From: Alejandro Melchor ====================================================================== World of Broken Dreams The fire had settled, the remains of a once proud city lay as a scab upon the valley; the green was taking what centuries ago had been its property. The Red Talons were content, and the last of the feral werewolves howled in triumph as the rest of his tribe left the bodies of the humans who had dared try to repopulate the city. Night fell as a dark cloak, and an equally dark cloaked figure walked among the debris. He was joined by another. "I am here, Search-for-Dreams", said the latecomer. "Finally", answered the Theurge of the Shadow Dancers tribe. "I apologize for the lateness, but you know how hard it is to travel the country once the sun has set". "Afraid of Leeches, Laethir?", Search-for-Dreams asked; irony was heavy in her voice. The man confronting her sat down, his hands unfastening a sword belt and setting down his backpack. "Not at all", he either didn't hear the mocking or chose to ignore it, "It's just that the Thautarchy keeps very heavy surveillance on my kind. They fear a revolt". "And well they should, you Fae didn't take too kindly on the blockade upon Arcadia". "It's been going for too long, now. We know the way is open. We want to get back." "And surely the Arcadians want to come into our world. The Thautarchy seemingly doesn't want them here. But we're not here to discuss human-Fae relationships". "You are right; we're not." "So," the Garou woman leaned close to the man, whose features marked him as a member of the Sidhe race of Faeries, "what have you digged up?" "Very little; the Thautarchs are sending major reinforcements to the southern borders, even a couple of Mechas". Search-for-Dreams was at the same time elated and worried. Since the forming of the Thautarchy, the very successful effort at organizing the humans after the Apocalypse, the mages were very careful to make use of technomagical constructs; they feared that by tapping into the Weaver once more, the Pattern Web could again be woven to their disadvantage. That fear could only be compared to their other great fear: uncontrolled supernatural beings. Thus far, the lands under Thautarchy control had seen a series of battles to either subjugate the supernaturals or exterminate them. Many vampires had accepted the Thautarchy yoke after a few burnings of their elders, and even now served as barons and local lords. The Garou were not that easy, but a truce had been agreed, and the northern lands were under Garou rule. The Red Talons, one of the few tribes that survived the Apocalypse retaining their traditions, were the overlords of the Wyldlands and didn't tolerate any attempt at recovering the cities lost centuries ago to the fires of the Apocalypse. A few rogue tribes, like her own and the Shard Walkers remained in Thautarchy towns and cities. The Fae were the most punished by the rise of the mages' rule; they were creatures of unpredictable enchantment, and the humans feared them now more than ever. Rumors said that the Apocalypse had forced open the gates to Arcadia, as it tore through the fabric of the spirit world, creating sectors were the physical world intermingled freely with the Umbra. Rumors also said that the mages had sealed it again, unwilling to share the new world with creatures like the Fae. And now; the Thautarchy was deploying two Mechas to the southern lands. It could mean many things, but there was one which brought hope to the Shadow Dancer's heart. *** "Are you certain, sir?", asked the officer through the commcrystal. "You heard me, captain;" answered the Chief Warder, commanding officer of the Thautarchy's defense forces. "But, sir; those creatures are not supposed to exist". "Oh, then maybe you could explain to me how the entire 12th platoon was found incinerated, and maybe you could also justify the statement of it's commander's wraith, taken by our chief Necromancer. Do not question me again, captain, or you'll find yourself the dinner of a vampire lord. You have your orders." "Y..yes, sir, over and out". Jarson Coll sighed as he turned off the commcrystal; as Chief Warder, it has been his duty for more than 20 years to control the supernatural beings in and out Thautarchy territory. Now, he had between his hands one of the biggest crises in the Thautarchy's history. "You should rest", he heard a voice whisper in a darkened corner of his office, "although a powerful Outreacher, you are still mortal". "Cut out your sneaking, Carla", he said, raising the light level with a thougth. A pale woman was standing there. "I don't have time for your games. Did commander Strom tell you anything else?" "Nothing that was useful. He was too eager to travel to the Sunless Lands". "Ah", smiled Coll, "the leader of the Necromancer Circle is fallible, after all". "Don't mock me, Jarson", her fangs were almost visible behind her black-tinted lips. "Some souls lack the passion to remain with us". "Or a very strong desire not to serve you, Carla"; he enjoyed teasing the vampiric necromancer. She glared at him. "My wards are on, if you think about trying anything". She left without a word. The Warder sighed again. This was going to be the worst year