Hello guys.
I am not sure if Ed has seen this yet, but below is a link to a website that I designed that was originally going to be a replacement for the current Wiki, since as a new moderator I kind of want the game to have a fresh start. Hence, the TI 3rd Edition was created. However, it became apparent that the amount of work necessary to transfer the data from the old website to this one would be very tedious and time consuming, so efforts to create a new website have been abandoned. However, the Tech Infantry Grand Design Page really wraps up why I feel that a new edition is necessary. Keep in mind, it was written shortly after the conclusion of the previous season and I had some bitter feelings. So if the wording seems a little trite, then please forgive me. The Tech Infantry in Nutshell also provides some of my reasoning as to why the actual nature of the Orb may have not been realistically portrayed in previous editions and therefore the ultimate conclusion of Vin Dane (Scyr or whoever) ruling for a 1000 years would be in dispute.
http://techinfantry3rdedition.wikia.com/wiki/Tech_Infantry_3rd_Edition_Wiki
The Players manual also attached is for Lorpy. I am not sure if he has seen it yet. Basically, players can vote on which system they want to use, but I would like to use the Rank Tables for next season. Even if some players do not like them, fundamentally they really do not change what has already been established.
The website was created back in March and a few weeks later, I started to develop what I consider to be a good idea as to how we could justify the change in the story line in a direction that is different from the Y3K and other canon created under Marcus and Bax. I felt I was on the right track, but life got in the way. Basically, the seasons ran by Bax and Marcus assume that humanity and everyone else involved had a concrete factual knowledge as to the origins of the Orb and therefore the assumptions as to how it has played a role in the TI universe in the past, present, and future were also known. However, in order for those conclusions to be true, including the Y3K timeline, the assumptions or historical records regarding the actual origins of the Orb must also be true. So either the history of the Orb is either factually true by dumb luck, it was created in order make folks believe it is true, or it was simply a good guess.
So to verify the actual origins of the Orb would be similar to verifying evolution for instance Christ coming back to life. It is utterly impossible to verify either of those, because no one was around to see the development of life from the first cell on this planet which must have occurred prior to the beginning of recorded history or the folks that witnessed such an extraordinary event such as a person or any form of life rising from the grave are now dead. And, thus neither that theory or that belief for can be verified as being true or determined to be false since there is no physical evidence that they had not taken place either. And one of the things that 3rd Edition does it drastically increases the difficulty of going back in time (I believe that this is consistent with the rules stated in Mage the Ascension and other White Wolf rules. It’s tough even for Time Mages).
In the case of evolution for example, there is a ton of fossil, biogeographical, anatomical, and biochemical evidence and plus the fact that as a species humans have also witnessed Natural Selection and Adaptation. But even though evolution is still just a theory every scientist in their right mind considers it to be true. So belief really doesn't enter into the picture. However, when it comes to the Easter there is no verifiable evidence that I know of that it took place, just the reports of witnesses that were also already followers of Christ found in the Bible.
The actual nature and origins of the Orb is kind of like trying to derive an answer for one divided by zero. The answer of course is undefined. Yet, that is similar to the Orb given its extraordinary power. So it is actually logical that it could have a divine origin given that there is not one shred of solid evidence that I am aware of that any known race in the galaxy could have the knowledge, capability and power to create it. If there is then they are so far beyond anything that humanity could know or understand, then for all intents and purposes they could be considered to be divine.
The reason all of this is important is that for the 3rd Edition the actual belief that the Orb has a divine origin slowly starts to gain traction, because up until now certain parties have to attempted to prevent the biblical "truth" from emerging. Based upon the entry in the Wiki created by Marcus, I had tracked back how the Orb may have had an origin dating back to Adam and Eve and how ultimately it could have fallen into the hands of Caine via Enoch who was a human decedent and one of the children of Seth while he was ruling the First City. Yet, it was Martin that pointed out that the Orb could actually be the Flaming Sword that God used after he banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. The actual mythical sequence of events of how that transpired will be provided in the Universe In a Nutshell Page in the near future.
