I wanted to play Shadowrun in our current world and time with all the magic and technology that Shadowrun offers. I also wanted to retain the Shadowrun world as published as a place players could travel to.
After spending a fair bit of time I have come up with the following. I am still working on details that come from this idea but I thought I would share the player briefing for the campaign setting.
It's rather long, but if you have time to read it let me know what you think, good or bad.
[Note that I have revised this document from the original]
[ Spoiler ]
Introduction
It's all a lie...
The truth is deliberately hidden. A final desperate act to save us all. To hide an artifact of great evil from those who would use it to bring malevolent destruction to this universe. As with all lies, cracks begin to emerge. Through these cracks dark twisted servants peer. They search. They plot. They kill. They hope for an answer to their chaotic requests. They are not disappointed. For somewhere, hidden in our great universe a lurking menacing evil stirs. Hearing their call it responds and promises to fulfil their desires. First, it whispers, it needs something. Something precious that was lost long ago. With it, he will rise again and this time nothing can resist and darkness will fall upon the universe.
Well that’s the way I remember it when I was released from being a Sleeper and someone decided that I needed to know. Who I am doesn’t matter. What matters is the truth. The real truth. I now work for SPii, Specialty Private Investigations International, and was once like you. Those first few weeks of not being a Sleeper are the toughest. You seem to have made it. Well you haven’t been locked up or blown your brains out yet as many others do. What you do next is important. That’s why I am telling you this. You need to believe me. Not for me. Not for you. For all of us. You’re special. You can see what’s out there. You can do something about it.
When it all comes down to it, the truth is the problem. When you have been living a lie and suddenly are told as much. Who’s to say what I am telling you is just crap as well. Well I suppose it’s your heart. You know, deep inside you know that this is the real thing. It all makes more sense now. Well that’s the way I felt.
So here goes, here’s what I know. Not everything, just a glimpse to get you started. You’ve probably heard some of this before. The main thing is that it’s all true. All of it. Welcome to the real world...
Overview
T'Erthal (tur-ar-fal), comes from the nearly forgotten language of the Ancients. It means “Twin Earths� and is used by the White Council to refer to what must remain secret. It refers to our Earth and the magically created, but otherwise just as real, other Earth, called Echo by those in the know.
All things alive, including animals and plants, on Earth can be classified as being a Sleeper or not being a Sleeper. They both share the same reality but the Sleeper's senses and physical selves are distorted by what is referred to as the Warp Bubble Aberration or simply the Warp.
The Warp was created due to the need to hide the Dark Amulet, with a large part of the plan hinging on stopping unauthorised starfire. Starfire is an ancient technology allowing travel from any planet in the universe to another. The Warp hides both Earth and Echo from being targeted by starfire and only those with the secret corrections can starfire. As part of the process to create the Warp it was required to make the majority of living things on Earth into Sleepers.
Unseen
Elves, dwarves, orks, dragons and countless other fantastic races, creatures, plants and even magical effects are referred to as the Unseen. Sleepers cannot perceive the Unseen as the Warp hides the truth. To a Sleeper, a dragon flying through the air may be perceived as a cloud drifting quickly across the sky. A pack of goblins might appear as a group of teenagers harassing the local residents. The short and gruff barman, a dwarf who likes to share his beer. Most Sleepers spend their entire lives not realising that they have never perceived the truth.
The Unseen walk, fly and burrow through Earth. Some are good, some are evil, and some cannot be classified as their purpose and actions are puzzling. Some do their best to fit in a Sleeper world that cannot see them for what they truly are. Others take advantage and use this to fulfil their own agendas.
Sleepers
Sleepers make up the bulk of all living things on Earth. The Warp affects all the senses of a Sleeper, and at times, their physical appearance as well. The foul stench of an undead may be perceived as someone that has not had a shower in a long, long time. The scaly skin of a lizard man might feel like someone with a terrible acne problem. It should be noted that anything living can be a Sleeper, including animals and plants.
