the first level of an ability, and rarely start out with more than one or two per power, nor more than one or two powers. As a general rule, unless you want to run a power-centric campaign, PCs and most NPCs who have powers at all should not have more than 10% of starting points spent on powers or related skills, and most people who have powers just start with the perk and a point in a Ritual Magic style.

Empowered animals tend to get a specific, limited power and/or skill set that never improves, unless they gain an intelligence boost to the point of sapience. Psi powers are more common among non-sapient animals than spellcasting is. Lots of cats might gain a level or two of Autoteleport (Accessibility: Not While Being Observed), for example, and foxes in Japan are likely to have some form of Sensory Control, and possibly Telereceive. Sapient animals often have spellcasting in addition to any psi powers.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Wow. Just wow.

This is great man! I'd love to play in this type of setting, its definitely different from anything else I've seen.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Tell me about it. Let's storm SJG with torch and pitchfork and demand a 100,000-word limit! :)

Epic post, man!

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Thanks you.
Thank you, as well. Yeah, a 100,000 word limit would have made this vastly easier. Also, fairly epic post of your own, in the linked thread.

Trying to work out the mechanics of damaging spirits (third paragraph in this post, not counting the crunch note). Was thinking that you treat Will as ST, using the Damage Table on pB16. Use the Thrust column if you aren't experienced at applying your Will in this manner, and the Swing column if you are (probably a perk in need if a name); this alters the base damage of the Astral Sword ability (Psionic Powers p28), but otherwise leaves it unchanged - though since it's designed for attacking astral beings, use the Swing Damage column.

The spirit's Hit Points are likewise based on its Will.

Does that work? Not sure how to define the stats for the 'banished or destroyed if fetish is destroyed' disad, but most likely, someone already has something close enough.

Also, anyone out there with a lot of experience in the IW setting, care to let us know how the various parachronic factions would react to this skerry (if I'm using that term right)? One thing I'm pretty sure of is that the Cabal is going to be rather annoyed that the Decans of Hermetic Astrology are semi-public information on Steampunk Earth, and fairly easily available (at least in a very basic and abbreviated form) on OTL Earth, by just buying a copy of GURPS Thaumatology (sure, it isn't going to make you an expert in the slightest sense, but it's a place to start, especially for people whose Ritual style is based on GURPS). Many of the mystery guilds on Dieselpunk Earth (GURPS Voodoo: The Shadow War should help you imagine them) probably won't be happy about it, either.

Speaking of gamers developing Ritual Magic styles, I would say that the forms the rituals take are in many cases likely to involve sheets of paper, pencils, dice, sometimes figures and counters, and sacrificial soda and nachos... mind you, some roleplayers really get into the role enough to work out what their characters are actually doing in a fair bit of detail, so their styles are likely to be more 'mystical-looking'.

Thoughts?

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

By request, I'm crossposting some of my stuff from the spacebattles thread.

I just realized reality-earth's big edge. We have the internet.
We have widespread, powerful information systems. We have data transfer rates measured in Gigabytes/seconds, use far more of the EM spectrum, and use it more efficiently.

...

Internet elementals!

Hear me, o spirit of Spacebattles.
Your servant humbly requests more DAKKA!
That I might smite my enemies
With biggatons
And drive others insane.

Hear me, Google, Wikipedia, and Wolfram
For I have a question and seek answers

TvTropes, please
Tell me a story

Okay, figure out the spells and powers available to people with Power Investiture(Internet). The powers probably relate to the purpose of the site, so people who use the thoughtforms of Google and other search engines get information based powers, etc.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Try Weakness with enough Reduced Time to reduce the rate of of damage to instantaneously. Or, if you want to give the spirit a moment for a dying blow, 1-HP/sec (or more).

PS: Excellent setting. Nice work!

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

This is simply fabulous world-building! Kudos, Prince Charon -- really nice work.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Right, that should work, though your phrasing confused me for a bit. Thanks.
Thank you.

Have been thinking about things that wouldn't fit in the main posts, but would be useful to know, especially if anyone wants to cross this with Infinity. First of all, the psychic magic of this setting has no dependence on mana level. Instead, it depends on Sanctity (Thaumatology pp68-69, and the boxed text on p126), which varies a great deal with the type of spirit. Unless intentionally created, there are no true 'no sanctity' regions on these worlds, in the sense that even if you can't contact spirits, you can still create them, just without any outside help. There are, however, regions that are effectively no sanctity for specific types of spirits. Such regions are often high sanctity for some other type of spirit.

For example (and thanks, samd6):
Major 'Net cafés and other popular hotspots will tend to be high sanctity for Internet spirits (very few, important ones, generally related to DARPA and the Arpanet, will be very high sanctity), while less popular ones, as well as locations where just one person communes with the Internet regularly would tend to be normal sanctity (even if you also eat and sleep there). Most modern cities and towns on OTL-Earth will be at least low sanctity, while areas where you can't get reception at all, and aren't connected to a phone line would effectively be no sanctity for purposes of calling the spirits of the Internet.

On the other hand, almost totally the opposite is true of many Nature spirits, who tend to prefer virgin wilderness, or at least a nice park. Central Park in NYC would tend to be low sanctity for both, though it's probably easier to summon Nature spirits there at night, when 'the animals come out', simply because that type of phrase and/or attitude has been used so much. For specific Nature spirits, like nymphs, one tree, one hill or mountain, one river or lake, one section of an ocean, and so forth, would be normal or high sanctity, because she is the Nymph of Mount Parnassus, or the Nymph of the River Rubicon, or the Nymph of that one oak tree - very high sanctity requires a powerful nymph, and tends to be confined to a small area, like the summit of Mt Parnassus. River & lake, hill & mountain, meadow, and sea nymphs tend to be more enduring than tree nymphs, though even they can be harmed by damage to their domain, or sickened, corrupted, and/or driven mad by pollution. Interestingly, some very old canals and other artificial formations may also have nymphs associated with them, though they tend to be less wild - that doesn't mean they're friendly, though, especially if their domain started out polluted.

In terms of actual mana levels (as that's going to matter to the Cabal, at least), Steampunk Earth and OTL Earth are mostly low mana with variations, including some spots of wild mana - but they don't seem to have had this for very long (possibly only since the Event), and have no native mages or magical beings. Dieselpunk Earth seems to be mostly no mana, except for a few spots with other varieties, and Fantasy Earth is ironically a completely no mana world. Clockpunk Earth is weird and dangerous: it's a very low/wild mana world. For those who don't know, wild mana (Thaumatology p59) means that every success is a critical success, but every failure is a critical failure - actual critical successes and failures can be quite spectacular. Very low mana, on the other hand, gives a -10 penalty to spellcasting. See what I mean by dangerous?

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Just updated the first Steampunk post, to fix the crunch note: I realised that the Single-Minded advantage fit both the text and my intentions better than a perk or quirk would. Still not sure about the cost of the artistic limitations, though I'm leaning toward -10% for 'Only While Being Artistic', since Basic Set - Characters has 'Only while playing the trumpet' at -20%. Mind you, 'being artistic' in this context doesn't mean just using an artistic skill - might change it to 'Only while in a creative mood', but that's harder to judge.

Rather less sure about the correct cost of 'Always Activated when being Artistic' (which should probably be rephrased), as it doesn't mean that the Wild Talent activates more than once per game session per level, just that until the limitation is bought off, the character can't avoid activating it when 'doing art', unless the advantage is used up for this session. Suggestions, or should I pm PK for help? Don't really want to bother him for this, unless no-one else has a clear idea.

On another note, a clarification: many new thoughtforms that aren't bound to a fetish have the version of Terminally Ill which is unnamed but described on p35 of GURPS Spirits (under Spirit Weaknesses). In short, they must make a Will roll once a month, or lose a level of HT. If they reach HT 0, they 'die'. Most have an even stricter version, dissipating the first time they fail the roll. Really not sure how much either version is worth in 4e, but the former is probably close to the cost of 'Terminally Ill (Up to one year)' [-75]. This disadvantage can be bought off or reduced if the spirit lasts long enough, and 'eating' other thoughtforms will either grant a bonus to the Will roll, or allow the spirit to skip it. As they frequently have some version of the Mindless Spirit template on Spirits p36 (though usually without a taboo trait of 'No mental skills', because their tasks often require mental skills, they just rarely can improve them, nor learn new ones), they usually fail these rolls, due to having a Will of 8. Generally, it's the ones without the Mindless template that grow to become full spirits.

Also, it's rare for a new thoughtform to have any level of Astral Armor, unless they were created for a task that requires it (in which case it often has the Expansion technique, or a similar enhancement). More mature and powerful thoughtforms, like those that a PC might end up fighting, frequently do have some level of Astral Armor.

A clarification on Dp-Earth's magic: when I mentioned Thaumatology: Age of Gold as a good example, that was specifically a matter of feel. It is not meant to imply that the magic system in Age of Gold is exactly that used on Dp-Earth. The traditions on pp17 & 18 are the most common Energy Accumulating styles, along with an adaptation of the Ritual Path Magic system from GURPS Monster Hunters (which is called 'Neo-Sephirothic' on Dp-Earth), but are not the only ones, nor is there a lack of Effect Shaping styles. Also, Path/Book Adept is certainly available to Dp-Earth PCs, at least in high-level games.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

How do you think the public and various governments will react to the Event?

How is the 'you' of this timeline dealing with it (remember, you're a gamer, thus weird enough to get powers, within the general limits described in the Overflow section and the magic system notes)?

EDIT: How long do you think it will take, before the fact that many people on OTL-Earth have active and useful psi powers becomes difficult to deny? There's tens of millions, even if most have fairly subtle powers.


Also, an addition to the timeline:

February 27, 2013: After over two months of bitching, whining, and screaming in numerous parts of the US government (which got quite a bit louder when the probe from Dp-Earth arrived), and zillions of threads on many forums, the space assets of the United States Air Force (and other parts of the US military) are transferred to a new service: the United Stated Space Force. While the new service contains personnel from all branches, the ranks and much of the insignia (along with, in theory, the traditions) are those of the USAF, with minor modifications, such as the 'Airman' ranks being renamed 'Astronaut'. The uniforms are based on a style that was considered for the USAF, but ultimately rejected:

http://i.imgur.com/iNKW3.jpg

The budget of the new service cuts significantly into the budgets of the other military services (hence much of the screaming). NASA's facilities and personnel are mostly absorbed into the USSF, as well. The remainder of the agency is practically reduced to the space equivalent of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

I think they'd be more likely to be named "Spaceman", actually. "Astronaut" traditionally indicates an Officer, or someone with a similar level of training to Officers.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

The senior officers in the Air Force Space Command are overjoyed of course.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Maybe. Have to think about that. I chose 'Astronaut' because it's gender-neutral, like the uniforms.
Well, about that, yes. The bits leading up to it that I'm going to post below, not so much. Also, the remainder of the USAF isn't exactly overjoyed about this, even if they did get to keep the cyberwarfare units.

Now, the additions to the timeline (including the one above, for completeness):

Date Uncertain (suggestions, please), but probably in January 2013, if not December 2012: Israel and Nazi Germany declare war on each other, and on any nation allied with the other.

February 2: Three multi-stage rockets are launched from Peenemünde, on Dp-Earth. The upper stages mate in orbit, and then seem to vanish.

Feb. 5: The domed cities on the Moon of Dp-Earth begin flashing their lights in morse code, and specifically in English. The messages request that men be sent from OTL-Earth to help them repair their cities, and for social and reproductive purposes. It seems that about fifteen-sixteen years ago, they lost a war with the She-Devils of Venus, who killed all the adults, and killed or kidnapped all the boys. They also smashed all the 'infomats' they could find, and left the remaining girls to die a very slow death. They've managed to learn enough by trial and error, with the help of the remaining infomats and servo-bots, that they're not dead yet, but they fear they don't have much longer. They also request that we don't transmit their existence where the Dp-Earth humans will hear it, as they're still at the stage of oppressing women, whereas 'the cultures on your world that use this language' mostly aren't - or at least, are the least barbaric of many barbarians.

Feb. 8: British Experimental Rocket Group, Incorporated chartered in the UK, along with the subsidiary War Rocket Ltd.

Feb. 14: The 'Valentine's Gift' (only called that by OTL-Earth, due to time differences), a rocket containing Victorian scientists, engineers, military personnel, and ambassadors, along with various supplies, plans, and books, is launched from British Guiana, on Stp-Earth, and enters a course for Dp-Earth. The journey will take three months, and the vessel will need to be rebuilt, to return.

Feb. 17: An odd collection of British and other Commonwealth aviation and space enthusiasts and investors who didn't buy into BERG Inc. purchase the rights to revive Handley Page, Ltd., as an air- and space-craft manufacturer. Corporate headquarters are in New Zealand, though factories are purchased or planned throughout the Commonwealth.

Feb. 19: The members of the Commonwealth of Nations begin ratifying the Treaty of New Delhi, the founding document of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, or 'UNIT', a military group dedicated to the defense of the Commonwealth and it's members and peoples from threats of an extraterrestrial, paranormal, or otherwise extraordinary nature.

Feb. 20: A particle spray comparable to that of the Dieselpunk probe occurs, but no object is seen. Triangulation of the particles suggests that whatever caused it, came from DP-Earth.

Feb. 23: Around 50 miles up, three large, teardrop-shaped objects, along with what appears to be a small booster and a missile bus, become visible. From 14:21 to 15:03 GMT, the teardrop-shapes objects, apparently kinetic kill vehicles, impact the cities of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel; London, England; and Washington DC, USA. Shortly thereafter, Hitler announces his ability to strike the 'untermenchen' anywhere, at any time, invisibly (though the fact that the Nazis aren't using their cloaking device inside Dp-Earth's atmosphere may indicate a weakness - OOC, the faint atmospheric pressure at 50 miles above sea level is enough to disrupt the cloaking field, especially at that speed).

Radii of serious damage (the actual craters are rather smaller):

http://i.imgur.com/1TKS0.png
Tel Aviv-Yafo

http://i.imgur.com/sKIzM.png
London

http://i.imgur.com/x9F7k.png
Washington (not to scale with the other two, due to metric/Imperial measurement issues)

Later analysis of astronomical photos recorded along the course the missile must have taken (astronomer, amateur or otherwise, take pictures of the night sky all the time, and a few were looking in the right places at the right times) show blurry patches at approximately where and when the missile must ave been. Likewise, precise analysis of satellite orbits shows gravitic anomalies consistent with it's estimated mass. Radar stations aimed at space did note small anomalies along that course, as well, though at the time, not enough to confirm its presence. Now that they know what to look for, the next ones probably won't slip through quite as easily.

February 27, 2013: After over two months of bitching, whining, and screaming in numerous parts of the US government (which got quite a bit louder when the probe from Dp-Earth arrived, and much quieter and more focused since the 23rd), and zillions of threads on many forums, the space assets of the United States Air Force (and other parts of the US military) are transferred to a new service: the United States Space Force. While the new service contains personnel from all branches, the ranks and much of the insignia (along with, in theory, the traditions) are those of the USAF, with minor modifications, such as the 'Airman' ranks being renamed 'Astronaut'. The Class A uniforms are based on a style that was considered for the USAF, but ultimately rejected:

http://i.imgur.com/iNKW3.jpg

The budget of the new service cuts significantly into the budgets of the other military services (hence much of the screaming). NASA's facilities and personnel are mostly absorbed into the USSF, as well. The remainder of the agency is reduced almost to the space equivalent of the Federal Aviation Administration.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

This is awesome. I particularly love that it had to be the Space Force.

As for what'd happen to the 'you' in this setting (or, for that matter, the 'me'):
This seems to limit the gift only to those gamers who believe they have or strongly want a particular power. What qualifies as "strongly"? Does the gift read your mind and find desires even you don't know about so long as you self-identify as a gamer? (Also, do you mean just tabletop games or are video games included?)

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Ah, not quite. You get the gift if you're eccentric or imaginative enough, or if you're seen as weird by the people around you, whether you are or not, and so forth. Your beliefs and desires only shape it.
I'm leaving that vague, so that different GMs and groups can define it. Having a few points of quirks or appropriate hobby skills is a good indicator (e.g. someone who has Hobby (Star Wars)-12 and the quirk 'Puts 'Jedi' on surveys that ask for religion' has a good chance of getting minor psi powers, and/or Ritual Magic (The Force)-12, while someone who has Hobby (Star Trek)-12 and Language: Vulcan (Broken/None) is likely to gain short-range or Touch-Only telepathy, and maybe Tactile Telekinesis to simulate enhanced strength; either or both might gain some points in Fetish, particularly if they're in the habit of making props). Having points in Symbol Drawing, Ritual Magic, and/or Fortune-Telling (lots of people have those skills in RL, they just don't appear to do anything) are likewise going to lead to abilities that fit those skills (maybe they 'just' get the perk, and their spells suddenly start working, or maybe they get levels in Thoughtform Talent and/or Path/Book Adept).

Being strong-willed (Will 11 or higher) and having quirks or mental disadvantages relating to independence and a lack of willingness to take orders are also factors, as is, in crunch terms, being a 150+ point character - as mentioned in post #16, most people with powers just get the two-point package of the Active Thoughtform Generation perk and Ritual Magic (Personal Book) at IQ-3, it's just that PCs tend to be a cut above the rest.

In short, the more points spent on skills or gained from quirks or disads that qualify as 'eccentric' or 'creative', or otherwise setting the character apart from 'normal' people in the area (which can include resident foreigners in an insular community, if their ways are different enough), and the higher the character's IQ, Will, Per (if it's high enough that you seem strange), and related advantages, the more powerful they could plausibly start out as.
Pretty much yes - the spirits touch your mind, and your mind shapes the gift. 'Gamer' includes tabletop, computer, and even LARPers, but remember that it's not limited to people who self-identify as gamers, or even those who are identified as such by others - it's a matter of not being 'ordinary', not a matter of any specific type of weirdness.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Here's the latest updates to the timeline. I don't think I'll be adding anything else to December 2012, nor January or February 2013, but March is about half done.

Additions to earlier parts:

Dec. 23 (2012): Israel declares war on Nazi Germany. Hitler declares war on 'the Jewish State, and all puppets of the Jewish Conspiracy'. OTL-UK declares war on Nazi Germany, followed by OTL-US, OTL-France, OTL-Germany, OTL-Poland and OTL-Russia. Radio stations in the US celebrate by playing various renditions of We Did It Before (and we can do it again), among others.

Dec. 24: OTL-China, Taiwan, the Philippines, and both Koreas declare war on Dp-Japan.

Dec. 28: In her Christmas Address (being about three days 'behind' OTL-Earth), Queen Victoria declares that 'An attack on any Britain is an attack on every Britain!' Stp-UK Parliament declares war on Dp-Germany.

Feb. 16 (2013): A successful better-than-break-even polywell is demonstrated in OTL-Switzerland, and the plans and methods involved are posted online. The device confirmably works as advertised, but according to experts, shouldn't (though no-one finds any clear evidence of cheating, beyond that fact that it shouldn't work this well). Most who try to reproduce the device get a normal polywell, unable to break even, but a few, always the more eccentric, are able to replicate or even improve on the device using the same or similar methods.

Feb. 19: A few people on OTL-Earth, mostly in the US and Europe, but not exclusive to those regions, begin visiting doctors due to odd skin conditions. Mostly, these relate to the skin changing colour, but not itching or otherwise causing discomfort. Blood samples taken, in some cases, also appear to be the wrong colour, but are chemically what they should be, and return to red when separated from the source by enough distance, time, and/or both (usually no more than two yards and/or five minutes). Some, with or without odd skin colours, have noticed minor physiological changes, such as eye or hair colours changing, ears becoming pointed, foreheads gaining ridges, fingers and/or toes becoming slightly webbed, and so forth. A very few appear to have small improvements to strength, reflexes, senses, and so forth. In nearly all cases, they note that the new features make them resemble their favorite science fiction or fantasy race, or a specific character or characters.

New parts:

March 1: Stp-US President Edward J. Phelps (Whig) offers a reward for the design of an orbital rocket with greater lift than any in use by the Great Powers, and an astronef able to cross the void to the other Earths swiftly, safely, and comfortably. This reversal of the usual Whig policy surprises many, but most of the smarter Stp-American politicians can see the way the wind is blowing. Stp-Earth's Russian Empire declares war on Nazi Germany. The fact that the Tsar's current favorite mistress is Jewish has nothing to do with that, of course.

March 7: The astronef carrying Stp-UK's ambassador to OTL-UK, along with various trade goods, scientists, and so forth, is launched from British Guiana, along with the first unmanned supply flight to the Stp-British space station. The crew, and some of the passengers, are veterans of both space and war. Stp-Russia announces plans to assemble a 'heavy' astronef at their space station, the first sections of which will be carried into orbit next month. Also announced is the launch of an embassy to OTL-Russia, next week.

March 12: On the 'forward' side of OTL-Earth's three light-second bubble, a small particle spray occurs, so faint as to be almost undetectable. Almost. While radar and infrared telescopes pointed at the area detect nothing, optical scopes observe something fantastic (once it slows down enough to be clearly seen): a gold and silver dragon larger than a C-130, flying through space, apparently by occasionally flapping its wings. Below the dragon is a bronze arch, with crossbars clutched in the great creature's front and rear talons. The arch carries a great bronze dish, upon which sits a magnificent roundhouse of the finest woods, ivory, and well-polished stone and bronze, not gaudy, but likely far more beautiful than any such structure was in our history.

March 13: The dragon and dwelling enter OTL-Earth's atmosphere, heading toward Britain, and more specifically, London. As they approach Hyde Park, a hill rises to meet the house (at a rate of about seven inches per second), in the clearing a little east of The Long Water. As the house touches down at the crest of the hill, the bronze dish and arch seem to collapse into themselves. A bronze fence grows three feet high at the base of the new hill, as the dragon seems to shrink to the size of an elephant, and gently dives into The Long Water, splashing around for a while. The people who exit the house are dressed quite finely, despite the over all look of their clothing being evocative of Ancient Britain. All are quite comely, and have pointed ears. The most beautiful woman among them approaches the fence, and attempts to speak to the British police and military personnel who by that point have arrived. After trying one incomprehensible language after another, the dragon sticks its head out, snickers, and says 'Lingua Latina.' Luckily, one of the officers remembers enough of his time at Oxford to establish a dialogue: The woman is named Brigith, and she is the daughter of Imperator Ambrosius Aurelianus Romanorum, known more properly as Arthur, High King of the Britons. Her mother is the High Elf Indeg, the eldest of the king's three principle concubines, and a daughter of the King of the High Elves of The Isles. Her father and maternal grandfather have empowered her to speak for them to the Queen of this Britannia, as her brother and sisters have been sent to the other Britanniae (the missions to Stp-Earth and Clp-Earth haven't arrived yet, but the one on Dp-Earth is on its way down, being escorted by a great flock of RAF fighters). The dragon, Dyfnallt, is only sticking around long enough to move the embassy, if requested, and then he needs to go back and get the embassy for the next Earth over (Clockpunk Earth).

March 15: The Russian ambassadorial astronef is launched, and is mated to it's long-range booster. The Russian ambassador is Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia, who hopes, among other things, to meet and court whichever of Putin's daughters will find him most attractive, as it's clear to the Tsar that Vladimir Putin is Tsar Vladimir IV in all but title.