Thanks to Martin I now have an explanation of the Orb that actually stems from the Bible just like Cain (e) was referenced in the Bible as well. However, since I have read a ton of World of Darkness material on various websites, the "mythical" flow of events is consistent with what appears on those sights as well. And, finally is consistent with what Marcus entered into the Wiki.
A close comparison as to what the Orb really like in the 3rd Edition is very similar to the Ark from Raiders of the Lost Ark. Just like in the movie, the Germans led by Belaq led an incredible search to find it. Belaq wanted it because he believed that it was "a radio for speaking to God." The Germans wanted it, because according to ancient texts, it might be used as a weapon or something like that. However, only Jones seemed to understand the true nature of the Ark and used his knowledge at the last second which saved his life along with Miriam, but basically wiped out a bunch of Germans and Belaq.
Now, the Caal and Scyr trying to capture the Orb in the 3rd Edition were very similar to the Germans in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The only exception is that their information regarding the history of the Orb and prophecy as to the ruling of Vin Dane for a thousand years was based upon false data and historical records created by a group of powerful individuals that were fully knowledgeable about its true origins and wanted the Orb to ultimately fall into the hands of an evil nonhuman. Perhaps they predicted that the Orb would eventually turn on or weaken its possessor just like it had done to Caine. Then they would be able to step in and have one of their own followers take possession, be accepted by the Orb as a legitimate wielder. Of course, behind the scenes they would be able to manipulate the possessor which would be simplified given the fact that the person was born as a creature of Gaia but willingly vowed to work for them. Whether this is true or not, the fact remains that their true intentions in all likelihood are not the best for humanity.
I am not sure if you need any more hints as to whom the individuals were, but you could probably guess who some of them might have been. It should be no surprise to anyone that there union is more than just a coincidence. In fact, it could be argued that this is something they had been planning all along. Or were they?
Yet, there was one other person that ultimately became privy to their plans. Just after the assassination of Ramirez by William Bishop and Michelle Fisher, the Sabbat hired arguably the best mind bender in the universe to provide a cover up. This individual read both of their minds and imprinted their memories of the assassination into the minds of two other similar individuals so that they would fail every lie detector within 70 light years should they attempt to claim innocence. The individual they hired of course was Andrea Treschi or perhaps it was for an exchange of favors. Who knows? At the time Treschi determined through the scanning of Bishop’s mind that he did in fact love Michelle Fisher at least physically, which did not seem unusual given that they were both working together and had similar goals.
Months later on Van Diemen, Dr. John Tyler was revealed as one of the coconspirators of the Sabbat takeover of Van Diemen. Dr. Tyler had once been the chief economist of Olin Corporation and a major figure on their board of directors. Treschi’s late adoptive father owned a significant shareholder of Olin stock which he inherited. And Tyler’s growth within the corporation was more than just coincidence. Dr. Tyler recognized Treschi’s use to him as both a mind mage growing in power and his secretive organization known as the Fearless Jackals. They had (and have (?)) a mutually beneficial relationship. But, that did not mean that they never worked on projects or were involved with conspiracies without the knowledge of the other.
Another major shareholder of Olin Stock was Claudius Giovanni and fellow members of his clan. And not surprisingly, Treschi, Douglas Munro, and other members of the Fearless Jackals leadership became aware of Dr. John Tyler’s involvement in the Giovanni Conspiracy that was geared towards knocking the pins out from under Mordred, leaving him vulnerable. While the Fearless Jackals would have loved to have seen Mordred’s head delivered to them on a plate, they also knew that should Claudius Giovanni replace him as a 3rd Generation vampire by diabolizing him, then they believed that they would be pretty much would have be back to square one again. On top of that, the one remaining would have one less rival to deal with, which could cause him to decide to take down the Fearless Jackals next which was a possible worst case scenario as far as they were concerned.
So Treschi and the leadership of the Fearless Jackals decided to stay out of it, but the question was raised among the leadership, not Treschi, as to whether another ally would be required for their organization. Yet, when it became clear that the Giovanni Conspiracy had failed and that Dr. Tyler’s involvement had already become known to the Sabbat, his usefulness to Olin, the Fearless Jackals, and Treschi abruptly ended. Treschi mind read the crap out of Dr. Tyler, before opening a gate for Douglas Munro to walk through in order to barter with the Mordred and the rest of the Sabbat nearby.
