Aberrant RPG - Aberrant: Nexus - timeline of 1940s & 1950s

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Hello folks! Now that my latest bout of RL interference has died down, I thought I'd post what little I've got for the first Interregnum in the Aeon Continuum timeline. Right now I'm focusing on the late 1940s and the decade of the 1950s, and would love to hear your ideas on what would be going on in Inspired circles during this period. Feedback on my fragmentary entries is also greatly welcomed.

(Lest you think I've been slacking, I haven't. I just had to turn to creating & revamping relevant concepts for the "New Powers" appendix for AB:Nexus to break out of a nasty case of writer's block, which took a while. Mea culpa.)

Interregnum I

The following timeline covers the period between the Adventure! and Aberrant settings, and focuses on the activities of the Inspired and the circumstances affecting them.

1946: Having been infiltrated by the KGB, the Ponatowski Foundation is taken over from within. The Czar is captured and thouroughly interrogated by KGB agents, only to eventually be reduced to a broken shell of a man and sent to die in the gulags. Princess Anastasia manages to escape to Canada with the majority of the Czar's wealth and information. She shares the information with the Aeon Society in return for their aid in setting up a new identity for her retirement. Back in the U.S.S.R., enough hard information is found to begin what will become the KGB's psychic warfare & espionage programs.

1947: The surviving Inspired begin to go underground in the First and Second World nations, although some Second World Inspired manage to quietly defect to a First World nation. Many then cease all Inspired activities and begin to settle down and start families. Others do so to evade official notice and involuntary conscription - especially as they make juicy targets for anti-communist or anti-imperialist investigation - sometimes by becoming part of their local political hierarchies and hiding in plain sight. The physical effects of aging serve to put a brake on the activities of most of the other Inspired. In the First World nations, some of their offspring will briefly carry on with their parent's Inspired activities for larks - usually by digging out a handy gadget such as a flight pack out of a steamer trunk in the basement - but little comes of this save for discounted tall tales and reports of Fortean events.

1948: x.

1949: x.

1950s: Maxwell Anderson Mercer vanishes, undertaking another one of his time travels. Hammersmith's Telluric Vortex finally dies down, causing the disappearance or death (in the case of dinosaurs & the like) of the vast majority of the Inspired weirdness. New Inspired beings tend to be either offspring of existing Inspired or latents who come into direct contact with powerful Inspired beings and/or devices. Dramatic Editing is no longer available to most of the Inspired.

So, ideas anyone?

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Re: Mini-Quantum Boom of the 1970s - early 80s

After reading the following from one of Ian Watson's posts on RPGNet, I've decided that 1- the concept was too good not to use, and 2- it would represent Divis Mal's first crude attempt at creating a Hammersmith Vortex. The postulated entry for it follows:

The Mini-Quantum Boom. Likely was Divis Mal's most notable early attempt at creating a Hammersmith Vortex. As it caused few if any nova eruptions, it can be assumed that it lacked the "Novas only" focus of the later 1998 vortex. Would have produced daredevils, psiads, stalwarts and pitifully few full-fledged novas (not nearly enough of the latter to suit Mal's designs).

The post in question follows:

[ianWatson] It was a timeline event that got altered as the books were released. It no longer appears in the d20 version of Trinity, for example.

That said, I do favour the idea. Maybe it's naturally-occurring, maybe it was an experiment gone wrong. In the end, we got an influx of Inspired individuals, hanging out just out of the public eye, trying to do right, for the next couple of decades.

Trios of women troubleshooters working for someone known only by their voice. Astronauts and skydivers who are saved from near certain death by advanced cybernetic implants. Quiet New England retirees who have a better eye for detail than Holmes. Freelance agents who can defeat foreign warlords, domestic terrorists, and prevent nuclear meltdowns with two rubber bands and a paperclip. Problem-solvers aided by cars implanted with artificial intelligence.

It's grand time to be alive. It's very much like the early Inspiration Age, but takes place 50 years later.

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Re: New stuff for AB:Nexus-

I'm broadening the topic into everything to do with AB:Nexus, since there's no project forum right now. The RTF document attached to this post covers the various new enhancements, new powers & new backgrounds that will be presented in the second appendix of AB:Nexus. Feedback on the new stuff will be greatly apprciated, esp. since there is an equivalent to one of the new powers posted on the "Custom Powers/enhancements" thread on the "Children of Quantum Fire" game board.

Anyhow, please read, review & give some feedback on the file's contens if you've got the time & interest.