For those who are wondering, Brigith and her siblings are a non-standard type of half-elf, being the children of a spirit who was not possessing anyone at the time, and thus being spirits, themselves (which is how they can survive unprotected in the vacuum of space). They are 'half-elves' only socially, and in being more psychologically human than most elves are. The staff and guards of the embassy are mostly half-fey of various kinds. On another note, I sadly lack the skill to write the epic tale of how Arthur got the King of Elfland's daughter as his first concubine, but Brigith is perfectly willing to tell it, in the grand style of ancient British bards (save that she'll be speaking it in Latin).



EDIT for clarification: What crosses the dimensional barrier when a spirit travels from one universe to another is information on telepathic carrier waves, and it really shouldn't disturb the 'gate' nearly enough to produce a detectable particle spray. It looks like they're actually traveling physically because that's how they think of themselves (and transferring spirits so that they have sufficient, erm, administrative access to manifest apparently physical bodies on worlds other than their own is a fairly epic achievement for any wizard). Just another example of the Random Omnipotent Being messing with people, since it creates assumptions in-character that are contradicted by reality (though on the bright side, it does convey a warning that would otherwise have been absent).

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

If not for the 10,000 character limit, I would be able to post the whole timeline in one thread.

Additions to earlier parts:

March 1: On Dp-Earth, a massive BRG rocket attack strikes at Peenemünde. The rockets that get through the crude-but-effective German missile defenses damage launch facilities and disrupt the next interplanetary fire mission. In the Dp-USA, Dr. Goddard's next 'probe', this time sponsored by the US Army, is launched, along with its attendant boosters. Hitler orders the alternative long-range launch facilities in German East Africa to be made ready ahead of schedule. On OTL-Earth, the Argentinian government points out that they are not at war with the Space Nazis, and thus the most moral act in regard to the Falkland Islands (which they call the Islas Malvinas) is to 'return' them to Argentina - several British tabloids make the claim that the reason Argentina isn't at war with the Nazis is that they're already ruled by them.

March 2: After some debate on both sides, Stp-France agrees to support Charles de Gaulle's Free French Forces, on the condition that the new Dp-French government with be a constitutional monarchy, with a strong monarch, under either the current head of the House of Bourbon on Dp-Earth, current head of the House of Orléans on Dp-Earth (either of whom would be Henri VI), or current head of the House of Bonaparte on Dp-Earth (Napoléon VI Louis), depending on which of the three Houses is the choice of the Estates of post-war Dp-France. Copies of the treaty are signed and witnessed on both Earths, and Stp-France declares war on Dp-Germany. The Papal States launch the first of four expeditions to the Romes of the other worlds, to 'help' the other Popes adjust to the 'correct' doctrines (those being the doctrines of Clement XV). This first mission is on it's way to Clockpunk Earth.

March 3: In orbit of Dp-Earth, the boosters are mated, all the math checks out, and the 'probe' (actually a delivery vehicle for military secrets FDR has elected to share with OTL-USA) is on its way. In Dp-China, Mao Tse-tung is executed by the Imperial Japanese Army. On Dp-Luna, several of the domed cities begin using masers mounted on the larger travel-spheres as transmitters, as these are less inconvenient to use than flashing the city lights, can still be used when the cities are in daylight, and are mobile, thus useful when the cities are facing away from Earth Prime.

March 4: On Stp-Earth, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Holy Roman Empire (restored by treaty after the Franco-Prussian War, both to further humiliate the Prussians, and to make Germany less of a threat; if not for Prussia being a member, would be slightly smaller than OTL-Germany; Alexander IX did offer some Italian territories and a nice enclave in Rome, to go with the 'priviledge' of the Holy Roman Emperor being crowned by the Pope, but the Lutherans weren't having it), Papal States (only joining because Clement XV is an ardent monarchist - Divine Right of Kings, you see), Scandinavian Federation, and a few minor powers sign the Compact of Mainz, in which they pledge to join whichever side, Axis or Allies, will swear by oath and treaty to restore the legitimate governments (by which they mean, and clearly state in the text, monarchies under the Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns, Wettins, Wittelsbachs, and so forth, with significant de facto and de jure power) of the German territories currectly ruled by the Third Reich (analysts note that this would not actually require Hitler to step down, he'd just have to hand over some significant amount of real executive, legislative, and/or judicial power to them, as constitutional monarchs). While the OTL-USA and various other OTL powers aren't pleased by this, most of the other Allies are fine with it (especially the Stp-British, French, and Russians, and the Dp-British and Free French; not all for the same reasons, of course), and begin drawing up just such a treaty.

(OOC: I'm kind of wondering which OTL nations would agree to that just to troll the USA, which would agree out of not caring too much what happens to the Dp-German territories, just wanting more nations to at least pay the costs of the war, and which would be significant amounts of both. The Dp and Stp Allies aren't trolling anyone, but they don't consider OTL-USA useful or threatening enough to bow to its wishes.)

March 6: In OTL-Britain, a series of mysterious disappearances and other strange occurrences in and around Nether Wallop cause UNIT to first cordon off the village, and then evacuate it the next day.

March 8: Around 3am GMT, reporters and other curious folk lurking near the perimeter outside Nether Wallop hear shouting, gunfire and other explosions, and 'electric noises', as well as seeing strange lights.

March 10: One of Dp-Japan's submarine oil prospecting boats discovers petroleum near the Senkaku Isles. Dp-Japanese PM Konoe orders drilling operations to begin as soon as possible, using designs relayed by radio from OTL-Japan; in support, the Imperial Japanese Navy is ordered to begin the construction of bases on those islands best suited to it. (Daqing oil field, mentioned in one of the first messages from OTL-Japan (along with information on better methods of refining the thick crude there), has a higher priority at the moment, but doesn't make the news on OTL-Earth like the Senkaku Isles do.)

New:

March 17: The Stp Allies sign the Treaty of Avallon, acceding to the Compact of Mainz. On Dp-Earth, Churchill and de Gaulle sign a similar treaty in London. The signatories of the Compact of Mainz begin declaring war on the Axis powers. For the moment, it is agreed that their assistance will flow primarily through the Scandinavian Federation's space program.

March 18: In a small town in northern California (OTL-USA), the high school is the site of a very strange and violent incident, in which several students are killed and more injured, by a person wearing what appears to be riot armour and a black cape. The attacker, who called himself 'Darth Venger', is described as having a voice 'like an angry nerd trying to sound like Darth Vader', but his actions were far more intimidating: those security cameras that were working at the time show him cutting up doors, furniture, and people with a glowing red lightsabre, as well as apparently causing several students and one teacher to choke or fall back by gesturing at them, and throwing bolts of lightning from his off hand (which accounted for some of the non-functional cameras). The school's lock-down procedure prevented the victims from escaping the assailant, who seemed to focus on suspected bullies, only incidentally harming others. In the last classroom he attacked, he ordered several attractive female bullies, some forced to follow him from other classrooms, to strip, but seemed at a loss for what to do once they were naked. At that point, the security camera in the room was destroyed, and the assailant was himself assailed, by 'a Jedi Knight and some superheroes', according to witnesses. 'Darth Venger' was forced to flee, and the 'superheroes' vanished after attempting to pursue. The entire incident took less than twenty minutes, a significant proportion of which was spent in the last classroom. It is not known who leaked the security footage to the Internet, but several clips had 'gone viral' by the end of the day.

March 20: On Earth Prime, the parents of the girls who were stripped by 'Darth Venger' file lawsuits against the school, school district, and so forth, for damages and emotional trauma caused by their failure to keep the video off the Internet. They and others also join a lawsuit againt the police department (and the city), for not arriving in time, or promptly capturing the offender. At the Tower of London, the late Queen Anne Boleyn engages in a lively theological discussion with several women taking the castle tour, among them an Anglican vicar and a Catholic nun. Also in OTL-England, the people of Nether Wallop are permitted to return to their village, which UNIT and the Royal Engineers cleaned and repaired for them, as an apology for the inconvenience. The place had never looked so good.

March 24: The capsule from Dp-USA penetrates the three light-second bubble around Earth Prime, accompanied by the now-familiar particle spray. Captain Henry Wales of The Blues and Royals (Prince Henry of Wales) returns to Britain, and is seconded to UNIT UK.

March 28: The Dp-USA capsule enters OTL-Earth's atmosphere, and makes a fairly soft landing at Area 51, pleasing and/or worrying conspiracy theorists all over the planet. The capsule, which looks like a slightly larger and sleeker Apollo Command Module, is found to contain: about a tonne of neatly organized microfilm, half a tonne of equipment and materials, a little over a third of a tonne of frozen and/or otherwise preserved biological samples, and about another third of a tonne of lead and a third of a tonne of water, as radiation shielding - mostly around said biological samples.

EDIT: As you can see, the timeline now has a couple of adventure seeds.

Later EDIT: To clarify something that might need clarifying, the Dp-Japanese got their technical information from OTL-Japanese civilian sources, not from the OTL-Japanese government.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Sorry for taking so long to update. I have been working on it, but computer trouble and other distractions mean that a proper timeline update may take a while, yet. If my computer is repaired tomorrow (I'm using my father's, at the moment), I'll try to have an update by Friday or earlier, even if it's got gaps in it. I have some crunch to post, but it's less ready. Might end up posting some of it anyway, just to get help, though.

In the thread on Spacebattles.com, Random 832 asked a question that I feel should also be answered here, since it's potentially quite important:

The props don't empower themselves, they're empowered by the spirits and the possessor's subconscious as part of the empowerment of outsiders. By 'newly built,' I think you mean props built after the probe arrives (I can't think of another interpretation in context, but I could be missing something)?

Yes, but more haphazardly. Spontaneous' enchantment occurs due to several factors: possession, emotional investment, whether the owner also built/modified it, how 'interesting' the spirits think it will be, ambient temperature, and surprise factor - the latter is important, because if an item is made, modified, or otherwise obtained with the intention that it will be empowered, the spirits usually expect the owner to consciously work toward empowering it (though once they've started, a change in expectation won't necessarily get them to stop), which mostly limits it to the skills the owner has developed, or gained access to by getting outside help. The spirits may help out, especially if the result would be interesting/entertaining, and/or would be 'in-genre', from the spirits' PoV.

I should also note that how long a spontaneous enchantment takes varies upward by how powerful and how complex it would be, and downward by how many spirits take an interest, how much interest they give it (i.e. how much time and effort they're willing to spend), and how powerful the spirits are (gods and powerful saints can just snap their fingers and it's done, but that's more a matter of enchantment through prayer, not 'spontaneous' enchantment; spirits tend to take longer).

The first few magic items were empowered within a day, but weren't all that powerful, and in some cases, what power they had took longer to notice. The last items marked for 'spontaneous' enchantment are still being worked on. The restored Galileo prop is one probable example, although it probably won't be as capable as it's fictional counterpart. Likewise, there are attempts to build the Millenium Falcon, and other SF vehicles. The various TARDIS props will probably take the longest to go 'live', due to the massive amounts of permanent space warping (wormhole or otherwise) required. (EDIT: Signature Possession (GURPS Spaceships, not sure which page, due to aforementioned computer problems) is probably the easiest way to write this up; Joel described it as "an Enhancement modifier to Wealth-level that lets you treat an object (must be SM+4 or larger I think, so you cant use it for personal gear) worth a % of your total wealth as if it's signature gear.")

None of them will be capable of FTL on their own, unfortunately, though some may be capable of astrally projecting the crew/passengers into the realms of the collective unconscious occupied by their series of origin (or into humanity's memory of the past/prediction of the future, for vessels said to be capable of time travel). That's not necessarily a good thing, of course, but it could be advantageous - the probability of it being lethal is not small, though, and it could lead to attracting the wrong sort of attention to the physical world.

Determining whether a prop or other item is being enchanted is fairly simple, once you know how to look. The most mundane method is comparing temperatures: fetishes and some charms are often a little cooler than their surroundings, as the spirits involved draw in the heat to power themselves (unless they have no physical effect, in which case they don't need it), and items being enchanted (even those with no powers that should have a physical effect) will normally be cooler than that, as the spirits make small physical changes to the item. How much cooler, again, depends on how powerful the item will need to be, and how fast the spirits are working. Very rarely, if ever, will an item be cold enough compared to it's surroundings for condensation to form, and in those cases, only briefly, while it's in use, not while being empowered. Electromagnetic sensors, such as those used by OTL ghost hunters, will sometimes detect spiritual activity, but won't help much in determining what the spirits are doing. ESP, telepathy, astral sight, and various sensory spells and magically enhanced sensors, will also detect such activity, and may grant more details as to what's actually being done, and how long it will take.

A similar situation prevailed on Clockpunk Earth (though on a smaller scale, due to the lower population, smaller number of outsiders, and the relative lack of things to be enchanted - still, a fair number of people had geegaws that they thought were 'lucky' or 'magical'), a while after the comet arrived, but it happens very rarely, now.


Another note, related to spirits: Spirits capable of semi-permanent 'solid' manifestation are fairly common on Fantasy Earth, uncommon on Dieselpunk Earth, quite rare on Clockpunk Earth, and vanishingly rare on Steampunk Earth, to the point that few, even among magic-users, believe it's even possible (they'll be quite surprised when they find out what the Britannian embassies are). On Infopunk Earth (calling it 'OTL Earth' is starting to feel odd), it's rare, but growing more common, especially after the arrival of the embassy from Britannia. It will probably never be as common as on Fa-Earth, and perhaps not even as common as on Dp-Earth.

Spirits capable of brief moments of 'solid' manifestation, or longer periods of audible and/or visible interaction with the living, perhaps accompanied by momentary bursts of psychokinetic and ergokinetic force, are much more common, though less so on Stp-Earth (where even a moment of 'solid' manifestation almost never happens) than on Clp-Earth. Sorry about the run-on sentence.

I may end up altering which worlds have more easily manifesting spirits (or altering how generally easy it is, at least), between Infopunk Earth and Dieselpunk Earth, but the others are pretty firmly set.

EDIT: The disconnects between 'reality', 'what human society wants', and 'what the spirits expect and want' (for the spirits, that's mostly 'in-genre behavior,' not that they all agree on what the genre is), is one of the important background conflicts of the story. For example, if a government makes a habit of 'stealing' the gifts the spirits give (whether or not that government gives itself the legal right to do so, a la things like 'eminent domain'), that government is likely to end up cursed by angry spirits, even if their motivation is a genuine desire to keep irresponsible children and/or fools from killing themselves with their 'cool new toys' (a very real possibility with some of them).

On another note, I'm thinking that having whole paragraphs in red text, bold or not, is perhaps a bad idea, for reasons of eye strain. Having the first few words might work better, as in the edit a few paragraphs up, about Signature Possessions. What do you think?

Later EDIT: 'Will Not Immediately Work For Thief' is a normal 0-point Feature for spontaneously enchanted possessions. Something that will automatically work for anyone (or any category of user that the GM feels is large enough) would get a limitation on point cost, worth the negative of the 'Will Not Immediately Work For Thief' enhancement's normal cost (I can't find it, but I know I've seen it somewhere, before - maybe in Supers, in the gadget rules?), or should just be treated as equipment. Signature Gear and Signature Possessions that were not a gift of the spirits may have the 'Will Not Immediately Work For Thief' enhancement, but are not required to. It costs half as much as normal, if they do. 'Will Try To Return To True Owner' (not sure how much that should cost, but if it doesn't move on it's own, this qualifies as a very limited form of the Serendipity advantage) is not a Feature, but it should be very common among spontaneously enchanted items.

The monetary cost (which determines the cost of Signature Gear/Possessions) should be based on the cost of the base object, with a small multiplier - the actual cost will vary quite a bit until the setting matures, after all.

EDIT: Turns out it's Signature Assets, not Signature Possession, and it's SM+2, probably so you can use it for a motorcycle. It's on Spaceships 2, p27.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Over on SpaceBattles, I noted you asked for snippets. I came up with one, while I was thinking about this at work, today. (It was a boring day.) I wanted to read the rest of the thread, over at SpaceBattles, before I posted it.

You and some of the other guys, over there, hinted at some of these ideas. It's long, so it'll take several messages. Given that this is the SJ Games GURPS forum, I thought of it more as an adventure seed.
__________________________________________________ _________________

During the winter, all color vanished and Washington, D.C., became a washed out daguerreotype of gray and white. Dark gray clouds blocked the sunshine on most of the short winter days, and dropped fresh white slush in layers atop the dirty gray remnants of previous storms.

Not that Bill Friedman ever really saw much of that. He spent most of his time, these days, in windowless rooms deep inside a crowded, nondescript office building on the outskirts of the nation's capital. With the onset of war in Europe, the previous September, the Signals Intelligence Service had seen a rapid increase in the size of its staff.

He hoped they got funding for the new digs out in Arlington, soon.

The appearance of four other Earths, actually visible in the daytime sky, meant the SIS budget would probably double (at least), this next fiscal year. Some of his best people already worked day and night as they tried to listen to and decode the radio traffic from two of the other Earths. The traffic from the center Earth had proven the most problematic. That planet's advanced broadcast technology had been a blue-nosed bitch to figure out, and the sheer quantity of the information had proven absolutely overwhelming.

All they initially could hope to do was record as much of it as possible, and devote as much of the little time as they would have, in the war-years to come, sorting through it all.

Then, they got some help.

The broadcasts that began, a month ago, had initially caused serious distress amongst the staff. When Frank Rowlett realized some of the broadcasts were directed to him, personally, and used some of his own private encryption schemes, the young man almost had a coronary. As Friedman walked into the room set up especially for Rowlett, he breathed a sigh of relief. He and his senior cryptanalyst were the only two permitted inside, and it was the quietest room in the building, since it had only the one teleprinter.

That machine currently chattered quietly, to itself. It seldom paused, these days; usually, it only became still when the radio receiver shifted to the predetermined frequency according to the schedule sent during the first transmission received by Rowlett. It was a damned clever innovation, brilliantly simple, and one Friedman kicked himself about; he wished he'd thought of it.

Of course, given what he'd learned about the organization at the other end of the broadcast, Friedman expected to learn a lot more tricks like that, in the very near future.

Frankly, this so-called, "National Security Agency" on the 21C Earth scared the hell out of him, even though he now understood it to be the successor of Friedman's very own SIS.

If anything, that actually made it worse. As quiet as this room was, Friedman had grown to dread opening that door, each morning. All too often, Rowlett looked at him with the same mix of perplexity and foreboding that appeared on his face, now.

"Did the broadcast finish, Frank?"

"Yeah, I got the call about 5 a.m., and came straight in. Couldn't sleep, anyway, knowing it was nearly done."

"Is it as bad as we thought it might be?"

"Well, no, to be honest. Thankfully. I see no threat to the nation from his activities, directly, but the issue still needs to be addressed. It's a real vulnerability, in one of the worst possible places."

"You got it packaged up?"

"Yeah. I finished proof-reading it, just a bit ago. Weirdly, it's not complete. The timeline of the narrative just stops."

"When?"

"This month."

Friedman picked up the bundle of type-written pages, and scanned through them. He'd already read everything received, up through yesterday. There wasn't that much more. He ran his fingers through his hair, before he realized it. Now, he'd have to comb it out, again.

"Alright. I'll take it to the president."

************************************************** ******

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

The man on the bench outside the door of the Oval Office fumed silently. He'd already been through this, once, with this president, and thought he'd worked out clear understanding with the man. His work to defend the United States against her enemies, both external and internal, brooked no interference. Once he'd explained that to Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and provided proof of the sincerity of his belief (in the form of the surveillance transcripts he had about Mrs. Roosevelt's... distaff interests), he felt the two men had reached an accommodation.

Since then, on the rare occasions he'd visited the White House, he'd been ushered in to see President Roosevelt with all courtesy and no delays. If anything, the growing threat of war in Europe, followed by its actual outbreak, had made his work even more vital.

The door opened. Finally.

"Mr. Hoover? The president will see you, now."

J. Edgar Hoover levered himself from the bench with an almost inaudible "hrumph" and walked into the Oval Office. He greeted the spectacled Roosevelt politely enough, and eyed Mr. Friedman. J. Edgar Hoover knew the Jewish gentleman, of course (he knew everyone) and knew Friedman's mathematical passions left little room for the more... physical sort. The man was happily married to a wonderful woman who shared his passions, and she had even proven quite useful to the FBI's pursuit of rumrunners during the '30s.

Now, Friedman avoided looking him in the eye, and Hoover felt the first hint of a chill. What could the SIS have discovered?

"Thank you for coming, on such short notice, Mr. Hoover. Would you like a cup of coffee?"

More chill. The word, "pleasant" never described Roosevelt's demeanor toward the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

"No thank you, mister president. I understand you had a matter of some urgency to discuss?"

Cut to the chase. Get to the point, and then deal with it head-on.

"We do, Mr. Hoover. It has come to our attention that a security risk exists at the highest levels of this government. A risk this nation cannot tolerate, given the troubled times ahead."

"As director of the FBI, I am terribly concerned by this, Mr. President, and will do everything in my power to assist in this matter."

"I expected nothing less, Edgar. May I call you Edgar?"

The chill becomes an icicle, inserted from below.

"Certainly, sir. May I know the nature of this threat?"

"Not a threat, Edgar. At least, not yet. However, it could become one, should it be permitted to continue on its present course. It came as quite a shock, I must say, when Bill, here, delivered the information to me, earlier, today."

"Bill...? Mr. Friedman brought you this."

"Yes he did, Edgar. As you may know (but probably shouldn't), Friedman's people have monitored the radio traffic from our new celestial neighbors. Well, one of them, the United States on the future Earth, contacted the SIS directly, several months ago."

Cold dread.

"Did they? This Negro college professor they have as president informed us of a threat?"

"Not a threat, Edgar. Simply a risk, but one we cannot tolerate."

A long pause.

"What is the nature of this risk, if I may ask?"

"You certainly may, Edgar. Take a look."

Roosevelt slid a thick binder across his desk. With no hesitation, his guest picked it up and flipped open the cover. He stared at the first page, for a long moment.

The president's voice was surprisingly gentle.

"Bill tells me he'll soon be able to receive what he calls 'high-resolution photographs' that validate this information. He's also paper-clipped the most relevant sections. You may read them, if you like."

"I'm... I'm certain that will not be necessary, Mr. President."

"I'll need your resignation, Edgar, effective immediately. Mr. Tolson's, as well. You will both receive your pensions, and a quiet retirement with no fuss and no publicity, but the continued presence of the two of you in your current positions has become... untenable."

The director of the FBI looked up from the binder, lips pressed into a firm line, but his face pale. He no longer needed to see it. He would not soon forget the title page, J. Edgar Hoover: The Man and the Secrets.

"I believe I can speak for Mr. Tolson when I say you shall have them in the morning, Mr. President."

"Thank you, Edgar. That will be sufficient."

The two men watched the FBI director depart, back stiff. The door clicked shut behind him, quietly.

"Are you certain that was the best way to handle this, Mr. President? The files he has...."

"It's a risk, Bill, I know. But the one thing that came through clearly in this biography is that, despite his... foibles, Mr. Hoover loves this country very much. So much, in fact, that he's willing to betray its principles in the name of defending it, and therein lies the rub. I don't think he'll use the files. In fact, I think your contact on the the future Earth is most likely correct. The most damaging ones will be gone, by morning."

"Well, sir, I hope you're right. Mr. Hoover never really struck me as the altruistic or forgiving sort. But, be that as it may, whom do you have in mind as a successor?"

