[OOC] Worlds of Fire

[the_matrix_walker]

If you ask out loud, Alec might be able to scan for trace DNA... but he'd probably get everyone who touched it...

[the_matrix_walker]

Hey Totem, You PMed me, but I was unable to reply, as your mailbox is full.

Spoiler:  

Do what will make you happy... I'm reading the posts and posting when I have something to contribute, but this seems like an adventure built for telepaths, with the things we're dealing with completely inscrutable to science.

I would be more involved if I could think of a way to do so... I have had us move on to other rooms to try and find more clues, but once there all my character can do is glance around and wait for Ericthered to finish his mind scans... I've been hoping to get a better picture as we move around the office, but I have to wait until Eric's had a chance to do his scans before we move on again.

Don't take my lack of posting as lack of interest... It's lack of opportunity from my perspective.

[Totem]

Okay, owing to a recent slowdown caused by me allowing the situation to get to the point where one character was able to effectively overshadow all of the others, plus the slightly strained nature of the plot at this point (this section is taking a while, and the next section... See the plot details turning up shortly), plus my changed schedule not permitting me to reply as effectively as before... Worlds of Fire is being shut down.

It's been great fun running this game, and I'd like to thank the players from the last four and a half years for their participation. I've learnt a lot from this, including a lot related to setting up games, situations and characters. I do think that I was a bit too open when it came to the original Worlds of Fire brief. Then again, see below for how it all started.

I'm not vanishing totally; I'm either going to join up as a player in someone else's game or I'll kick off another one of my own. I've tried GMing and playing at the same time and it doesn't work out for me. In the meantime, I've been asked to provide some kind of completion to the game so that I'm not leaving it on a cliffhanger. I've got most of the notes for that sorted out already, but to kick it off, here's a transcript of where the whole thing originally came from:

[Totem]