Photographs and film are not immune to the Warp. The Sleeper's mind only sees what the Warp wants it to see. For instance a photograph of an ogre appears as a rather ugly, large and overweight human while the film of a bear fishing is actually a Yeti getting his lunch. When it comes to art, the mind sees what is actually drawn. If an artist draws an ogre then the Sleeper will see the picture of the ogre. It seems as though the Warp only disguises what it actually needs to and as a picture is derived from the imagination of the drawer there is nothing to hide.
Operations performed on an Unseen bring their own problems. Sleeper surgeons following standard procedure are puzzled to why when they administer drugs or perform surgery that should benefit the patient the effects that are produced are negligible or at times life threatening. It is safe to say that the Unseen approach other Unseen surgeons for any medical requirements.
There are no longer any Sleepers on Echo. There once were, but due to an unfortunate incident, resulting in a planet wide Awakening, all living things are no longer masked by the Warp and appear as their true selves.
Sleeper No More
Sometimes it is triggered and with others it runs in the family, but no matter how it happened once a Sleeper is no longer affected by the Warp there is no going back. At times there may be a physical transformation when they turn into an Unseen themselves. They see the truth and see everything as it truly is. They can see the Unseen, can see magic and can maybe even use magic.
To some this enlightenment can prove distressing and may lead to a long detention in a lunatic asylum. Others try to communicate what they can see, and either their words fall on deaf ears or, if they are persistent enough, are labelled as loony and locked away. Some keep it to themselves and just go about life as best they can, ignoring those things that disturb them. Then there are a few that take it upon themselves to do something with this ability, for there is something stirring in Earth, and they dare not miss it.
The Universe at War
The universe has been at war for as long as anyone can remember. It is a conflict mainly between two groups, the Coalition and the Brotherhood. The Coalition consists of elves, dwarves and humans amongst other races that respect freedom and good virtues. The Brotherhood has demons, orks, goblins and trolls together with others that prefer oppression, brutality, slavery and basically live for war.
Earth and Echo have been spared in this conflict since the advent of the Warp. Currently Echo is the most technologically advanced planet in the universe. The Coalition uses this to their advantage equipping its forces with Echo’s technology to combat the technologically inferior Brotherhood.
The Brotherhood cannot travel to Echo and thus its technology is far behind that of the Coalitions. It steals what technology it can from the Coalition and reverse engineers it for its own purposes. What the Brotherhood lacks in technology it makes up in numbers, in soldiers, equipment, and vehicles. It often tends to throw its massive armies at the Coalition planning to crush them with sheer numbers.
Some of this technology also makes its way to Earth to aid the White Council on its continuing battle against the Brotherhood forces on Earth. Even though the Brotherhood has been cut-off from the rest of the universe on both Earth and Echo they are still dangerously persistent and need to be countered in fear that they may unlock the truth about the Dark Amulet.
Dark Amulet
Even though the Brotherhood far outnumbers the Coalition, its constant infighting and squabbling severely limits its ability to stage a major military offensive for any protracted amount of time. It lacks leadership to unite and give it direction for domination of the universe. Zaakoth was to be that leader. To do so Zaakoth forged the Dark Amulet and with this amulet he would dominate Earth, the galaxy, and the universe. He would be the master of the universe.
That all changed when luck interceded and the Dark Amulet was cut off Zaakoth's neck and was cast into the Abyss of Hell. Destroyed, or so it was thought..
Centuries later it was realised the amulet had not been destroyed. For the Dark Amulet was more than just a magical trinket. It is alive. Alive from the life force Zaakoth passed from himself to it. It feeds, and as it feeds it grows in power. Evil is its food. Control over others, death and destruction satisfy its appetite.
When it was cast down into the Abyss of Hell it already had gained enough power to be able to shield itself from the fires. Even though it could save itself it still was not powerful enough to both save itself and maintain all that was created from it including the spectre of Zaakoth himself.
It knew that in time it would escape the burning fires and will once again call upon its bearer and he would rise again. Part of Zaakoth remains alive in it and can not be killed as long as it lives. It has patience and can wait. For what are centuries when eternity awaits.
