Divergence 2.0

[Llum]

Races

Most mortals, barring perhaps the odd races from a Divergence, are derived from human stock. Even so,the Divergences are vast and the range of cultures and peoples is enormous.

Loftsphere

The people of Canticle are some of the most warlike humans to have ever existed. A few dozen different cultures all hell bent on conquering, slaughtering and pillaging their way across the continent. While they vary from the disciplined and hate-filled Kor, the wild Tundra Savages to the more refined rapier and poison wielding Solipsi or the canabalistic nomands  known only as the Kyne.

The Third Divergence

    * Homo Sapiens Angelus: Winged Humans.
    * Homo Sapiens Draconus:Humans changed to physically resemble dragons.
    * Homo Sapiens Vampiri:Humans changed to have serrated teeth and red iris, they need to eat human flesh.
    * Homo Sapiens Nagenti: Aquatic augmentation that has scales, gills in addition to lungs and fused legs giving them a snakelike tail instead.
    * Homo Sapiens Animus:Humans who have various bestial attributes.

[Llum]

Travel

Travel in the Divergences is very similar. Most travel is done on foot, or mounted if available. While slower then other forms of travel long distances can be cut down if the travellers are willing to risk The Paths.

Travel by ship is generally avoided if at all possible. The reason for this are the various Shark Barons and Cetacean Courts. While even a small Shark Baron can sink a large ship, and would do so on with very little reason, it has become an even worse hazard because a large fraction of Shark Barons have allied themselves with The Black on Black.

Air Travel is more common, the Empyreal Corona and the Third Divergence both use Air Travel quite a bit, a problem of this form of travel is that The Paths are too crowded to allow a flying aircraft (larger then a person) to maneuver. The one exception to this seems to be Mu, an Airborn City State piloted by a coven of vampiri, that somehow managed to arrive on Loftsphere.

Rail travel is extensively used in the Chasm, where the Empire of Steam has set up a lot of infrastructure to support this. Rail systems are slowly being deplyed in Dirge, and a Rail line is expected to connect Ur-min and Quositas within a couple years.

[Llum]

Races cont'd

Giants

The first breed of these creatures, known as Æsir, the possess a kind of inhuman beauty, haunting. Tall and slim to the point of looking wasted, these giants have limbs that are too long, the eye refuses to linger on the sight as if to deny their existence. Necks as long child's arm, fingers matching in proportions to their limbs, even their torso have a horrific stretched look. Worst of all are the feet, while they have normal human hands, their feet are strange things, similar to a cats paw, but elongated they walk with a grace that nothing earthly can possess. While they look too weak to even move their massive frames, they are quite strong, able to bend steel swords easily.

The second of breed of Giants, known as Vanir, more closely resemble humans. They are still tall, standing over ten feet tall, yet they are incredibly broad almost comically so. Their proportions are squat, making them looks smaller then they should, also they all have large amounts of muscle mass. It seems that the Vanir passively absorb magic, gaining more and more muscle mass as they do.

Uplifts

Uplifted Animals are generally superior or equal to humans in most physical attributes like strength, speed or endurance, however rarely exceed human norms in mental capabilities by great amounts. While an Uplifted Animal might be as intelligent or more intelligent then a normal human, they rarely reach prodigy like levels of intelligence. Uplifts from predatory base animals tend to be more intelligent then non-predatory Uplifts, and have higher average intelligence then humans.

The more common kinds of Uplifts are classified into board categories.

   

* Fels: Fels or Felines are Uplifts who come from feline base animals. While it is possible for them to eat fish, there is a trend for them to hunt prey Uplifts. The common exception to this rule are Fels who come from domesticated felines.

    * Canines: Canines are Uplifts from canine stock such as dogs, jackals, wolves or coyotes.

    * Cetaceans: The Cetaceans are different from most Uplifts in that their physical form is largely unchanged, however they gained limited telekinesis instead.

    * Sharks: The only Uplifts from fish base animals, the larger Sharks rule sea kingdoms. Uplifted Sharks are known as Shark Barons. Like cetaceans their physical form is largely unchanged.