Totem okay, as I mentioned yesterday the scene is WWII
Totem Kyle and Claire received the following message, delivered from the extreme range of Universal Roaming (sufficiently extreme that it's goign to take the message about a fortnight to get to the main hub and back again): "dark magics being used stop require help stop urgent assistance stop possible foothold situation stop"
Totem okay, so they both reach the universe where the message originated from and set down roughly where the message seemed to come from, which is a warehouse in central London
Totem oh, and before I forget, my key for stuff: "speech" [actions/ description] {telepathic speech}
Totem so, to begin with, where do the pair of them turn up and what state are they in when they do?
KSPathfinder Hmm... Outside the warehouse. Kyle probably wearing an outfit that matches the era, but is to do with engineering/black smith etc, but a few oddities that distinguish him. As for Claire, I thought it'd be fun to have them arrive seperately and we first see her as a cat. ^_^;
Totem okay...
Totem so...
Totem [The warehouse that Kyle has landed otuside (I'll work from him to start with, feel free to introduce Claire at your own speed) is fairly typical in its style; there doesn't seem to be anything particularly special about it, except for a vague sense of officialness which hints that it isn't run by merchants or traders any more]
KSPathfinder Kyle: [Is wearing what amounts to local style clothing, but with apparel suited to a person who's profession is in engineering or industry, with a 40's style looking labcoat with a number of pockets, and is wearing a pair of rounded spectacles which he doesn't need and obviously serve some hidden function. Casually walks around the warehouse, scrutinising it an an analytical sort of way]
Totem [As Kyle walks around he feels like something is watching him warily]
Totem [not in a hostile manner, just a wary one]
KSPathfinder Kyle: [Maintains his casual pace, as his usual style occasionally mutters out loud technical details and observations and hypothese, making mental notes and occasionally bookishly adjusting his specs, already attempting to ascertain the identity of the wary onlooker with both psionic and magical senses, and something to do with his specs too]
KSPathfinder (remarks about the warehouse that is)
Totem [The onlookers, it very quickly transpires, are either damned good at hiding themselves, or are normal Humans who are keeping watch for something; there is a hint that they are guarding something, and a flicker of urgency which suggests that someone might have seen him arriving]
Totem (is Claire turning up?)
KSPathfinder (Patience)
Totem (oh, I should also add) [the warehouse, under closer examination, whilst perfectly normal, appears to have some impressive stealth and ECM gear running around it; much more impressive than WWII era should have available]
Totem (carry on)
KSPathfinder Kyle: [Notices and stops walking and bookishly adjusts his glasses again, before reaching in and pulling out and examaning on old windup pocket watch and mutters to himself] "Fascinating... It would appear that message definitely warrants further investigation. Now, I wonder whereabouts I'd find the people who sent this message?"
Totem [There is a sense of watchfullness about the building, as if someone important is watching and waiting for Kyle's next move; there is also a sense of preparation about it, as if someone is getting ready for something]
Totem (seriously, nothing ain't gonna happen unless you make the first move; the people in here don't want to draw attention to whatever it is in there with them)
KSPathfinder Kyle: [Walks onwards again, until he spots a backdoor and decides to have a look]
Totem [The door is normal looking, aside from a blank metal plate with a circle scored into the metal beside the frame and a piece of metal that Kyle recognises as a magnetic door lock; the material of the door, he also notices, is decidedly tougher than first appearances would suggest]
KSPathfinder Kyle: [Peers closer at the door, for a moment admiring the craftsmanship, before casually leaning against the wall beside the door and pulling out of his labcoat what appears to be a cigar case and opens it]
KSPathfinder Kyle: [Looks at the ranked rows of metallic pieces within it which suddenly start shifting and altering, combining together and what appears to be a miniature replicator forms which affectionately crawls onto Kyle's hand, who pats it affectionately and places it on the ground] "Go on, off you go."