AB_Nexus_New Stuff.rtf

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Re: 1950s & very late 1940s-

Here's what I've whipped up for these entries. Remember that none of this is set in stone, and can be changed as desired and/or needed.

1947: The surviving Inspired begin to go underground in the First and Second World nations, although some Second World Inspired manage to quietly defect to a First World nation. Many then cease all Inspired activities and begin to settle down and start families. Others do so to evade official notice and involuntary conscription - especially as they make juicy targets for anti-communist or anti-imperialist investigation - sometimes by becoming part of their local political hierarchies and hiding in plain sight. The physical effects of aging serve to put a brake on the activities of most of the other Inspired. In the First World nations, some of their offspring will briefly carry on with their parent's Inspired activities for larks - usually by digging out a handy gadget such as a flight pack out of a steamer trunk in the basement - but little comes of this save for discounted tall tales and reports of Fortean events. An alleged UFO crashlands on a ranch near Roswell, New Mexico, and is quickly taken by the United States military. The event is ineptyl covered up, and civilians are threatened by the government to remain silent about the event.

1948: The Aeon Society begins their covert efforts to cover up any and all Inspired activity in the First World nations. In the United States, these efforts take silent advantage of Senator Joseph McCarthy's witchunts for communists and leftist intellectuals to enure that what few Inspired remain keep their existence well out of the notice of the government, the business community and the public at large.

1949: The spread of television and televised journalism brings further incentive for the Inspired and their offspring to remain discreet.

1950s: Maxwell Anderson Mercer vanishes, undertaking another one of his time travels. Hammersmith's Telluric Vortex finally dies down, causing the disappearance or death (in the case of dinosaurs & the like) of the vast majority of the Inspired weirdness. New Inspired beings tend to be either offspring of existing Inspired or latents who come into direct contact with powerful Inspired beings and/or devices. Dramatic Editing is no longer available to most of the Inspired. United States intelligence agencies become aware of the KGB's psychic warfare & espionage programs.

Up next, the 1960s.

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Re: 1960s & 1970s-

Here's what I've got. It can be altered & embroidered as needed.

1960s: Apparently natural increase in the number of Fortean Events and other Inspired weirdness. In the United States and Western Europe, the emerging counterculture sparks a renewed popular interest in paranormal capabilities. This allows the Inspired a slight degree of freedom for their activities, provided that they can be written off as advertising stunts or drug-induced hallucinations. First recorded incident of nova activity in Gary, Indiana, United States of America, in 1964. The incident is covered up by Aeon before any other serious notice is taken of it.

1970s: The Mini-Quantum Boom. Divis Mal's most notable early attempt at creating a Telluric Vortex, and something of a qualified success by his standards. Instead of being focused on creating novas like his later attempt in 1998, this vortex creates a population of Inspired individuals more in line with Hammersmith's vortex in 1923. Most of the new Inspired do their best to keep just out of the public eye, having adventures and doing right and/or wrong as their personal inclinations direct. This vortex lasts until the late 1980s. The Aeon Council begins to alter the directives of Proteus, making into a corps of assassins and saboteurs as well as spies. The United States Federal Government initiates the Stargate Project, which explores the potential of psychic phenomena with military, intelligence and domestic applications. Similar projects investigate electrodirection and pyrokinesis. Most noted for their work in remote viewing and precognition. The Stargate Project continues until its cancellation in 1995.

Next up, the Eighties and Nineties (only up to March 23, 1998).

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Right, here are the last full entries for this portion of the timeline. Please read & review.

1980s: First known highly-Tainted nova eruption occurs in Atlanta, Georgia in 1981. The nova is kept in quarantine by the CDC until the Aeon Society uses its influence to take the nova to one of their private clinics. The nova's fate after that remains a mystery. Acting on the revelations of the upcoming Nova Age provided by Max Mercer, the Aeon Society also quietly begins developing what will become Projects Utopia and Proteus and the Triton Foundation.

1990s: Max Mercer reappears circa 1995, only to find that the Aeon Society has strayed very far from his original ideals and operational methods. He immediately begins plotting to regain his former influence over the wayward Aeon Council members. The two major worldines of the Aeon Continuum noticeably diverge at this point due to Mercer's own personal bifurcation in his time-jump to 2122 - see p. XX of this book for details. Divis Mal and a few select allies begin preparations for creating his own version of the initial Hammersmith Telluric Vortex. On March 23rd, 1998, Mal finally succeeds in his efforts and triggers the Nova Age.

