When Worlds Collide: A History of Science and Magic.
| Yes | No |
|---|---|
| Humor and Comedy | Physical Appearances by Deities |
| Rival Dynasties | Reliable Bridge Mechanics |
| Direct Immortality |
After the First Bridge War, large populations began moving across the Bridge in both directions, seeking a new world, a new home. Families fled their fields and factories for a land of magics, while all manner of fantastic races and creatures stumbled or sought their way to the mundane realm.
For a time, the Magelords rule over both worlds, oppressing the world of Science more than their home-world. From their towers, they see all, and send cryptic orders to the lands surrounding.
Following the destruction of the Magelords’ iron-fisted grasp on power, the world of Science entered a period of anarchy and warfare. Some fought for independence, others for revenge, but most simply wanted to loot as many scraps from the broken towers as they could manage, and were willing to fight the other scavengers for the prize.
Two powerful families, one from each world, join together. They rule mercilessly, but attempt to overcome the differences between the worlds. Their fall from power banishes the World-Bridge for a generation.
Separation from the World of Magic has allowed Science to make great strides forward. By the time the bridge seems to function again, the might of the Joten and the flames of the elementalist Magelords are no match for the Mecha and Phase Rifles of the far-Modern age.
In a time long before mankind and similar species found the bridge, a collection of near-deitic entities hid the nature of the World-Bridge and guided chosen races from high above. Those that followed them prospered, while those who ignored them found themselves at the mercy of those who followed. Collectively, they became known as the Heavens.
Soon after the discovery of the World-Bridge, an armed conflict arose between the powers of the two worlds over who would control the passage, and what restrictions would be placed on its use. After a prolonged stalemate between the forces of Magic and Science, the war eventually petered out into uneasy peace.
With the previous capital city reduced to rubble, work begins almost immediately after peace is declared in the World of Magic. A new city rises above the rubble of the old, built with architecture secrets learned from the World of Science and constructed with the aid of magic.
There was another world, hidden from sight and unconnected by the World-Bridge. Unfortunately, its life was terminated by a conflict of unrivaled scale and monstrous repercussions. The people became warped, twisted through the use of unholy magic. Its true name lost to time, the survivors call their fell abode the name of an ancient abyss.
Hell arrives, its denizens spreading to both worlds via The Third Key.
After a lightning campaign of treachery and opportunism, a scion of the Jackson family seized control of major military and economic assets from the world of Science. Now possessing the power to be recognized by both sides of the Bridge as a major player in his own right, he organized reconstruction efforts and established the Crossing Point Administration under his own neutral auspice.
A pair of ‘skeleton keys’ are found on either world, which seem to use neither science nor any scryable magical force. Under proper conditions, they are capable of opening prolonged bridge portals, but only in one direction. While the destinations and arrival times are still unavoidably inconsistent, they make mass exodus’s possible for future generations.
Dökkálfar or Dark Elves, stout and resourceful, are quick to learn the rules of technology and apply them with careful craftsmanship. Though they migrate to the world of science, they keep to themselves.
The Seven Tribes acquire firearms from the world of Science. Using their power, they manage to hold back the Endless Crusade and save themselves from extinction.
In response to the Great Migrations, a xenophobic group known as the Green Mountain Boys declares its mission to be the defense of the world of Science against the tide of Magic immigrants. Condemned by both sides for their brutal and terroristic acts in the furtherance of this campaign. After a series of attacks on peaceful communities, their one-time sympathisers turn on the Boys and violently dismantle the organization.
Searching for more fertile ground for their demonic machinations, the inhumanly beautiful Succubi use their wiles and charms to make the crossing despite a great deal of opposition by conservative groups in the world of Science.
Following the successful alliance between a Jacksonian stratocrat and a Conclave general, as well as their respective forces, those areas once claimed by Trinity’s Crossing Point Administration were turned over to the newly created Crossroads Bazaar. City, market, port, and fortress all in one, the Bazaar was physically two distinct areas on either side of the Bridge, but for all intents and purposes presented a single municipality. Secured, administrated, and presided over by a Jacksonian scion, the Bazaar was a safe place for anyone who obeyed the clear and simple rules laid down by Trinity and Invidia themselves.