Totem (I can see this ending badly already...)
KSPathfinder Kyle: [The miniature replicator proceeds to walk up the door and starts melting into a silver puddle and squeezes under the door, reforming and activating some sort of stealth camouflage and stealthily starts surveying the warehouse, with Kyle seeing what its seeing, likely through his specs]
KSPathfinder (cliche'd, but it's what popped into my head)
Totem [About two metres beyond the door the link to the Replicator is cut as it passes through the ECM barrier]
Totem (now please call it back before it eats anything...)
KSPathfinder (I just used Replicator so you'd understand what it looked like or was)
Totem okay
Totem (you've still lost contact with it though)
KSPathfinder Kyle: "Definitely a fascinating mystery." [Concentrates and reaches out to the Replicator, comuning with its machine spirit, seeing what it's seeing, feeling what it's feeling etc as it goes]
Totem [The ECM field is clearly built in layers; the wall itself houses the weakest, and they get progessively strong from there on in; the presense of the Replicator, despite its stealth capability, has also clearly generated some kind of alarm, because people are starting to pay more attention to Kyle and the watchfullness just turned a tad nasty]
KSPathfinder Kyle: [Starts reeling in the Replicator, calling it back, retrieving it and putting it back in its case. Waiting to see if anyone decides to confront him]
Totem [A figure appears from an alleyway just ahead of Kyle; they're still in the shadows, but clearly want to be seen; the instant they think they have his attention they pull back into the alley, a clear invitation for him to follow]
KSPathfinder Kyle: "Oh well, best not keep them waiting considering the gracious invitation." [Cautiously follows]
Totem [As Kyle steps into the alley he sees the figure stepping through an open door into the warehouse]
KSPathfinder Kyle: [Follows cautiously, ready for treachery or maybe pleasant surprise, personally curious about what's inside the warehouse]
Totem [Inside the warehouse is a dark room, nothing to see...]
Totem [until a metal shutter slams down behind Kyle, the lights come on, and he finds himself surrounded by burly british military soldiers pointing guns at him in a very attentive manner]
Totem [just behind the semi-circle of them stands an officer, a colonel by his stripes, who is pulling a hat on and a revolver from its holster]
KSPathfinder Kyle: "It would appear I've walked into a secret British research project or weapons development project, fascinating." [Holds his chin thoughtfully] "Of course you might not be aware that whoever developed, or found said technology might not exactly have benevolant intentions, such as winning the war effort against the nazi's."
Totem (anything?)
Totem (is this something that he said, or is he thinking it?)
KSPathfinder (Which would go better? XD )
Totem (thinking it probably; putting his hands up rather than to his chin might have helped matters as well...)
Totem (I'll assume that he thought it)
Totem [The officer aims his revolver squarely between Kyle's eyes]
Totem Cromwell: "You sir, have just shown a considerable interest in a classified military project, displayed technology and abilities beyond anything Humanly possible, and appear not to be concerned by having twelve rifles and a revolver pointed at you."
Totem Cromwell: "That makes you either an enemy agent..."
Totem Cromwell: [dramatic pause]
Totem Cromwell: "...or the reinforcements that I was told to expect."
Totem Cromwell: "Which is it?"
Totem (your move...)
KSPathfinder Kyle: "Well, I did arrive in response to a message that was received. Of course, reinforcements implies more than one person, I seem to be the only person..."
Totem Cromwell: "I was told to expect anything from a small army to a single individual to a minor god... You don't surprise me much."
KSPathfinder Claire: [Oddly a black cat, that appears to have the slightest purplish tinge to its fur walks out into the open and meows cutely]
Totem Cromwell: [Looks down at the cat, back up at Kyle, and frowns.] "Is this your idea of plural, or just a stray?"
KSPathfinder Claire: [The cat cocks it's head and surprisingly starts talking] "Hmph! That's not a particularly nice thing to say after coming all this way you know."
Totem Cromwell: [Not in the least bit surprised, though his men are clearly a bit shocked] "I suppose I should be grateful for two of you turning up... Assuming that you *are* here to help."

