DBWI: Magick didn't return in 1848(Fan version)

[Nietzsche]

OOC: Yes, I asked for explicit permission from Sicilian to do this, and it is in no way related to his story save the name and POD, everything else is fan-contributed and when we've got a concrete enough 'world', I'll see if I can get it moved to Shared Worlds. However, I would first like to set some ground rules:

1. Use High Fantasy sparingly. Very sparingly. High Fantasy involves fairies, dwarves, gremlins, orcs, flying dragons(over sized lizards are fine if used sparingly, so are most other 'magickal mutant' animals, but use with restraint), 'bring forth biblical style wrath' magick and other stuff that would fit more into a run through Lord of the Rings than earth being slowly 'morphed' by magick.

2. The 'Magick Stargates'(the portals between this plane and the magickal one) are rare. So not every Tom, Dick or Harry(yes, this includes Potter..) can open one.

3. There are two types of magick users, those with born innate ability to use it, and those who must study it extensively. The 'naturals' make up no more than 10% of the entire human population, and for the sake of simplicity on this forum, no poster may RP as a natural.

4. Referencing or taking directly from established works of fiction is fine, don't over do it and try to keep the world recognizable(it can be very different, but I would like some semblance of realism. Remember, just because some rebel movements have been given a boost with magick doesn‘t mean their ‘oppressors‘ haven‘t either).

5. As far as different sentient creatures go, I’m up for suggestions. I would like to have Deep Ones, and most of Lovecraft’s other civilizations in this world (perhaps not actively influencing, but referenced) simply because they’re just generally different. I have only one request in regards to suggestions: No Elves or Orcs. Please, just…no. Lord of the Rings is a great work of fiction, but it’s popularity has infected far too much of mainstream fiction. Everything else is fair game.

6. I’m going to have a ‘council’ of people who will vote on additions and how they should be implemented, if you want to be part of it, ask and I’ll add you. If you just want to add to the DBWI, that’s fine too, but be warned that we may or may not use it when/if it moves to Shared Worlds.

Current Council Members.
1. Nietzsche
2. The Sicilian
3. TimKeck84
4. TheDarkServant

Fair enough? Alright, then tally ho!

(for the sake of this DBWI, I'm taking up the mantle I had in Sicilian's, a senior in Miskatonic University, majoring in ‘grammariology’, or ‘the study of grimories’)

[The Sicilian]

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6. I’m going to have a ‘council’ of people who will vote on additions and how they should be implemented, if you want to be part of it, ask and I’ll add you. If you just want to add to the DBWI, that’s fine too, but be warned that we may or may not use it when/if it moves to Shared Worlds.

I'd be happy to be on the council, if you'll have me. This could give me some more cool ideas for my story.

[Nietzsche]

I'd be happy to be on the council, if you'll have me. This could give me some more cool ideas for my story.

I honestly thought about putting you in there with 'Honorary member' before your name, but thought that might've been in bad taste. Regardless, happily granted.

[TimKeck84]

I'd like to have a spot there if you don't mind. If I am to be a character in this DBWI you can consider me a businessman specializing in ecto-contaimment - the control or removal of malevolent or disturbing nonliving entities. I would not be a natural magik user, but would be more of a "technomagik" using technology to duplicate the efffects of magik. It is less efficient but, like the development of gunpowder weapons is not a development to be dismissed.

[Lucadamo]

Will there be "nominal castes" of sorts within the two categories of "naturals" and other magicians? What I mean is, could someone call themselves a witch, simply for traditional purposes as opposed to someone who might focus more on divination calling themselves a diviner.

[Nietzsche]

Will there be "nominal castes" of sorts within the two categories of "naturals" and other magicians? What I mean is, could someone call themselves a witch, simply for traditional purposes as opposed to someone who might focus more on divination calling themselves a diviner.
Yes. This is entirely up to the people as we start to develop the history. Again, I’d like this to stay reasonably realistic. And, for the purposes of religion (for magick is universally interwoven with religion), the concept of ‘God’ or ‘Gods’ is still iffy, even with magick. There are known deities (use Lovecraft’s work for reference on how these beings work) and then there are the ‘unknowable’ ones. I’d really, really like this to not become some sort of ‘Christian magick > Islamic magicks!” type of thing. Because I can see it coming.


