The Connection

Image from Talaria Enterprises Nate and I have been pushing around this idea a long time. I remember the first day he told me about creating Cyberspace as a world for Nightbane. I was still living in Moscow, ID going to school. I was on an errand getting groceries at Winco supermarket. The idea was so compelling that I stayed in the parking lot discussing the possibilities with Nate, rather than finish my errand. By the time we were down, most certainly an hour had gone by. We summed up everything, yet we knew that we had only taken the first bite of this elephant.
Years passed and sadly so did this idea. Even sadder still, I dropped contact with my cousin for several years. The pangs of long distance separates the closest of bonds. Yet, fate intervened. Out of the blue Nate sent me an invite to his Obsidian Portal game. I had just freed up some time with my busy life; and I needed something to cheer me up from a depressing adjuct in my life. Thus, it seemed like a great idea to pick up gaming once more in my life. To Nate's surprise and delight, I told him yes!
Once again we began to interweave a legacy of ideas fueled by our combined imaginations. It was very exciting. Though, Cyberspace was not part of those early conversations in our reunion. Rather, we focused about a beautiful Heroes Unlimited plot. It was a plot as thick as pea soup, riddled with intrigue and deceit! But this is not our topic; I digress. Soon we returned to Cyberspace picking up where we had left off. But one thing had always bothered me about the idea. There never seemed to be a solid REASON for the Nightbane to ENTER Cyberspace. We needed to have a stronger motive!
I put my thinking cap on and went to work. I threw tons of ideas at Nate, some of them good (but not quite great), and others down right terrible. This went back and forth futility. We almost tanked the whole thing, until the idea hit me. CONNECTION! Cyberspace is all about connection. In the real world we use Cyberspace to connect ourselves with everyone else. We have Facebook and Twitter. We send emails. We create websites of information. We participate in forums. You right now are connected to my ideas and Nate's ideas through this very blog. So why should the motive behind Nightbane' Cyberspace be any different.
We began to lay out this plan with Connections as the center. As you will find out more, the motives became SO STRONG we had to pull back a bit. We feared that we were overshadowing the Core of Nightbane. Now with the finishing touches we just placed on this plot TODAY, all GM's will be blown away with what is coming down the pike. Just as the Matrix blew your mind the first time you saw it. Our Cyberspace will pull you in and won't let go. We have captured everything that is great about Nightbane: the mystery, the history, the conspiracy, the intrigue, the dark motives...but most importantly...the NIGHTBANE!

My Nightbane short

Image provided by Threads of our Fabric

Dr. Eric Houser stared at the man across the room. The lights were dim and the strongest of it came from the fireplace. A servant came with a drink for the doctor and his host. Not a word had transpired in over ten minutes while he was stewing on why he was here. Finally his host spoke.

“Doctor, do you know why you are here?”

Eric sipped the wine in the glass.  “I don’t believe I do. Is it about cyber space?”

His host took a sip of his own drink. “I wish that it was as simple as that twisted labyrinth. No doctor, we are not here to talk about the Beast or the twisted hunters or even the living avatars. I want to talk to you about the Mirror Wall.”

“I am not familiar with that”, said the doctor adjusting in his seat.

His host put down his drink on the coffee table before them and proceeded to light up a cigarette.

“I believe you do. As you know there has been disappearances and talk of monsters. Eric, I don’t need to coat it for you creatures are coming from somewhere.”

“And you believe it’s this ‘Mirror Wall’?

Eric you are the foremost expert on dimensional physics. I cannot claim to know everything but my men have discovered a place in the Mirror Wall, a fragment as to where Cyberspace resides. I believe I know where the ‘Night Men’…”

“Nightbane”, the doctor corrected.

“Yes, the Nightbane, as you call them, come from. The Mirror Wall holds so many secrets. I believe that I have found where all of these dimensions cross.

“The Mirror Wall?”

Yes. It is the source of our dimensional fabric. Through it I have seen the Hell, Dream River, Astral Plane, Heaven and Cyberspace.”

The doctor shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He gulped down his drink. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Oh doctor,” the host said with a smile, “I want your help to break it. Could you imagine the power the Mirror Wall has? Why, think of the power that would be unleashed. All those dimensions capable of being seen all at once, think of the possibilities.”

The doctor stood up. “This is complete bull. I thought that you were serious when you asked me to work for you Cornelius. The talk of Heaven and Hell and nonsense places, I thought you took my work serious?”