    * Racs: Racs or Racoons are one of the most common Uplifts, they are also the Uplifts who adapted most readily to their new life style. Some Racs even claim they were sentient before the Uplift, and all it did was make them bigger.

Humans

Humans are also present in the Second Divergence. They tend to be more amical then humans from Loftsphere.

[Llum]

Nomadic Cetacean Court

Due to their aquatic nature, none of the aquatic races have built standing countries. The forming of bands, sometimes by species or multiracial they travel the oceans. They claim no land, always on the move, while this inevitably leads to the clash of powers, these are rare.

The most famous of these is the Cetacean Court. Ruled by a Blue Whale who claims to have been awakened by the Uplift spell, making over a hundred years old. The Court travels the oceans, sometimes putting down Shark Barons causing too much trouble, perhaps aiding

Shark Barons

The Shark Barons are the largest, most vicious predators of the worlds waters. Due to their new gained telekinetic powers hunting for food is largely obsolete. This gave the sharks a great deal of free time. First it was a single tiger shark off the west coast of Antera demanding tribute from a passing cargo ship, soon other sharks demanded tribute and those who refused were simply eaten.

Now the most powerful of these sharks rule their territories with iron fists, patrolling and demanding tribute from everyone they encounter. These Barons employ lesser sharks to manage territories of their own, paying a tithe in tribute. Lesser sharks would perhaps only patrol the water around a fishing village, who would then pay tithe to a more powerful shark who claims the whole coast.

These powerful creatures have even made bargains with The Black on Black, in return for transportation to other seas, they will fight on its behalf. The seas, lakes and rivers on Disk are notoriously treacherous to the forces of Tesseract and Compact.

Telekinesis

While not a true form of magic, being of such limited scope, the telekinesis used by the Cetaceans and the Sharks can be quite powerful. This power lets them manipulate objects, by projecting force, with their minds.This allows them to move things or breaking them if needed. Telekinesis is also limited by the senses, as a Cetacean or Shark must be able to see or perceive through other means, such as echolocation, an object to apply force to it.

[Llum]

Simplex Offensive

The Ivory Citadel is under siege, and new troops of The Black on Black arrive daily to replace those lost in attacks on the walls. However no one in ether the Compact or Tesseract knows where the seemingly limitless number of soldiers come from, nor what Divergence any of the champions hail from.

The Simplex Offensive is the alliances attempt to correct this fact. Like most plans conceived by Powers it is multi-faceted with layers of goals. One of the main goals is the infiltration of The Black on Blacks army, spies have been sent to every place where The Black on Black is known to operate to try and gain access to some knowledge.

The other main operation is a push by several small armies, companies, adventuring groups and lone soldiers across Disk. The forces of The Black on Black come from the west of the Ivory Citadel, so forces of the Compact have been dispatched to the north-west and forces of the Tesseract have been dispatched to the south-west.

[Llum]

The Path to Immortality

The Powers value their mortal servants, and are not the sort to let something like the passing of time rob them of their chosen champions. As such Powers nearly always grant their champions the boon of eternal youth.

Every Power choses its champions differently. And the duties of a champion vary as much between the Powers as well.

The Regal choses the greatest fighters, tacticians and generals to be his champions. Those who are unstoppable on the battlefields of Canticle often become champions. The Regals champions are usually mercenaries, being hired out to the less martially inclined Powers to accomplish jobs that need doing. Currently however most of the immortals are on Disk, ether defending the Ivory Citadel or leading the Simplex Offensive.

Guise chooses his champions seemingly at random. Nearly all of them are female. Guise is also odd in that his champions are maked out by a physical object, a humanity draining mask that gives them their powers. Guise also has very few champions compared to other Powers.

The Netherman doesn't directly chose his champions, instead he lets shadowy cults of the Second and Third Divergence recruit people. Those who rise to the highest ranks of these cults are often turned into the infamous Gray men, champions of the Netherman.

