Multiversal Discussion

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Ebola's always very popular.

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

Ebola's always very popular.

 

Was thinking more in terms of supernatural fungus infections and the like, though I suppose when it comes down to it a little bit of the real world can spice up your day. Any other thoughts from anyone?

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Ooh! You could do a human-infecting variant of the Cordyceps fungus. In the real world, it infects insects, takes over their body, and then kills them, sprouting mushrooms through their carapace (often from the head) and releasing spores, infecting more victims.

 

...Unless you want something treatable.

[Atton Rand]

Ooh! You could do a human-infecting variant of the Cordyceps fungus. In the real world, it infects insects, takes over their body, and then kills them, sprouting mushrooms through their carapace (often from the head) and releasing spores, infecting more victims.

 

...Unless you want something treatable.

Well, considering he's talking to a doctor it would be reasonable to assume we're looking for something treatable. Then again maybe it only seems to be treatable.

Edited June 27, 2013 by Atton Rand

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Yeah okay I'm out of ideas for scary fungi that cause treatable illnesses. I mean I suppose you could have some sort of necrotic illness that starts at the extremities, so you can treat it by amputation, but all of the really fascinating illnesses are non-treatable.

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

Yeah okay I'm out of ideas for scary fungi that cause treatable illnesses. I mean I suppose you could have some sort of necrotic illness that starts at the extremities, so you can treat it by amputation, but all of the really fascinating illnesses are non-treatable.

 

What I've been trying to say is, "Do you think now would be a good time for the Crawling Chaos or some other supernatural creature to have infected a small Earth village with a supernatural virus resembling normal Earth ones, forcing people to (upon discovering this) travel to the Blasted Lands in hope of a cure?"

 

Because otherwise I don't think it's much of a vacation spot.

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

People don't go to the Blasted Lands in search of time off.

 

They go to the Blasted Lands in search of things man was not meant to know. Usually things they want to force to obey them.

[Atton Rand]

People don't go to the Blasted Lands in search of time off.

 

They go to the Blasted Lands in search of things man was not meant to know. Usually things they want to force to obey them.

 

Well, if it's the only chance of finding a cure to an Eldritch disease that might be an incentive to go.

[Havelock Vetinari]

....Right. Going into the Blasted Lands. Searching for something that can help people.

 

Look up a song by a certain Rufus Rex, it's called Dead Air. This will inform you of the probable result.

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

....Right. Going into the Blasted Lands. Searching for something that can help people.

 

Look up a song by a certain Rufus Rex, it's called Dead Air. This will inform you of the probable result.

 

If a disease appears to have come from somewhere, and you have no way to cure it, you're going to try anything. It would stand to reason that the people there who aren't dead might have some means to prevent it from killing them. Otherwise they wouldn't be not dead.

 

To put it simply - typical fetch quest.

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

Edited June 29, 2013 by Toa Levacius Zehvor

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

You want us - your fellow players - to give you a basic fetch quest because you can't think of anything better to do.

 

nopenopenopenopenope

 

When the Crawling Chaos gets to wherever your character lives - and I'm going to get that ball rolling today, borders be buggered - things will get... interesting. It's for your own good, really.

[Havelock Vetinari]

I'll follow your lead.

 

Mostly because if I didn't, I'm under no illusions that my Shoggoths could protect me from you.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Actually strike that, the borders are seriously confusing. Tlun (not doing accents right now) is between the Dominion and Earth, so I guess it's in the middle of that channel, and since Earth is based on part of Maine, we can assume that the channel is north/south - so where does the peninsula connect to a larger landmass? The Blasted Lands have no border information at all. Tianxia has no border information at all, and what does an "Eastern-esque culture" even mean? Illufivian has no information regarding where it sits relative to other worlds. Luciferase cannot apparently be walked to, so border information isn't needed there. Not seeing any border information for Angnalat, either.

 

So, out of several player-made worlds, precisely one has any sort of information regarding what it's near, and even that one's not very helpful. At a guess, I've put Erde and Terra to the north of Earth and the Dominion of Britain, with, I guess, the channel bifurcating at the point of Earth's northern border, and having to turn to the east north of Britain, because of Terra blocking the northern path because of the necessity of Terra being somewhat close to Britain, so that's one possible way to sort out the main four, but hardly the only option, and I've still got no clue where the rest of them are, except that Tlun insists on being in the middle of the Earth/Britain channel.