Doctor Houser stood up to leave. He placed his drink down and was about to thank his host for the invite.

“Sit down Eric!  What I am talking about is not as simple as the Matrix or Tron or any other sci-fi movie you have seen. This is not as simple as going down the rabbit hole, what we will discover could be the reason why the government is paying us so much to do this research.”

The doctor had almost put his glass down when he paused. “What would we gain by this?”

“Does it matter? We would be paid till our grandchildren were old on their death beds if we are correct.”

Eric paused and reflected on the possibility.

“No”, the doctor said finally, calmly. When we discovered hell, something attempted to get out. When we discovered cyberspace, again something attempted to get out. When we explored the astral plane…. You get the picture. I am not going to help you with this project. Not this time Cornelius”.

The doctor turned to leave; shock filled his face as he heard the shot and felt the sharp pain. The servant stood in front of him with a fire arm pointed and smoking.

“Tis a shame” Cornelius said casually.

The two watched as the doctor fell to his knees and then to his face.

“Gordon, would you be so kind to clean the doctor from my study and let the doctors family know that he was in a terrible accident?”

The servant lowered the gun. “Right away, sir”.

Pariah Faction

Image located at Lilithezine

The Pariah Faction is one of the original most public/secret factions. They have the most human appearance but equally aloof as the other factions. These Ken and Barbie dolls walk among men and women without the slightest attraction to themselves.

The special thing that separated Pariah from the rest of the other Factions was their ability to hide in plain sight. They insist on being in their morphus 7/24. The prime reason for this was the morphus form is stronger, faster, more intimidating and better looking.  

 Dark Day changed all of that.

Originally they could move freely among their fellow humans unnoticed but that magical day doomed that.

The most odd of the Pariah is that they are social outcasts for their forwardness and secret use of their Talents. This has caused them to clash with people in power as they have occasionally attempt to use their sheer power to push their way to the top (Remember, they’re Nightbane all the time).

Before Dark Day they walked down the streets and had normal jobs. They were postmen, construction workers, street riff raff, etc. There was no city in the world that they didn’t inhabit. The only thing that threatened the Pariah Faction was the random Nightlords attack from one of their princes’ witch was quickly hunted at night and slaughtered. But that changed. With the coming of Dark Day the Pariah suddenly were afraid. Their openness was threatened and they were angry. The whole ploy of the game was to be a Nighbane and not even be known as one. Suddenly they where pushed into hiding attempting to know about their enemy. For a long time they were part of the Underground and Resistance.

Through experience they slowly began to realize that the supernatural Nightlords also enjoyed being in public without being noticed. Sure, they had control of the government but their secret was so precious that they would never attack the Pariah openly with out first attempting to frame them, abduct them, and even murder them in silence and in the dark.

They realize their edge. If they stayed in groups large enough, the Nightlords could not attack. They threatened the Nightlords with exposure if they attacked. Even if they were marked as terrorists and street scum, the thought of their supernatural nature being exposed without the Pariahs scared them. They knew that they could not send ignorant humans and that Nightbane could sense Nightlord minions.

The Pariah was a boastful bunch. They would put their boldness in the face of the other less attractive (horrific?) factions.

The Underground Railroad didn’t like the openness of the Pariah. The Underground Railroad, interesting enough, will not even defend the Pariah because they tend to be a bunch of loose cannons.

The Resistance and Freak Club admired their ability to hide their attacks in plain sight in the form of theft, muggings and murder. However enmity between the “pretty” and “ugly” caused enough tension that even they could not merge forces, so they remain strong allies.

Spook Squad didn’t even suspect that some of its members were Pariah Nightbane (double agents) until Dark Day and afterward were more careful in their screening process.

The Pariah are vaguely aware of the Warlords, Seekers, Nocturnes and Guardians. Their “special” talents draw attention to themselves but they have shown no interest. 

The most interesting faction that caught their attention was the Freak Club. How anyone would be a Nighbane and party after Dark Day was beyond them but interesting enough.

            When Dark Day happened the Pariah Faction was so caught off guard and ill prepared that the faction almost went into extinction.   Dark Day was so violent for the faction. Their open supernatural scent was like a lighthouse to a ship. The Nightlords and their minions could not help but be drawn in and attack. 