The Black Gold and Amber has the fewest champions of all the powers, less then even The Black on Black. These handfull of individuals run all the business operations for the Cult of Black Amber.

[Llum]

How aware is a normal person about the war with the Black on Black?

While it varies between regions most folk are aware of the war. The Second Divergence is a major manufacturing area for the war effort, it also supports a lot of traffic between it and Loftsphere. As such, people in the Second Divergence are well informed about the war effort.

People in the Third Divergence are less informed about the war effort. This is mainly due to the power of the cartels and the callming influence of the Cult of Black Amber, a major player in the politics of the Third Divergence.

The Fourth Divergence is the least informed of the common Divergences. Most people are busy dealing with the civil war between the Reptoids and the Mole men. Rumor mills are very active however; but sifting the truth from lies takes quite a bit of skill. The more involved one is with The Rigid Flan the more likely one is to know about the war with the Black on Black.

In Loftsphere the war effort drives everything, the Emperor of Steam in the Chasm has halted his expansionist efforts to battle the Demagogue and send Steam Dragoons and Mimics to Disk. The Sociopath Kings are bitter about the loss of territory and plot ways to get it back, all while helping the war effort. The Empyreal Corona is a battleground, the Black on Black has fermented a civil war and each faction is trying to take advantage of the confusion.

Finally on Canticle the war effort has probably had the most pronounced effect. The myriad wars between the cultures and factions has dropped to near inexistance. For the first time in its history there is little overt strife while everyone marches to Disk.

How likely is a common person to meet a champion of a Power?

Meeting one in the Divergences is almost unheard of. In the great hubs of travel on Loftsphere, Ur-min and Quositas, the chances raise dramatically, but seeing one is still a rare enough occurence. On Disk all this changes, all but a fraction of the Tesseracts and the Compact champions can be found here.

There are a few exceptions to his the Azure has many champions of the Design, The Rigid Flan is a gathering place for champions and the Empyreal Corona has a significant amount of them dealing with the war that just started.

[Llum]

Armies of The Black on Black

The Black on Blacks forces comprise almost entirely of humans. There are twelves separate armies, each of the 11 champions has their own personal army as well as the general army. Standards are completely black, and in the case of the champions bordered in their chosen color.

Cavalry is relatively rare and most forces fight on foot. Armor is always dyed or enameled black, be it chain, leather, silk, plate or something else entirely. Common armaments are straight double-edged swords and a shield, a spear or polearm is also fairly common.

Soldiers are fanatically loyal to The Black on Black, and to their respective patron champion if they have one. Clashes between soldiers vary from midly common to unheard of depending on what factions are fighting side by side. The legions of Hunter and Hind often clash, as do the forces of Spider/Stalker and the Demagogue or the forces of Frost and Pemupriel. The forces of Bashir Du Gal are reknown for picking a fight with anyone, regardless of alligeance. The forces of Ash and Frost have never had a conflict, nor have those of Spider and Stalker.

[SDragon]

Okay, before I say anything else, I want to point out that the only post with content that I read all of was the first one. I did take a few glances at a little of the rest of the content, but not really enough to comment on it.


I think this seems to be a great example of what I'd call a metasetting; it sets the stage for an indefinite amount of settings, each one with the potential to be vastly different than the next. I've always felt it hard to keep any real degree of consistency with metasettings, but you seem to have done a real good job at that. The Powers are a good (interestingly enough, almost typo'ed that as "god") touch, and a decent example of said consistency. They make me think of how RPG characters might view the people that play RPGs. Was this intentional? I'm not sure how the Elder Powers would fit into that analogy, though. They seem a little added on because of that.

Anyway, from what I've read, it looks like a great setting. Keep up the good work!

[Llum]

I think this seems to be a great example of what I'd call a metasetting; it sets the stage for an indefinite amount of settings, each one with the potential to be vastly different than the next. I've always felt it hard to keep any real degree of consistency with metasettings, but you seem to have done a real good job at that.

