New Reality Seeds

[fchase8]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

However, in this Q6 low Mana parallel, Centrum agents persuaded the British ministers in charge of the decision that the Netherlands is no longer going to be a power, so they should just keep the East Indies. It is now the year 1850.

Has Centrum been active in inhabited timelines for 35 years? There hasn't even been a Dimension War for that long.

And if it's a parallel, it would have had to diverge before this.


This sounds more like an early Centrum intervention on an echo. Interworld agents could have found this world at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and wanted to boost victorious Britain to worldwide dominance before America or Germany could challenge it.

Britain keeping the East Indies could have been an early, almost accidental, Interworld intervention. Agents would be new on the ground, and that long ago without much experience - but at least no language barrier for infiltrating the English side. They might have been pushing for not just a stronger Britain but weaker Prussia at the Congress of Vienna, but ended up with Britain keeping the old Dutch East Indies.

It's years on now, and while the U.K. has an even bigger empire, it's not the ruler of the world - and the timeline hasn't moved to Q7 like Centrum theories all said it would (Grades have been lost over the debacle). American clippers and Russian Cossacks are pushing at the British Empire.

Oh, and Secundus just found the world. I-Cops were able to figure out that Centrum backs London (Interworld has been there so long they aren't that hidden to outtime eyes), and are currently using those American clippers to back independence movements in the British Empire, from Ireland to Indonesia.

What Infinity doesn't know is that the world is still an echo, still movable, at least in Interworld eyes. Still thinking it's just another parallel (maybe listed as one of the Britannicas), it's a minor front in the dimension war - Infinity would seriously up its game (and take over from Homeline states that are involved, like Russia & U.S.) in order to reverse Centrum changes. In fact, Infinity would also try to figure out why the world hasn't shifted, hasn't settled - key parachronic knowledge.

[Astromancer]

Freedonia

This normal mana Q5 parallel doesn't seem to have had any form of the genus Homo evolve. There are no native intelligent beings. The combination of normal mana, Q5 and a big empty planet, has made Freedonia a popular escape from whatever isn't enjoyable on Homeline.

Hippies, survivalists, utopians, cultists, wannabe Dharma Bums, and a thousand flavors of New Agers, all flock here. This attracts both conventional crooks and agents of Centrum and the Cabal.

The chaotic deeply anti-authoritarian culture makes Freedonia a great path to Homeline. This makes having a discrete and effective presence on Freedonia vital to Homeline security.

Basically, this is an undercover police campaign with magic, ultratech, and psionics, randomly mixed in.

[Astromancer]

A Q4 parallel with mainly low mana and a few small areas of normal mana, and tiny areas of high mana. No area of normal mana is larger than two square miles, most are much smaller. No area of high mana is a full acre, most are far smaller.

The local time period is the late 18th century. Alchemical research is beginning to become self reinforcing. Several young Thaumutologists have been working with Hindu concepts of the plurality of worlds and universes. They are beginning to become World Jumpers. Certain Homeline researchers interested in the study of magic have found out about this. Sadly, an Agent of Reich-5's Annaherbe (sic) has also discovered the group.

Basically, the secret of inducing the ability to transfer between parallels and quantums would be a major victory in the Reality Wars. Allowing Reich-5 any part of the victory is a horror beyond comprehension.

This is a Swashbuckling Espionage Action campaign, think The Scarlett Pimpernell! This period in English history is paranoid because of the French Revolution. Trying to either abduct a group of well respected scholars from Oxford or Cambridge (or far more likely the Scots Universities, the English universities were moribund and stagnant in period) would involve tons of complications. The Reich-5 team, which will be far less tactful, will itself be a major complication.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Sadly, an Agent of Reich-5's Annaherbe (sic) has also discovered the group.

Are you sure you don't mean Abwehr?

Originally Posted by Astromancer

Basically, the secret of inducing the ability to transfer between parallels and quantums would be a major victory in the Reality Wars. Allowing Reich-5 any part of the victory is a horror beyond comprehension.