Lightlands

Image is at FanPop

Lightlands

The Outer Perimeter

            There is a piece of paradise that is occasionally invaded by the Shadow Mantis and other creatures of the Void. The astral kingdom has thousands of links to other worlds and is mistaken for “heaven” or some other heavenly place. Perhaps this is because it’s only accessible in a person astral form by most beings. Out of the hundreds of millions of humans on Earth and in the Nightlands as well as countless other beings only a select few (under a hundred) have seen Lightlands and have lived to tell about it. For the most part, Lightlands are understood to be a myth and legend and pursuers of the place have disappeared, been attacked by the Shadow Mantis or other creatures of the Void, or never left the Lightlands when they got there. There is one other rumor, and that is that the Lightlords do not want their place disturbed and openly attack those who attempt to leave without their permission.

            Scripture and other ancient text on the place do not disclose this information and no one in the Lightlands has led on that there was a problem to those that visit the place. Only one text book speaks of the attacks from the Lightlands:

“…and there was a fire in heaven and the cherubim and the flaming swords slew the champions of good and evil to be never seen again. So the gods kept the gatekeepers close and the doors of heaven locked…”

~ Angelica Christica ~

The ancient text is written in Gallic and later translated to Latin by an French monk for church wide use. Unfortunately the monk was tried and hung for publishing such mockery of the church and especially of God and the heathens were hunted down by the English empire only to never be found. All the copies of the book were taken and burned leaving very little trace of the book. Only now can the text can be discovered in very few European countries but not currently in America (at least that’s what’s supposed).

            Another text speaks of the mysterious heaven in the Void by saying:

“…show me Heaven on Earth and open mine eyes to the cherubim that guard its gates…

This and dozens of references of similar text are in the book called Dark Heaven. The book talks about a war in “heaven” and the banishment of the minions of one called Son of the Morning. The text is roughly translated English with some other words that have no translation mixed in the text (-20% to the Language: English skill). In the text that can be understood there is talk of giant lizards and winged creates spitting fire and races that are similar to creatures written in books of fiction. There is also talk of some beings called the Sleeping Ones or Hidden Ones. Some speculate that these beings are the Lightlords or Greorgian (those that are aware of them) while others speculate that there are more gods then the ones spoken by scripture and ancient scrolls and plates.

            Many people have investigated the rumors of the Lightlands by attempting to explore the Astral Plane and the Dreamstream to uncover the rumors but their shallow search has revealed nothing and yet the rumors persist.

The Lightland World

Lightlands in general appear as a world that is similar to Earth in its appearance as if it was a pocket dimension in the Void. Most every city is duplicated and given more angelic names such as Heavens Gate Missouri (St. Louis) but this is exclusive to the larger cities or cities with more demonic names. Most every city in the world has a angelic name of sorts and exhibits a similar landscape as well.

The hills and planes are peaceful and it’s almost what people would expect of heaven. Larger areas of land mass allow the animals and people to live almost separate lives.

The lakes and rivers are similar to the Nightlands though being oceans of fire. Those “pure” (principle) people will not be burned by this ever pure water with flames. Not all creatures that live in the Lightlands are considered pure and thus boats and other means of travel to cross the oceans are made available.

Lightland History

Back when man was young and earth was filled with the potential of many worlds, Nightlands was among one of the many worlds accessible though the Mirrorwall and not easily accessible. But things don’t stay innocent. As man began to learn and grow in magic and knowledge, rumor and myth has it, that the Dark began to stir looking for a way to grow and brew its contempt. Earth was young as I mentioned earlier and so it knew no evil because it knew no good. Disputations were small and infrequent, that was before Kane (Cain?) who first discovered the Dark. He made a pact with the Dark to serve it and do its bidding.

Kane

It is not clear who is Kane the first of the worshipers of the Dark. Some say that he had ties to the first man on the earth. Others say that the man Kane was a descendent of a later time after the floods of Noah and is a descendant of that same man. Being an immortal, he travel the world teaching the dark arts to those he found worthy. It is said that Kane was behind every major nation in the world and when he was done with it he would start a new one, a stronger and larger one. Then with the new armies and navies he would destroy the old empire that he helped to create. Examples have shown themselves throughout history; Greece, Rome, Babylon, Samaria, Egypt, and the lists go on and on.

            Some say that his ties to the Lightlands is that he was once a angel of the hosts of the Lightlands, while others say that the Lightlords kept Kane away from the family of Adam. Some say that he is a daemon that roams the land in search for opportunity of greedy and power hungry men.

To say the least, today Kane roams the land in search for the blessed lands of Lightlands searching for every opening and cranny he can get to.