Oh, and a general note: There will be a New Egyptian Empire based around Necromancy. That is an executive decision, simply because it is too awesome not to use. ;p However. May we begin the role playing?

IC:

Tim, you're into containment? Not a very lucrative business unless your company deals only in the more rural areas of the world. If memory serves, and correct me if I’m wrong, but most etherworld creatures are too complex to birth into our world. I’ve read through some of the texts at Miskatonic, and honestly, I wouldn’t touch some of it even if I were a natural. A good example is the Unaussprechlichen Kulten, dreadful book, truly, and you have no idea just how relieved I am that we have one of the last suspected ‘original’ copies that weren’t tampered with or outright destroyed during the ‘Revolution’ in 1848. De Vermis Mysteriis is another good example. Some of the things mentioned in those books are just horrible. I’ve been practicing Necromancy for nearly eight years now, and have gotten that stopped-being-funny-after-the-1000th time title of ‘Lil’ Herby West’. I know what he did, trying to revive corpses with technology instead of magick, and I’ve been trying to reconstruct his attempts. So far, nothing.

[drrockso20]

Well Dr. West was a psychopathic genius so chances are you let ethics get in the way. And as for the ecto-containment business its meant to be more along the lines of containing earth born spirits like that of the Mad Carpathian Vigo that the original ghostbusters stopped back in the '80's.

[Nietzsche]

I see.


OOC:

Map I've whipped up showing some of the key parts of wht I want this TL to have.

1. New Egyptian Empire
2. New Byzantine
3. 'Other Byzantine' Empire headed by Rasputin
4. Aztec Revival in Mexico
5. Furthered German nationalism leading to Grossdeutschland.
6. I'll explain more tommorow when I come down from my high..

[Lucadamo]

Personally, I never dabble in necromancy or any sort of demonological work. Too risky. Leave it for the Naturals, if anyone.

Not that I don't prefer practical magic. Equine transmogrification is my line of work. You wouldn't believe what some of these wealthy nobles will pay for a pony enchanted to grow a horn from the middle of its forehead. Mind you, the breeding takes some time. The horns aren't even visible until the seventh or eighth generation. And the unies are the easier ones. We've been working on breeding winged horses for this unbearable old Russian hag. A baroness or something. We're not even close. One foal began developing light plumage along shoulder blades at about four months but we haven't figured out a way to breed hollow-boned horses without depleting the bone marrow. That one had such a bad immune system it died about three weeks later.

[drrockso20]

Have you tried chimerical alchemy to merge said wings with horse I know a very good alchemist who could aid you in this goal.

[TimKeck84]

Most of my business deal with earth-born ectoplasmic organisms -usually a magik user who managed to trap a part of their soul on this plane after they died...which ttends to be more than 3 in 10 users of magik. Some of these can be malevolent and self perpetuating.

[TheDarkServant]

Those Ectoplasmic Organisms can be a real pain in the arse. I used to work in the SMS and they were hell to clean up. It meant even after a successful operation some poor bugger had to go in and clean them out. Luckily it wasn't me, I specialise in manipulation and combat spells so i'm not too good at dealing with these non-physical beings.

On the subject of the winged horses though, I found that it's usually easier to breed the hollow bones into them first, then start on the wings once their immune systems have stabilised, but I don't like the flying horses, they're no use in combat it's much better to just get dropped from an airship and make the air beneath you denser to slow the descent.

If anyone wants to speak to me, or even have a bit more magical training, I own a Magical Training and Amenities centre out in Hackney, in London.

[Nietzsche]

Those Ectoplasmic Organisms can be a real pain in the arse. I used to work in the SMS and they were hell to clean up. It meant even after a successful operation some poor bugger had to go in and clean them out. Luckily it wasn't me, I specialise in manipulation and combat spells so i'm not too good at dealing with these non-physical beings.