"I've got a couple of ideas, Bill, but I need to kick 'em around, some more, and talk to Harry."

************************************************** ******

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

New York Police Commissioner Ralph Weston checked his hat and coat and made his way into the Cobalt Club. It had been a long and exciting day, and he needed to unwind with a drink before he went home. The wife would sniff, but as long as he arrived early, Mrs. Weston wouldn't complain. Much.

Especially since the repeal of prohibition meant his presence at the club didn't threaten his political standing.

Not that it ever did, all that much. New York wasn't Chicago, but the Big Apple's ability to wink at slight contraventions was one of the city's most pleasant cultural traits. Besides, Mrs. Weston's social standing was in for a meteoric rise, in the near future, and that always put her in a forgiving mood.

"Well, hello, commissioner! Please, won't you join us?"

Of course, pleasant conversation always helped ease one's burdens, and the reason Monte and Margot were two of his oldest friends (How did they meet, again...?) was because they were such excellent listeners. Smiling, the New York police commissioner took the proffered chair.

"Thank you, Monty, I believe I will. The usual, please, Clevon."

"Right away, sir."

Margot smiled, and touched his arm in that delicate manner he found so appealing.

"Commissioner, I do believe congratulations are in order, if my little birds aren't all a-twitter over nothing."

"Your little birds are as astonishing as ever, my dear. Yes, we should make the official announcement, tomorrow morning, but the appointment has already made back-room rounds at the Capitol. The departure of my predecessor was met with such surprise and relief that I believe Mr. Roosevelt could have appointed John Dillinger to be the next director of the FBI, and won Senate approval. We anticipate no difficulty, on that score."

"Mrs. Weston will be so excited! When will the two of you depart for Washington?"

"I've already spent several days, there, Margot, and the two of us will travel there, by train, in two days. We'll need to pick out a residence, of course, and the briefings have already begun."

Weston patted his briefcase, and Margot's companion smiled with delight.

"Any juicy scandals in there, Weston?"

The commissioner chuckled.

"No, not at all, Monty. That was rather more the forte of my predecessor, actually, and I have better things to do than listen at bedroom keyholes. The rumors of war grow more dreadful, every day, and the FBI is charged with the responsibility for counter-intelligence. I shall have quite enough to do, without re-creating Mr. Hoover's library of secret files."

Weston waited until Clevon had brought the snifter of brandy and left, before he pulled out the packet of paperwork from the case. The soon-to-be former New York Police Commissioner sighed heavily, and the grooves on his face deepened.

"In the meantime, the FBI staff has begun to brief me on more prosaic matters. These are particularly disturbing. Apparently, what we thought was a random series of murderous assaults on young men and women of color may have a common thread."

Monty leaned forward, eyebrows arched with interest, and tried to get a peak at the report. Weston slapped the cover closed, and the younger man jerked back, looking slightly hurt.

"Oh, come on, commissioner! You can't just drop a bombshell, like that, and then not tell the story. Give!"

"Sorry, Monty. FBI business, you know. Don't even know why I mentioned it to an amateur detective such as yourself."

Margot cut in.

"Now, now! Monty, the commissioner came in here to relax a bit. I don't imagine he'll get to do much of that, in the foreseeable future, so why don't you give the poor man a break? Commissioner, I insist I must intrude on your wife's prerogatives, this once, and ask you for a dance!"

Weston's face lit up with a smile. He swallowed the last of his scotch with a gulp, stood up and offered his arm to the delighted Margot Lane. He walked her to the dance floor, the folder on the table temporarily forgotten.

Margot's companion slid it over, and flipped through the report. Monty glanced at each page, briefly (he needed no more than a quick glance...), returned the folder to the briefcase and locked it securely. After all, Weston might grow suspicious if he saw it left out, when he would clearly remember that he had stashed it, away, before he left the table.

************************************************** *****

Virginia lay cold and slushy, far to the north. However, winters in Mississippi seemed to mostly consist of day after day of cold, miserable rain.

At least, that was the understanding of the new director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This was his first trip south of the Mason-Dixon Line since his honeymoon in the Florida Keys, and that was 23 scorching Junes, ago.

The police chief of Greenwood, Mississippi, blinked in amazement as FBI Director Ralph Weston picked his way across the puddled street on the outskirts of town, toward the roadhouse reluctantly guarded by blue-clad officers huddled in their patrol cars. His men didn't want to be here. He didn't, either. If the FBI claimed this as their jurisdiction, then let them shiver in the rain.

Let them go inside and deal with that... mess. The chief had to meet with some of Greenwood's community leaders about all this. The local "gentlemen's club" would need to lay low.

Weston exchanged the required greetings to the sullen police chief, nodded to the uniformed officers, and then made his way to the door of the roadhouse. James Clarke, the special agent in charge, had apparently been watching for him, and met him, there, with a handshake.

"I'm surprised to see you here, director. This is a big mess, but I didn't think it warranted a flight down from Washington, in this weather."

"Normally, something like this wouldn't. Or, well, it might not. After I read your initial report, though, a few things jumped out at me."

Weston glanced at the Greenwood police chief out of the corner of his eye.

"Let's take this inside, shall we?"

"Well, alright sir. If you insist. You'll need paste under your nose, though. The corpses are gone but there was a lot of blood, and it doesn't get cold enough in Mississippi in March, to freeze things."

The two men made their way inside. The smell was bad. Weston had been around worse.

"So, what's the score, sir, if I may ask?"

"I wanted to double-check some of the finding in your report. I need to know if anything's changed."

"What do you mean? What parts?"

"Your report included detailed descriptions of the gunshot wounds on the victims."

Clarke swallowed, and the lines at the corners of his mouth deepened.

"Yes sir. Noticed that, did you?"

"Yeah. No more than three shots, each. Most only one. Every shot from one of two .45 caliber pistols, mostly likely M1911A1 auto-loaders. Every shot to the torso or the head. No wounds to extremities except those consistent with reflexive defensive moves, in the form of pass-through bullet wounds to the hands and lower arms."

Weston looked around the room, the floor criss-crossed with ghostly chalk outlines. He started to sigh, and then stopped before he gagged.

"No bullets lodged in walls or the floors, except those that passed completely through the bodies of the victims, or those fired by them. Every suspect .45 round matches a wound. That means no shots missed. Has that changed?"

"No. No, sir. It has not."

"What can you tell me about the victims? What do they have in common? Other than the fact they were all white men and were all slaughtered in a roadhouse bar with a Confederate battle flag on the wall?"

"It took us awhile, and we're still confirming, sir, but none of the locals are exactly forthcoming. However, our preliminary information seems to indicate they may have all been members of the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan."

"Is the chapter very active?"

"Records seem to indicate they are, sir. Or, they were. They had a particularly violent record. Beatings. Lynchings. The whole gamut."

"Yeah. Yeah. It fits."

"Fits what, sir?"

"I've seen this sort of thing before, on the New York waterfront. Individuals who met a particularly violent death who, when investigated, seemed to have particularly brutal pasts. Said death dealt out by no more than one or two people who demonstrate a level of murderous skill that borders on the... extraordinary."

Clarke's lips drew into a thin line.

"Yeah. Er, yes sir. I agree."

"My predecessor records similar incidents up and down the East Coast, and even a few cases over in California, especially around the docks of San Francisco. Also, the Chinatowns in New York and Los Angeles, starting about 10 years ago. He opened an 'Extraordinary Circumstances' file, about them."

"I... may have heard something about those files, sir. But this is nowhere near the coast, and there aren't any Chinamen anywhere near Greenwood, Mississippi. Do you think it's the same guy? Do you think it's... him?"

"If it is, what would you think of trying to catch him? Stop him?"

The muscles clenched in Clark's jaw.

"If we can, sir, we should. Vigilantes, especially ones this violent, need to be brought in. The only thing is, sir...."

"Yes?"

"Well, the only thing is, sir, that if it is him, I'd want more men. I'd want an army. This man scares the hell out of me; out of anybody sane. He's worse than that guy in the cape. Much worse."

"I agree. Well. It may come to that. So, have you found anything else?"

"Yes, sir. The office in back has a wall-safe. It was well-hidden, but we found it open, and it had some documents."

"Tell me."

"There was a ledger book, sir. It has a list of names we don't recognize. Alongside each of the names were other names -- including the names of some of the victims who died, here."

"Get on it, Clarke. Work the list. Find them, for me. You can be sure that he's looking for them, too, and wherever they are, that's where he'll be."

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Stupid teacher. Doesn't know nothin' 'bout nothin', Red thought sullenly, as he trudged through the Boston slush. He hated this place. He hated this city. He wanted to go home, 'cept that home wasn't there, no more.

"Red! Hey, Red!"

The sullen boy stopped, as Thomas came running up. The bigger boy was really strong, but he didn't move as fast as Red.

The strength came in handy, though. A white boy had called Thomas, "Uncle" one time. He'd missed school for the better part of a month, and Thomas had got expelled for the rest of the year. He and Red and been friends, ever since, though.

"Hey! What did that old bag have to say?"

Red scowled.

"She said I had to take a note to my mama. It says I ain't been studying, and I been makin' trouble, and she says my aunt needs to come see her."

"You gonna take it to yo' aunt?"

"Hell, no! She got enough to do, without talkin' to no cracker-jack school teacher who don't even talk English right! Ain't nobody can understand none of these white folks, up here in Roxbury."

Thomas' laugh ended abruptly, when his brains exploded out of the back of his skull. Red stared for what seemed forever but must've been only a second because he started to run just as the other boy's body started to crumple and the crack of the gunshot echoed down the street.

A brick exploded as he dodged down an alley. Jumped a fence to see the white pickup truck wheel around the corner, wheels screeching. Dodged through the vacant lot as a bee that wasn't a bee buzzed past his ear. Another alley and through the door of ol' man Greavey's grocery, shouts behind him. Another alley. Another lot. Through the door of his aunt's home.

Two white men in dark suits in his aunt's living room, jumping to their feet as he burst through the door.

Red's knees weak. He was gonna die. Right here, right now. Just like his daddy.

"Relax, boy. We aren't here to hurt you, or anybody else."

"Bull! You with them!"

"Them? Them who?"

Screeching tires outside. Broken glass as the front window exploded and one of the men in the dark suit went down, screaming, a red spot high on his shirt growing larger. Aunt Ella jumping on Red, pulling him to the floor, "Get down! Get down!" The other white man with a revolver in his hand (Where did he get that?) firing out the shattered window. The sound of tires screeching away. Shouts, the white man on the floor yelling, "Call it in! Call it in! I'm okay!"

More white men in black suits. Police, too. You and your family can't stay here, Mrs. Collins. Where will we go? Where will we go? Man in Baltimore. Attorney. Agreed to give you a safe place.

Train ride for a long, long day that passes in a haze. Not really thinking too good. Not really real. White men in black suits protecting them.

Protecting him.

The house in Baltimore was the nicest he'd ever seen. The furniture was new and comfortable. The rugs were clean and bright and not at all frayed. Everything smelled fresh and new.

Red looked around. Tried to be calm. Tried to look like he didn't care.

"Who lives here?"

"I do."

Red turned around, and blinked in shock at the face of the young black man in the white shirt and dark slacks, who looked as if he were trying to hold back laughter at something funny.

"Aw, there ain't no way."

"There is. This is my house. I own this place, and you aren't my only guests."

Voice deep and resonant. It would sing a good hymn. The words, though. They were crisp, no accent. A black man's voice speaking a white man's words. Not really real.

"How did you get a place like this? Did you kill somebody?"

"No, young man. I don't kill people. I'm an attorney, and I get paid good money to do a good job."

Red stood there and blinked like a rube, speechless for the first time in as long as he could remember. The attorney-man stuck out his hand.

"My name is Thurgood Marshall. I doubt your mama named you 'Red', though."

"No. Uh, no sir. I'm Malcolm. Malcolm Little."

************************************************** *****

Ralph Weston sat quietly in the comfortable chair, trying not to stare around the room, as the president of the United States sat across the desk from him, leafing through the report.

"So, all the names on the left side of the list were either colored boys in their teens, or young men of color with good educations and strong family backgrounds?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. President. Also, all of those people in the corresponding list to the right --at least those we've been able to find, alive -- have links to the Ku Klux Klan or other white defense groups, mostly in the south."

"Are there any connections between these boys on the left?"

"No, sir. Not that we've been able to discover and, honestly, it would've been strange had we found any. They ranged in age from 11 years old to nearly 30, and come from all sorts of backgrounds. The only things they have in common is the color of their skin, and the fact that some of them come from families active in civil rights agitation. However, none of them have any history of violence, save for that boy, Little. That's all schoolyard stuff, though."

"You said, "those we've been able to find, alive."

"Yes, Mr. President. Some of the names on the right have dropped out of sight. Most of them are dead, though. Murdered, we think, by the same individual in the same way. Gunshot wounds from one or two .45 caliber autoloading pistols, most likely some variation of the M1911A1."

"How did he find them, Mr. Weston? How did he know to look for these evil men?"

"I wish I could tell you that, sir. I've run across his work, once or twice in the past. Many of his victims have no record of criminal activity, but subsequent investigations almost always turn up evidence of brutal or depraved activities. Opium smuggling. Human trafficking. Worse things. And we have no idea how he finds them."

"Yet, nonetheless, he does."

"Yes, Mr. President. He does. However, there's another question -- something I didn't see, right away."

"Which is?"

"Why did his victims pick these particular coloreds? Mr. Marshall, maybe, makes sense. So does that Reverend King, down in Atlanta. But this boy, Little, is only 14 years, old, and that dead kid, Evers, was only 17, and they lived hundreds of miles, apart."

"I think they're students of history, Mr. Weston, or they received the names from someone who is such a student."

"Hist..? Oh. My God. You think someone on the Future Earth is sending them these names? The names of young colored men who may do something, in the future -- what would be our future?"

"Mr. Friedman thinks that, and I tend to agree. I think I'll have him contact my... colleague, in that Earth's Oval Office. Perhaps some of his people can find out who broadcast these names to our Klan."

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Oh, wow. This is good, tshiggins. It's brilliant. I especially like how you wrote it from the mundane perspective, rather than focusing on the supers.

It seems I'll need to start that Creative Writing thread on Spacebattles sooner rather than later.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Thanks. It was already going to run long, and if I'd put in the blow-by-blow of things from Cranston's perspective, I'd have been writing all night. I also think this way evokes the reader's imagination (or at least, that's what I was trying for...), and may make it more dramatic.

It also demonstrates that the world isn't brightly four-colored, just because it has supers in it. Some of those pulp-magazine characters would have looked like psychopaths (heck, some of them were psychopaths) to those who stumbled across the aftermath of their "adventures."

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Oh, yes. This is a Wold Newton Earth, after all, as much as it is a comic book Earth, and a real Earth.

On another note, the promised Creative Writing thread now exists. I hope you'll post your excellent story, there, and anyone else with a story in this setting will, as well.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

The update is here, as promised:

NOTE: The 'Lanterns' of Earth Prime are mostly on a fairly low power tier, relatively few of them being even as dangerous as a WWI light tank... that flies at around twice a normal human's running pace, and has a flight ceiling of 'I can't breathe at a higher altitude'. The Green Lantern of Dieselpunk Earth is on another level entirely, being roughly as powerful as Superman and Doctor Fate, but there's only one of him.

On another note, the reason I'm not using 'OTL-Earth' anymore, is that the modern Earth in this setting is not OTL Earth, as OTL means 'Our Time Line', and that Earth grows less like our own every day. Instead, 'Earth Prime', 'Earth One', 'Infopunk Earth', or 'Inp-Earth' will be used. While there is no official in-universe name that everyone accepts, many politicians, some scientists, and some news services on Inp-Earth use 'Earth One' for modern Earth, Earth Two for WWII Earth, and so on as they get younger. The other Earths don't all agree on this.

I would have preferred to have March finalized before posting, but then, I was hoping to have March finalized in February. I said I'd update, and here it is.

Additions to earlier parts:


March 3: Instructions for a 'techbane' spell called Hexus are posted to the internet. This is surprising mainly because it's a bit difficult for a Dresden-style spellcaster to use a computer (you generally need someone who uses a different style to shield your computer, or you need to be very, very calm while using it). The existence of this and similar spells is a large factor in the interest so many governments and corporations have in the development of 'anti-magical' or 'anti-psionic' defences.

March 4: In Infopunk Iran, the 'mutant' rat problem reaches the point that ten sniper teams are sent to hunt them (from Real Life, but weird enough to belong here; they're probably weirder and more threatening in this timeline, though).

March 5: A group of four glowing, spindle-shaped objects enter the Dieselpunk Earth-Moon system on a vector from the Mars of that world, pass through, and continue on separate courses for each of the other Earths, traveling at an average speed of around four light-seconds per hour. Maser flashes from Dp-Luna indicate that these are high-speed scout vessels of a design common to the more advanced Martian races: the Ice Warriors, the Changing Martians, and the Mysterons (each has variations, but the Lunarians aren't sure which is which), and that they travel by 'compressing and stretching the cosmic tapestry,' a process which allows very high apparent speeds and great maneouverability, and leaves them at rest relative to the largest mass near anything they collide with. Four light-seconds per hour appears to be their cruising speed, and the highest pseudovelocity the Lunarians have seen them use is nine light-seconds per hour, for about seven minutes. As each scout enters the 'portal' it's aiming for, it comes to an immediate dead stop relative to that Earth, starts and stops a few times at various speeds (and not the same ones in every dimension), makes a partial orbit around that Earth, and slowly accelerates to something other than normal cruising speed (to various degrees), on a course for the Mars of that timeline.

March 6: Advanced Idea Mechanics founded, in Dp-USA. The Frank family is among the more than a hundred Jews smuggled out of Amsterdam to the UK on this date, by the newly-reformed 'Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare' (Special Operations Executive). Young Anne is rather startled to learn that there are many millions of people on another planet who know her through a diary she hasn't even been given, yet. Speculation in the press that tight-beam masers are used to supply the Dp-Earth Allies with intelligence in a way the Germans cannot intercept are refuted when it's pointed out that at a range of about 26 light-seconds, the beam would be too wide to remain unnoticed (which is not necessarily true).

March 8: First confirmed Drop-Bear attack, in Inp-Australia. In Dp-Sunnydale, California, having been tipped off by observers on Inp-Earth who were also BtVS fans, the FBI, assisted by Dr. Fate, arrests Mayor Richard Wilkins II (who as it turns out, is also Mayor Richard Wilkins I), for electoral fraud, negligence in office, and general corruption, among other things.

March 9: Inp-USA launches its first interplanetary fire mission, a retaliatory strike againse Nazi Germany. ETA of the missile is June 13. PLACEHOLDER (Black Lantern Ring toys vanishing; reactions; government has lots of other things to worry about, intelligence & military services concerned but don't admit it, to avoid public panic over what may be only a super-prank)

March 13: The Martian scout in the Infopunk timeline reaches Inp-Mars, and begins its survey of the planet.

March 14: The scout in the Earth Five/Fantasy timeline returns, and begins what appears to be an orbital survey of Fa-Earth.

March 15: In the Vatican City of Earth Prime, Pope Innocent XIV takes office. His choice of papal name comes from his desire to 'restore innocence' to the Church; among other things, it is his intention to seek the resignation and, where possible and necessary, prosecution of those in the Church who have 'deeply betrayed the trust of those in their care'. This strong stance is said to be of great surprise even to some of those who elected him, and to popes on the other Earths who become aware of it.

March 16: The scout surveying Earth Five appears to have finished its work, and returns to the Earth Two system. As before, it comes to a dead stop upon crossing the portal, then zooms off to Mars Two, at its normal cruising speed. The scout surveying Mars One breaks orbit, and begins its return to Earth One.

March 17: A fairly small particle spray (though larger than the house and dragon produced) is detected in Earth Prime orbit, on the vector from Dp-Earth. The operational detection stations narrow down the location fast enough that the satellites are able to focus in time to see an older man in a labcoat and a suit that was out-dated even in 1941, silently screaming and struggling as he suffocates in the vacuum of space. His remains are carefully monitored, as military and intelligence personnel begin making new plans, and in a few cases, having a bit of a panic (as they have no way to know that the three light-second 'barrier/gate' is as close as teleportation can get you). DARPA is ordered to begin serious work on teleportation, as are the R&D services of other governments; many Trekkers, Gaters, and Schlockers do likewise, with much tinier budgets. It is made more dificult due to the paradigms they are working with, which include the belief that matter transmission involved breaking up that matter into it's component particles (whether molecules, atoms, or even smaller particles), and reassembling them at the destination. This tends to result in test objects being dissociated into said particles, or at best, being somewhat... rearranged. Unfortunately, the DARPA scientists assigned to Project November are mostly using the same paradigm.

March 19: The International Astronomical Union gathers online for the first of a series of emergency meetings, intended to replace the current definition of a planet, due to 'strong reactions to the current designation of Pluto, particularly given that an exception was made for Neptune.' Rumour has it that many members of the IAU were personally visited by the Roman goddess Proserpina (Persepone, in Greek), to inform them that her husband Pluto, god of the dead, is not a dwarf by any measure, nor is he minor, and that they ought to remove such insults from their way of naming things in the Heavens, before he chooses to take notice, and smites them in great wrath.

March 21: On Dp-Earth, James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes, a few days after his 17th birthday, applies to join the Army - which is very difficult, due to his youthful appearance. He is eventually recruited by the Military Intelligence Division, where his mastery of linguistics and disguise are greatly appreciated. Also on Dp-Earth, American businessman Andrew Ryan first has the glimmer of an idea that might become the under-sea city of Rapture. On Earth Prime, a rampage by an apparent 'Red Lantern' ends when a cop with a Sinestro Corps ring cuts off the finger that the perpetrator's ring is on. This results in the Red Lantern's death, as the ring had already rendered his heart unusable. Paramount Pictures and CBS make substantial donations to the IAU. In the UK, Scotland's devolved Government announces that a referendum on Scottish independence will be held on 18 September, 2014. Reactions off-planet are decidedly mixed, although the governments of Dp-Germany and the USSR come out strongly in favor of it, and of similar movements in Dp- and Stp-Scotland. Alex Salmond's reaction to this 'support' is... not printable.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

March 24: The Stp-Earth Papal expedition arrives in orbit of Clockpunk Earth. After a few hours of checks, the astronef Sanctus Christopherus enters the atmosphere, splashing down around half past one in the afternoon, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Italia, just a bit west of (and easily visible from) the port of Ostia (which is in rather better shape than one might have expected from OTL history). In the Dp-UK, the seven greatest mystery guilds of the British Isles agree that while they dislike or despise each other, the Nazis are just that much more offensive, for various reasons. The Grand Masters of the seven styles (though not all of them use the same term for 'highest-ranking member') make an appointment to see King George, to renew the guilds' long-lapsed oaths to the Crown, and offer their services in the War, and in dragging the other mystery guilds into it. The Martian scout in the Earth One timeline reaches Earth One, and begins a survey, ignoring all attempts at communication.

March 26: The Martian scout in the Steampunk timeline returns to Stp-Earth, and begins a survey. Attempts to communicate with it are unsuccessful. On Inp-Earth, the result of the IAU meetings began on March 19 is published online: a new system, based loosely on that published in Star Trek: Star Charts (they seem to have been in a great hurry), though several letters are left unused for future expansion, or have slightly different definitions. Under the new system, Sol has eleven planets, counting Pluto. The Martian scout ends its survey of Earth One, PLACEHOLDER

March 28: The Martian scout in the Steampunk timeline finishes its survey, and returns to the Earth Two universe.