[Toa Levacius Zehvor]

Illufivian has no information regarding where it sits relative to other worlds.

 

The main ways known to cross into other universes are that travelling past the mountains to the north takes one to Erde, while going through the seas to the south takes one to the Earth.

 

I noted that not all of the universes have a direct connection to other ones, so I only placed Erde and Earth down as possible connection points. To get to Terra or the Dominion, you have to go through one of the other worlds. The other worlds I was not aware of at the time, so I did not devise borders; I'll leave that to the desires of other players or GMs if they want a point of contact.

 

(Photocopier still isn't working right...)

 

And alright, I'll just diagnose them with dysentery or something. The point was to give somebody a reason to go into the Blasted Lands to help you guys get moving with whatever your crazy plot was. but whatevs.

 

-Toa Levacius Zehvor

[Havelock Vetinari]

Hm. I'd imagined the Blasted Lands being somewhat distant from the rest of the world, go far enough in any ocean and you'll end up in it.

 

The sea is death.

[Atton Rand]

I'm not entirely sure where to stand. I see where people are coming from but I think forming a small party for a quest could be a good way to get things going.

[Havelock Vetinari]

Oh. If you really wanted a reason to visit the Blasted Lands....follow a rumor. Who could resist the rumor of a strange land none had spoken of before?

 

Not like anyone who goes there comes back to tell everyone else about it after all.

 

Take your time. Take your toll. Everything's under control.

 

Take your life. Take your soul. Everything's out of control...

[Atton Rand]

Well, it would give an incentive to have a small party of people with different skills investigating. We'd need to make sure said party had a diverse array of useful skills. For instance Millstone is a doctor and can look after everyone else, while Davidson's skills could provide some protection from enemies.

 

That just raises the question of what kind of rumor would draw two men investigating a plague toward the Blasted Lands.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Atton Rand

[Havelock Vetinari]

Why did Mr. Polo look to the east?

[Atton Rand]

Why did Mr. Polo look to the east?

 

For some reason I'm thinking it was spice. I could be wrong, though.

 

If I'm not mistaken Cortez sailed to Mexico in search of riches, and Columbus sailed West in search of a trade route to India. Really, a lot of them were just looking for fame and fortune.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Atton Rand

[Havelock Vetinari]

Must I come up with everything?

 

Perhaps the cure lies in Terra, they board a ship and it is forced off course.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Basilisk

[Atton Rand]

That would be another way of doing it, or even if they're just going to Terra to investigate the disease. After all if this is a relatively new disease they'd first need to study it; collect samples, examine victims in varying stages, learn to identify early symptoms; basically to gather facts. In other words just an alternate motivation for your scenario.

 

Of course that said, the disease could still have some connection to the blasted lands. We just don't know what it is yet.

 

However, regardless of the details I think we should come to an agreement soon so we can get things going. Personally I like the idea of a party going into the blasted lands for a story arc, with Nyarlathotep serving as the main antagonist. Now it's a question of whether they arrive intentionally or accidentally.

 

If the former, than it is likely that either they follow some sort of lead that leads them to suspect the Blasted Lands as either a place to find a cure or at least somewhere they can learn a great deal about the virus's origins. Some examples of such leads could include rumor, certain components of the disease that baffle even Dr. Millstone when examined (perhaps patients infected with it are exposed to unknown bacteria or fungus). They then proceed to put together a team, board a steamboat and voyage to the Blasted Lands

 

If we are to go with the latter, than there's a fairly simple scenario. Dr. Millstone and Mr. Davidson board a steamship, zeppelin, or other such vehicle with some other people (possibly players). However they get caught in a storm, blown off course, and end up stranded in the Blasted Lands where they may or may not accidentally discover something about the disease.

Edited June 30, 2013 by Atton Rand

[Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo]

So hey, I'm back. Those interested can view my user page for more info.