[Totem]

KSPathfinder Claire: "To be honest the message we got was rather vague." [Pads her way over to Kyle and a purple glow appears around her and before their very eyes turns into a teenage girl, wearing a legless purple body glove with skirt, and wearing a purple curled edge witches hat, as she straightens up the body glove can't quite control the bounce of her impressive bosom]
Totem Cromwell: [raising an eyebrow] "Hmm... They told me that it was going to be hard sending a message out." [holsters his revolver] "Stand down. You pair, come with me. You might as well meet the professors."
Totem [Cromwell leads the way out of the room and up some stairs to some offices. One of the offices is already open, the door only slightly ajar, and Cromwell pushes it open, heading into the office]
Totem [Inside the office is a metal shape, something like a squat pepperpot, about five foot tall with bumps across its lower half and three distinct limbs; the top one has some kind of eye built into it, whilst the other two are at about waist level; one is a hollow tube lined with wires and vents, and the other ends in what looks like a sink plunger]
Totem [As they enter it is already turning and the hollow metal tube is pretty much pointing straight at them as Kyle and Claire catch sight of it]
Totem (hello?)
KSPathfinder Kyle: [Automatically walks up to the thing, peering into its eye curiously, then starts walking around it, once again mutering tech stuff and observations about it before facing it again]
Totem (can you tell what it is yet?)
KSPathfinder (Dalek) Claire: [More slowly walks up to it, vague suspicions evident, obviously recognising the thing from somewhere and gazing at it slightly disapprovingly]
Totem (they're both reacting very calmly to having it aiming a weapon at them... I'm getting the impression that your claims about how unkillable they aren't might have been overstated)
Totem [The metal thing, on closer inspection, is painted in military greens, with a large "#51" stensiled onto its side; the lights on top of its domed head have blackout covers on them and it has what looks like an ammo belt wrapped around its 'waist']
Totem [As Kyle examines it the eye-stalk follows him curiously before it turns to face Cromwell.]
Totem #51: "I have completed my filing. Are there any other tasks requiring my attention?"
Totem Cromwell: "Not at the moment. Where are Foreman and Cochrane?"
Totem #51: [Pauses, and Kyle detects some kind of communications signal being sent] "Professor Cochrane is on the factory floor. I am unaware of the location of Professor Foreman."
Totem Cromwell: "Fine. I'll head down to the floor. You better head out on patrol unless you can find other work here."
Totem #51: "I obey." [Trundles out of the office door, not giving Kyle and Claire a backwards glance as it does so]
Totem Cromwell: "Come on, we'd better-"
Totem #51: [Shouting] "Alert! Alert!"
Totem [In the distance other voices, identical to #51's can be heard taking up the same shout]
Totem [A lieutenant runs up to Cromwell.] "Sir, word just in from obs post Tango Foxtrot; Eisenhelm bombers spotted approaching the city."
Totem Cromwell: "Damn it!" [Turns to #51, which has swivelled around to face him.] "All Ironsides to defensive positions." [Turns to Claire and Kyle.] "You'd better come and see this... I hope that you're as good as you were advertised to be..."
Totem [In the distance air-raid sirens are just starting up]
KSPathfinder Kyle: "Very well. Come on sis, this could be educational."
KSPathfinder Claire: [Shrugs, breasts bouncing somewhat again] "If you say so."
Totem [Cromwell leads the way up to the warehouse's rooftop, where #51 and six other Ironsides have gathered]
Totem [All of the Ironsides are facing south, and at a glance Kyle and Claire can see activity on several other rooftops suggesting that there are other Ironsides gathering there as well]
Totem Cromwell: "Just over here" [he gestures next to #51, and a couple of technicians bring a semi-portable screen over, hooking a bundle of the wires from it into a port on #51's casing]
Totem [the screen lights up, showing what appears to be a radar image, though it clearly has multiple radar 'centres' marked out on it. at the top of the screen a line of dots has appeared.]
Totem Cromwell: "There they are; damned things don't show up on convential radar. Eisenhelms do you think?"
Totem #51: "Confirmed, Eisenhelm bombers approaching. Estimate over four hundred targets."
KSPathfinder Kyle: *Peers into the distance* "Fascinating. I've never seen this type of aircraft before. Obviously someone's been aiding the nazi's in the advanced technology department, wouldn't you agree Claire?"
Totem [The aircraft, though of conventional enough design, are clearly odd in a number of ways; firstly the comment about radar evasion, secondly the vague shimmer covering their hulls, thirdly the fact that the engines aren't working nearly hard enough to propel them as fast as they are actually travelling]
Totem [On top of that, though it's hard to tell, it doesn't look like the cockpit is actually occupied]
KSPathfinder Claire: [Also peers into the distance] "Oh definitely. These things are clearly far more advanced than they should be."
KSPathfinder Kyle: "Are you 'ironsides' sufficient for the defence of this area, or do you require some additional assistance?"
Totem Cromwell: [Glancing away from the screen] "The Ironsides can probably handle some of it... Damn it though we don't have enough to take on that many without *someone* getting hurt"
Totem #51: "Eisenhelm bombers firing"
Totem [In the distance the first of the bombers has opened fire]
Totem [literally]
Totem [it isn't dropping bombs or firing guns, it just spat a ball of fire from the gunports on the wings]
Totem [the fireballs hit ground in what looks like a pedestrian area, and the rest of the bombers choose that moment to open fire as well]
Totem Cromwell: "Damn it! What are you waiting for?"
Totem #51: "Optimum firing conditions in twenty seconds"
Totem Cromwell: [looks sharply, and expectantly, at Kyle and Claire]
KSPathfinder Kyle: [Suddenly disappears as he psionically teleports to the area under attack, reappearing a moment later, turning to face the incoming fire balls and gestures at the. An instant later the fireballs imoact against a powerful shield, sparing the area from harm]
KSPathfinder Claire: [grins] "Guess that leaves me with those bombers." [Starts making hand gestures] "Pumpkin-pump-pumpkin." [Is suddenly levitated into the air by a very large jack-o-lantern pumpking, its cutout halloween face glowing balefully orange light]

[Totem]