The Powers are a good (interestingly enough, almost typo'ed that as "god") touch, and a decent example of said consistency. They make me think of how RPG characters might view the people that play RPGs. Was this intentional? I'm not sure how the Elder Powers would fit into that analogy, though. They seem a little added on because of that.[/quote]

Well, they kinda are very "god" like :P

Hmmm, I had never really thought that point of view. Althought it's probably as realistic as how RTS armies, or wargame armies see their respective players as well.

As for the Elder Powers, they're their to show that Powers aren't the "be all, end all", there is something bigger and nastier then them. Elder Powers are essentially powers that have been Powers for millions (or billions) or years before this set of Powers became Powers. There are only 3 (4) of them, and one of them completely batshit insane.

[Llum]

Elder Powers

The Deep Green

A menacing presence known only by the Deep Green color that infuses the cosmos. It controls most of the known universe and is openly at war with The Twin Golds. It does not concern itself with the Powers, considered to be so far above those Powers as they are to their mortal servants.

The Deep Green has yet to involve itself with the war between The Black on Black, and none of the emissaries send to it have returned. However, a message has arrived from one of the emessaries sent. A former champion of Guise, he says that "All will be solved".

The Twin Golds

Twin Powers they're only ever encountered with each other. They are at war with The Deep Green. They control what little of the universe uncontrolled by The Deep Green, save for those parts claimed by the new Powers. Almost equal in power to the Deep Green they are ruthless in there war to obliterate it from the cosmos.

One emissary has returned, Masamune III a panduma of the First. Currently Masamune is held in an asylum controlled by the First, nothing is known about his condition.

The Orange and Steel

The Orange and Steel is a Power of madness and insanity. Known as the Lord of Mazes and sometimes the Million Worlds God.

Manifests untold millions of different Divergences, all interconnected by a crazed maze of Gates. Each and every single one the worlds has suffered a great apocalypse event in the past, some as quite recently, and nevermore than a few centuries ago. In these Divergences its crazed offspring play wars of dominance and genocide with each other.

Recently it has been rumored that some of its offspring have been sighted in the Fourth Divergence and that they're responsible for the civil war between the Mole men and the Reptoids.

[Llum]

War Machines

While nearly all the soldiers used in the armies of the Powers are human or human derived they do make use of various War Machines.

War Machines of the Tesseract
-Psionic Hulks are massive machines of shining steel and clear crystal. Vaguely humanoid shaped they float across the battlefield wielding siege-sized ranged weapons and grappling with the larger minions of the Black on Black.

-Skimmers are large machines similar to a flat keeled boat, they float across the land. Often used to transport groups of troups or to carry large weapons and artillery into forward positions. While artillery cannot be fired on the skimmers (the recoil would crush the skimmer into the ground) they can easily load and offload artillery making them quite mobile.

War Machines of the Compact
-Tower Worms are massive leathery scaled worms native to the deserts of Canticle on Loftsphere. Descendents of the first Fleshcrafter, and birthed from the Fleshtower these massive creatures are the Compacts main weapon in the deserts, fields and snow wastes of Disk. Tower Worms can use Fleshcrafting magic and are carries of the magic disease lycanthropy.

War Machines of the Black on Black
-Frost Titans are massive armored hulks resembling nothing more then a suit of gigantic black iron plate. The armor is lightly coated in frost and they steam in directly sunlight. They often wield large axes or mauls, due to an apparent lack of internal organs, making them immune to all but the most devastating blows, they are used to charge and attack the Ivory Citadels gates.

[ooc]I'll update this post as I decide on some more war machines. I'm not entirely sure where I want this to go at the moment but wanted to put some down.[/ooc]

[Llum]

The Second Divergence

Aberdeen

Aberdeen is the major transportation center for the war effort. Near its aerodromes and seaports are several important Gates linking it to Dirge, the Chasm, the Empyreal Corona, Disk and the Azure. The Gates are guarded and controlled by the Gordon family and their retainer of loyal Walkers.

Aerodromes receive airships from across the Second Divergence, weapons, troops, supplies and ambassodors are constantly arriving to be shipped out to various outer-Divergence locals. The port in Aberdeen is even busier then its aerodrome, it holds a major embasy of the Cetacean Courts and large ocean going transport ships bring legions of troops daily.

