Frankenstein's Legions [Now for discussions]

[Gypsylight]

Frankenstein's Legions

A Brief History of the Thanatonic Revolution

In 1818, a young Swiss scientist by the name of Victor Frankenstein did the unthinkable: by applying a powerful electric current to a body he had assembled piecemeal from stolen corpses, he actually succeeded in artificially creating life. In the basement of that secluded laboratory, the creature rose off the cold stone slab, tore the wires from its flesh, and stood fully-conscious before its creator. A man weaker is his convictions would have been horrified by what he saw and fled for his life, but Victor was driven, intoxicated by the power that lay at his fingertips. He taught and educated his creation, who fittingly named Adam, and it was only a matter of weeks before the creature became his new assistant. Over the next five years, the two of them continued their experiments in revivification and galvanism, pushing the boundaries of what they could reanimate: everything from individual limbs and organs to hulking constructs that were the product of multiple corpses grafted together. The scientist even created a bride for Adam, rightly named Eve, who was created from only the most beautiful and well-preserved parts. In future decades, the undead couple would become the public face for what Victor Frankenstein himself gave the poetic name of 'Promethean technology'.

When he finally released his findings at a scientific convention in Zürich in 1823, he shocked the assembled crowds; it was said that even the aging Count Alessandro Volta himself was in awe of what the young man created. A firestorm of discussion and controversy erupted across Europe, with the practical and scientific applications as well as the philosophical and moral ramifications of these new 'Prometheans' the center of debate and the subject of choice in salons from Paris to Vienna. No one could deny, however, the usefulness of the technology; it was not long before the governments of every nation in Europe was offering Frankenstein enormous sums of money for the secrets of his process and tasking the finest scientific minds with developing Prometheans of their own. Singlehandedly, a once-unknown chemist from Geneva and his undead assistant had ushered in a new era that would soon threaten to consume the continent: countless terms were coins for it, but the most enduring sobriquet was the Thanatonic Revolution.

Other brilliant minds followed, as unfettered by the constrains of ethics and convention as Frankenstein had been. To them, the future of science and industry lay not with the living, but with the dead. Having already mastered the art of manipulating the now-ubiquitous medium of corpseflesh, the scientists and philosophers turned their attention to exploring and harnessing the dead in less-corporeal forms; that is, ghosts, spectres, and the like. Their work blurred the boundaries between the scientific and the metaphysical even more than Frankenstein's had, a frantic search for not only how to attract deceased souls from whatever realm they inhabited but how to give them some manner of substance in the physical world. A breakthrough was finally reached by a group of scientists working in Paris who succeeded in summoning the spirit of one of their number; he had bravely ingested a lethal dose of cyanide in order to provide the experiment with a subject instantly recognizable by his fellows.

Perhaps the most radical and polarizing discovery since Frankenstein's original work and the invention of Prometheans themselves was made by the young German philosopher and scientist Heinricherson Faust. By combining modern scientific process and traditional occultism to an unprecedented degree, he did something beyond unthinkable: he not only evoked a demonic entity from the depths of Hell itself, he successfully bound it within a sigil-etched flask filled with the inert, gaseous substance aether. Many immediately renounced Faust's work as unethical, even outright evil, and there was not a single religious institution that did not universally renounce him as insane at best and a heretic at worst. Along with other like-minded occultists, he persisted, summoning and trapping more demons over the course of several months. In his notes, he divided them into two categories: the Demons of Motion, who could physically interact with their surroundings, and the Demons of Ideation, who projected thoughts and ideas and could even possess mortal if not properly restrained. It was only when Faust demonstrated the superiority of a revolver that had a demon bound within it, which could fire at blinding speeds and never ran out of ammunition so long as it was greased with fat of a newborn lamb, to a group of Prussian generals that his work enjoyed the same manner of widespread, albeit tentative, support that Frankenstein and his other successors enjoyed.

In the wake of the Thanatonic Revolution, some changes came unbidden to Europe, revealing themselves of their own accord. The most infamous of these came from the far southeastern corner of the Austrian Empire, from the previously-unknown region of Transylvania. The local prince that ruled there, known to his subjects as Count Dracula, had long been seen as a sinister, suspicious figure, attracting much negative attention when he travelled abroad. This reputation, as it turns out, was well-deserved, for while visiting Queen Victoria with his family, he revealed himself to be what many had quietly suspected him of being: a vampire, an ancient and incredibly-powerful one. Taking the cue from their de-facto spokesman, vampiric communities across the continent cast off their disguises and stepped into the light, metaphorically-speaking. There was a massive outcry in most countries and vampires throughout Europe were the targets of countless witch-hunts and mob attacks. Many of their number held positions of great influence in Europe's political, academic, and religious institutions, and it was not long before they had permanently cemented themselves in public society. In countries with democratic governments, pro-vampire bills and measures were swiftly voted in; in countries without, resistance was more likely to be crushed by military means. The greatest example of this undead dominance of government was is the Russian Empire, where the Tsar of All Russias and his entire family voluntarily became vampires themselves, much to the dismay of their subjects.

Going hand-in-hand with the revelation of the existence of vampires was that of the werewolves and other such beasts that also prowled Europe's moonlight countrysides. Lacking the widespread organization of the bloodsucking kin, the process was a far more gradual one; many simply saw the increased acceptance of the otherwise-nightmarish Thanatonic Revolution as a sign that they could show themselves more openly. Reactions were mixed; more often than not, fearful mobs attacked the theiranthropes, to use the technical term, only to be torn to shreds themselves. Of all the nations in Europe, England and Prussia were the most accepting of the creatures, but for very different reasons. The English believed themselves to be highly egalitarian and viewed the acceptance of werebeasts in much the same way as the abolition of slavery. The Prussian Empire, the so called 'army with a country', was not nearly as idealistic: creatures who could rip enemies apart with their bare hands, run as fast as a galloping dragoon, and absorb a full volley of musket balls without pausing to wince simply made too perfect of soldiers to persecute, though their normally-unflappable comrades did tend to give them an extremely wide berth.