New Material:

March 30: A number of old, famous people on Earth One have been reporting improved health and 'feeling younger' since the first Dp-Earth probe arrived. Also, some older or better-known actors and actresses seem to be gaining powers consistent with their more famous roles (though greatly toned down, in the more powerful cases). This is demonstrated quite strongly when a Neo-Nazi attempts to assassinate Sir Christopher Lee, and is rendered unconscious by bolts of force lightning. Interestingly, despite the use of 'The Dark Side', his personality seems unchanged. Even Jedi and other psychics feel that he's still very much himself, not Dooku, nor Saruman, nor Dracula. Lee, Sir Ian McKellen, and Ian McDiarmid are officially hired by UNIT for part-time research work.

April 1: In Infopunk Britain, a newpaper called The Sun reports the crowning of a new King o' the Cats, witnessed by a reporter for The Sun, Queen Elizabeth II, and Ambassador Brigith mírchArthur ('mírch' means 'daughter of'; it seems to have been 'merch' in Old Welsh, but she's from about 300 years too early for Old Welsh to exist). Also in The Sun, a young couple reports having been chased out of a graveyard by a weeping angel statue, though what they were doing in a graveyard at night is left to the readers' imaginations. In orbit of Clp-Earth, the last Martian scout begins it's survey of the planet, starting with the debris ring, from which it takes a few small samples.

April 3: A civilian-owned, refurbished, and modified F-104 Starfighter is launched from Japan. The highly unusual design includes a crude fusion impulse engine, using a pair of enhanced polywells for power, and somewhat based on a partially lithium-fueled engine that NASA is working on. This is not the only innovation on it, which is proven when the old fighter leaves the atmosphere, makes three orbits of the Earth, and re-enters the atmosphere (protected by an endothermic force field, which took longer to make than any other component of the spaceplane, being a new creation, rather than modified and enhanced off-the-shelf technology), requesting landing clearance at Vandenberg Space Force Base (which is eagerly granted). Step-by-step instructions for the upgrades are made available online, in Japanese and fairly understandable 'Engrish'. The pilot, Kurita Omiko, applies for and recieves a job at Lockheed-Martin, as do some of her team. The rest, unskilled in Engrish, much less English, are hired by the Japanese equivalent of DARPA. The most flight-worthy (which in this context mainly means 'the airframe can still take the load') of the retired F-104s under US government control are ordered transferred to DARPA and LockMart for testing and possible upgrade (start with what already worked, before trying it on other vehicles). Other governments in possession of F-104s begin to do likewise (as do some that have other fighters, with varying degrees of success).

April 4: The Martian scout at Clp-Earth appears to have finished its work, for it returns home. On Stp-Earth, Congressman Jesse Woodson James (D-Mo.) files suit against various Inp- and Dp-Earth filmmakers, authors, and publishing houses, for defamation of character.

April 5: At Dartmouth College, on Inp-Earth, Dr. Paul Vincent says "Gee, that's funny," and vanishes, along with his lab bench, and the equipment thereon. A particle spray is detected, centred on that location, but is markedly different from those of arriving spacecraft, seeming somewhat 'inverted'. Also on Inp-Earth, all bearers of the surname 'Spock' (an old and respected English family, sometimes found in the colonies) have developed Vulcanoid characteristics by this date. In many cases, this is limited to pointed ears, upswept eybrows, and an increased ability to control the expression of emotion (though 'ability' is not the same as 'desire, or 'necessity'), but quite a few also report increased strength, touch telepathy, and so forth - none of them have hearts where their livers should be, though. NYC's 'vigilante problem' makes the international news, when the Russian ambassador is saved from an assassination attempt by a minor Chechen faction by a 'Batgirl' (Steph Brown version, w/ gas mask) and a 'Spider-Man' (Miles Morales costume, but an adult). The superheroes could not be reached for comment. General William L. Shelton, USSF Chief of Staff, breaks ground for the United States Space Force Academy campus, by San Francisco Bay.

April 7?: PLACEHOLDER (Time-Warner/DC, scared of Nekron, worried about lack of visible government response, founds GL- and JL-related NGOs - mostly SAR and other disaster relief, but also private investigation and bonded security, with required classes for any branch)

<probably a different day> A second attempt is made on the Russian ambassador's life (well, the life of his body-double), this time by what appears to be a shapeshifting clay-golem, which later admits to being 'in it for the money', and a guy in a Rhino suit. PLACEHOLDER <Batman, Daredevil, Spider-Men, Lanterns?>

April 10: As a publicity stunt on Infopunk Earth, Robert Downey, Jr. and Troy Hurtubise (and several less well-known, very well-paid, and very nerdy engineers, mostly off-screen) build a suit of working Mark I Iron Man armour, in a cave, with a box of scraps (well, more of a large crate of carefully selected scraps, and a few more crates of tools). The armour is capable of keeping the operator fairly comfortable in the Nevada desert for twenty-four hours of operation (though Downey is only in the suit for about three hours of filming, before handing it over to an Army Ranger for the full twenty-four), before needing replacement of food and water stocks, and is eventually shown to be able to work for a week (much to the shock of the Ranger testing it, and other Army personnel) without needing any maintenance that the operator cannot provide in the field, mainly thanks to the multi-mini-polywell 'Arc' reactor in the chestplate (and redundant mini-polywells elswhere). It cannot fly, and is technically unarmed, but the enhanced strength is close to peak human limits, though with greater endurance, the speed is about equal to what an Army Ranger could make in the same terrain (though he'd make less noise without it), and the armour plating is highly resistant to bullets. The engineers are immediately hired by DARPA, to work on the next model of the suit.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

I still really hate the character limit.



April 11: Disney/Marvel announces plans to create Avengers and X-Men Academies. Not to be outdone, DC announces their intention to creat a few Titans Academies. The stated purpose of these schools is to educate the children in the safe, ethical, and legal use of their powers, keep the kids in school until they're eighteen, and more importantly, keep them from going out and getting themselves and other people killed (or more cynically, to keep them from ending up dead on the news, in costumes from the comics those companies publish). Of course, telling the kids that they're going to have to wait years before they can go out and 'be superheroes' doesn't exactly endear the idea to them, regardless of how the parents feel. Near Cape Canaveral, FL, President Obama breaks ground for the Space University. On Stp-Earth, the first section of the Russian Empire's heavy astronef is launched to the space station Pyotr Velikiy. It will arrive at the station on April 14th.

April 13: On Inp-Earth, Ed Greenwood becomes a Chosen of Mystra (and Mystryl, and Midnight, but all three treated as one goddess) around this date. A small number of other Forgotten Realms fans also become Chosen by her, but only Greenwood is Chosen by all three Aspects. None of them are more than a small fraction as powerful as the Chosen in the books, of course. US President Obama orders all surviving OV-100 class Space Shuttles (OV-101 Enterprise, OV-103 Discovery, OV-104 Atlantis, and OV-105 Endeavour) returned to active duty, and flown to Vandenberg and other suitable locations, for refitting. While technically part of NASA and the USSF's Space Exploration Command (a.k.a. Star Fleet Command, among other nicknames), for the duration of the war, the OV-100 class (and the subsequent OV-200 class, to be designed from lessons learned from the upgraded OV-100s) will be on temporary assignment to the USSF Space Assault Command, or SAC. To help pay for the retrofits, special 'Shuttle Bonds' are issued by the government. More general war bonds are prediced, and a number of advertising companies are already preparing commercials for them; some comic and magazine companies have already dusted off the ones they used in the 1940s, with or without updates. USSF PR personnel begin reviewing the records of USSF officers and other ranks with names similar to those of Star Trek characters (whether their superiors will listen to their advice on this, or not).

April 14: One of Infopunk-Earth's nascent mages begins serious work on codifying the rough equivalent of the Transmutation School in D&D parlance. Tellingly, some of his "talismans of power" (reusable material components) include his lucky dice in a small leatherette dice bag, and a small purple unicorn figurine.

April 17: On Dp-Earth, 12-year-old genius Alexander 'Lex' Luthor creates an advanced radio-computer, capable of easily accessing the internet of Infopunk Earth. A remote terminal for the device is given to his father, the criminal mad scientist Dr. Alexei Luthor, as a birthday present. On Inp-Earth, an early failure in Project November's teleportation experiments is adapted into a potentially long-ranged disintegration ray.

April 19: The astronef Myrmidon, carrying the embassy from Stp-Britain, arrives in Earth Prime orbit. After circling the planet twice, she enters the atmosphere, and glides down for a landing at London Heathrow Airport, chosen for the length of its runways. In Inp-Germany, Heinkel Flugzeugwerke is revived by a group of investors, including certain empowered relatives of Ernst Heinkel. Their medium-to-long-term plan is to manufacture the Space Jet vessels from the Perry Rhodan series.

April 21: On Dp-Earth and Inp-Earth, respectively, Robert A. Heinlein and J. Michael Straczynski announce that they are collaborating on a movie serial script, tentatively named Star Trek: Star Fleet Academy. Casting has barely begun, but both James Doohan and DeForest Kelley are already under contract as stars, and Gene Roddenberry has expressed interest in this adaptation of his late counterpart's work. Many visual effects will be done by computer on Inp-Earth, and transferred to Dp-Earth by the power of radio (Dp-Earth TVs are getting a lot better, thanks to information for Inp-Earth).

April 23: Lex Luthor joins several Inp-Earth internet forums (including this one, having stumbled across it on a Google-walk), and his impressionable young mind is somewhat warped by the experience.

April 27: Starship Enterprises, Ltd. is founded in California, by CBS, Paramount, and a large group of Star Trek fanclubs, for the purpose of manufacturing enhanced (enchanted) technology on a Star Trek theme. On Stp-Earth, US President Phelps breaks ground at Cape Canaveral for the William Cranch Bond Astronef Field (might need a better name).

April 29: Lex Luthor discovers the TV Tropes entry called Cut Lex Luthor A Check, and is deeply inspired, despite his father's insistence that the idea completely misses the point of his villainy.

April 30: The elder Luthor discovers the Evil Overlord List... and promptly discards it as the meaningless prattle of small-minded fools, like anything else that points out what he's doing wrong. The younger Lex holds a different opinion. On Earth Prime, Hanley Page Ltd. recieves permission to attempt a Starfighter refit on two of the surviving Victors.

May 4: On Inp-Earth, Disney/Lucasfilm founds a group of holding corporations, and some subsidiaries thereof: Republic Space Services (containing Corellian Engineering Corporation, Incom, SoroSuub, et cetra), Republic Automation (Cybot Galactica, Indudstrial Automaton, etc.), Republic Defense Industries (BlasTech, Taim & Bak, etc.), and Republic General Products (Fabritech, Novaldex, etc.), as well as endorsing the Jedi Church's attempts to become an official NGO. Star Wars fanclubs are informed of this in advance, allowing rapid recruitment of empowered ('Force-sensitive', according to corporate documents) engineers and other workers (in a few cases, whole fanclubs are recruited together, into the same subsidiary). The point seems to be a mix of 'good PR' (or the hope that such will develop), 'going with the flow,' and 'making a profit off of existing copyrights, since Star Wars fans were most likely going to make these things, anyway' (similar reasoning inspired the creation of Starship Enterprises, above).

May 16: The 'Valentine's Gift' (see February 14) arrives at Dp-Earth orbit, then makes a landing at a custom-built runway, a bit east of Blackpool. In Inp-China, a mysterious white ooze leaks from the middle of a street in Nanjing, China.

May 23: On Inp-Earth, DARPA begins 'back-burner' R&D for a hypothetical prototype battleplate. Conservative estimates project construction to begin before the end of the 21st century... on the Dp-Earth calender.

PLACEHOLDER

August 5: Childers-Robertson-Smythe study "On the Methodology of Thaumatological Didactics: A study of the art of magic leading to its evanescence into a science" is pre-published on various 'open access' websites (Childers is a parapsychologist and occasional hoaxbuster, Robertson is a psychology professor and empowered Negima fan, and Smythe is a more normal psychologist). An average of 800 hours of self study (when that works at all - more than half gave up partway through, and some had not developed powers by the time the study ended), 400 hours of classroom training, or 200 hours of intensive training with one teacher and one student, generally allow an unempowered person to develop the basic spellcasting power that many nerds and other outsiders gained instantly during the Probe Event. Those who still believed that the powers were a hoax, or could not bring themselves to believe it was possible for them to develop powers, uniformly failed to develop any.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Too much win.

Can't breathe!


*thud*

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

I'll probably post another vignette, pretty soon. A guy at work who's very much into Japanese History had some ideas about how Imperial Japan on Dp-Earth might react to the rather... strident advice received from private Japanese citizens about how to conduct its foreign and military policy.

Also, what happens on Inp-Earth, when American citizens start to see speeches by unapologetic Dp-Earth Dixiecrats in response to the upsurge in Civil Rights activism, triggered by the knowledge of Barack Obama's presidency. Does southern conservatism suffer a brutal backlash? How do southerners react to some of the speeches by a young Strom Thurmond?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgH7WgtIU2k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbU0lXeJbi4


Additionally, as Prince Charon continues his timeline, what happens when the packages dispatched by the Negro Commander-in-Chief of Inp-Earth's United States military arrive in Germany, and the Dixiecrats (and everybody else) start to grasp exactly why the United States is called the Inp-Earth's only remaining superpower.

Moreover, how does the Obama administration respond to requests by ambassadors from the other worlds for access to the history section of the Library of Congress?

Finally, the U.S. government on Inp-Earth knows something the rest of the Earth's do not. The Inp-Earth's mastery of information technology means the war on Dp-Earth will very likely end ahead of schedule, because the ability of the Inp-supporters means the Allies could very well turn the Axis powers into road-kill.

The United States National Security Agency on Inp-Earth will crack every code, every cypher, thought up by the Axis powers, within a day. The incredible resolution of Inp-Earth's optical technology means that, not only will the Allies have a steady feed of decrypted Axis radio traffic, they'll have constant reports of Axis troop movements that are only a few minutes behind real time.

The assistance of its Inp-Earth supporters will allow the Allied commanders to get inside the Axis decision-loop, and stay there until they render the Axis command-and-control structure utterly useless -- harmful, in fact, because the NSA, from across the solar system, will be able to tell the Allies how to hijack Axis radio communications at a time when it will do maximum possible damage.

Nobody on any of the other earths can possibly grasp the advantages offered by an information infrastructure of the magnitude enjoyed by Inp-Earth. The SIS and the guys at Bletchley Park may get enough of an inkling to become truly terrified of the capacity for masterful warfare at the command of NATO and Israel. I'd imagine Hitler and Tojo will struggle even more to understand the implications.

(But, does the Thule Society survive, and become a Fascistic terrorist organization capable surreal techno-magical violence? Does the rapid destruction of NAZI Germany trigger deep-seated resentment that results in covert assistance that makes HYDRA stronger than it otherwise would have been? And, if Japan doesn't get wiped out, do they maintain an East Asian empire based on the sort of unapologetic tyranny and oppression they've already displayed in Nanking?)

There are also some more prosaic concerns. Polio is still an active disease in much of Dp-Earth, while Stp-Earth and especially Cp-Earth (and probably Fa-Earth) continue to suffer epidemics of smallpox! I'd imagine the CDC on Inp-Earth will subject the ambassadors from those worlds to some pretty intensive medical examinations, before they let them anywhere near a civilian population.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Very badly, I suspect. OTOH, they're also getting much more diplomatically worded advice from the Inp-Japanese government, but it's of a less-than-palatable, 'let sleeping giants lie' variety (the fact that they're also getting scary warnings from some of their seers and priests is probably a bigger concern).

Of course, once they see what an atomic bomb can do, they may develop a different opinion, but that's for later.
Not happily. Probably rather loudly, in a lot of cases.
One of the issues that worries Inp-Earth political thinkers is the possibility that the people of Dp-Earth may decide that we're a bigger threat to their way of life than the Nazis.
Decidedly mixed.
Oh, yes, certainly.
Unless the troops only move when that part of the world is facing away from Inp-Earth (though hiding when the world turns would be a bitch).
True. OTOH, there are Axis sympathizers on Inp-Earth, they're just more limited in what they can do.
Oh yes. Mind you, there's no assurance that either will live to see the end of the war.
Almost certainly, though the size of the post-war organization is undetermined (probably quite small, at least at first).
Possibly.
No, for reasons that will be seen later. On a potentially-related note, do you know what the phrase 'You may use the garden' means, in the context of a meeting with an Emperor or Shogun?
Oh, yes. Also vaccinations for illnesses that aren't so bad for us, but could be fatal for those on other Earths. It's a good thing that the ambassadors from Fa-Earth are all immaterial, no?

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

I look forward to seeing what they finally do.

I jumped on that notion, right away, and to me that's one of the more fascinating aspects of this entire setting.

The periods in history you picked for Dp-Earth and Stp-Earth feature attitudes that many people in the world -- and very many people in the United States -- will find very upsetting. Some of those reasons for upset would be rather surprising.

What happens when people who want to use the word "racist" to describe the NAACP are confronted with the vast numbers of Dp-Earth Southerners who simply cannot accept the notion of racial equality? When they see an active and popular Klan, witness the creation of "White Defense Councils" and watch actual lynchings take place? What happens when people who romanticize the Civil War start to hear the opinions of those from Stp-Earth who genuinely believe blacks are the "Children of Ham" and ordained by God for lives of service to their betters, and thus unworthy of equality?

I see a pretty serious outbreak of psychological difficulties, as the liberals on Inp-Earth point to the attitudes of Dp-Earth and Stp-Earth and say, "This is what the words really mean, and these are the attitudes conservatives truly possess."

(Now, that won't be true about the attitudes, most of the time, but the culture war in the Inp-United States will get even more intense. The slow appearance of magic will not help, either, when it starts to result in the manifestations of warped Aryan ideal physiology amongst white supremacists, and pseudo-Egyptian, Arabian-Nights-style, or Voudou abilities amongst black separatists. The Inp-Earth's Robert S. Mueller III, director of the FBI, will start his own X-Files.)

Logistically, that's crippling. The visibility of the troop movements, combined with the penetration of Axis communications, makes the Axis position untenable. Not that they'll want to accept that, of course, until British, French and American boots march through the radioactive dust of Berlin.


I think the notion of HYDRA as the greatest terrorist threat in all five worlds has incredible dramatic appeal, both from the standpoint of story-telling, and as an RPG campaign seed. What happens if they decide to set up shop in, say, Cp-South Africa? Could the mineral wealth, there, become the basis of HYDRA's funding, and the political control become the seed of a Draka-style hegemony? :)

No, actually, and my usually-serviceable Google-fu isn't helping.

I do know that Japanese gardens are considered havens of quiet reflection, away from the hurly-burly of the external world. So, is it a great honor to be invited into such a private place of repose, or is it a politely Japanese way to say that someone who has lost political power no longer need concern himself with the outside world?

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Interesting possibility, given that there's nothing on Clp-Earth that could detect them befor they enter the atmosphere. They'd have to disguise who they were, of course, as Israel has telescopes, as well.
The latter is pretty close, in a way. I was probably too coy about it, omitting the full phrase: 'You have disappointed me. You may use the garden.'

Sepukku is a ceremony that should be performed in contemplative surroundings. One is even expected to write a poem, first. Of course, some are too arrogant or cowardly to follow such a 'suggestion'. That's why Emperors have ninja.

On another note, some links that may be of interest to some, perhaps many, reading this:

For those interested in the food of the period, at least in regard to Britain and some connected regions, the BBC has a fairly useful and entertaining programme on the subject, called The Supersizers... (first series is 'Go...', second series is 'Eat...', pilot is 'Edwardian Supersize Me'). It's available on YouTube, but I'm only linking to part one of each episode, as the rest should be easy to find from there:

For Dieselpunk Britain, see The Supersizers Go... Wartime.

For Steampunk Britain, see The Supersizers Go... Victorian.

For Clockpunk Britain, see The Supersizers Go... Elizabethan.

For Fantasy Britannia (and Armorica and Aegyptus, but mainly Italia), see The Supersizers Eat... Ancient Rome, even if that one's set a few centuries early (also, I think they might have made a mistake with the garum, as that's supposed to take months to get 'good', and I'm not sure they prepared it that long; they may be using a different definition of 'pumpkin' than we're used to, as well).

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Okay, I found references to the Ice Warriors and the Mysterons, but what are the "Changing Martians"? Are those the Khaldanes and Rykors from Burroughs?

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

On Dp-Earth I can see the allies slow walking the war (relatively speaking) partly for domestic political reasons (give the Nazi's time to prove them selves monsters to justify the war as well as the war time powers granted leaders and for the socio-economic benefits America reaped from the war), Stalin will likely be especially cautious considering what the war cost the Soviet union and the fact that WWII was quickly followed by the cold war which his side lost.
Also I can easily see secondary nations on Inp-Earth helping the Nazi's in order to give there counter parts on Dp-Earth time to gain ground on that worlds major players or weaken the Colonial powers, including (strangely) Israel since it was the holocaust that made mostly ended anti-Semitism and lead to the creation of Israel.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Alright, let's try this, again.

No. I guess that was a pretty obscure way of referring to them, but the comics just call them Martians, and having the Space Babes refer to them as 'DC Martians' wouldn't work, so I got into the habit of using a descriptive term. They're not a perfect match for any one version, but the various colours are mostly like political and philosophical affiliations. They aren't as good at shapeshifting as their comic or cartoon counterparts, either. The ones who are would be manifested spirits, and not necessarily from Mars.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Ah, okay. They're the people of the Martian Manhunter.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Yes, exactly.

For those of you out there who are vexillologists, here's why I don't consider myself much of a vexillographer:

http://i.imgur.com/xS7rgTG.png

The orange was added after the Netherlands joined (and they're a bit reluctant to have more new members, as they'll start running out of colours, eventually). I'm pretty sure the real flag would be more even, and maybe the yellow cross in the centre would be thinner.

The Scandinavian Federation could possibly be likened to a smaller, more close-knit EU, if you squint a bit, though what Americans would call the Executive Branch is clearly different.

The Executive Council consists of the monarchs of the member nations, with only a vote by all other members, or a three fourths majority of the Federation Parliament, being able to override the veto of any single member. In war or other emergencies, the Council may elect a 'Cincinnatus', either from among their number, or a respected non-member, who will have full executive power for the duration, save for parallel reviews every three months by the Executive Council and the Parliament (to insure that he acts like a Cincinnatus, and not a Caesar), either of which may end the Cincinnatus's term in office.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Another vignette.

************************************************** *****

In all the years of his “existence” (he couldn’t really call it “life,” any more – not honestly), the night sky hadn’t changed all that much. The stars wheeled slowly around Polaris and told him of the approach of dawn, just as they had for more than 200 years. They timed his steps as he strolled toward the tiny, dilapidated Brooklyn flat (no – Americans called it an “apartment”…) that had been his ne… home, for a couple of years.

Now, however, the presence of four new “earths” (at least, that’s what the Times had said) changed the night sky dramatically. The radio news guys (a good invention, that…) spoke of possibilities and probabilities and dramatic changes. The editorial pages did the same. The new celestial objects, combined with the wars in Europe and Asia that threatened to merge into a global conflagration, seemed to point to a world on the verge of profound change.