Totem #51: "Twenty seconds"
KSPathfinder Claire: [Is suddenly spedding into the distance towards the bombers and within some sort of pre-determined range her voice can somehow be heard yelling] "Pumpkin-pump-pumpkin: Halloween Cannon!"
KSPathfinder Claire: [Holding her palm open an etheral looking orange glowing pumpkin appears before exploding out into a powerful orange coloured beam, which lances out and engulfs several of the bombers, obliterating them]
Totem [the beam hits, and the Eisenhelms that it hits disintegrate very spectacularly, but they also have a lot of resistance to them, effectively shielding the ones behind them from damage]
Totem [there is also the hint that the Eisenhelms are falling apart that spectacularly because of something to do with them, not to do with the attack]
Totem [kyle's shield holds up well, but whatever force he put into it is being eaten away alarmingly quickly by the fireballs, which seem to cling to it when they hit rather than dissapating in a manner that you would expect simple magical to chemical fire to do]
Totem [A number of the bombers take a sudden interest in Claire and swing around, firing at her and the buildings around her; she's out of range for now...]
Totem #51: "ten seconds"
KSPathfinder [Gaining more altitude, sitting on her pumpkin-like familiar, Claire heads towards them again, her speed and maneouvrabilty inceasing dramatically, and changing tact she switches to a more wide-area attack]
KSPathfinder [Whilst below Kyle also changes tact, utilising a magical based shield]
Totem #51: "Optimum firing range. Fire!"
Totem [From across the various rooftops of the city centre, a volley of (easily) a hundred and fifty Dalek weapon blasts shoots up into the approaching bombers with lethal accuracy; the synchronised fire from the seven on the warehouse roof is startling even with sufficient warning]
Totem [The Ironsides continue to fire rapidly, though the Eisenhelms, apparently unaffected by such minor things as inertia and G-forces, bank wildly and evasively]
KSPathfinder Claire: [Swings into their path, remarking again] "Pumpkin-pump-pumpkin: Smashing Pumpkin!" [Sweeps by a bomber in turn, swiping at each in turn and large etheral pumpkins appear in her hands slamming into the bombers with surprising crushing force, Caire seemingly wanting to know what physical attacks will do to them]
Totem [The bombers punch through for the most part, but when a killing blow is dealt the bomber goes off with a quite dramatic bang, leaving nothing more than very small shrapnel behind]
KSPathfinder Kyle: [Decides to briefly go on the offensive, and the shield he's using suddenly starts contracting into many pinpoints of magical energy, which suddenly stretch and lance upwards into the sky, almost seemingly sentiently locking onto a target and blasting into them, before resuming the shield again*
Totem [The Ironsides continue to fire, their efforts hampered slightly by the presense of Claire in the midst of the Eisenhelms]
Totem [The Eisenhelms continue to rain fire down on the city; now that it is closer both Claire and Kyle can sense something about it; it isn't exactly demon-fire, but it's close, as if something was using demon-fire as a carrier for its own power]
Totem [Claire, up close, also notices that the bombers genuinely don't have a pilot, unless you counted the shimmering firey-coloured glow crawling across the controls]
KSPathfinder Claire: *Suddenly shoots upwards, an idea forming about the demon connection, and starts saying some sort of magical spell before aiming at the bombers and eventually yelling out] "Rah Tilt!" [A siazeable number of the bombers are suddenly enveloped and struck by a blue intense glow as Claire hits them with a mid-air Rah Tilt, the energies exorcistic/anti-demon in nature]
Totem [The bombers are struck, but as before those that are destroyed shield those behind them, and any chaining effect that the spell might have had is burnt out before it can jump onto the next bomber]
KSPathfinder (Area of effect spell)
Totem [The handful that are left abruptly begin dropping straight down towards the ground, firing rapidly as they dive, all of them being picked off by the Ironsides within seconds]

Totem anyway, that wave of Eisenhelms has been beaten off
Totem quite dramatically
Totem now we just need to work out how to stop them coming back again...



The Eisenhelm bombers were being possessed/ piloted by Blazen. This was the first serious encounter with the Blazen. Over the next twenty years the war developed and became more organised. The Powers That Be became involved, Fate was revoked, the Front Line was established... And at that point, twenty years on, the game began with an effort to stop Chu'dam.

[ericthered]

I'm sorry if I was dominating things.

One of the perennial problems we had was that you essentially needed to be a mage or other supernatural to get things done. Michael managed because he was a telepath in a campaign about mind control, but the supernatural, and especially flexible supernatural, dominated due to the play style.

I will point out that this is the game that taught me gurps (and PbP). It had a good solid run. I'm grateful to have been a part of it.

[the_matrix_walker]

It certainly wasn't your doing...

We showed up with a saw, a wrench, a hammer and a screwdriver, and the job turned out to be mostly turning screws, that's all... not the screwdriver's fault.

[Totem]

A few other problems that might have been found in the building, all caused by the Verb, at least some of which needed to be dealt with in order to resolve the situation.