After an argument at the great gathering, many young Magelords cross into the world of Science to claim new land and territory.
A battle between two of the more powerful Magelords breaks out in the world of Science. They fight over the city of Capis, which is strategically valuable for a number of reasons. This war sees the development of the first Artificed warrior army, and leaves thousands of humans dead, the city destroyed, and only one Magelord standing.
Tired of petty squabbles, the twelve most powerful Magelords found the Reigning, a council of overlords that vote on actions and attempt to resolve differences without resorting to war. Convening in the Crown of the World, membership in the Reigning is both a coveted and despised position.
Given the past success of technology in the hands of magic-users, the “University for the Furtherance of Research and Development in the Fields of Magic and Science” is established with campuses on either side of the Bridge.
The Artificed, a race created to be docile and loyal to the Magelords, revolt in large numbers. Many die, but one group is successful. They create their own nation within the world of science, and proclaim it Refuge.
Following the success of Artificed rebels in the area called Refuge by its inhabitants, a magiphobic group led by Holn Jackson forms in the foothills around Archangel. Fearful of the intentions of the new Reigning, and furious at their refusal to pay reparations to the innocent victims of the Capis debacle, the Logos Initiative spreads its message of revelation to any who will listen, inciting incidents of hatred and violence against magical peoples not seen since the days of the Green Mountains Rising.
Harkening to a dark and troubled past, the people of Science saw the return of rule by might and fear. Strongmen and petty tyrants arose in the chaos of the Interregnum, imposing their will on anyone without the capability to fight back or escape to some more compassionate polity.
The Dyad’s castle, and center of their domain, consists of a grand palace formed from the reconstructed ruins of two long-abandoned Magelord towers. The towers fell almost perfectly onto their sides, and now form the east and west side of the palace. Certain hallways have a single curved wall or ceiling or even floor, being made of what was once a standing tower.
Queen Emylia Korde, matriarch of the Magic half of the Dyad, oversees the excavation of the fallen city of Braxim. It is there that she finds Hope, the ancestral blade of her ancient line. It is said to be able to cut through anything, even nightsteel.
‘Advanced Beings’ (or simply ‘Adv’, ‘Deevee’ or ‘DV’), are humanoid races who have been so affected by nanotechnology and cyberbiology as to be defined as their own race. They are made as mobile armies, put through the World-Bridge to stifle rebellion and make the transition of technocratic rule move easily.
A certain key, long lost and reclaimed, allows an expedition to find the lost ruins of Refuge and what remained of the Artificed that lived there. Upon hearing about it, several DV slip out of harmony. They begin living there, disobeying orders and learning to accept individual identities. They come to be known as renegades, and become hunted by the corporations that created them.
The armies of science storm the gates of Hell. Armies of demons are cast aside by the true power of technology. By the end of the invasion, only a few scattered fiefdoms remain in demonic hands. The rest are liberated, and the souls imprisoned or kept as slaves are freed.
Too young to support his demonic half-relations during the Hellfall, Samir ‘Battlecrow’ Jackson comes to power at the head of a nation built on Science and Magic alike. Furious at the destruction wrought by arrogant technocrats at the behest of Heaven, he swears revenge and initiates a genocidal campaign against the Angelic Host. Costly and at first unpopular, the war gained popular support when it became clear that the seraphs were aloof and indifferent to the concerns of mortals on either side of the Bridge. Exposed as manipulators and users to match any whisperer of Hell, Heaven pays the price in blood and burning skies.
What beings ruled the First Age from the shadows?
A collective of near-deitic entities hid and abused the World-Bridge’s powers. Seemingly originating from neither world, they exist high in the atmosphere, and have guided chosen races for ages. Science sees them as Gods, while most from the world of Magic see them as atevistic elementals or avatars. None dare oppose the order they inflict.
?What drove the apprentice Synthia to hide her face under a mask, take on the alias and prestige of ‘Lady Swiftquill’, and form the beginnings what would later be known as the ‘Council of Magelords’?