Kane can be easily identified by the gross large mark on his face that covers half of his face. This scar is around his eyes and he covers it with little difficulty; sunglasses a low bill on his cap, a low covering hood that shielded his eyes, etc. the coming of the 20^th century has been a great asset to him; how he doesn’t have to see his clients in person but via electronic communication.

He has been the back bone to many countries. When Dark Day came, Kane knew that the Nightlords would want a piece of his paradise. Little did he know that the Nightlords would be so powerful and so impacting, he almost every country that he had started, so he made uneasy pacts with men of magic to maintain his power over his smaller countries. Currently he lives as chief advisor to many of the leaders of New Guinea plotting his chance at expansion again. He keeps a sharp eye out for any Night Prince or minion of the Nightlands killing them on sight and in secret. This has lead to rumors of a serial killer in New Guinea that picks political figures as their targets. Some have become afraid of running for office for the year 2012. 

The Origins of the Guardians

            Some people have the makings of greatness in them. As the scripture says “Many are called, but few are chosen”. Never could a statement be more true then those from the Guardian origin.

            The Guardians start comes from a simple lifestyle that desires to make a change for good. These people come from all walks of life. There is no mold that they truly come from except that they want to be good and fight for good as well. These individuals at a subconscious level reach out to forces of good; gods, Lightlords, higher self, etc. From there the details are fuzzy. Some say that the Guardians get in touch with a fragment of themselves that is connected to an inner power and start the transformation them selves. Others say that the power comes from the Higher Beings that are out there that they have reach out to and they impart some of their essence that starts the transformation. The Lightlords and Light Princes know their origin but will not say how it is started or the full effects of becoming a being of light.

The Conspiracy

            It has been rumored among some of the splintered sub-factions of the Guardians that there is a conspiracy about the Light Princes and their rumored desire to take over Earth. Wile some say that its mentioned in darker text, others dispute it as a means of hurting the Guardians.

            Part of the idea is to form a new pantheon of Gods and Angels to be the new saviors of Earth. The best part of their plan is that they know that the Light Lords are too busy to know what they are up to keeping some secret safe and unexposed, although what it is, is unnerving. The plan is still in the works as Earths inhabitants do not believe in pantheons but for the most part are Christians. To fight this they have focused their strength on the world that believes in multiple gods. They hope that their influence and popularity will give them the strength of getting rid of the Nightlords and their minions. The plan will not get into full swing for another twelve years as they are still suspicious of being caught by the Lightlords. They have yet to know the impact of their plan on the Lightlords and weather or not their plan will be prematurely cut off before it gets a chance to get into full swing.

The Chase

I was talking to two great buddies of mine and the topic of long term campaigns came up. I wanted to do a campaign about chasing the characters to their goal because it works in the movies/TV. The guys pointed out (in not so many words) they (the characters) would either make it a last stand or scatter like sheep. Both are not good options and make for a lousy campaign. They said the concept is great in movies and TV but not for RPG. What I need is to draw the towards the desired target. So I am now going to co-GM (I'll talk about that in another post) a game an ATB game but my tactic is going to change for a better game.

Rush on Cyberspace

I know that I haven't written in a while but I thought to give an update. With life as it is, things have been shifted around and the work with Cyberspace will be tested in a real game that I am putting together. I almost have 100 pages written and the fun is just beginning.

There is unfinished villains and dimensional places that really need some fleshing out (skeleton idea but no fleshed). I have so much writing, I really am in heaven with the rush on the work. Wish me luck.

Back behind the Shield

I have been working on some great things:

Nightbane in Cyberspace

Splicers in Space

I am an Megaversal Ambassidor

I am GM for a game played via Scype

I am a player for a game

Things are good. So whats new? I have become a busy busy guy and life could not get better in this moment. For those that have been reading my stuff I have learned how to do textile HTML. Its new for me and it makes things so freaking easy at the same time frusterating. Symbols that I normally use cannot be used such as the (+) plus sign. At least they are interchangable.

Also I am active on the Heroes Unlimited forum as I am attempting to strech my imagination of the powers that are available (instead of attempting to recreate them in the past). It interesting how when you attempt to find out the full extent of the power and get the opinion of  others about it. Most of the time the fellow players say that its the GM's call. I am the GM so what do I say? I want it to be fair so reaching out is important to me and to my players.