Echo and the Warp
Some among the Coalition felt it instantly. The Dark Amulet once more was calling out. It was not destroyed as they had hoped. Somehow it had escaped the fires where it should of melted taking evil with it. No matter how hard they tried the amulet could not be located, it has a way of hiding when it does not want to be found.
The wise amongst the Coalition asked the question. Even if we find it, how would it be destroyed? No, the only way was to hide the amulet from the enemy and keep it hidden for as long as possible in a hope that one day a means would be found to destroy the amulet.
The White Council was formed from the most trusted within the Coalition and it secretly and carefully planned. Early on it was agreed that since the amulet could not be found they would need to hide Earth itself. That alone would not be enough as the Dark Amulet would continue its call and the Brotherhood will not cease its search and would eventually see through the deception. They reasoned that they would also need to silence, or at least weaken, the Dark Amulet.
Through meticulous research and reasoning it was discovered that the Dark Amulet was drawing most of its power from an external place, a place deep within the galaxy’s core. To severe this link they would need to move it to a location where it could no longer reach its power source. As the Dark Amulet could not be found, they decided they would have to move the place the amulet was hiding. They would have to move the Earth together with its solar system.
Years passed as the White Council engineered a solution. It was concluded that huge magical energies and sacrifice were required to do what needed to be done. They could not do it alone and called upon for help from some old friends. The plan hinged on four main steps, outlined below:
1) Create the Warp around Earth’s solar system restricting starfires to and from it.
2) Move Earth’s solar system to the Milky Way galaxy.
3) Clone Earth’s solar system, warp and all, and create Echo’s solar system in Earth place.
4) Maintain the Warp as long as possible around both Earth’s and Echo’s solar systems to reduce the chance of the truth getting out to the Brotherhood.
As part of the process of creating the Warp and in preparation for the move and cloning of Earth’s solar system much mana, the essence of magic, was needed. To accumulate this vast amount of mana they would need a vast source. There was no other option, they would need to draw the mana from Earth. Many in the White Council were repulsed by the very idea but conceded that there was no alternative. The living of Earth would need to surrender their magic to prevent evil from consuming the universe.
Creating the Warp around Earth’s solar system took many days but eventually the White Council succeeded. Earth was mostly cut-off from the rest of the universe. Starfire to Earth was possible but extremely difficult unless the appropriate corrections for starfire were available.
In the final minutes of creating the Warp it happened. Dragons, elves, orks, haven lily, and anything else that was alive and that required magic to be what it was, was physically transformed into the closest mundane creature or plant of its type, into a Sleeper. Any magic it could previously wield was lost. It was a sad day for the White Council, but what needed to be done, had been done.
To take advantage of all the confusion, the White Council acted quickly. Earth’s entire solar system was moved to a safe far away location. To one of the spiral arms of the Milky Way galaxy. In its place Echo’s solar system was created. Identical, down to each individual inhabitant and grain of sand, to that of Earth’s. There was one exception, the Dark Amulet remained hidden on Earth.
The White Council, even though they could not discover its location, could filter out the evil that was the Dark Amulet. During the cloning they excluded the Dark Amulet and themselves from the process. Tired and dismayed at what they had done, they anxiously waited to see if all that had been sacrificed would be enough to lead evil astray.
The Lost Amulet
It worked. The Dark Amulet was cut-off from its main power source. It was still alive but its power had been severely curtailed. Its call had become weak. It could not sense the wonderful sensation it got from evil flowing to it. It was confused and for the first time in its life, it was scared.
The Brotherhood could no longer sense the Dark Amulet on Earth and they did not realise Earth had moved and Echo took its place. They sensed it somewhere else. Its call was weak and different. They could no longer even predict what direction it was coming from. Could not guess how far away it was. Not being able to visit or contact their agents on Echo to find out where the amulet had been moved to, they became focused on searching the rest of the universe. They would search the billions of planets in the galaxy, and if it could not be found on one of those planets, they would search the billions of galaxies until it was. For they must find the amulet, they need to find the amulet. A desire that has been desperately intensified as they could feel the unusual fear in the amulet itself.