At first Treschi paid close attention to Dr. Tyler’s memory of recent events. In particular he was particularly interested in the orders that Dr. Tyler and Santino provided to Bishop and was confused by seeing Bishop being clearly affectionate towards a female vampire that was with him. Prior to that Bishop had been closely involved with Michelle Fisher and given that she was not there, it would not be surprising that she was dead. Yet, there Bishop was with a vampire called Melissa Cortona. Curious...
What Treschi found to be even more curious was that in spite of Dr. Tyler’s encyclopedia like memory there was an event that seemed important to his subconscious mind which occurred a decade earlier, which appeared to be inconsequential in comparison to the rest of the events that Dr. Tyler seemed to feel for other important occasions throughout his life. According to his physical memory of the event, he had received a planetary equivalent of a Nobel Prize for his development of a Microeconomic/Macroeconomic hybrid model that essentially proved that in order for Federation to maximize its defensive capabilities over what could be considered the long run, then the involvement of Federation’s Interplanetary Monetary Reserve to prevent business cycles needed to be minimized. This also would mean that the profits of the largest soundest industrial corporations would sky rocket, but leave the smaller entrepreneurs gasping for air and certainly increase misery and death among millions of citizens.
That Treschi found puzzling was that he was the one that came up with theory and had informed Dr. Tyler. Dr. Tyler was a proud man, despite his inherent weaknesses and would never had taken as much pride in the event, knowing that he had not thought of it himself. As Treschi realized this while scanning his mind, he came to the conclusion that someone had attempted erased an important event that Dr. Tyler had been a part of that year that had clearly affected him in a way that was off the scale emotionally and replaced it with exaggerated feelings he might have felt from winning the Nobel Prize in its stead.
The person that had erased Dr. Tyler’s mind of the memory in question was no amateur and Treschi quickly realized that he was dealing with a real pro. By now Treschi himself had become an Oracle after decades of intense training, experience, and raw talent. And while, the person that had rewritten his mind was not a Mind Oracle and therefore would allow Treschi to reconstruct the truthful memories Dr. Tyler had in his mind, Treschi knew that person responsible had tremendous power.
Eventually, Treschi was able to view the memories in Dr. Tyler’s mind that caused such an emotional reaction. Accept the memory was not the feeling of achievement. It was of fear. Through Dr. Tyler’s eyes Treschi saw himself seated at the center of a long oval shaped table with straight edges at the ends with the surface four feet above the ground. His seat along with all of the others had extra high seats except for four of the five of the chairs situated across the table. He was in a room with dark black stone walls that was patched over with very grotesque wallpaper made up of skin from humans and hides from numerous kinds of Garou along the walls. He smelled an incredible overpowering toxic like stench which filled the room . There was a massive fireplace located across from him with a roaring fire. Hanging above the fireplace was an ornately framed picture of someone Treschi recognized from images he had seen in the past as being Richard Fox. Except the image of the face in the picture was animated.
To his right at the far end of the table sat three vampires only one of which Treschi himself could have recognized, but the other two were a part of Dr. Tyler’s subconscious memory from previous event which allowed Treschi to know who they really were instinctively. The person seated to the right of the end of the table, Treschi knew to be Malikait. From the Fearless Jackal archives Treschi had read and viewed, he had been identified as a respected vampire serving under Mordred. The vampire to the left at the end of the table had not been previously identified by the Fearless Jackals, but for some reason he knew to be Luther Petritis. And, the person seated at the very end of the table was an extremely beautiful vampire dressed in a wide variety of animal skins and firs. Seated behind her on the floor were four massive sized wolves. Treschi instinctively knew that her name was Ennoia who was also known as “The Tiger Queen.”
Occupying the entire other side of the table facing him were a breed of Garou that Treschi had never viewed before. Contrary to the belief that the toxic smell in the room came from the walls that Treschi now knew must have been the stench of the wyrm, it actually came from them. There were five of them, and they had black fir darker then coal. The two in the left and right of the Garou in the center were in Crinos. The one seated across from him was in human form. Somehow, Treschi knew that his name was Galon Dracos and was the undisputed leader of the tribe of werewolves known as the White Howlers.
