Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => The Secret History => Topic started by: Pathica on <03-09-11/1447:47>
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The elephant in the fiction.
I mean this is a hook/thread/plot from the beginning, are we ever going to get the 'book'?
As soon as I read about the spontaneous creation of buildings/landmasses (there is a spiffy name for that, but it escapes me.) in Target: Awakened lands (I believe), I was sure we were going to get Atlantis 'popping up' in the middle of the Atlantic soon!
Well of course we have Lyoness(sp)... that could be it and Plato was a tad off on the size. :P
I know the Apep folks are new, along the same lines as the Atlantean Foundation, and the 'Artifacts' book is en route, but...
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Atlantis is no more. Its destruction was what ended the 4th Age. IIRC, as per Earthdawn, "Atlantis" was Thera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini) (indeed one of the theorised locations for "Atlantis" IRL), even called Thera in the setting, and hence very much not Lyonesse. As said, IIRC...
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Atlantis is no more. Its destruction was what ended the 4th Age. IIRC, as per Earthdawn, "Atlantis" was Thera (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santorini) (indeed one of the theorised locations for "Atlantis" IRL), even called Thera in the setting, and hence very much not Lyonesse. As said, IIRC...
That being said, there's no reason that:
A) The Therans disappeared into the metaplanes (like Parlainth) and may return with the right Mana Spike/Ritual
B) Theran artifacts and caches could be dotted around the world
C) Theran outposts could be uncovered by anyone, at any stage (or at least a clue to their location)
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"So I tore down the boards that were closing this door and found this..." "That, um, looks like a Trans-dimensional vortex. Thingie." "Yeah, I know! Who would board up something as cool as this?"
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"So I tore down the boards that were closing this door and found this..."
"That, um, looks like a Trans-dimensional vortex. Thingie."
"Yeah, I know! Who would board up something as cool as this?"
'Cool, hey, what happens if I touch i.... ahhhhhhh!'
<At a secure military facility, somewhere in the world>
'Sir, we're getting increased activity on the pyramid steps'
'Soldiers, aim weapons'
*ka-klikka*klik*ka-chak*
BRAZZAK!
'Whoa! Dude! This ain't my basement!'
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I expect the Artifacts arc (the adventures and the sourcebook) will have something to do with Atlantis.
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What's interesting is that the real world destruction of Thera occurred around (approximately) 1600 BCE; 1500 years before "Atlantis [sinking] on August 12, 3113 BC, thus marking the end of the Fourth World and the beginning of the Fifth." (http://old.shadowrun4.com/fiction/fiction1.shtml)
So the Minoan (or at least Minoan-related) peoples that settled Thera in the second, and possibly third, millennia BCE built upon the "ruins" of Earthdawn Thera...where ever it may have gone/however it was destroyed...and then met with similar fate (though having their island blown sky high in a volcanic eruption is a bit different than "sinking," the Minoans on Crete would have felt "sunk" in the resulting tsunami(s)).
The question is; did Ehran literally mean Atlantis "sank" or was he just playing up pop-culture interpretation of what happened? 5¥ and a cold beer to whom ever kidnaps Frosty to use as leverage to get Ehran to expound upon that topic. No, wait...forget the cold beer...you get a Minoan wine jug full of wine or beer (http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/4107-10818), your choice. :) (note: those suckers are about as tall as you if not taller.)
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Just ask Ghostwalker. He hated Therans hard enough to be honest about it. And he'd probably do it for a nice enough present, and to piss of the Immortal Elves.
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What's interesting is that the real world destruction of Thera occurred around (approximately) 1600 BCE; 1500 years before "Atlantis [sinking] on August 12, 3113 BC, thus marking the end of the Fourth World and the beginning of the Fifth." (http://old.shadowrun4.com/fiction/fiction1.shtml)
1500 years after, you mean, right? ;) Well, yeah, according to RL science. Since we can assume Earthdawn picked that location of its de facto Atlantis due to that incident and the theory around it that in Shadowrun science has established it to have happened in the 32nd or 31st century BCE. Unless of course the Atlantean Foundation or whoever obscures any such findings ;)
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Thule would be cool too. (personal favorite.) Again the precedent has already been set for random landmasses 'appearing'.
Have no idea how it would tie into the SR fiction/world, something to ponder I guess. (Ordos off the top of my head.) Strikes me as the old chestnut of Nazi occultism never been touched on, pre-awakened magic/artifact hunting perhaps?
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Oh come on, every group has had to deal with Nazi Artifact Hunting. It's a GM's "Damn, they're coming to game and I got nothing"-plan!