Even though the Dark Amulet could still call out, the White Council was satisfied that its power had been effectively reduced and the plan was deemed successful. All the members of the White Council went deep into hiding and commenced the last step of the plan. They realised that to maintain the Warp they would need help. Vigilant, but out of sight, agents were recruited. They would scour for signs of trouble from the Brotherhood and act when required.
Twins
For thousands of years Earth’s and Echo’s timelines would remain mirrored with each other. For each baby born on Earth, a baby was born on Echo. For each blade of grass cut on Earth, a blade of grass was cut on Echo. Earth’s and Echo’s timelines remained synchronized even though they were in different galaxies and separated by a vast distance. This synchronization effect was not a feature designed by the White Council. It was more of an after effect of the Warp and the cloning of Earth and the creation of Echo. As it posed no immediate issues, and actually made it easier to keep an eye on the Brotherhood and events, the White Council decided not to expend any resources in removing it.
As the rest of the Universe fought, Earth and Echo were left in relative peace. They themselves had their own conflicts amongst their various countries, but they were not as destructive when compared to the savage battles of good versus evil. Due to this they were able to devote more time and effort into science and technology and would lead the universe in such endeavours.
Awakening
In 1945 the Warp was destabilized. The source was the instantaneous loss of life caused by the use of the first nuclear bomb in Japan. The Warp surrounding Earth’s solar system quickly re-established itself with only a slight increase in the number of Unseen appearing. The same can not be said regarding Echo.
Echo’s Warp collapsed, its mana supply severed. Another concern was that Echo’s time was passing much faster in relation to all other planets within the universe. When Earth was cloned it had been acting as the time reference point for Echo. Now with those bonds severed due to the Warps collapse, Echo’s timeline was no longer anchored and was unstable. Three days on Echo would pass for one day on Earth. From that moment on, Earth’s and Echo’s timelines were no longer synchronized. Each planet would have its own destiny.
The White Council gathered in haste to respond to the critical situation. Due to the accelerated time rate issue they could not re-establish the Warp using Echo’s mana. Many frantic days passed as they pondered over what to do. Finally they decided to create the Warp from across the universe, they would use Earth’s mana to create the Warp surrounding Echo’s solar system. More hectic days passed as they re-establish the Warp surrounding Echo’s solar system.
Their next priority was to restore Echo’s time rate. As months went by they were able to slow the accelerated time rate. Eventually, after many years of toil, Echo’s time rate was stabilized to be the same as Earth’s. Echo is now a bit over sixty years ahead of Earth and the rest of the universe, but its time rate is stable and anchored. These extra sixty years have made Echo the most technologically advanced planet in the universe.
An interesting phenomena happened on Echo after the initial collapse of the Warp. Released from the need to feed the Warp, there was abundant mana, and magic once again returned to the living on Echo. It happened slowly at first, and sometimes in surges, but over many years it returned. As part of the return everything has transformed back to its true self. There are no more Sleepers on Echo. Not one.
To the relief of the White Council most orks and trolls did not revert back to their evil beginnings, rather they remain social and blend, well mostly, with society. From all indications they do not hear the call of the Dark Amulet, not even a whisper. Some speculate that this is what has kept them from reverting back to their evil depositions. Others surmise that it is all environmental. Whatever the reason, many hope the same can happen to their evil cousins elsewhere in the universe. They dream of peace.
As It Is Now
The White Council is a clandestine organisation. Governments and corporations do not know about it. They may have heard of rumours about it, but it has never been confirmed that such an organisation exists. The White Council has agents scattered throughout the universe, but its main focus is on Earth and Echo. It has many agents serving varying roles. These roles can be broken up into two distinct types, informative and active.
Informative agents are those that work for governments, corporations, police forces and other organisations where useful information can be gathered. Most informative agents do not have the slightest clue about the truth and simply carry out their duties in the knowledge of doing good, or in some cases, for money. They are basically passive with information being their aptitude.
Active agents are those that go out and carry out operations deemed worthy by the White Council. They are given information concerning the real truth on an as need basis. Eventually, as they prove themselves and go on more sensitive missions, they tend to find out about the various secrets concerning such topics as the Dark Amulet and starfire, as not knowing would severely curtail their abilities on such missions. They are the trusted agents of the White Council that go head to head with the Brotherhood.