The shear stench of the wyrm coming from Dracos’ direction seemed to overwhelm him. Even Dr. Tyler knew that that there was something that seemed just wrong about him, but Treschi knew that Dracos could be only one thing. An abomination. What was maintaining his sanity? Treschi was familiar with the records concerning Corric Lightfoot and how he had been genetically chosen or something like that to be made into an abomination without losing his sanity. However, the White Howlers had been playing around with the Wyrm for over a thousand years and therefore it should not be surprising to anyone that they had the same idea. Also, unlike many other werewolves this guy carried no weapons, because he didn’t need any. He was a freak of nature. A tornado. And any warrior caught in his path would be facing certain doom. Also, Treschi concluded that the person responsible for making him into a powerful abomination in the first place could be none other than Ennoia. Perhaps that was the incentive she provided to the White Howlers to work with her and Luther.
To Dr. Tylers left along his side of the table sat two oriental gentlemen. Instinctively, Treschi knew that they were each leaders of the board of directors for of large Yellow Yakuza corporations on New Tokyo. To Dr. Tyler’s right sat two business leaders representing Maax Industries.
At the far left end of the table sat two individuals one of which Treschi recognized. The person seated to the right of the man at the far end of the table was a vampire dressed in all black robe with ornate blood red inscriptions along the borders of the vest and along the cuffs of the sleeves. What Dr. Tyler knew about who this man shocked Treschi. The man was known as the Noddist Scholar Dr. Aristotle deLauret. He reached down to retrieve a glass of blood red wine from the table and the change in his posture and the positioning of his arm revealed the letters “Arist-” on his forearm right below the cuff of the sleeve.
The person seated next to him at the end of the table was someone that Treschi had only seen in an old movie he once viewed that was filmed in the latter half of the twentieth century. The man was dressed in a very eloquent all black business suit, was wearing a dark blue and red thick collegiate looking striped tie, had what appeared to be black gelled hair combed to the side, was in his mid-sixties, and had extremely thick spectacles that looked like magnifying glasses. It made sense to Treschi that this man had been Maax himself all along. Yet, even Dr. Tyler in his human form could sense the raw power of magic emanating from him. He knew as well as Treschi looking through Dr. Tyler’s eyes that he was also an Oracle and had been one for a long time. Treschi had always guessed that he was a powerful matter mage, but now quite frankly Treschi had no idea.
Maax reached down a retrieved a glass of blood red wine in front of him shortly after deLauret. Both of them raised their glasses and made a toast in Dr. Tyler’s direction. Just after that there was a flash. The image was then replaced by the image of Dr. Tyler’s reception after accepting the Nobel Prize award for economics. After that, additional scrying into Dr. Tyler’s mind yielded only additional emotions that Treschi was not able to formulate into a concrete memory based upon an extrapolation of preceding and subsequent events. He was stumped.
Of course, after seeing that last memory of Maax and deLauret toasting in Dr. Tyler’s direction, Treschi immediately concluded that the image was meant for him and to entice him into working for Maax. Given the others seated around the table it was also meant as a threat as well. Yet, Treschi saw one thing that made him believe that Maax had made a mistake. Tresch’s second rule of business had always been that one should never to provide valuable information for free. Thus, if Maax had in fact intended that memory in Dr. Tyler’s mind to be viewed by him, then he was enticing him into making a decision in a manner that Treschi frowned upon and viewed as being a tactically poor way of getting him to join their ranks. Clearly, Maax wanted Treschi to be seated in Dr. Tyler’s chair, but what Maax apparently did not understand was that Treschi would never accept being seated at such a table unless he was sitting in Maax’ chair.
The other piece of information that Treschi gained from the images was that Mordred was clearly being set up. The means and support that Mordred had gained that was necessary for the star destroyer bomb to annihilate Enoch killing Arikel and later what allowed him to finally diabolize Ventrue now had become clear. An antediluvian like Ennoia could not operate or possibly exist without Mordred’s knowledge. Plus, Malikait one of Mordred’s own followers was present. The end conclusion as far as Treschi was concerned was that Mordred was also working with Ennoia. This also meant that Ennoia was setting him up as well to be replaced by Claudius or Malikait. Treschi was not sure. However, now that the Giovanni Conspiracy had been foiled by Bishop and his new lover Cortona, Mordred would now be led to the conclusion that he was safe.