He just couldn’t bring himself to care.

The crossword puzzle in the Times folded under his left arm helped him while away at least an hour of sunlight thinking about – something else. The pigs blood in the sack in his left hand continued his pointless existence for another week, but never really took away the aching hunger.

He couldn’t think about that. Not ever. (But how could he not?)

Sometimes he wondered if he shouldn’t just step out into the day, and make an end. Somehow, he could never bring himself to do it; the last remnants of his Catholic upbringing, perhaps? Would that constitute yet another cosmic jest, at his expense? Is that why he took such care, to live so quietly? Is that why he still exercised such precautions, learned through decade after decade of horror (No! Can’t think about that!), when such precautions were so very necessary?

Speaking of precautions….

“Hey, Mr. Galway. Yer up early, today.”

“I’m an early riser, Willy. You know that. You usually aren’t, though.”

“No sir. No, I ain’t. In fact, I ain’t up early, I’m up late, if you understand me. I seen you leave your place, yestiday evenin’. Just seein’ you come back, now, and ain’t that peculiar?”

Pause.

“What kept you up so late, Willy?”

“Well, sir. About an hour after I seen you left, I seen a half-a-dozen big fellas I ain’t seen before, go into your place. Ain’t come out again, neither. I remember you told me you might have visitors from your rum-running days, and you’d like it if I kept an eye out for ‘em.”

Prohibition had been half laughable, and half offensive down to his Irish so… (No! Don’t think about that!). It had paid awfully well, though. He still lived on the proceeds.

Most of his rum-rummer associates were either dead, in prison, or gone straight, but it made for a good story to tell... precautions such as Willy. One of the five-dollar bills from the '20s wound up in Willy’s pocket, and the old derelict (wonder if he’d been a customer…?) wandered off to get some breakfast.

The pigs blood sluggishly woke his senses, and he smelled the oily-metal tang of firearms (and my, hadn’t those changed…) from outside the building. Up the fire escape of the apartment building across the alley, leap across to the roof of his own, and the bullet from the roof door takes him high in the chest.

Shock. Pain. Rage. Amateur. Thug. Murder for hire. Fresh blood and senses blazing. Pain reduced to a dull ache, rapidly fading. Hunger rising. (Horror! Oh, horror…)

Dark hallway, bright as day to his eyes. Two more guns, snapping arms. Blood. (So hungry…). Who sent you?

The wall explodes as the demon comes through. Crushing grip on his left arm. Silvered blade in his right, blurring through the scales like butter. Howls of rage and pain, choked off when the blade blurs through its throat. You learn a few things, when you’ve lived so long.

Including this. Chanting. Magics. Time to go now, boyo. Who the hell is Wolfram and Heart?

Dark room. Window crashing. Landing on the street, in the early light of dawn…

************************************************** **

Her scream woke him. Again. He could barely see her, a pale form in the wan light of the late Warsaw winter afternoon, which managed to creep in around the blackout curtains.

“What’s wrong, pet?”

“Oh, Spikey. I had another one, so sad it made me weep in my dreams, it did.”

“About him? I’m so bloody tired of you dreaming about him.”

“Oh, no. Not him. Her.”

“Her? Her who? You’re not making sense, pet.”

“The Slayer. The blonde one.”

“A blonde slayer? You’re dreaming about a blonde slayer? Where? I can nip off and kill her for you, if it would let you sleep.”

“Oh, no. Not a slayer. The Slayer. You won’t kill her, for me. You’ll leave me for her, and her brightness will burn away all your lovely darkness.”

************************************************** *****

She woke with a gasp and bolted upright in sweat-soaked satin sheets. She hadn’t woken him, this time, so she slipped out of bed, checked on the babies (sleeping peacefully), and made her way to the bathroom.

The cool water on her face told her what was real. The haunted eyes in the mirror told her that was a lie.

Why would she have these dreams? The role ended years ago, and even in the middle of it, she didn’t dream like this. Not about a Dave who wasn’t a Dave, even when the characters had brought them… close.

She made her way back to the bed, and slipped underneath the damp-cooled sheets.

“Hey. You dreaming, again?”

Dammit. She did wake him.

“Yeah. The same things. I think I need to see somebody. Maybe we should go to the do-jang, later, too. That seems to help.”

Pause.

“I’ll call Lindsay, and ask her to keep an eye on the kids, for us. The thing is…”

“What?”

“The thing is, about the do-jang…. You almost hurt somebody, last time.”

“The dreams, they’re throwing me. I’ll be more careful. I promise.”

“It’s not just the dreams. You’re 36, and the training and the show kinda beat you up, through the years. I talked to the gyo-san-nim, last time, and he said you should be slowing down, about now, and making up for age with technique.”

“You talked to him, about this?”

“I had to, after last time.”

“What… what did he say?”

“He said your technique is great. It’s better than ever.”

“Okay….”

“He also said you’re not slowing down, Sarah. You’re faster than he’s ever seen you and, maybe, stronger.”

Freddie took a deep breath. Ran his fingers through his hair.

“It’s scaring me, a little.”

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Interesting. Mind you, given what happened in Sunnydale (unless this is before that point) things have been quite thrown off, but SMG gaining Slayer-like powers is very much plausible, in-setting. Do you want to post it to SB.com, or is it not ready, yet?

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

I'll post it, over there.

I sorta riffed on the idea you had, about Sir Ian McKellan and Sir Christopher Lee gaining powers based on characters with whom they'd become identified. While you didn't go into it, much, the fact that both actors work as consultants for UNIT sort of indicates they found the acquisition of those abilities at least somewhat attractive (if still a bit disturbing).

So, what happens if someone gains abilities and he (or she, in this case) finds them undesirably problematic?

BtVS went beyond mere "popularity" and became something of a cultural phenomenon throughout Western societies, not just the United States. After all, not many TV shows have sociology courses devoted to the impact they had on the popular culture, and the perception of the changing roles of women in the modern world.

I also think SMG has (to some extent) been typecast and struggles to move beyond the role, so she can do different things. She's also (apparently) happily married and has two small children.

The speed, strength, toughness and healing power of a slayer -- especially The Slayer, the finest one who ever lived (three times) -- might be nice. But the dreams? The calling to use those abilities that skews every choice? Not so much.

Also, if SMG acquires the abilities, does she (in effect) become Chosen? At that point, there are two slayers in existence -- albeit on different worlds, in different actual dimensions (although visible to one another).

Does that trigger the imbalance, early, and allow for the rise of the First? Or does SMG simply start a new line of slayers, on Inp-Earth? Or both? After all, you know that if teenage geeks are acquiring Sith powers, some perky little goth-girl will soon start to drink blood....

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

I'm just trying to imagine how powerful Sean Connery will get.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

There's no imbalance, because the Slayers and Slayeroids of Earth One are generally different beings (as well as being from a different dimension) than the line on Earth Two. SMG does read as 'The Slayer' to those Earth Two sensitives who can detect it, but she still feels different, because her power source is the pressure of fandom, not an ancient curse.

Also, a clarification: Earth Two has multiple types of vampire, some more monstrous than others. None of them sparkle in the sunlight, though some do catch fire.
Ah, interesting question. Difficult to say. Always in motion is the future. ;)

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

I just want to know who he goes to work for? Her Majesty's Secret Service, or the movement for Scottish Independence? :)

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

This raises all sorts of interesting questions. How many teenage girls on Inp-Earth become sparkly vampires, as compared to how many young men? I'm betting quite a few of the former, and almost none of the latter, except for Robert Pattinson and he is seriously unhappy about it.

Also, you know there will be at least a few Lestat-wannabes in the Anne Rice fan club who turn to high-protein liquid diets.

I think there's no question about who the "Lestats" go after first: Tom Cruise is designated target Number One, and not to turn into a vampire, either. They'll want him dead. The question is, do they then proceed to Brad Pitt or Kirsten Dunst? (I'm thinking, "maybe" for Pitt -- although he wasn't offensive, in the role of Louis, but "probably not" for Dunst, because she was decent enough of as Claudia and she's all grown up, now. I bet they'd go after Suri Cruise, though...).

Ick. SMG is probably gonna want to borrow that katana she bought for Freddie...

Which raises another question. What happens when Tom Cruise begins to (sorta) function as an Operating Thetan? That would be seriously creepy.

In fact, this whole part of this discussion is seriously creepy. The notion that Anne Rice fans might slowly become what they most desire is really... out there. After all, her books used vampires to explore deviant behaviors that are almost wholly rejected by the larger society.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Oh, my. Yeah, that's pretty damn disturbing. I'd say you're right about the sparklypires, though they won't be nearly as resistant to damage.

I have no clue what an Operating Thetan would be capable of, but Cruise would also have powers from characters he's sufficiently well known for (Lestat, but a weaker one than some of the obsessive fanboys/girls), all jumbled together, and divided.

On another note, it occurs to me that I should make another clarification: Actors gaining power tend to be weaker, on average, than the characters they played, and those who aren't tend to be the ones who played 'street level' supers. Sarah, in the snippet above, has the advantages that 1. Buffy is very much a street level hero, and 2. she's only well known for the one superpowered character (and is pretty typecast, for that matter), and thus her power isn't divided onto multiple powersets like Sir Christopher or Sir Ian. If she fought the Slayer of Dp-Earth (which I'm not planning, but they might spar or something), she'd probably still be a little slower and weaker, but she's also more mature, and probably luckier, especially if they meet on Earth One, instead of Earth Two.

EDIT: Crunchy bit: An actor gets X points to spend on powers, based on how famous they are, how long they've been famous, how emotionally invested people are in the parts they played, and probably other factors, but must divide those points among Y powers, which might be many, a few, or one. A significant fraction of Sir Christopher Lee's points would have gone into building up the stats that he lost to time, for example, but he'd still be more powerful casting-wise than Daniel Radcliffe or Alyson Hannigan, because he's been so well-known, for so much longer. Being a knight probably helps, as well.

Later EDIT: On another note, an interesting Cracked.com article on 'immortal' animals. Lobsters don't get old, they just get big, which has the potential for interesting effects, especially if their brains get bigger, as well. Even if they don't, older living things have a probability of becoming more spiritually significant.

Think about it.

Lobsters aren't the only creature in that link, they're just the first one I thought of an application for, albeit a roundabout one: XCOM: Terror from the Deep has strong hints of the Cthulhu Mythos (which also informs the Wold Newton Universe, which Dieselpunk Earth partially reflects), and among of the threats in X: TftD are the Lobster Men. Of course, giant, sapient lobsters are going to be a hell of a lot less common on Dp-Earth or Fa-Earth than they are in the game (and will have more limbs, but are unlikely to walk upright), but will also be a hell of a lot scarier - imagine a completely inhuman intelligence that's over two thousand years old, has been sapient for nearly half that time, and a spellcaster for not much less time than it's been sapient.

Be a bitch and a half to GM well, though.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Have updated March. This is probably the final update for March. Let's see it the whole month fits in one post. No, it does not, so I'm going to be doing it in several posts, for the readers' convenience.

First, the additions to earlier parts, then starting in the next post, the Month as a whole.

March 7: The empowerment of many scientists on Inp-Earth (along with the massive infusion of money for mundane research) now allows, among other breakthroughs, near-Hollywood levels of image enhancement (the magic is in the machines, and/or the users, not so much in the programmes, as yet). While it is not yet possible to distignuish individual humans as more than a few pixels at thirteen light seconds out, and not at all at twenty-six, such a high resolution is now plausible in the near future, rather than a pipe-dream. Of course, the reliability and accuracy of these enhancements is still questionable, but experiments so far have been very promising.

March 9: Inp-USA launches its first interplanetary fire mission, a retaliatory strike against Nazi Germany. Estimated time of arrival of the missile is June 13. Also on Earth One, much discussion is made online, and the the boardrooms of Time-Warner and DC Comics, about the way Black Lantern Ring toys have begun vanishing, first from peoples' homes, and sometimes even from stores; occasionally, they are witnessed to fly off, but mostly, they disappear when no-one's looking. Combined with the number of people gaining working Power Rings, albeit rather weak ones, it paints a potentially scary picture.

March 10: The Russian Federation launches its first interplanetary fire mission, also striking at Nazi Germany. The ETA is June 17.

March 14: The People's Republic of China launches its first interplanetary fire mission, aimed at Dp-Japan. Due to the strap-on solid rocket boosters on the first and second stages, it has an ETA on June 14, 11 hours after the American missile, despite being launched several days later.

March 25: DC Comics cancels all production of Black Lantern ring toys and props, and the destruction of existing stocks, as well as ordering a recall on them. Unfortunately, the warehouses are found to be empty of such rings, contrary to the records. Though this is reported to the police and the FBI, the government has lots of other things to worry about, and the law enforcement, intelligence, and military services don't admit to how concerned they are, wishing to avoid public panic over what may be only a super-prank. On Stp-Earth, the Scandinavian Federation rocket field in Dutch Guiana (Surinam) launches its first interplanetary astronef towards Earth Two, carrying personnel and equipment from all signatories of the Compact of Mainz (the HRE and ScandFed are treated as single nations, rather than collectives). On Earth Four, initial reports from the Papal expedition tell of a strange sort of Clockpunk Renaissance world, in the year 1556.

March 26: The Martian scout in the Steampunk timeline returns to Stp-Earth, and begins a survey. Attempts to communicate with it are unsuccessful. On Inp-Earth, the result of the IAU meetings began on March 19 is published online: a new system, based loosely on that published in Star Trek: Star Charts (they seem to have been in a great hurry), though several letters are left unused for future expansion, or have slightly different definitions. Under the new system, Sol has eleven planets, counting Pluto. The Martian scout ends its survey of Earth One early, being paced by two other vehicles - one triangular, the other more saucer-shaped. The three vessels dance around each-other for a few minutes, and then the scout fires off several small, glowing objects, some of which fail to hit either craft (though the ones that hit Earth's atmosphere make a pretty light show, exploding in the lower Mesosphere). The other vessels do not appear to fire back, but flashes on the scout's surface may be indicators that they do, possibly using lasers (which also means that one or both of the others could have fired first, but at an angle where we wouldn't see the flashes). The scout leaves on a course for Earth Two, followed at about 1,700 km by the two UFOs. As with the others, it comes to a dead stop when it crosses the portal, then zooms off for Mars Two. When the other spacecraft pass that point, however, they briefly keep going, then stop and go back, and then move forward again, only to once again stop. Observers on Dp-Earth indicate that the UFOs disappear when attempting to cross the barrier, and reappear when returning. Apparently, they can't cross into the other timeline. A number of sensitives on both Earth One and Earth Two claim to hear something at that moment, 'as if an ancient and powerful being were laughing, the way we might laugh at a cat, chasing a spot of light on a wall.'

March 27: On Clp-Earth, the Papal expedition reports that they are unable to meet with the Pope, Leo X, as yet, because he's busy meeting with ambassadors from Venice. That's important because a few years after the election of the previous Pope, Joan II (Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Alexander VI, and mother of Leo X - all three Earths with radio are rather surprised by this, as well as the fact that they have three female cardinals, one of whom is known to be the lover of Leo X, and mother of his 'cardinal nephew'), Venice tracked down a relative of Constantine XI Palaiologos, crowned him Emperor Emanuel III Paleologus, and claimed to be the Eastern Roman Empire. The took Montferrat (the other nation ruled by a Paleogus) through a dynastic marriage in 1510, are a rising power in Italy, with more and more seeing them as a legitimate successor to Rome, itself (something the Pope and the HRE both rather dispute). Currently, they're trying to stir up a Crusade against the Turks, to reclaim Greece and Constantinople.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

March 1: Stp-US President Edward J. Phelps (Whig) offers a reward for the design of an orbital rocket with greater lift than any in use by the Great Powers, and an astronef able to cross the void to the other Earths swiftly, safely, and comfortably. This reversal of the usual Whig policy surprises many, but most of the smarter Stp-American politicians can see the way the wind is blowing. Stp-Earth's Russian Empire declares war on Nazi Germany. The fact that the Tsar's current favorite mistress is Jewish has nothing to do with that, of course. On Dp-Earth, a massive BRG rocket attack strikes at Peenemünde. The rockets that get through the crude-but-effective German missile defenses damage launch facilities and disrupt the next interplanetary fire mission. In the Dp-USA, Dr. Goddard's next 'probe', this time sponsored by the US Army, is launched, along with its attendant boosters. Hitler orders the alternative long-range launch facilities in German East Africa to be made ready ahead of schedule. On Inp-Earth, the Argentinian government points out that they are not at war with the Space Nazis, and thus the most moral act in regard to the Falkland Islands (which they call the Islas Malvinas) is to 'return' them to Argentina - several British tabloids make the claim that the reason Argentina isn't at war with the Nazis is that they're already ruled by them. Also on Infopunk Earth, the Papal sede vacante begins, Pope Benedict XVI having retired.

March 2: After some debate on both sides, Stp-France agrees to support Charles de Gaulle's Free French Forces, on the condition that the new Dp-French government will be a constitutional monarchy, with a strong monarch, under either the current head of the House of Bourbon on Dp-Earth, current head of the House of Orléans on Dp-Earth (either of whom would be Henri VI), or current head of the House of Bonaparte on Dp-Earth (Napoléon VI Louis), depending on which of the three Houses is the choice of the Estates of post-war Dp-France. Copies of the treaty are signed and witnessed on both Earths, and Stp-France declares war on Dp-Germany. The Papal States launch the first of four expeditions to the Romes of the other worlds, to 'help' the other Popes adjust to the 'correct' doctrines (those being the doctrines of Clement XV). This first mission is on its way to what some will later call Clockpunk Earth.

March 3: In orbit of Dp-Earth, the boosters are mated, all the math checks out, and the 'probe' (actually a delivery vehicle for military secrets FDR has elected to share with Inp-USA) is on its way. In Dp-China, Mao Tse-tung is executed by the Imperial Japanese Army. On Dp-Luna, several of the domed cities begin using masers mounted on the larger travel-spheres as transmitters, as these are less inconvenient to use than flashing the city lights, can still be used when the cities are in daylight, and are mobile, thus useful when the cities are facing away from Earth Prime. Instructions for a 'techbane' spell called Hexus are posted to the internet. This is surprising mainly because it's a bit difficult for a Dresden-style spellcaster to use a computer (you generally need someone who uses a different style to shield your computer, or you need to be very, very calm while using it). The existence of this and similar spells is a large factor in the interest so many governments and corporations have in the development of 'anti-magical' or 'anti-psionic' defences.

March 4: On Stp-Earth, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Holy Roman Empire (restored by treaty after the Franco-Prussian War, both to further humiliate the Prussians, and to make Germany less of a threat; if not for Prussia being a member, would be slightly smaller than OTL-Germany; Alexander IX did offer some Italian territories and a nice enclave in Rome, to go with the 'priviledge' of the Holy Roman Emperor being crowned by the Pope, but the Lutherans weren't having it), Papal States (only joining because Clement XV is an ardent monarchist - Divine Right of Kings, you see), Scandinavian Federation, and a few minor powers sign the Compact of Mainz, in which they pledge to join whichever side, Axis or Allies, will swear by oath and treaty to restore the legitimate governments (by which they mean, and clearly state in the text, monarchies under the Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns, Wettins, Wittelsbachs, and so forth, with significant de facto and de jure power) of the German territories currently ruled by the Third Reich (analysts note that this would not actually require Hitler to step down, he'd just have to hand over some significant amount of real executive, legislative, and/or judicial power to them, as constitutional monarchs). While the Inp-USA and various other Earth Prime powers aren't pleased by this, most of the other Allies are fine with it (especially the Stp-British, French, and Russians, and the Dp-British and Free French; not all for the same reasons, of course), and begin drawing up just such a treaty. In Infopunk Iran, the 'mutant' rat problem reaches the point that ten sniper teams are sent to hunt them (from Real Life, but weird enough to belong here; they're probably weirder and more threatening in this timeline, though).

March 5: A group of four glowing, spindle-shaped objects enter the Dieselpunk Earth-Moon system on a vector from the Mars of that world, pass through, and continue on separate courses for each of the other Earths, traveling at an average speed of around four light-seconds per hour. Maser flashes from Dp-Luna indicate that these are high-speed scout vessels of a design common to the more advanced Martian races: the Ice Warriors, the Changing Martians, and the Mysterons (each has variations, but the Lunarians aren't sure which is which), and that they travel by 'compressing and stretching the cosmic tapestry,' a process which allows very high apparent speeds and great maneouverability, and leaves them at rest relative to the largest mass near anything they collide with. Four light-seconds per hour appears to be their cruising speed, and the highest pseudovelocity the Lunarians have seen them use is nine light-seconds per hour, for about seven minutes. As each scout enters the 'portal' it's aiming for, it comes to an immediate dead stop relative to that Earth, starts and stops a few times at various speeds (and not the same ones in every dimension), makes a partial orbit around that Earth, and slowly accelerates to something other than normal cruising speed (to various degrees), on a course for the Mars of that timeline.

March 6: In Inp-Britain, a series of mysterious disappearances and other strange occurrences in and around Nether Wallop cause UNIT to first cordon off the village, and then evacuate it the next day. Advanced Idea Mechanics founded, in Dp-USA. Also on Dp-Earth, the Frank family is among the more than a hundred Jews smuggled out of Amsterdam to the UK on this date, by the reformed 'Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare' (Special Operations Executive). Young Anne is rather startled to learn that there are many millions of people on another planet who know her through a diary she hasn't even been given, yet. Speculation in the press that tight-beam masers are used to supply the Dp-Earth Allies with intelligence in a way the Germans cannot intercept are refuted when it's pointed out that at a range of about 26 light-seconds, the beam would be too wide to remain unnoticed (which is not necessarily true).

March 7: The astronef carrying Stp-UK's ambassador to Inp-UK, along with various trade goods, scientists, and so forth, is launched from British Guiana, along with the first unmanned supply flight to the Stp-British space station. The crew, and some of the passengers, are veterans of both space and war. Stp-Russia announces plans to assemble a 'heavy' astronef at their space station, the first sections of which will be carried into orbit next month. Also announced is the launch of an embassy to Inp-Russia, next week. The empowerment of many scientists on Inp-Earth (along with the massive infusion of money for mundane research) now allows, among other breakthroughs, near-Hollywood levels of image enhancement (the magic is in the machines, and/or the users, not so much in the programmes, as yet). While it is not yet possible to distinguish individual humans as more than a few pixels at thirteen light seconds out, and not at all at twenty-six, such a high resolution is now plausible in the near future, rather than a pipe-dream. Of course, the reliability and accuracy of these enhancements is still questionable, but experiments so far have been very promising.

March 8: Around 3am GMT, reporters and other curious folk lurking near the perimeter outside Nether Wallop hear shouting, gunfire and other explosions, and 'electric noises', as well as seeing strange lights. First confirmed Drop-Bear attack, in Inp-Australia. In Dp-Sunnydale, California, having been tipped off by observers on Inp-Earth who were also BtVS fans, the FBI, assisted by Dr. Fate, arrests Mayor Richard Wilkins II (who as it turns out, is also Mayor Richard Wilkins I), for electoral fraud, negligence in office, and general corruption, among other things.