On the subject of the winged horses though, I found that it's usually easier to breed the hollow bones into them first, then start on the wings once their immune systems have stabilised, but I don't like the flying horses, their no use in combat it's much better to just get dropped from an airship and make the air beneath you denser to slow the descent.

If anyone wants to speak to me, or even have a bit more magical training, I own a Magical Training and Amenities centre out in Hackney, in London.

I don't understand the appeal of a flying horse, or even a unicorn. I mean, once you get them to that stage, their genes are too enhanced with magick to breed further. I owned a ‘Little Dragon*’ once when they were popular. It was pretty, don’t get me wrong, but I mean really, the thing had to be misery. It’s completely unnatural, same with winged or horned equines. He died because while the wings were functional, he couldn’t clean them like the rest of his body, so an infection grew. I couldn’t do anything about it since I only caught it until it was far too late. It had developed on the ‘hinge’ thing, out of sight.



OOC-


*The ‘Little Dragon’ is sort of like the ‘Chia Pet’ of this world. Not a dragon, just a medium sized lizard with bat or bird wings.

[Count Dearborn]

OOC:
What about Talents?

[Nietzsche]

OOC:
What about Talents?
OOC: Talents? Explain.

[AirshipArmada]

Numbers don't match.
As stated by The Sicilian, magic users should be around 1% not 10%


By 1848, around 1% of the world is magically affected due to the Basilicata Rift. Of that hundredth, 85% possess powers not immediately applicable in medicine, industry or combat. 9% have abilities useful in industry (stuff relating to metallurgy and the like), 5% have medical abilities, and 1% have combat powers. .0001% of all magically affected are potential super-magi, like Eva Gessabella, which is around a dozen or so persons. Most of them are children or adolescents who have not mastered their powers.



3. There are two types of magick users, those with born innate ability to use it, and those who must study it extensively. The 'naturals' make up no more than 10% of the entire human population, and for the sake of simplicity on this forum, no poster may RP as a natural.


Using The Sicilian's numbers then in 1850 there would be:
12.5 million magic users in the world,
10.6 million of which only have very minor powers,
1.1 million industrial mages,
625 000 medical mages,
125 000 combat mages
and
12 or 13 super mages. Lets say 13, because that is a more "goth" number. Or you can say 12 plus Eva make 13.


By region (based on 1850 population cited in wikipedia):
Asia: 8 million mages, 80 thousand combat mages, 8 super-magi
Europe: 2.7 million mages, 27 thousand combat mages, 3 super-magi (including eva)
Africa: 1.1 million mages, 11 thousand combat mages, 1 super-magi
Latin America and South America: 373 thousand mages, 4 thousand combat mages, 1 super-magi
North America: 263 000 mages, 3 thousand combat mages, Zero super-magi


From the looks of it, the numbers lump China, Japan, India, the Middle East, etc all into the "Asia" group.

Asia has the most by far. Their technology disadvantages are now countered by their magical advantages (especially super-magi). Fortunately for the West, Asian nations are more likely to take actions against other Asian nations than against Western nations (once the Western nations are pushed out of the sphere).

In general, remote powers will have a much harder time controlling nations with large populations.

[AirshipArmada]

Sophie Charlotte was born a Bavarian Duchess slightly before the rift (1847). By the age of fifteen she demonstrated charm of a assumed magical nature. It is believed she used this ability on King Ludwig of Bavaria and the couple were wed in June, 1867.

King Ludwig is not known to have possessed any magical abilities of his own but he became a famous patron of the magical arts. The most notable artist to benefit from the King's favor was the Musical-Magi Richard Wagner. Wagner composed operas which could induce such strong emotions in the audience that they eventually became illegal to perform in fifteen nations. King Ludwig also favored Magi-Architects and Craftsmen causing Bavaria to became a cultural center for the Romantische Magische movement.

In 1869 Sophie gave birth to the couple's only child, Augusta.

In 1887 Sophie spontaneously gained a major new magical ability: healing fire. Short flames could bust from her hands which both burned and healed those she touched. She could cure many diseases, but left small burn scars.