With this knowledge gained from scanning Dr. Tyler’s mind Treschi restored his memories exactly to their previous state before he had even started the process. He considered his options prior to opening the gate that would allow Munro to enter the scene where Luther and Bishop had defeated Claudius and Malikait.
Treschi’s first thought was that the leadership of Fearless Jackals, including Douglas Munro, were right all along. He needed an ally. Naturally, since he was now an Oracle the first person he should look for assistance from should be another Oracle. That meant Lwan. But, that brought up Treschi’s third rule. Before seeking an ally, the first question should be what have he ever done for me? In the case of Lwan the answer was of course nothing. So as far as Treschi was concerned, if Lwan gets stomped by Maax and friends then tough shit for him. He needed to find someone else. Perhaps Douglas would have a suggestion. That was his job.
The second thought that entered Treschi’s mind was whether he should tell Mordred. After all, even though the threat of the Giovanni Conspiracy was now removed, he would still believe that Ennoia would be a good ally. But, as he considered that possibility he remembered his first rule. Before doing anything for someone else, the question he must always ask himself privately of course is “What’s in it for me?!” In the case of helping Mordred, nothing. Plus, as far as Treschi was concerned, if Mordred is too stupid to figure out that followers in his own ranks are trying to take him out, then fuck him.
With that thought, Treschi shoved Dr. Tyler over to Douglas Munro and opened to the gate to allow him to parley with Mordred, Bishop, Luther and the rest.
A week later, Douglas Munro approached Treschi and informed him that they had made contact with an unusual vampire named Lamdiel living out in the Beowolf System. Apparently, one of the Fearless Jackals was a spirit mage that had somehow made contact with the Spectre form Cappadocious who informed him that Malkav who was believed to have been killed several Antediluvians after the great flood or even by Mordred himself, had one remaining direct childer that was still alive. Given that the Sabbat and Camarilla were now joining due to the death of Ventrue and the new alliance between Mordred and Ennoia, even in his insane state Lamdiel would be open to an alliance with the Fearless Jackals. The exact details as to how this information was retrieved was of little value to Treschi.
The spirit mage and others of the high ranking Fearless Jackals secured a means of transport for Treschi to the Beowolf system. Even during the transit, Treschi knew better then to ask the means as to which they wanted him to negotiate with Lamdiel. One thing that Treschi loved about the members of the Fearless Jackals was that every last member thought the way he did and would not offer that information to him until it was clear to them that it would be to their benefit as well ask his. The one thing that kept the whole organization together for so long was the common understanding among all of them that anyone of them could be replaced, and if Treschi were to be stupid enough to question their methods then he would need to be replaced or would simply be of no use to them.
When Treschi arrived at Beowolf system a correspondence mage opened a gate that led him to a cavern that Treschi guessed was deep underground. Chained with magically enhanced equipment to a wall at the far side of the cavern was a beautiful child that Treschi could easily determine was Lamdiel. Treschi did not bother to question his immediate subordinates as to how many Fearless Jackals had died in order to accomplish that. Nevertheless it was also clear to Treschi that his behavior seemed unusual even for a madman or mad child if you prefer. Additionally, he could tell that trying to negotiate with someone in this state would be nearly impossible. Even if he was not insane, he would surely object to allying with a group of people that had been holding him prisoner for God knows how long.
So Treschi determined that the only way of being able to ally with Lamdiel was by restoring his sanity. Yet, even Treschi knew that the curse of the Malkavian clan had come from Caine or even God himself. So not only would he need to restore the anatomical nature of his brain so that it could function normally, he would also be attempting to reverse something so powerful in nature that even he an Oracle could fail.
Treschi closed his eyes and began to scan the mind of Lamdiel. As he scanned deeper and deeper he soon started to read the sequence of the millions of codons along his DNA within the billions of neurons within his mind. By correcting the sequence, the amino acids produced by those cells would be correct and ultimately the dendrites and axons would realign resulting in a new neural matrix that would produce thoughts that would be based more upon the observations directly received by his main senses as opposed to the distorted view that had been the result of the curse that had originally infected Malkav and now him since he was his direct childer.