 

Anyway, this RPG seems like a whole lot of awesome, so I thought I'd try my hand at creating a realm:

 

Name: Omniax

Setting: Omniax was once one of two interdependent universes that shared a vital link. Its counterpart, Mortiax, was once ruled by divine entities that wrote themselves into history as humanity's gods. However, there came a point in history when the gods found their presence to be necessary no longer, as humankind had developed beyond the need for heavenly guidance. They created a new world, Omniax, and exiled themselves to its lands to live in peace. However, they maintained a connection with Mortiax should the need for divine intervention rise once more. To this end, they populated Mortiax with mystical creatures that in turn became a part of Mortiax's history as Dragons, Demons, and everything in-between when they were sent to the other universe to do the gods' bidding.

Thousands of years passed this way, but eventually, the gods were scattered, their power broken by Omniax's inhabitants, who had grown weary of their heavenly rule. Some took mortal forms and fled to Mortiax, while others were killed and still others lie in hiding, waiting for the golden age of the gods to come again.

Then, one day, in a single moment that no god could have predicted, Omniax was torn from its plane of existence and merged with the rest of the victims of the Collision, severing the connection to Mortiax forever.

Description: Omniax's surface was largely covered with water, though a jagged strip of land ran along the equator. This land has been cleanly severed as one might cut a loop of paper, and the resulting body of land occupies an ocean that borders Tianxia. It can be easily reached from its one bordering realm, as the Omniaxian continent isn't far from Tianxia's coastline. As one might expect of an equatorial region, this land is warm and humid, and some regions are sometimes magically or technologically altered to sustain ideal temperatures for its inhabitants, though no region has stayed that way long enough to be historically relevant. Its populated areas are very similar to modern-day Earth cities and towns, with sprawling urban centers in some areas and rural neighborhoods in others, all connected by highway and railroad systems. Rainforests and temperate grasslands populated with creatures both mundane and fantastical are common in areas that haven’t been urbanized, and it isn’t uncommon to find the occasional dirt road leading to a farm or village. Omniax is inhabited by all manner of legendary creatures. If it’s been mentioned in some myth or folktale, it likely exists here in some shape or form. However, due to the human mind’s tendency to hyperbolize the fantastic, most creatures don’t quite live up to their legendary counterparts. Omniaxians at large lothe humans, but not all of them share this attitude. Perhaps this is a result of trying to hide their true forms from humans during their forays into Mortiax, but some humans can make it by in Omniax due to the fact that monsters will typically stay in their human forms while going about everyday business.

Technology Level/Magic System: Thanks to millennia of interaction with humankind, Omniax is at the same technological level as modern-day Earth. Smartphones, computers, and other digital devices are commonplace, and, though magic does exist, it has largely become obsolete in favor of Human technology since the gods’ defeat. Magic largely depends on the species of its user; the Snow People (think Jack Frost) are perpetually surrounded by an aura of cold, resulting in wintery conditions wherever large groups of them reside. Demons or Imps can create fire and teleport with a thought, though they are capable of little else, contrary to most legends. Witches and Warlocks are among the most magically inclined of Omniaxians, being able to harness the magical energies present in natural plants and animals to concoct potions that grant them limited abilities such as flight and telekinesis. Vampires and Werewolves can regenerate lost tissues at an accelerated rate and live longer than most other beings, although their healing factors can be halted entirely by substances such as wood and silver. In general, Omniaxians are slightly less powerful than most human legends would have you believe.

Edited July 1, 2013 by The Zytrix

[Atton Rand]

That sounds like an interesting world. Perhaps you'd like to introduce a character from it to join Davidson and Millstone.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Could we maybe have some added field in the world forms, giving a designated place for information on how to get to the world? It would certainly make it easier to understand what goes where, and would ease the task of sifting through Zehvor's world profile to get at the scraps of relevant information. 'Borders' might not be the best name choice for it, given that some, like the Blasted Lands, are far away and only reachable by portal, sea, or air, and others, like Sisen's (sorry, forgot all but the first three letters of the name. Brain's a wee bit fuzzy right now) are just plain unreachable except by portals or portal-like constructs.