Also in 1887 her only son (Augusta, now 18) gained magical abilities which mostly involved the martial use of fire. Agususta unfortunately had a murderous personality and attacked his father on one of their estates. The King ran into a lake to escape Augusta's flames but then drowned. Augusta fled the scene and was never brought to justice. He later became one of the founders of the underground Gesellschaft der Feuermagie (The Pyromancer's Society) and was a mysterious figure throughout his life.

Sophie performed charity work in hospitals until her death in 1897.

[TheDarkServant]

Numbers don't match.
As stated by The Sicilian, magic users should be around 1% not 10%


OOC : This one has different rules and numbers for magic so it doesn't really matter :P

IC:

SMS: Formed in 1952 as a magical counterpart to the already well established SAS, the SMS is the foremost magical commando team in the British Empire, and recognised worldwide for their professionalism and magical aptitude. The soldiers are usually drawn from magically skilled soliders in the regular army and a very extensive testing regime is implemented, with reports of at least 1 death a year from those unsuccessfully applying for a place. Their badge and motto are almost identical to those of the SAS, except the skull has got flaming eyes. The SMS has been crucial in many military campaigns and are playing an especially important role in the recent war on terror.

Undeniably their most famous accheivement was the toppling of the Sorceror-Warlord Md. Abdullah Al Baki's campaign of terror in the country of Iraq where a strike team was dispached and managed to nullify and kidnap of Warlord, with little to no casulties.

[Nietzsche]

Numbers don't match.
As stated by The Sicilian, magic users should be around 1% not 10%






Using The Sicilian's numbers then in 1850 there would be:
12.5 million magic users in the world,
10.6 million of which only have very minor powers,
1.1 million industrial mages,
625 000 medical mages,
125 000 combat mages
and
12 or 13 super mages. Lets say 13, because that is a more "goth" number. Or you can say 12 plus Eva make 13.


By region (based on 1850 population cited in wikipedia):
Asia: 8 million mages, 80 thousand combat mages, 8 super-magi
Europe: 2.7 million mages, 27 thousand combat mages, 3 super-magi (including eva)
Africa: 1.1 million mages, 11 thousand combat mages, 1 super-magi
Latin America and South America: 373 thousand mages, 4 thousand combat mages, 1 super-magi
North America: 263 000 mages, 3 thousand combat mages, Zero super-magi


From the looks of it, the numbers lump China, Japan, India, the Middle East, etc all into the "Asia" group.

Asia has the most by far. Their technology disadvantages are now countered by their magical advantages (especially super-magi). Fortunately for the West, Asian nations are more likely to take actions against other Asian nations than against Western nations (once the Western nations are pushed out of the sphere).

In general, remote powers will have a much harder time controlling nations with large populations.

OOC: I took a slightly different approach, in which magick can be learned by everyone, but the aforementioned naturals are far more prone to being good at it. I decided to do this to 'level the playing field', so we wouldn't have all these nasty rebels winning every engagement because they can cast down a rain of fire and brimstone on a city or battlefield.

Since this is entirely user-imput, it's the only way to safeguard against hyper-wanking X rebel group or X nation.

[Nietzsche]

OOC: Bump. Sorry, but I'd rather like this to not-die.

[TheDarkServant]

Did anybody else see the lightshow over London last night?

Any idea whats going on, don't tell me we've been attacked in the Capital else I would know by now, i'm still on the list for recall if my country needs my services in a time of war. ;)

[Count Dearborn]

OOC:
What about Talents?

OOC: Talents? Explain.

Think along the lines of the witches of the TV series, Charmed.

[TheDarkServant]

Did anybody else see the lightshow over London last night?

Any idea whats going on, don't tell me we've been attacked in the Capital else I would know by now, i'm still on the list for recall if my country needs my services in a time of war. ;)

I managed to do some research into this phenonomen. Apparently some natural thought it would be fun to try and call something big from another dimension or other. Luckily for us, he didn't succeed but it did make a big fireworks show over London. The Council of Mages in the Tower of London are discussing what should be done with troublemakers like this, but I have the feeling that a number of harsh new anti-natural laws are about to be suggested.

[TheDarkServant]

"Orior oriri ortus ex sepulchrum"

Anything happening here?