Well, it's mine at least. Probably would have been better than sending them to San Diego ComiCon to go after a Shadowrunner that dressed up like Batman.
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"Thule" would simply be the Scandinavian peninsula, i.e. Sweden and Norway. ;) That is, IIRC, it was the name ancient Greek cartographers applied to that (from their point of view) semi-mythical northern island (or so they assumed; that it is an island that is).
Other "missing continents" besides Atlantis would be Mu (basically the East Asian Atlantis equivalent supposed to be in the pacific) and Lemuria as New Age concept, supposed to be in the Indian Ocean.
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If in doubt, just send the Shadowrunners underwater looking for things that may/may not be 4th World Atlantis :)
We had a great campaign once with runners on an undersea mining platform that had just stumbled on some ancient artifacts (nothing 4th World in this case, but still incredibly valuable), but was also holding up drilling on an expansive oil well.
Treasure was the remains of a viking longship, with buried warchief (and jewels)
So, several Johnsons had several teams running simultaneously, with conflicting goals:
Team 1) Secure the artifacts, sabotage the rig to hold up drilling (but not destroy)
Team 2) Destroy the artifacts and all evidence of them, get the rig drilling again
Team 3) Secure the artifacts, and destroy the rig
So it was a good cross between SeaQuest DSV, Under Siege and Deep Blue Sea. Fun few sessions....
- Paranoia about using firearms in the undersea environment
- Unknown whether anyone encountered was a civilian miner or an opposing runner-team
- Webs of network security allowed remote control of different map zones (alarms, cameras and in some cases, turrets and bulkheads)
In the end,
Team 3) got some of the artifacts off the rig and set it to blow ,
Team 2) Blew up 3)'s submersible getaway vehicle (with them on board), and disabled the explosives
Team 1) secured the remaining artifacts, removed every fuse and lever in the drilling chamber and got away (With team 3's tracking chip merrily giving away their location at random intervals)
Ahhh, good days...
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"Thule" would simply be the Scandinavian peninsula, i.e. Sweden and Norway. ;) That is, IIRC, it was the name ancient Greek cartographers applied to that (from their point of view) semi-mythical northern island (or so they assumed; that it is an island that is).
Aye, 'twas "Ultima Thule" most farthest of the known lands, in fiction (as like what spawned from Plato's scant dialogue about the Isle of Atlas.) places it as an island, akin to Nordic Atlantis. Think it'd be a fun/different mythology to be 'Showrunified is all.
But mostly I just like saying it! Thule. :o
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I agree an "Ultima Thule" campaign could include some fun elements, with various factions from Scandinavia and Germany - godes/asatru, neo-nazi clubs, especially their magic variants, other magical circles (Siegfriedbund and Runenthing in Germany, for example).... and of course as always corporate interests. And it would probably be a nice way to put the Norse magical traditions a bit more into the focus of things...
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Maybe a return of the remnants of Winternight? IIRC, Friday escaped...
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Yeah she did, and she's crazier than ever. She might be too far gone though, or she could be with Pax.
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Great, two flavours of crazy.
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I think they'd make an interesting combination, don't forget they've worked together before.
Now I have images of Viking longships cruising through the matrix while Immigrant Song blares in the background. :-[
Also a great song for the Viking biker gangs.
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Viking Biker Gangs made up of Technomancers who are trying to destroy technology and the Matrix?
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Sorry, for me, Atlantis has always been tied up with Conan the Barbarian...I suppose it's about time for me to make a character like that anyway.
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Sorry, for me, Atlantis has always been tied up with Conan the Barbarian...I suppose it's about time for me to make a character like that anyway.
Along the same lines; to me Atlantis is first and foremost related to Opar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opar_(fictional_city)). I once ran a brief Earthdawn campaign set in Khokarsa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khokarsa), although the players never picked up on my subtle clues vis-a-vis Sahhindar/Gribardsun/Greystoke/Tarzan.
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Ah, Burroughs. Makes me wonder just how far Atlantis sank, in that case. Time to steal some corp's prototype mole drill, I guess. Start smuggling guns to cavemen.
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Ah, Burroughs. Makes me wonder just how far Atlantis sank, in that case. Time to steal some corp's prototype mole drill, I guess. Start smuggling guns to cavemen.
Velociraptors with frikkin' LASER BEAMS on their heads!
That's what we need to see....
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Well, thank you. My group's next trip to LA is now figured out.
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Velociraptors with frikkin' LASER BEAMS on their heads!
That's what we need to see....
Saurian Biodrones, my friend, saurian biodrones.
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For those of you interested, tonight 8PM EDT (http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/finding-atlantis-4982/Overview)