of his life. *** "Aah; that was tasty", Jav said, applauding mildly as her body floated in the unspace of the Dreamtime. "Tasty?", said the ghost, materializing in front of her; "we offer you one of our finest perfomances and you call it tasty?". "You insult us", said a werewolf in Crinos form, standing next to the wraith. "Hey, guys", said Jav, summoning to her mind a few defensive spells, just in case, "take it easy. It was a swell story, but the images were a little bit on the low-res side". "It's the hardware"; said the werewolf, "this dreamer we are riding is an affront to dreamers everywhere". "And don't forget the quality of the audience, my dear Psychout", said the ghost, removing his mask. "Of course not, Sol", answered the Garou with a small reverence to his partner. "Hey, hey; no need to get personal; I chose this head because of it's dullness, he'll never remember this dream, and the Dataseers won't be able to trace it". "Why?, our play is hardly controversial or dissident". "Oh, it's not your play; it's the public you haven't seen." Out of ephemeral dreamstuff, materialized three silhouettes; Jav prided herself in her concealment techniques, it was almost required of all Lorerunners like herself, if they wished to live long as the rogue mages they were. The dream-thespians stared at the newcomers. Psychout, the Galliard from the Shard Walkers was the first to speak". "Search-for-Dreams!, what in Gaia's name are you doing in the Thautarchy's datarealm?!". "Same as my associates", answered the Shadow Dancer. "Let me introduce Laethir of the Sidhe and Trix, a Malkavian vampire." "You brought a vampire to the dreamtime!", Sol screamed in outrage, his hands writhed until they took the shape of swords. "Calm down, Sol", Jav weaved dreamstuff into a circle of protection around the vampire, "he's okay." "Yeah, man", said Psychout to his enraged partner, "if he's with Search-for-Dreams, I trust him". "Oh, I love to be loved", said the vampire with a manic giggle. "Enough, gentlemen", interrupted Laethir, "we are here for important business". "All right, all right", Sol's hands returned to normal, "just keep him in check". "We are here in need of your talents", said Search-for-Dreams and continued before anyone could say anything. "We are embarking on a spirit quest and we need seasoned guides". Psychout gave the other Garou a dumb look. "We are just actors; why do we need us? Besides, Sol here can't travel to the Umbra; he's as dead as civilization". "Thanks for reminding me". "Um, sorry". "We are not going to the Umbra proper, Psychout. We are going to Deep Dream, we are about to awaken the servants of the True Wyrm of Balance". "Huh?"; Garou, wraith and mage said in unison. "When the Wyrm went mad, some of his servants remained loyal to the original purpose of Balance", the Shadow Dancer talked in a hushed tone; she knew well of what she was saying, for her tribe had once been named Black Spiral Dancers, followers of the corrupted Wyrm. "And they hid where the tainted Wyrm could not find them." "They became entrapped in their own disguise, and had been asleep since the beginning of times. Very few remained outside, but the Weaver forced them out into the Umbra". At this point, the Sidhe spoke, "the ones hidden sometimes resurfaced, and we thought them Chimera, fragments of the Dreaming. They were hidden in the imagination of humanity". "After the Apocalypse, some dreams are coming out of hiding, but they are still shades of the real beings", Search-for-Dreams was raising his voice. "We need to awaken them to bring Balance back to Gaia". "Would someone care to explain it in plainspeak?", Jav asked, she had been hired only to find and contact the dream-thespians. "Yes," added Sol; "what are you talking about?" "Dragons, my boy!", shouted the Malkavian, his voice made the dreamscape tremble; "Here there be dragons!" ============================================================= WORLD OF DARKNESS: APOCALYPSE THEN The Apocalypse finally came to be, everything was shattered. No one remembers what happened exactly, and all records were lost; including the Silver Record of the Garou. The Technocracy lost the battle, and Reality was rewritten. The problem was, there was nobody able to rewrite it properly. Some say it's a time for Gaia to heal, while others claim the victory or defeat of either Weaver, Wyld or Wyrm. The Shadowlands were battered mercilessly by the greatest Maelstrom ever, and all ties to Stygia or any Far Shore were severed; none who have ventured into the Tempest has returned to tell what lies beyond, or if anything lies at all. Changelings were free of Banality, but at the cost of many of their lives. No one knows how much time passed since the Apocalypse and the date when History began to be recorded again. Now, Gaia is a strange place, there abound areas where either of the Triat is dominant, places where the physical world touches any or all of the three Umbrae. Many mythical beasts returned, and the society of the supernaturals changed forever. Many details are still sketchy, but here are some of the status for each society in the Land of Broken Dreams. VAMPIRES: Gehenna did happen; it's just that the very few that might remember it are