Acheron is a group of wasteland
universes where giant blocks drift together and apart. They may crash together, crushing
all those beneath. Some victims never see them coming -- they were too busy fighting. Most
of the blocks are tunnelled with wormholes, where the inhabitants may live in safety,
eating nasty fungi. The sky is filled with other blocks, which move rapidly. Between all
is an atmosphere, yet though the blocks move relative to one another, there is never any
wind.
In Acheron, the living mingle with the spirits of the dead who fought willingly in bad
wars, or for whom war became an end in itself, or who sold their allegiance for money. The
locals -- living and dead -- have forgotten whatever good causes led them to fight, and
now battle just from habit. This is meaningless, and they know it. They will often know
about episodes in which the player characters have attacked creatures for no real reason,
and they'll say that this means the adventurers are really aligned like Acheron's people.
Acheron is also the spiritual home of those who controlled the law to keep the common folk
oppressed. This aspect awaits development. Anger, hate, and jealousy are widespread, but
the strongest emotions are probably team spirit and the passions that bind warriors
together. Don't expect love, kindness, or warmth from the locals. Contrary to rumor,
armies of undead, golems, and so forth are rare.
The spiritual powers of Acheron seek to corrupt souls by making obedience to "the
cause" or "the community" (or even "the true faith") an end in
itself. This takes precedence over love, kindness, or humility. A key is
"conformity". In place of love, there is grudging respect for superior warriors.
The most popular motto is "Winning is everything." Another is, "Don't
think, just obey." Primitives will find perpetual, savage warfare. Paths are
teleportals from block to block. Public portals between the layers and to remote planes
are at the centers of military installations. For the locals, even the ordinary loves of
our world -- family, friendship, and romance -- are muted. Perhaps evil deeds, or any use
of death magic or necromancer's spells will tend to transform the character progressively.
In some liturgies, worshippers renounce, or reaffirm their renunciation of, "the
glamour of evil." On Acheron, the glamour of evil includes team membership and
identity-group grievances. In our own world, some people think this is what they really
want.Avalas is the battleplains
universe, where armies from all eras and all planes engage in an eternal struggle. The
blocks are hard metal, and each undergoes an average of one collision weekly. The orcs and
the goblins fight eternally on one of these blocks. The urbane rakshasas control much
territory on other blocks, where the laws are tedious. The "Mercykillers"
philosophic sect, which believes in the enforcement of absolute justice, has its
headquarters here. ("You broke the law, now you're gonna pay.") Their home city
is Vorkeham ("the City of Fumes"), made of titanium with acid fountains. Check
vs. constitution each day or remain in bed with the dry heaves. Mercykillers are immune.
The Blue Cube is the home of a blue dragon who forgets everything each morning. Land here,
and you will die of the electric shock. Avalas is the spiritual home of the most dedicated
race-supremacists, and all who wilfully forgot their good causes in the excitement of
battle. The Army of Purity has its headquarters here. This is a common location for the
headquarters of sects devoted to vengeance and war. Resounding Thunder is a
Chinese-style warlord's domain, a haven for vengeance-seekers. Ruby-red pools appear at
designated sites, and cannot be moved. Portals to the Outlands, Mechanus or Baator are
often the rims of the gravity wells which the blocks orbit. The unholy River Styx has a
source here, on the block called Wreychtmirk, and every visitor sees it differently. The
cube's six sides each contain a gate to a different lower plane, and its life forms mirror
the destination. The only town on Wreychtmirk is Mesk, in a rusting valley. The
thousand-or-so inhabitants fish the Styx for metal-scaled fishes. All crimes are punished
by death, and the mayor's decisions are final.
Thuldanin is the universal junkyard of battle, where
all the garbage of war finds its way and turns to stone. Each block is hollow, a shell a
few miles thick. Inside is junk. There is a small chance (one in a thousand per day) of
finding a useful item, and it may be repaired using "stone to flesh" followed by
"restoration". Hideously powerful monsters abound here, and will attack visitors
on sight. Check vs. constitution daily or turn to stone, and there is also a 1% chance per
day for each carried item to turn to useless stone. Rumor has it that the spirits of the
dead are transformed into stones, too, yet remain conscious and aware of their
helplessness. The mines of Marsellin are the richest source of treasure, and they are
guarded by a huge rust dragon who has joined the Mercykillers.
Tintibulus is a universe of basalt hexagons, with no
life except visiting magic-users. This is an excellent place to do magical research. One
gains intelligence daily, and loses every other ability, death resulting when any drops to
zero. On leaving, intelligence drops immediately to the original level and the rest of the
abilities and regained through rest.
Ocanthus is a universe of flying razors. Here is
Zoronor, the City of Shadows. It is surrounded by a spherical wooden shell, filled with
shards. |
