Latest revision as of 06:47, 27 February 2007

Into New Worlds

This is basically an AU Alchemical setting. One of those where you throw the entire section on setting out the window and makes various other assumptions and changes. Over here, we never see the world of Autochthon enter Creation. Inspired by hours of watching Stargate. If anyone actually decides to run based on this, I wouldn't mind hearing about it.

The Premise

When the nation of Yugash breached the Seal of Eight Divinities, they emerged into an entirely new world they had never seen. Teams were immediately sent out to scout and scavenge for resources. The nation fully expected to be able to conquer the new world and thus solve all their critical problems.

They were wrong.

Within a few days, the gateway between the worlds shut down, trapping many teams in the new world. When Yugash finally managed to reopen the gateway, they were horrified at what they found. The previous world they had into ventured was gone, replaced by a completely new one. Scout teams were again sent out, hoping to find signs of previous teams. They found none, and those who had ventured into the first world easily realised that the new world was completely different from the first one. Fearful that the first situation would repeat itself, expeditions were short and always within sight of the gateway. In two weeks, the gateway again closed but this time no one was trapped outside.

With such a devastating failure, the entire nation of Yugash was reeling from the shock, both from the immense resources wasted and the fact that the fall of their nation seemed imminent. With rumblings of anger and discontent rife throughout the nation, the local Tripartite announced publicly that the plan was shelved and that more effort would be devoted to resource acquisition in the Great Maker.

However, a secret organization was set up to research the Seal of Eight Divinities. After months of research, the organization finally found the problem and a measure of the solution. When Autochthon had travelled into the Void and finally slipped into his deep slumber, he had made a slight error in his calculations. Instead of remaining static in the Void, his entire being shifted from time to time into different positions. Whenever the seal was breached, they would emerge into a different world depending on where the Maker's body was.

This certainly complicated things. However, the various engineers and occultists working on the seal realised that there was a way to influence the shifting of the maker's body, thus allowing them to emerge into certain worlds. An immense amount of calculations had to be done to achieve this with a specific amount of accuracy, but the system was tested and found effective to a certain extent.

So that's when it was decided that they would travel into new worlds once again. The situation in Yugash was becoming increasingly desperate, and resources had to be found. Immediately.

The Facility

The Seal of Eight Divinities has been shifted into a relatively small fringe pocket of the Yugash nation. While most of the people concerned would prefer it to be safely within the city confines, the general sentiment against the Seal means that it is too dangerous for it to be within the main areas of the city. While its seclusion from the rest of the city is an advantage, giving it the secrecy required, it has also made the facility open to attacks from gremlims and other unpleasant elements. Such incursions are common enough that there are entire teams devoted to the defence of the base.

The facility itself is like a mini-city, tapping on various conduits for food and water and has basically everything needed to survive independently from the rest of the city. However, the facility still needs resources from the main city quite frequently, and shutting itself off completely can only ever be a temporary measure that is barely sustainable for more than a few days, more if no trips are made. Even running at bare minimum, the facility still consumes a lot of resources just to maintain basic processes.

Although the facility is relatively small compared to the rest of Yugash, there is still enough space for all who work in the facility to have their own private room. It's not a very big room, but is enough for one bed, a table, two chairs, and a cupboard for clothing and personal articles.

Washing and dining facilities are shared. As there's only one of each, everyone in the facility pretty much knows everybody else, by face if not by name. The dining room has a group of food technicians, so eating is actually a pleasurable prospect. While the people are given more leeway with regards to how much they can eat, there is still a limit and overindulging is frowned upon. During periods of scarcity, rationing is enforced and must be stricly adhered to.

The Seal itself is in the centre of the facility, designated as the Central Room and the rest of the facilty surrounds it. While the layout of the place would be confusing to strangers, and in fact was deliberately made that way, most members who have worked in the facility already know their way around to where they need to go. There are winding walkways, staircases that lead up and down to various levels and other strange quirks of architectural design. Members know how to get to their quarters, to their various stations, to the dining and washing facilities, as well as to the Central Room, but can easily get lost if placed in a different part of the facility. Signs are clearly placed in the facility to mark hazards, but signs to specific places are deliberately more obtuse, in case an enemy ever enters the facility.

The Organisation

As is necessary, the organization running this programme has to be kept very secret, as any hint that resources are still being channeled into the Seal of Eight Divinities is likely to result in widespread anger and riots. The organization has been named 'Search Extract Develop' (or SED for short), an organization devoted to finding and extracting new materials and developing them into usable resources for the nation. Most people never hear the name. Those that do are assured that the organization are true to its mission. Only a few know that the searching is not done within Autochthon, but outside of him.