Yet, Treschi discovered something that he never expected. He could see the residual effects of someone that had already made the attempt. It was very subtle, but it appeared as though the DNA had been modified, but for some reason the amino acids had failed to be changed as a result of the changes in the DNA.
Treschi only knew of two others that would be able to make such an attempt. The first possibility that he knew of would be Lwan. But, how could it be Lwan and why would he have any interest in doing this? The other possibility of course was Maax. And even Treschi was impressed with how he was able to erase and modify Dr. Tyler’s mind. So he concluded that Maax must have been the one responsible. Perhaps after failing he let Lamdiel go, believing that it was impossible and there was no point in killing him. Or maybe, the Fearless Jackals rescued him…
Treschi leaned back and reconsidered the situation for a few minutes and smiled. As someone focusing on mind magic he knew something that many people failed to take into account when it came to understanding what was involved in rewriting a personality for someone else. Everyone knows that brain is the most important part of the central nervous system. However, what many people do not know is that lining the digestive track is something that many mind mages and even mundane surgeons call “the second brain.” More formally known as the enteric track this group of neurons and other cells along this track are responsible for controlling the rate of the digestion of foods.
So it follows that if the neurons of the brain need to be modified or repaired, then the nutrients, minerals, and vitamins absorbed into the body by cells called Celia need to a different amount of time to digest food or blood that is consumed in order to extract the proper proportion of to be absorbed into the blood and ultimately into the brain with restored neurons and cells. Thus, the neurons of the enteric track also needed to be modified or repaired..
With this realization Treschi stood back from Lamdiel and spent over four hours rewriting the DNA throughout Lamdiel’s entire Central Nervous System including the digestive track. Modifications also were needed to for some of the cell surrounding organelles. Even though Treschi was not an Oracle of Life, those changes were elementary in comparison.
After he was finished Treschi stood back and waited. About an hour later Lamdiel opened his eyes and looked around the room with a startled expression and finally fixed his gaze upon Treschi. Treschi closed his eyes and flashed images of important events and data at an extraordinary rate into Lamdiel’s mind while at the same time scanning his mind in search of flaws. He determined that his mind had been restored to its original state or the state it would have been if he did not have the curse. However, the cells were very slowly, very gradually returning to their original state. He estimated that Lamdiel’s mind and body would return to its original insane state after a period of roughly nine months. Yet as far as Treschi could determine, he would still have all of the abilities he would have as fourth generation vampire.
A few moments later Lamdiel’s eyes blinked several times, he nodded, and agreed to the alliance. But then he brought forth to mind something that only Treschi could read at an extremely fast rate. Malkav who had the gift of insight that was far beyond anything almost any being had ever had, had for seen the betrayal of Ventrue and the other antediluvians and even predicted that someone similar to Mordred would eventually arise within the vampire ranks that would attempt to kill him as well.
Malkav used a powerful ability available to their clan that allowed him to rewrite the brain of some else in their clan in a manner very similar to a mind mage so that he duplicated his mannerisms to the point that they were completely indecipherable from his own. Then Malkav left in his state of insanity and locked himself in an extra dimensional prison stuck somewhere in time. In order to prevent himself from escaping he had Lamdiel softly stab his eyes with a red hot fire poker.
Malkav also forecasted that Lamdiel along with the rest of his childer would eventually be killed by their enemies and thus his existence in the extra dimensional prison would be kept secret for the rest of eternity. But, even he could not have predicted that Lamdiel would be saved by an evil Mind Oracle and that he would be able to find a way to at least temporarily cure Lamdiel’s sanity long enough so that he would learn the secret.
Two weeks later, Treschi found himself standing on the same island as Malkav himself. (Refer to prologue of season 9). He used the same method to cure Malkav as Lamdiel and it worked in a similar fashion. Except in the case of Malkav, even as an Oracle Treschi estimated that Malkav would only have his sanity for a period of three months before he would have to go through the same process all over again to maintain his sanity.