[Gypsylight]

[Reserved for Summary of Modern Nations of Europe]

[Gypsylight]

[Far more to follow, do not worry. Is there a way to squeeze in two extra posts under this one?]

The Promethean Process

Perhaps the most important scientific breakthrough of the modern age, Victor Frankenstein's poetically-named 'Promethean Process', a process by which life and consciousness might by restored to an unloving corpse via the application of a powerful electrical current, is now ubiquitous across all of Europe. The product of the young man's unhealthy fascination with the then-experimental science of galvanism and a desire to bring back those who have already passed away, an urge no doubt motivated by his own mother's tragic death from scarlet fever. It took years of fruitless experimentation and countless failures before he finally managed to successfully reanimate a construct of his own making; Adam, his Creature. It would be another five years of research and testing, the cost of which was measured not only in capital borrowed but in corpses exhumed and flesh stolen, before Frankenstein and his assistant finally perfected the science, revealing it to the awestruck scientific community at a conference in Zurich, Switzerland.

As any modern man with a little education or a head for the technical can explain, the Promethean Process is a deceptively simple one, one which narrows in divide between hard science and alchemical superstition. First, a body, human or otherwise, must be prepared for revification; any sort of corpse will do, so long as the brain in reasonably-intact and the flesh has not putrefied to the point that it is unable to support animation. Because of all of these variables, most of the bodies used in reanimation are assembled from parts taken from several different sources, each limb and organ selected so that it best suits the creature's intended purpose. The quality of assembly varies greatly, depending on the region and individual creator: the corpse-soldiers that spew out of the smoke-belching factories of Prussia are rugged and practical, far less elegant and more noticeably deformed than those lovingly-crafted by Italian fleshsmiths, legendary for their nigh-invisible stitching and lifelike complexions.

Once a body has been properly prepared, the true magic of the Promethean Process can take place. Firstly, a substance refined from amniotic fluids in injected into the veins, which will make sure the life-giving energies are properly conducted.  The subject is typically strapped securely to a bed or slab, lest it harm itself or its creators with the violent spasms of its 'birth', and copper wires are inserted into its flesh. Finally, once the would-be reanimators are confident in their ability to witness the undoubtedly-frightful process and remain sane, the switch is thrown and a powerful current of electrical energy courses through the creature's body, forcing life into the once-dead muscles, returning consciousness to the once-inert brain. Most often, success is heralded by screams or howls and much violent thrashing from the Promethean, much as an newborn infant greets its mother with a wail; more than one scientist has accidentally terminated an otherwise-viable subject out of fear, believing himself to have created a bestial monster. Once the current has been shut off and the creature given time to acclimate, however, most do eventually calm themselves.

[SA]

"In the wake of the Thanatonic Revolution, some changes came unbidden to Europe"

I'll say!

This is kinda like an occult steampunk World of Darkness but without the whiny post-modern pretensions and the absurd panoply of hidden monsters; Russian Empire ruled by undying lords with werewolf soldiers at their beck and call? The open integration of once-feared bogeymen into modern European society? Yum.

[Weave]

Wow, this is great stuff. Please, keep it coming!

[Superfluous Crow]

I love the demonic revolver that has to be greased with the fat of a newborn lamb. Both cool and disturbing.

[Gypsylight]

Might anyone have ideas about which countries I should feature? I'm definitely including the major players of Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia, but I think that it might be a good idea to also feature some of the smaller countries as well.

I seem to be at a loss for what to call the scientists who invented spirit-manipulation. They don't have to be French, but I can't find any Gothic characters who quite fit the bill in the same that that Frankenstein or Faust do.

Also, any ideas on other miscellaneous Gothic characters to include? I'm perfectly fine with tweaking chronology to squeeze them into the 1840 setting. It might be a good idea to add some cameos by the likes of Doctor Jekyll, Dorian Gray, or Melmoth the Wandering Jew. Perhaps even famous authors themselves?

[Steerpike]

Personally I'd avoid Dorian since thusfar the occultism has all been technological, except the werewolves who're born that way.  Dorian's thing is so odd and inexplicable it doesn't quite seem to fit with the other innovations.  Maybe as a one-off side character he'd work.

Jekyll/Hyde I could see, though, if you wanted more crazy inventors, or Dr. Moreau (or both), though given the time of their creation they might be very contemporary characters (they really belong more properly to later decades, but they could be shifted without much difficulty).

Is it a strictly Christian cosmology in this world, or something else?

EDIT: Sheridan Le Fanu's Carmilla might be another vampire running round, as might Polidori's Lord Ruthven.  Stoker's White Worm might be another.  Also, Poe has a few technological stories, such as "Some Words With a Mummy."  "The Imp of the Perverse" might also fit as a demonic character.

[Gypsylight]

It might be a good idea to just have this thread deleted so that I can start over a leave myself a little more room...who do I speak to about doing that?

[Superfluous Crow]

You can just leave it. As soon as it leaves the front page, it will probably stay in the back catalogue unless you choose to bring it up again :)

[Steerpike]

Some people make two threads, one for comments, one for the actual setting itself.

[Gypsylight]

Some people make two threads, one for comments, one for the actual setting itself.

Once I've got a bit more of it finished, I think I'll do just that...