Re: What's Next?-

The discussion is wide open at this point, folks. Personally, I'd really like to uncover something of a coherent metaplot for all 3 Aeon Continuum games, but I have little data on that beyond what I've gathered from the canon books and a few archived discussions from the old White Wolf forum and points elsewhere.

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Re: Further up the timeline-

Given the lack of feedback, I'd better just finish up the timeline as best I can before working on other portions of AB:Nexus. If any of you spot an error or have suggestions to pad out the leaner entries, feel free to post them.

The Early Nova Age

1998 - mid-2008: The Dawn of the Nova Age, as per the Aberrant core book, pp. 9 - 13.

Mid-to-late 2008: Randal "the Fireman" Portman runs for and wins the Presidency of the United States as a Democrat. The Aeon Council meets and votes to act against breeder novas, with only two council members voting against the decision. Director Thetis begins laying the groundwork for Proteus motherhunting operations. The Aberrants make plans in turn to thwart Aeon, Utopia and Proteus in this matter however they can. Count Raoul Orzaiz and Altaz "the Apothecary" Zia establish the Maer Enclave to solve the mystery of nova sterility and to research possible cures for it.

2009: Beginnings of public disenchantment with the nova phenomenon in general and Project Utopia in particular. Spencer "Antaeus" Balmer leaves Project Utopia due to concerns over the detrimental effects of Operation Genesis to Earth's environment. Donald Zeleckis, a Jewish-American nova tourist, dies in the course of preventing an Israeli nuclear missile from hitting a Syrian city. Gabriel "the Miracle" Melchior escapes from Utopian/Proteus slavery. Having developed extreme levels of both power and Taint, Melchior makes his way to the headquarters of the Church of the Immanent Escheaton in Boulder City, Nevada. Melchior proceeds to give apolcalyptic sermons with threats to unleash bioweapon-grade plagues on the general populace, provoking a standoff with forces of the U.S. military, the Directive and Project Utopia. Unidentified nova operatives manage to remove Melchior from the scene without him releasing any plagues, with his death reported a few weeks afterwards. The Camparelli-Zhukov Megasyndicate begins their biotech operation.

2010s: André Corbin publicly turns himself in to Utopian custody at the Bahrain Rashoud facility, during which Director Thetis and Proteus plan to have him assassinated. Proteus' plan fails due to unforseen interference from Divis Mal and several members of the Teragen Pantheon. Mal soundly thrashes Caestus Pax in front of a global audience, while the Pantheon frees many imprisoned novas from the Bahrain Rashoud facility. Corbin is acquitted of all implications in the death of Jennifer "Slider" Landers, and is a free man. Project Utopia is implicated in many scandals of massive corruption, including the actions of Project Proteus and the murder of Jennifer "Slider" Landers. Project Utopia publicly disavows Project Proteus and makes moves to excise all Proteus infiltration from Utopian interests. Project Proteus survives with only token personnel lost to serve as scapegoats as the bulk of Proteus goes deeper underground. With the covert aid of the Aeon Society, Proteus resumes its operations with a lesser amount of support that they had received from an unwitting Utopia. Covert conflicts between motherhunters and their "delivery boy" foes take place as breeder novas and their offspring are discovered. The "Night of Long Knives" occurs sometime during this decade (see Aberrant: Teragen pp. 97-98 for details). A shadow war breaks out between the Camparelli-Zhukov Megasyndicate and Opus Dei, a cultic faction within the Roman Catholic church. Nova Arthur Francis Anningsley and his "Temple Of The King" cult/conspiracy is exposed and neutralized. Radu "Impaler" Szlaniskovich and his squad of elites attempt to take over the Ukraine. Team Tomorrow novas attempt to raid the Amp Room, resulting in Ibiza being devastated by novas, many of them running riot for no particular reason.

2020s: Dr. Soguk Birlesme develops hyper-fusion, which revolutionizes energy production and makes space colonies viable. The United States unveils its first hyper-fusion powered orbital spacecraft. Orbital defense satellites are launched by several nations, the most notable of which is the United States' OMEN Network.

2030s: The United States builds the Olympus Lunar base. Nova conflicts increase in both their frequency and in the amount of collateral damage they cause.

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Quick update: I've been busy writing and dealing with intermittent RL interference, so that's why I haven't been updating this thread of late. The interference is over with, so I'll be posting a revised "generic Aeon Continuum" timeline in a new thread for peer review sometime soon. The only blank spot left (aside from the information in the canon books) is the period covering late 2061 through 2120. This will be different in that it will be from a nova/aberrant perspective instead of the Terran viewpoint offered in the Trinity books.