One of the requirements to maintain the Warp, both around Earth’s and Echo’s solar systems, is that the majority of living things on Earth must not use or rely on mana. This mana is required to power the Warp and if too much is diverted from this task then the Warp will collapse. As Earth’s mana now also powers Echo’s Warp this has become even more important. This is the top priority for the White Council on Earth. If the Warp fails, hope fails.
Another priority on Earth and Echo is to keep watch over the Brotherhood and take action if required. It would be devastating if they manage to grasp the truth and somehow communicate it off planet. This task has been made significantly harder on Echo since the Awakening resulting in the open use of magic.
The White Council also takes an active duty in protecting Sleepers from the Unseen. After all, how can Sleeper police forces control those they can not comprehend? This is not a problem on Echo, but at times it has been known for the White Council to covertly help out on Echo as well, especially when there is a telltale sign of Brotherhood involvement.
Starfire to Earth and Echo is possible but extremely difficult due to the corrections required in the starfire due to the Warp. Only a few authorized individuals within the White Council know the secret corrections required to starfire to Earth or Echo. They keep them well hidden. Strict procedures and protocols are followed to minimise any possible security leaks when travelling to Earth or Echo. Travelling from Earth or Echo to another planet does not require these corrections.
The White Council control, hide and police starfire. All known starfire units on Earth and Echo are in their control. The majority of the population on Earth and Echo, including governments and corporations, do not know about starfire. It is deliberately kept secret to suppress the natural desire to use it. It would only be a matter of time until the truth concerning the Dark Amulet leaked out if uncontrolled starfires for individuals happened. Even with the best intentions, governments and corporations could not be trusted to use starfire responsibly, and so, the White Council takes active measures to cover up the technology.
There is a starfire complication that exists on Earth, it once affected Echo as well but since the awakening it no longer does. It is called The Warps. A fatal condition that affects nearly anyone that travels to Earth. It is caused by going through the Warp surrounding Earth’s solar system and the sudden impact on your body as it tries to sap all the mana away from you. It is over in a few seconds, with the end result being a mundane corpse. The living that were born on Earth, and that are no longer Sleepers, are not affected. Everyone and everything else is. Well except for a handful of cases that the White Council knows about that unexplainably survived.
This causes a dilemma for the White Council. It cannot send agents to Earth, it must recruit them from Earth itself. This is fine for informative agents where even a Sleeper will do. In the case of active agents though, they only have a small limited pool to pick from. Not only must they only choose someone free from the Warp, but someone that can be trusted to follow a life full of secrets and action.
SPii, the Future, and You
...So that’s it. I have probably said too much, oh well, you look like someone I can trust and it’s the first time I had to initiate someone. So don’t tell anyone what I told you, and especially don’t tell them I told you. Secrets, secrets, secrets, you’ll get used to them.
Now it’s up to you. SPii helped you. Trained you. Prepared you. Yeah, they are related to the White Council, but let’s not get into that. You’re now one if its agents. Your main contact with SPii will be through your commlink. And don’t forget about WizPubs, which are scattered throughout the world, for those occasions when you need to get face to face or to purchase equipment. You know, those places down the end of alleyways and other out of the way places. Yeah, SPii is a secretive lot, but with reason. When you have a whole lot of evil bastards itching to rip you apart, wouldn’t you also take precautions?
As well you know, as part of those precautions all of its agents work in independent teams and almost never contact each other. That way if a team is ever compromised the damage is minimised. Initially the jobs that will be offered to you will be limited. SPii needs you to prove yourself, to see how you work under pressure. To see what happens when you come face to face with things out of nightmares. Gradually the more sensitive jobs will become available. You never know, one day, you might even find yourself on Echo or even some other planet in this amazing universe.
Some Earthborns believe not being a Sleeper is a great burden. Not me. I see it as a gift only a few can have. Use it to make a difference in this universe. This is the first and probably the last time you will see me, so remember, the truth is out there, and so is evil...
T'Erthal, Current day campaign for Shadowrun
Jan 23 2009, 12:00 AM