Well, not to rain on the seed, but Abwehr getting to Quantum 4 is already a nightmare scenario. This implies that Reich-5 has:
1) Broken out of Quantum 3, either with an alternative to the Chronobahn or because the Chronobahn spans Quantums.
2) Gotten the secret of interworld travel beyond just the Raven Division of the SS. This implies that Reich-5 will soon be flooding the world along the Chronobahn with troops.

Either of these is a nightmare scenario for Infinity. Both probably implies they might be getting their "invade Reich-5" plans out of mothballs.

Oh, I see. You mean Ahnenerbe. You could have just written 'Reich-5 agents'. They're all over that kind of pseudo-archaeology. Though Infinity might still be in panic mode over Reich-5 getting on to Q4.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Are you sure you don't mean Abwehr?

Well, not to rain on the seed, but Abwehr getting to Quantum 4 is already a nightmare scenario. This implies that Reich-5 has:
1) Broken out of Quantum 3, either with an alternative to the Chronobahn or because the Chronobahn spans Quantums.
2) Gotten the secret of interworld travel beyond just the Raven Division of the SS. This implies that Reich-5 will soon be flooding the world along the Chronobahn with troops.

Either of these is a nightmare scenario for Infinity. Both probably implies they might be getting their "invade Reich-5" plans out of mothballs.

Oh, I see. You mean Ahnenerbe. You could have just written 'Reich-5 agents'. They're all over that kind of pseudo-archaeology. Though Infinity might still be in panic mode over Reich-5 getting on to Q4.

You're right. I just can't spell.

[Inky]

They might just have found a nexus gate onto that one parallel. ...Which will be no help to Infinity, who won't have any way of knowing whether it's that or they've worked out how to cross Quantums until they catch them, and will therefore be panicking anyway.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by Inky

They might just have found a nexus gate onto that one parallel. ...Which will be no help to Infinity, who won't have any way of knowing whether it's that or they've worked out how to cross Quantums until they catch them, and will therefore be panicking anyway.

The Chronobahn (sic) [(sic) means I think I misspelled something] does dip into Q4 in cannon.

[TGLS]

Originally Posted by Astromancer

The Chronobahn (sic) [(sic) means I think I misspelled something] does dip into Q4 in cannon.

Well, I may have missed something, but that isn't how it is as presented on IW55:

Reich-5 is on the cusp of being just such a threat, and if the Chronobahn (p. 79) extends outside Q3, it could be an even worse one.

[Astromancer]

Originally Posted by TGLS

Well, I may have missed something, but that isn't how it is as presented on IW55:

I misremembered. Still, between the unpredictable Chronobahn and the threat of Nazis getting World Jumping the PCs could be kept busy.

[Astromancer]

Arthur Percival's defeat at the battle of Singapore was made inevitable by his incompetence. Yamashita, although a highly skilled and focused commander, was undermanned, under supplied, and nearly out of ammo, when Arthur Percival simply gave up and surrendered the city.

Although Singapore was probably going to fall eventually a general of normal competence could have held out far longer. A general of higher than normal competence, but only reasonably so, with some solid experience both of Malaysia and the Japanese might have held the city for months and changed the early course of the war in Asia.

This could be good. Fewer resources needed for victory, far fewer civilian deaths, and similar benefits. It could also be bad. Japan realizes the timing is bad and doesn't attack Pearl Harbor. America has to wait several months longer to force an incident in the Atlantic.

Picture Centrum wanting to limit the war in Asia to prevent the discrediting of European imperialism in Asia. At the same time Centrum wants America in the war in order to prevent Hitler and Stalin from ruling Europe. Homeline agents would have significantly similar goals for radically different reasons.

This would be a game of working together until you needed to switch to being foes. Timing the break would be a major issue. Being ready for friends to be mortal enemies would be another.