The name represents the three sections of the organisation, each with their own duties and responsibilities.

Search Section

This section covers the responsibilities of running the entire organisation in general. The head of this section is an Orichalcum Alchemical named Clear and Efficient Executor, and is also the highest ranking person in the whole facility. He is regarded as the one in charge of the facility. Decisions on security, travel through the Seal, facility-wide orders and priorities, general recruitment, training and other such stuff fall under the purview of this section. It's powers and responsibilities are quite broad and a majority of the people in the facility are technically employed by this section.

Extract Section

This section is responsible for the resources of the base. The head of this section is a Moonsilver Alchemical named Severe Adept Dealer. It deals with resource acquisition within the Great Maker, the examination of all items brought from the new worlds, as well as the administration of all resources in the facility. Teams sent out into the Great Maker to acquire resources, the examination of alien resources (and subsequent declaration of safe/unsafe), food supplies, energy and other such day-to-day details that concern the running of the base are the duties of this section. It also has the most paperwork to fill as they continually request for more resources from the main city and deal with requests from people within the facility.

Develop Section

This section is responsible for research and development. The head of this section is a Starmetal Alchemical named Meticulously Detailed Researcher, also the foremost expert on the Seal. While it's scope is narrow, it is the absolute authority on all matters with regards to the research. This section is the only one that can call for an immediate quarantine of any place within the facility due to safety issues. Their main project is that of the Seal of Eight Divinities, which they research with great vigour. Alien resources brought in by teams and approved for research comes into this section. It also ensures that the facility continues running smoothly by doing constant repairs and maintainance on the various machines throughout the facility. Researchers, food technicians, mechanics and other such people are under this section.

Notable NPCs

Clear and Efficient Executor

This Orichalcum Alchemical is in charge of the 'Search' section of the organization, and is also the highest ranking person in the whole facility. He is regarded as the person in charge of the facility. He is the one who makes the decision whether to send a team out to explore a certain world, and also has to make decisions on the organization of the facility as a whole. He is rarely seen in his office, and instead wanders around the facility, chatting with the various people working in the facility. He is one of the few people who can be said to know the facility intimately, and also knows everyone on the base by face and name.

He is one who is extremely logical in his thinking, always going for efficiency in everything that is done. But that's not to say that he's cold-hearted. In fact, he is one of the most approachable authority figures in the facility. Everyone knows that if they have a problem, they can approach him for help, and he would be willing to provide aid. He is not one who minds getting his hands dirty doing menial labour if that would serve the greater good. His one regret is not being able to explore the new worlds, but after the previous fiasco, he accepts that it would be an unacceptable risk. His martial skills are of the highest calibe and he occassionally helps the training section with coaching.

Severe Adept Dealer

This Moonsilver Alchemical is in charge of the 'Extract' section of the organization. He deals with resource acquisition within the Great Maker, the examination of all items brought from the new worlds, as well as the usage of resources in the facility. Given the fast dwindling resources of Yugash, he has been accused of being tight-fisted at times, but never within his earshot and always in quiet whispers. There are rumours of the terrible punishments he inflicts on people who waste excessively, none of which are actually corroborated.

He practices thrift in everything, from his actions to his words. He is direct and to the point, and hates anyone who appears to be wasting his time. He is often busy checking and taking stock of all their supplies, and also filling in all the paperwork. While he is very tight with their resources, he is not stingy when he sees that the situation calls for it. Occassionally, this Alchemical will lead the teams into the Great Maker personally to search for resources.

He is also accompanied by a familiar, a mass of filaments and steel orbs, whose actual purpose no one has been able to discern, but has fuelled much speculation and rumours.

Meticulously Detailed Researcher

This Starmetal Alchemical is in charge of the 'Develop' section of the organization. She is a towering elder exalt, and is the foremost expert on the Seal. She was among the researchers and scholars who studied the Seal and learned how to breach it, and also led the research into studying the Seal and how to utilize it. Currently, as head of the 'Develop' section, she oversees research both into the seal and whatever the teams might bring back from the other worlds.

She is often seen in the Central Room, tinkering with the Seal when its use is not required. A logical and methodical person, she finds her sense of purpose in her research, knowing that what she learns and invents could be the key to saving the Great Maker. She does not suffer fools, but anyone seeking to tap into her vast coffers of knowledge can count on her help as long as they show the right attitude.

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