Lightning Age 3: LARP summary, part I.

THE STORY SO FAR...

The Lightning Age -- the advent of widespread electrical power -- began five years ago, in 1900, when the infamous renegade scientist Herr Doktor Kilroy Schweizerkaze Von Blitzkopf auctioned off his inventions to the Great Imperial Powers in exchange for amnesty for his crimes.  The resulting technological revolution has shaken the foundations of power world-wide, and war -- lightning-fast and as unpredictable -- has re-drawn the map of the world.

In 1903, Shanyu Khan called the first international summit since Blitzkopf's auction -- the unveiling and maiden voyage of his new mobile capital city, Khara-Zanai, Thanks to its massive steam-driven smartwheels, the rolling fortress can travel across the massive span of the Khanate in mere days – and the beleaguered Khan used it to declare war on Tunguska, avenging the loss of territory he suffered in 1900.

For two years, nation after nation has gone to war, like dominos falling. The Khanate is at war with Tunguska. Tunguska is at war with Prussia. Prussia is at war with itself, a bitter struggle for succession. The African Paramountcy is at war with Carthage, the nation that successfully rebelled against it. Joseon and Uchinaa have been supplying technology and intelligence to all sides, in clear violation of the Treaty of Milan; and the Chakravartin Raj is complacently neutral. The Ummah Caliphate, still reeling from the wounds it received five years ago, is no doubt nursing thoughts of revenge. New alliances have been drawn. The Prusso-Zaporizhian Empire, the African Paramountcy, and the Twin-Kingdoms of Joseon-Uchinaa unquestionably have greater power, larger armies, and more advanced technology than their rivals... but their nations are fractious, mistrustful. They lack the morale needed for greater action. The Ummah Caliphate, the Golden Khanate, and Carthage Free State are wounded, resources scattered; but they are united by their common grudges. They have the spirit, but must still rally their forces. The Chakravartin Raj, safely indifferent, needs no allies; and the Tunguskan Dominion of the Great Old Ones, with its maddened leaders and fearsome, incomprehensible biotechnology, has both the will and the might to prosecute a two-front war against the other Imperial Powers.

The world has been hostile, but stable. That is about to change. Strange creatures have risen up from the Atlantic, bearing unmistakeable signs of bioengineering that pre-dates Tunguska – that is, perhaps, the source of Tunguska's power. Scientists have traced them back to a sunken city called Tartasso in the depths of the Atlantic. To the two great alliances, the implication is clear – whoever finds this city first and either captures or destroys its secrets may be able to counter and cripple Tunguska, and become the pre-eminent world power. Each faction has launched its fastest and most advanced submersible, packed with the most brilliant and dangerous people at their disposal. It's a race to the bottom of the sea, to an archaeologist's most lurid nightmare; and whoever unlocks the secrets first may have the world at their fingers.

...Any questions before I proceed to the next bit?

 

Looking at my bookmarks sidebar, it's time for another link salad.

Seven pieces of political news, one piece of mad science, and one bit of smile-inducing randomness.  Most of this comes from jaylake , by the way, whose own link salads are a major source of my news these days.

First off, starting out with a discussion of the Republican primaries, one of the latest trends seems to be a disregard for the value of National Forests.    This alarms me a great deal, especially as I've always thought such things were part of what conservatives wanted to, well, conserve.

Other things that irritate me:  our nation's continued failure to support higher education.  I happen to believe in American exceptionalism, but not as a continuous state of being:  as a process, a goal, a part of the national dream.  We could be, can be, sometimes are the greatest country in the world -- but that means we need to support learning.  Without education, without science, without a supportive community, we cannot build our way back to greatness when we fail to achieve it.

Here are a few women's reactions to the contraception debate, and strangely, they don't seem too happy about a bunch of ignorant dudes trying to limit their health options to appease other people's ideologies.  In that second link, the picture on the right of Five Serious Guys lining up to discuss why they should be the ones who get to decide about women's health is especially irritating -- because they were invited to come have that discussion, and women weren't.

There's also some interesting speculation here:  would Congress do a better job if it was ten times bigger?  Would we get some much-needed correctional reform going if people stopped plea-bargaining and went to trial?  (And who among us would dare to do so?)

Pat Robertson supports legalizing marijuana.  This blows my mind, but it actually ties in with the previous link a little, too:  we have too much of our population stuck in prison for stupidly trivial things.  I don't smoke pot myself, but for once, Pat Robertson and I are in agreement.  Good God, it's weird to say that.

On to weird science:  electricity can overclock your brain.  Equally parts alarming and tempting to hear about for me, given my chronic inability to focus on aaaaanything.  Artificially induced flow state?  Sign me up!

(That said, last week I got something like seven thousand words written.  So maybe I don't need it, after all.)

Last but not least, a cell-phone number for an angel.  Just plain cool, although the church's attempts to monopolize a heartening pop-faith phenomenon seem amusingly misguided to me.


And that's the news for today from my corner of the world.