• Domestic - A disagreement has arisen in one of the conference rooms on the second floor between three colleagues. It sounds like they're having a domestic argument, but it is very circular, literally following a script in a repeating pattern. The script appears to have been written for two people though, meaning that as they each take turns to speak their roles are changing with each round. Logical intervention in the conversation, sustained sufficiently to derail it properly, will resolve this. If two people drop out for any reason the situation is resolved.
• Statues - In the canteen members of staff are coming into the room, moving around, and then freezing in place. They don't appear to be being harmed by the situation, and none of the newcomers appear to find anything wrong with the situation. This can be resolved by guiding the people out of the room (they will move when pushed, but not respond to anything else), or by bringing them to full wakefullness (anything that boosts mental processing speed).
• Fire! - On the first floor one of the members of staff is clearing out paperwork. When the players are nearby he makes a serious effort to set fire to the pile; the intention is to set off the fire alarm and force an evacuation of the building.
• Jumper - One of the managers has apparently had enough and when the players arrive is desperately trying to open the window in order to jump out. The window is locked, but as she becomes more distressed she will resort to more and more desperate measures to get out, including hitting it with a chair, throwing things at it, trying to pick the lock with a paperclip, etc.

[Totem]

Having tracked down and defeated the rogue Verb, everyone gets to meet three of the Primes: Two, Three, and Five. They are attended by ½ and ¾, both studious and attentive in the style of faux-Greek philosophers (as befits rational numbers), while π capers around trying to get underfoot (as befits an irrational number).

Between the three of them, Two, Three and Five explain the following:

Creation moves in cycles. Each universe begins, expands, and then eventually collapses back on itself, the matter it consists of forming a crucial state wherein the laws of physics are changeable. This is then reborn as a new universe. Nothing can survive this state: even the Fundamentals or beings like Azal can only survive by stepping into another universe and avoiding the collapse.

But there is a time that they cannot step back beyond. A point beyond which they refer to as The Past. A point where every universe ended and was reborn in the same instant. Nothing could have survived from the Past into the Present. Or, so it was thought.

What the Fundamentals now know is this: as the Past ended, there was a war. Time travel was impossible in the Past, and so many fought against the coming entropy and collapse, hording the fragments of reality that they could gather around themselves. Armies would have been sent to their deaths in order to lay claim to a speck of solid matter the size of a grain of sand.

But some of them found a way to cheat the end.

In a single universe reality was bent; this universe was almost timeless, seemingly unending. Nothing physical could exist in the Corridor, and so it had been useless both for strategic placement and for hording things. This universe alone would bypass the collapse and enable a few to survive beyond into the next iteration of the multiverse.

The accessways into the Corridor became battlegrounds unlike any seen before. In the end only three groups managed to make it through; three factions of the same race, which might almost be called sub-species.

Of one of these only a single individual made it through. Vast and many-faceted, it suffered the most when it arrived, hiding most of itself away within a single universe and building a world to house itself. But its essense was scattered across the local universes, imprinting itself into the fabric of reality. The Sign (a H with the cross-piece angled at 45°) and Patrick Wolf are merely the most obvious of these fragments. This is the Dark One, manifesting as a vast cloud. Now that several of the Patrick Wolfs have been awakened to what they really are, the Dark One is moving, starting to gather the rest of itself together.

The second faction were powerful, but indolent. Almost aristocratic, they had clung like parasites to the Dark One through the Corridor, their extra load being a major cause of its dispersal. They are able to take on many forms, but always they have this in common: whatever form they take they are unknowable to the natives of a universe; people will walk around them and see straight through them. Only those who have stepped between universes are able to perceive the Angels, and even then such people will only retain a memory of the Angel's appearance as long as it is within the same universe as them.

The third faction were many. A conglomeration like the Dark One, and yet more easily separated into individuals. They adapted themselves quickly to a single universe where they could exist. But the structure of that universe has since become unstable. Unable to escape to another universe, they instead bled the excess power into a neighbouring universe, making it a part of their own. They are the Blazen, and they are the enemy that you have been fighting.

The Angels will be useless to contact; their only interest is in entertaining themselves, normally at the expense of mortals. But the Dark One may be able to assist. If you travel to its home once more, as you have already, then you may be able to get further information.