From: Adam Barnes Reply-To: ronin@world.std.com To: Date: Thursday, March 15, 2001 9:06 PM Subject: [TRWML] A New Beginning - READ FIRST Okay, I think this has gone on about long enough. It's pretty obvious that although there is a lot of discussion on the list about a new paradigm, little is being done to implement it. A central focus to make decisions is needed. Fine. I am therefore resuming the role of Godboss. I am also dissolving all plot councils, discussion boards and suspending all plot or paradigm ideas until further notice. I am going to make the call on the paradigm, get the ball rolling and hopefully spark some interest. See the following posts to get the gist of the idea. Questions and suggestions are welcome. Questions will be answered to the best of my ability, and suggestions will be noted. But I want to make it very clear that the experiment is over. The democracy failed. We're going to try for an enlightened dictatorship now. I am taking back the Revenge Wars. You can live with that and play by the rules I set down, or respectfully withdraw now. -- The Prime Sagittarian, Alpha Centauri <> From: Adam Barnes Reply-To: ronin@world.std.com To: Date: Thursday, March 15, 2001 9:05 PM Subject: [TRWML] Revenge Wars, New Beginnings I've been working on a new paradigm for RW... for the beginning at least. This covers the original revenges, and should make the origins more compatible with the directions the story has evolved into. I'm not sure how much we can save with this, but it will allow us to save some at least. In the beginning, (?) was born. How (?) came to be is unknown. What IS known is that (?) is being of incredible power. However, it also is an infant, a newborn god. At first, it had no voluntary control, no real awareness of reality as a real thing. To (?), it was just a lot of amusing shapes and colours, like a mobile over (?)'s crib. However, despite (?)'s lack of evil intent, it IS dangerous. Its birth caused a 'fate distortion', like a ripple in a calm pond of water. It reached back in time, forward, and into other neighboring realities. This ripple in fate had a subtle, but powerful effect. The destinies of a number of beings were thrown off course, in some cases a little, in others a great deal. Other beings that had never had a chance to be born were suddenly, retroactively given life. Others were wiped from history forever. The first such change known to have happened was during the height of the Silver Millenium. Serenity, the child who would one day be the greatest (and last) ruler of the Moon Kingdom, is born. However, the fate distortion added a ripple to the equation: A twin sister, Tranquility. Tranquility and Serenity grew to maturity, neither knowing that one of them should not have ever existed. A second Ginzhou crystal was created for the young Tranquility, though it was a pale shadow of the true crystal. Tranquility saw the effort made to create a place for her in the Moon Kingdom, saw how they worked to make her feel needed. However, Serenity was the one destined to ascend to the throne. It is she who wields the true Ginzhou. Tranquility felt like excess baggage, a feeling of not truly belonging. She grew distant from those around her, earning her the nickname 'Frosty'. During one of her long, solitary walks, she encounters the first crossover, a place where the the dimensional wall is weak, and carelessly falls through. She ends up literally NOWHERE, an eddy in the maelstrom of realities, a place not yet formed. Because the young dimension is unformed, her very thoughts shape it. Her longing for a place to belong creates a new system of planets, a new world, filled with life and beauty like the Earth she so longed to visit as a child. While she floated in the forming void, for a brief time she could see the future laid out before her like a table. She could see all of the realities affected by (?)'s birth, saw the infant being grow and mature, and saw the true horror of what it would become. (?) acted like a point of gravity, pulling on the myriad realities like a small planet. Their orbits disrupted, they bumped up against each other, creating crossover points between them. As (?) grew, its influence grew stronger, like that of a sun. Realities began to orbit it, crashing into each other, fusing together into horrific conglomerations as the gravity crushed them together. Finally, (?) would awake as an adult. Its gravity would be as a black hole, drawing in realities and worlds with a force nothing could resist. (?) would become a great devourer of all things. Tranquility watched (?) toy with beings as it grew, playing with them like a child with a magnifying glass would play with ants. Wars began, dynasties fell as (?) influenced the minds of those who ruled. But Frosty also saw brilliant points of light in many of the realities, light which (?) touched many times, and recoiled from in pain. Light that (?) directed its puppet rulers to snuff out. Frosty looked down at herself and realized that she, too, was one of these points of light. On their own, the pain the light caused (?) was minimal, insignificant. But together, perhaps... Frosty made her