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March 9: Inp-USA launches its first interplanetary fire mission, a retaliatory strike against Nazi Germany. Estimated time of arrival of the missile is June 13. Also on Earth One, much discussion is made online, and the the boardrooms of Time-Warner and DC Comics, about the way Black Lantern Ring toys have begun vanishing, first from peoples' homes, and sometimes even from stores; occasionally, they are witnessed to fly off, but mostly, they disappear when no-one's looking. Combined with the number of people gaining working Power Rings, albeit rather weak ones, it paints a potentially scary picture.

March 10: One of Dp-Japan's submarine oil prospecting boats discovers petroleum near the Senkaku Isles. Dp-Japanese PM Konoe orders drilling operations to begin as soon as possible, using designs relayed by radio from Inp-Japanese civilians; in support, the Imperial Japanese Navy is ordered to begin the construction of bases on those islands best suited to it. (Daqing oil field, mentioned in one of the first messages from Inp-Japan (along with information on better methods of refining the thick crude there), has a higher priority at the moment, but doesn't make the news on Inp-Earth like the Senkaku Isles do.) The Russian Federation launches its first interplanetary fire mission, also striking at Nazi Germany. The ETA is June 17.

March 12: On the 'forward' side of Inp-Earth's three light-second bubble, a small particle spray occurs, so faint as to be almost undetectable. Almost. While radar and infrared telescopes pointed at the area detect nothing, optical scopes observe something fantastic (once it slows down enough to be clearly seen): a gold and silver dragon larger than a C-130, flying through space, apparently by occasionally flapping its wings. Below the dragon is a bronze arch, with crossbars clutched in the great creature's front and rear talons. The arch carries a great bronze dish, upon which sits a magnificent roundhouse of the finest woods, ivory, and well-polished stone and bronze, not gaudy, but likely far more beautiful than any such structure was in our history. (OOC: No particulate matter is transferred, but it will be some time before people in-story realize this.)

March 13: The dragon and dwelling enter Inp-Earth's atmosphere, heading toward Britain, and more specifically, London. As they approach Hyde Park, a hill rises to meet the house (at a rate of about seven inches per second), in the clearing a little east of The Long Water. As the house touches down at the crest of the hill, the bronze dish and arch seem to collapse into themselves. A bronze fence grows three feet high at the base of the new hill, as the dragon seems to shrink to the size of an elephant, and gently dives into The Long Water, splashing around for a while. The people who exit the house are dressed quite finely, despite the over all look of their clothing being evocative of Ancient Britain. All are quite comely, and have pointed ears. The most beautiful woman among them approaches the fence, and attempts to speak to the British police and military personnel who by that point have arrived. After trying one incomprehensible language after another, the dragon sticks its head out, snickers, and says 'Lingua Latina.' Luckily, one of the officers remembers enough of his time at Oxford to establish a dialogue: The woman is named Brigith, and she is the daughter of Imperator Ambrosius Aurelianus Romanorum, known more properly as Arthur, High King of the Britons. Her mother is the High Elf Indeg, the eldest of the king's three principle concubines, and a daughter of the King of the High Elves of The Isles. Her father and maternal grandfather have empowered her to speak for them to the Queen of this Britannia, as her brother and sisters have been sent to the other Britanniae (the missions to Stp-Earth and Clp-Earth haven't arrived yet, but the one on Dp-Earth is on it's way down, being escorted by a great flock of RAF fighters). The dragon, Dyfnallt, is only sticking around long enough to move the embassy, if requested, and then he needs to go back and get the embassy for the next Earth over (Clockpunk Earth). The Martian scout in the Infopunk timeline reaches Inp-Mars, and begins its survey of the planet.

(For those who are wondering, Brigith and her siblings are a non-standard type of half-elf, being the children of a spirit who was not possessing anyone at the time, and thus being spirits, themselves (which is how they can survive unprotected in the vacuum of space). They are 'half-elves' only socially, and in being more psychologically human than most elves are. The staff and guards of the embassy are mostly half-fey of various kinds. On another note, I sadly lack the skill to write the epic tale of how Arthur got the King of Elfland's daughter as his first concubine, but Brigith is perfectly willing to tell it, in the grand style of ancient British bards (save that she'll be speaking it in Latin).)

March 14: The scout in the Earth Five/Fantasy Earth timeline returns, and begins what appears to be an orbital survey of Fa-Earth. The People's Republic of China launches its first interplanetary fire mission, aimed at Dp-Japan. Due to the strap-on solid rocket boosters on the first and second stages, it has an ETA on June 14, 11 hours after the American missile, despite being launched several days later.

March 15: The Russian ambassadorial astronef is launched, and is mated to its long-range booster. The Russian ambassador is Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia, who hopes, among other things, to meet and court whichever of Putin's daughters will find him most attractive, as it's clear to the Tsar that Vladimir Putin is Tsar Vladimir IV in all but title. In the Vatican City of Earth Prime, Pope Innocent XIV takes office. His choice of papal name comes from his desire to 'restore innocence' to the Church; among other things, it is his intention to seek the resignation and, where possible and necessary, prosecution of those in the Church who have 'deeply betrayed the trust of those in their care'. This strong stance is said to be of great surprise to some of those who elected him, and to popes on the other Earths who become aware of it.

March 17: The Stp Allies sign the Treaty of Avallon, acceding to the Compact of Mainz. On Dp-Earth, Churchill and de Gaulle sign a similar treaty in London. The signatories of the Compact of Mainz begin declaring war on the Axis powers. For the moment, it is agreed that their assistance will flow primarily through the Scandinavian Federation's space program. A fairly small particle spray (though larger than the house and dragon produced) is detected in Earth Prime orbit, on the vector from Dp-Earth. The operational detection stations narrow down the location fast enough that the satellites are able to focus in time to see an older man in a labcoat and a suit that was out-dated even in 1941, silently screaming and struggling as he suffocates in the vacuum of space. His remains are carefully monitored, as military and intelligence personnel begin making new plans, and in a few cases, having a bit of a panic (as they have no way to know that the three light-second 'barrier/gate' is as close as teleportation can get you). DARPA is ordered to begin serious work on teleportation, as are the R&D services of other governments; many Trekkers, Gaters, and Schlockers do likewise, with much tinier budgets. It is made more dificult due to the paradigms they are working with, which include the belief that matter transmission involved breaking up that matter into it's component particles (whether molecules, atoms, or even smaller particles), and reassembling them at the destination. This tends to result in test objects being dissociated into said particles, or at best, being somewhat... rearranged. Unfortunately, the DARPA scientists assigned to Project November are mostly using the same paradigm.

March 18: In a small town in northern California (Inp-USA), the high school is the site of a very strange and violent incident, in which several students are killed and more injured, by a person wearing what appears to be riot armour and a black cape. The attacker, who called himself 'Darth Venger', is described as having a voice 'like an angry nerd trying to sound like Darth Vader', but his actions were far more intimidating: those security cameras that were working at the time show him cutting up doors, furniture, and people with a glowing red lightsabre, as well as apparently causing several students and one teacher to choke or fall back by gesturing at them, and throwing bolts of lightning from his off hand (which accounted for some of the non-functional cameras). The school's lock-down procedure prevented the victims from escaping the assailant, who seemed to focus on suspected bullies, only incidentally harming others. In the last classroom he attacked, he ordered several attractive female bullies, some forced to follow him from other classrooms, to strip, but seemed at a loss for what to do once they were naked. At that point, the security camera in the room was destroyed, and the assailant was himself assailed, by 'a Jedi Knight and some superheroes', according to witnesses. 'Darth Venger' was forced to flee, and the 'superheroes' vanished after attempting to pursue. The entire incident took less than twenty minutes, a significant proportion of which was spent in the last classroom. It is not known who leaked the security footage to the Internet, but several clips had 'gone viral' by the end of the day.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

March 19: The International Astronomical Union gathers online for an emergency meeting, intended to replace the current definition of a planet, due to 'strong reactions to the current designation of Pluto, particularly given that an exception was made for Neptune.' Rumour has it that many members of the IAU were personally visited by the Roman goddess Proserpina (Persepone, in Greek), to inform them that her husband Pluto, god of the dead, is not a dwarf by any measure, nor is he minor, and that they ought to remove such insults from their way of naming things in the Heavens, before he chooses to take notice, and smites them in great wrath.

March 20: On Earth Prime, the parents of the girls who were stripped by 'Darth Venger' file lawsuits against the school, school district, and so forth, for damages and emotional trauma caused by their failure to keep the video off the Internet (no, none of the girls were under eighteen - in fact, one fifth-year senior is nineteen - but that's not what their parents are angry about). They and others also join a lawsuit against the police department (and the city), for not arriving in time, or promptly capturing the offender. At the Tower of London, the late Queen Anne Boleyn engages in a lively theological discussion with several women taking the castle tour, among them an Anglican vicar and a Catholic nun. Also in Inp-England, the people of Nether Wallop are permitted to return to their village, which UNIT and the Royal Engineers cleaned and repaired for them, as an apology for the inconvenience. The place had never looked so good.

March 21: On Dp-Earth, James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes, a few days after his 17th birthday, applies to join the Army - which is very difficult, due to his youthful appearance. He is eventually recruited by the Military Intelligence Division, where his mastery of linguistics and disguise are greatly appreciated. Also on Dp-Earth, American businessman Andrew Ryan first has the glimmer of an idea that might become the under-sea city of Rapture. On Earth Prime, a rampage by an apparent 'Red Lantern' ends when a cop with a Sinestro Corps ring cuts off the finger that the perpetrator's ring is on. This results in the Red Lantern's death, as the ring had already rendered his heart unusable. Paramount Pictures and CBS make substantial donations to the IAU. In the UK, Scotland's devolved Government announces that a referendum on Scottish independence will be held on 18 September, 2014. Reactions off-planet are decidedly mixed, although the governments of Dp-Germany and the USSR come out strongly in favor of it, and of similar movements in Dp- and Stp-Scotland. Alex Salmond's reaction to this 'support' is... not printable.

March 24: The capsule from Dp-USA penetrates the three light-second bubble around Earth Prime, accompanied by the now-familiar particle spray. Captain Henry Wales of The Blues and Royals (Prince Henry of Wales) returns to Britain, and is seconded to UNIT UK. The Stp-Earth Papal expedition arrives in orbit of Earth Four. After a few hours of checks, the astronef Sanctus Christopherus enters the atmosphere, splashing down around half past one in the afternoon, in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Italia, just a bit west of (and easily visible from) the port of Ostia (which is in rather better shape than one might have expected from OTL history). In the Dp-UK, the seven greatest mystery guilds of the British Isles agree that while they dislike or despise each other, the Nazis are just that much more offensive, for various reasons. The Grand Masters of the seven styles (though not all of them use the same term for 'highest-ranking member') make an appointment to see King George, to renew the guilds' long-lapsed oaths to the Crown, and offer their services in the War, and in dragging the other mystery guilds into it. The Martian scout in the Earth One timeline reaches Earth One, and begins a survey, ignoring all attempts at communication.

March 25: DC Comics cancels all production of Black Lantern ring toys and props, and the destruction of existing stocks, as well as ordering a recall on them. Unfortunately, the warehouses are found to be empty of such rings, contrary to the records. Though this is reported to the police and the FBI, the government has lots of other things to worry about, and the law enforcement, intelligence, and military services don't admit to how concerned they are, wishing to avoid public panic over what may be only a super-prank. On Stp-Earth, the Scandinavian Federation rocket field in Dutch Guiana (Surinam) launches its first interplanetary astronef towards Earth Two, carrying personnel and equipment from all signatories of the Compact of Mainz (the HRE and ScandFed are treated as single nations, rather than collectives). On Earth Four, initial reports from the Papal expedition tell of a strange sort of Clockpunk Renaissance world, in the year 1556.

March 26: The Martian scout in the Steampunk timeline returns to Stp-Earth, and begins a survey. Attempts to communicate with it are unsuccessful. On Inp-Earth, the result of the IAU meetings began on March 19 is published online: a new system, based loosely on that published in Star Trek: Star Charts (they seem to have been in a great hurry), though several letters are left unused for future expansion, or have slightly different definitions. Under the new system, Sol has eleven planets, counting Pluto. The Martian scout ends its survey of Earth One early, being paced by two other vehicles - one triangular, the other more saucer-shaped. The three vessels dance around each-other for a few minutes, and then the scout fires off several small, glowing objects, some of which fail to hit either craft (though the ones that hit Earth's atmosphere make a pretty light show, exploding in the lower Mesosphere). The other vessels do not appear to fire back, but flashes on the scout's surface may be indicators that they do, possibly using lasers (which also means that one or both of the others could have fired first, but at an angle where we wouldn't see the flashes). The scout leaves on a course for Earth Two, followed at about 1,700 km by the two UFOs. As with the others, it comes to a dead stop when it crosses the portal, then zooms off for Mars Two. When the other spacecraft pass that point, however, they briefly keep going, then stop and go back, and then move forward again, only to once again stop. Observers on Dp-Earth indicate that the UFOs disappear when attempting to cross the barrier, and reappear when returning. Apparently, they can't cross into the other timeline. A number of sensitives on both Earth One and Earth Two claim to hear something at that moment, 'as if an ancient and powerful being were laughing, the way we might laugh at a cat, chasing a spot of light on a wall.'

March 27: On Clp-Earth, the Papal expedition reports that they are unable to meet with the Pope, Leo X, as yet, because he's busy meeting with ambassadors from Venice. That's important because a few years after the election of the previous Pope, Joan II (Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Alexander VI, and mother of Leo X - all three Earths with radio are rather surprised by this, as well as the fact that they have three female cardinals, one of whom is known to be the lover of Leo X, and mother of his 'cardinal nephew'), Venice tracked down a relative of Constantine XI Palaiologos, crowned him Emperor Emanuel III Paleologus, and claimed to be the Eastern Roman Empire. The took Montferrat (the other nation ruled by a Paleogus) through a dynastic marriage in 1510, are a rising power in Italia, with more and more seeing them as a legitimate successor to Rome, itself (something the Pope and the HRE both rather dispute). Currently, they're trying to stir up a Crusade against the Turks, to reclaim Greece and Constantinople.

March 28: The Dp-USA capsule enters Inp-Earth's atmosphere, and makes a fairly soft landing at Area 51, pleasing and/or worrying conspiracy theorists all over the planet. The capsule, which looks like a slightly larger and sleeker Apollo Command Module, is found to contain: about a tonne of neatly organized microfilm, half a tonne of equipment and materials, a little over a third of a tonne of frozen and/or otherwise preserved biological samples, and about another third of a tonne of lead and a third of a tonne of water, as radiation shielding - mostly around said biological samples. The Martian scout in the Steampunk timeline finishes its survey, and returns to the Earth Two universe.

March 30: A number of old famous people on Earth One have been reporting improved health and 'feeling younger' since the first Dp-Earth probe arrived. Also, some older or better-known actors and actresses seem to be gaining powers consistent with their more famous roles (though greatly toned down, in the more powerful cases). This is demonstrated quite strongly when a Neo-Nazi attempts to assassinate Sir Christopher Lee, and is rendered unconscious by bolts of force lightning. Interestingly, despite the use of 'The Dark Side', his personality seems unchanged. Even Jedi and other psychics feel that he's still very much himself, not Dooku, nor Saruman, nor Dracula. Lee, Sir Ian McKellen, and Ian McDiarmid are officially hired by UNIT for part-time research work.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

April has been finalized. Let's see how many posts it takes.

April 1: A little after midnight that morning, NASA begins receiving transmissions from the Spirit rover on Mars. At first, this is believed to be a joke in poor taste, but it is repeatedly confirmed. The rover is mobile, but only just. In Infopunk Britain, a newspaper called The Sun reports the crowning of a new King o' the Cats, witnessed by a reporter for The Sun, Queen Elizabeth II, and Ambassador Brigith mírchArthur ('mírch' means 'daughter of'; it seems to have been 'merch' in Old Welsh, but she's from about 300 years too early for Old Welsh to exist). Also in The Sun, a young couple reports having been chased out of a graveyard by a weeping angel statue, though what they were doing in a graveyard at night is left to the readers' imaginations. In orbit of Clp-Earth, the last Martian scout begins its survey of the planet, starting with the debris ring, from which it takes a few small samples.

April 3: A civilian-owned, refurbished, and modified F-104 Starfighter is launched from Japan. The highly unusual design includes a crude fusion impulse engine, using a pair of enhanced polywells for power, and somewhat based on a partially lithium-fueled engine that NASA is working on. This is not the only innovation on it, which is proven when the old fighter leaves the atmosphere, makes three orbits around the Earth, and re-enters the atmosphere (protected by an endothermic force field, which took longer to make than any other component of the spaceplane, being a new creation, rather than modified and enhanced off-the-shelf technology), requesting landing clearance at Vandenberg Space Force Base (which is eagerly granted). Step-by-step instructions for the upgrades are made available online, in Japanese and fairly understandable 'Engrish'. The pilot, Kurita Omiko, applies for and receives a job at Lockheed-Martin, as do some of her team. The rest, unskilled in Engrish, much less English, are hired by the Japanese equivalent of DARPA. The most flight-worthy (which in this context mainly means 'the airframe can still take the load') of the retired F-104s under US government control are ordered transferred to DARPA and LockMart for testing and possible upgrade (start with what already worked, before trying it on other vehicles). Other governments in possession of F-104s begin to do likewise (as do some that have other fighters, with varying degrees of success).

April 4: The Martian scout at Clp-Earth appears to have finished its work, for it returns home. On Stp-Earth, Congressman Jesse Woodson James (D-Mo.) files suit against various Inp- and Dp-Earth filmmakers, authors, and publishing houses, for defamation of character. Also on Stp-Earth, the Papal Expedition to Inp-Earth is launched. On Dp-Earth, at a site code-named 'Ort Fünf' (Location Five), in German East Africa, a new group of rockets is launched, while that part of the world is facing away from the other Earths. The rockets dock in orbit and vanish, as before.

April 5: At Dartmouth College, on Inp-Earth, Dr. Paul Vincent says "Gee, that's funny," and vanishes, along with his lab bench, and the equipment thereon. A particle spray is detected, centred on that location, but is markedly different from those of arriving spacecraft, seeming somewhat 'inverted'. Also on Inp-Earth, all bearers of the surname 'Spock' (an old and respected English family, sometimes found in the colonies) have developed Vulcanoid characteristics by this date. In many cases, this is limited to pointed ears, upswept eyebrows, and an increased ability to control the expression of emotion (though 'ability' is not the same as 'desire, or 'necessity'), but quite a few also report increased strength, touch telepathy, and so forth - none of them have hearts where their livers should be, though. NYC's 'vigilante problem' makes the international news, when the Russian ambassador is saved from an assassination attempt by a minor Chechen faction by a 'Batgirl' (Steph Brown version, w/ gas mask) and a 'Spider-Man' (Miles Morales costume, but an adult). The superheroes could not be reached for comment. General William L. Shelton, USSF Chief of Staff, breaks ground for the United States Space Force Academy campus, by San Francisco Bay.

April 7: Time-Warner/DC begins founding Green (and other colours) Lantern- and Justice League-related NGOs. Their purposes are primarily SAR and other disaster relief, but also private investigation and bonded security, with required classes for any branch, and some overlap between branches by individuals and teams. They do this mainly because they are scared of Nekron, and deeply worried about the lack of visible government response to the vanishing Black Lantern rings. A few Inp-Earth aerospace corporations begin plans to test the Japanese 'Starfighter' upgrade on their own products. Last transmission from the Sanctus Christopherus indicates that the whole expedition is being arrested, on the orders of the Supreme Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition.

April 9: A second attempt is made on the Russian ambassador's life (well, the life of his body-double), this time by what appears to be a shapeshifting clay-golem, which later admits to being 'in it for the money', and a guy in a Rhino suit, as well as an Orange Lantern who arrived late (and was also in it for the money). They are defeated by a 'Batman, three people who acted as superheroes before the Event (with names made up themselves), and two Spiders (adult Miles again, and an Iron Spider of uncertain gender). The arrival of the Orange Lantern attracts a Green Lantern, a Blue Lantern, and a male Star Sapphire (purple speedo with boots, gloves, and a full-face mask), who contain both the Orange Lantern and the shapeshifter, allowing the others to overwhelm the Rhino and the small team of disposable terrorists.

April 10: As a publicity stunt on Infopunk Earth, Robert Downey, Jr. and Troy Hurtubise (and several less well-known, very well-paid, and very nerdy engineers, mostly off-screen) build a suit of working Mark I Iron Man armour, in a cave, with a box of scraps (well, more of a large crate of carefully selected scraps, and a few more crates of tools). The armour is capable of keeping the operator fairly comfortable in the Nevada desert for twenty-four hours of operation (though Downey is only in the suit for about three hours of filming, before handing it over to an Army Ranger for the full twenty-four), before needing replacement of food and water stocks, and is eventually shown to be able to work for a week (much to the shock of the Ranger testing it, and other Army personnel) without needing any maintenance that the operator cannot provide in the field, mainly thanks to the multi-mini-polywell 'Arc' reactor in the chestplate (and redundant mini-polywells elswhere). It cannot fly, and is technically unarmed, but the enhanced strength is close to peak human limits, though with greater endurance, the speed is about equal to what an Army Ranger could make in the same terrain (though he'd make less noise without it), and the armour plating is highly resistant to bullets. The engineers are immediately hired by DARPA, to work on the next model of the suit, while Hurtubise is hired by the Canadian equivalent.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

April 11: Disney/Marvel announces plans to create Avengers and X-Men Academies. Not to be outdone, DC announces their intention to create a few Titans Academies (which include the same sort of classes that you need to be a field agent in one of the League or Lantern NGOs, once you're old enough). One selling point for the Titans Academies, at least to some adults, is that they're not 'segregated', in the sense that they don't care whether you self-identify as a 'mutant' or not (of course, comics fans know that's not the point: Avengers fans want to go to one, X-Men fans want to go to the other, fans of both pick one). The stated purpose of these schools is to educate the children in the safe, ethical, and legal use of their powers, keep the kids in school until they're eighteen, and more importantly, keep them from going out and getting themselves and other people killed (or more cynically, to keep them from ending up dead on the news, in costumes from the comics those companies publish). Of course, telling the kids that they're going to have to wait years before they can go out and 'be superheroes' doesn't exactly endear the idea to them, regardless of how the parents feel. Near Cape Canaveral, FL, President Obama breaks ground for the Space University. On Stp-Earth, the first section of the Russian Empire's heavy astronef Pyotr Velikiy is launched to their space station. It will arrive at the station on April 14th. Pope Clement XV announces that all new expeditions to the other Papacies, including a second, larger expedition to the Renaissance Earth, will be delayed until after the war, due to the need to build up resources for them, and the costs of the war.

April 13: On Inp-Earth, Ed Greenwood becomes a Chosen of Mystra (and Mystryl, and Midnight, but all three treated as one goddess) around this date. A small number of other Forgotten Realms fans also become Chosen by her, but only Greenwood is Chosen by all three Aspects. None of them are more than a small fraction as powerful as the Chosen in the books, of course. US President Obama orders all surviving OV-100 class Space Shuttles (OV-101 Enterprise, OV-103 Discovery, OV-104 Atlantis, and OV-105 Endeavour) returned to active duty, and flown to Vandenberg and other suitable locations, for refitting. While technically part of NASA and the USSF's Space Exploration Command (a.k.a. Star Fleet Command, among other nicknames), for the duration of the war, the OV-100 class (and the subsequent OV-200 class, to be designed from lessons learned from the upgraded OV-100s) will be on temporary assignment to the USSF Space Assault Command, or SAC. To help pay for the retrofits, special 'Shuttle Bonds' are issued by the government. More general war bonds are predicted, and a number of advertising companies are already preparing commercials for them; some comic and magazine companies have simply dusted off the ones they used in the 1940s, with or without updates. USSF PR personnel begin reviewing the records of USSF officers and other ranks with names similar to those of Star Trek characters (whether their superiors will listen to their advice on this, or not).