[Atton Rand]

That's a fair point. Some information on how to get to the world, at least in cases where options are limited, it would make sense to ask for some specification.

 

Anyway, I think we really need to figure this whole deal out so we can get going in the RPG. There's some kind of plague and it may or may not have to do with the Blasted Lands. What should we do?

[Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo]

I've edited. Basically what I had in mind is that the entire world has been laid flat and placed between the Blasted Lands and Tianxia, so where the two ends of the land once met, they now share a land/sea border with their two neighboring realms.

Edited July 1, 2013 by The Zytrix

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

As the Blasted Lands are separated from the rest of the world by rather a lot of ocean - or at least they were, last time I talked to Basilisk - something being between them and Tianxia doesn't really give a whole lot of information. See, this is the problem with the only geographical information being occasional mentions of "borders such and such" - we don't know the shapes of regions, or how big they are, or really anything that would be necessary to navigate this world. We don't even know whether Terra and Erde are to the north or south of Earth and the Dominion of Britain, and that kind of uncertainty can pose some serious problems.

 

Before I can do much of anything in this world, I need at least a vague idea of how everything fits together.

[Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo]

Well, what if Omniax is located within the ocean that separates the Blasted Lands from the rest of the world? If it's as big as it sounds, it could easily fit the entire continent, and one edge of that continent could meet the coast of whatever body of land comprises Tianxia.

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

That's the thing.

 

If you just pick an ocean, smash your compass, and set sail, you will eventually reach the Blasted Lands.

 

Being between that and any fixed point puts you roughly everywhere. As Tianxia is not currently a fixed point, having no border information in its profile, you are instead between nowhere specific and an omnidirectional pole of inaccessibility, aka roughly everywhere.

 

I was prepared, when I signed up to play as Nyarlathotep, to deal with strange geometries. I was not aware that I would have to face non-Euclidean geography.

[Atton Rand]

I was prepared, when I signed up to play as Nyarlathotep, to deal with strange geometries. I was not aware that I would have to face non-Euclidean geography.

 

Well, in a way the premise of the RPG kinda lends itself to that. This is a world where entire continents can inexplicably appear.

Edited July 1, 2013 by Atton Rand

[Krayzikk]

Jeepers, I'm gone for one week and look what happens.

 

I'll be reviewing all that was said above, and now that I have a computer again, the submitted worlds. Some of the players made mention of certain details over conversation only, so I'll dig those up too. I'll try to work out some kinda map for those of you insisting on it.

 

Making more work for me, what's wrong with all of you.

[Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo]

Really, I think this is more difficult than it needs to be. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that Tianxia just appeared along the border, edge, end, or whatever you want to call it of Erde. So let's say that bordering Tianxia on whatever portion of space isn't occupied by another realm, there's an ocean, and in that ocean is the continent of Omniax.

[Atton Rand]

The problem with drawing a map of this particular world is the whole thing about various worlds suddenly appearing. Obviously you can't just draw a new map every time someone creates a new world.

 

In the meantime, we really should get something going in the RPG. We don't have to do anything fancy but we should start making some posts. For now we can keep things simple.

Edited July 1, 2013 by Atton Rand

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Well, obviously, you draw in the occupied portions of the world, and leave the rest blank until it pops in. It's not like regions are going to pop up in areas already occupied by other regions.

 

Anyway, I really can't get anything coherent done here until I have some idea what's going on with the geography.

[Atton Rand]

Anyway, I really can't get anything coherent done here until I have some idea what's going on with the geography.

 

Well, you could use this time to introduce Nyarlathotep and build up some of the acts in the circus, which would give you something to build off of once a map is officially released.

Edited July 1, 2013 by Atton Rand

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

To do that, I'd have to know where the boat is landing. Haven't the foggiest clue at the moment.

[Sisen]

Once I get settled into my new courses I should be posting my character here and finally join in on the RPG action.

[Atton Rand]

To do that, I'd have to know where the boat is landing. Haven't the foggiest clue at the moment.

You don't neccessarily have to know. Just write a man visiting the circus and describe what he sees.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

It's not like regions are going to pop up in areas already occupied by other regions.

 

Read the bio on Angnalat again. Sometimes they can