finishing touches to her new world, anchoring it in the maelstrom of realities. Her Ginzhou now thrummed with the power and life of her own little reality, raising her to almost the level of a goddess herself. But she paid a price, forever linked to her world. She could see out into any reality her world touched, but she could never, ever leave. Slowly, she enticed those points of light to her. When a few had come to her, she sent them out to bring in more. At first, there were only a smattering. They were on the edge of the Fate Distortion, after all. She watched many get snuffed before she could reach them. Time passed, and she was forced to watch, helpless, as her sister fought a hopeless battle, and sacrificed her life amongst the ruins of her home. She almost gave up in despair, but her sense of duty to those 'Sleepers' she had awakened stirred her to continue. Those she had saved brought with them families, or built families on the world she had made. Each brought with them knowledge and skills, and slowly they began to build. Most of their children did not share their parents' light, though they were no less valiant. They were also as immune to (?) as their parents. The number of those touched by the Fate Distortion increased as the time of (?)'s birth approached, and Frosty knew that she would have to prepare for a great influx of Sleepers. She knew she would have to save most of the ones born at the time of (?)'s birth if she was to have enough to challenge (?). But Frosty was not the only one gathering sleepers. In another world, another destiny was changed. Largo, in his game with Quincy, succeeded where in another reality he failed. He managed, at some cost, to acquire the OMS. The results were... apocalyptic. Boomer turned on human, and the weapons they turned on each other burned the world to ashes. Megatokyo became the center of a hellish nightmare that spiralled out of even Largo's control. He might have been destroyed by the creation of his own zeal, but he was saved by an unlikely ally. He was touched by (?), in one of the fledgling god's attempts to understand the light that pained it so. In a brief, blinding flash, Largo saw more than he had ever conceived possible. He saw the creation of (?), he saw the Fate Distortion that had altered his past, and that of many others. And he saw a way to use (?) to his own ends. Most of all, he saw his own mistakes. He saw how his zeal and irrational contempt of humanity had ultimately lead to chaos and anarchy. He saw a new path, a way to his dream. But he also saw that he would have to build. He would need a great deal of power, and a great many followers to fulfill his dream. He saw (?) as a path to that goal. He agreed to help (?), soothed it, promised to drive away the painful light that gathered under Frosty's protection. But he also knew that the light was the key to eventually destroying or containing (?), and secretly began gathering his own Sleepers, and with (?)'s help, gathered allies and began a long dance with Frosty, one that he believed would grant him his dream. -- The Prime Sagittarian, Alpha Centauri <> From: Adam Barnes Reply-To: ronin@world.std.com To: Date: Thursday, March 15, 2001 9:06 PM Subject: [TRWML] Paradigm Specifics - New Beginnings And now we're into some of the specifics: Plot Holes - (?)'s existence is causing more and more disturbances on how the universes lie, creating points of friction. These open temporary, unstable rifts called Plot Holes. Plot Holes are NOT the same as the wormholes used for interdimensional transit. They are DANGEROUS. The rules we live by in reality simply do not apply, or are not consistent within a Plot Hole. Literally ANYTHING can come out of a Plot Hole. Revenges - One of the first attempts (?) made to get rid of the light was to match up dreams with people. He would find our ideas, find people who matched them, and send them as nightmares. Unfortunately, they were in other realities. Usually Largo 'arranged' passage for them so they could eliminate the 'source' of the nightmares. This ended rather quickly when (?) realized it wasn't working very well. Fred - Fred was established thousands of years ago, but the first Sleepers that Frosty recruited. They brought their families, were fruitful and multiplied. Fred is now well populated, with a technological society built on the fruits of many realities. However, the population is still relatively small (only in the millions) and the military is geared more towards hit and run style attacks. Fred is not prepared for an extended fleet war. They are in much the same position as the rebellion in Star Wars. Few capital ships, with a heavy reliance on starfighters. Sleepers - Term for someone who has been affected by the Fate Distortion. These people often have paranormal abilities, and are in many cases different from their original, pre(?) selves (The Fate Distortion is retroactive). They are undetectable until something triggers their Awakening, which usually heralds the manifestation of whatever special abilities they have. All authors (Us) are Sleepers, but not all Sleepers are Authors. -- The Prime Sagittarian, Alpha Centauri <>