In roll play I have learned that taking it slow allows for more great detail to come in and fantastic memeorable game. I started my new game Taur Wars (a Heroes Unlimited game) and its way better then the ones that I have played in the past. There is a lot more work in creating details but its still a great story blooming.

At any rate thats the update. I know that its not much but I'll make a better effort to keep you up to date.

Players in Cyberspace

Razor Face and Angel Eyes prowled gingerly. The dark in cyberspace was rare but it was appreciated.
"Players, I hate them. Why doesn't the Hunters look for them?"
Razor Face could only look at his companion. Poor ignorant ken doll didn't know.
"They're part of the system." RF replied.  "They are humans playing avatars. They are not even here."
"Your kidding right?"
RF could only give the noob a look. He shook his head then placed his finger to his lips.
"They're here" he said in an almost nonexistent tone. 
From thirty feet above the two Nightbane two white boney thin beings. Their faces where blank except a for a question mark. The being was armed to the teeth with bladed and automatic weapons. Their movement was silent; their senses sharp.
Razor Face looked at the new Nightbane and signaled him to duck low. The inexperienced Nightbane botched the move and knocked over some loose boxes. With cat like reflexes the Player was now on them. It look the risk and jumped down the thirty foot jump. Angel Eyes shot at he create as it was descending. He was lucky. Hit it square in the chest. The creature crashed by hitting a dumpster then the ground.
"Your worried about this guy?" Angel Eyes began to walk toward the fallen Player. He warmed up his hands for a second Shadow Blast.
The senior Nightbane with his face covered in cuts and the eyes gouged out stood back "Finish it or run boy."
"Whats he going to do?" Angel Eyes was now getting cocky. He strut up the the fallen creature that lay motionless.
Razor Face started running. He didnt have the Talent to shoot the creature.
"Where ya going?"
Angel Eyes attention had been taken off the Player that was now healing at a pace that equaled the Nightbane. He didn't see the Player stand but he did hear the Modem Call of the creature.
The young Nightbane quickly whipped around and Shadow Blasted the creature again. He kept shooting until the creature was in two pieces.
"There is nothing to worry about. He's dead."
"Run boy. That dead one isn't the one to worry about. His scream is the Players call. He was calling his buddies to kill us both. "
"Why?"
"We are just points to them, just points."
The two raced back into the dark like silhouette. The new Nightbane was going to learn about Cyberspace and this was the first lesson. 


Predicessor.org is where I got this image.

Templar Cyberspace Teaser

Click Here for templars source
The room was dark, the Knights of the Templar sat in at the traditional round showing vialed faces. “We have a problem,” said the first. “Our secrets are in danger of exposure and are no longer safe on our secured network.”
“If you are making reference to the Beast, Brother Thomas, it can be taken care of.”
“It will not be 'taken care of' Brother Thane. Ours is a hidden database that has never been seen or heard. We have fought against the Nightbane and their Nightprinces and Nightlords for nearly two millennium. We do not need exposure now.”
“But the Beast could undo it all,” came a third voice.
“Hardly! We helped create the computer network that man uses and we can undo the Beast that we created as the watchman.”
“Not so, Brother Thane. The creature that was once just numbers and letters has become a thriving sentient being and hides from us. It will not be easily found nor destroyed. We will need someone from the outside.”
The old knight shot to his feet. Blasphemy! We could never let someone in.”
“Please brother, sit down. Who said we'd let anyone in, truly? They will be hired pawns just as we have done in the past.”
The man slowly began to sit himself. “You mean the Bane, don't you?” The man spoke with vinegar in his voice.
“Yes, they are disposable. They think that they can fool us with their own holy war and we are not so easily fooled. They will be taken care of in their own due time.”
“Whom do you have in mind?”
“There is one that calls herself the Net Deamon”.
As they began unwrapping their plan the room began to become easy again.

Shot Down and moving to Cyberspace

I had written a fantastic introduction to what I was going to write for Road Hogs (rewrite) and when I presented the idea of a rewrite to Palladium Books, it got shot down. I felt a little hurt I admit but I remember something that Kevin said, "We want to move forward".

Its true that I was hurt but I remember that I have some ideas that need to be put out I just again need a sounding board for the ideas that are bouncing around in my head. The great Cyberspace idea keeps getting ideas and I want to watch a ton of movies and read a ton of books about such things to get a great idea of a game. Originally the idea was going to be a extension of Nightbane but now it has grown so big that it stands on its own. Just need O.C.C.'s that work for the idea. Nightbane will not do exactly.