Characters: Synthia, Synthia’s Master, Synthia’s lover
Restrictions: Trickery and guile
?How was Captain Kaster King able use his fighter plane to take down the first dragon of the war?
Characters: Kaster King
Restrictions: Only one plane
?How did Trinity Jackson, mercenary captain and warlord, take the once-impregnable mountain fortress of Archangel from the fire-taxing Ice Lords?
Characters: Trinity Jackson, mercenaries, Invidia, Ice Lord(s)… No restrictions.
?✖Under what tragic conditions did someone obtain the third skeleton key, capable of opening bridges to either world?
Characters: ‘The Third Key Holder’
Restrictions: Tragic!
Reserved: Growth
?What caused the Dwarves to stay isolated from the rest of the World of Science?
?✖For what reason did the great dwarf king make the unbreakable Chains of Tarterra?
?✖How did the leader of the Seven Tribes convince famed gunrunner Kenneth “Blackeye” Bonychilde to help them?
?What is Invidia’s whip, the Scourge of Perversion, made of? And upon whose back is it meant to fall?
Character reccs: Invidia, demons, Hell Itself
?✖How did the human general Trinity Jackson and Invidia, the Lady of Pain for the Succubus Conclave, come together in a union of marriage?
It was a grand occasion attended by many ladies of the Conclave, escorted by the numerous young officers of Jackson’s Jammers. Revelry abounded, and by the time the night was over, a doubled dozen of new arrangements had been made between the exclusively female Succubi and their entirely male counterparts.
Reserved: Sarj
What were the rules of the Crossroads Bazaar, and how were they enforced by House Jackson’s scion?
Why was Magelord Izanov so desperate to control the city of Capis? What did Magelord Lieri give up in his ultimately futile bid to keep it?
What is the Crown of the World, and what is it like?
?What is the true purpose of the University, and how does it seek to fulfill it?
Characters: Magelords, students, faculty… No restrictions.
?Who led the rebellion that formed the Artificed, and what drove them to decide to rebel?
Characters: Leader of the rebellion, others?
?How did the World of Science react to the Artificed settling in their world, in a time where the Magelords still reigned over both?
Characters: Leader of the Rebellion, others(?)
From their perch above the clouds, Heaven’s sentries took careful note of the descendants of Trinity and Invidia Jackson. Their expectations that the offspring of Mankind and Succubi would prove no more a threat to their dominion than the similar spawn of Incubi seemed accurate until the Interregnum made it necessary for the Jacksonians to reveal their true natures. Seeded throughout every strata of the nation, the hybrids responded openly to the new world order with overwhelming and terrific violence, displaying superhuman strength, speed, and charisma. All the best and worst qualities of the two races were evident in this new, unnamed race, above all others an attitude of repugnance towards Heavenly authority.
Launching a preemptive strike upon the ironically named fortress of Archangel, the Heavenly Host was unprepared for the reception: armed with the weapons of Science and Magic alike, the Blackbloods led by Fiver Jackson fought a valiant defense for their very lives. Seven days and seven nights did the might of Heaven rage against them, and every day and night the angels grew fewer in number, while the half-demon defenders only seemed to grow in strength and tenacity.
Once the commander of the Host called a retreat to their unreachable redoubts, another observation was made: as the proximity to a servant of Heaven grew greater, so waned the power of each individual Blackblood. Thus it was that a new and secret war was arranged to defeat the abyssal menace, one which was not successful in neutralizing the Jacksonian Dynasty, but which held its attention away from carrying the true conflict to Heaven Itself.
What artifact did Prince Hanse Gorian-Korde find within the Eastern Wall? What Magelord did it belong to?
?Why did Emylia order the city of Braxim to be destroyed, shortly after recovering Hope?
A: Gastly beasts known as the ‘Sin’ lived within.
Who was responsible for The Sin: Heaven or Hell?
?How did the renegade DV Unit 22 escape the Chains of Tarterra, evading impending punishment from the Scourge of Perversion? Who captured them and why?
Characters: Unit 22