April 14: One of Infopunk-Earth's nascent mages begins serious work on codifying the rough equivalent of the Transmutation School in D&D parlance. Tellingly, some of his "talismans of power" (reusable material components) include his lucky dice in a small leatherette dice bag, and a small purple unicorn figurine. In an interview at Sea World, scientists admit to having made repeated telepathic contact with various dolphins, and confirmed that they really don't want to talk to them. They also recommend that all 'Swim with the Dolphins' activities be cancelled, for the safety of the swimmers. Disney/Marvel establishes Avengers and X-Men NGOs. Cooperation with other NGOs and government organizations is explicitly part of their training, and cross-training with local League and Lantern teams is scheduled in areas where both are present, as company policy.

April 16: The Kingdom of Hawai'i opens Earth Three's first audio-broadcast radio station, transmitting news, music, and radioplays throughout the Hawai'ian Islands. The first broadcast is a plea from King Kamehameha VI, in both English and Olelo Hawai'i, to the USAs of the 'Future Earths', to free 'the captive peoples' of their worlds' respective Hawai'is, and 'allow them to choose their own, legitimate governments, be they Kingdom, Republic, or any other'. It is not received well in either America, though many anti-colonialist organizations on both worlds seize upon it as a cause, generally without bothering to ask the 'captive peoples' how they feel about it.

April 17: On Dp-Earth, 12-year-old genius Alexander 'Lex' Luthor creates an advanced radio-computer, capable of easily accessing the internet of Infopunk Earth. A remote terminal for the device is given to his father, the criminal mad scientist Dr. Alexei Luthor, as a birthday present. On Inp-Earth, an early failure in Project November's teleportation experiments is adapted into a potentially long-ranged disintegration ray. During a round of 'horse trading' between the armed services, USAF 964th Airborne Air Control Squadron ("Phoenix Squadron") is redesignated 964th Space Flight Test Squadron, upon transfer to USSF Space Force Materiel Command. The move is widely criticized, as the only items actually transferred are the number, the nickname, and three of the best pilots.

April 19: The astronef Myrmidon, carrying the embassy from Stp-Britain, arrives in Earth One orbit. After circling the planet twice, she enters the atmosphere, and glides down for a landing at London Heathrow Airport, chosen for the length of its runways. In Inp-Germany, Heinkel Raumschiffwerke is founded by a group of investors, including a few empowered relatives of Ernst Heinkel. Their medium-to-long-term plan is to manufacture the Space Jet vessels from the Perry Rhodan series, starting with the HSJ-1 Gribbon (page from a fanfic used, because one of the Heinkels read it; listed FTL drive and some other components not present).

April 21: On Dp-Earth and Inp-Earth, respectively, Robert A. Heinlein and J. Michael Straczynski announce that they are collaborating on a movie serial script, tentatively named Star Trek: Star Fleet Academy. Casting has barely begun, but both James Doohan and DeForest Kelley are already under contract as stars, and Gene Roddenberry has expressed interest in this adaptation of his late counterpart's work. Many visual effects will be done by computer on Inp-Earth, and transferred to Dp-Earth by the power of radio (Dp-Earth TVs are getting a lot better, thanks to information for Inp-Earth).

April 23: Lex Luthor joins several Inp-Earth internet forums (including this one, having stumbled across it on a Google-walk), and his impressionable young mind is somewhat warped by the experience. On Inp-Earth, several enhanced F-104s begin test flights outside the atmosphere, including one successful delivery of a small satellite to LEO. A graduate student named Michelle Logan delivers a prop she built to DARPA, as it has become a working Portal Gun. Unfortunately, being a spontaneously enchanted item, Ms. Logan does not know how to duplicate it.

April 25: After several days of analysis, the numerous samples of Haversham's Sovereign Cognitive Enhancer brought by the Myrmidon are distributed to various scientists, pharmacists, and engineers in the UK, including several visiting from the Commonwealth nations and the US. About half of these luminaries are already enhanced, and the other half are not.

April 27: Starship Enterprises, Ltd. is founded in California, by CBS, Paramount, and a large group of Star Trek fanclubs, for the purpose of manufacturing enhanced (enchanted) technology on a Star Trek theme. On Stp-Earth, US President Phelps breaks ground at Cape Canaveral for the William Cranch Bond Rocket Field. The Stp-Russian ambassadorial astronef Aleksandr Nevskiy arrives in Inp-Earth orbit, and lands at Domodedovo International Airport outside Moscow.

April 29: Lex Luthor discovers the TV Tropes entry called Cut Lex Luthor A Check, and is deeply inspired, despite his father's insistence that the idea completely misses the point of his villainy. Dp-Germany launches Earth Two's first ballistic missile submarine. On Inp-Earth, 42 Commando Royal Marines is redesignated 42 Commando Royal Space Marines. On Stp-Earth, the second section of the Russian Empire's heavy astronef is launched to the space station.

April 30: The elder Luthor discovers the Evil Overlord List... and promptly discards it as the meaningless prattle of small-minded fools, like anything else that points out what he's doing wrong. The younger Lex holds a different opinion. Four B-52Gs are delivered to DARPA, to test whether the Japanese Starfigher upgrade can be adapted to larger aircraft.


Huh. Just two? That's good.

May should be finalized by July 1st or 2nd.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Thought I should share this, for those who aren't on SB.com:

Blue, Green, Orange

"Robert Forester of Earth, you have the ability to instill great Hope," said the ring hovering in front of him. As it slipped on to his finger, it said "Welcome to the Blue Lantern Corps."

"Wha- what the hell?" said Bob, having really not expected his boxed set of power rings to come to life. Sure, things had gotten damn weird since the other Earths appeared, and more since that probe came, but even so, this was a bit outside his experience.

Still, paramedics are trained to act under stress and surprise, so rather than boggling at his new uniform (which oddly felt just like the t-shirt and jeans he'd been wearing a moment ago, despite having gloves and long sleeves), he noticed that the rest of the rings had figured out how to get the door to his study (or 'nerdery') open, as the door handle was a lever, rather than a knob.

Bob followed the other rings through the house, not noticing he was flying. Some of the rings trailed behind in a lazy (or sickly) manner.

As they reached the living room, one ring sped up, rushing on to his wife's finger.

"Alicia Barret-Forester of Earth, you have the ability to overcome great fear. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps."

"Ouch!" said Alice, pinching herself, as she examined her rather form-fitting uniform.

'She looks hot in that,' thought Bob.

"Warning: Ring power at 200%!"

"Bob," she asked, "what the hell is going on?"

"Language, Alice," Bob replied, relishing the ability to be the one doing the correcting, for once, even in these strange circumstances.

As she glared at him, the other rings moved about, searching. The orange ring moved to their cat, briefly, until another resident entered the living room. Circling their four-year-old son, Timmy, the orange ring began, "Timothy Forester of Earth, you want it a-"

"NO!" Timmy's parents interrupted. The Will of a mother to protect her child, and the Hope of a father for his offspring's future, are powerful things, especially when combined. The Orange Ring of Greed was, for all its potential, still just coloured plastic carrying a new-born spirit, with no mortal host to help it. The ring was crushed and disintegrated, and the thoughtform within, dispersed.

The remaining unclaimed rings immediately flew off very fast, breaking a window.

"Do it AGAIN!" shouted Timmy, happily. His parents, wishing for something to distract him, were a bit startled when their rings provided a light-show. They were pleasantly surprised that they were able to maintain it while still having a conversation.

"Bob," Alice began, "did you do something? Where did these rings come from?"

"They were the ones on my desk," he told her, "that full set I got in November, before the other Earths showed up." His face pales as he continues, "... even the Black Lantern ring."

"Tha- that's the Zombie Apocalypse one, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yeah," he told her, "it- it is."

"W- who do we call about this?" asked Alice.

"A glazier?" Bob replied. As his wife glared at him, again, he elaborated, "For the window."

"Dear," said Alice through clenched teeth, somehow making the endearment sound like '*******', "if I weren't so freaked out about this, you'd be sleeping on the couch, tonight."

"Sorry, honey," said Bob, "I'm a bit freaked out, too (but the glazier is still a good idea). I'll go check out the DC message boards, try to see if this has happened to anyone else."

The answer was a rather worrying 'yes'.


The story helps to explain something that I think the timeline wasn't able to: Why the Lanterns are numerous enough to get there own NGO, separate from the Justice League. DC makes and licenses a lot of Power Ring toys and jewelry, including boxed sets of seven or all nine, and when they get empowered, someone who owns multiple rings isn't going to be compatible with all of them. While the Rings that don't choose their creator will still tend to choose someone who's already mildly empowered, if possible, sometimes they just choose the nearest strongly compatible person, even if that person is a complete mundane who has somehow never heard of 'Green Lantern'. Though only Timmy and the cat qualify as unempowered in the scene above (and Timmy does know, as well as a four-year-old can, what a Green Lantern is), the other unclaimed Rings are well on their way to finding Wielders. If someone wants to write something following the story of one of those escaped Rings (except for the Black and the White, which aren't going to show up for a while), feel free.

So, thoughts?

EDIT: Orange text changed to black for reasons of contrast, sorry.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

May is now finalized:

May 2: DC's cancelled 'Earth 2' comic is replaced by one called Earth Two, set on DP-Earth, and based on news stories and other information from that Earth (though only using the Dp-Earth versions of characters owned by DC). On Stp-Earth, Thomas Alva Edison's rocket design wins the Phelps Prize for that category, but his astronef is passed over in favor of that designed by Dr. Artemus Gordon, an inventor, adventurer, dime-novel Action Scientist, and retired Secret Service agent (which requires a partial redesign of both, and incenses the prickly Edison).

May 4: On Inp-Earth, Disney/Lucasfilm founds a group of holding corporations, and some subsidiaries thereof: Republic Space Services (containing Corellian Engineering Corporation, Incom, SoroSuub, et cetra), Republic Automation (Cybot Galactica, Indudstrial Automaton, etc.), Republic Defense Industries (BlasTech, Taim & Bak, etc.), and Republic General Products (Fabritech, Novaldex, etc.), as well as endorsing the Jedi Church's attempts to become an official NGO. Star Wars fanclubs are informed of this in advance, allowing rapid recruitment of empowered ('Force-sensitive', according to corporate documents) engineers and other workers (in a few cases, whole fanclubs are recruited together, into the same subsidiary). The point seems to be a mix of 'good PR' (or the hope that such will develop), 'going with the flow,' and 'making a profit off of existing copyrights, since Star Wars fans were most likely going to make these things, anyway' (similar reasoning inspired the creation of Starship Enterprises, on April 27th).

May 7: Inp-USA's 82nd Airborne Division is officially renamed 82nd Spaceborne Division, and all members who qualify (which is most of them) are requested to undergo astronaut training. On Stp-Earth, the Edison Radio Company opens audio-broadcast radio stations in New York City, N.Y., Menlo Park, N.J., and Washington, D.C., though there are less than a hundred households in all three cities that have receivers.

May 9: Stp-Japan launches their first satellite, a communications relay, into orbit. Scientists in the Ottoman Empire announce the success of a new 'eugenic enhancement' potion, which if given to a pregnant woman during her first trimester, will result in her giving birth to an Sahih Àdem ('Better Man') or Sahih Hatun ('Better Woman'), a new races of healthy, friendly, non-aggressive people, far less inclined to go to war. The oldest are now fifteen, and far enough into puberty that the Ottoman scientists are fairly sure they've got it right (though it is too early to say that the traits will breed true in the next generation). The Kingdom of the Greeks calls the new people 'Helots', and criticizes the Turks for making an 'obvious slave race' (which is unsurprising, given the amount of dislike the Greeks have for the Turks, but could certainly have been someone's motivation). Edison and Hawai'i report both the announcement and the Greek response, which is the first anyone on Earth One or Earth Two have heard about Earth Three's successes in 'eugenics' (which is rather more like genetic engineering than selective breeding) - it's not common, and isn't something often discussed by radiotelegraphy, and wasn't something anyone really asked about, who was in a position to get a response.

May 11: In Inp-Tokyo, a gang war between two rival groups of magical girls ends when the leader of a third group, calling herself Bishojou Senshi Sailor Moon, 'purifies' both groups (incidentally saving the smaller group from being transformed into monsters by their own adviser/mascot). Opinions on this event are mixed, as no-one is entirely certain what this 'purifying' process actually does, nor whether this 'Sailor Moon' intends to rule the world. The B-52Gs being given the Starfighter upgrade are officially designated SB-52I Astrofortesses, which surprisingly enough, accelerates the upgrade process, and greatly reduces many complications in it.

May 14: In Inp-Japan, a boy named Ikari Kenji is startled by seeing what appears to be the ghost 'Sadako' coming out of his television. He kisses her, so that at least he will have done that before his death. The spirit is so surprised that she doesn't kill him, but now he has quite possibly the creepiest girlfriend ever. At DARPA, testing of the portal gun continues. The portals tend to collapse in a few minutes to an hour or two, expelling anything still transiting the wormhole through either portal, either to the side that more of the item's mass is on, or the side with more room (if one side doesn't have enough), or the side least dangerous to the testing body. Today's test is particularly interesting: the areas on both sides of the wormhole are dangerous to the testing body (a wooden dowel) and too cramped to hold it's entire length. To the surprise of some of the scientists (though others predicted something like this) the blue end of the portal 'jumps' to dump the testing body into the lead scientist's trousers - rather painfully.

May 15: Inp-Greece announces its intention to exit the Eurozone at the end of the month. In a clearly coordinated move, Inp-Cyprus announces the same. Handley Page Ltd. recieves permission to attempt a Starfighter refit on two of the surviving Victors, which are redesignated Victor*s ('Victor Stars') for this purpose.

May 16: The 'Valentine's Gift' (see February 14) arrives at Dp-Earth orbit, then makes a landing at a custom-built runway, a bit east of Blackpool, defended by a full Group of RAF fighters, and the Blackhawk Squadron. In Inp-China, a mysterious white ooze leaks from the middle of a street in Nanjing, China. On Stp-Earth, the Nazi KKVs become visible in the upper atmosphere, striking points in or near (mostly near) London, Kristiania, Paris, and St. Petersburg. The points of impact suggest difficulty aiming at such long ranges. The third section of the Pyotr Velikiy is launched.

May 18: In Inp-Syria, Bashar Hafez al-Assad is killed, along with most of his top military officers, and a number of government workers by what appears to be one or more djinn. Some leaders of conflicting rebel movements are also killed, leading to even greater chaos in the region. The Stp-Earth Papal astronef Sanctus Aloysius arrives in Earth One orbit, and lands at Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport, outside Rome. The Nuncio is quickly conducted to a meeting with Pope Innocent XIV.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

May 21: In Dp-Japan, a large number of people high up in the government and military (which somewhat overlap) die in numerous 'accidents, which several others are personally 'invited onwards' by the Emperor ("You have disappointed me. You may use the garden.") In Inp-Japan, the government announces a reorganization and expansion of JAXA, 'to better operate in the changing environment of space in these times.' Though the expansion seems to mostly involve transfers of personnel from the Self Defense Forces, and the reorganization involves many existing employees receiving 'security' training, uniforms, and IJN ranks, the government denies that JAXA is being militarized (while unofficial sources point out that Article 9, Section 2 says nothing about space forces, specifically) - after all, the majority of employees are still clearly civilians. While the Inp-USA had been quietly encouraging Inp-Japan to simply drop or loosen Article 9, this compromise was far from what they were expecting.

May 23: On Inp-Earth, DARPA begins 'back-burner' R&D for a hypothetical prototype battleplate. Conservative estimates project construction to begin before the end of the 21st century... on the Dp-Earth calender. A failed attempt to reverse-engineer some of the lightsabres that were loaned to DARPA results in reproduceable blaster technology, firing a directed plasmoid into the target. The design and 'process' (ritual) is licensed to both Republic Defense Industries and Starship Enterprises (where they are called 'disruptors' (though some Trekkies insist that a disruptor is an entirely different weapon with an occasionally similar visual effect) or plasma weapons - which at least has the virtue of being accurate), as those companies have the greatest concentration of people capable of producing them. Bolts and vortex rings of electrically-charged 'cold' plasma provide less-lethal settings. On Stp-Earth, a third-rate mystic botches a summoning spell and summons an internet spirit from Inp-Earth. Hilarity ensues.

May 26: Further improvements in imaging software allow a number of quite strange things to be seen on the nearby Earths: on Fa-Earth, between two rivers in former Gallia Belgica Prima, there is a nation that appears to be in a state of suspended animation, including even the domesticated plants and wild animals (Ambassador mírchArthur confirms that something like the legend of Sleeping Beauty is occurring there), while in what we would call Russia and Siberia (and to a lesser degree, in Scandinavia), bear cavalry (ursalry?) seems to be in use as elite shock troops; such is also seen in North America, along with mastadon cavalry (which are rather more common, and are also used as beasts of burden). Meanwhile, on Clockpunk Earth, centauriod clanks are visible, along with strange wind-up aircraft, and other bizarre constructions. The Papal astronef remains docked at Ostia, but no other evidence of the crew or passengers can be seen.

May 27: Inp-Spain announces a delay in the commissioning process for their new submarine class, as the subs with have 'wings' and reinforcement added, making them the first heavier-than-water hydrocraft. They will also be the first submarines to possess supplementary fusion reactors. Most of the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are promoted to five-star rank, the exceptions being the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and the Chief of the National Guard Bureau. There is some debate on what the Space Force's five-star rank should be, but it is eventually agreed that General of the Space Force works well enough, for now.

May 31: As promised, Greece and Greek Cyprus exit the Eurozone, both using the new Greek drachma, though businesses in both are also permitted to accept British pounds sterling (and are more inclined to do so, for reasons of greater stability). Many British tourists begin booking holidays in either or both nations over the summer, just as planned (no, that was not the only reason they chose British currency, just an intended side-effect).


With thanks to Lord Khuzdul on SB.com for Turkish translations.

'Eugenics' on Steampunk Earth/Earth Three: The first successes in this area happened in about the 1830s and '40s, when pregnant women took small amounts of Haversham's Enhancer, or a derivative thereof, and discovered years later that their children had an unusual degree of focus and creativity naturally, more-so than children they had without taking the Enhancer - though the psychic aspects would very rarely manifest before puberty (those who took too much had children with the sort of problems you'd expect from the children of women who drank large amounts of scotch and absinthe while pregnant, though they still manifested the psychic abilities around puberty). The fact that this worked lead to more experiments in the same vein, leading to small numbers of 'New Men', 'Eugenic Races', or, 'Eugenies'. The oldest known Haversham Eugenie, a woman named Katherine Evans (nee MacLaren), was born in 1832, and each of her five children show Haversham traits, as do her fourteen grandchildren. The oldest non-Haversham Eugenie, an 'Alpha' named Wilton Thompson, is now twenty-three, and has a wife (Mary, also an Alpha) and two children (George and Stephanie), who already show some Alpha traits at ages four and three, respectively.

Experiments in permanently enhancing already-born humans and animal with non-psychic abilities have had little success.

Crunch:

Available Eugenic Race Templates on Stp-Earth:
Alpha (GURPS Bio-Tech, p66), first born in April, 1856
Brownie (Bio-Tech, p68), first born in 1857, rare due to appearance
Ishtar (Bio-Tech, p66), first born in 1859
Orion (Bio-Tech, p67), first born in 1861
Avatar (Bio-Tech, p69), first male born in 1862, first female in 1864
Helot (Bio-Tech, p67), first born in 1864
Metanoia (GURPS Transhuman Space p116 and Tranhuman Space: Changing Times p48), first born in 1866
Drylander (Bio-Tech, p70), first born in 1869
Selkie (Bio-Tech, p71), first born in 1870, rare due to appearance

The names are those in the books, and are the same in the International Register of Eugenic Races (first published 1876), though the Helots, Metanoias, and so forth will not be published for a few years, yet (they aren't considered a 'race' until they produce viable offspring, and there are some who say they shouldn't be considered a race until the offspring also prove fertile). Havershams aren't considered a Eugenic Race. The gaps are intentional, as this only lists successful templates. The GM is free to add a few that, for various reasons, are considered unsuccessful (or are successful but still secret, or successful and known, because it's your game).

The total population of non-Haversham upgrades is less than a thousand, world-wide, but is growing, now that the Alphas have proven fairly successful. Once the Alphas and others have grandchildren, the population will likely explode, and not just on Stp-Earth.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

The job sucked. No lie.

The cheap computer monitor never worked right, but he looked at it anyway since the dirty beige cubicle walls were even worse -- especially since they made him take down the Sigil poster, last year. (It apparently upset one of the ladies with the beehive hair who worked in HR.)

The phone rang all day, every day, and delivered straight to his ear whining complaints in all sorts of accents. Why is the shipment late? (Because the company guarantees overnight delivery, but only pays for 2nd Day....) Why didn't we get all the parts we ordered (Because the company never keeps a full inventory on hand, since it costs too much....) Why did the drawbar for this lathe start to neck after only 1000 hours? (Because Bobby Dahl, the owner, is cheap and would never pay for quality anything....)

But, hey, it's a job and the pay is above average for someone who can lie to customers as well as he does, and that's important since the unemployment rate for high school grads is more than double that for college grads.

(He'd tried college. Sat on his butt every Friday and Saturday night for two semesters, reading about a bunch of irrelevant crap that wouldn't make him rich, so he could attend a droning lecture about more irrelevant crap from a professor who thought tenure was the best goal in life. No thanks.)

Kimmie swung by, on her way out, and poked her head over his cubicle to say, "Hi, Jimmy!" Best part of the job, really, and one of the two things (the paycheck was the other) that kept him coming in to this pest-hole. Pretty ginger with slightly crooked teeth, who kept dating one loser salesman after another. He'd treat her better, if only she could see that.

Time to go home, finally. The swing shift paid a differential (the paycheck...) which meant he actually saw a few stars, sometimes, between all the concrete drab light industrial buildings in the business park, as he shuffled over to his old black Charger. It still looked okay, but the engine was slowly falling apart, and he hated wasting the hundred-dollar bills needed to glue it back together.

He hadn't bothered to look at the stars, much, in the four years since he'd bailed on college and found this job. That changed, a couple months ago, when the four other Earths popped up, out of nowhere, and wasn't that a kick in the head? He got home and switched on the TV, and watched the same college professor talking-heads yap their mouths on the cable news channels. Apparently, there still weren't any of them who had any idea how it happened. Useless morons.

But some of the other news? Now, that was interesting. That had potential.

He dropped his tv dinner tray on top of the pile of garbage (need to take that out, tomorrow...), dumped his fork in the sink with all the others, and made his way down to the basement of this crappy rental house.