Treschi of course did no see this as a problem. After communicating with Malkav the strength of the Maax-Ennoia alliance and his certain enemy Mordred who would have eventually discovered that he had survived, then Malkav would have an incentive to work with him in addition to the fact that Treschi would be the only one that could keep him from losing it. On top of that, Treschi was not arrogant enough to believe that he could out predict Malkav who had a gift of foresight far beyond his own. If worse came to worse, Treschi could put himself into an extra dimensional prison of his own for year or two and come out after Malkav had been killed by someone else.
They both knew this and thus accepted the fact that they needed to work together. For now. Yet, as Treschi scanned Malkav’s mind on the island he also learned something that even he had not predicted. The entire history of the Orb was biblical after all and had once been God’s gift to humanity as means of protecting the land and living beings from greed. And the only ones that Treschi could determine that also knew this were Maax, Ennoia, Mordred, Dracos, Richard Fox’ AI and a few other select individuals.
It was possible given their clout they could have altered or manipulated the flow of human events which would be influenced by their belief in what the Orb was so that eventually an alien race would eventually claim it that use it in a manner that would not be in the best interest of humanity. This would result in the eventual fall of that wielder, his alien race, and quite possibly the rest of humanity as well. But not everybody. They would see to it that at least one person that the Orb would accept as a wielder would be available to step forward and claim it. To cover their bases that person would be a gift from Gaia capable of love and be subservient to them.
After this realization, Treschi leaned back from Malkav very briefly and asked himself, where is Fabian Cortez? Didn’t the Fearless Jackal intelligence indicate that he was going to get the Oracle? If the Orb was so damn important to Mordred then why the hell was he sending him?...
=====Moderator Notes=====
First of all, please keep in mind this is part one of a two part trailer to season ten. Also there will be a Moderatorbackstory prologue providing the state of galactic affairs long before the players write their own prologues.
I am sure that at least some of the players have questions, but as the moderator let me reveal some of the nuts and bolts as to what has been established in this trailer.
1) All of the major powers now have opposing rivals.
One thing that I did not put into the trailer is that Treschi knows full well that Maax and deLauret did not show him that image in Dr. Tyler’s mind for free. Furthermore, Treschi was fully aware that Maax did not intend on having him eventually sit in the same chair as where Dr. Tyler was seated. It should be pretty obvious who Maax intended upon having sit there. But, the reason that Maax did show Treschi that image was because he knew that in order to keep his alliance together he needed a rival. But he also believes that eventually he will be able to take out Treschi anyways, so now Treschi equal opposite is Maax.
The involvement Richard Fox is intended to be a rival for Lwan. Even if the real Richard Fox was alive he would find Lwan’s apathetic all mighty view of himself relative to everyone else to be appalling (no offense to Marcus, but there is more to my reasoning then what I will explain here.). Plus, Lwan is an Oracle of life and Richard is now an AI which to my mind are fundamentally the opposite.
Even though Mordred believes that only he and Ennoia are behind the whole conspiracy eventually he is going to find out what happened to Fabian Cortez and become very concerned or at the very least be much more cautious. Plus he probably has plans on backstabbing Ennoia anyways. But if Ennoia also has Luther, Dracos, and the entire Tribe of White Howlers secretly backing her ass, then he is going to be in for a major challenge to say the least given that Mordred’s control of the Sabbat is now shaky (especially after the death of Santino last season).
So all of the major former PCs that are now considered gods have equal opposites, except Maax, Fox (former PC but technically dead), Ennoia, Dracos, and one other to fill the chair of Dr. Tyler opposing Treschi, Mordred, and Lwan. The only exception is that Maax and company are all united as far as you know while the Mordred, Treschi, and Lwan and company are all divided.
2) What will happen to Scyr (or whatever he is now)? What role will the Caal play? What about Vin Dane (now deceased)? What about the new Holy Terran Empire ruling for the next 10,000 years or whatever. Please be patient. That side of things and how that will impact next season will be somewhat revealed in the next trailer. I know where I am going, but I am sure you guys can hazard a guess. Should Scyr be toppled it probably will not happen immediately or it could happen abruptly. It isn’t like the fall of the Caal or Scyr for that matter are on any type of time table either.