The waters around Aberdeen are extremely well guarded from attack by Shark Barons, it was a division of Cetacean Guards, as well as a small navy.

[Llum]

[ooc]Updated the War Machines post with a couple new things.[/ooc]

[Llum]

Cult of Black Amber

The Cult of Black Amber is a cult that can be found in one form or another in all Divergences, even the first. The Cult actually serve a Power known as The Black Gold and Amber, known as Black Amber to her followers. No one outside the upper echelon of the cult know what their goals are. However Jack Avalanche and his comrades Riberdy Creak and Jessie Albecore have have found ties to the Elder Power known as The Deep Green.

Different fronts of the Cult

The Cult has connections and fronts in all the Divergences. They coordinate the importation and exportation of magic, Walkers of the Path and other sundry goods between the Divergences.

Black Amber Industries

Black Amber Industries is the front of the cult in The First Divergence. While on the surface they're a mining conglomerate, which garners them sufficient resources, their main focus is coordinating all the small cultist groups across the globe who search of new Walkers of the Path. When a new Walker is found, often they will try and make the person join one of their many cults or organizations. If that fails they will abduct the Walker and leave him in the Paths to prove himself, picking him up when he exits into one Divergence or another.

Antelier's Iron Wolves

Antelier's Iron Wolves are a mercenary company from The Second Divergence specializing in the acquisition of magical items. The leader, Maximillian Antelier is a human originally from the Third Divergence but has lived in the Second Divergence as well. A practicing magician, he fights unarmed but being able to call down lightning strikes with his blows. He also retains the paranormal power of remote viewing from his life in the Third Divergence.

The Iron Wolves membership is mostly carniverous Uplifts wolves, jackals and crocodilian Uplifts being the most common. Antelier's second in command are Hamish Faroe, a ram Uplift who is a proficient sorcerer and Venus Ven, a female parrot Uplift who is also a Walker of the Paths. Both the seconds in command are familiar with the Black Amber cult and know of Anteliers otherwordly origin.

Originally to earn money the Iron Wolves were proficient in stealing magical artifacts for powerful Uplifts and Humans, however like in the first Cults operations in the First Divergence they try and recruit as many Walkers of the Path as possible. They also serve as a go between in negotiations between the Cult and several of the Shark Barons.

Hanners Inc

Hanners is the front of the cult in The Third Divergence. The front as a company is the most superficial of all covers belonging to the cult, the business is really a large cult run by Hanners, a draconus Walker of the Path with a powerful Healing ability.

Hanners also differs from standard Cult in that they do not actively recruit Walkers of the Path found in the Third Divergence, mostly content to promote those that do join the organization, by promptly shipping them to another Divergence in most cases. The ultimate goal of Hanners is to recruit Samuel "Darkfire" Ortega, the vampiri who also happens to be the most powerful pyrokinetic in existence.

The corporation has had some difficulty with The Castellan, forcing it to stop several assassination attempts on Darkfire that were ordered by The Castellan. The Castellan has also started raiding Hanners buildings searching for why they're protecting Darkfire.

Hanners Inc is the main supplier of medical field equipment and supplies to the war effort. The money being made in this venture has made Hanners one of the richest beings in any Divergence.

The Cult of the Black Sheep

The Cult of the Black Sheep is an arm of the Black Amber's cult in Dirge. Originally founded by a Shepherd to bring about the downfall of the Sociopath Kings, the cult has moved on from this goal. Now the Cult of the Black Sheep works semi-openly out of Ur-Min, recruiting mercenaries and other more varied professionals. There is some sort of secret connection between the Cult and Fortunes Favored, several clandestine meetings have been arranged.

Other branches of the Cult

The cult is known to infiltrated The Azure. Strangely enough they have intervened in the siege of the Ivory Citadel saving it from being overrun by The Black on Blacks champions on several occasions, it is unknown if this is the result of a bargain with the Design or for far more obscure goals of their own.