No apartment for him. He needed the basement. The black walls ate the light reflected by the chalice and the athame on the altar. The light came from the LED overheads, above the six gleaming, polished monitors (no flickering crap, here -- the eyefinity monitors attached to a hand-built, water-cooled, overclocked i7-3960x driving a Linux box with the latest Tor and its own T-1). The ebony walls created a stark contrast with the shimmering silver Sigil of Baphomet on the wall. The symbols of his desire lay in their proper places, undisturbed.

Nobody ever came down here. His parents wondered why he never invited them over. They'd freak out, and call Reverend Dougie (idiot...) and tell him their son worshipped Satan.

What crap. There is no "Satan." There is no God. Everyone is the god in their own lives, and this is his place to be that god. Here, in this pure. clean space, he was able to set aside "James David Grossman," and become his true self.

Barakiel, the Angel of Lightning. The Name he gave to his Carnal Self.

Barakiel had long since cracked the passwords on the company computers, and used the data there to hack the systems of the customers. The customer systems, in turn, had led to some pretty interesting places. Barakiel knew a lot of things about a lot of people, some if it not so nice. Some of it... lucrative.

It was amazing how Bobby Dahl spent some of the money he didn't put back in the company.

Jimmy Grossman had no idea how to use information like that. Barakiel did, though.

Barakiel moved into the black grotto, focused his will, and the computer fans whined as it powered up. Barakiel focused his will, and the LEDs on the alter flicked to life.

Barakiel moved to the altar, and gazed at the benjamin, and the printed specs of the Alfa 4C, and the grainy photo of the ginger girl with slightly crooked teeth.

Barakiel focused his will.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Ooh, this is interesting. Thank you.

Should fit well in the fiction thread on SB.com, when you feel like going there.

Happy Fourth of July, BTW.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Happy Fourth to you, too. I'll post the story over there, tomorrow.

When you write for a game setting, you always want to focus on sources of conflict. I thought about that, and realized I should try vignettes about people who would become villains.

Jimmy Grossman has a lot of potential as the adversary in a scenario or three, for a starting group of investigators, I think. He also has the potential to grow into a nemesis, should the GM decide to make him less of a loser underachiever.

He's nicely creepy as is, though. :)

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Oh yes. We should probably write up and post some of these characters, though.

I've got a few I've been working on, which should be posted here soon, for consideration and possible editing. Here's one:

Michelle Baumbusch

Age: 11

Attributes

ST 8 [-20]; DX 9 [-20]; IQ 12 [40]; HT 11 [10]

Secondary Characteristics

HP 8; Will 12; Per 12; FP 11; SM -1

Subtotal: 10


Social Background

Languages: Modern English (Native) [0]; Latin (Broken) [2]

TL: 8

Cultural Familiarity: 21st Century Western

Subtotal: 2


Advantages

Cute [4]
Luck (Aspected: Character Shields, -20%) [12]
Serendipity (Aspected: Character Shields, -20%) [12]
Patron (Parents; 15 or less) [30]
Thoughtform Talent 1 [10]
Magic Wand (Potterverse) [6]
Wild Talent (Emergencies Only, -30%; Focused: Psi (Thoughtforms), -20%; Uncontrollable, -30%) 1 [4]

Perks

Controllable Disadvantage (Easy to Read) [1]
Dabbler (Fortune-Telling (Astrology) 8, Fortune-Telling (Numerology) 8, Occultism 8, Pharmacy (Herbal)/TL8 8, History (Esoteric) 7, Naturalist 8) [1]
Magical Style Familiarity (Potterverse) [1]
Penetrating Voice [1]
Quick-Sheathe (Wand) [1]
Shtick (Cloaked) [1]
Shtick (Disarming Smile) [1]

Subtotal: 85


Disadvantages

Dead Broke [-25]
Social Stigma (Minor) [-5]
Pacifism (Cannot Kill) [-15]
Secret (witch, gadgets probably taken away if found out) -? <Suggested cost?>
Reputation ('nerdy weirdo', schoolmates and neighbor kids, All the time) -1 [-1]

Quirks

Frustrated that Transfiguration is so much harder than it is in the books. [-1]
Loves to read. [-1]
Always has her wand. [-1]
Crush on celebrity (Daniel Radcliff). [-1]
Calls mundanes 'muggles'. [-1]
Overachiver. [-1]

Subtotal: -52


Features

Extra Option: Astrological Ceremonies [0]


Skills

Area Knowledge (City) [IQ/E] [1] 12

Astronomy (Observational) [IQ/H] [1] 10

Bicycling [DX/E] [2] 10

Computer Operation/TL8 [IQ/E] [1] 12
Computer Programming/TL8 [1] 10

Fast-Draw (Wand) [DX/E] [1] 9
Fast-Talk [IQ/A] [1] 11

Hobby (Potterverse) [IQ/E] [2] 13

Holdout [IQ/A] [1] 11

Literature [IQ/H] [1] 10

Research [IQ/A] [2] 12

Ritual Magic (Potterverse) [IQ/VH] [2] 11

Path of Charms [IQ/VH] [1] 10
Path of Transfiguration [IQ/VH] [2] 11
Path of Jinxes, Hexes, and Curses [IQ/VH] [1] 10
Path of Potions [IQ/VH] [1] 10
Path of Items [IQ/VH] [0] 5

Running [HT/A] [2] 10

Swimming [HT/E] [1] 11

Writing [IQ/A] [2] 12

Techniques:

Path of Charms:
Leviosa (H) Path of Charms-1 [0] 9
Alohomora (H) Path of Charms-2 [0] 8

Path of Transfiguration:
Matchstick to Needle (H) Path of Transfiguration-13 [0] 0

Path of Jinxes, Hexes, and Curses:
Jelly-Legs Jinx (H) Path of Jinxes, Hexes, and Curses-1 [2] 10

Path of Potions:
Boil Curing (H) Path of Potions-1 [2] 10
Draught of Living Death (H) Path of Potions-8 [0] 2

Path of Items: None, yet.

Subtotal: 30

Total: 75


Equipment

Library card
Cellphone
Wallet, keys, etc.

Notes

Michelle's Cloaked Schtick is the result of subconsciously using telekinesis to keep loose clothes out of the way.

Her version of Matchstick to Needle (and Transfiguration in general) involves warping space, which is why it's so very hard to do. If she were only trying to compress the material into the right shape, it would probably be below -10.

For critical failures, Michelle rolls on the Comedy Table (Thaumatology p257), though as she grows up, this may change.

I might give her a broomstick, as well (Gadget-limited Flight, probably with Low Ceiling); it's not like they don't sell them all over the place as costume props.

Items and House Rules:

Magic Wand (Potterverse)

Path/Book Adept 3 (Time, Space, Material; Breakable (DR 2; SM -5 or -6) -20%*; Can Be Stolen, -30%; Must Have Thoughtform Talent 1+, -10%;, Must Be Chosen By Wand, -20%) [6]

*The Breakable limitation should actually be -30%, but that would give a total cost reduction of -90%, rather than the maximum of -80%. Remember this when adding or removing enhancements or limitations.

Notes

Some wands have other properties, based on the wood they are made of, or the core material their creator imagines or places in them, as described on the Pottermore website, and its wiki. Others are more generic, simply matching the example above. While few wands have the concept of language, much less the ability to use it, many have some form of sapience, and often have personalities of their own - though they are normally quite limited in their ability to express it. The wand-spirit as a character would normally have IQ 6 to 8, No Manipulators, No Legs (Portable), and in most cases, Slave Mentality, among other appropriate disadvantages, and might be a strange sort of Ally. A wand suitable as a PC would be especially unusual and powerful.

Many who have these wands also have some level of Wild Talent with the 'Emergencies Only,' 'Focused: Psi (Thoughtforms),' and usually 'Uncontrollable' limitations, and some wands require that advantage as well as or instead of Thoughtform Talent.

The usual Potterverse style is Effect Shaping, and the skill is Ritual Magic (Potterverse). A wand made for an Energy Accumulating version would have two levels of Time.

The Paths of Potterverse magic are:

Path of Charms
Path of Transfiguration
Path of Jinxes, Hexes, and Curses
Path of Potions
Path of Items

Rituals on the Path of Transfiguration often have prohibitively harsh penalties, much to the frustration of many casters. Even First Year transfigurations are likely to have penalties in excess of -10, especially if warping space is involved. Transfigurations that don't require warping space will mostly be easier - illusions may fall under Transfiguration or Charms, depending on how the creator of the ritual thinks of them. Rituals in the other Paths will mostly have defaults based on the year the novels say it should be learned, unless noted otherwise:

Year 1: 0 or -1
Year 2: -1 or -2
Year 3: -2 or -3
Year 4: -3 or -4
Year 5: -4 to -6
Year 6: -6 to -8
Year 7: -8 or worse

If the logic of the setting suggests that a spell should have a higher or lower default penalty than its usual year of introduction (or apparent difficulty in the books, if no year is given), the GM should feel free to adjust it. The years given are only important because they affect how hard practicioners of the style think the spell should be.

Rituals on the Paths of Potions and Items do not involve wand use, and do not seem to benefit from it. While there was no 'Magic Item Creation' class in the novels, AFAICT, there clearly were magic items, and some way of producing them in large numbers. Since neither Harry, Hermione, nor Ron attended Hogwarts in Book Seven, placing a class on the creation of permanent, reusable magic items in Seventh Year would be plausibe, and fit the fact that Fetish has a default penalty of -8 (placing it in Sixth Year or earlier would also work, as Harry just might not have noticed the class, since he wasn't taking it). Single-use items fall under the concept of charms (Thaumatology p139, rather than the Path of Charms), as do potions.

Popular belief among many fans has it that Ancient Runes and/or Arithmancy are involved in the creation of magic items, the invention of new spells, or both, and thus Symbol Drawing (any alphabet) and Fortune-Telling (Numerology) are Complementary skills for Ritual Magic (Potterverse), and the Paths derived from it, the Path of Items, especially. Because so many fans don't know that Arithmancy is supposed to be a class in numerology, Mathematics is also a Complementary skill, and because Astronomy (probably Observational) is a core class, both it and Fortune-Telling (Astrology) may serve as Complementary skills. Potter-style casters may take advantage of the Decanic modifiers (GURPS Thaumatology pp83-86 & 248-252), if they are aware of them.

The 'Aspected: Character Shields' limitation, in brief, sets Luck and/or Serendipity to make you harder to catch or kill, and can provide some protection for certain secrets, but does not help you succeed in your schemes. Th TV Tropes article Smoking Gun Control has examples of these advantages in action, plausible and otherwise, as does the 2007 film The Brave One (notable because the main character notices how odd it is). This type of Luck/Serendipity very common advantage among empowered people (even those who, by inclination, aren't likely to do anything that would have them need it), although it doesn't count against the 10% guideline for non-power-centric games. Jimmy, above, probably has one or the other, if not both.

Michelle mostly uses it to keep her parents and other adults (or kids who might tattle) from finding out she's got powers, now, since they might take her wand away (and certainly her broomstick, if I give her one).

I'll probably post some more characters, later, including a group of possible enemies for Barakiel/Jimmy (they're in the 100 to 200 points range). Also, the incomplete write-up for the Power Rings, which I think I'll need help with, if I don't get a bolt of inspiration in the next few days.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

This would have been edited into my post above, but it was already too close to the character limit.

The reason I'm uncertain about the level of her Secret disadvantage is the same as the reason for the 'probably' in the description: as I think I mentioned earlier in the thread, the spirits tend to object to people taking away the gifts they give, so her chances of getting her wand (and broomstick, if she gets one) back are higher than would be accounted for by a -5 or -10 Secret coming out.

Broomstick (Flight (Gadget: Breakable (DR 2, HP 14; SM -2), -40%; Can Be Stolen, -30%); Low Ceiling (30-foot), -10%) [8]. Without Low Ceiling, cost becomes [12].

Another advantage I've been considering is a limited version of Astral Travel: she visits Hogwarts in her dreams. This makes learning easier, but also adds frustration to her transfiguration studies, which are far easier in the dream world than in the real world, as the dreamworld has no real space or matter, just dreams (reduce difficulties by ten to thirteen for 'items' in the dream-world/Astral Plane; e.g. Matchstick to Needle becomes a -0 or -1 ritual).

On another note, I'm not sure if I've got the cost of Patron right, though I've seen it that way on some 'creating child characters' sites and threads. In some ways, her parents could be considered both Patrons and Dependents (or Allies with an appropriate limitation on their willingness to help): On one hand, they have certain important advantages over her (they're adults who have jobs and Average Wealth, and are responsible for her, while she's a child with no job and a paltry £5-a-week allowance), but on the other, she's an empowered ~75 point character (more or less, depending on how the advantages and disadvantages under discussion pan out), and they're two mundane ~30 point characters. If they were both empowered, and especially if they were as big Harry Potter fans as she is, her situation would be rather different, Patron and Secret-wise.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

How will her parents react if they find out. Forbidding her from magic except under supervision, forbidding it totally, taking her to a fanatical group to have the evil magic beat out of her? How is society in general reacting, given the Lantern orgs and such it might make things better for her. Training, jobs waiting when she gets old enough etc.

Literature [IQ/H] [1] 10 should probably have an specialization in Fantasy.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

I'm imagining them as a fairly normal British couple (or American, which just requires converting her allowance into dollars), who indulged their daughters hobby because it was harmless. Their main concern is that she'll get hurt or killed, and there's all these bizarre stories on the news.

Society in general is split, with different people reacting in different ways, and a wide range of groups and opinions. There are a few loonies who want to be rid of the 'mutants' and 'witches' entirely, but only a few (it helps that concentration camps are on the news a lot, now - not many would want to be compared to the Nazis). There are some crazy politicians and activists on the 'kill/confine/monitor them all' side, but mostly people are going with softer options.

The fact that there are real superheroes out there, and they often have better PR than the cops, helps a lot (though it doesn't make the cops happy).

Fixed in the master copy (haven't dared to add anything to the post, itself). Thank you.

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Let's see if this fits all in one post. The 'Seleneans' mentioned below are called Lunarians in the timeline, because it's mostly written from Inp-Earth's PoV, and 'we' didn't know their name for themselves (and the fact that their native language is a derivative of Greek is meaningful).

A Summary of a Report on Venus and its Inhabitants, by the Seleneans, or, the Amazon Women on the Moon.

Dp-Venus is a hot world, though not so hot as Inp-Venus. Where land crosses the equator, there is only a barren desert, and where the sea crosses it, the surface boils (though it is cooler, much farther down). This has lead to a pair of hemispheres almost totally isolated from each other, as well as some quite... interesting weather patterns. The Northern hemisphere is dominated by amphibian-like lifeforms (including the one known native sophont race), having few native reptiles, and no native birds or mammals (though they do have some flying creatures, including several species of flying amphibianoid). The Southern hemisphere is dominated by arthropods, and has few native amphibians, and no known native reptiles, birds, or mammals, nor apparently any native sophonts.

The native sophonts, called Venereans or 'Salamander-Men', found in the northern hemisphere are tailed amphibianoids standing an average of 5'3", and resembling to some degree a cross between a salamander and the classic Godzilla, with a vertical, paddle-like tail. It is believed that they are only distantly, if at all, related to any Earth life-forms, though the Seleneans are uncertain of this. They are primarily swamp-dwellers, though they have been known to build villages, towns, and small cities along and within large lakes or rivers. Unfortunately, they are highly susceptible to telepathy.

Five hundred years ago, the most advanced of the Venerean civilizations were undergoing a form of Bronze Age collapse, as they transitioned between the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. This made them even easier for extra-solar invaders, the Cythereans (believed to be descended from humans taken from Earth long ago, and genetically engineered to their current state, much like the Seleneans suspect themselves to be), to conquer, and their telepathic susceptibility made them far too easy to enslave (which, most likely, is why their world was targeted).

According to the ancient alien scanning devices that the Seleneans have been studying, the Cythereans entered the Sol system from hyperspace by passing close enough to Jupiter for its gravity to drag them into normal space, but far enough out, and far enough from any of the moons, not to crash into anything. The Seleneans believe this was intentional, as exiting hyperspace without the need to use the mass-shadow of a planet is beyond the technology that the Cythereans appear to have (and beyond the Seleneans' own (slightly less advanced) technology, though they know some of the races living on Mars can do it). Likewise, entering hyperspace requires a projector larger than the vessel to be projected (though the Martians seem not to need this). First an uncrewed probe arrived, then years later, a fleet of their characteristic ovoid vessels. Signals intelligence from the Cythereans (again, intercepted and recorded by the alien sensors) indicates that they were expecting construction ships to arrive with parts and engineers to build a hyperspace projector a few years later, but they never did, nor did anything else from their empire, beyond garbled signals traffic indicating a great and unexpected disaster.

Cythereans, whose women are called 'She-Devils' by the Seleneans, are a telepathic race: They can read surface thoughts, make themselves seem more charismatic or frightening, shield their minds from telepathic attack, and are skilled in mind-control. They can implant post-hypnotic suggestions with a touch (or sometimes without one), manipulate more emotions than just awe or fear, or even perform what amounts to mental surgery, rewriting the victim's personality as they please. Worse, their victims will instinctively rationalize their actions under the She-Devils' influence. However, they are unable to directly remove or alter memories (at best, they can create a phobia against remembering or thinking about certain things, or a delusion that the memories are false), a weakness that a skilled deprogrammer can exploit.

Some She-Devils professionally specialize in one or more specific mental changes, such as turning someone into a 'happy, willing slave', or a 'savage gladiator' ("I want him in the games until he dies playing" is a legitimate criminal sentence on Venus), or removing the same from one whose sentence is up, or who has received a pardon. Of course, very few non-Cytherean slaves are ever freed.

In terms of personality, female Cythereans are frequently ill-tempered bullies, and sometimes sadists or control-freaks, as well, along with varying degrees of (somewhat justified) overconfidence. Mothers will often directly shape their offsprings' personalities, to be sure they 'turn out just right' (though their definition of 'right' seems odd to the Seleneans). In terms of appearance, they look, well, rather like a slightly racist 1940s Hollywood casting director was told to find a bunch of 'tall, pretty women'.

Male Cythereans tend to look like medium-height, moderately attractive Caucasian men. They are generally better at shielding their minds than the women are, and are good at sensing the use of telepathy (though it takes them time to develop both), but rarely have any mind control powers, themselves. They frequently lack a lot of what we would see as the negative traits possessed by the women, unless their mothers preferred them that way, but do tend to be loyal to their society, and don't seem to mind being second-class citizens.

Cythereans' powers tend to develop fully after puberty, and are fairly weak, before then.

The Cythereans live primarily in settlements in the northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere, and in a few, smaller settlements in the southern parts of the much less explored Southern Hemisphere. Their basic family unit generally consists of two to four women, one or two men, and often about as many children as there are parents, with the household lead by the strongest telepath (which may mean the one with the best mind shield, or the one best at mind control, or the one with the best balance of both); male 'Alphas' are rare, but not unheard of, and only get in trouble for it if they make trouble for those outside the family unit, or are too blatantly abusive. Very wealthy She-Devils might have more men in their harems, if they wish, and some family groups consist only of women, some of whom might adopt, or get artificial insemination (or natural insemination, for that matter). If there are any purely gay men among the Cythereans, no one knows of them (which is sadly unsurprising, given the way mind control is thrown about).

Their total population, at least in this star system, is probably less than one billion.

The Seleneans don't know what started the war with Venus. The oldest of them were teenagers at the time, and government records of the time were among the first things destroyed. They do recall that a few Cythereans were granted political asylum in some of the Lunar cities, shortly before the war began. They aren't sure if there's any connection, but that's the only thing they can think of.

Militarily, the Cythereans have almost exclusively female officers, mostly male NCOs (odd, given the relatively small number of men), and robots at the lowest ranks. Their standard sidearm, which is built into the right arms of the robots, is a ray gun that can fire either a rather wide beam stun ray, or a narrow beam death ray. Visually, the use of the weapon causes the effected area or being to briefly turn white, then resemble a photographic negative, then white again, and back to normal; Sometimes the cycle is repeated a few times, for greater power - this is done faster for the death ray, and more slowly for the stun ray. Neither seems to have any effect on machinery, so they also carry gyroc weapons, grenades, and occasionally plasma-throwers (effectively a much, much hotter flamethrower).

The report itself reads something like a little girl with a black eye warning the new kid how evil the local bully is. The Seleneans' actual situation is metaphorically closer to a little girl who lost both parents, both legs, and one arm, then proceeded to cauterize the stumps with her remaining hand, and then survive hiding in someone's back garden for a few years, before asking the people in the new building down the block to help her build and install the cybernetic limbs her parents invented, in return for access to the technology... and then told them how evil the person who did this to her is.


Crunch: The ray gun's stun ray functions as Sleep 4 (Psionic Powers p49) with the Cone (5 yards) enhancement, a maximum range of 50 yards, and an effective skill, for the Quick Contest, of 16. It also does 1d-5 Toxic damage. The repeated cycles mentioned above add 2 levels to Sleep and one 1d-5 tox per repeat.

The death ray is as above, but removes Cone, increases range to 100 yards, and does 1d+12 tox per cycle, as well as an Affliction of Easy to Kill 10 (unmodified by number of cycles).

Re: Five Earths, All in a Row
 

Sorry about the lack of new timeline content. It's coming, but slowly.

Try this, instead:

It occurs to me that I've mentioned disintegration rays a few times, including in the timeline, but I don't recall if I've explained how they work, beyond 'resulting from a failed teleportation experiment'. I think the original concept came to me years ago, before I started reading Schlock Mercenary, but Mr. Taylor's explanation of the teraport reminded me of it: in the teraport, quadrillions of nano-scale wormholes are opened into the object being teraported, the individual atoms (or subatomic particles, I'm not remembering which) are sent through the wormholes, and reassembled into the original object on the other side, probably due to all the wormhole mouths having the same positions relative to each other on both ends.

With the disintegrator, the 'exit' mouths of the wormholes are not all together, but rather are spread apart over a spherical or semi-spherical volume with a radius of up to ten kilometres. Each proton or neutron gets its own wormhole, but electrons are harder to catch, so the disintegrated object tends to leave behind a cloud of blue, negative-ion plasma, shaped like whatever was there, before, that dissipates fairly quickly. The more efficient the disintegrator is at catching electrons, the fainter (and less dangerous) the cloud is. In an Earth-like atmosphere, the disintegrator usually misses enough atoms that a vacuum does not occur, though the pressure is rarely an exact match for the surrounding air pressure. Disintegration of radioactive material outside of prepared locations is NOT recommended.

If the disintegration ray is targeted at an object with a volume and/or mass larger than it is set for, it tends to leave part of the item behind, usually with some electrical burns from the negative ions. When used on a person (or a mannikin stuffed with a man's weight in sand, plastic, & ballistic gel), this is usually one or two smoking boots - the scientists suspect this is a result of the spirits of Drama playing with them. When targeted on an object smaller/lighter than it is set for, it simply uses less power - unless the computer malfunctions, or is badly programmed, in which case nearby items, if any, may be damaged.

Crunch:

A disintegration ray pistol set for human-size targets would be treated in Powers as Corrosion Attack 2d+110 (Increased 1/2D *10, 15%; Teleportation, -10%), possibly with a Follow-Up that does Burning and Surge, a minor Nuisance Effect, or just a quirky side-effect. The 2d instead of 0d is due to the margin of error. Suggestions are welcome, if you think I missed something.

I could do a post on FTL drives, if anyone is interested. Also, I'm working on one for technology levels for Dieselpunk Earth's Sol System.