3) This trailer is really intended upon showing the power structure at the top. But, keep in mind Maax knows that Treschi is not likely to inform either Lwan or Mordred of his findings. In fact, he knows that Treschi is not likely do anything at all except to only inform his most immediate subordinates in the Fearless Jackals. In Treschi’s view if the Fearless Jackals and the rest of the Federation are not capable of working out this problem for themselves, then they no longer deserve to exist. Maax also knows that Treschi can mind control Bug Queens which is one reason Treschi is still alive and therefore of potential use to him. But Maax also knows that Treschi is likely to proceed very cautiously. In fact Maax knows that everyone is going to proceed very cautiously especially given that the Horadrim will still be around and which side they take will be for less certain.
4) The conflict at the highest levels in the Federation is likely to be gradual throughout the season. Neither side wants to operate too openly fearing that they might expose a weakness to their immediate enemies and any unknown allies they may have or potential alien enemies for instance that they are not yet aware.
5) Also to answer Martin’s question, there will be fleets and armies. So this game will present opportunities for those that want to be involved on the political side of things, participate in the cyberpunk corporate wars as the Fearless Jackals and White Howlers emerges, and everything else.
6) There will be a role for the K’Nes and other alien races, but quite frankly I haven’t worked that out yet.
7) In case some of you are wondering the most likely intended successor Maax, Ennoia, and even Mordred had in mind for being the wielder of Orb was Bishop. Some of you may have come to that conclusion on your own and may object to a holy relic being in the hands of him vs. a member of the Caal would be any different morally speaking and thus the Orb would reject Bishop. However, I should point out that while the Orb would prefer a neutral good wielder it would not reject a wielder that is an offspring or offshoot of humanity that is neutral which is what Bishop truly is.
a. During the previous season Bishop did some deplorable acts such as shooting Fisher in the back as a part of the loyalty test to join the Sabbat as a Templar. Or, bashing Irene York’s head in when she showed him sympathy over the death of Cortona. But, to Bishop his goal in life is to be at the top of the predatory food chain, because he views that as the best means to ensure his survival (and his offspring). Given that he is a werepanther (of jaguar decent) that view point is natural.
b. Bishop would have been willing to be embraced by a powerful vampire in order to become an abomination if that would accomplish goal of being the most formidable fighter possible. Yet, Mordred told him specifically not to. And, Bishop was not stupid enough to go against him even if he was an abomination, but he would strive to find another way if possible and even Mordred respects him for that at least.
c. The next season will most likely take place 10 years after the conclusion of season 9. Given that Mordred would most likely choose Bishop to replace Fabian as his personal agent and Templar and that he would want Bishop to be accountable to himself once he gained control of the Orb, Mordred might devote considerable amount of time helping to increase Bishop’s combat skills even further.
d. Next Season there will most likely be a fight between Bishop and Galon Dracos and that should be cool. Which one will win? Honestly, I am going to have to flip a coin to decide.
8) The conclusion that Maax and company intended upon Bishop or anyone else we know ultimately wielding the Orb is based upon Treschi’s best guess given the facts available. Whether this is their true intentions is still unknown.
9) While the backstory and trailer for season ten comes from my storyline and involve some of my former characters, it was done for two major reasons. The first reason is that it made sense that if the storyline for the 3rd edition that was largely influenced by the actual origins of the Orb that were derived from a combination of White Wolf literature and even the bible then it should stem from Bishop’s storyline since much of it involved the vampire masquerade and Werewolf the Apocalypse. The other reason is that it was the most familiar to me.
10) Even though my former PCs were involved in the backstory for this edition does not mean that they cannot be killed. Chances are they will be at some point. So can the others. However, do not expect them to fall in the first season or by punk new characters some of the players may create. If we play multiple seasons and they get stronger, then maybe they can take one of them down. Also, as a moderator I will not abruptly kill them off just for simplicity of story writing, but on the other hand, if I see a damn good reason they need to die, then I may have to take a deep breath and do so.
11) I mean no offense to Lorpy for the consequences that may befall Scyr and the other Caal as a consequence of him obtaining the Orb in season nine.
Behind the Scenes[]
Image retrieved from SuperbWallpapers.com.