no telling. The Kindred are once again the unabashed predators of humanity, and they Sired aplenty, so that there is another 13th generation of vampires. The clans and bloodlines that survived are unknown, some might have changed their names, some clans reduced to bloodline status and viceversa. They are once again feudal lords, but they are under the dominion of the Thautarchy. However, there are no more Camarilla nor Sabbat. Rumors abound that there are still Inconnu and Black Hand. WEREWOLVES: The Garou have changed very much; many of them lost their heritage and, for a strange reason, they can't remember their past lives. Civilization destroyed, the Red Talons began to swell in numbers, and is once again one of the most powerful tribes. As civilization came to an end, the Glass Walkers and the Bone Gnawers merged into the Shard Walkers, those who walk among the ruins and tend to the cast away and forgotten as well as the strange new technology. The Wyrm took a beating, and more than half of the Black Spiral Dancers regained their sanity and became the Shadow Dancers, for they still serve the Wyrm, but the True Wyrm of Balance, and they search for it intently. There have been Metis born undeformed and fertile, but they are still the exception. MAGES: None of the Traditions survived unscathed or unchanged. As humankind rediscovered magick, some new styles were born, while others incorporated the trappings of the once Traditions and Conventions. Reality is malleable, posing a lot of dangers to the mundanes, and the mages organized and created the Thautarchy; the rulership of the Awakened, who began a succesful campaign of reconstructing civilization and pushing off the other supernaturals. Some new Traditions and Conventions, now called Circles are: Outreachers: those who delve in the knowledge of the Beyond, somehow melding the style of the old Order of Hermes and the Void Engineers. Dataseers: Masters of the Mind and all the information it manages; it could be perceived as a mix of the New World Order and the Virtual Adepts. Lorerunners: rogue mages, they defy the Thautarchy with very open ways: they are akin to the Virtual Adepts, the Dreamspeakers and the Cultists of Ecstasy. Technomancers: enough said; they are a mix of Iteration X, Progenitors and Sons of Ether. There are smaller circles were hedge magicians are allowed, such as the Necromancer Circle, run by Carla Giovanni, a vampire. The Alchemist Circle is composed mainly of Tremere vampires, but many human magicians also excel in this art. WRAITHS: There is no Stygia and no Dark Kingdoms any more; if they weren't swallowed by Oblivion, they are adrift in the Tempest. Wraith society is thus, like Europe after the fall of Rome: a collection of feuds very unrelated to each other who wage war on one another from time to time. No one know what lies behind the Tempest, but Spectres are less frequent than before. CHANGELINGS: Due to the shaking of the collective subconscious, they are able to wear their true selves openly, and people again see elves, trolls and satyrs instead of beautiful people, big people or lecherous people. However, they can't return to Arcadia, for the Thautarchy has sealed the gates. Lacking in strength, the Fae of Earth became the vassals of the Thautarchy. OTHERS (optional) _Mummies_: They are still around doing whatever they did before. _Gipsies_: as a race, they are still around; as a culture, they are pretty dead. _Other Changing Breed_: their numbers have grown and they have reclaimed their territories. The War of Rage has been at last forgotten and forgiven. However, ther is still mistrust. _Immortals_: Connor MacLeod died an old man. There could be only one. MORTALS: The time after the Apocalypse has seen a growing strength from the mortal people; psychics are more frequently born, although they are immediately recruited by the Thautarchy; they strongly believe in the strength of magic now, so they have ceased to generate Paradox and Banality, though the mages and Fae still have to be careful, for there are areas of the world that simply don't like them. The Veil and the Fog have weakened considerably, so that the sight of a Crinos werewolf or an embodied wraith don't send them screaming away and trying to rationalize. They now know the monsters are real. However, the Delirium is still active, though it's a mild phobia compared to the raving hysterics it once was. The Gauntlet and the Shroud fluctuate wildly; creating areas of magical sterility and others of sheer chaos. There is a region to the north of Thautarchy lands that borders closely to the Shadowlands, were mortals and wraiths can interact and cross over freely. An Umbral passage is open to the south. But perhaps the greatest advantage the mortals now have is their renewed faith in magic. Old rituals now work; and they _do_ work; a circle of salt or a ring of garlic prevent the passage of vampires and ghosts, shouting three times the true name of a Garou reverts her to her breed form, as well as striking her three times in the head with a silver knife (if you live long enough to get so near). Simple rituals guard against thaumaturgical effects, and some rituals create Paradox when the mages try to violate them.